Dragons & Demigods: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 6)

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “Begin,” Dahvina said. Her voice did that echoey thing again, and I focused on the pair in the center of the combat area.

  I’d never really given much thought to what kind of mage Monty was. I knew there were several types of magic-users, and that they each had their disciplines of study and practice. I recalled some of the magic-users we had faced. Some had off-the-charts power, like Hades. Even though, as a god, I don’t think he qualified as a magic-user.

  Others were very narrow in their discipline and expression of magic use, like Beck the Negomancer. He was a user of anti-magic. I remembered Monty saying TK and LD were creative mages. A very rare discipline of magic. Similar to Wordweavers, except where Wordweavers use the spoken word, creative mages used gestures to create—or undo.

  I had only seen Monty manipulate elements and, of course, the void vortex, which almost got us killed on more than one occasion. Other than that, it was one of the four elements. On the other hand, TK was a creative mage, and I had seen her undo Ghosts. Creative magic sounded broad and dangerous.

  TK stepped to the far side of the pink sand and looked at Monty, who had taken the opposite position. TK was much older than Monty, but Monty had recently absorbed part of his father’s magical essence. Connor Montague had been an Elder of the Sanctuary and had been close to being an Arch Mage.

  I didn’t know if that directly translated to Monty being stronger, especially against TK. I had a feeling she was stronger than any of us imagined.

  “Before we begin,”—Monty pulled on a sleeve, adjusting it—“I’d like to apologize for my actions and thank you for the selection of the conditions.”

  “You’re welcome. Even though the conditions are blood and power, I suggest you don’t restrain yourself, Tristan.”

  “I had no intention of doing so.”

  “Good.”

  A smile crossed her face, and she disappeared.

  FIVE

  MONTY GESTURED AND formed a shield. Several black orbs crashed into it, pushing him back. TK reappeared behind him and unleashed a black wave of energy. Monty created a blast of air, pointed it at the ground, and slid to the side to avoid the wave.

  With a flick of her wrist, TK created several dozen orbs around her body. They crackled with black energy as they floated near her. Monty narrowed his eyes, placing his palms together. TK gestured again, and the orbs raced at Monty.

  He stood there motionless, and I wondered if he intended on becoming an orb punching-bag. There was no way he could avoid all those orbs. I winced as they slammed into him, sending his body rolling across the sand.

  TK walked over to Monty’s body but kept her distance. I heard him groan.

  “Those percussive orbs are quite formidable,” he said with a gasp.

  TK cocked her head to the side. “I expected more from you, Tristan. Your uncle will be disappointed.”

  “More from me, or more of me?”

  “Excuse me?”

  She rotated her body, avoiding a violet orb that shot past her. Another orb slammed into her side and knocked her on her back. I looked around and started seeing several Montys appear in the combat area.

  TK stood with a smile. “You created casting simulacra. I’m impressed.” She looked around the floor. “This is quite advanced.”

  “Thank you,” I heard the voices of several Montys respond at once. “I’ve been practicing.”

  A few of the Montys bowed. One blew a raspberry at her. Some of them took defensive stances. There were so many, I couldn’t tell which was the real one. They were all identical. When I tried to read the energy signatures, they all felt like the original, which was impossible.

  TK swept an arm in front of her, and half the Montys disappeared. She raised an eyebrow and looked down. The runes on the floor had started pulsing.

  “You’re phasing them.” She narrowed her eyes, gesturing. “Clever.”

  I saw more Montys replace the ones who had been by TK’s swipe. The Montys surrounded her, gesturing rapidly. She swiped an arm down as twenty violet beams focused on her. None of the beams reached her as she turned slowly, looking among the mass of Montys. I noticed one of the Montys starting to cough.

  She pointed at the coughing Monty, and a black beam of energy shot from her finger, hitting him square in the chest. He flew back, slamming into the barrier.

