Kill It With Magic: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  Whoosh!

  Searing hot flame singed my back, and I dove into a roll that brought me up facing the spot. Several vampires were caught in the midst of a raging inferno. They staggered as fire engulfed their skin like it was made of gasoline. Screams ripped through the air, and the smell of charred flesh lingered on the wind. As the din died down Caleb stepped through the blaze and placed a single hand on Logan’s chest.

  “They say life is all about the choices we make. Today you chose unwisely,” Caleb said, and I wondered if he was talking to me.

  There was a flash of heat from Caleb’s outstretched hand, and Logan screamed. Blue-white flames leapt over his entire body. Lightning shot out of the cloudless sky and thunder echoed across the land as Logan’s body turned to ash.

  “You probably shouldn’t have done that,” I said. Caleb narrowed his eyes at me and I swallowed before continuing. “Probably shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

  His glare made me take a step back. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it and said nothing for so long that I was sure I’d grown gray hair. Instead of speaking, he shut his eyes.

  I wasn’t quite sure what his deal was, but when he opened his eyes again he looked sad. I had hurt him, and I didn’t even know how I’d done it. I started to say something, but he put a hand up.

  “Just go kill your damned dragon.” He said it in such a way that made me want to hug him. I reached out a hand toward him, but before I could touch him, he vanished.

  I took a deep breath and shook my head. I did not have time for this. I had to go stop a goddamned dragon and he was… was what? No, this was the perfect time for him to be all cryptic and throw off my emotional state. He couldn’t have done this before Bob’s castle loomed in front of me. If I could have, I’d have hit him. I shoved the Demonslayer into my waistband and glowered at the castle.

  “I sincerely hope your plan is significantly better than ‘go inside there and kill everyone until you find out where Valen is,’” Mattoc mumbled, and I turned and glanced at him.

  “Oh so you’ve decided to show yourself!” I snapped. “You have any other shocking revelations to make? Want to mess with my head, too?”

  Mattoc looked at me as though I’d slapped him. Honestly, I was used to him popping in and out, but I hadn’t known he’d gotten away from Warthor. That seemed pretty convenient, too.

  “If I find out you helped Warthor, I will send you back to Hell myself. And this time, I won’t be following you.”

  “Look here, brat! Once Joshua came back with your gun, Warthor let me go. I went back to our apartment, but you were nowhere to be found. Fortunately, Caleb showed up. We have spent the last several hours trying to find you, so the least you could do is be a little bit nicer to me.”

  Heat spread across my face and I knew I was blushing. Caleb had been trying to find me? He had come to my apartment? Had we really just missed each other? I glanced at my feet, unsure of what to say.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, but the words seemed inadequate.

  Mattoc sighed and shook his head. “I’m going to drop it, but I’m not really the one you should apologize to. I know you know that.” The look in his eyes made me feel very small. “Now then, how exactly do you propose to kill a drake?”

  “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you can kill anyone.” I placed one hand on the Demonslayer and the other on the doorway. The Demonslayer throbbed, burning beneath my grip with rage and hatred. I shut my eyes for a moment, drawing power from the ravenous sword and sending it out with one purpose, to destroy.

  The castle’s huge doors exploded in a burst of shrapnel and debris. The tell-tale clicks of automatic rifles echoed all around me, and as the smoke cleared, I saw numerous men pointing the weapons at me. Behind them, Bob watched me with cool, calculating eyes.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Where’s Valen?” I asked and the room tensed, if only because I hadn’t regarded the many gunslingers as a threat. In truth they’d probably kill me before I could throw up a shield, but I didn’t want them to know that.

  “Not here.” Bob’s voice held that edge of finality I associated with the words “time’s up.”

  I took a deep breath and drew Haijiku. “This is Haijiku, known to be inhabited by The Emissary of Tragedy. Right now he is begging me to let him out to play. You have to make a choice. You can choose to not tell me where Valen is, or you can choose to tell me where Valen is, in which case I won’t let my sword eat you.”

  “You are making a poor choice.” Bob’s facial expression hadn’t changed from one of indifference. “But since I don’t really want you to huff and puff and blow my house down I’ll show you where Valen is.”

