by brett hicks
“Yeah, well in my defense, I didn’t have much choice in the matter. We had way too many people converging on us and they all seemed to be aiming for me.”
“You’re lucky that none of them seemed very disciplined or well trained. I think they just threw weapons into the hands of the entirety of Boston’s inhuman populace.”
I frowned and looked at Seri.
“How many are there?”
She shrugged with one shoulder and said, “Only about two-thousand or so in the whole Boston domain. Most moved on to greener pastures, so to speak, after the whole Salem debacle back in the day. In fact, a lot of inhumans migrated south after Salem. New York is the largest city in the US, so it retained a sizeable population.”
I made an O shape with my lips and Seri looked at me with mild amusement.
“You did the impossible Thea, no necromancer could have given new life to a being, much less a greater being like a dragon.”
I frowned and the dragon Shemron put in, “That was a gift of your mother, Morrigan, she could bring beings back to life from the very gates of hell itself. You have her powers and Nox’s affinity for the dead, so you were able to breathe new life into me. While I am not your creature, I will remember this gift little Old-Blood.”
I smiled and craned my head up to look at the dragon. He was comfortably hot and his magic seemed to sizzle with the greens and blues of my power, he had been changed, he now had some close affinity to my nature and he had his own brilliant amber-golden aura of fire.
“You are a fire dragon?”
He made that raspy snorting noise again and he leaned his large scaly head closer to me.
“I am a dragon, all dragons are fire dragons.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and pointed a finger.
“No, I mean you seem to be fire in your aura, besides the bit that shows my trace magic signature.”
The dragon inclined his head in a deep nod.
My brood was the first in the line of Niddhogg, the ancient one. What you are sensing is my nearness to his power, not unlike your own nearness to the two Old-Bloods who created you. Your kind and my kind haled each other shape this world in its cradle. We together were the guardians of the earth.”
“That’s not the same story I’ve heard before, but I never really did buy the propaganda of my kin’s family. No offense Seri.”
She shrugged and gave a wan smile. Her eyes were somber and reflected her pitiable acceptance of facts.
“As I have said before, I do not trust my father. He was cruel needlessly and he ruled with violence when he could have ruled with kindness. I have never trusted him, not since I was a kid.”
I reached out and I squeezed her hand tightly.
“I guess it’s a good thing that you’re not your father then, right?”
A smile slowly spread across her face and her green eyes shone with her love. She bit her pink lip in an uncharacteristically shy look spread across her face. Seri was bold and brave, she didn’t do shy—but boy did she look beautiful!
Bix stepped into the room from what looked like the mouth of a cavern and I began to take in my surroundings. We were in a giant limestone cavern of sorts and I perused the interior in wonder.
“Where exactly are we?”
I asked absently and the dragon answered in his deep baritone voice.
“This was once my home when visiting Atlantis. I do not know for certain if your enemies will know this location, but we are safe for the time being. I advise you rest up and ready yourself for the next battle you will most certainly be faced with.”
“Besides, I don’t think I like donating blood to a greedy drinker like you.”
Bix twitched her nose in disgust and my eyes widened.
“Bix, you, why?”
She smiled slowly and she nodded her head towards the bed of roses.
“You were dying and Seri was hysterical, so I offered my blood and its nature magic helped jumpstart your regeneration. Shemron was largely to thank for your recovery after that, but you were nearly gone there for a moment.”
I felt my oxygen vacate my lungs in my surprise.
“Shit…”
I breathed it out and Bix snorted and sauntered over to Seri and she fixed her with a grim look.
“I believe we have been tracked. An army will be at our location by the morning, which is in an hour. They are slow moving, but are all steadily headed in this direction.”
“How many?”
Bix shrugged.
“All of them, I think. There were about eighteen-hundred heads in my count, so likely the entirety of Boston has come here to greet us.”
Seri sighed and she looked resigned.
“Well, I guess we need to try to slip out while we can.”
