Of Gods and Fae (22 page)

In front of me stood a dilapidated wooden building similar
in appearance to the old rooming house on the other side of the flood channel.
Next to that was what looked like an old barn, two or three stories high that
was all shuttered up. A few dead trees and scruffy looking vegetation stood out
around the parched desert landscape. There was no one around and the buildings
appeared deserted. Everyone fanned out and took a position around the buildings
as the feeling of magic in the air intensified. Then all hell broke loose.
Mages starting running out of the building at various exits, some blasting with
wands and others throwing dragon's teeth as Spartoi began popping up all over
the place. A few were armed with bows as arrows began to fly from now open
windows.

So much for stealth, I thought to myself as I took out two
of the sown men before they could get their bearings. Shots starting ringing
out and blasts of blue energy, arrows and bullets, crisscrossed the grounds as
Siegfried's team and the Mages began to exchange fire. It looked like Zeke was
doing a good job with the Spartoi and with the discipline Siegfried's folks were
showing, I figured it was time to find a Dragon. I headed in the direction of
the barn, using my sword as a shield a time or two, arcs of electricity
sparking as it blocked the Mages attacks.

I was about fifteen feet from the barn when I saw a Were
take down one of the Spartoi. Seconds later his coat burst into flames from a hit
by a Mage's bolt of magic. Charlie and I changed direction and tackled him as
he began to yelp. I rolled him in the sand to try and extinguish the flames.
The Spartoi grabbed at me so I twisted, slashing at his head with my sword as
Charlie pulled him off of me. Before I could get back to the Were a voice rang
out. It was Michael.

"I got this," he said, dousing the Wolf with some
liquid.

I’d thought about doing that with the squirt gun I carried
but couldn’t risk using it not knowing what the potion would do. I started to
reply but the barn's front side suddenly exploded outward and the Dragon
appeared. I jumped up and knocked Michael out of the way, just missing being
singed by its hellfire as its eyes fell on me. My magic kicked in high gear and
I stood to face it, blocking its next spew of flame with my sword, its blue
arcs of energy radiating outward, pushing back the flames.

There was a momentary stand off as we sized each other up.
The Dragon was almost 25 feet tall, not counting the tail, so I was guessing it
had to be the Were I was looking for. Of course, the collar around its neck was
my best clue. It was just links of thick, dark metal, like a large chain, wound
so tight it had cut into the space between her scales. As to the dragon itself,
its wings rose up behind it, but they were ragged and her scales were dull.
She'd been mistreated, and badly. No wonder it was pissed. Just when I thought
she would attack, her head turned and she changed direction, moving toward the
old house where others were fighting.

I looked in that direction and saw a Mage on his knees. I
couldn’t tell for sure but he looked familiar. He might even have been the same
one I chased in the alley. As he stood something formed before him, a grey,
smoky mist developing. A moment later, a Fire Demon emerged. The Mage stepped
back and I lost sight of him as the mist expanded and he and the Demon ran toward
the others. Seconds later, yellow flames joined the Mages blue beams as they
took on the concentrated firepower of a group of Siegfried's men. The Dragon
was not far behind, belching fire as she moved. Eyeing Zeke as he cut down
another of the Spartoi, Charlie and I ran towards him.

"We need to take out those two," I yelled at him
over the din, pointing at the Mage and Demon through the smoke. "If you can
do that or at least keep them busy, I can try and eliminate the threat from the
Dragon."

"A Fire Demon. Now that's a challenge," he said as
his flaming sword sliced through another Spartoi. He looked to where I was
pointing. "Do what you have to do. I'll keep them out of your hair."

Bullets and bolts of magic were flying as battles were being
fought all around me. Mages and Spartoi squared off with Wolves and other Fae,
but I had to stay focused. We ran toward the Dragon as I watched another Werewolf
burst into flames from the Dragon's fire stream. Without thinking, I pointed my
sword and shot a beam of blue lightning at her, the electricity enveloping her
legs, causing her to stumble. I had heard that Dragons were immune to flame but
the arcs of current from the sword of Zeus and Cronus had the desired effect.
She gave out a roar and started towards us. Knowing I had only seconds I called
out to Sendy.

