Blood of Dragons (14 page)

She narrows her eyes.  “You have said before that you have no knowledge of a binding between us.  That was your excuse.  If you do not know about it then it cannot happen.” 

I try not to snort.  Obviously he didn’t know about this switching souls thing so there might be more that he doesn’t know.  I don’t think it involves hooking up with this Angel, though.  What else can I say to get her to go away?  I know.  “Are you as tired of this conversation as I am?  Will you please get a clue that I am not even one iota interested in you?  I do not even find you physically attractive so why would I want to be with you in any type of intimate way?”

I’m thinking that Angels are usually not that rude to each other.  The fact that she’s dumbstruck and has her mouth hanging open is a pretty good indication.  Okay, not dumbstruck anymore.  I think I’ll start holding seminars to teach others how to totally piss people off because I’m really good at it.

Her jaw snaps back together with an audible click.  That could not have been good for her teeth.  “I am the embodiment of beauty and I am the inspiration for creativity, Raziel.  I will not have you disparage me this way.”  There’s a threat in her voice but I don’t know what it means.  It dawns on me that I’m in an Archangel’s body which I am pretty sure is built to last.  What can she do to me? 

I’m so stupid.  Really I am.  Archangel or not, it still hurts when she slaps my face.  She’s really strong.  My cheek bone might be broken.  I wince in pain as I say, “Ow.  What did you do that for?”

She shifts back and forth between anger and dumbstruck really fast.  After a moment she says, “You insult my whole reason for being and you dare ask me that?”

I can’t help the eye roll.  “Okay, I am sorry.  You are very pretty.”

Her eyes narrow again and her jaw is set like stone.  “You are not yourself today, Raziel.  First an insult and then a lukewarm apology.  Neither is consistent with your station.”

My station?  Oh, she must mean as an Archangel.  I shrug.  “Like I said before, I guess I am having a bad day.”

“Quite,” she says.  Her eyes are pretty beady at the moment.  Like a beautiful rat.

“Maybe I should go home and lie down.”

I close my eyes and think about home.  Unfortunately, I think of the wrong home.  I think I may have just blinded Kegan.

Chapter 18 – Raziel

“Have you come up with a way to reverse the situation?” Kallen asks as we follow behind Zu who moves at the approximate pace of a slug.

“As I am still here, I must admit that I have not.”

Kallen gives me a dirty look.  I understand his frustration but dirty looks will not help me figure this out any faster.  What he should really be concentrating on is the fact that there are Dragons watching us as we move through the Lairs of the Lost.  Each cave we pass has at least one pair of eyes trained on us.  Zu may be our ally, but the other Lost Dragons see us only as intruders.

A flash of fire has Garren slamming Isla onto the ground, the tips of his hair getting singed in the process.  Kallen and I come to an abrupt halt, just barely missing the flames.  Another Dragon, much younger than Zu, prepares to shoot fire again.  Zu rounds on the other Dragon and sends his own fire towards him.  A fearsome screech emits from the younger Dragon’s mouth and scorch marks can be seen on the scales of his face. 

“You dare attack those I have granted free passage?”  Zu is on his back haunches and stretched to his full height.

The other Dragon backs up a few steps and growls, “You may grant whatever you like Zu.  The rest of us have the right to disagree.”

Zu responds with a burst of fire that has the other Dragon scrambling back several more feet with its head tucked below its body.  The scales on a Dragon’s back are virtually impenetrable.  When the fire hits it, it does not cause the other Dragon harm; but he is somewhat reluctant to draw his head back out again.  He currently resembles a frightened hedgehog, which curl into balls when they are afraid.  Not very Dragon-like behavior.

“What is the matter Licius? “ Zu asks, moving closer to him.  “Your courage is lost once you no longer have the shield of ambush?”

Licius slowly brings his head back up, keeping a watchful eye on Zu’s mouth.  “I am not afraid of you, Zu.”  It is difficult to take him seriously when he has backed up several more feet.

Zu’s reptile lips peel back from his double row of sharp teeth.  “Then you are a fool, Licius.”  He goes back down on all four paws and walks slowly towards the other dragon.  Licius does his best to hold his ground but he is still edging backwards off the trail and into the wooded area to our right.  Branches and saplings are snapping with his weight and size.

A burst of fire erupts from Zu’s mouth once again.  But this is not directed towards Licius.  It is directed towards a large, dead redwood several yards away.  The flame sears through the trunk of the tree.  Snapping like a small branch, its bulk falls towards a stunned Licius.  I shake my head and sigh.  He is certainly not the brightest Dragon in this realm.  He had a good five or six seconds he could have used to move out of the tree’s path instead of staring doe-eyed at it as it topples towards him in a crushing blow.

