The Lost Dragon (The Dragon Hunters Book 1)

by Drako

  “You must be Dmitri,” Demun spat.

  “And you are a fool on his way to Hades.” Dmitri had a thick, Russian accent, which was strange but not unheard of. Clearly, his mother had no problem leaving Greece.

  “I’ve met Hades. Not a guy I want to stick around much. But you can feel free to meet him anytime.”

  The two charged in at full speed.

  Kazarian found himself in the lower levels of the castle.

  Why does no one keep modern facilities to hold prisoners in? He thought.

  Torches were few and far between, but that didn’t bother him much. His eyes were sharper than ever. As such, he was able to see the figure approaching him. A strange tingle went down his spine as Andreas stepped into view.

  “What are you doing here?” Kazarian asked.

  “I’m here to help you out,” Andreas answered.

  Something was wrong here, Kazarian was sure of it. He looked Andreas over and found nothing different but something felt off to him.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be doing your own thing?” Kazarian palmed a dagger behind his back.

  “It can wait.”

  “Nice try.” Kazarian threw the dagger, embedding it in his chest. Andreas dissolved into gold dust and Kazarian retrieved the blade.

  I was around when Ares first learned that trick. I may be mortal, but I’m not stupid, Kazarian thought with a smirk as he continued on.

  Cassandra, or rather, Odele, was back in the dark, but she could see just fine. She now understood why Jarel refused to call her Cassandra; he’d known her as a goddess. Now she was fully aware of who she was and in her true body. Exerting a bit of power, she freed her arms and stood up. She was in a white chiton now, the same thing she’d been wearing when Hera withdrew her essence from her body and sent her into the mortal realm to live and relive her life as a mortal. Considering where she was, this certainly made sense. She was a contrast to Eris in personality and now, in attire. It was time for Odele to get to work.

  It would certainly be helpful if someone would come to rescue me, she thought.

  Hera’s laughter rang in her mind. You’re a goddess. Act like it. The human, Kazarian, is looking for you. Call out to him and lead him to you. Listen to your body. It knows what to do.

  Odele closed her eyes and concentrated, sensing everyone that was in the realm. She began to sort through them until she found Kazarian. Now she just had to lead him to her.

  Andreas was also in the lower levels, working through them. However, he was beginning to worry. He had no idea where Kalos was, and Brandon wasn’t able to give him more information. He could sense Kazarian more than anyone else, but he’d taken his blood. He’d always sense him first.

  As he made his way through the halls, he felt compelled to stop at a door. As he did, Kazarian joined him. Andreas noticed Kazarian reach for his dagger and raised an eyebrow.

  “Are you about to throw that at me?” he asked.

  “Depends on if you’re another trick,” Kazarian answered.

  “You’re going to have to explain that one.”

  Kazarian shook his head. “Just prove that you’re really you.”

  “How the hell might I do that? Anything I’d know, Eris would know too.”

  “For the love of the gods, you two are such morons. Open the damn door,” Odele ordered from the other side of the door.

  Andreas grabbed the handle but the door didn’t budge. “Cassandra, stand back. I’m going to have to blast the door down.”

  “Go for it.”

  Andreas shot the door with a bolt of lightning, blowing it off the hinges. Odele stepped out and the two men’s eyes widened.

  “So, you had a major growth spurt in there,” Andreas commented.

  Odele rolled her eyes. “When’s the last time you saw a short goddess?”

  “Well, goddess, any idea where Kalos is?”

  “Back in the mortal realm, running from you,” Odele responded. “First off, we have to take out Eris. Kalos can be dealt with later. But Demun may need our help first.”

  “You go help Demun,” Andreas told her. “I owe Eris big time and I intend to pay her back personally.”

  Thirty Two

  Brandon stood up after being hit with Eris’ lightning, but he wasn’t alone. Id had surfaced, as lightning sparked his demonic blood. His eyes were now a blazing, glowing red. Eris didn’t seem to notice, but now a dark power emanated from Brandon.

  Finally, it’s my turn, Id commented.

