Dragon Magic: Book 3: Prophecy of the Dragons (11 page)

"Felix!" Rico shouted. "Long time no see, my friend." His exuberant expression then fell to not much more than a smirk. "And my favorite wizard-dragon duo. Our bargain still stands, by the way. You're here now on a technicality."

"I understand," Ben said. "I'll play nice if you will."

That got Rico's grin to grow. "I do like you, Benjamin. When you're not acting like a power-mad teenager, that is."

Ben let the dig go and smiled back. "And I appreciate the help you gave us on that trying night." It was as big of a thank you as he was going to throw out there, and the nod Rico gave him showed he understood.

With the pleasantries aside, Ben glanced around the room again and found Max, Nix, Sarah, and Victor standing near Rico's desk. They each stepped forward and warmly greeted them. Andi stiffened up a bit during this, but he had to admit that if he couldn't sense her feelings, he'd have had no clue. Once that was taken care of, Sarah spoke.

"Rico has found us a spell to get to the realm where the recording devices are kept, but no one has any information about what to expect there."

Max took over. "We've decided the initial plan to send you two is sound." He motioned to Ben and Andi. "This should allow you to fly under their radar, so to speak, but you're also powerful enough to pull this off in one try."

"Think of it as a simple scouting mission," Sarah said. "If things get to be too much, abort. We'll discuss what you witnessed and regroup to best get the device."

"We'll get them," Andi said, confidence oozing out of her. While Ben loved it when she displayed such bravado, where was this coming from? He was under the impression she didn't want to go on this mission at all.

"I guess we're good to go, then," Ben said.

As everyone made final preparations with Rico's spell – the demon sat at his desk, his feet up on it, enjoying the festivities – Felix put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "This isn't a training mission. Both of you need to remember this. I won't be able to jump in if things get out of hand. I doubt any of us will have any sort of clue about what's going on."

They both nodded.

"I know you two have been on plenty of dangerous missions, but this is the first where you have the world of magic at your fingertips, Benjamin. Don't forget to trust your instincts. They've never let you down before. Alexandria, while you won't be able to cast any spells yourself, stay aware. We'll start some lessons soon to get you weaving your own power into occasional spells, but that's not an option at the moment, at least consciously. Let Ben know what your instincts say, and he'll turn them into magic. Okay? I guess my best advice is to go out there and do what you do."

They assured him they'd do their best, and then Sarah waved them over to begin the mission.

Everything around them popped, as if they'd been traveling in a huge helium balloon that had been punctured. Neither said anything as they gazed at the alien landscape. To Ben it looked like the perfect setting for a science fiction story. Maybe that thought alone proved his writing days hadn't expired before they'd truly begun. When he got everything sorted out with Andi, he'd pick up his pen again.

The ground looked like a rocky desert, not the endless sand dunes they'd traveled through in the Realm of Nightmares. Two suns shone bright in the sky, a large yellow orb like back home, and a smaller red disc. Despite that fact, the rest of the sky looked as if it were the dead of night, with a multitude of stars, though none created the familiar patterns of constellations he was used to. It meant there was no atmosphere on this planet, this realm. Instead, dark, powerful magic allowed for comfortable breathing, while also keeping the temperature from being either blistering hot from the dual suns or frosty cold from the vacuum of space. Packs of wolf-like demons, chaos bleeding off each one, roamed the course, rocky ground, while large, leathery-winged, bat-like demons patrolled the air. Nothing but pure, unadulterated evil pulsed off them.

"It's beautiful, in a weird, surreal sort of way," Andi said, and he had to agree.

"Look in the distance," he said, pointing forward. A huge, high-walled fortress dominated the landscape. It looked to be constructed out of black rocks, making it almost indistinguishable from the night sky behind it. Had it been there the entire time, hiding for that reason, or had it just appeared? Honestly, neither option would surprise him.

"I'm not sure if that's beautiful for the same reason," she said, "or utterly horrifying."

He couldn't help but agree. It had a real Count Dracula vibe to it, but, of course, they'd be lucky if the famed vampire was the lone evil lurking inside. "Since that's our goal, I'd say it's sort of beautifully horrifying."

She sighed. "I suppose it would be too much to ask to be set down right where we need to be. How come you couldn't Star Trek us here? You had good aim when we met the resurrection master."

"That place was set up to teleport to. I don't think I could move us three feet here, let alone anywhere from another realm."

"Too bad you don't have much power," she said, and nudged him.

"It shows how powerful this place is, and how careful we need to be."

She nudged him again. "Duh."

"You can't get anything on this place with your brain Google?"

"I couldn't before. Let me try again." Her face went blank for a few seconds, and then she shook her head. "No. Nothing. It's like this place and the recording devices don't exist. Which makes sense, I guess, since they're so hush-hush."

"Can you fly here?"

"Good question. I hope so."

