by Aaron Crash
Instead of using her last bullet, Tessa cast a Defensio spell, but focused the new energy around the tank that she’d hit with lightning. She lifted it; the whole tank gleamed with the pink of her magic. She flicked her fingers and sent the war machine into the wereboars. The metal crushed three of them.
Tessa wasn’t done. She picked the tank back up and flung it into the air. It struck a long dark purple dragon. Direct hit. All that steel in motion coupled with the dragon’s speed was a deadly combination. It was like hitting a pigeon with an anvil. Both the tank and the purple beast went crashing back into the earth in a roll of metal, flesh, and scales. The storm consumed the wreckage, and she lost sight of the carnage. Kind of disappointing.
The Dragonsoul’s Animus filled her. That special energy was so unique, so powerful, and she felt a taste of the power beyond reason she’d felt after killing Sir Bedivere and Sir Brunor during her last battle.
An enormous black bear rushed out of the blizzard to claw Tessa, but it never had the chance. A long chain hooked the Morphling around his thick ursine neck. A second later, Uchiko cut the thing’s throat with a sickle. A second after that, the ninja disappeared into the storm.
A gray dragon with yellow on its tail flashed over. He tried to pull the strength out of her using ShadowStrength, but she Incanto’d that shit away.
She drew her left revolver and imbued the gun with IonClaws. The whole pistol became a gleaming sun in her left hand. She took aim and blew a wing off the gray dragon. It fell out of the sky and hit the canopy over the pumps, going through it in a shower of sparks and sharp metal. It landed in a ball of hurt in front of her.
She fired the last bullet in her right pistol into its brain. Another Dragonsoul’s magic filled her core. She missed killing Primes—they had an extra something to their Animus. Power? Sex? Lordshipness? Tessa didn’t know, but she liked it a lot. Maybe a little too much.
She holstered her right revolver and tossed her left gun up into the air. She caught it with her right hand, and it still gleamed like the sword of an archangel.
The biggest of the dragons, some huge dark brown beast, flew over her, and instead of hitting her, he opened his mouth and aimed at the main building of the Sapp Brothers.
The air went silent, the wind eclipsed, the world in pain, as the air shimmered around the brown Dragonsoul. There was that moment of quiet and then the otherworldly whomp and another moment of absolute stillness, and then the blinding laser light of ChromaticFury tore through the convenience store, cutting it in half down the center.
Another dragon, this one a golden-yellow color, flew over and hit the building from the other side with ChromaticFury and cut the place into quarters.
Chip bags burst into flames as racks melted. Both ceiling sections and floor tiles turned to ash. Smoke poured from the ruins to be snatched away by the blizzard. The stink of the ruined road food mingled with a definite tobacco scent. There went the cigarettes and cigars on the back wall.
Nothing moved inside.
Jimmy had lost his car, but he also might’ve just lost his life. As for the twins and Sabina? Tessa thought about casting a Divination spell to check on them, but then she saw two pink Homo Draconi leap out of the wreckage, wings flapping hard. Each of the dragon women held an assault rifle.
Sabina joined them as a long green dragon. The Latina Magician’s shield spells deflected an explosion of flames from a set of females that had flown in on the tails of the two big Dragonlords. And then the gunfire from the machine guns started to do their work.
Yes! Her friends were alive, and Tessa found herself grinning. Using her telekinesis, Tessa floated above the gas station. She had five bullets left in her IonGun, and she was going to collect a trophy with each and every round.
Chapter Twelve
STEVEN KISSED ZOEY and left her with Mouse as he and Aria took to the wind. He’d left Samael’s Lash inside the Orange Crush. The sword’s presence would only give his true identity away. Besides, even without it, he had an arsenal of claws, teeth, and magical powers.
He and Aria been waiting in their True Forms for the enemy dragons to attack. The blizzard had coated him with a layer of ice, painting his scales white. Long icicles fell off his beard as he rose. The wind was brutal, blasting snow. He let a vicious gust fill his wings. He went racing through the sky and onto the back of a white female dragon. He tore into her back while biting into a wing. He stabbed his back feet into her flesh and then ripped the Animus out of her. She went limp, but he didn’t just drop her. He set her down gently on the ground.
