Oddest part of all this was the movement. The smell I remembered from his prison cave, but there was something shocking when a creature that big breathed. Just breathing . . . just lungs moving, just exhaling air. Except it’s right next to you and it’s bigger than any building in Fresno . . . not that Fresno is known for its big buildings. Would hate to see what one of his shits looks like.
Doubt most would’ve ever worked up the courage to speak to him, but being I’m King Henry Price, I found the nerve. “This just an asschewing like every time I get near Paine or are you planning on actually trying to stop me? Cuz if so . . . if so, we gonna have our first throw down, Meta-Yo-Yo.”
Or maybe it wasn’t courage.
Might just be stupidity.
Never can tell with me.
You know how all the legends say dragons are supposed to breathe fire?
This one didn’t.
He did however have twin puffs of pure, concentrated geo-anima escape from his nostrils when he snorted in frustration over what an annoying little gnat of a prophet he had to work with. That little snort gave me a brief moment imagining what a blast of pure, concentrated geo-anima might do if it was spewed out of a mouth that large.
Why couldn’t it just be fire?
Pure anima burning and consuming anything it touched, the stray puddles and pools zipping all about and reflecting from the impact, miniature earthquakes and cracks and crevices spreading beyond the first bit of destruction, burying whatever had died as neatly as any gravedigger’s shovel.
HOW MANY TIMES MUST I WARN YOU, LITTLE MANCER? WHY MUST YOU SEEK THE ONE WHO CAN SO EASILY DESTROY YOU? WHO CAN SO EASILY USURP MY MANY PLANS?
Weird seeing his big ass jaw move as the words formed. Usually it was right in my head. In the cavern there had been no light at all, so it seemed to come from the darkness. But here, it was a bright, sunny day. Dragons . . . they talk. With jaws and tongues and teeth as big as I am, made for snapping other monsters in half, not for speaking, but they could do it all the same.
Somehow I still found a place inside of me for defiance. “I didn’t seek him and I didn’t plan this. He has my sister. Got no choice but to face him. Don’t claim to be the best of people, but when I mark you as mine you’re damn right I’ll fight a monster to win you back. If I fight another monster that means I’ll fight you too, no matter how pretty you are, you big car-fucker.”
YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU RISK.
“Yeah, yeah, some awakening, some revolution, some revenge on the Vamps, I know. Figured it out.”
YOU KNOW LESS THAN NOTHING!!!
Because being yelled at by something that big wasn’t scary enough already, he also finally turned towards me, wings spread on either side and blocking out whole football fields of that sunny day. As for the rest of Meteyos’ body, it leaned downward, gigantic head leading the way. Was blocky with squared corners on the edges. Kind of like a T-Rex. Only . . . less extinct. Also less CGI.
Somehow I stood my ground. Here was another superior holding me back, ageless eyes or Guild skullcap traded out for fangs and wings. “Whose fault is that?”
I WOULD TELL YOU MUCH. I WOULD TRAIN YOU IN THE OLD WAYS—
“For your own fucking price! A price ten times larger than the one I already paid to steal what little I have,” I yelled to interrupt him. “Yeah, you have answers no one else has. Even the fucking Learning Council, cuz apparently they know the barest sliver of nothing. But it’s for a price, dragon. Not just the price I pay, but the one you pay too. Neither of us are good at it, but I think you’re worse. You’d have to actually come out and say what you really want from me. Put all your hopes in my hands. In a mancer’s hands, again, after whatever happened in this place ten-thousand years ago.”
A BETRAYAL THAT DESTROYED ALL WE BUILT. THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
I nodded. “Open yourself up again and you’ll be just waiting for me to do the same, right? Only even worse. Before you hand it all off, you got to tell me how much accepting your path is gonna fuck me. Given how scared you are to tell it, thinking it’s a pretty terrifying cost.”
A TERRIFYING COST INDEED, the dragon agreed with me for once, BUT YOU CANNOT ESCAPE PAYING IT, LITTLE MANCER. YOU WERE BORN FOR IT.
“You want freed, is that it?” I made an educated guess from what I’d learned in the last week. “Want revenge on the Divines?”
YOU ARE STILL NOT READY TO HEAR OF IT. THINK OF ME AS SELFISH AND PLACE ON ME YOUR HUMAN MOTIVATIONS IF YOU WISH. I CANNOT TELL YOU MORE YET, MUST NOT TELL YOU MORE, ESPECIALLY NOW. IF YOU FACE THE BROKEN ONE WITH QUESTIONS IN YOUR HEART, YOU WILL DIE.
“Too bad! Tell me!”
YOU DO NOT ORDER ME!
“And you don’t order me!”
