devil 04 - the devil you know Page 20

I turned to look at him as I realized what it was. “Wings. Lots of them.”

  I whipped around as a roar sounded in front of us. Dialle stiffened with alarm behind me.

  Glynus lifted her wings and slowed her forward momentum until we were hovering in midair. Behind us the other blacks slowed too. This isn’t good, mother Tweener.

  “What’s going on, Astra?” my aunt asked as her mount flew up next to Glynus.

  “I think the shit’s about to hit the fan,” I responded.

  Something in my eyes must have spooked her. She didn’t even have a smart-ass retort.

  Slayer rode up on his enormous black a second later, his eyes fixed on the roiling horizon, which was growing closer by the minute. “This could get ugly, Astra.”

  I suppressed a shudder and glared at him. “You think?”

  He grinned, shrugging.

  The horizon, as far as the eye could see, was black and boiled with frantic movement. The occasional burst of fire shone through the dark, like lightning.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Myra asked.

  Another roar sounded, this time from behind us. Dialle and I jerked around to find a similar sight. The horizon behind us roiled with a red tide of movement, dotted with bursts of fire.

  The dragons were going to war.

  And lucky us, we were smack-dab in the middle.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Reptilian Sunrise

  The sky doth fill with flying snakes, or dragons made of fire,

  And ’fore our Lady can get on, she must a pact require.

  “I think we’re going to need celestial help,” Myra said.

  I nodded. “Go! And hurry!”

  Myra popped away. The black she’d been riding twisted around as she left, emitting a puff of surprised smoke.

  “I can try to talk to the reds,” Slayer offered.

  “Yes! Go.”

  Slayer turned the black and they flew off, toward the red tide in the distance.

  I am trying to reach Mother, Glynus said with worry thick in her voice. She is not responding.

  Why wouldn’t she respond?

  It is not good, mother Tweener. She always responds.

  I didn’t want to spook Glynus but I believed that Zerphor would have to be incapacitated or worse to ignore her daughter, the future queen, in the heat of war. Unfortunately for me, Glynus was too smart not to realize this.

  She must be hurt…or dead.

  Let’s not jump to conclusions, Tadpole.

  Her long, massive body shuddered but she didn’t respond.

  “What’s going on, Astra?”

  Dialle didn’t share a mind connection with Glynus so I updated him. Glynus is trying to reach Zerphor. She isn’t responding.

  She is dead.

  I closed my eyes. Don’t say that, Dialle!

  We must face the facts and come up with a plan, Astra. There is not much time.

  The wall of black dragons, thousands of them from what we could see, was now no farther than a half mile away and closing fast. What do you suggest?

  As Dialle hesitated, Glynus piped in. I must assume my role as Queen. You must leave me now. I will go to my subjects, head them off and try to speak reason to them.

  No! I won’t abandon you, Tadpole.

  You must! She turned her head and shared a look with the black dragon my aunt had abandoned. Suddenly we found ourselves hanging in midair, without a mount under us, as Glynus dropped away.

  Before I even had time to pee myself, the other black slid beneath us and Dialle and I hit its back hard, grappling for spikes to keep from sliding off the side. I grabbed the nearest spike in both hands and searched the horizon for Glynus.

  She was flying swiftly forward, toward the boiling black horizon, alone and determined.

  Though I was eminently proud of her in that moment, I was also royally pissed off. I’d be the one to decide if I accompanied her on her mission of death.

  I was the adult.

  I was entitled to make stupid decisions about my own actions. She didn’t have the right to make those decisions for me.

  “She’s going to meet the blacks as their queen?”

  I was only slightly surprised Dialle had grasped the situation so quickly. He was both smart and a Royal himself. He would know how royalty thinks. “Yes.” I turned to him. “I need to go with her, Dialle.”

  He stared at me for a long moment, his dark eyes swirling with emotion. Reaching up, he touched my chin with a warm, firm finger. “You realize it will most likely mean your death?”