  Brandon could feel the demonic part of himself unfolding in his mind. For once, he wouldn’t hold the demon back. He needed Id to survive this.

  Opening his hand, his sword flew up to it. Extending the blade again, he raised it to point at Eris. Eris’ laughter died out and a scowl marred her features.

  “Damn demons are always difficult to dispatch.” She conjured a sword of her own. “I suppose I’ll just have to separate your head from your shoulders to keep you down.”

  Brandon laughed, and when he spoke, two voices came out, his and Id’s. “You know, you talk a big game for someone who can’t even focus enough of her energy to do more than piss a demon off.”

  Eris screeched and launched herself at him. Brandon didn’t hesitate to launch himself through the air at her as well. They landed on their feet and their swords met with a loud clang. From there, the swords became a blur as the two fought. Brandon held his own, attacking with a speed he hadn’t known he had. Id was there beside him, totally in control. And the demon was not content with being defensive.

  Brandon pressed forward offensively, his attacks becoming more powerful as he went, so much so that Eris actually had to put distance between them before she lost her head. She sprang back, but Brandon shot right after her, soaring through the air as he attacked. Eris had to jump over him and she turned with an attack she just knew would catch the boy off guard and take his head.

  She was wrong. Brandon was somehow standing in wait, blocking her strike with his sword with ease. Eris still saw an opening, swinging her leg up to kick him in the back, connecting with his kidney. Brandon hissed in pain and stepped back, giving Eris the opportunity to take over the offense. Brandon struggled to parry her attacks and found himself backing up.

  No, damn it! We can’t win like this! Id growled.

  No shit, Brandon responded.

  Unfortunately, he’d lost his momentum, and parrying her was getting harder. He felt his energy leaving him far too quickly.

  Something is wrong with this place. She’s draining me. Id was clearly not happy, and his voice sounded weak to Brandon.

  Brandon didn’t need Id to tell him that. He could feel it. He’d never been in a situation like this and he wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew he had to get on the offensive again soon and finish her. Otherwise, this wasn’t going to end well.

  Too bad Eris wasn’t letting up, and with a swift flick of her blade, managed to disarm him. Before he could reach for his chakram, she blasted him with a bolt of energy that sent him flying across the room and burned his entire torso. He crashed to the floor in too much pain to actually make more than a soft moan of pain. Smoke actually came off his chest from where he’d been struck.

  “Demons are so disappointing.” Eris stood over him, one finger running down the blade of her sword. “You’re already exhausted. This is almost too easy.” She raised the sword, preparing to deliver the final strike.

  Brandon was in more pain than ever before, but laying there wasn’t an option. Moving his hand, he drew his sword to him. As soon as it reached his hand, he swung with as much force as he could, connecting with Eris’ wrist. Unfortunately, the force he’d hoped for was lacking, so he succeeded only in disarming her, and giving her a nice gash across her wrist as he did so. She let out another shriek of rage.

  “Now I’ll just blow you into pieces,” she hissed.

  Moving was going to suck, but Brandon had to push himself again. Resolving himself to deal with the pain, he
forced himself to spring up once more, then rushed Eris. Eris was surprised at first but as he soared through the air, attempting to kick her head off, she reached up and caught his leg. Turning and using his own momentum against him, she tossed him across the room, right against the wall. He hit hard, feeling his bones rattle as he fell to the floor. He was pretty sure he dislocated his shoulder at some point between the wall and the floor, which just added to the ever increasing pain he felt.

  “Well, it’s time to stop playing around.” Eris began to move towards him.

  “I agree.”

  She stopped and turned to the source of the voice, finding Andreas standing in the doorway.

  “So, are you ready to pick on someone that knows your little tricks?” he asked her.

  Eris scowled again. “You’re determined to be a nuisance. You’ve been a constant thorn in my side for weeks.”

  “The feeling is mutual, bitch.” Andreas began to advance towards her. “You’ve played the kid game, now it’s time to face a dragon head-on and believe me, I’m going to enjoy this far more than you can imagine.”

  “Nowhere near as much as I’ll enjoy sending your father your head!” Eris began to move towards him as well.