Never seen a dragon sulk before. THE WORLD WAS BROKEN AND MUST BE BROKEN AGAIN, he finally told me the vaguest sliver of his plan. THAT IS THE TASK I WISH YOU TO UNDERTAKE. THAT IS THE TASK I WISH TO TRAIN YOU FOR. BUT IT IS NOT IMPORTANT NOW, LITTLE MANCER.
“Task you wish to sacrifice me to complete,” I grumbled, feeling like a virgin about to be thrown into a volcano and already planning my escape. “Task I ain’t doing. Ever.”
Meteyos puffed more geo-anima from his nostrils, angry at my reluctance. His next words hit at me in the gut: A TASK THAT IF YOU DIE IN THIS FOOLISH QUEST AGAINST THE BROKEN ONE, THAT I WILL HAND OVER TO HIM IN YOUR STEAD.
Those words finally rocked me. Down to my core. I didn’t want the responsibility for whatever this dragon and blood god shit was leading towards, but the idea of making Obadiah Paine responsible for it all . . . not someone like Ceinwyn or Val or even fucking Welf that grew up with this shit. Paine . . . crazy ass wanted-to-eliminate-billions-of-mundanes-to-fix-the-Anima Quota Paine. “Are you out of your damn dragon mind? You’ve said yourself that he’s mad!”
THE WALLS SHAKE. FOR CENTURIES I HAVE PREPARED. I HAVE RELUCENTLY CHOSEN YOU. BUT IF YOU FALL . . . SOMEONE WILL TAKE YOUR PLACE. IT IS A SEAT THAT CANNOT STAY EMPTY. WHO ELSE WOULD BE STRONGEST BUT THE ONE WHO DEFEATED YOU? THINK ON THAT BEFORE YOU RUSH TO YOUR DEATH. THINK ON THAT BEFORE YOU DENY YOUR PURPOSE AS MY PROPHET.
“He won’t just break what you want broken. He’ll destroy it. Surely you know that.”
MY KNOWLEDGE AND YOUR JEALOUSY OF IT MARKS THE BULK OF THIS CONVERSATION, LITTLE MANCER. I HOPE FOR SUCCESS. I HOPE FOR FREEDOM. I HOPE TO SEE THE STARS ONCE AGAIN. BUT ALSO I KNOW THAT THIS WORLD MAY BE BETTER OFF DESTROYED THAN CONTINUING AS IT IS. IF IT MUST END, THEN IT MUST END. I AND THE OTHERS . . . WE CANNOT CONTINUE IN THIS WAY.
“If you’re gonna be a dumbass then best focus on the Broken One, King Henry! Oh by the way, you die and the world might end not long after. Then more riddles? Are you fucking serious with this shit, Meta-Yo-Yo?”
Never seen a dragon sigh before either. Somehow, it reminded me of the ones I caused in school when my teachers just didn’t know how to handle me or couldn’t believe they had just stooped down to my level. YOU TAUNTED ME. I RETURNED YOUR DEFIANCE. NOW ALL IS MUDDLED WHEN I WISHED CLARITY.
“Yup, you suck at this shit,” I agreed with him. “Really, really fucking suck. Like my sister JoJo in a room filled with twelve inch black dildos kind of sucking.”
Had a brief moment wondering if Meteyos knew what a dildo was, followed by another moment hoping I wouldn’t have to explain it to him. Teaching Poug about Brazilian waxes and anal sex was bad enough.
Lucky for the both of us, the dragon was too focused on his own mistake. YES. DO NOT THINK OF THE RIDDLES, LITTLE MANCER. THINK OF HIM. THINK OF YOUR SISTER AND YOUR LOVER AND YOUR MENTOR, THINK OF ALL WHO ARE AT RISK IN YOUR BATTLE WITH THE BROKEN ONE. IF YOU WOULD BEST HIM, THEN YOU MUST FOCUS ON HIM AND ONLY HIM. YOU MUST BUILD A GROUP OF ALLIES WORTHY OF THE TASK. WHO WILL STAY AT YOUR SIDE NOT ONLY AGAINST THE BROKEN ONE, BUT THROUGH ALL OF WHAT COMES AFTER.
“Planning on it.”
PICK ONLY THOSE STRONG ENOUGH, LOYAL ENOUGH TO STAND IN DEFIANCE WHEN THE WHOLE OF CREATION HAS TURNED AGAINST YOU, ONLY THOSE WHO WIL
L STAND WHEN THE GROUND BENEATH THEIR FEET COLLASPES, WHEN THE DEAD RISE, WHEN BLOOD RAINS FROM THE SKIES, WHEN ALL YOUR DREAMS FALL, WHEN ALL YOU HAVE BUILT CRUMBLES. ONLY THEN WILL SUCCESS BE IN SIGHT.
It was still riddles, but at least it was about Paine, I suppose. “Asking a bit much of us humans, ain’t ya?”
