bedeviled & beyond 06 - bedeviled & befouled (12 page)

Astra?

I jumped at the sound of my aunt Myra’s hostile voice.
Hey, angel. Are you coming to the castle?

No.

Suppressing my temper, never an easy thing for me to do, I took a deep breath and tried to sound reasonable.
Why not?

Negotiations aren’t going well. Satan is insisting that, if we’re allowed to invade his environs at will, he should be able to send his minions into Heaven at will too. We’re at a stalemate.

Frunk me.

Sorry. I’m trying to get an extradition order for Dialle right now. Hopefully I’ll have that soon. Dialle and his intermediaries have been notified.

What? You warned them? What the hell?

We had to, Astra. That’s how it’s done.

Shit! You people are no better than politicians.

That isn’t very nice, Astra.

In a fit of temper I clamped my mind closed on my stupid, rule-following aunt. They couldn’t make things any harder on me if they tried. I returned my attention to the soldiers at the throne room doors just in time to see them throw the doors wide and step to the side.

What I saw inside that room made my mouth drop open. A sense of déjà vu swamped me. The massive room was filled with bodies. It looked as if Dialle had called all the inhabitants of Hell together for a meeting. They were probably discussing how best to deal with me and mine.

As dark worlders started to shift and roil inside the room, some of them spilling out into the hall, I realized I couldn’t wade through that mess to get Dialle. Not by myself. I would need the help of my friends. I shuffled my mental drawers and waited. A heartbeat later, Slayer came online.

Astra, we’re on our way to the castle.

Good. Meet me in the dragon’s roost. Glynus can get you in there.

Okay. What’s the plan?

The usual. Kick ass, blow shit up, and pray.

He smiled in my mind.
That’s my favorite plan.

I ducked into the nearest stairwell and headed toward the tower.
Yeah. Mine too.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Oldies but Goodies

The dragon’s roost may prove the point, that wisdom comes with age,

But should the elderly reptiles fail, dark war will ever rage.

The dragon roost was a lot less full than it had been last time I’d been there. From what I could see, all that were left were really old dragons who’d most likely lived all their lives in Hell’s environs and had no families to worry about. They’d probably built up a pretty decent resistance to the sulfurous air centuries earlier so the rising levels didn’t affect them.

My entrance didn’t create much of a stir. The dragons were used to seeing me around. Standing near the door I frowned at the elderly flock of a dozen greens with disappointment. I wasn’t sure I had the firepower to do what needed to be done.

The opening of the roost shimmered and Glynus flew through, followed quickly by Darma on Snoopy. They landed gracefully in the center of the large roost and one of the green females roared a greeting at Glynus. She responded in kind, causing my sister to cover her delicate ears as Spence dipped his head so she could slip from his back.

When the uproar died down I looked at Glynus.
Where are Slayer and Emo?

We ran into a small band of soldiers a few klicks out. They should be right behind us.

Darma stood beside me, eyeing the massive greens carefully. “So, what? Glynus and Spence are visitation pets for the seniors?”

“Ha, ha.”

“Seriously though, it’s a pretty end-of-life group, Astra. I’m surprised they haven’t all moved to Florida already.”

“We’ll just have to make it work.”

“Which brings me to my next question. What exactly are we making work?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as the guys get here. I don’t want to go through it twice.” Translation. I was in full seat-of-my-pants mode and didn’t want Darma to know it a minute sooner than necessary.

The entrance shimmered again and Slayer came flailing through on his red. The big dragon had a damaged wing and probably shouldn’t even be airborne. Knowing Slayer, he’d probably gotten the dragon there through sheer force of will. The massive red dragon careened off the side wall of the entrance and skidded across the floor, screeching to a haphazard stop a few inches from Spence.

To his credit, the giant white dragon barely blinked at the near collision. I could only guess he’d experienced worse hanging around with Glynus for the last year.

Just behind Slayer, Emo made a far less dramatic entry to the roost on his red, landing it tidily on the other side of Glynus.