  “Thanks.”

  The floor beneath me opened up so quickly that I could do little but plunge downward into the darkness. I looked desperately for something, anything to grab hold of, but every which way looked pretty much the same.

  I slammed into the stone with a bone-crunching thud. The light at the top of the hole above me looked very far away. As I struggled to pull breath into my lungs, thankful that I hadn’t decided to remove my magical chain mail, the stone closed above me. I was left in darkness. A tingling sensation ran down the back of my neck. The stench of old copper and sweat filled my nostrils, and I tried to keep from gagging.

  “You killed my knight,” Valen roared in a voice that rubbed against my soul like sandpaper. I took a step back, my breath caught in my throat. The sheer power in his voice made my stomach hurt.

  “Even though I had not yet fully attuned to my knight, I am not pleased with your disrespect. Mortals should not meddle in the affairs of dragons.” The creature snorted again. “Most mortals are not quite as insolent as you, Dioscuri.”

  “Most things aren’t about to be as dead as you are,” I replied indignantly. Yeah, this was going real well.

  I pointed Haijiku at Valen while my right hand gripped the hilt of the Demonslayer. Haijiku glowed with soft blue light, illuminating him before me.

  Red eyes blazing with white flame stared at me as thick purple veins pulsed along his mottled flesh. Along his back twin rows of razor-sharp spines forked off onto twin tails. The ridges above his eyes twitched and a deep chortling rose in his throat. He was in full dragon form now.

  He stood back on his spindly, spider-like hind legs, and I screamed. I hadn’t even known I could make a noise like that, half-thought it had to be someone else shrieking. Jaws big enough to swallow a dump truck twitched into a smile. The chill of his power slid over my skin like an arctic wind, slamming into my senses like a blizzard and numbing me down to the core.

  What was I doing here? Was I really this stupid? This was a dragon and I was trying to… what? Stop it? I forced myself to stop screaming. My throat was ragged and raw, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

  With the flick of one clawed hand his power sent me flying backward into the wall behind me. I crashed into the stone like a lopsided doll. The pain of it reverberated through my bones as I hung there, suspended by his will. His eyes narrowed into tiny slits as he stomped toward me, strangely delicate and forceful at the same time.

  “You dare come after me with that toothpick?” Valen shook his head. I struggled to move as he held me against the stone with unseen force of his mind. “It’s not like I’m some pathetic bag of flesh and bones like you.” His voice changed into a perfect imitation of mine. “I’m an ancient, unstoppable drake.”

  “You know.” I struggled to force the words out of my mouth, and he regarded me very carefully as though wondering how I was able to speak. “You left out the most important part.”

  “And what have I forgotten?” Valen sneered.

  “The immortal part.” I forced my will into Haijiku. The blade lit up with brilliant blue fire as I yanked every last ounce of destructive force out of the Demonslayer and jammed it into Haijiku. The mighty blade seemed to warp under the pressure as the Demonslayer crumbled into dust. The Emis
sary squealed in delight. “Hitobanurei,” I croaked.

  Thousands upon thousands of hellfire butterflies exploded into existence. They flitted through the air like tiny burning stars. There was suddenly too much stuff in my head for everything to fit. It didn’t seem to matter though; The Emissary had gotten the idea. It was going to eat the dragon. My heart jackhammered in my chest so hard that I was pretty sure it would explode.

  The butterflies circled through the air like a mass of frenzied sharks. Everything they touched burst into green hellfire and from those flames even more butterflies rose. They descended, all at once and quite suddenly, on the massive dragon. Valen’s skin erupted in blue-green flame as the magical insects slammed into him like crazed kamikazes.

  Valen’s eyes widened, panic evident on his face as the butterflies forced him back into the corner of the enormous room. He snarled and leapt upward, his gigantic wings beating the air with such force that even the butterflies were pushed backward.

  “The Emissary… you unleashed The Emissary?” he snarled, bursting through the stone above us. “Fool, you have killed us all!”