  Andreas was glad she’d chosen to fight. Chasing her would have been more irritating than anything. He put on an extra burst of speed and rammed into her, knocking her backwards with ease. She rolled and came up to a crouch, and Andreas was on her again. She leaped up, flipping over his head. Andreas, however, reached up and grabbed her ankle, then slammed her to the ground. Instead of releasing her, however, he whirled around and tossed her across the room. Even as she hit the floor, he was after her again, his boot meeting her stomach as she was trying to rise again. She coughed, an action she definitely wasn’t used to, and he caught hold of her hair and yanked her up.

  “Now this, Eris, is what happens when you not only defy the will of Zeus, but piss off the biggest, baddest dragon in existence.” Andreas quickly planted her face into the floor, delighting in the sound of her nose breaking. “See, I really hate people that mess with what’s mine.” He lifted her head up, only to plant her face back into the floor again. “And you took my soul mate from the Elysian Fields. So, I’ll be sending you to Tartarus once I’m through with you.”

  Brandon pushed himself up into a sitting position against the wall, his right arm sagging as his shoulder had indeed been dislocated. He watched as Andreas lifted Eris up and flung her against her throne. Oddly, his vision dimmed as Andreas’ foot met Eris’ face, right up against the back of her stone throne.

  What the hell did she blast me with? Brandon thought.

  Gods’ energy bolts suck for us, especially when we’ve got no power left to defend ourselves, Id answered.

  So we’re blacking out? Brandon asked.

  Fucking A, they thought in unison before the world went black.

  Demun had his hands full with Dmitri. He was used to being the stronger guy in any fight, normally restraining himself drastically. For the first time since he was a small child, he was in the fight of his life.

  Dmitri had gotten so many shots in on him he’d lost count. And in came another one, a nice right hook to the jaw that knocked him off his feet. As he hit the ground, he spat, noting that a tooth flew out with it. His shirt was now in shreds and he had bruises developing everywhere. His left eye was swollen shut now, and even through his one good eye he could tell that he’d only gotten a few truly good shots in on the demigod. Still, he pushed himself up again, shoulders sagging as if his arms weighed too much to lift.

  Actually, his left shoulder was dislocated. He reached over and popped it back in before Dmitri charged in again. Demun opened his mouth and a stream of fire shot out, catching Dmitri in the chest and sending him flying back into a wall, which broke through as he hit it.

  “That was for my tooth, you son of a bitch,” Demon spat at him.

  Dmitri stood up, brushing soot off him. “Is that the best you can do? I thought demon blood would make you more of a challenge.”

  “Go to hell,” Demun replied.

  “You first.” Dmitri charged again.

  Demun forced himself to charge as well. Gaining speed, he launched himself through the air and tackled Dmitri to the floor. He rose up just enough to try to deliver a punch, but Dmitri tossed him off with ease. Demun sprang to his feet only to have Dmitri crash into him with a football-style tackle. Unfortunately for Demun, Dmitri kept going once he hit him until he’d put him through a wall. Demun couldn’t begin to tell which bones broke as he fell to the floor in another room, landing most uncomfortably in the rubble.

  “And here Kalos led me to believe you boys were a threat,” Dmitri stood over him and put his foot on his chest. “Kalos’ son must have just been weak. This has been nothing but a mere warmup for me.”

  Demun was fading. He felt the darkness fighting to claim him. He fought against it, determined not to go out the way he was. But as Dmitri raised his hand, perhaps to deal the finishing blow, he was suddenly struck in the head and sent staggering backwards.

  Dmitri stopped and looked at his attacker, finding Vic standing over Demun now. The phoenix looked down at Demun first.

  “If you faint, I’m kicking your ass as soon as you’re healed,” he told him.

  Demon managed to scowl at him. “Fuck you, birdbrain.”

  Vic snorted. “Well, he didn’t hit you that hard if you can still run your mouth.” He turned back to Dmitri. “I’m rather tired of your existence at the moment. You’ve damaged someone that belongs to me, so I’ll be sending you to meet with Hades personally.”

