Dragon Conjurer 4, page 9
“Anything, really.” Elisabeth responded. “I mostly turn into mammals, since it’s easier on my body. But theoretically, I can shapeshift into any animal.”
“Well, what about a giant mole?” Nala offered.
“Yeah, you and Beyblade could dig around together!” Nick added.
A look of relief fell across Elisabeth’s face as the others offered their support and suggestions.
“That sounds fun,” our new teammate giggled.
“It’s settled, then.” I rubbed my hands together. “Elisabeth, Nala, and Beyblade will get the imps out of their holes and fling them into the air, and then Steffi, Nick, Goldie, Ky, and I will shoot them to smithereens.”
My team all nodded in firm agreement, and the determined looks on their bright faces mingled with a hint of pure, adrenaline-hungry energy that I’d grown to love about our group.
These shitty little imps didn’t stand a chance.
We continued to flesh out the mission details as we flew, and the minutes turned into an hour before I knew it.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your little powwow,” Silva cut in through the loudspeaker. “But we’re approaching mission airspace, and there appears to be bogeys in the air.”
“What?” I flipped around so I could look out the window.
It was just our luck to have a routine mission turn into yet another multi-monster fight.
As I looked out the window, my gaze caught on the mounds of upturned earth and the crumbled ruins of a highway that snaked its way through the red Nevada desert below us. Then I turned my gaze to the sky, and I saw that Silva was right. There were three huge creatures circling above the destruction below.
From our aerial vantage point, I could tell that the monsters definitely weren’t any ordinary birds. They had green scales, yellow beards, red leathery wings, and a pair of antlers atop their human-like heads.
“Piasa Birds,” I murmured.
“What?” my teammates asked in unison.
“Piasa Birds,” I repeated while I kept my eyes glued to the monsters outside the window. “They’re a creature from the folklore of midwestern Native American tribes. They’re like reptile-tiger-birds. Their name means ‘the bird that devours men.’”
“Oh, is that all?” Nick scoffed. “Great.”
“Well,” Elisabeth purred in her sweet French accent. “If it only devours men, then I don’t see what the problem is.”
“Exactly!” Steffi chimed in. “Just send us girls in, and it’ll be a piece of cake!”
“I can’t get in close enough with these bogeys flying around.” Silva’s voice interrupted my teammates’ banter. “You have two options. Either I land a ways away and you all walk over, or we do a drop-in. Which one you want?”
“I’ve never jumped out of a plane before,” Elisabeth murmured.
“Hey, it’s pretty great,” Nala patted the redhead’s back.
“I didn’t like it until Ky was big enough that I could ride down on his back,” I added. “Well… I still don’t really love it, but--”
“You’re taking too long to decide, which means it's the captain's choice, and the captain chooses option two!” Silva laughed through the loudspeaker. “I’m heading up to get some altitude, so get ready for a drop in thirty seconds!”
My teammates and I hurried over to the door to prepare for the jump. Then Nick unlatched the mechanism, and he and Nala heaved against the air-tight seal until the door opened with a whoosh of cold air.
The dark beauty turned around to face us with her back to the cabin door, and her mouth widened into a bright, gap-toothed grin.
“Well, guys,” she shouted above the roar of the wind, “See ya down there!”
In one fluid motion, Nala turned back around and dove out of the plane. I saw her make several earth bending arm motions in the split second that her body was visible before she plunged into the clouds below.
My heart did a backflip as I watched my dark-haired lover plummet out of view, but I was equal parts terrified for her and incredibly impressed with how much she was growing to trust her powers.
“Hey,” Nick piped up. “Can I use Goldie?”
I nodded and summoned my pearly-white dragon with a loud “Sokisaseru,” and the monster landed on the floor of the plane with a surprising amount of grace, given her immense size.
The blond nymph mounted the large beast, and then, with a whoop and a holler, the pair charged out the door of the plane and into the cold air.
Elisabeth peered through the opening as the wind whipped her bright red braid around her head.