  Chapter 36

  The butterflies followed the drake out of the hole. Screams echoed through the air as the sound of explosions filled my ears. Valen’s hold on me loosened, and I collapsed to the ground. I wiped my mouth, and my sleeve came away crimson. I grabbed hold of Haijiku with both hands and concentrated, willing myself to my feet.

  I murmured a quiet word and butterflies swarmed around me. I leapt, allowing them to carry me upward. I landed softly on the chipped marble floor amidst a zillion flitting insects. All around us the butterflies swarmed over Bob’s men, reducing them to piles of glowing green ash, and with every one that fell, a wave of power surged through me. The rest of the creatures slammed mercilessly into a wall of force in front of Bob. Behind him, Valen was tearing off in a direction that could only be classified as away. It would only be a few minutes before the butterflies pounded down Bob’s defenses.

  “Goddammit!” I muttered as Bob fell to one knee. Valen was going to escape long before The Emissary overwhelmed Bob. I needed Valen to come back, and there was no way he was going to do that while The Emissary was consuming everything in sight. I had to call off The Emissary. I raised Haijiku and tried to will the butterflies away.

  “No!” The Emissary spoke directly into my mind, and it was like being run over by a tank.

  “Yes!” I screamed. Sweat started to run down my face as I yanked all of the power back through the blade.

  “I will have them all! I will have the drake and the vampire. I will feast on their power, and I will share it with you!” The Emissary cooed in my ear.

  I swayed, falling to my knees. “The dragon will escape unless we draw him back. You must relent… for now.” I sent the image of my plan to the blade.

  Just like that, the butterflies vanished. The room was quiet. Fatigue swelled inside me as I took a step toward Bob.

  Bob’s face was impassive despite the lines of fatigue that had worn into it. “We are enemies. You should have destroyed me.”

  “Yeah.” I tried to smile. “I should do a lot of things.”

  “Indeed.” He ran his tongue over his lips for a moment, and I wondered just how hungry he might be from expending so much energy. He took a listless step toward me, and the temperature in the room increased a few degrees. I slapped him. It was the only thing I could do. He staggered backward.

  “I am not food,” I said, placing the point of Haijiku against his throat. “Why are you here, Bob? Why are you helping the dragon?”

  “Because I want your master to lose. There is no other reason,” he croaked. His eyes were swollen with exhaustion, and I bet I looked pretty tasty.

  The left side of the castle burst into flaming rubble. I dove to the side, grabbing Bob by the arm as I did so and pulled us both away. I hadn’t meant to save him; it was just something I had done without thinking. High above us Valen was glowing brightly and smoke was streaming from his snarling lips.

  “You dare attack me?” Bob thundered, and the earth trembled. “How dare you attack knowing I was here, after I saved your miserable life!”

  Another fireball exploded from Valen’s mouth as I scrambled to my feet. I shot a glance at Bob who looked like rage given form. Though I didn’t doubt Bob could ward off dragon fire at full strength, I didn’t think he could do it now. Not after withstanding The Emissary’s attack.

  I took a step in front of him and held Haijiku in front of me, bracing myself for what I knew was a vain attempt to stop the attack with a shield. Bob put his arms around me, and I shrieked but not in pain, rather, in a sort of strange euphoria. Energy emanated from where he touched my flesh, and my knees went a little weak as the Bob’s power flowed through me. His other hand reached out and intertwined itself with mine as I held Haijiku.

  “Come on, Emissary,” he cooed, his voice a hot rasp in my ear that tightened things low in my body. “Show me why you are the deep dark secret of the supernatural world. Show me your power.”

  The golden dragon fire struck us, and Haijiku erupted into black flame. An inferno raged around the blade as it twisted and warped under the strain. Bob yanked hard, pulling the defiant energy through Haijiku and me. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before, like every cell in my body became supercharged. I could be faster than a speeding bullet, be more powerful than a locomotive, and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

  Bob’s other hand lashed out and fire exploded into the ceiling above Valen. Chunks of superheated stone burst outward like shrapnel. The drake howled in fury and dove toward us.

  “Good luck,” Bob whispered before turning and vanishing through the stone beneath our feet. The feeling left me in an instant, and admittedly, I almost wanted it back.