I DO NOT ASK IT OF HUMANS! he snapped back. When a dragon snaps, there’s a bit more teeth to it. I DO NOT ASK AT ALL! I ORDER IT OF THE CHAMPIONS WHO ONCE BETRAYED THEIR SACRED VOWS! I ORDER IT OF THE ELEMENTAL COURT! IF YOU WOULD DO THIS THEN I ORDER YOU WITH ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH! I ORDER YOU TO KNOW NO DOUBT! I ORDER YOU TO TRIUMPH ABOVE THE BROKEN ONE!
“Asking a bit much of little ‘ol me now,” I couldn’t help but mumble.
YES, the dragon agreed, finally backing off, glancing down at Atlas once more. Remembering what he once had but was now lost. I CANNOT PROTECT YOU. I CANNOT FORESEE THE RESPONSE. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT EVEN IN DEFEAT, THE BROKEN ONE WILL BRING ABOUT YOUR DEATH. THEY WILL HEAR THIS TRUMPET CALL AND IT WILL NOT BE IGNORED. PERHAPS IT WILL NOT BE ANSWERED AT ONCE, BUT IT WILL BE ANSWERED . . . THEY ARE BETTER AT WAITING THAN ANY OTHER.
“Vamps gonna strike back,” I sifted through his meaning. “Maybe not right away . . . but eventually. Yeah, I hear you. Seems like Nii-Vah’s the only one who wants peace anymore. Lucky for me, most the others are too busy fighting each other. Of course, they worry about Paine as much as anyone else. Landing a blow against him then following it up with a raid on his hideout might buy me more time, not less. Should buy me some Asylum Points, that’s for sure . . . need some for the Guild, but if the Divines do come after me one day might be good to have a few points left over. Pit of No Return, Meta-Yo-Yo, can’t even run from it in this dream world.”
TINY LITTLE NIVU, Meteyos recalled of Nii-Vah, eyes lingering on the city, his city. CARING, YES, SEES SUCCESS IN COMPROMISE, YES, BUT DEADLY AS WELL. THOUGH BALHAD DEFEATED TIAMYAT AND I TO END THE WAR, NIVU WAS NOT WITHOUT HER VICTORIES. SHE KEPT SLAVES LIKE ALL THE REST; SHE CONSUMES THE BLOOD OF HUMANITY LIKE ALL THE REST. THEY WILL ALL OF THEM RESIST WHAT COMES, EVEN HER. YOU WILL SEE THE HEART OF THEM BEFORE ALL IS FINISHED.
Didn’t like that. Didn’t like any of this. Would rather go back to him just shutting up about whatever future he wanted out of me. Whole lot better than the Armageddon talk he kept hinting at. Don’t want no dead people rising. Don’t want no blood raining from the skies. Do want Paine smacked around, do want Susan back, do want Val in my arms for as long as I can keep her there. Want me and mine and nothing else. Have to fight Paine for it, then I’ll fight Paine for it. Means the Vamps gonna strike back one day then I’ll get ready for them too. But I ain’t no prophet, would never be no prophet.
Sure as shit ain’t fighting some blood god beat two dragons at once . . .
Susan, just wanted Susan back.
Whatever happened after that was cherry-on-top of this short life I know I’m living.
So the Divines might want me dead? Get at the back of the line, blood gods. Obadiah Paine, Ticket Number One!
He can come and get some too.
Long as Susan was safe I’d take any shot coming my way afterwards.
Pay the Price yet again.
“If story time is over and you’re done trying to get my to crap my pants, don’t suppose you can push me in the right direction?” I asked. “Still have a little trouble sticking the landing on this teleporting shit.”
Meteyos was only too happy to oblige. Tried not to think about how he threw me a whole lot like you throw a pair of dice.
[CLICK]
You know, I could do it again.
Cut.
Right to me standing in front of Paine.
That’s where we’re heading.
That’s the inescapable gyre.
The convergence.
Come one, come all, see who stands supreme and alone up on that mountain. Broken One or King of Dirt, tremble in awe, cuz one might a villain be, but the other ain’t ever gonna be worthy of spandex, be it red, white, and blue, or black as sin.
Could cut right to that.
But there’s something to be said for the lead up, ain’t there?
For the marshalling of forces.
There’s drama in that.
The training. The decisions. The reunions. How one person becomes a couple, becomes a group, becomes a cause.
Build that anticipation.
Build that army.
Ready yourself.
Find it in yourself to do what you have to do, no matter the cost.
Something to be said about the hero, crappy though he may be, returning home after already risking himself.
Fresno.
This arrival was more enjoyable than any of the other realm-jumps Meteyos had been involved in. Better than the time Meteyos threw me out in the middle of the woods, covered head to toe in dirt. Way better than the time I popped out and had to crawl to Miranda and Val’s doorstep, gonna bleed to death long before all them splinters got stuck in my palm, but not like they helped.