I looked up at Slayer. “I see you broke your ride.”

He lifted a leg over and slid down the dragon’s heaving side, moving to examine the torn wing. “He caught a direct blast as we were taking out the last soldier. I’m not sure I have enough mojo to heal it.”

He and I both turned to Darma. She rolled her eyes and gave us a long-suffering sigh. “Fix this Darma, heal that Darma. It’s exhausting being around you two.”

As she set to work mending the red’s bum wing, Emo, Slayer and I moved away. I filled them in on the situation in the throne room.

Slayer frowned. “What do you think they’re cooking up down there?”

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, I’m sure it’s bad for everybody. Dialle has definitely taken a turn toward his dark side.”

“So what do you have in mind, Astra?” Emo asked.

I lifted an eyebrow. “What do you think I have in mind?”

Emo stared at me for a beat and then grinned. “I’m thinking you plan to send all these dragons through the huge wall of glass in the throne room and in the melee we’ll snatch Dialle and cart him off.”

I glanced down to hide my Eureka moment. “Partner, you know me so well. That’s exactly what I was planning.”

Slayer snorted and went to help Darma with his mount.

Emo glanced over at the senior dragon conclave across the roost. “Oh. That’s a lot of wrinkly flesh.”

I sighed. “Yeah. Not quite what I anticipated either.” I fully expected them to start playing dragon bingo any minute.

“You sure they’re up to this, Astra?”

“No. But they’re all we have. We’ll have to make it work.”

“At least they’re big.”

It was true. Dragons kept growing all their lives—something human mythology had never noted, probably because the growing slowed way down. Think middle age spread with wings. But they did grow, and that meant the oldest among them were the largest. What we had in that room was a lot of really big dragons. “If nothing else they can sit on a few dark worlders and smash them flat.”

Emo nodded. “I can work with that.”

~SC~

Back under her cloaking spell, Glynus hovered beside Spence, their powerful wings beating the air slowly as we sized up the area to be breeched. I think we should go in first, I told her.

She did the equivalent of a mental head shake.
No. We can break the glass but then we need to let the old ones enter first. They can join magic to protect the king from the heat and sulfur, and block us until the last minute so we have a better chance of grabbing him.

Spence focused a bright green gaze on me.
She’s right, mother halfling. If the king sees us coming he’ll skedaddle.

Glynus expanded on her idea. T
hey’ll think the castle dragons are just senile and crashed through the glass by mistake.

Until it’s too late
, Spencer added.

I thought about this plan, finally nodding.
You guys are good.

Of course
, my dragon told me with characteristic humbleness.

I turned to Emo, whose red dragon Keesh was hovering within the perimeter of Glynus’s and Spence’s cloaking magic. “We’re going to send the greens in first, they’ll distract everyone while Glynus and I sneak in and nab Dialle.”

He nodded. “Darma and I can stay outside to cover you while you go after him, and grab up anybody who tries to escape.”

Slayer was already in place just beyond the castle, out of view. I shifted my mental drawers and told him the plan.

Do you need my help inside?

I thought about his question. If it came to a scrum inside the castle we’d be hopelessly outnumbered. Our only chance was to catch Dialle by surprise.
No. Stay where you are and wait for my signal. Once I have Dialle I’ll need your help holding off the hordes while I make a break for the breech.

Okay. Be careful, Astra.

Careful is my middle name. Spelled with a Q.

Slayer chuckled.
Okay, Qareful. Talk to you soon.

I looked at Darma. “You ready?”

As usual my sister was scowling. She seemed uncomfortable with our plans but she nodded.

My gaze slid to Emo. “Glynus and I will blast the glass out for the greens. Then we’ll get out of the way and let them go in first.”

“Can Spencer hold the cloak by himself?” Emo asked.

I looked at my dragon, lifting an eyebrow in question.

Of course
, she responded haughtily.

“Glynus says he can. As soon as I grab Dialle I’m going to secure him with an angel chain and take him to Olympus. See you on the other side?”

“May His grace guide and protect you, Astra.”