  “This would be a very good time to run away!” Mattoc yelled at me, actually yelled at me.

  I turned, stared at Valen, and wrapped my fingers around my ring. I thought about tearing it from my finger and going home. I thought about hiding from this thing, but come on. This was a dragon. It could probably find me anywhere. So I was going to finish this fight one way or another. I was not going to run away. Not this time.

  I sheathed Haijiku, and my hands whipped out to the side. I stretched my fingers outward and closed my eyes. This time, instead of trying to bend the energy around me to my will, I began to flow with it until I was one with it. Sweat broke out on my brow. The onrushing wind from the dragon’s steep dive caused a shiver to run down my spine. I didn’t move.

  A wordless battle cry tore itself from my throat as I threw up my shield. Not in an attempt to block the charging beast. That would have been impossible. Instead, I threw a slanted wall of force in such a way that when Valen struck it he was driven straight into the ground. The impact threw me backward a few steps.

  My knees weakened, and I flopped to the floor. I hadn’t realized how hard my heart was pounding or how much air I was sucking in until now. My entire body felt thick and heavy. I swallowed, but my throat stayed dry.

  The immense dragon shook its head, and as it did so, I climbed to my feet. A haze filled my vision. From the corner of my eye I saw Valen’s massive tail coming toward me. I must have missed the actual impact because the next thing I knew, I was lying flat on my back several yards away. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.

  I rolled over onto my hands and knees and tried to breathe. My arms shook with the effort needed to hold my body up. Valen reached out with one enormous clawed hand and lifted me into the air. His massive fingers wrapped around me as though I was nothing more than a party-favor. I was going to die… and I wouldn’t be coming back this time. I’d be six feet under, no more chocolate donuts, dead.

  “It’s over, Dioscuri. There is nothing left for you to do but face the inevitable.” Valen’s voice raked over my senses.

  “I agree.” Warthor’s voice cut through the room like an arrow.

  Valen turned toward
him, and an explosion of sound rocked the room. The drake staggered back as gore burst from a cannonball-sized hole between its eyes. Valen’s grip on me loosened, and I fell to the ground, landing hard on my hip. Pain tore through my entire body.

  My mentor stood there with a gun in his hand. My gun. The one Joshua had stolen from me. The one that could kill anything, even a drake.

  “To think,” Warthor said as he crossed the floor and kicked the fallen drake contemptuously, “a giant talking lizard thought he could defeat The Invincible Warthor Ein.”

  I gave him a speculative glance as he tossed an obolus on the creature’s snout. “Can I have my gun back?”

  “Are you going to shoot me with it, Bunny?” he asked as the coin spun around in a dance of alabaster flame that soon engulfed the entire drake. When it was finished, he bent down to pick up the coin.

  “I wasn’t planning on it. I wouldn’t wanna waste the last bullet. It’s worth considerably more to me than you are.”

  He threw his head back and laughed before shoving the coin in his pocket. Then, he pushed the gun into my hand. I glared at him, but the effort made me cringe. I reached out and grabbed his arm for stability as he hauled me to my feet. My original conclusion was correct. He had wanted to steal my gun. He had wanted to kill Valen, and he knew I had a way to do it.

  “If you ever try anything like this again, I will blow you into a thousand bits,” I said, anger leaking into my voice.

  “Oh?” he asked with a bemused smile.

  “Then I’ll blow the thousand bits into a thousand more.”

  “So a million bits then?” He shook his head and an odd sort of expression settled on his face. “Why don’t you go home, Bunny?” He patted my shoulder. “Take a nice bath or something. You seem a bit tired.”

  “I will just as soon as I get what’s-his-name to return the baby,” I muttered.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure Trius has returned him home by now. He tends to keep his promises.” Warthor shrugged. “Or he’s still making the kid listen to Led Zeppelin over and over. Either way, the kid is in good hands.” He regarded me very carefully. “You did know it was Trius who took the baby from you, right? I convinced him that he had best step in before you lost Prince Dar again. You are a terrible babysitter.”