He hadn’t been exaggerating about his size. As far as I could see, these chambers were as big as a town. In reality, they were probably as big as a city. And those monstrous claws could have easily shredded the Empire State Building itself in a single blow. His appearance also retained many of the qualities of mythical western dragons: leathery wings, a dinosaur-like head, spikes and teeth shaped like sabers. But I was still digesting his size. I was an ant compared to this creature. Less than an ant.
The spell of terror and awe I was under broke only when he groaned again. When I looked at him, really looked at him, I could see why he was in such pain. Evanescence were crawling along his body, biting him, ripping his scales clean from his skin and eating them.
A single burnt orange eye the size of a swimming pool opened. The black slit in the middle was unfocused, undoubtedly due to the agony. But when I gasped, it zeroed in on me.
The eye narrowed. I recognized the emotion burning in its depths: hatred.
I blew out a breath of air. And suddenly I was strangely calm.
“Hello, Your Highness.”
***************
Chapter 14
The crossroad is not kind or fair
Welcome to your greatest nightmare
Minds are torn in perfect halves
Lord, unleash your raucous laugh
Eulathrin
The latest Siren Intelligence report contained satisfying news. The dragons were currently under attack via an army of vampire warriors and our fallen brothers. I only spared a trace of regret for our spies who were currently begging for aid. All dragon portals were mysteriously malfunctioning, making escape impossible. Unfortunately, we could not aid them. Not without provoking Smoking Mirror’s wrath. They had served the sirens well, and their deaths would not be in vain.
Not deaths, my conscience reminded me.
But my regret was unwarranted, I told myself. This was King Tarasque’s doing. He had provoked Smoking Mirror and his people, his treasure, his power, everything he held dear would pay the price.
No. You read the reports. He did everything he could to placate Smoking Mirror. He did absolutely nothing to provoke him.
I silenced the voice. It would only betray me in the end. My duty was to my people. The survival of the siren race would always be my priority.
Entering the royal chambers, I bowed before Queen Persephone.
“Welcome Eulathrin,” the queen greeted. She placed the scroll she had been reading on a nearby table. “Our dragon spies still send pleas for aid. Several of them have promised to swear oaths of loyalty to me for all of eternity in exchange for their lives.” A sneer curled her mouth. “How pitiful and dishonorable.”
“Yes, my lady,” I said, though inwardly, I felt no small amount of shock that the queen would possess such contempt for those who had loyally served her for decades.
“We will survive this, Eulathrin. So long as we know our place, so long as we do nothing to hinder Smoking Mirror’s plans, we will survive. The fates of all other races are irrelevant.”
Then they came for me and by that time, no one was left to speak up.
“Yes, my lady.”
***
Mercedes
My calm didn’t shatter, not even when a growl that had nothing to do with physical pain rumbled in that monstrous throat. Not even when that fiery orange eye continued to glare at me.
I looked at his body. The Evanescence were working at him like insatiable robots. Their purpose was single-minded. They would not stop until they had stripped him of every scale on his flesh. Despite all he had done, all he had sworn to do, my heart went out to him. No one deserved this pain, this humiliation. I had to do something, anything.
And your plan, my inner voice reminded me. You have to know exactly what Tezcatlipoca is going to do to him. The salvation of everyone could depend on such knowledge.
Yes. My plan.
I began to walk. That great orange eye seemed to dare me to come closer, but I could also see his fear. I halted in my step.
“Do you know why he brought me here?” I whispered. After a pause, I answered my own question. “He wants me to add to your pain.”
The responding growl and the way the eye flared told me he knew exactly why I was supposed to be here. And that he would kill me if he could.
“I was never your enemy, Tarasque,” I said. “And I have no intention of starting right now. I’m not going to help him hurt you.”
He didn’t believe me. I hadn’t expected him to.
“Regardless, I am here,” I continued. “And I can’t get out. I’m trapped, like you.” I spread my arms out. “What do you think we should do about that?”