I held Emo’s gaze for a moment and then smiled. “Right back atcha, partner. And, no more hanging out with angels for you, bud. You’re starting to sound like them.”

I turned away, a smile trembling on my lips as he chuckled.
Give the greens the signal, Tadpole.

Yes, mother halfling.

A moment later the sound of massive wings could be heard pounding the air and the first ancient green emerged from the roost at the top of the castle. I watched in wonder as they flew across the sky, each one falling in behind the one before it until they formed a massive green arrow in the sky.

They flew out a couple of klicks and then slowly started to turn. What they lacked in speed they more than made up for in accuracy. They held their perfect shape through the entire turn, and headed back toward us with determined elegance.

Despite their age and size, the elderly dragons presented a fine picture as their powerful wings throbbed against the sulfur-rich air. Glynus shot out in front of them as they came near and we flew directly toward the glass barrier that formed the outside wall of Dialle’s throne room. I tried to find my devil in the mass of dark-world creatures beyond the glass, but it was a hopeless task. There were just too many of them.

My fingers twitched with power as we approached. Glynus had slowed until the first green in the formation was close behind us. So close in fact that I could smell the rancid fish he’d eaten for breakfast. It was making me queasy.

Or maybe it was the task ahead of me that was making me sick. That was probably more likely. I didn’t know what I’d find when I faced off with Dialle again. I was pretty sure it would be ugly. My greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to reach him. If I couldn’t get through to him he’d be lost to me forever.

My heart hurt at the thought. My stomach twisted. I couldn’t lose Dialle. I just couldn’t. Stars of panic burst before my eyes.

Mother halfling?

I blinked and realized the window was mere feet away from Glynus. If I didn’t do my thing fast we’d be the first ones through the window, and it wouldn’t be fun. My hand flashed out and power exploded against the pane , creating a spidery circle of fractured glass at its center.

Hold on, mother halfling.
At the last possible moment, Glynus bunched her powerful body and shot skyward, her wings tapping the glass as she exploded up the side of the castle.

I grabbed hold of the nearest spike on her spine and tightened my legs, leaning forward to decrease wind resistance as we went completely vertical. I started to slide backward and, if it weren’t for my power-enhanced hold on Glynus’ spike, I’d have been dumped into the furnace-like atmosphere of Hell like yesterday’s garbage.

Beneath us, the sound of glass shattering and the roar of the greens created instant chaos within the castle. Beyond the deafening roar of wind shooting past my ears I could hear the angry shouts and terrified screams.

“Now, Tadpole!”

She curved her body away from the castle wall and did a one-hundred-eighty-degree change of direction, until we plummeted downward, toward the shattered window far below.

I swore silently as my feet started to lift away from her body and held on with everything I had. Just as I thought I was going to lose my grip and go spiraling off into the sulfur fires beneath us, Glynus leveled out and skimmed neatly through the window.

The throne room, designed under the massive ego of Dialle’s father, was the size of an ancient human football stadium. Even so, it felt small with a dozen massive greens flying around beneath its ceiling and the crowds of Hell’s inhabitants spinning and dodging claws and wings at its base.

It was easy to slide in undetected with that kind of chaos. What wasn’t easy was finding Dialle. We flew toward his throne, dodging massive green bodies and jolts of temper-induced fire from the crowds.

Dialle wasn’t there.

I assumed his guards had surrounded him and started walking him toward the door at the first sign of trouble. The problem with that plan was that it would be like trying to push a dagger through steel mesh. You wouldn’t get far before the weave grabbed hold of you and brought you to a stop.

I found the group of guards a few yards away from Dialle’s throne, but Dialle wasn’t with them. He’d apparently space-shifted away. Shit! The good news was that, wherever he was, he most likely didn’t have guards with him.

He’s gone. I think I know where he went. Let’s get out of here.

Glynus headed for the window and we flew out over Hades again, leaving chaos behind. I shuffled my mental drawers and reached out to Slayer.
He debunked from the throne room. Do you see him in his rooms?