She hadn't been able to when they were in the Realm of Nightmares. Instead, it only allowed her and Lee to transform halfway to their dragon forms. Since this place had so much magic in it, and particularly wouldn't want dragons, for obvious reasons, it might have the same safeguard. Instead, Andi morphed into her dragon shape with no problem.

"Easy-peasy," she said, her voice floating into his head instead of his ears.

"Good, at least we have that." He hopped onto her back. "Let's go get those devices and liberate the council."

She took off fast and smooth to keep him steady, but her voice shot into his mind full of venom. "Knock it off, Ben. Timothy and Sasha aren't our enemies. They're our friends."

"Andi, I don't know what happened to you when you were stuck there, but someone got to you, and I'm guessing it was Timothy and Sasha. That's the logical assumption."

She groaned into his mind. "You're the one I worry about. Nothing happened to me. I flew, I studied in the library, and I watched TV. That's as eventful as it got. But you…somehow the council got to you. Timothy and Sasha are the ones who want what's best for us."

"I'm sorry I can't sense the problem, but it's there. I know it. If it was in me, I'd figure it out in an instant. Or at least now that I know to look."

As they argued, one of the bat demons swooped down on them. Under normal circumstances, seeing one up close might have been unnerving. It looked like pictures he'd seen of real vampire bats, but enlarged to a gargantuan scale. What was worse, the evil it put out jacked up its scare-factor. Even someone who didn't have the ability to sense evil would feel it.

Ben gave it a quick scan. Its plan of attack was to drop in, petrify its prey with its looks and evil, and strike. Ben and Andi, thanks to the magic coursing through them both, wouldn't have been sitting ducks anyway, but since they were so intent on their argument, it had no effect. Andi coated it with a stream of acid, while Ben pummeled it with his most powerful bolt of dark energy. The thing disintegrated before it even realized it was in trouble. Ben threw up a repellent spell to keep all the others at bay, and his emotions were jacked up high enough to where he knew it would work.

Without missing a beat, Andi said, "If you can't sense it in me, then you wouldn't be able to sense it in yourself."

"Why did you even want to do this, then? If you're so certain they're the good ones, you shouldn't want anyone getting their hands on these devices."

She scoffed, not in his mind, but physically with her dragon mouth. "That's why I want to get them. Then everyone will see they're innocent."

There was a lie in there, but not a total one. He decided not to call her on it. Yet, anyway. They flew the rest of the way in silence, assaulting each other in their feelings of anger and disappointment. The nice thing was that his demon repellent spell seemed to work wonders, though maybe the other demons were smarter than they looked after they saw what happened to the first guy.

As they approached the front of the fortress, Ben felt some sort of invisible force field protecting it from anything flying in. Probably those bat demons, but it would work equally as well on dragons. "Careful," he said.

"You don't say," she said, so thick in sarcasm that he pictured their favorite bottle of real Canadian maple syrup Cassie used to buy online. That brought out a snicker from him.

"Nothing's funny right now," she snapped.

That made him laugh all the harder, while saying, "Love you, baby."

She gave him a mental eye roll, but she proved her own love by making sure she landed softly to keep him safe. He quieted his laughing out of respect for her. She noticed but wasn't impressed.

They stood in front of the main gate, a huge drawbridge already lowered, and the iron portcullis raised. That wasn't a good sign. Surely they weren't welcoming visitors, especially those looking to commit a major heist. Not that he needed to, as it was always on, but he reached out to find any immediate danger.

"Well?" she asked, her attitude buried for the moment.

"I'm mostly getting those demons behind us, but I don't think they want any part of the fortress."

"Speaks volumes about the fortress if demons don't want to be near it."

"Yeah. Wait, something's coming. I don't know what. Be ready."

As soon as it was out of his mouth, the ground shook. Thousands upon thousands of shiny black beetles swarmed out of a gap in the ground to the left of the fortress gate. An equal amount poured out of another hole on the other side. Andi spit out a stream of acid and burned a small cluster up, but now she needed to recharge. Of course, he had more firepower, especially with being able to pull energy from her. Bolts, bursts, and rays of dark energy exploded from him, but for every group of bugs he disintegrated, more streamed out from under the ground. He was about to launch himself onto her back so they could be above them, but they produced wings and buzzed above and around them, forming a shifting black dome, leaving nowhere to run. Something told him they had mere seconds before the bugs converged, leaving nothing of he and Andi, not even beautiful corpses.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you'd listened to me," she said.

"You wanted to do this anyway," he pointed out.

She groaned. "Fine, but I hate that you're leading us down a path of evil, and I love you too much not to follow."

"Come here," he said. She transformed back to human, and he took her in his arms. "I don't think you need to concentrate anymore, but why not for old time's sake?"

"Die, bugs, die?" she said, a slight smile on her face.

