Shadow City

by Diana Pharaoh Francis

  Ilanion led them up a spiral stairway that opened up on top of his compound. They stepped out on the flat summit of a tall mountain. It was covered with greenery, and waterfalls cascaded down its sides, sending up a veil of mist that swallowed the base of the mountain entirely. Shadows thickened and hid much of the rest of the view, but Max could tell they were still in the Torchmarch from the twining ropes and bridges and the flames that flickered like stars all around them.

  The top of the mountain was smooth as glass. Sitting in the middle was the air barge. It looked like an origami blimp made from black paper. It was all sharp edges and angles. On either side, steps led up to a door in the gondola.

  Ilanion led everyone onboard, all except for the members of Horngate. Max would not board without Scooter, and Giselle would not board without her. Which meant that none of them left.

  Finally, Drida appeared. He pushed Scooter in a stretcher-like basket that hovered several feet off the ground. Alexander was shocked by the demigod’s appearance. He smelled of sickness, and his red and brown scaled skin was slack and loose. Bandages covered his forehead and chest, and his long black hair was dull and crisp. He was barely breathing.

  He felt Max stiffen beside him, her teeth grinding together. Then, without a word, she followed Drida and Scooter into the belly of the air barge. Giselle followed, and then went the Blades, Oz and Alexander, the spiked wolf, and the two Grims.

  The interior was comfortable, if not luxurious. It had several decks connected by stairs, each much the same. Couches lined the angular walls in odd zig-zag patterns. They were upholstered in soft black leather and polished gold buttons. There were no windows or tables or any other passengers.

  “The judge provides transportation,” Ilanion told them as they settled themselves. “It will get us there in time.”

  They lifted off, the gondola swinging drunkenly at first and then steadying into a gentle sway. It was impossible to tell how fast they were going. No one spoke except Giselle and Ilanion. They were talking about magic and what to expect of the super-witches.

  Max paced uneasily, the spiked wolf watching her. Beyul had sniffed Scooter all over and now sprawled along a couch with his head on his forelegs. Tyler’s Grim was off by itself, watching Tyler with unblinking eyes. Oz and Thor went up the stairs to explore and returned a few minutes later. Oz checked his gear and then sat back to wait. Thor lay down on a couch and pulled his hat down over his eyes. A moment later, he was snoring. Alexander smiled thinly. A handy talent, that.

  The trip seemed to take the blink of an eye. Soon he felt them descending. A wave of magic crackled through them, bringing nearly everyone to stiff attention.

  “That’s just us passing through the coliseum ceiling,” Ilanion said. “There’s no going back.”

  “That’s all right, friend,” Thor said in his slow Texan drawl. “We all came to play.”

  A minute or two later, they settled onto the ground. The doors opened, and they descended, stepping out onto a small paved plaza. As soon as they stepped off, the air barge collapsed flat.

  Max stood beside Scooter. Alexander joined her, as did Giselle. Thor, Tyler, and Oz arranged themselves to block any attacks on the witch. The two Grims and the Calopus sniffed around in front of them. Beside them, Ilanion stood surrounded by his people. On the opposite side of the plaza, their enemies waited.

  “Is that a dragon?” Tyler asked.

  “It is Kucedre. She is one of the Korvad. Careful of her breath—it will drown you, but not before it melts the skin and flesh from your bones. She has another form, a beautiful woman. She’s very powerful, but she must have time to write her spells out. I’m sure that someone is carrying a bagful of prepared spells for her. Magic has little effect on her in this form, and ordinary arrows cannot penetrate her hide.”

  “Ordinary arrows?” Alexander asked quickly.

  “My people carry arrows that will pierce her.”

  “One thing’s for sure. If we’re going to make our building plan work, we’d better find a hell of a big one to drop on her,” Tyler said.

  “I didn’t really expect her to be here. She likes to hang back and let others do the dirty work for her. Asherah must have made a strong impression on her, or she has too much to lose if she doesn’t help. She’ll take to the air,” Ilanion said. “Unless we damage her wings.” He looked at Drida, who nodded and began talking to several of the other gargoyles.