  The other Montys turned and ran to provide cover for the fallen Monty. Several of them gave TK angry glares as they stood in front of him. He got to his feet slowly, dusting sand off his sleeves. That was the real Monty.

  “Once we began, I placed a minor irritant in the air. Slow acting and keyed to your signature.”

  “Clever,” Monty answered between coughs. He gestured, placing his hand on his chest and suffusing himself with golden light. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Much better.”

  TK knelt, placed both hands on the floor, and spoke. Monty raised an eyebrow, gestured, and crossed his arms in front of his body. White runes surrounded and enveloped him.

  A black wave raced across the floor. I remembered this spell. It was a negation wave. TK had used it on the Ghosts the last time I was here getting Peaches a collar.

  “Look out!” I yelled, but no sound escaped my lips. Whatever energy I was channeling into the barrier had robbed me of speech.

  The negation wave disintegrated all the Monty copies and punched into the white runes surrounding Monty’s body. He bounced off the barrier and fell to his knees, gasping.

  TK stood with her hands on her hips. “Are you warmed up now?”

  “Quite warm, thank you.”

  “Good. Your skill has grown considerably since the Sanctuary, but this whole exercise is to help you understand the limitation of power and the respect it commands. You attempted to tether a Smith Bridge to me.”

  “I did, yes.”

  She moved a hand, and the air coalesced around Monty, turning to stone.

  “That was a mistake.”

  The stone turned red and exploded. TK made a fist, and the fragments stopped midair. She turned her hand, opened it, and the barrage of stone rushed in at Monty.

  He gestured, superheating the air around him. The fragments burst or turned to small pools of liquid around him, solidifying seconds later.

  “Yes. Yes, it was.”

  Monty was looking a little worse for wear. Then I understood TK’s strategy. She was wearing him down with large attacks, keeping him on the defensive as Monty had to keep countering.

  What I didn’t understand was why he was getting so tired so soon? It wasn’t like him to fatigue this early in a fight.

  “I’m glad you have clarity on the matter.” TK extended an arm and formed a long black blade. I recognized it from the small statue in the Hall of the Ten. She advanced and slashed horizontally.

  Monty dodged back. The blade cut though his suit jacket cleanly, leaving a long slice through the runically enhanced dragonscale. Monty looked down and poked a finger through the gash while raising an eyebrow.

  A black orb punched him in the chest. He rotated with the blow, gesturing and forming a wall with the sand on the floor. Another orb punched through the pink wall of sand. He raised an arm and absorbed the impact with a sickening crunch, backpedaling to the edge of the combat area.

  He gestured and sent a white orb aimed at TK’s head. She stood still and raised a hand. The blast stopped several inches from her face. She slapped the orb with a backhand and returned it to Monty faster than my eyes could track. It exploded with a bright flash upon contact.

  Monty slid across the floor. His suit was in tatters. His face was covered in cuts and bruises. The arm he had used to absorb the impact of the orb looked broken. He stood shakily for a few seconds before falling to one knee.

  TK walked over and placed the tip of her blade beneath Monty’s chin. She whispered something I couldn’t make out. He stiffened, slowly stood, and gave her a nod. She returned the nod, the blade disappeared, and she turned to the dais.

 
“This Reckoning is complete to my satisfaction.” TK’s voice echoed the same way Dahvina’s had, as she approached the dais. “The conditions of blood and power have been met.”

  Dahvina stood, stepped forward, and gestured. My arms dropped to my side as the barrier fell around the combat area. The violet glow in the pendant became a faint glimmer. I placed it under my shirt again and stretched my sore shoulders.

  “Shieldbearers, attend to your mages,” Dahvina said, motioning to the Wordweavers. I approached Monty.

  “You look wrecked,” I said under my breath as we walked to the center of the floor. “I mean that in a good way.”

  “She was holding back the whole time. I grossly miscalculated the extent of her power. It was foolish and arrogant of me to think I could tether a Smith Bridge to her.”