  Dmitri cracked his jaw. “You hit harder than the boy, but you’ll have to do better than that to survive here.”

  “I could just have the goddess here blast you straight to Hades, but I prefer to handle this with my own two hands.”

  Dmitri frowned in confusion. “What goddess?”

  “Wow, you’re slow. You don’t sense the goddess Odele coming up behind you?”

  Dmitri turned and Odele actually stood behind him, with Kazarian running up behind her. Vic whistled to get her attention.

  “Hey, god boy is mine. Take care of Demun for me,” he told her.

  Odele vanished. A second later, she was kneeling next to Demun. Dmitri clearly began to weigh his options.

  “Hey, I’m over here.”

  As Dmitri looked towards him, Vic also vanished. Before he could move, Dmitri was struck again, harder this time. He stumbled and Vic went to work, not letting up for an instant. Each swing he took connected, and Dmitri was unable to defend himself. When he began to fall, Vic caught him by the back of the neck, then kept punching with only his free hand. The first several shots were to the rib cage, but the next several were to the face. With one last punch to the jaw, he released Dmitri and let him drop. The demigod rolled away and scrambled to his feet.

  “Looks like you’re sporting a black eye now, guy.” Vic looked him over. “I’ll bet I cracked a few ribs. Doesn’t look like I punctured a lung either. What a pity.”

  Dmitri ground his teeth and charged in again, clearly aiming to do to Vic what he’d done to Demun. Vic, however, merely snapped off a perfect spinning heel kick that caught him in the side of the head, knocking Dmitri to the floor. Vic stood over him, then kicked him in the ribs while he was down. He got a loud grunt from Dmitri, who continued to try getting up.

  “Your will to fight is admirable, but you should really stay down.” Vic kicked him hard enough to force him over onto his back. “The more you get up, the more I see a need to kick the shit out of you. It’s actually fun for me.”

  Meanwhile, Kazarian joined Odele as she worked on Demun, who had indeed passed out.

  “How bad is it?” he asked.

  “It could be worse,” she answered. “However, it would take him days to heal on his own, maybe weeks.”

  Kazarian looked over to Vic, who had started working over Dmitri again. “I get the feeling that V
ic is paying him back for every scratch and bruise Demun has.”

  Odele’s hands began to glow as she channeled her power to heal Demun’s injuries. “He’s also paying him back for every broken bone.”

  “He can’t know which bones are broken on Demun.”

  “Of course not.” Odele’s concentration never broke as a white light poured over Demun. “He’s just guessing. But he’s not too far off.”

  “Should I stop him?” Kazarian asked.

  “Only if you want him to turn on you next,” Odele answered.

  Within a few more seconds, the light faded and Odele stood up. She looked over to Vic, who held a much bloodier Dmitri by the throat with one hand. She cleared her throat and Vic looked back at her.

  “You may finish him now, Victor,” she said softly, though it was nonetheless an order.

  Vic scowled at her. “Damn pushy-ass goddess.” He dropped Dmitri to the floor and pulled out his gun. “I’ll see you in Hades.” He fired four times, two rounds to the head and two to the heart, before putting the pistol away again.

  Odele looked to Kazarian. “If you don’t mind bringing Demun, we’ll go to the throne room before Andreas kills Eris.”

  Eris couldn’t move. Not only was she unaccustomed to pain, but she was positive no one short of Zeus could dish out this much pain on a single being. Her vision was strangely narrowed and her legs wouldn’t do what she wanted.

  “So, how does it feel to be sitting on your own throne as a mangled mess of what you once were?” Andreas asked as he stared coldly down at her. “This is what you allowed Kalos to do to my brother when he had him ambushed. This is how Julian spent his final moments, in the exact same condition you’re in. Only he was against a wall in his home, not a fancy throne. And he had a legion of vampires standing over him. You merely have one pissed off dragon over you. But the pain you’re feeling right now, it’s the same.” He kicked her in the side of the head and she slumped over. “You should really see yourself. You’re a bloody mess. And you didn’t put up that much of a fight either.”