"Tell Siegfried we need to take out the Mage that
summoned the Demon, he's the leader," I yelled. "Then get back here
and be ready."

As Charlie nipped at her legs I traded shots with the Dragon
as flames of yellow and blue crisscrossed the space between us. I had just
blocked a flame when the Dragon twisted and the next thing I knew, I was flying
through the air. Damn, I'd forgotten about her tail. I crashed into something
and saw Delia run up beside me with her sword, stabbing forward at the Mage I'd
landed on.

"Thanks for the help," she said, pulling me up.

"No problem," I replied, trying to get my
bearings.

The tail had propelled me some 30 feet and I could now see
that the battle was going our way. Only a few mages were left, and of the
Spartoi there were only a few still moving, and they were mostly just parts.
Siegfried, Zeke, and a few of the others had partially encircled the Mage and
Demon who were still putting up a good fight. The Mage had some kind of shield
up and the house behind them was burning. The way the barn blazed I half
expected it to fall at any time. Then I spotted the Dragon.

Charlie was running in and out between its legs as it belched
fire at him. Each time, just missing, as he ran circles around her. She roared
as she moved to follow and in that instant her back was turned to me.

"Sendy, now!" I yelled and the Faery grabbed me
and lifted me up in the air, depositing me on the Dragon's back.

She roared and bucked, throwing back her head to snap at me.
I held on for all I was worth, looking every bit the twisted rodeo star out of
some fantasy novel. As she reared up on her legs I grabbed the chain. Luckily
the links were large enough to get a hand through, even as tightly encrusted
into her neck as they were. There was no way to do this that wouldn’t hurt her,
but I had no choice. I pulled back and swung, my glowing blade severing the
links as I pulled on the chain. There was no sound, just a bubble as the air
seemed to rush out. Then I was falling.

I landed on a girl, well at least she looked like a girl.
She didn’t look much older than 20, with singed blonde hair. As I rolled off I
saw that she was badly hurt. She was also filthy and looked as mistreated as
she had in Dragon form. I made sure she was still breathing and called Sendy.

"Get her to my place," I said. "Elithia will
be waiting."

Sendy acknowledged my command and knelt down beside her, she
put her arms around the girl and then the two of them vanished.

Most of the fires had burned out as Charlie and I headed to
the front of the old house where the Mage and Demon still stood. A shield of
magic blocking shots as the Mage protected them both. As we got closer Lucius
suddenly ran toward the Mage as the shield fell and he reached into his cloak. Lucius
leapt forward, sword in hand, and as the two of them collided, he ran him
through. Zeke had his flaming sword at the Fire Demons neck by the time they
went down. When we got there the Mage was dead and Lucius wasn't moving. Delia
ran to him. She rolled him over revealing a black blade buried in his neck.
Delia stood as I reached her and looked at me.

"He's dead," she cried.

I wanted to see for myself but the Fire Demon began to
smoke. I turned and saw it fall to its knees, Zeke still poised with sword
raised. As quickly as it had fallen it jumped up, its own flaming sword high,
as it looked at him.

"Stand down," I yelled and approached the Demon.

"No need," Zeke replied. Dropping his sword to his
waist, he began to talk to the Demon in a language I couldn't understand. The
Demon stepped back as they continued their conversation. After a moment, Zeke
looked over at me.

"You said you'd encountered his kind before. What
happened?"

"I fought him in my own lands. His fire extinguished by
the earth," I replied.

"Did you strike him down with your sword?"

"No. But I encased him in roots deep under the ground
so that his fire could no longer burn."

"Then he may still live," he remarked and began
talking to the Demon again.

Still alive? I hadn't considered that when the trees
swallowed him and pulled him down.

"The Demon agrees to surrender if you will free his
kin," Zeke finally said.

"Do you trust him?"

"I have fought these Demons before," he replied
after a moment. "They have no love for my kind, and even less for those
that would enslave them, but I have always found them to be honorable warriors."