  I glanced over at TK, who spoke quietly with LD. She looked like she had just gone for a walk, not been in a battle of mages. Monty, on the other hand, looked like he had been chewed up and spit out by Planet Peaches.

  “She was... holding back?”

  Monty nodded and winced. “For all my talk of her volatility, she demonstrated an incredible degree of self-restraint during the Reckoning.”

  We stood in the center of the combat area.

  “I consider this matter settled.” Dahvina looked at us and then turned to face the members of the dais. “There will be no further action taken on the events of today.”

  All the members of the dais nodded. Dahvina turned to us. “Blood and power have been reckoned. The outcome has been determined. Do you both agree?”

  TK and Monty both nodded.

  “Let the shieldbearers be witnesses to this Reckoning.”

  LD bowed and nudged me again to copy him.

  “We bear witness.”

  Two Wordweavers stepped next to Monty and escorted him out of the combat area. Mahnes disappeared, and Kristman Dos went over to have words with Jimmy the Butcher, probably to discuss Were matters.

  Badb walked over to Dex, who kept a wary eye on her as she approached. I saw Michiko disappear from the rear of the dais and appear a few seconds later on the lower level.

  She walked over to me, and my heart did that strange flip-flop beat it always did when I saw her. Her black Chanel dress had a long slit, that revealed one leg. A large red dragon design coiled itself around her body, the head starting at her shoulder and the tail peeking out by her thigh. Her piercing eyes fixed me in place, and I had to remember to breathe.

  “Hello, Chi. It’s good to see you.”

  “Simon, I’m pleased to see you survived London and the mage’s home.”

  “Yes. Me, too.” My power of wit and conversation knew no equal. “We just got back recently.”

  “I know. I can’t stay. There is a situation in the Council. Something you need to look into.”

  “In the Council? Sure you don’t want Ramirez and the NYTF?”

  The New York Task Force, or NYTF, was a quasi-military police force, created to deal with any supernatural event occurring in New York City. They were paid to deal with the things that couldn’t be explained to the general public without causing mass hysteria.

  They were led by Angel Ramirez, who was one of the best directors the NYTF had ever had.

  “No, this is beyond his scope. Erik suggested we get you involved.”

  “Is this about Kokoutan no ken?”

  Monty had placed Kokoutan no ken, the dark blade that was the other half of my own Ebonsoul, with Hades for safekeeping from the Blood Hunters. Hades thought it was a good idea to give the sword that kept most of the Dark Council in check to Grey Stryder, one of the last Night Wardens—and a powerful dark mage, according to Monty.

  If I was being honest, it wasn’t the sword that kept the Council in check. It was the vampire standing in front of me. Her ferocity, cunning, and ruthlessness made her a dangerous ally and a fearsome enemy. The fact that we had some kind of ‘thing’ happening only proved that I had suffered one too many blows to the head in my youth.

  She led the Council with an iron determination and a keen mind. Anyone who rose to challenge her, as allowed by the Dark Council, soon found out why she was feared and respected. Usually in the last few seconds of their life.

  “The sword is with a dark mage who roams the city streets at night. If I need to recover it, I know where it is. No, this is about reports of activity near the Seaport.”

  “What? One of the ships drifted off to sea?”

  She stared at me for a few seconds. “Does anyone consider you funny?”

  “Plenty of people, I just haven’t met them yet.”

  She nodded. “There have been large spikes in energy in the area. Erik thought it would be best if you looked into it without alerting the NYTF.”

  “Any idea what kind of spikes?”

  “Yes. I need you to confirm or disprove my observations.”

  “As soon as we get back, we’ll check it out.”

  Ramirez had left me messages about strange activity downtown near the South Street Seaport. Now Chi, along with Erik from the Hellfire Club, was mentioning the same thing. I didn’t like the timing, especially with George out hunting dragons.

