by J. S. Wilder
The third man swung at Xilon, but he hit the man in the face.
Blood squirted everywhere as the man skidded backward.
“My nose. The freak broke my nose,” the man whined.
“That’s it, mother fucker.” Tattoo guy raised his fists.
Xilon grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up. The dragon in him roaring to the surface, his eyes shifting to his natural serpentine form.
“Holy shit!” Bearded guy backed up against the cell wall. “What the fuck are you?”
Xilon picked up bearded man from the floor and brought both trembling men closer.
“I’m a dragon, remember? And I've got each of your scents now. If any of you so much as touch a female without her permission, I will fry your dicks off.” He remembered what Ash had asked in the woods about his kind. No doubt she'd have something to say to these men with her sword if she were here. “Then I'll eat you.”
Xilon's fangs extended with his grin.
Bearded guy screamed while tattoo wet himself. With a thud, both men were thrown across the room and Xilon turned his gaze on the one with the broken nose.
“Understood?”
“Yes, yes.” The man held up a bleeding hand.
“What's going on in here?” Simpson asked rushing to the cell.
“Let us out,” Tattoo pleaded as he grasped the metal bar as though trying to shove his body through. “He's crazy. A fucking dragon.”
“Sorry, Manny but we're all booked up. Now you four play nice. We'll have a new cell for you guys tomorrow night at earliest.” Simpson turned to leave.
“No! You can't leave us with him! He said he'd eat us and his eyes glowed and his teeth were fucking fangs.”
Simpson shook his head. “Then I guess you better hope he doesn't do as he promised.”
“No,” the man with the bleeding nose leapt up. “Look what he did to me, you gotta protect us, man.”
“Best I can do is take you to the infirmary.” Simpson frowned. “They're closed until morning except for life and death issues.”
“This is life and death.” He held his bleeding nose. “Please, man, have mercy.”
“Like you did to the clerk?” Simpson narrowed his eyes. “Honestly, Trevor, did you give mercy when that woman screamed for you to stop? When she pleaded?” He smirked. “No, I hope he is whatever the drugs in your system says he is and you sleep real good tonight.”
Simpson left.
The men hovered in a corner until dawn while Xilon watched them as he would Tryn scum.
The next morning, Simpson came to the cell. “Xilon, you've got two visitors. Follow me.” He slid the metal bars open.
'Is-is he coming back?” Trevor asked with a nasally voice.
“Don't know, don't care.” Simpson shrugged.
He led Xilon to another small room with a table and chairs.
“Wait here.” Simpson left.
Xilon frowned. Now that he could transform his eyes and teeth to Renjerian, he needed the rest of his dragon form to fly out of here.
A knock sounded on the door. Two women entered. One smelled like Taurian. The other like fear and oranges.
“Xilon?” the first woman held out her hand. “I'm Dena. Um... Taurian sent me to help get you out.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Does my older brother think I can't handle myself?”
“No, it's not that.” Dena pushed papers toward him. “Sign these and we'll pay your bail and get you back to Louisiana.”
Xilon stiffened. That's where he thought he was. “Where am I now?”
“Boston.”
“And that's far,” he guessed.
“Yes, well. If you sign the papers, I can witness them, then Kate can try to get the full charges dropped.”
He didn't care about human concerns, but he needed to get back home and Dena meant that he could summon his brother to pick him up. Humiliating, but necessary. And he could make Taurian tell him how to get his full dragon back.
“Whatever I need to do.” He nodded to the women and accepted the pen, scribbling across the lines Dena pointed to.
Once both women signed, Xilon bowed his head. “Thank you for helping, Dena and Kate.”
“I'm a lawyer. It's my job.” Kate stuffed the papers into a folder. “And I'm doing this for my sister, Isabelle. She's hooked up with another one of your brothers, Kohl.”
“Ah. Then thank you anyway.”
Kate shook her head. “If you've got any more brothers back home,” she shrugged, “tell them to stay out of jail because I’ve already got a full load of cases.”
Chapter 12
Sons of fucking bitches! Of course, the demons had to be bigger and badder here in Xilon's world. Otherwise, he and the other dragons would've tossed them out on their leathery asses.
The giant demon inhaled through its snout-like nose, its red eyes widening. “You have Renjerian blood in you.”
How the hell did it know that her Grams had given her some at the hospital? Wait, Xilon had smelled it too...did her breath stink? “So what?”
She tightened her hand on the sword, unease spreading through her. Demons were hard enough to kill when they were minion-sized. Her gut said this big bad one was gonna be like going up against an army. Sweat trickled down her back, but she refused to let her legs shake with fear and fatigue. Her walking stick lay on the ground between them. Please let my ankle not give out on me.
“You will spawn my children.”
“Oh hell to the no, I won’t,” she yelled even as dread crawled through her soul. Memories of her parent’s mutilated bodies of once the demons were finished with them tormented her. Ash’s mom had sent her off to camp the week before. When no one picked her up, she took a cab.
The house was dark and smelled of spoiled milk and skunk. Her mom's body flayed open across the dining room table. Blood coating the tile so thick that Ash slipped in it trying to get away. Her father in his recliner, head severed and black locust pouring out if his neck.