“No, let them come and we’re going to make this so painful that they keep coming.”
All three beings looked at me as if I had lost all my sense.
“We want to draw them all away from the bridge of Atlantis. My aunt can override Henry; we are going to be the distraction. Trust her to finish this task.”
Bix huffed and Seri looked thoughtful. Shemron rumbled in snorts and raspy dragon laughter.
“By the moon and the stars child, you are crazier than your brood mother!”
He exclaimed and his golden eyes swirled with fiery powers.
“I like this plan, besides; I have to properly… welcome our intruders.”
Seri huffed and looked at me for a long moment before she finally shrugged.
“Fine, but I’m not going to have you filled with holes a second time Thea. Stop playing the martyr.”
I gave her a grim look and said, “This is war, and not one I asked for.”
On that, no one could disagree. We rushed off and began to fortify the dragon’s den for intruders. We were trying to prep for what would be a siege. I was seven kinds of crazy to pull this stunt, but I had to believe that if we bought enough time, then we could achieve the greater victory.
Bix rushed off to communicate with Vivi and through her, Reyline. There was a greater plan I was hoping to achieve from this, but I wouldn’t dare breathe a word of this until later until I saw it come to pass with my own eyes.
Fifteen:
“She did what!?”
Skylar exclaimed and Arial cupped her small hand over his mouth and fixed him with a firm look.
“Haven’t you seen any military movies with soldiers moving behind enemy lines?! Learn to stay freakin’ quiet man!”
Skylar’s pulse began to race as her skin touched his lips. He could also smell her intoxicatingly sweet blood beneath her soft creamy skin. Ariel was hands-down the most enchanting woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. Skylar had not really been dating much, but he was also not into the casual fling scene his friends and most people his age were in to.
Now, he was hiding in a small ancient apartment room with an honest-to-god witch, a witch he desperately wanted to know better. Her pale eyes softened as he held her gaze and she looked suddenly very much aware of the closeness between them and their shared heat.
Ariel cleared her throat and pulled her hand back reluctantly.
“Just keep in mind that you’re not human anymore, so try not to have an ulcer over everything.”
“She really resurrected a dragon?!”
He asked with a wildly dumbfounded look on his face and Ariel quirked a smile at him. She had thought he was cute for a mortal, but being a Dhampire had only sharpened his uniquely handsome looks. Now he was every bit her equal and he was also looking at her as if he wanted to taste her, and not just for her blood.
“Yes, and now they are preparing for a siege on the dragon’s lair. Skylar, we are going to have to breach the inner sanctum of Atlantis. We need to have Reyline at the bridge while Henry is fool enough to send out all his forces to handle your mistress.”
That makes me sound like some kind of damn sex slave!
Skylar thought to himself, but he knew that such titles w
ere commonplace amongst vampiric beings. Seri and Thea were like the rulers and he was like a knight to them or something like that. Despite how medieval it all sounded, it also made a lot of sense. Heck, the domain system seemed to work very well for inhumans and Skylar was barely acquainted with the new world he was now a part of.
“So, what, you expect me to leave her pinned down?!”
He felt a surge of loyalty and devotion to Thea, something Ariel kept telling him was due to her being his sire. To him, Thea was like a very scary big sister who won’t let anyone else pick on her little brother, well besides her of course!
“I expect you to look at the big picture. Seri is with her and so is Bix, trust me, they are not going down! I am pretty sure Bix alone could pick off eighteen-hundred people, given a few hours’ time. We have to get to the control room, you felt the quakes, imagine how much worse it’s going to be when Henry finally jerks the city out of the earth and Boston is flattened into an enormous sinkhole! Also, imagine how that is going to go over with the humans! Think Sky, think!”
I really like it when she calls me Sky…
He shook his wondering thoughts from his head and he sighed.
“Ok, but we’re going back for her at the first opportunity.”
“We won’t even have to once I have killed this necro-witch mutt. The city will take care of our infestation for us.”
