The Dragon Legion Collection 9 (41 page)

The salamander snarled, then shimmered blue.

In an instant, the salamander had become a yellow dragon, just as large and powerful as Thad. Aura gasped as the yellow dragon took flight, meeting Thad part way, and the pair locked talons. They spun end over end in a bid for supremacy, biting and slashing at each other. The contrast between them was striking, Thad’s scales so dark as to be almost black with orange around the perimeter and the
Slayer
’s scales brilliant yellow.

Their tails entwined and Aura could see the strength of their grips. Their talons dug into each other and the dragonfire they exhaled burned hot and bright. Aura smelled burning scales and swirled around Thad, trying to cool his burns.

Thad bit suddenly at the chest of the
Slayer
, sinking his teeth deep into his opponent’s flesh. The
Slayer
cried out as his blood ran black from the wound. It dripped to the ground and hissed on impact, emitting a plume of steam.

The
Slayer
tore himself free, slashing at Thad so that his shoulder was torn, including the tendon to his wing. Thad’s blood ran brilliant red, and Aura guessed this was somehow indicative of the difference between them. Thad’s flight faltered because of his damaged wing. He dropped a bit in the sky, and the
Slayer
laughed.

Then the
Slayer
did a strange thing. He hovered in the air, narrowed his eyes and breathed slowly. A moment later, Thad jerked backward, as if he’d been struck in the chest. He faltered again and couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open or his wings flapping.

He fell toward the ground, flailing as he tried to regain the momentum of flight. The
Slayer
pursued him, grinning even as he continued to breathe slowly. Aura could almost see a glitter between the two of them, like a tendril of sparkling smoke, but when she tried to look directly at it, it disappeared.

She leapt into the air and blew through the space where she’d glimpsed the tendril. She felt something cool in that space, then the
Slayer
swore and slashed at her. His claws slid through the breeze she’d become, not injuring her at all. Thad recovered a little, but not quickly enough. He hit the earth and didn’t move. He was on his back, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. Aura couldn’t believe that her dragon had been felled.

The
Slayer
seized Tisiphone and threw her at Thad. She landed on his chest, and the
Slayer
leaned down to touch the tip of his talon to a spot on the fallen
Pyr
’s chest.

“There,” he breathed, and Aura realized with horror that it was the place where Thad’s scale had fallen away.

“No!” she cried, shifting shape and landing in human form beside the pair of them. She couldn’t be responsible for Thad’s death. It couldn’t be her fault that his firestorm’s promise wasn’t fulfilled.

Tisiphone looked up in dismay.

The
Slayer’
s eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. “Ah, the mate,” he murmured with some satisfaction. Aura supposed that was what she was.

“Take me instead.” Aura offered her bared arm to the snakes that twined around Tisiphone’s hair. “It’s my fault he’s vulnerable.”

The
Slayer
chuckled, as if he found her foolish. “Take them both,” he suggested.

Tisiphone looked between the two of them, then smiled darkly. She leaned forward and the snakes in her hair vibrated in their anticipation. She took one in her hand and offered its hissing head to Aura. “Kiss this one,” she commanded. “Show me that you mean what you say.”

“And you’ll let him go,” Aura insisted.

“I’ll take him if you don’t. See if you can satisfy my hungry vipers.” Tisiphone made no promise, and the
Slayer
laughed, but Aura had to do what she could. She looked at the snake with its flicking tongue and its gleaming eyes, then bent closer to welcome its bite. The snake opened its mouth, revealing its fangs, and Aura closed her eyes in anticipation of pain.

“I forbid this!” a woman roared, just before the snake made contact.

There came a flash of brilliant blue-green light, like a crack of lightning out of a clear sky, even as the woman shouted.

The moment that the world was lit with that blue-green lasted far longer than an instant. Aura saw the yellow dragon lunge toward the fallen pilgrim. The
Slayer
seized the man’s arm in his mouth, tearing it away from his body with savage force. The pilgrim’s body was dragged across the ground as the dragon tore the arm free, and blood flowed copiously when it did. The man moaned in agony as his limb was ripped away.

Tisiphone caught her breath and stepped back, her gaze fixed on the old woman who had been huddled beside the pilgrim. That woman had leapt to her feet and flung out her arms. Her cloak had fallen away, revealing that she was young and beautiful.

Hera in one of her favorite guises.

Tisiphone gasped.

The yellow dragon vanished.

The pilgrim closed his eyes and looked to be breathing his last.

Hera pointed her finger at Tisiphone. “Your battle was your own until you dared to threaten a child of mine. I banish you from this age and this realm!”

“You can’t banish me!” Tisiphone replied, drawing herself up to her full height. In the strange blue-green light, she looked even more like a nightmare come to life.

Hera walked toward her regally, shaking her finger as she spoke.

“Across the centuries and the years,

You will wait and shed your tears,

Until the darkfire is freed again;

Your vengeance can cause
Pyr
no pain.

I close the portal, for once and all,

To see those I love out of your thrall.

When darkfire will burn once again,

Your sister’s death can be avenged.

When daughters of all elements are mates

Then will the dragons face their fate.”

“No!” Tisiphone cried, even as she was changed to the woman with hair the color of flame again. She had a moment to glance over herself before there was a clap of thunder loud enough to make the earth shake. The blue-green light faded as abruptly as it had appeared and when it was gone, so was Tisiphone.

Thad was still lying on the ground, his breathing so shallow that Aura could barely discern it. Worse, he was changing shape on the ground before her, shifting from dragon to man and back again, and she knew it was involuntary. He didn’t open his eyes and even the pale blue shimmer that accompanied his shift seemed pallid instead of vigorous. He was flat on his back and too still, the blood flowing from his wounded shoulder.