Ash had run all the way to Grams house six miles away. By the time they returned, the demons had spread through the city. It was then that her Grams told her everything she knew about the dark-side of dragons, the demons they’d come to Earth to help purge. Ash absorbed everything she could about devils and how to kill them and exorcise them. The day her parents died was also the day she stopped believing in dragons.
She faced the huge demon, her sword ready. “Sorry, but I’ll have to pass on become demon spawn fodder.”
The creature snarled and rushed at her. She swung her sword low. The blade sliced across the demon’s thigh, but didn’t draw blood. What the hell?
“Looks like your blessed blade is tainted.” The demon laughed.
Shit! When she had made her cane earlier, she must have removed the magic had enabled the sword able to harm demons. She might as well wave a plastic weapon at the beast. But she couldn’t give up. Not now, not ever.
“Take her.” The demon signaled to dozens of minions pouring down the side of the mountain.
Ash punched the towering devil under its chin as hard as she could. Pain shot through her fingers and she was certain she broke something. The demon blinked a few times, but didn’t pass out like she’d hoped.
More smaller devils careened over the rocky mountain trail toward her. She was outnumbered and no weapons.
“I will die first before I let you have me.” She gritted her teeth and jabbed the nearest minion in the stomach. It rolled to the side, hissing. Another leaped at her from a boulder, but she ducked low and it crashed on the other side of her.
Xilon! If you’re still alive and can hear me, I could use some help. Now!
Five more short demons circled her. Their leather wings fluttering behind them. Except their cloven feet never left the ground. One grasped her arm, its black claws digging into her skin.
“Fuck! Get off me!” She slammed the hilt of her sword into the creature’s face.
It backpedaled, but snapped it
s teeth at her. Another latched onto her good leg and she hobbled until she managed to kick it off.
Two demons jumped on her back and sank their teeth into her shoulder. Pain cut through her flesh causing her to scream in agony.
No! She hit them with the sword, but they wouldn’t budge. Lancing pain sunk into her from their bites and she stumbled to her knees.
“No use fighting, little warrior.” The giant demon bent down in front of her and lifted her head by her chin. “You will make me many sons like me until your bones are ground to dust.”
Ash spat in his face.
His slap across her cheek stung and she tasted the coper taint of blood. The demon licked her wound with its long, red tongue. “Yes, you will breed with me and make half-demons like me. Stronger and smarter than these.”
Holy fuck! There were different types of demons? And this giant had sprung from something different than the other demons originated from? No, she didn’t want to know what foulness birthed such a creature.
If he was better than the lowlife demons she’d fought most of her life, what would happen if there were more of them? If they got to Earth? She needed something to kill it with.
Jerking away from him, she rolled onto her back, crushing the smaller demons latched onto her underneath her weight. She tumbled over onto her hands and knees. Where’s my sword?
A foot away, her silver weapon laid. She scrambled after it, screaming when a demon bit the back of her thigh. She kicked its face. Snatching the sword, she raked the blade across her palm. This had better work.
“By all the old gods and new. By the dragon blood of my forefather and the magic of my voodoo ancestors, I bless this weapon to destroy my enemies. To vanquish demons.” She didn’t have time for all the chants and incense or the holy water and blessings of priests. If this didn’t work, she’d run herself through with the sword before she let the demon touch her again. Her heart hammered in her chest, stealing her breath. She couldn’t turn out like her parents. Her body shook and she couldn’t stop it. Images of her parents’ deaths ragging through her mind. Fear paralyzing her.
The demon laughed, its height blocking the sun from her sight. Then the memory of Xilon, the first proud, magnificent dragon she’d ever seen filled her thoughts. He and his kind would fight until the death against these bastards. He wouldn’t give up. And for some reason, she wanted him proud of her. To show him that a human could be just as strong as a dragon.
When the demon reached down to snatch her up, she thrust hard and deep into its gut. A stream of smoke spiraled from the wound as the blade sank in deep.
“Wha—!” the demon shrieked and the minions around it covered their ears, trembling.
Ash yanked the sword out, its blade soaked in greenish-black blood. Her breathing ragged. Not waiting around to see if the demon healed or not, she struck another demon nearby, but the blade did nothing. Just like before.
Shit! Her blood and prayer hadn’t been enough to truly cleanse and bless the blade. She had nothing to fight this thing with. It was too big and powerful.
And even if she got lucky and it died, there were too many minions for her to fight off in her current, weakened state. Dread coiled like a freezing knot in her stomach.
No, wait. The sword sizzled in her hand as the metal melted. What the hell? The demon had said the giants like himself were stronger. Was this what he had meant? That he could do this to her weapons? Or was it the fact she’d rushed the job out of necessity and a fully-charged weapon was needed.
She dropped the weapon as the acid blood ate all the way up to the handle. Fuck, that was my favorite sword.
Before her the demon sank down to his knees, grimacing. But as the giant held onto its injury, its bleeding was already stopping.
Time to go.