“Then how come it’s not taking care of us now?!”
Skylar asked again, this was a reoccurring conversation. Reyline huffed and she looked at him in annoyance.
“Nox or Morrigan’s blood is required to activate such systems. Best guess, this pretender had enough DNA to gain access to the controls, but not enough to fire up the full defensive grid.”
“Yeah, but flaming arrows and pit-falls were perfectly operational last I checked!”
They had nearly been skewered on arrows and spears just before Reyline found a place for them to hold up and rest a little. While the army had apparently followed Thea and her dragon friend, the traps seemed to be riddled all along the path his group had taken.
“I would rather keep my flaming arrows and such on a video game screen. I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at World of Warcraft for a week after this!”
Ariel chuckled lowly and she nudged his shoulder.
“Please, you’ll bounce back just fine big guy.”
She bats her lashes and smiled coyly at him. Skylar had zero room to misinterpret her behavior for merely friendly. He liked the young witch, but he didn’t trust his blood cravings right now. Skylar wasn’t really sure what to do with her obvious interest or his own in her.
“It’s not so bad out here. I’ve seen worse traps.”
Vivian stated matter-of-fact to him and she flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. The dark elf ranger had moved like living shadows and dispatched more than a dozen patrolling guards in their path. No cruelty, but neither any mercy in her disposal of her foes. Vivi was death and she was not someone Skylar would ever wish to be crossed with.
“Also, I have word that Atlas has been successful in guiding the rest of our people into the docking bay we entered. He is going to relieve some of the pressure from Thea and Seraphina. We now have three separate forces of highly trained inhumans in Atlantis.”
“We are vastly outnumbered, but Thea has played her hand well. I would not wish to be her enemy.”
Ariel said it was a grudging sort of respect for Thea. She seemed to be ill at ease to praise anyone in such a way. Ariel prided herself on her abilities and her own wit. She wasn’t just a Bishop witch; she was also a highly educated and trained inhuman being. Still, she had to admire the young Old-Blood for not only her natural tactical mind but also for her lack of racial discrimination. Most powerful beings only looked after their own kind. For Thea, her kind possibly only included her aunt, so it was good that she didn’t seem to limit herself in such a bigoted way.
She cursed and she ran her hand through her short shoulder-length hair and sighed.
“Well, better try to get some rest while we can, because this is going to turn into a shit-show in the morning.”
Skylar watched her and she leaned in and pat his hand with hers’ and she softly repeated, “Get some sleep; you’re going to need all your energy.”
He seemed to respond to her gentle nudge and nodded. They lingered with the distance between them closed and their lips so close that it was practically inviting to each of them, but Vivi slumped down next to them against the wall and closed her eyes.
“I had better not be forced to try to sleep through teenage bunny-love-making.”
She said half serious and half joking and the spell was shattered into a million pieces. Ariel huffed in annoyance and flashed a feral look at Vivi before slumping back across from Skylar.
“Pleasant dreams to you too, madam elf.”
She said more sarcastically than anything and Vivi’s lips twitched slightly in amusement. Skylar was soon left to his own thoughts. His world had been turned upside down since his awakening from his vampiric transformation. He was sure that he had not heard the entire story from Thea because she seemed very ill at ease with his family. Skylar was worried for her, and for himself. He was scared of what immortality meant to him and where he was going to end up. Most of all, he was worried about now having an inhuman-sized target painted on his chest. Skylar had heard much more about the radical fringe elements in the human populace bubbling up than Thea had. His father had kept this knowledge close to his chest out of fear that Thea would turn against them. Now Skylar felt the full weight of such possible violent reprisal.
His world was upside down and his throat burned for blood. He was ill at ease in his own skin right now. He was not mad at Thea, he remembered fading from the gunshot wound to his gut and he was very grateful to have woken at all after such a traumatic injury. The cravings and the new self-definition were a lot more complex.