  I swallowed hard and nodded, tears forming in my eyes. I blinked to clear them, pissed off at myself for acting like a girl. “I can’t let her face them alone.”

  Dialle sighed softly and leaned toward me, covering my lips in a soft and lingering kiss and then touched his forehead to mine. “I’ll be nearby, Astra. I’ll do what I can to help.”

  I nodded, sniffed and pulled back, smoothing a hand down his square, bristly cheek. I ended the caress by pressing a fingertip into the sexy dimple in his chin. “It’s you, Dialle. I hope you know that. It’s always been you.”

  He grinned. “Astra, my love, I knew that before you did.”

  I chuckled. “Now wish me luck. You know I suck at this space-shifting shit. And Glynus is a moving target.”

  Dialle tightened his thighs on the black and we shot forward. “If you must miss the target, Astra, try to end up sticking out of her front end rather than her back end. You’ll lose a bit of the respect factor if you show up sticking out of her like a hemorrhoid rather than a figurehead on her bow.”

  “Har, har.” Pulling my power forward, I closed my eyes and pictured Glynus, praying that my shifting skills were up to the tricky task at hand.

  After a few beats of my frantic heart, the air around me changed and I found myself locked in space and time, heading toward my destination with fear in my heart. When sound and movement returned I was vastly relieved to find myself sitting on Glynus’ wide back, staring at a rapidly approaching sea of black dragons.

  Glynus jerked slightly as I landed, and turned her elegant head, fixing me with a disdainful, violet-colored eye. You are a very stubborn creature, mother Tweener.

  It’s one of my best things.

  Glynus sighed. I’m glad to have you with me, dragon fighter.

  I reached down and slid a hand over Glynus’ thick, iridescent neck. I wouldn’t be anywhere else, Tadpole.

  I kept my gaze on the oncoming mass of blacks, feeling fear boiling in my gut at their sheer numbers and size. If they decided to ignore Glynus, we were dead. There was no way to withstand the attack that would be sure to follow if Glynus’ talks failed.

  A shudder rippled down the long length of her body and she nodded. Are you ready?

  As ready as I’ll ever be.

  Hold on tight.

  I grabbed a spike and tightened my legs as best I could. Since I’m only five foot not much, I felt like a two-year-old sitting on a fat pony, my feet sticking straight out to the sides.

  Glynus reared up, using her wings to stop her forward progress, and threw back her head, emitting a roar that made her whole body vibrate violently. I held on tight, feeling like an unwanted flea on a dog’s back.

  The sea of blacks wrenched to a halt, facing us from only a fraction of a mile away.

  They were so close I could feel the heat of their fiery breath and smell their excitement.

  Tension filled the silence as Glynus and I faced off with the roiling masses. I could tell by the amount of smoke and fire surrounding the blacks that they were extremely agitated. Tread lightly, Tadpole. This group is all fired up.

  Har. Glynus’ voice in my head sounded weary. I realized that, although she was the size of my house, she was still very young. What she was about to do was way beyond her experience. That thought made my stomach churn with doubt. I cast a glance toward the clouds, wondering where my celestial knights in shining armor were.

  Surely the ange
ls would break their conference to stop a war of this magnitude. I prayed that Myra would be able to talk them into it. And that they would be in time.

  You dare go to war without your queen? I will know who leads this outrage. Show yourself to me!

  I jumped, gasping in surprise. Glynus’ voice in my head was accompanied by an angry burst of fire. The sea of blacks hovering in front of us responded in kind, shooting thick columns of angry fire toward us, heating the air to nearly Hades levels. I covered myself with a power bubble and hunkered down behind Glynus’ massive head to keep from becoming a Tweener toastie.

  So much for treading lightly. Glynus…

  Show yourself! Her roar rumbled across the sky like thunder. Below us, in the mountains of Olympus, the ground exploded upward in clouds of dust and rock.

  I covered my ears and went flat on Glynus’ back, shocked by her power. Her massive body vibrated with tension and anger beneath me. I felt as if I squatted on a laser bomb and fully expected it to go off beneath me at any moment. Damn, girl.