He hissed into her ear, “We need to stop fighting one another. Steven Drokharis might be dead, but his vision lives on. Tell your sister wives. And remember how I spared you.”
Before the white dragon could speak, Steven was back in the air. Mouse was in her Homo Draconis form, riding on Zoey, with her green sword wreathed in flames. When a Warling went for her, Uchiko appeared out of nowhere to slice him to ribbons with her sickle-chain.
Zoey and Mouse were the bait, and Uchiko was the spring-loaded ninja trap. Clever.
A slender blue female dragon soared down, her talons outstretched. Steven took her strength using ShadowStrength. She plummeted, and Steven caught her and laid her on the ground. He used AnimusChain to suck her soul into his, and then, again, told her that things were changing.
Two more dragons raced down to rake their claws into his back. Before they could, a scarlet flash of scales, wings, and a tail landed on one. Aria ripped out the poor female’s neck with her fangs. She then shifted human, riding on the dead dragon for a second. She sparked the two Animus daggers, holding lightning in her hands. She leapt onto the other female. One knife went into the back of the luckless female, the other severed her spine. Aria then transformed back into a dragon, holding the knives between her claws. She caught a gust of wind and went flying off.
“Thanks, Aria.” Steven lumbered away from the carnage and worked his wings until he was back in the air.
Tessa floated like a goddess in the air, with a single pistol shining like a fusion reactor in her fist. When she fired, trails of apocalyptic light blazed through the storm-strewn sky. And when her bullets struck, they went right through their targets, leaving gaping holes.
Sabina, in her dragon form, circled Tessa. The green Dragonskin cast force fields to keep the barista safe. Between the two of them, they had driven off most of the dragons.
As for Chazzie and Pru, they joined Zoey, Mouse, and Uchiko on the ground to send the remaining troops fleeing.
Three big males remained, hitting Tessa and Sabina with spells, lightning, fire, and ArcticWind far colder than the blizzard winds and blinding snow. The dark brown was the biggest, his scales the color of a wet redwood, but the other two, a bright yellow and a ruddy maroon with black streaks running across his body, were just as vicious. The maroon dragon had a big belly, but that didn’t slow him.
Tessa paused to reload her big Peacekeepers.
The big brown dragon latched onto Sabina and threw her from the sky. It then clawed at Tessa. Her pink force field held. She raised her gun. She fired into the dark brown, but her back was open to both the yellow beast and the fat maroon one.
Steven flung himself onto Maroon. He caught the Dragonlord’s wings and breathed fire down on the head of the beast. The dragon let out a shriek. At the same time, Yellow whirled and grabbed Steven.
The big brown hit them all, and they went careening down through the whistling wind to smash down on the ruins of the Sapp Brothers. Not much was left. The place had been ripped apart.
The Maroon’s head was blackened, his beard gone, one eye sealed closed with burnt skin. He staggered off, fleeing, his great belly swaying.
Steven had lost track of Tessa in the mess of bodies. She would have to take care of herself. Steven triggered SerpentGrace just as Big Yellow reared, mouth open, fire leaking from his maw. Steven lashed Big Yellow across the face with his tail. Blood flowed. The dragon joined Fat Maro
on dragon in his escape.
The pair streaked past a black-and-orange dragon in the distance. This Prime was smaller than the others, only slightly bigger than a female. However, he had a full, thick black beard that tumbled down the orange scales of his chest.
Steven felt the Dragonlord’s presence. This was, without doubt, the most powerful Prime on the field of battle.
A big spiked tail struck Steven as he tried to tap the Animus of the tiger-colored dragon.
Steven blinked. That had hit him out of nowhere. While he was stunned, Big Brown reached in and ripped Steven’s energy from his cells using ShadowStrength. The enemy dragon laughed. “Do you give up? I’d just love for you to surrender.”
Again, Steven tried to reach out with AnimusChain to get at the tiger dragon, but the mysterious Dragonlord was quicker. Steven’s own energy was stripped from him. The tiger dragon had access to the Alpherian skill tree. Tiger Dragon had stripped Steven’s muscles of energy and taken his Animus as well.