  I didn’t say anything to Chi about dragons, mostly because the last time we had faced a dragon we’d lost Lieutenant Cassandra Rott, an NYTF officer and George’s daughter. He’d taken her death hard and held me partly responsible. Part of me felt he was right.

  The last time George and I had spoken, he had mentioned finding dragons. Oh, and revenge. He definitely had a large case of revenge going on.

  “They’re going to pay for taking my little girl, and you’re going to help me—you owe me, Strong. She died on your watch. You owe me, and you owe her.”

  I did owe him, several times over. I would have never made it through Shadow Company without George, but the idea of a dragon vendetta sounded completely suicidal.

  “Be careful.” Chi touched my cheek and disappeared.

  We needed to get back right away.

  SIX

  MOST OF THE Triad members and Wordweavers were gone. Only TK, LD, Kristman Dos, Dex, Monty, and I remained in Fordey Boutique. I hadn’t noticed when Badb left, but part of me was glad she’d decided on a stealthy exit.

 

 

  Peaches padded over to Dex and nudged him, nearly knocking him down.

  “Ach, hound!” Dex looked down at Peaches, who proceeded to unleash a large dose of hungry puppy-dog eyes.

 

 

 

 

  I lost his attention once Dex materialized two industrial-sized sausages, each the length of my arm. Peaches proceeded to inhale them as Dex placed them on the floor.

 

  “Lad,” Dex said, looking at me, “you’re going to have to learn to make meat for your hound. It’s an easy spell. You should have more success than you had with your orb of light.”

  LD chuckled. “You should get TK to show you. She knows how to make the never-ending one. If your hound eats slowly enough, he can have sausage for days.”

  Monty and TK were speaking off to one side. I was about to approach with the news Chi had given me, when Dex cleared his throat.

  “How long?” Dex looked at LD and Kristman Dos.

  “Two months, three at the outside,” Kristman Dos answered. His deep voice resonated in the Danger Room. “I have reports of entire families disappearing up and down the seaboard. Every time I get close, nothing.”

  “How many of the Ten are you mobilizing?”

  “LD, TK, and RJ to get us there.”

  “She got her Strix?”

  Kristman Dos nodded. “She’s very happy and says thank you. Oh, and the next
time you hold an orb class in her plane, she’s going to rip you a new one.”

  Dex laughed. “I got her a plane, didn’t I?” He grew serious. “Can you give me a month? I have to head over to the Sanctuary and have a conversation with the remaining Elders and Ziller.”

  “A month is fine. We’ll start up north and work our way down with the streak. Whatever is doing this is masking well.”

  “Well enough to avoid you?” LD asked. “Even in your other form?”

  “In every form.”

  “I’d better pack heavy, then. Dex, give me a hand. Some of these items are volatile.”

  “If you hear an explosion, it’ll mean LD screwed up,” Dex said, trailing behind him.

  LD left the Danger Room with Dex. Kristman Dos stared at me for a few seconds, then looked down at Peaches.

  “You’re bound to a hellhound?”

  “His name is Peaches. You’re really a weretiger?”

 

 

 

 

  Kristman smiled at my response. “Dex told me you had spirit.” He glanced over to where TK and Monty were still speaking quietly. “You did well as a shieldbearer today. Usually a Reckoning sends the shieldbearer to the infirmary. You’re stronger than you look.”

  “Thank you, I think.”

  “Did your mage friend really try to tether a Smith Bridge to TK?”

  “It was one of his more suicidal ideas, but yes, he tried.”

  “Amazing,” he said, mostly to himself. “Either TK really likes him, or she’s mellowing out.”

  “What’s so amazing?”

  “That he’s still alive. How long have you and the vampire been an item?”

  “Item? We aren’t an item.” I looked around quickly to make sure Chi was gone. “It’s complicated.”

  Kristman chuckled. “Relationships with them usually are.”

  “How did you know?”

  He tapped the side of his nose. “You smell.”