  “Tell us about the others,” Max said.

  “The good news is that only three showed up. You’ve seen Asherah. Aside from her magic, she’s fast, and her claws will rip through just about anything. She likes to use them, too. They’re naturally poisonous, so stay away from them.”

  “Which one is she?” Alexander asked.

  “The four-armed woman,” Max said. “Who else?” she asked Ilanion.

  “Pradaku. He’s the black panther.”

  “Panther? He’s bigger than my truck,” Oz said.

  “You have to watch him. He emits a fragrance that steals your will, and you won’t be able to resist. He will enslave you and turn you against your companions. As with the others, he is capable of powerful magic. He can also change form, though he retains his black skin no matter what he looks like.”

  “And the rest of them?” Alexander asked.

  Ilanion eyed the Korvad’s collection of minions. “The cat heads are pretty obvious. Half jungle cat, half human, all deadly. They are fierce but nothing you can’t handle. The tall, thin ones on the end wearing hoods are what you might call ghouls. They are devourers of flesh and spirit. They are fast and difficult to see when they choose not to be seen, and their bites paralyze. They might give you a little more trouble.”

  “How do you kill them?” Thor asked.

  “None of these creatures likes iron. An arrow in the eye or the heart will drop them. Or a bullet.”

  “That just leaves those four ape-looking things,” Max said.

  “I’ve never seem them before,” Ilanion said, frowning at them.

  The creatures in question were thick-shouldered and hunched, with arms that hung to the ground. They walked on all fours like apes, although their faces and bodies were human enough. They carried wide, curved swords and wore chain mail and hobnail boots.

  Before they could speculate any more about the creatures, a column of white light rose out of the ground between the two groups of challengers. It was a good fifteen feet tall. A figure shimmered into being atop it.

  The judge, Alexander guessed. Her head was covered with a white and gray feathered headdress, and her face was hidden behind a white mask that had no eye, nose, or mouth holes. Her flowing robe wrapped her entire body and gave no clue to what she might look like underneath. The only reason Alexander knew she was female was because Ilanion had said so.

  “Challengers, step forward,” she said in an ethereal voice that sounded neither male nor female—nor human, for that matter.

  Ilanion started to move, and Max pinned him in place with a look. “This is my challenge,” she said. “Stay here,” she told her Blades. She gripped Scooter’s stretcher and pulled him with her as she walked away. The box with his heart was tucked between his feet. As always, the Calopus went with her.

  She stopped at the base of the column, just across from Asherah. The creature was dressed in silver-studded leather, her four arms naked except for silver gauntlets that ended at the elbow. Her clawed feet were bare. Her entire presence radiated magic and menace. It was all Alexander could do not to join Max. Beside him, he felt the beasts inside Thor, Tyler, and Oz roaring to the fore. They were no more happy about this than he was.

  “You have agreed to the terms,” the judge intoned. “You shall place the prizes in the light. At that time, the first bell will sounds, and you may go prepare as you see fit. When the second bell sounds, the challenge begins. It ends when one side forfeits or dies.”

  The judge fell silent, and Max hesitated a moment, then guided the stretcher toward th
e pillar of light. She stopped and bent down, whispering something against Scooter’s ear. Then she pushed him through. At the same time, Asherah shoved in a twisted horn about three feet long. It glittered with gold and jewels. Next went in a small box, no bigger than Alexander’s fist.

  As soon as all four of the prizes were inside, the pillar flashed and hardened. At the same time, a bell sounded, like the one that had summoned them all to the coliseum. It resonated through Alexander’s bones, and the ground trembled beneath him. Max spun around and trotted back to join them.

  “We don’t have much time,” she said. “Remember. Hit them fast and hard, and don’t leave anyone alive.” She glanced at Alexander, Thor, Oz, Tyler, and Giselle. “Try not to get dead,” she said softly. “See you when I see you.”

  They dispersed. The game was on.

  MAX UNLEASHED HER PRIME, LETTING HER human senses deaden. Hate filled her. The focus was Asherah. For Scooter’s pain and suffering. For Tutresiel and Xaphan. For Niko.