“I’d also like a name,” Big Brown snickered. “It’s hard to tell your true color.” The dragon took Steven in his claws and threw him across the wrecked convenience store.
Gunfire erupted from somewhere. Chazzie’s laughter floated through the storm, but everything else was white, blowing snow.
Steven nearly shifted human, but he couldn’t risk being exposed. No, as long as he kept his True Form, his mask of ice and snow hid his true color.
The blizzard died down for a second.
A lone figure was revealed about twenty feet away. Both of her hands gleamed with infinite light.
“You don’t need to know his name!” Tessa said.
“And who are you?” Big Brown asked.
“I’m a Dragon Slayer. And you’re fucked.”
Steven lifted himself up, and he felt energy fill him. Tessa was channeling some of her Animus into him. And she had so much. He could feel her power and glee.
Still, the tiger dragon stood, watching. What was he waiting for? Steven didn’t know, but he leapt to his feet and hurled Impetim spells at the black-and-orange beast. Steven’s spinning black stars of energy turned to wisps as they hit the tiger dragon’s shields. A blink later and the powerful dragon was gone.
Steven ducked Big Brown’s next attack. He rolled away, shifted into his Homo Draconis form, and flung out his hands. He tried to pull the strength out of Big Brown, but the Dragonsoul countered with an Incanto spell.
With his muscles still weak, Steven was forced to use other weapons in his arsenal. He breathed fire on the enemy dragon, only to have his flames quenched by the brown’s ArcticWind. Suddenly, leaving Samael’s Lash behind didn’t seem like such a good idea.
Without pausing, Steven reached into the core of Big Brown and clamped down on the orb of redwood colored light. He gritted his teeth and squeezed.
Big Brown let out a yelp. “No! Stop!”
Steven growled. “You will surrender. Now!”
“I can’t!” Big Brown growled in agony. “The dragons I’m working with, the Dragonknights, they’ll kill me!”
Tessa lifted a revolver. “They won’t. Because you’re already dead.”
“Tessa, no!” Steven growled.
Too late. Light flared from her revolver and punched a hole in the chest of Big Brown.
Tessa let out a cry of exultation as she collected the Animus of the Dragonlord. Her whole body flashed a bright light, too bright for Steven to see what color it was. And then she slowly faded, faded, faded, until it was just Tessa standing there, in her serape, with her Peacekeepers dangling from her hands.
Steven shifted into his dragon form and breathed fire from his nostrils. “Why did you do that, Tessa? I had him. We have got to stop killing dragons. We need every single soldier we can get for our fight against the Zothoric.”
Tessa lifted her face up to him. She had to shout to be heard above the whistling wind. “Not Dragonlords. When they attack us, they choose to die. I saw how you spared the females. I wish I could do that, but I can’t...I simply can’t...”
Steven couldn’t use words, not with the wind, and so he cast a Divination spell. Sabina was alive, all of his Escort was, and he saw them for an instant, gathered together at Jeeves and the Poupon in the parking lot. Steven then focused his mind on the barista. Tessa, what is going on with you?
Her voice appeared in his head. It’s the Animus from the dragons, Steven. It fuels me like nothing else. And we can’t stop fighting now. Maybe, once we find the Holy Grail, we can, but not yet. And really, I’m telling you, if someone attacks us, I won’t show them any mercy. Not ever. It’s kill or be killed.
But you like it.
I love it. Tessa’s eyes stared up at him, and in those eyes, there was fury, strength, and lust. He could almost taste her power.
Steven sent her a memory, of her crying in a Montana parking lot. She’d so wanted allies. When Cassius Pine had turned out to be a murderous bastard, she’d been crushed.
Tessa turned from him. That was shitty, Steven. Using my own memories in an argument? What a total chick move. And, dude, really, we’ve found allies. You can’t ask me not to fight as hard as I can to save us. You can’t.