The spot of unprotected skin where he had lost the scale looked terrible. The flesh looked burned, and as if it was festering. Aura feared the
Slayer
had done something that would kill Thad. Aura dropped to her knees beside him, feeling more helpless than she ever had. Even the glow of the firestorm was subdued, no more than a pale glimmer of light when she touched him.

Could it all be for nothing?

Could Thad’s dream of a fulfilled firestorm not come true?

* * *

Jorge held fast to his prize as he was cast through the air. He didn’t doubt that he was being flung through time and space, as well. It was imperative that he return to the future with the pilgrim’s arm.

But he had no control over the darkfire, and what it might do. His hatred of that unpredictable force redoubled as he endured the wind and the fog.

Then he was slammed down hard on what had to be asphalt.

Jorge smelled car exhaust. He could almost taste the tar of the road. There was a yellow line painted on the asphalt right beneath his chin.

He smelled the salt of the sea and felt rain pattering on his scales. He heard car brakes squeal and tires smoke as vehicles skidded to a halt all around him. People began to scream.

Jorge sat upright, wondering where he was, besides being in the middle of a road.

Hundreds of astonished people stared back at him, some from behind the windshields of cars, others from the sidewalk. The cars were either very small hybrids or very large SUVs. Jorge’s heart skipped with hope. He looked up and saw a tower that had to be the Space Needle in Seattle, and the rain and the sea confirmed his theory.

Then the people turned their cellphones on him, filming and photographing him. Others began to talk into their phones, all of which were models recent to the world he’d left not long before.

Jorge would have thrown back his head and laughed if that might not have cost him his prize. He was back in the future, or close enough to it.

Why not use his weapon now?

He chewed on the arm even as he reared up. He flapped his wings and bellowed without slackening his bite. They filmed him from all sides, some hanging back, others pressing closer. He’d be featured on every news outlet on the planet, which would give fair warning to all the
Pyr
of the world.

Jorge suspected that wouldn’t make any difference. He took flight, jubilant that the darkfire had finally turned in his favor. He’d survived so much and now he’d have his revenge. He shook the blood from the severed arm, letting it fall like rain over all the pitiful human spectators. Some of them screamed. Others ran. More of them kept filming his triumph.

This could be big.

This could end it all.

He could be bringing a plague to the world. Jorge wasn’t one to admit his limitations, but he knew that he needed the help of a devious mind to ensure that his plan came to full fruition.

Although he feared he might regret his choice, Jorge knew he had to go to Chen. He gave one last triumphant turn over the crowd, then spun in the air and disappeared.

He would manifest in the middle of Chen’s own lair.

* * *

Tisiphone flailed and howled as she was cast bodily through the air. She couldn’t see anything except swirling mist and couldn’t feel anything but a buffeting wind. There were occasional flashes of blue-green light in the mist near her, but she couldn’t even see the source of the light. It just illuminated the clouds, as if she was in the midst of a thunderstorm.

She was powerless to change her situation, and that infuriated her almost as much as being cheated of the chance to claim the first of the
Pyr
. How dare Hera interfere with her quest for justice? How dare Hera cast her away? If ever she saw Hera again, Tisiphone would ensure that goddess paid dearly for her intervention.

Tisiphone felt herself falling. She tried to stop her descent and failed completely. The sense of helplessness didn’t improve her mood. Nor did being slammed into a rocky shore, as if she’d jumped from a great height. She was dazed from her ordeal and bruised from her landing. She heard water lapping a shore close by and smelled smoke in the air. She opened her eyes to discover that it was night and she was on a rocky excuse for a beach. The mist was rising slowly.

She heard footsteps and smelled a mortal. Tisiphone shifted shape quickly, taking the guise of the woman with hair the color of flame. It would be less frightening to a mortal than her reality.

“Hey, there. Are you okay?”

Tisiphone rose to her feet and turned to see a woman dressed in black making her way closer. She had dark hair and red lips, and wore a silver bracelet shaped like a snake.

“It’s not that safe down here, especially at night,” the woman said. “Are you all right?”

Tisiphone nodded and brushed down her clothing, as if she loitered in such places all the time.

“Do you live around here?”

Tisiphone shook her head, not trusting herself yet to speak. Being divine, she could understand the languages of mortals, but this was a new one for her. She wanted to listen longer before she spoke herself, to be sure she got it right.

“You look like you’ve had a rough night,” the woman said with sympathy. “I can totally relate, but you don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.”

Tisiphone looked down at her feet, as if embarrassed.

“I don’t blame you,” the other woman said cheerfully. “Men can be such bastards. Look, I’m Viv Jason. I’ve got a place near here, if you need somewhere to crash or maybe something to eat.”

Tisiphone nodded. She was going to make a polite comment, but the mist chose to burn off in that moment. She stared in amazement at the world revealed. There was a massive structure before her, unlike anything she’d seen before. It had clearly been built by man, but stretched taller and straighter than she could believe. It spanned the broad expanse of water that lapped at her feet, providing a path to a glittering city of impossibly tall buildings. She could see rows of lit windows, more than she could count, all glowing with the same intensity. There couldn’t be enough candles or lanterns in all the world to make that much light, but it was there before her eyes just the same. The night sky was clear overhead, but the light of the city even obscured the light of the stars.

“Manhattan at night and the Brooklyn Bridge,” Viv Jason said with a smile. “It’s a sight that stops me cold every time, too.” She shivered with apparent delight, then beckoned to Tisiphone. “Come on. We’ll find a snack and you can tell me about yourself.”