“It’s not as bad as it looks.” I leaned down so she could hear me above the air that rushed past our faces. “Just jump, and then sprout some wings once you’re far enough away from the plane.”
The French redhead gave me a skeptical look out of the corner of her eye.
“You’ll be great.” I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then kissed her cheek. “I promise.”
“See you down there, Captain?” Elisabeth smiled with more confidence.
“See you down there.” I touched the tip of my nose to hers, and I let our lips brush together the slightest bit.
A surge of energy seemed to pass between us as the wind whipped through the open hatch, and Elisabeth’s green eyes sparked with excitement as she met my gaze.
Then the shapeshifter took a deep breath and leapt out of the plane.
I started to follow the others, and I was just about to jump before Steffi grabbed my wrist and pulled me back from the edge.
“Hey,” my pixie dream girl murmured as she gazed up at me with her golden eyes. “Our plan from earlier isn’t going to work now that there are more creatures.”
“Shit,” I gasped. “We didn’t c--”
“Shh,” Steffi pressed her finger against my lips. “We don’t have time. I just wanted to remind you that we all trust you. You’re our leader, and we know you can bring us through anything. So, just listen to your gut, and we’ll follow your lead.”
Before I could say another word, Steffi grabbed my face between her hands and pulled me down into a kiss.
As she held onto me, the fairy-girl twisted around, so we switched places, and she ended up standing between me and the open door. Steffi smiled up at me just before she released her wings from her back in a flash of golden light.
“Oh, and one more thing,” my pink-haired lover murmured. “I love you, Dylan Cooper.”
Without looking, Steffi stepped backward out of the plane and disappeared below the clouds.
My stomach lurched.
She loved me?
Like… loved me-loved me?
I wasn’t usually one for butterflies, but between the movement of the plane and the amazing, smart, sexy woman who had just professed her love for me, my intestines felt like they were dancing in my abdomen.
Steffi loved me. The same pixie dream girl who begged on her knees for my cum today loved me, and this same girl was devoted to jetting around the world with me to slay deadly monsters every day.
How the fuck did I get this lucky?
“Cooper, it’s now or never!” Silva’s crackling voice shook me from my thoughts.
“Got it!” I shouted back.
I squeezed my eyes shut and jumped out the door. After the initial upchuck-inducing “oh, shit, what the fuck did I just do” moment, I pried my eyelids open and shouted “Exokyzo!”
A few feet below me, Ky burst into existence in a flash of icy-white light. The frost dragon glided gently between my legs, and as soon as I steadied myself and grabbed hold of the large spines on his back, my stomach settled.
“Alright, buddy, let’s kick some monster ass,” I hollered above the wind.
Ky and I headed down to meet my teammates, and as we broke through the cloud layer, I saw that all four fighters were already starting to take on the horde of imps.
Steffi flew above the fray and launched balls of energy out from her palms, and Goldie skimmed above the ground and shot blasts of air into groups of imps. Each strike from the pair sent the little monsters flying away like bowling pins, but I couldn’t see Nick anywhere.
He’d already dismounted from Goldie’s back, and as I heard periodic gunfire below, I figured he was already dashing around from plant to plant and sniping imps anytime he got into a good firing position.
Nala stood rooted to the ground with a rotating wall of dirt coursing around her, and I realized she was using this as a shield against imps while she threw boulders at the creatures without skipping a beat.
I glanced around for Elisabeth, and I was starting to get worried until the ground nearby erupted, and a huge mole burst out holding an imp in each hand and another in its mouth.
My entire team was already slaying some serious imp ass, but as my dragon and I flew over the scene, one of the Piasa Birds let out a loud squawk, and I whirled around to see it charging toward me.
“Ky, freeze it!” I shouted as I dug my heels into my dragon’s scaly side.
The ice dragon zipped upward and then let out a blast of frozen air in the Piasa’s direction. The bird screeched as icicles formed on its scales and wings, but it was only frustrated, not defeated.