Obviously I cannot let it kill him.  Xandra would be furious with me.  Reasoning that this would have happened if she was here, I go against the Angel policy of not interfering with the individual lives of lower beings.  I send a bolt of magic towards the tree.  The tree, and several around it unfortunately, explodes into a cloud of splinters.  Now we are all ducking our heads as we fold our bodies into balls trying to protect our vital organs from being pierced.

It takes a moment for the shock of my actions to wear off.  When it does, Zu no longer cares about Licius.  Rounding on me now, his paws make the earth shake as he walks towards me.  Dragons certainly know how to use their weight and size to intimidate.  Unfortunately for Zu, I know how old he is.  And how frail.  Regardless of the image he holds forth to keep him from being shunned farther into the Lairs of the Lost where the caves get considerably smaller.

“I marvel at the fact that your stupidity is as strong as your magic young humanoid.  Are you unaware of the fact that Dragon fire cannot be stopped by magic alone?”

My lips even out in a grim smile.  “I am perfectly aware of the power of Dragon fire.  Just as I am aware of your vulnerabilities.”

Zu sits up on his back haunches and folds his arms against his chest.  He spends a long moment assessing me.  I see in his eyes the moment he determines that my not-so-veiled threat is real, not just bravado.  “Such a tiny creature to hold so much knowledge,” he says sarcastically.  “It seems to have left no room for common sense.”

I understand why Xandra hates it when other beings insult her and underestimate her.  It is rather annoying.  I am learning so much more about her.  Better to think more on that when Zu is not preparing to burn me to ash, though.  Time to have a power contest, I guess.  Hopefully, Xandra’s magic will cooperate.

Pulling magic through me, I turn abruptly towards Licius and send the magic forth.  It passes his fire breathing mouth.  It passes his heavily scaled chest and abdomen.  It weasels itself into his groin where his haunches meet his torso.  That is a sensitive spot where the scales have to be soft so as not to cause the Dragons pain when they walk.  A violent shower of fire bursts from his mouth as the shock of the pain makes him crumble to the ground.  He spreads his haunch away from his body giving us a much better view of his groin than we deserve.  He tries to pull enough fire to burn my magic away from him, but until I pull it back on my own it does him no good.

When I do pull it back, Licius falls unceremoniously onto his back increasing the view.  I am not the only one averting my eyes at the moment.  Dragon genitalia are rather prominent.  Now he is left to struggle to his side and right himself.  That will take him several minutes without help.

Zu cocks his head to the side as he studies me again.  “You will not let me kill him yet you inflict great pain upon him.  Curious.”

I shrug.  “We all must make difficult decisions from time to time to prove our points.”

“Indeed,” Zu half hisses.  Turning his body around, he begins to walk again, leaving Licius to fend for himself in regards to righting himself.  The younger Dragon bears a strong resemblance to a turtle on its back at the moment.  “Leave him,” Zu says when Garren walks towards the struggling Dragon.  “He will learn his place here slowly it seems.”

Kallen is looking at me curiously.  “You are behaving as she would.”  It is half accusation and half burgeoning respect.

I smile.  “One should not borrow the body of another without deference to the original soul’s doctrines.”

His stare has hardened once again.  “One should not borrow another’s body at all.” 

He turns to follow the rest leaving me to shake my head at the progress lost by an offhand comment.  I am stumbling in my attempts to live and communicate without my foreknowledge.   Free will is much more difficult than I ever imagined.

Chapter 19 – Xandra

“Aaaaahhhh,” Kegan shouts as he covers his eyes and ducks his head.  “What is that?” he shouts to no one in particular.  Then he jumps a mile when I clatter to the floor because I didn’t think about how much bigger Raziel’s body and wings are.  I was imagining the counter and stools and I have now fallen flat on my butt because I tipped a stool over.  Not my most graceful entrance.  I hope Raziel doesn’t get mad that I bent a few of his feathers.

“Turn off that bloody light!” Kegan yells.  He’s down on the floor covering his head.  “My retinas are melting!”

Crap.  I have to get out of here.  “It’s me, Kegan.  Xandra.  Sorry about your eyes.  I’ll go now.”

“Thank you,” he says but I think his tone is a bit ungrateful considering I’m taking away the thing that’s causing his pain.  Then again, I did cause his pain so he’s justified in his ingratitude.  “Will you please go now?”