by Holly Hook
And Sven held me with his brilliant blue eyes.
"We deserve each other," I repeated. "I'm just as bad as you."
Sven's mouth fell open. "Felicia. You—"
"Yes."
No more lies. No more secrets. And no more hiding. Sven and I carried a monster in each of us.
Now we would embrace them together.
"You did what you needed to," he said, taking his hand from mine and drawing his sword. There was something different in his eyes now. "And I'm fighting beside you." He eyed the vault door.
If he killed Adler, he'd become a full Slayer.
Adler remained at the wall. "This treasure," she explained, "belongs to me and Wiglaf. While we're in this cave, I have its power behind me."
I took a step towards her. "There are seven of us."
"Precisely," Ted shouted, firing an arrow at Wiglaf.
The ancient Slayer raised his sword, deflecting it. The arrow landed on the stone. He might be human, but he had a thousand years of practice. My mother had wasted her magic on this bag of dirt.
The Machers descended on Adler. Adler retreated to a far corner of the room and kneeled as her joints popped. Sven, as if sensing her vulnerability, bolted towards her, crossbow raised.
Wiglaf rushed him. Ted fired again, missing.
"Watch—" Dirk started.
He struck his son with the broad side of Beowulf's sword, knocking the breath from my soulmate. Sven stumbled, grasping his side.
Fire exploded in my heart.
My joints screamed as the primal monster woke. Darkness filled the chamber, riding on a wave of pain. This was it.
"Sven!" Sofia shouted, firing a round at her father.
The arrow banged into his armor and bounced off. Wiglaf raised his sword, blade down, and prepared to drive it into Sven's stunned form. Sven's eyes popped all the way open.
"No!" I shouted, but the agony and fire consumed me.
I collapsed as Mr. Macher raced to Wiglaf and tackled him. Both went down as Sofia pulled her brother to his feet. Dirk's dad was giving me a chance. On the other side of the chamber, in the shadows, a shape twisted, popped, and grew.
Adler might have more power than me.
I had no authority here.
The fire swallowed me, but I held onto the pain, hoping it would keep me conscious. I turned to a writhing ball of agony as my body twisted and grew. I bit in a scream. Letting them know I was vulnerable would be death.
The change ripped through me fast but took an eternity. The cave shrunk. Scuffles echoed. The torment faded, and I waited to feel a sword stabbing into my underside, but it didn't come. My joints quieted, and I opened my eyes to see Mr. Macher and Wiglaf wrestling on the ground, but neither came out on top. I stood above them and my torn clothes as the last pain from the shift ended. Mr. Macher grunted as Wiglaf rolled him onto his back. The Slayer hooked his hands around his neck. The man might be human, but he was strong. Maybe my mother had given him strength, too.
I growled.
Wiglaf faced me and rose, leaving Mr. Macher stunned. He plucked his sword from the ground. He stood as Mr. Macher took a breath and recovered. Sven staggered back as Sofia fired another arrow at him. It bounced off his armor. Ted did the same. Mrs. Macher warned Dirk to stay back.
"Well, this feels familiar," Wiglaf said, stepping towards me. Behind him, a purple shape emerged into the light—a huge shape bigger than me. "Old times. Now that you've destroyed my Slayers, I can end you. I'll finally destroy your mother's murderous line."
I wanted to step forward, but the sight of that sword froze me to the core. I forced my gaze away from it. Wiglaf would dive under me and deliver the blow. The sword would have the power to end me. I sensed it.
And dive he did.
But the purple shape—Adler—surged forward and snapped at Wiglaf, grabbing him with her sharp teeth around his chest plate. She swept him off the ground and backed away from me, setting him down on the other side of the chamber. Her red, gemlike eyes filled with frustration and hate. Her vow. She still had to keep those who would harm me away from me. Adler then turned her glare on me. I sensed calculation in her eyes. Adler was trying to get around it. She was trying to find another way—
Then she stared around me and at Sofia and Ted.
I turned and moved to shield them, claws clicking against stone as Sven rose and muttered my name.
A crossbow fired. Pain pierced my side. Sofia fired at me, terror and determination in her eyes. Ted did the same.