“Okay, buddy,” I muttered as I guided Ky closer to the ground to get out of the Piasa’s reach. “What do we do about these assholes?”
We glided over the mounds of dirt and gaping holes in the ground, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement that looked very un-implike. I frowned and had Ky circle back around so I could get a closer look.
But luckily, it wasn’t another rogue monster.
There, running out of one of the holes in the earth, was a marmot. It was a fat rodent that looked like a cross between a groundhog and a prairie dog, and it was currently scurrying away from the deadly violence happening a few yards away.
It was the most normal creature I’d run into on a mission lately, but it actually made me do a double take for this exact reason.
My life was weird these days.
I shook my head and began to lead my dragon back toward the fight, but I was immediately overtaken by one of the Piasa Birds as it lunged at us from above. The monster screeched and reached its talons toward me, and I yelled out as Ky tried to veer away, but it was too late. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared to be grabbed by the monster’s razor-sharp claws.
But then nothing happened.
I opened my eyes to see Ky still flying straight, and I glanced around for the monster. Off to the side, I spotted the Piasa flapping its huge, red wings just a few feet off the ground, and holding the marmot in its talons.
“The marmot!” I shouted triumphantly. “Ky, do you know what this means?”
The ice dragon looked back at me with a face that said, “Uh… The only reason to get that excited about a rodent is if you’re about to eat it. Can I eat?”
“Not now, but that’s exactly my point!” I pumped my fist in the air. “The Piasa Birds are just here for lunch! See, the imps are digging up the roads because they just like to cause mischief, but as they dig, they also scare the burrowing animals out of their homes.”
Ky did not look impressed with my theory.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship,” I explained. “The imps dig up the marmots for the Piasa Birds to eat, and the birds return the favor by protecting the imps as they dig. It’s a win-win!”
I steered my dragon over to my team so I could tell them the good news.
I had a new plan.
Ky hovered a few feet from where Nala had pinned herself to the ground, and the rest of my teammates continued to fight as they moved on the range.
“Alright, guys!” I shouted to the group. “We’re sticking to the skeet shooting plan, but with a slight detour.”
“Aye, Captain!” Nala growled as she hurled a three-foot-wide boulder at a scuttling imp.
I swiftly summoned Beyblade from my chest, and the moment my fiery dragon materialized in the desert dirt, I turned to Nala and waved mole-Elisabeth over.
“Launchers!” I hollered, and Beyblade tilted his head to the side to receive instructions. “You three throw the imps up to the Piasa birds. We’ll do our best to corral them and make them easy targets.”
Beyblade roared with all his might as Elisabeth curtly nodded her mole-snout, and Nala wiped the sweat from her brow before she sent me a quick salute.
“Shotguns!” I turned to Nick, Steffi, and Goldie. “Direct your fire at the Piasa Birds. Our goal is to hurt both monsters at once. This is a two-birds-one-stone situation. Literally.”
“We can do that!” Steffi hollered back.
“Nick!” I shouted to my best friend.
“Yessir!” The nymph appeared beside me and saluted with one hand while he held his rifle in the other.
“For the love of all that is holy, please don’t miss the birds and accidentally shoot Steffi or me in the ass,” I begged.
“Sir, yes, s-- dude, are you suggesting my aim is subpar?” Nick leveled me with an affronted look. “In all our missions together, when have I ever--”
“Take your orders, man,” I sighed, and the nymph cracked a cocky grin.
Then, just as quickly as he had popped up beside me, the blond sharpshooter disappeared back into the sparse foliage.
“Alright, team, let’s kick this pig!” I called out.
I heard Nick scoffing in the distance, but I just sent my own cocky grin in his general direction.
It was about time I beat him to his favorite line.
My remaining teammates nodded at me, and I watched as the two groups diverted and began carrying out the command. Steffi had told me that she and the rest of the team trusted me to lead them, and I trusted them, too.