I was satisfied to see a flicker of confusion in that fiery eye wrapped up in all that anger. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. I needed him to be willing if this was going to work.
“I’m not going to touch you,” I said. “I’m not even going to go near you. Not unless you want me to.” To emphasize my point, I sat cross-legged on the hard, obsidian ground.
His suspicion was palpable. I continued. “The truth is, I don’t know what will happen if I try to communicate with you. He’s watching right now, and I have no idea what he’ll do to us once we can talk.” Now my eyes narrowed. “But I do know that he can’t make me do anything. He needs me to be willing for his plans to work. He needs you to be willing too. He needs you to give in. I’m not going to. What about you?”
His response was a furious growl. Said growl was immediately followed by one of agony. I forced myself not to look at his body again. If I did, the calm would break. I would break. And all might be lost.
“I can’t imagine the pain,” I whispered. “Or the loss. But I do care. If that means anything at all.” My hands gripped my knees. “I’m not moving, Tarasque. Not unless you ask me to. The choice is yours.”
I didn’t speak a word after that. I just stared into his gaze. My eyes seemed to have lost their need to blink, just as my body seemed to have lost its needs for food and water. Was there some kind of magic sustaining me? Probably. Would Tezcatlipoca keep me here for the next thousand years if he had to?
Definitely.
I didn’t know how much time passed. An hour, or maybe even a year. Before that great orange eye beckoned at me, time seemed to have lost all meaning. I got to my feet, not noticing that my legs hadn’t cramped up at all, and continued my journey. I ignored Tarasque’s eye as it flared above me like the ominous sun of a dying world. When I reached his neck, the Evanescence eating his scales parted where I stood. His raw, naked flesh was visible for me to see along with the cracked, bleeding X and dragon head symbols. Slave marks.
I knew now that I would lose count of how many times it would feel as if my nerve would leave me forever. The calmness was but a memory. My breath escaped my mouth in the form of small gasps. I reached out a badly shaking hand and rested my fingertips on one of the marks. Reality pitched around me and my mouth opened in a silent scream. I felt like I had just been hurled off a cliff. Miraculously, I found myself on my feet when the feeling passed. My hands were clutching the rail of a bridge. A very familiar bridge.
I looked wildly around. The air was as pleasantly warm as the sunlight on my face. The lake below sparkled like the finest of diamonds. The trees rustled gently in the breeze…the trees that had always reminded me of Tolkien’s Ents.
“Down Harvard Lane,” I whispered.
“He told me he was fond of irony,” a dry familiar voice intoned. “But only now am I beginning to believe him.”
Tarasque was walking toward me in his human form. His two copies were absent. It was just him; handsome, golden, and expression hard as stone. I turned to face him, but didn’t speak. My silence made him suspicious.
“You have nothing to say?”
I shrugged. “I said you had a choice. You chose to let me near you. Your choice, your move, king of the dragons.”
“And how many moves I could make,
” he said quietly. His tall form loomed over me, casting me in shadow. “I wanted to make you suffer. I still do.”
“Why exactly?” I asked.
“You tried to manipulate me.” His whisper came out as practically a hiss. “No creature attempts such a thing without drastic consequences.”
I scowled. “So despite the fact that Tezcatlipoca has confirmed everything I warned you about, I’m still the liar.”
“I am not speaking of Necoc Yaotl.” Tarasque stepped close enough to invade my personal space.
I stood my ground. “So this is about me asking if you loved me.”
“It is about your manipulation.” Now the hiss was far more prominent. “You hoped you could use my imaginary love,” he sneered the word, “against me so I would spare your vampire mate and his people at the cost of my people and everything I hold dear.”
“And what have I done that merits you believing I would do such a thing?”
“You may be different from other humans, but you are still human. You will manipulate for your own ends. Perhaps not for treasure, but you would, Mercedes Strand, if the lives of your loved ones depended on it.”