  It didn’t matter that Asherah had never met Niko or the angels. Max still held her responsible. If not for the four-armed bitch, Scooter would never have needed Max, and she would have been there to help when the Fury rose. For that, Asherah would pay. All of them would pay.

  She, Oz, Tyler, Thor, and Alexander fanned out in a wide arc across several streets to trail their opponents. Behind came Drida and four of his gargoyles. Ilanion had taken Giselle somewhere where she could be safe while following everyone’s progress astrally until they could figure out a place to lay the building trap. The earthworm critters and two remaining gargoyles went with them.

  Unexpectedly, team Korvad did not split up but stayed together, heading east. Max wondered if it was just stupidity or arrogance that made them bunch up into a big fat target.

  It was seven minutes before the second bell sounded. When it did, the dragon arrowed up into the air, her blue wings pumping powerfully. She gained height and looped around, flying back toward the starting point. She’d probably spiral out from there, searching for someone to kill.

  That gave them only a few minutes’ window to attack her friends before she and her bad breath got back. Max ran forward. She stopped at the corner of a building and scanned the street ahead. She saw no movement. She was about to start out again when Giselle appeared, her body mostly transparent.

  Max didn’t wait for her to speak. “Go back to Drida. Have him and the earthworms set up an ambush for the dragon on top of those buildings just ahead.” She pointed. “We’ll go bait the ambush and bring her in. Hurry.”

  Giselle vanished. Max waited. A couple of minutes later, the witch reappeared and gave Max a nod. Drida and the earthworms were on their way.

  “Go tell everyone else what’s up. Team Korvad’s about four blocks ahead. We’ll harass them a little, and that should bring the dragon quick.”

  Giselle disappeared again, and Max jogged forward. She encountered some kind of a magical land mine in the middle of the street but easily went around it. The work was fast and sloppy, and she wondered if it was done that way on purpose to make pursuers think they didn’t need to watch too hard for trouble.

  She sharpened her watch. The next trap was just as sloppy and obvious, but the third was subtle. She knew it was there more by the slight tingle in the air than anything else. It stretched across the entire road.

  Unwilling to test it, Max jumped up to a ledge on the third floor of the squat building beside her. From there, she climbed onto the roof and ran to the edge in front. From her vantage point, she could see team Korvad. They were loosely strung out over a two-block length. She saw Alexander one street over, and then Thor trotted up behind him. She didn’t see Oz or Tyler, but if they weren’t in place, they soon would be.

  She leaped to the next building and ran across the roof, then jumped one more time. Asherah’s team wasn’t watching the rooftops. They trusted the dragon to protect them from the air.

  Max looked over her shoulder. She couldn’t see the dragon. Although the air seemed clear, Chadaré’s weird shadow atmosphere prevented any long-distance vision. She smiled. Good. That would help keep the dragon’s search pattern to small spirals. Drida would have time to get his ambush set up.

  She leaped to the next building and then another. She was ahead of team Korvad now. She went to the far side of her building and climbed down, easing around the corner to glance up the street. Asherah and the panther were walking in the middle of the street, with the four ape guys boxing them in. The ghouls and the cat heads were evenly dispersed around them.

  Max readied herself. A flicker of movement across the road caught her attention. Thor moved up on the opposite side. He winked at her and grinned. She returned the smile. She nodded, and they both swung around the corner and opened fire.

  Oz and Alexander joined in on the other end of the block at almost the same moment. The cat heads died quickest. The Shadowblades fired with deadly precision, and team Korvad wasn’t expecting guns. Astonishment held them still for deadly seconds. Then they started shooting arrows. The ghouls flickered across the ground like skeletal shadows, moving so fast that Max could barely track them.

  Poison-tipped arrows clattered around her. She pulled back and popped the clip free of her gun and clicked in another. She glanced around the corner again.

  Asherah was facing Oz and Alexander at the other end of the block. The panther was heading for Max and Thor. She frowned, remembering Ilanion’s warning. Pradaku the panther emitted an odor that would turn his enemies into slaves. She pinched her nose shut, calling out a warning to Thor. He looked at her and followed suit.