Think it comes down to me helping this time around. Knew where I started and where I wanted to end up. Wasn’t spot on. Still needed to work at it. Only ended up in the general area of Fresno in which my shop resided. Not inside of it. Not at the front door. Not even in the same shopping center. Just . . . kinda sorta around.
You ain’t throwing up and you can walk. Just travelled from London to Fresno in a few minutes, if that hazy moon and them mostly light-polluted stars over your head are any indication.
Call that shit a win.
If you ignored the Meteyos talk ‘o gloom I had to sit through.
Guess what, King Henry? Paine is more dangerous to you than the Vamps are, but you’re still gonna have to fight him, I guess! Oh yeah, just FYI: the world is about to implode. You’ll probably be responsible! Good luck!
Stupid fucking dragons. Stupid Tolkien bullshit. Lucky he didn’t call me a chosen one or I would’ve cut a bitch, no matter what big eyes he got or what big teeth he has or how massive his dragon balls are! All the prophet garbage is bad enough as is, makes me want to go find a deserted cabin to hide in. One surrounded by water. Like on an island. Or up in the sky. Up in the sky would be better.
Fresno.
Not exactly the city of prophets or chosen ones.
City of okies, arkies, beaners, chinks, hoods, whops, and micks, pick your pejorative for the uneducated, uncivilized poor. Just make sure you divide them by race and ethnicity, that way they won’t turn on the people really in charge of this shit-show, cuz they’ll be too busy fighting each other, see?
Fresno.
A city whose claim to fame is that Bubba from In the Heat of the Night was our mayor for eight years. Fresno . . . they reelected Bubba. Mayor Fucking Bubba.
What a shithole. Fresno’s such a shithole, it’s almost eclipsed the Shithole Scale. Like . . . that shit where they take perfectly good wine and then they distill it even more. Distilled Shit Hole. Shit Hole Prime. New Game Plus Shit Hole. Especially in August. Had to be 2AM or something like that. Way time zones work that means I lost eight hours from London. Got to relive the same night twice. Least it ain’t the night that Paine beat ya. It’s the night where you start to get ready to beat him.
No sleep again.
Took me a few seconds and a sigh or two to come to terms with that.
No sleep again.
Building an artifact on no sleep.
Dealing with the Welfs . . . on no sleep.
Getting to see T-Bone and Vicky and Pocket and Jesus on the other side of my thievery, getting to have all those emotions run hot while I can barely remember my name, much less remember I need to repress all that shit.
Trying to stay pissed off about Paine having my sister . . . well, well, found a place where no sleep would help.
Would still need to put in a solid eight hours tomorrow night, before we headed to wherever Paine set up our date with destiny. If I had to guess I’d put it some place between Fr
esno and Seattle, maybe Oregon. If any place deserved to be destroyed as collateral damage during a mancer firefight then it was Oregon. Oregon ain’t a shithole, it’s just full of shitty people. Hippies who turned smug prick and stanky ass vagina. Whole fucking opposite point of being a hippie, but Oregon managed it somehow.
But where was I?
Oh yeah.
Fresno.
Fuck you, Fresno.
2AM or the like and it was still hot. Air was shit. Always shit in August, make the wheezy fuckers like my old classmate Curt Chambers sound like a harmonica. Just nasty. Couldn’t see it now, but the whole valley was surrounded in a brown tinge, so thick it blocked out any sight of the Sierra Nevadas on the horizon.
Still . . . home, sweet home.
Home, sweet home, my ass.
“You fucking did it,” I said aloud, taking in the asphalt roads and cement sidewalks, the small outlet malls and the cracking, faded parking lots on every corner. “You’re a fucking crazy bastard who just went from point A to point B without any Geo Realm in between. Sure, had some training wheels this time, but . . . here you are.”
All my fingers, all my toes.
Even more . . . I just broke out of the Pit for good. Completed that first plan, that first suicide mission. Pit of No Return, huh? Well, look at me, ma! I’m fucking returned!
2AM.
Fresno.
About a mile walk ahead of me to get down to King Henry’s Nerd Nirvana if I judged where I was correctly. But first . . . still had a bunch of emergency cash, didn’t I?
“Time to find me a Taco Bell.”
Them whatever-the-fucks are gonna taste like freedom this time around.
As long as I don’t get arrested for carrying a sword around.
I mean . . . it’s Fresno, couldn’t be the first time that shit had happened.
Just a normal Friday night in some parts of this town.
[CLICK]
I don’t know what I expected for a greeting. Too tired to expect anything at the moment, even with my stomach full of enough caffeine, beef, cheese, and tortilla to kill a Chihuahua. But I don’t think T-Bone rushing up to the glass door, flinging it open, and sticking his finger into my chest was even on my list, especially not a finger pointed like it was a deadly weapon.
The Pit of No Return (The King Henry Tapes Book 6) Page 61