Adler had altered their memories.
I growled at them both. Sofia continued to fire. Bolts of pain ripped into my scales.
"Continue fire!" Wiglaf shouted at her. "That's my daughter. Keep it up!"
Rage overtook me. I charged her. Sofia backed away but Adler and Wiglaf had delivered the right combo. Sofia was once again a slave to her needs.
"Get back!" Sofia ordered, aiming the crossbow at my eyes.
I turned my face away, but she fired, and an arrow lodged into my jaw like a monstrous stinger. I raised a foreleg to dislodge it. She'd hit my eye next. Then Adler and Wiglaf would make her go in for the kill. Sofia was too close, unlike Wiglaf. Adler couldn't come near me to take her away. It was a brilliant plan.
"Sis!" Sven shouted, seizing her arm. "She's on our side! Your memory's been altered!"
"Let go of me!" she yelled.
Sven pulled on her and made her lose her balance. "Felicia. Cure her!"
Ted fired at me as more joints popped. Someone else was shifting. I eyed Adler and Wiglaf, but they hung on the other side of the room. Adler continued to calculate. Sven had to stay near me. If he wandered away—
I had to protect him and Sofia.
"Hurt no one but the purple one!" Sven shouted. He pulled Sofia to a pillar. "Stop. Look at Felicia."
I reached for my magic, keeping my body between Adler and Sven. The magic from the vault remained, taunting me, but it refused to obey my commands. I focused on Sofia, but the magic I could use was a candle flame compared to the bonfire it had once been. I sensed the purple barrier in her mind as she thrashed against her brother, but it was strong. A dam holding back a sea. I chipped away at it, but the barrier crumbled one tiny stone at a time. Curing Sofia would take forever.
Another dragon growled behind me. Mr. Macher. I glimpsed white scales from the corner of my eye as Sofia dropped her crossbow.
"Sven!" she screamed.
"Our father's doing this to us," he shouted. "He wants us both dead!"
"Sofia, your brother is insane! You need to take the family honor," Wiglaf yelled from behind Adler's front leg.
I took a breath, trying to curb my rage from Sofia. This wasn't her fault. I had to end Wiglaf. Sven needed to end Adler. I eyed Sven, trying to tell him to leave Sofia alone, but Dirk snapped out of his daze and broke away from his mother. He took Sofia's arm and pulled her back, freeing Sven.
Ted fired another arrow into my back, but it only scraped my skin. He wasn't trained.
Sven drew his sword again. "Ready?" he asked. "I'll run behind you."
I nodded.
We needed to end Wiglaf now. Sofia would scream and cry, but only until we got that treasure and I could fix her.
Mr. Macher looked at me, white scales shining in the light. We charged the evil pair together, Sven running between us with his sword raised. Adler seized Wiglaf and pulled him back towards the wall, trying to keep her vow to avoid me, but they were running out of room. They had nowhere to run. We'd face them up close.
And behind us, Mrs. Macher shifted without crying out.
I snapped at Wiglaf. Adler reached for him as he dodged out of my way, only to stand against Mr. Macher's leg. Sven ran under me, diving underneath Adler with his sword ready. She growled as he delivered a blow to her ribs, drawing blood. Adler thrashed, striking me in the side with her claws. They raked scales, leaving three lines of agony.
I hoped she couldn't use mind magic in Sven unless she could make
eye contact. It must be the only reason he wasn't his old self yet.
Wiglaf backed into the wall, trying to avoid Mr. Macher and raising his shield. I raked it out of the way. The shield flew like sheet metal in a storm, landing behind me.
Only to expose the wicked sword.
"Back!" he shouted, keeping his gaze on me. "Back, or I will—"
He didn't finish, but dove under Mr. Macher.
I couldn't scream at him to dodge. Instead, I rammed my body into his, but he was bigger than me and didn't move much.
Mr. Macher growled in pain, but it didn't cover the wet slicing sound.
“Dad!”
Dirk's one word carried more anguish than anyone should have bore. I sucked in a breath of horror. The white dragon staggered back, bleeding across the floor from his underside. It was bad. Wiglaf held Beowulf's bloody sword. I froze at the sight again, but shook my head as Mr. Macher continued to bleed. He took a breath, but it gurgled. Wiglaf had punctured his lungs.