  The attitude of the dragons hovering before us changed with Glynus’ outburst. They deflated slightly, lowering their heads in submission.

  Soon they began to bow, acquiescing to the new young queen. I started to breathe again. But none of the tension left Glynus’ long body.

  After a moment of silent confrontation, movement started rippling through the lines of blacks. I didn’t realize at first what they were doing, until a lone dragon hovered in the air before the lines.

  She looked neither to the left or the right, but something about her demeanor told me she was surprised to find herself out in front. Alone.

  The old everybody steps back and sticks the guilty party out front trick. I knew it well.

  Explain yourself, Gwith.

  The large female hovering at the front of the long lines expanded her chest and sent a column of fire into the sky. Queen Zerphor is taken. You were gone. It was up to me to avenge her.

  I wasn’t up on dragon politics, but body language was pretty much a universal thing. I was fairly certain that old Gwith hadn’t just planned on playing interim queen until Glynus returned. She’d been thinking that throne nest looked pretty damn good under her ample backside.

  Fortunately, the young heir to the throne didn’t seem to be fooled either. Do you wish to challenge me for the crown, Aunt?”

  Aunt? Ouch.

  The enormous reptile seemed to draw herself up even farther for a moment and I tensed. “Hooboy. Here we go,” I murmured.

  The vibrations rippling through Glynus’ body increased until it was all I could do to hold on to her. Her skin grew hotter, nearly burning me with its intensity. And her eyes gained light until they appeared to glow.

  Then, despite the explosion I could feel building within her, Glynus became completely, unnaturally still. Even her wings stopped moving. I wondered how we continued to stay afloat on the air currents.

  Looking at Glynus and then back at the other she dragon before us, I suddenly realized why Glynus was the heir rather than her Aunt Gwith or any of a number of other dragons whose birthright would seem to give them eligibility for the role.

  There was much more to Glynus than her birthright. There was power…and magic…and an innate knowledge that could never be taught. The dragon beneath my thighs was special. Very special.

  Apparently Gwith realized this too, because she finally depuffed and lowered herself on the air in a submissive bow. Of course, now that you have returned I relinquish leadership to you, my queen.

  Glynus relaxed slightly. Some of the heat left her skin and her massive wings began to beat the air again. She inclined her head slightly in acceptance of Gwith’s deferral. Come to me, Aunt. Tell me what has occurred in my absence.

  As the would-be usurper flew toward us, I took a deep breath for the first time in minutes. Well done, Tadpole.

  That’s Queen Tadpole to you. Her voice was filled with relief. Despite the terrifying and confident front she’d presented to her people, she’d apparently been just as nervous as I was.

  I chuckled. You’ll always be an annoying little tadpole who eats candles and farts laser bombs to me, Glynus.

  Her chuckle was a comforting rumble in my mind. I’m glad you’re here to keep me humble, mother Tweener.

  I grinned. So am I, Tadpole. So am I.

  The sound of wings beating the air behind us made me turn. Dialle and the other warriors we’d taken to Hades were hurrying up behind us. He didn’t look surprised to see us still alive. He winked at me as the black he rode pulled up next to Glynus and stopped, hovering on the air with powerful strokes of its massive wings.

  The blacks ranged themselves around Glynus, and Gwith slowed her approach, sucking back in fear.

  But Glynus glared at her and she resumed her normal flight. When she hovered before us finally, her attitude had changed substantially from what we’d observed when she had thousands of dragons at her back.

  A quick conversation between Glynus and Gwith told us what we had feared. Zerphor and Quince had been taken by Nerul and the blacks had been told the reds took her.

  I was pretty sure the red queen had been taken too, and her people had most likely been told the blacks were responsible. “Nerul has set himself up nicely,” I told Dialle. “When the smoke clears, both queendoms will be leaderless, each blaming the other for the condition, and he will take them under his rule.”

  Dialle nodded. “With the dragons as his warriors, he would be a force to be reckoned with.”