"Good enough," I replied. A different tune than
Siegfried had sung but he was an Angel. He'd have to know a lot about demons,
after all. "I have no way to know if the other still lives but if he will
give up I will take him there when our work here is finished."

The Demon must have understood what we said because he
lowered his sword and his flames faded away, leaving behind a red and black
scaled creature. He… it… was maybe five feet tall with small, vestigial wings. Reptilian,
as had been the other Demon I'd fought, he was nonetheless smaller and less
intimidating than that one had been, at least when not on fire. He looked
directly at me and nodded, then got on his knees in a sitting positon and
placed his sword at his feet. As Siegfried went to check on a few of his
injured team, Michael called out to me.

"You need to see this," he said as he came out of
the still smoking house.

As he gestured to me I headed towards the front door,
Charlie still at my side. Mourning Lucius' death would have to wait. The first
floor was a burned out mess, I noted, stepping over trash and smoldering
wreckage as I followed him through the doorway and into a hall.

"It's down here," he said, pointing to a trapdoor
in a back bedroom. "Where's your Sky Fae?"

"She's transporting the girl to a Fae healer I had
standing by. Why?" I asked.

"I don’t think you're going to want her to see this,"
he answered. Then we started down the hidden stairway.

I followed him down into what had once probably been some
kind of basement. The first thing that hit me was the stench. Even with
enhanced senses the smoke and smells of battle had hidden it until I was about
halfway down. Going the rest of the way I saw that this was no basement, it was
a dungeon. As we crossed the floor I saw several tables. One held nasty looking
devices of unknown metals, and another, beakers and potions with small tubs
containing things I was sure I didn’t want to know. The back of the place was
all bars and doors. A few stood open, small cells to hold prisoners. Michael
led me to cell with a heavy wooden door.

"We found them like this," he said, pulling the
door open. "They've been dead a while."

I looked inside and saw three small bodies, all wearing
chains and restraints. Upon closer examination I saw that they were all female.
They were Aurae and their wings had been hacked off their backs. From the look
of the bodies, it hadn’t been done gently. I could only guess that these were the
sister's Sendy had been searching for.

"Why kind of monster would do this?" I asked,
angrily.

"One that seeks to model a pair of Hermes' shoes,"
I heard a voice say. It was Siegfried. "I found what remained of their
wings in the outer room."

"Any Mages left alive to talk to?"

"No," Siegfried replied.

"Probably for the best. What about us? Did we lose
anyone but Lucius?"

"Rafa from my team and one of the Weres," he
replied. "But at least you saved the Dragon."

The fur on Charlie's back suddenly stiffened and he ran out
of the cell.

"The hound has found something," a voice cried out
a moment later.

We ran to another cell a few doors down just in time to see
another one of Siegfried's team pulling open a trapdoor in the center of the
small room that Charlie had entered.

"This one may still be alive," he yelled, aiming
his rifle's flashlight down the hole.

Siegfried called for a medic as the warrior, a Water Fae
named Troy, waved us over as he put down the rifle and jumped in. Seconds later
we were pulling a female out of the hole. We laid her down as the medic
arrived.

"She is Lilin," Charlie said as he watched us pull
her out.

"She's alive," Troy said. "She's dehydrated
and there's no way to tell the last time she fed. Help me get her out of here
so I can get a better look."

"I'll check the rest of the rooms," Michael said I
grabbed her arms.

We carried her out as gently as we could. Once outside a
medic arrived and took out a stethoscope, placing it on her neck and chest,
another medic providing light. Delia came up as he was examining her.

"She's weak," he said after a moment. "But I
don’t know of enough about your kind to tell you much else."

"Let me look," Delia said, kneeling down and
placing her face on the other woman's. "She needs to feed." Delia
pulled off her coat and then opened the other's mouth. She placed her arm onto
it as I had done with her when I first let her feed from me.

"Any idea who she is?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "But she is very old. She
may even be a first born."

"A first born?" That was interesting. I'd guessed
that Marissa had been searching for the
Tears
but hadn't expected her to
start seeking out first born Lilin yet. But more importantly, I had planned to
search for one as well.