She snatched up her walking stick and shambled across the ground. She had to get out of there and to safety. Behind her, the demon roared and icy terror snaked down her spine.
“You will never escape me, little warrior. I’ve tasted your blood. You have until sunset to come to me willingly. Or I will make you mine!”
Chapter 13
“Our flight leaves in two hours,” Dena said, walking Xilon out of the police station. “Are you hungry?”
“Thank you for your kindness and the borrowed clothes.” He touched the edge of the shirt with the image of a four men painted across it. How did she get the paint not to rub off? “But I'll take a quick meal then I need to return home.”
Dena nodded. “I understand. But the closest lightning storm on our continent will be outside of New Orleans tonight.”
“And that's where we're heading.”
“Yup. I live near the swamp, myself. Let's grab some brunch here, cause airplane food is horrible if they even give you more than pretzels.”
Her accent sounded different than Simpson's or anyone else he'd met here. More like Ash’s. “Do you know a Grams or Ash... Ashley?”
“No, sorry.” Dena frowned and led him to a building with a red blinking sign in front of its door. “Chinese okay?”
He shrugged.
An hour later, Xilon leaned against the chair. Eight empty plates of food in front of him. The waitress stood in the corner, shaking her head as in disbelief.
“Don't worry about them,” Dena said. “C'mon, we've got a plane to catch.”
At the airport, Xilon had never seen so many humans together in one place. Men, women, and children of every size and shape dashed hither and fro. Many pushed their way past Xilon until Dena yanked on his arm moving him to yet another line.
Finally, they bordered the plane. Excitement and worry drilled into him. Would he be able to get to the lightning in time? And would he revert back to his Renjerian form when he landed on his home planet? He had to let everyone know that Taurian's blood had worked. Which meant that his blood should be able to transform others into shifters too. The females and elderly and anyone who wanted to flee and live among the humans would be able to.
The image of Ash fiercely swinging her sword and fighting the Tryns so bravely made him yearn her. He wanted to apologize to her. Tell her how special and amazing he thought she was.
“You okay?” Dena asked. “I have some tranquilizer if you need any while we fly.”
He snorted out a laugh. “A Renjerian afraid of flying?”
The metal contraption shimmied forward, his seat rattled like it would break apart. Wait, humans didn't have the ability to fly. Why was he trusting them with his life? He dug his fingers into the sides of his seat.
After a lurch, they crept into the air. The strap around Xilon's waist and the air pressure of their takeoff angle keeping him plastered into his seat.
“Crap, are you okay?” Dena glanced at him, then dug into her bag. “Here, this will help. I rigged a TwinJect for my mild peanut allergy with a sedative.”
Before he could protest, she stabbed a pen to his arm that felt like a needle.
“What was that?” His tongue felt heavy.
“Just something to help you sleep for the trip. Until you get used to flying and trust the pilots.”
“I...was...fine.” Why was it getting harder to talk?
“Yeah, well I can't afford to have to explain why you've bent the metal of your armrests, okay?” She patted his hand. “Next time you fly it'll be easier and less stressful.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but darkness pressed into his vision.
Groggy, Xilon rubbed his eyes, his head pounding. A taste like he'd licked a stinky vorsbee lingered on his tongue.
He sat up inside a moving vehicle. The road stretched before him with buildings lining either side. Dena drove in the front seat.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“New Orleans. I'll drive you to my place and the storm should hit in a few hours. Taurian said he'd try and meet us before then, but he'll have to catch a storm in Australia and use his dragon form to fly here. I don't think he will make it in time.”
“
Is Australia another city?” He'd never heard of it before. Then again, he hadn't knew about Boston or New Orleans either.
“Uh, no. It's another country…a continent.”
Had the Earth grown since he was last here? They turned onto a street clogged with other vehicles.
“Why aren't we going?” he asked. Nausea boiled in his gut. He needed to get this foul taste out of his mouth before he got sick.
“Sorry. Traffic.” Dena turned to him from the front seat. “Probably a wreck up ahead, but we are approaching rush hour.”
“How is this rushing? We aren't going anywhere?” His stomach lurched.
“Are you okay? You look pale.”
“Air. I need air.”
She leaped outside and opened his door. “Okay, why don't you wait out here on the bench over there and I'll go snag you some Pepto.” She pointed to a red wooden bench.
He climbed out and went to the bench.
Dena disappeared around the corner.
His head pounded, but he closed his eyes and forced the bile down. After several breaths, the pain changed to a subtle pressure.
An elderly couple holding hands shuffled closer. When they looked at the bench and Xilon and a worried expression pinched the woman's brow.
“Please, sit.” Xilon stood. “I need to stretch my legs anyway.”
“Thank you, sir.” The man nodded.
“Any time.” Xilon headed in the direction he'd seen Dena go.
People milled about past the shops and buildings. A cluster of them waited at a sign post. Xilon didn't see Dena anywhere. Maybe he should head back to the bench.
He turned to leave when an emblem down the street caught his attention. A black painted skull the same as the one on the back of Ash's coat. It couldn't be a coincidence. Had to be somehow related to her or they would at least know where Ash lived and he would know where to bring her remains back.