I shrugged again. “Maybe. People have called me an angel for years now, but I’ve never pretended to be one. And I don’t believe I am one. If you want me to admit that I’m capable of manipulation, then yes, I am. Regardless, I didn’t ask that question to manipulate you. That’s all in your head, Your Majesty.”
“You—”
“Tarasque, enough.” I held up my hands, finally taking a step back from him. “I’ve told you the truth, and if you don’t want to believe it, then I can’t help that. But you of all people should know we have far greater problems to deal with now.”
To my relief, he seemed to gain some reason at that. He put one hand to his temple.
“I cannot feel them here,” he whispered. “But I know they are there. They are eating me alive…”
“Tarasque, dragons greatly value their scales, right?”
He looked at me sharply. “That is an understatement.”
I nodded. “The Evanescence, the creatures eating your scales…any sense of identity they had before was stolen from them when they were twisted. That’s what Tezcatlipoca is trying to do now. He’s trying to take away your identity as a dragon. You can’t let him.”
“He will never win.” Tarasque bared his teeth. “I will not let him.”
“Just be prepared for anything,” I said. “I’ll help in any way I can.”
His eyes narrowed and he crossed the distance between us. “Make no mistake, human. I do not trust you. I let you near me only because you are the one link I possess beyond the suffering I now endure. Betray me, and you and everything you hold dear will die.”
“Not only did you make that threat before,” I said coldly. “You came very close to carrying it out. Why make it again?”
“Why would you offer your aid to me again knowing what you will lose should I gain my freedom?” he demanded. “Are you that compassionate, that foolish?”
“Will you kill everyone I love if I help you escape Tezcatlipoca?” I asked. “Are you that dishonorable, that evil?”
He appraised me for a moment. “If you are successful in aiding me, then I will abandon my grudge against you as well as your vampire mate. To this I swear on the sacred grounds of my fathers.”
I smiled, grateful that he still retained his honor. There was hope after all.
“Well, let’s just focus on beating Tezcatlipoca first,” I said. “We can worry about promises later.”
“Indeed.” Tarasque looked around. “Nothing can be gained by returning to reality. I tried numerous times to escape my prison. My strength is gone, and my magic is but a memory. Those creatures…those Evanescence…their bite is excruciating. Even that one bite I received from your vampire mate’s pet caused me great pain.”
I hesitated for a moment. Could I trust him with my knowledge? Would he turn on me?
You have no choice. If you don’t trust him, he will not trust you, and you will never escape here.
“An Evanescence’s bite is very poisonous to those who possess magic,” I said. “A large dosage will kill, though your death isn’t Tezcatlipoca’s goal.”
He paled. “You claimed he wishes to twist my people into grotesque monstrosities.”
“And when you become grotesque monstrosities, he plans on presenting you as slaves to the vampires.” My voice gentled. “There’s no such thing as a deal with the devil, Tarasque. He will always betray you. Always.”
Tarasque turned away sharply. He seized the rail of the bridge in a white-knuckled death grip.
“I am a fool.”
The despair and self-loathing in his voice made me wince, though I was well aware he deserved it. But I didn’t comfort him. This was not the time for sympathy.
“There’s more,” I said. “Tezcatlipoca’s motivation for all of this is revenge. He created the vampires while his brother Quetzalcoatl created the dragons and the Evanescence. He twisted the Evanescence because, supposedly, his brother tried to take the vampires from him. He intends to complete his vengeance with the dragons, the brothers of the Evanescence.”
“Brother…” The word came out a hushed whispered. “He said he had a brother, and that brother tried to take his children from him. But he claimed the vampires were his brother’s children.”
“He lied,” I said. “He created the vampires.”
Tarasque was silent for a moment. He looked like he wanted to tell me something, but decided against it.
“As I said, we cannot go back to reality. If we are to beat Necoc Yaotl, we must do so here where our minds are strongest. But we must hurry. The longer we delay, the more deformed I and my people become.”