He nodded, and a wave of energy blew off them. Every one of the beetles fell lifeless to the earth, blackening the ground, and covering them.

"Gross," she said, brushing them off. They stepped over to the side to get out of the mound of thousands of bugs.

"Come here," he said again.

Her eyes went wide. "More?"

"No. Just come here."

She crashed into his arms, and they stood holding each other. He'd never voiced it, even to himself, but he knew what she meant. She was walking the line, even if she couldn't see it, that would lead to the evil side of the prophecy. He didn't want to go, was obviously fighting her on it, but when it all came down to it, he'd follow her.

"In my view, you're the one leading us to the dark side," he said.

"That's not true…"

He kissed her. He wanted to, of course, but it also shut her up. "My turn to talk." She rolled her eyes at him, and he gave her a smirk. "As I said, I think you're leading us to the side of evil. And, like you said, I'll follow. What I'm getting from this is that neither of us wants to be bad, so, when this is all over, we'll find out which one of us is truly corrupted. And we'll do it together. Deal?"

She nodded, gave him a tender kiss, and said, "I'm technically a lot older than you. I'm supposed to be the wise one."

"Let me have my moments. I don't get them often."

She kissed his neck and said, "No, but this was a good one. Now how are we suppose to find the enchantment on you if you don't even know it's there?" Her eyes went wide. "You don't think Felix…"

"First, no, I don't, but it's something we'll need to consider. Felix and I have been inside each other's consciousnesses too often for me to suspect him. Second, do you think we could discuss this later? You know, when we're not in the middle of a place that wants to kill us?"

"Again with the wisdom. Okay, let's go."

The doorbell rang while Trent was making dinner. Heidi was home from work and watching TV in the living room, so he let her answer. Probably a neighbor or solicitor, but he decided to go in and check in case it was someone from the Dragon Council. He made sure nothing would burn on the stove, and left the kitchen.

When he got out there, it wasn't anyone he recognized. The guy was a bit on the mousy side, but his pleasant smile, mixed with Heidi's smile, proved he must be okay. When he approached, Heidi turned and said, "Trent, this is Fillmore. He's a friend of Sasha's. Remember, the Dragon Guard we met at the yogurt shop?"

"Ah," Trent said. "Nice to meet you." They shook hands, and he and Heidi invited the guy in.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Fillmore said as they got into the entry hall and moved to the living room.

"No, of course not," Heidi said. "What can we do for you?"

"Actually, I'm here on behalf of Timothy and Sasha. They want to find out how Alexandria is doing since she got back. Those three months were a strain on her. And Benjamin, of course."

"She's doing great," Trent said. "She's sad about losing her parents, but as far as we can tell, she's handling it like a champ."

"We're proud of her," Heidi added. "She said she couldn't deal with their loss at the Stronghold because she missed Ben so much. It hit her hard when she returned, but she's getting through it."

Fillmore nodded, a sage nod of understanding. "Yes. My mate and I…" He got a catch in his throat, swallowed, and continued. "Sorry. My mate and I both lost our parents to violence. When it happened, I was older than Alexandria, and Mila was older than Benjamin, but it was still a traumatic day."

Heidi put a hand on his shoulder, and they both offered him their condolences.

"I've long since made peace with the loss of our parents, but I can tell you how much I empathize with Alexandria and Benjamin on their forced absence from each other. You see, in that same horrible day, Mila suffered a catastrophic injury. She was on the verge of dying, which, of course, would have killed me, too, but by the grace of all that is good, Timothy and Sasha happened to be there. They had enough power to put her in a coma of sorts, though they couldn't heal her completely. Her soul remains tethered to her body, keeping her alive but asleep."

"That's horrible," Heidi said, a hand shoved over her mouth.

The dragon's eyes glassed over, and Trent wondered if he was going to lose it, but after a deep breath, Fillmore smiled. "Horrible indeed, but it beats the alternative. Now we stay with Timothy and Sasha, waiting for the day they find the power to restore Mila to life."

"Have you considered asking Ben and Andi for help?" Trent asked. "They've proven they can do amazing things, things we can't hope to comprehend."

Fillmore sadly smiled and shook his head. "If only it were that easy. In dragon society, I'd basically be slapping Timothy and Sasha in the face. Silly, I know, but it's how things work."

"But if it's for the greater good," Heidi started, but Fillmore shook his head again.

"Even for the greater good. Anyway, I'm sorry to have burdened you with this. It wasn't my intention. Can you do me a favor and not mention my story or Timothy and Sasha's involvement? To anyone? Even Alexandria and Benjamin."

"Of course we won't," Heidi said. "Your secret's safe with us."

"Thank you," he said, and went back to the front door. Heidi hurried and opened it for him. "I appreciate your time, and I'm grateful Alexandria and Benjamin are doing so well. It was nice to meet you both, and I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"We'll look forward to it," Trent said.

With that, Fillmore waved and was gone.