  “That’s why we aren’t going to let him get away with it.” I looked at Gwith. “Glynus, does she know where Nerul is?”

  After a moment Glynus lowered her head in a nod. She will take us there. But we have one more thing to deal with first.

  Glynus turned to face the red tide heading our way and I sighed. This was quickly becoming like one of those dreams where you spend all night trying to get up one staircase but you never quite make it to the top. And you know you need to get up there because you’re naked and all your clothes are in a pile at the top. And just when you think you’re gonna make it, a purple squish demon from Mars jumps in front of you, waggling its long, warty tongue in your direction, and then you… Well…you get where I’m going with that.

  Thousands of red dragons roared toward us on a wave of heat and smoke. The sky darkened with their presence. Their numbers were so vast they blocked out the light of the sun at their backs. Heat ripples rose above them and fire columns blasted from hundreds of flared nostrils at regular intervals.

  The black dragons at my back bristled and I could feel their fire building in response to the tsunami of dark intent heading our way from the reds.

  Ahead of them, running for their lives, were Slayer and the black that was carrying him.

  “Glynus!”

  I am trying to reach the Queen of the Reds but she does not respond.

  Sighing, I turned to Dialle. “It appears you’re right. The red queen is missing too.”

  He nodded. “This would be a good time for Myra to return.”

  Isn’t there anything you can do? I asked Glynus.

  Yes. Gwith, inform the army. We will sing.

  The larger black jerked her head upward and swung around. She flapped her wings hard and flew back toward the anxious ranks of blacks, roaring mightily as she went.

  “What?” Dialle asked.

  “They’re going to sing.”

  “Oh.” Dialle grinned mischievously. “What? Like, Kumbaya?”

  I snorted. “If only.”

  Glynus turned to face the endless array of black dragons of her queendom. She opened her mouth wide and emitted the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. Crystalline notes danced through the air and filled me with the utmost calm and peace. Almost as one, thousands of dragons joined the song.

  The sound was so powerful that tears flowed down my cheeks. I gasped as the notes swelled to the point where the air vibrated with their power. Glynus turned ba
ck toward the oncoming reds and I said a silent prayer as the lines of heat-soaked reds seemed to stutter and slow, suddenly unsure what to do.

  They finally jerked to a halt and stared across the narrow slice of sky that remained between the two armies.

  The black that Slayer was riding opened its huge maw and joined in the song, swinging around in midair to face the sea of reds, which appeared to be confused as to what to do.

  “I didn’t realize they could use the song against each other,” I murmured. I’d seen a combined army of reds and blacks, along with the celestial choir, use the song very effectively against Dialle the First and an invading group of dark-world types at St. Peter’s gates. But I didn’t realize the song could calm a warring dragon faction.

  The air between the armies shimmered and, one by one, the Angels popped into view. They quickly lifted their voices in angelic chorus, the sweet notes flowing upward in an almost visible wave, to mix with the incredible beauty of the dragons’ song.

  The reds pressed backward, away from the crystalline notes throbbing on the air, and looked as if the music pained them.

  “The song targets evil intent. If the reds’ hearts were pure, they would join in the song rather than run from it.” Dialle explained.

  “They’re under some kind of influence.”

  “Yes. Nerul’s.”

  As the red army backed away, stumbling over each other to escape the immensely powerful notes, the angels and the blacks moved forward, driving them back the way they’d come.

  Finally, with a terrified roar, an enormous red in the center of the front line lifted straight up, flying over the army as fast as she could, back the way they’d come. Chaos ensued as the rest of the reds followed, jockeying for position in the sea of red and desperate to get away.

  Their work seemingly done, the dragons’ song softened and started to fade away. The angels allowed their chorus to fade too. And silence reigned for a few seconds.

  I sighed, swiping at moisture on my cheeks. “Damn! I hate when I cry like a girl.”

  * * * * *

  Nerul was staying in Aphrodite’s castle at the edge of the golden city of Olympus. Apparently Aphrodite was summering on the French Riviera and the castle had been available for lease.