“Then let’s start by figuring out why he brought us to this place first,” I said. I looked around. “This is where we first met, but that can’t be the only reason.”
“You are more familiar with this area,” Tarasque said. “Which part holds the most significance?”
I considered that for a moment.
“That way leads to my school.” I pointed to the east end of the bridge. “But if we go back, we’ll end up at my house. I think that’s where we should go. It’s a bit of a walk though.”
“Then flight would be a more convenient form of transportation.” Tarasque looked at his hands and frowned. “I cannot change to my natural form, but another capable of flight…”
He spread his arms out and they extended, as did his entire body. In mere seconds, he became a majestic crimson bird with flaming wings, a powerful curved beak, and an incredibly long, fiery tale.
“Phoenix,” I whispered. The sight of such a magnificent creature stole my breath.
The powerful wings flared as Tarasque beckoned his scarlet head at me. Shaking off my awe, I approached him. He rose up a few feet in the air and wrapped his talons around me. Well, it was the only way he could carry me being that his wings and body were covered in actual fire. We rose up higher and higher.
Tell me where to go, he said in my head, and I complied.
***
Tarasque
I asked her to approach me. After swearing that I would make her and the one she loved suffer beyond their wildest dreams, I asked her to approach me. Not only that, I gifted her with my trust. In truth, she was my only link to the outside, but I had not lied when I told her I would spare her and her mate if she assisted me. I had lied when I said I did not trust her. I did not want to trust her. I loathed myself for trusting her…and yet I did.
But the trust is not complete, I assured myself. Her truths regarding Necoc Yaotl are irrelevant. She attempted to manipulate my feelings, and she will always put the safety of her vampire mate before the safety of my people.
Her vampire mate. How I longed to kill him. I had not lied when I made my promise to spare him, but even if she succeeded in aiding me, I knew I would have little qualms in breaking that promise.
A dragon always valued his goal before his honor. It was our way.
But I may not have to break my word. Mercedes has proven herself to be a manipulator, she even admitted her capability outright. If she betrays me, I will have my vengeance, and I will never feel the need to trust her again.
Your Highness…do you love me?
Her fragile form rested in my talons. I fought the urge to squeeze them.
There, she spoke to me in my mind. There’s my house.
Fortunately, the frontal garden was more than sizable enough for a phoenix to land comfortably. I set Mercedes on her feet before reverting to my human form. I forced myself not to think of my true body, the pain and violation it was going through. I ground my teeth. Stay focused. You will have your vengeance.
“Tarasque?”
I spared her a glance before beginning to walk at a brisk pace. She instantly caught up with me. Neither of us spoke until we reached the front doors. Mercedes tested the handle. It opened right away. She glanced at me, suspicious and almost frightened. I shared the sentiment. If Necoc Yaotl was making no effort to hinder us, then we should be very wary of what laid beyond those doors.
Mercedes cautiously pushed them open and stepped inside. I followed suit. She looked around, but my enhanced hearing was what picked up the noise.
“There are voices coming from there.” I pointed in said direction.
She frowned. “That’s where the dining room is.”
We made are our way there. Soon enough, even Mercedes’ limited human hearing could pick up the voices. She frowned.
“That’s my father.” Her eyes went wide. “And that’s…”
She broke into a run. Her feet skidded to a halt by the open door of a room containing a long table adorned with a variety of alien foods. At the end of the table was a human male with Mercedes’ medium gold skin, hair, and blue eyes. Seated beside him, eating and laughing, was a small human child with the exact same coloring.
“That’s…that’s me,” Mercedes breathed in awe, putting a hand to her mouth. The little girl opened her mouth wide. “He’s going to put a chicken dumpling in my mouth.”
The male smiled and picked up a circular item of food and placed it in the child’s mouth. Judging by Mercedes’ pallor, it was most definitely a chicken dumpling.