He felt pulled to every source of fresh blood as if he were magnetically attracted to them. His hunger was clawing and maddening. He had a new-found respect for Thea’s restraint and the many vampires he had met before his turning. They must have felt this same pull towards him, yet they never let it show.
Skylar was swimming in a sea of conflicting emotions and pondering his forever. Sleep was slow to take him under after his arduous transition.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally relented to the darkness of dreamless sleep.
Sixteen:
Wards layered the entire cliff-face and several dark rangers lay in hiding around the shadowing pre-dawn dregs of light beginning to spill over the horizon.
My people were in place and our combined magics had barred safe passage along most of the easiest routes up the cliffs. We were utilizing the high-ground advantage as best we could. A massive hulking blue-green dragon watched on with an intense curiosity. He was the master of this crag, yet he was allowing us to fortify it as we saw fit. Shemron did not seem at all perturbed by my commanding presence, just amused.
Dragons it seemed were above the human feelings of threat and hostility. They did not seem to worry about trivial things like chain-of-command, or proving their dominance. Though like a shifter in many ways, the dragon was more like a wizen elder in other ways. He was wise and deeply thoughtful to those he surrounded himself with. He was basically the perfect man if only a bit too scaly for most girls’ tastes.
“You’re sure that this is ok for you? I mean, I am not going to lie to you and pretend like this entire area might not end up in flames or worse.”
He made a deep throaty raspy sound of laughter and shook his large lizard head.
“If destruction comes, then I would say this old den has just seen it’s finally sunrise.”
I nodded dumbly to his sage comment.
“You remind me of a Chinese martial-arts teacher.”
He leaned in with deep interest.
“In what way is that, child?”
I waved vague
ly in front of me.
“Nothing seems to bother you and you just keep giving cryptic but wise advice.”
He made another raspy chuckle and he lowered his head down to me.
“I hold your memories in the blood you shared with me little Old-Blood, so I see what you are faced with. Why else do you think I offered you aid? You are honest and you care for those around you, regardless of their species. You are a far greater ruler than any other prospect on the table. Besides, Nox would resurrect herself and kill me if she knew I left her child to weather this seemingly insurmountable battle by herself.”
I blinked dumbly at him and nodded.
“Can Nox do that? Resurrect herself, I mean?”
He sighed and shook his head.
“Sorry, that was in poor taste of me, child. No, she would have to be with you if she could have.”
This stung, but it also made me feel somehow better to know that this ancient creature was so sure that Nox would love me if she could.
“One day you are going to sit down with me and tell me more about Nox.”
I pointed my finger at the large dragon and his teeth showed in a serpentine smile.
“We shall have a coffee date then. I do miss coffee beans, such a delicacy in the old world.”
I blinked and nodded dumbly.
“I’m sure the lady at Starbucks will love having you for a customer.”
He chuckled in raspy fits of laughter and smoke plumed from his nostrils. That must be the dragon equivalent to laughing yourself to tears?
“Speaking of strange things, ho exactly do we get sunlight down here?”
“There is a dome over Atlantis, it has been pre-programmed to simulate day and night cycles.”
I blinked a few times and nodded dumbly.
“Sounds like my parents’ people really had everything all figured out.”
Except how to control their domain…
Not for the first time since discovering what birthed me, I found myself wondering how in the hells the Old-Bloods had fallen to inhumans. For that matter, I am still unclear on the exact timeline of inhuman experimentation and the fall of the Old-Blood Kingdom. Very little made any sense, but I had a nagging feeling that this weird dragon laughing his scaly tail off at my expense might hold some of the answers. I hoped to find a spare moment to grill said dragon, but right now was not that time. From the looks he gave me in the quiet spells, he seemed to know the line of my thoughts. He claims to share my memories through the blood, for some reason this does not scare me or surprise me. Blood is life after all. At least the damn dragon could understand a pop-culture reference! If I had to stop and explain every quirky snarky joke I snapped out, then we would be dead before we could mount a defense to the invading beings.