I had to heal him.
Or Dirk would watch his father die.
A bronze dragon—Mrs. Macher—advanced in a rage, making the chamber quiver. She snapped at Wiglaf and took a breath, taking advantage at the loss of his shield. She glanced at me.
I had to heal her husband.
Mr. Macher sank, trembling, his stomach touching the floor. He took another breath as sadness and resignation filled his red eyes. He looked to his son, who still held Sofia in place. Blood continued to expand. He wasn't healing like normal. The sword was deadlier than I thought.
It was his last goodbye.
The sounds of Sven and Adler running around each other seemed to fade.
"No," Dirk muttered.
I wouldn't have it.
Rushing over, I lay over Mr. Macher's dying form, reaching for any magic still inside me. He took another shuddering breath. My magic stirred, different from the flow coming from the vault, and I allowed what little I had to flow into Dirk's father. His breath calmed. Weakness filled me as I put everything I had into keeping him alive. The sounds of fighting continued in the background. Teeth snapped. Armor clanked. Swords cut air.
Mrs. Macher unleashed fire on Wiglaf, engulfing his armored form. But he kept his sword up in defiance. He wasn't dying. His armor helped protect him. Mrs. Macher ran out of flame and swept her claws at him instead, throwing him against the wall. Wiglaf still held his weapon as he absorbed the shock and rolled, getting low. Ted continued to fire on us. One of his arrows struck my wing, keeping him away from me.
Sven remained under Adler, whose wounds sizzled and healed instantly. Sven was keeping her distracted and avoiding her mind magic. He avoided her jaws. Sven used care, staying back. His guilt has dissolved and he had no intention of sacrificing himself today. Adler turned in circles, snapping at him as he swung his weapon at her legs. He struggled to land a blow on her vulnerable spot but she wouldn't stay still.
Mr. Macher took another breath, this one not as severe. But the deadly gurgle remained. I heard it deep within as I kept my ear on his back. I was a dry well. No water would fill it. I had depleted my magic and only slowed his death.
“Dad!” Dirk shouted, running to him. He left Sofia behind to grab her crossbow.
My heart shattered as Dirk threw himself over the white dragon's snout. Mr. Macher grunted.
And I dug deeper, reaching for memories of Dirk. Home. Magic sparked to life from a distance and flowed into me, almost as if it were traveling from the Olivia hoard. I thought of downtown and the Freezer and even all those rides in the Zombie, with strengthened the flow. I allowed all the warmth to go to Mr. Macher, from my body to his.
He took a breath.
It was clear.
And then he rose, forcing me off.
“Dad?” Dirk asked.
He growled at Dirk, telling him to stay back and stop Sofia, who ran towards us, bow ready. Arrows flew. I turned away, allowing them to puncture my back. Biting in pain, I ran to Wiglaf, who rose from the floor as fast as armor allowed. The wall stopped him from backing away. He held up his sword, forcing Mrs. Macher to stay back. Wiglaf faced me, calculating which dragon to attack first. I forced myself to look beyond the deadly blade. Through his visor I glimpsed the ancient blue eyes of a twisted man. Glaring into them and with my magic flowing, I dug deeper.
A purple wall met my awareness.
Adler had altered Wiglaf's mind, and he didn't know.
“Felicia!” Sven warned. "That sword can—"
He ducked underneath Adler, who then twisted her neck and snapped her jaw shut on his ankle.
Blood squirted. Sven screamed, but he whirled and swung his sword at Adler's eye. His blade found its mark, and he dug in, drawing a growl of agony from Adler. Sven broke away, but his foot hung at a brutal angle. Broken. Blood leaked from his boot. It smelled of iron, like his armor. He would bleed out if I didn't heal him.
“Sven!” Sofia shouted, turning her aggression on the purple dragon.
In a rage, Adler sucked in a breath and turned on her. She unleashed raging flame as Sofia ran to the side, dodging death. Sven still refused to give up. He looked to me and raised his sword, terror in his eyes. His sword dripped with blood. He'd stabbed Adler multiple times, and it didn't show. Adler had already healed. The treasure here might have made her invulnerable.