  They both emptied their guns at the enormous black beast. The bullets tinkled to the ground without ever hitting him. Damn. Shit. Fuck.

  Suddenly, three ghouls came out of nowhere and darted at Max. She twisted away. The move brought her too close to the panther, and she was forced to let go of her nose as she lunged away. She sprawled on her stomach, then rolled to the side and flipped to her feet.

  The ghouls were only a few feet away, the panther hanging back to let them work. They were a patchwork quilt of skin, as if they’d been sewn together from the discards in Dr. Frankenstein’s workshop. And whoever had quilted them together hadn’t been neat about it. Bone and dirty gray flesh were exposed here and there. All three were pocked with bullet holes that dribbled black blood. Their mouths were round and lipless, with snapping piranha teeth.

  One of them flickered sideways around to her left. She jerked her head to watch him, and another skimmed closer, reaching out with long, skeletal fingers. Max flinched away, but then ice knifed through her side as the third ghoul plunged its fingers through her skin and under her ribs. Blood ran down her side. She gritted her teeth against the pain and the cold and yanked herself away. The other two ghouls rushed at her, making an excited humming sound at the smell of her blood.

  But then Spike was there. The wolf snarled and launched itself at the ghouls.

  “No!” Max shouted. She dropped her gun and whipped out a sword.

  Before she could swing, Spike exploded like a porcupine. Spines drilled through the ghouls, and they staggered back, keening. Then they dropped to the ground like wet rags. Spike shook and nosed one with a growl before wagging once at Max.

  Before she could move, the panther prowled forward. His eyes were a sunset orange, and he stood a good eight feet at the shoulder. He sat down just beyond Spike and tilted his head at Max as if waiting. Her lip curled. That’s exactly what he was doing. He expected her to fall at his feet and grovel.

  She held her breath. But that wasn’t going to work for long. Spike bared its teeth at the panther. Max reached out and grabbed Spike by the ruff and pulled the animal back. Several spines went through her hand, and it burned with poison, but she didn’t let go. Spike wasn’t going to become a slave to the big cat.

  Suddenly, the panther shifted, and in its place stood a giant of a man. His skin was ebony black. He was about ten feet tall and rippled
with muscle. Hell, his muscles had muscles. His legs were tree trunks, and his cock was—enough to say that he’d put a horse to shame. He was hairless from the top of his head to his feet. Long talons curved from his toes and fingers. His jaw was slightly elongated. He smiled, revealing long fangs.

  “You may breathe,” he said.

  Max shook her head. Had he dropped his shields to shift? Was he that stupid? There was no way to tell. A flicker of movement behind him warned her that someone was coming. She had to keep him from noticing. And pray to Mother Night that whoever was coming was one of hers.

  She let out the breath she was holding. Oh, this is so fucking stupid. But if he was dead, his hold on her would die with it. Wouldn’t it?

  She drew a breath. “I’ll never want you,” she said, and a tingling sensation rushed through her. She smelled something like apricot, hot metal, and cardamom. It wrapped her senses and tangled her mind. Gentle hooks dug themselves into her essence, and her body and soul flooded with shuddering desire. She went dizzy, and suddenly, a rainbow aura flared around Pradaku. He looked amazing. She wanted him. She would do anything for just a single glance. Her mouth went dry, and she wanted to crawl on the ground to make him look at her, touch her, smile at her.

  His widening smile told her that he knew exactly what she was experiencing. Inside, her Prime scrabbled and snapped at her to wake up. Pradaku gestured toward the ground. Her knees immediately started to buckle in response, but something in Max held her upright. He frowned and gestured harder.

  She twitched, and her body shook as if she were having drug withdrawals, but she didn’t fall. She couldn’t. No, she wouldn’t. Not to this bastard. But the truth was, she wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. Already, her bones felt like water, and she ached for him to smile at her and caress her. In a few minutes, she’d probably be begging for him to use her like a blowup doll.

  He stepped forward, his expression twisting. Magic streamed from his hands in long whips. He snapped them at her, and Max flew back, stripes of fire and blood seaming across her body. But the pain was a gift. It did more than anything to cut through the enchantment of his scent.