You’re right, Steven sent. I can’t. If our lives are in danger, you need to kill every single unfriendly you can. Yet, if we have an opening to recruit someone, we need to start giving them a chance. We need to evaluate and reevaluate every situation. He showed her the final moments of the battle from his point of view.
It was perfect communication. She had to see that Steven could’ve made Big Brown give them the names of the Dragonknights he was working with.
Tessa switched it around, and he could feel her anger at the Dragonlord for nearly killing the Waynes and Sabina inside the convenience store. In her mind, the minute that dragon had used ChromaticFury, he’d signed his own death warrant. Yet, underneath her anger, Steven felt her lust for Dragonsoul Animus.
The Divination magic faded. Steven shifted human and fell against Tessa, who caught him. She held him, and though it was cold as hell, he paused and felt her body as well as her energy.
How could he be mad at her? They’d won, and it was because of Tessa. He’d kept track of his Escort using Divinatio before he joined the fight. The barista had taken out the tanks by herself, though Uchiko had provided backup and Sabina’s shield use had been brilliant.
She whispered into his ear. “Steven, you can trust me. I’ll always fight for you. I can control this.”
And yet, when their minds had been linked, he’d felt the depth of her bloodlust. He wasn’t sure she could fight it. It was troubling. This was Tessa. This was his crush, and yet, it felt like she was becoming a stranger.
He decided to lighten the mood and celebrate. They’d fought another battle, and they’d won, though several of the dragons had escaped, including the tiger-colored Prime.
“Who’s Jimmy?” Steven asked. “You were kind of worried about him.”
Tessa’s sigh turned into chuckles. “Jimmy? Oh, man, he’s alive, the Wayne twins made sure of that, but he’s gonna be pissed. Not only did he have to work in this fucking blizzard, but I accidentally blew up his car with a tank bullet thingy. Oopsies.” Tessa paused. “Hey, let me give you a little mojo. Then you can True Form it up and keep me warm.”
She chained her Animus into his and he felt new power fill him. Then, it was easy to turn back into a huge black dragon. He snorted some flame while blocking her from the wind. Much better.
She put out her hands. “Ahh, there you go. Get some marshmallows, and we can make s’mores.”
He was glad she was joking. It felt like old times.
Sabina’s voice filled both their minds. Come to the cars. This was only a small attack team from a much larger legion. Kansas is being overrun as we speak.
Steven knew they had a lot to talk about and a lot of decisions to make. Could he really continue on their quest for the Holy Grail when his Primacy was being invaded?
Chapter Thirteen
STEVEN FELT BETTER once he got into dry clothes and they blasted the Orange Crush’s heater.
Jimmy was with them. He wasn’t so much pissed that his Camaro had been tanked as he was flabbergasted to be surrounded by dragons and Magicians. And then there was Zoey, who transformed from a bear into a girl right before his eyes. The Morphling action was one thing, but her subsequent nudity made him audibly gulp.
They dropped him off at his parents’ little snowed-in house before getting back on I-80. The Wayne twins insisted on wiping his mind themselves, and they tucked thirty thousand dollars into his backpack with a note that said he’d done an excellent job in protecting the Sapp Brothers and an anonymous donor appreciated all his help.
Steven was impressed. The Wayne twins were actually being kind. Wow.
Outside of Kearney, the snow became too thick to go on. That’s when they were pushed off the highway and I-80 was officially closed. The whole town had shut its doors. Every hotel was full. They could’ve found a church or a nice human to crash with, but in the end, Steven had a better idea.
They broke into the Walmart.
Steven easily cut the locks with his IonClaws. Meanwhile, Pru contacted Bud, who called Kearney’s mayor, who contacted the owner of the store, who was given thirty thousand dollars to let them stay the night. They’d pay for anything they used and, of course, any damages.
Bud was also in touch with the township of Elm Creek to explain the Sapp Brothers gas station explosion. That one was easy to explain... gas leak from frozen pipes. One Jimmy “James” Stevens was painted as a hero, or so the story went. Without him, the damage might have extended to the town itself.
Inside the Walmart, Steven’s Escort fanned out from behind him. The lights were low, but the heat was on. The wind whistled outside, but it was warm, safe, and dry inside the store.