I guided Ky upward so we could be on the same level as the Piasa Birds that still circled over the upturned earth and crumbled highway, and Steffi appeared a few yards away with Goldie flying a few yards on the other side of her. I smiled over at the two beautiful beings while they both sparkled in the desert sunlight, and the three of us waited for the imp-flinging to begin.
A moment later, the first imp struck.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the small gray monster collided with the underside of the Piasa Bird closest to me. The larger creature let out a surprised squawk and looked down to see the imp fall back down to earth with a high-pitched squeal.
“Attack!” I shouted to my closest teammates.
Ky shot out a blast of his frozen breath just as Goldie sent a torrent of air from the other side, and all three Piasa Birds were caught in the crossfire. The airborne monsters struggled to escape the icy vortex, and Steffi flew around the group and sent out a series of small energy balls from all angles to discourage the creatures from trying to escape the dragon-induced hurricane.
Our triangulated attack worked to keep the Piasa Birds pinned together, and this made them an easy target for the ground troops.
I glanced down to see another handful of imps being flung upward, and I caught sight of Elisabeth’s mole tail as she burrowed back into the earth to grab more imp targets. Nearby, Nala stood rooted in the ground, and each upward heave of her arms sent a pillar of dirt thrusting out of the ground to hurl the unlucky imps into the sky with its momentum.
Then I heard the loud pop of rifle fire followed by a screech from the great lizard-like bird in front of me, and I knew Nick’s shot had met its mark. The red-winged Piasa Bird shuddered and let out a guttural cry as a stream of blood spurted out of its scaly neck, and the monster plummeted down to the earth where it landed in a cloud of red Nevada dust.
“Great shot!” I shouted down to the nymph, but I wasn’t sure if he could hear me over the rumbling of the ground and squealing of the imps flying through the air. “Okay, girls, only two left! Let’s keep it up!”
I steered Ky over to Goldie and Steffi who were flying around and shooting at the pair of still-living Piasa Birds, and as our grounded teammates continued to pummel the larger monsters with the bodies of the smaller ones, the fairy-girl, the dragons, and I kept up our aerial assault.
We circled around the Piasa Birds and attacked with a steady rate of fire, and our efforts kept them all distracted and made them easier targets to hit for the launchers below.
Goldie and Ky created an icy whirlwind that buffeted the Piasas’ wings, and together, the dragons ensured our targets were too cold to move with any significant amount of speed.
Then Steffi shot orbs of fairy energy to blind the Piasa Birds and push them back any time they tried to escape the dragons’ breath.
After the brute force attacks from the soaring imps, and a few more well-aimed shots from Nick, the other two mythical birds fell to the ground with sickening thuds.
I guided Ky over to Steffi as she stared down triumphantly at the monsters we had just killed, and I held up my hand for a high-five.
“We did it!” the fairy-girl squealed and slapped her palm against mine.
“You were right.” I grinned at her. “I just had to trust my gut.”
Steffi smiled back, and with her cheeks still bright pink from our shower earlier, she was practically glowing.
“Hey, by the way,” I said as I admired my beautiful fairy-girl. “I love you, too.”
Steffi’s wings fluttered twice as fast as she gasped and clapped her hands to her heart, and I chuckled when she darted forward to come in for a flying kiss.
I caught the manic pixie before she could topple us both off my dragon, and I kept her cradled in my lap while her hungry tongue delved deep into my mouth. I could hardly breathe by the time Steffi finished with me, and then she nuzzled her nose against mine while her golden eyes sparkled up at me.
“Will you tell me that like… all the time?” the fairy-girl whispered.
“I love you,” I murmured back.
In a fit of giggles, Steffi rolled and tumbled off my lap like she’d just fainted, and I laughed while she fluttered her way to the ground and giggled some more.
“Ky, Goldie, let’s head down and see how the others are doing,” I snickered. “They might need some help wrangling the rest of the imps.”
I motioned for Goldie to follow as we glided down toward the rest of our team. When we landed, I dismounted and enthusiastically placed my feet back onto solid ground.