We needed something stronger.
Beowulf's sword.
“Marianne!” Wiglaf shouted.
As if sensing that I was about to charge her, Wiglaf charged me, bloody blade ready.
Dove.
I backed away, ice in my heart. One good strike would kill me. I reached for Olivia all over again, focusing on that purple wall in Wiglaf's mind. On shattering it.
And shatter it did.
Wiglaf stopped feet from me.
His true memories exploded in my mind.
Flashes of a purple dragon flying over straw roofs. Fire. Screaming. The monster closing her jaws on men. Women. Children. Blood flowed.
Beowulf, in armor, holding his sword above gathered men—
Wiglaf shouting that the silver dragon in the mountains was the killer—
Not knowing Adler had destroyed those villages—
A silver dragon standing at the mouth of her cave, biting Beowulf to death with terror in her red eyes—
Wiglaf stabbing her in the heart—
Hatred filling him—
Him believing Adler—
His mind twisting over the centuries as he sought to dull his pain—
“Felicia!” Sven shouted, staggering back from Adler.
I snap back to reality. Wiglaf stared at me, horror filling his eyes. He trembled, nearly dropping Beowulf's sword. Mrs. Macher closed in on him, but I shoved her out of the way with brute force, sending her bronze form into a pillar. Mr. Macher growled behind me, not understanding.
And then Wiglaf faced his son, raising the sword. “Sven! Slay her!” He threw the sword which spiraled through the air.
Sven caught it. The Gems on the handle glowed with a thousand years of rage.
Confusion filled Sven's eyes. Adler growled, steam escaping between her teeth as understanding hit. It was in her eyes. She opened her mouth and descended on Sven. I turned away from Wiglaf. I couldn't kill him now. The sword was now in Sven's hands.
But now Mrs. Macher descended on him. And I didn't stop her now.
Bit.
Metal squealed and Wiglaf screamed for a second before getting cut off. The scent of iron filled the air.
I pushed past Mr. Macher and rushed Adler, closing my teeth on her neck as Sven raised the sword. Blood flowed and her flesh sizzled and closed, defying my teeth. She tried to buck me off. Strength flowed through her as I dug my claws into flesh. A savage growl filled her being and her red eye, filled with jealousy and hate, trained on me. Adler hated everyone, hated their happiness and power. Hated my mother. Hated me and the vow she'd made.
And now she couldn't escape her web of lies.
Sven staggered forward to deliver the killing blow.
Adler's body jolted as Beowulf's sword finally found its intended victim.
She let out a breath as if deflating. This was different from the other wounds. This one would kill.
Silence fell over the chamber.
Adler stopped struggling. Terror filled her red eye.
I let go of her and backed away. Blood spread. Adler fell to all fours again, but not before I saw Beowulf's sword, buried to the handle in her flesh and piercing her heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
Even Adler, who had the magic of a thousand years of stolen treasure, couldn't escape death by a sword that had killed a dragon more powerful than she.
But she took minutes to die.
Sven backed away to stand beside me, wrapping his arms around my foreleg as he tried to balance on his shattered ankle. I sent healing energy to him, riding on thoughts of Olivia, and heard the gross sounds of his bones pulling together.
Everyone watched as Adler settled on her side and sent glares at each one of us. Sofia. Ted, Dirk, who held both their arms. Mr. and Mrs. Macher, who hovered over Adler, making sure she tried no more mind tricks. The hatred in her eyes weakened as she scraped her claws across the stone, making her final mark on the world. Blood leaked from her wound, pooling around her and reflecting the lights above.
And then she glared at me.
Rage filled me.
She had caused all this pain.
I wanted to step forward and gouge out her eye, but I doubted my mother would have wanted that. I would not be like the monster lying in front of me.
And there, she died.
The monster in her eyes went out. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath because I let it out.
“Hey,” Sven said, getting caught in it.
His voice was the most beautiful thing in the world.
And now we were both free.
“Crap,” Dirk said. “Crap. I hate it when I'm right. Why did I mention that Adler and Wiglaf would make a good couple?”