Wrath of the Dragon 3, page 22
We’d needed to make sure none of our commotion drew the attention of the demons before we were ready.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “I want to go in and find Ruby and the queen before we attack.”
“Alone?” Cyra spluttered. “Ryan, seriously? We know how strong you are, but there are fucking hundreds of them!”
“And they’re so powerful,” Nisha said with a worried nod. “We should go, too.”
“There isn’t much time,” I said. “I have to know where Ruby is so nobody attacks that part of the palace. Besides, I’m going to need you out here to help organize our army.”
The angels exchanged worried looks, but they didn’t argue. Brooke bit her lip nervously as she tugged on a golden curl, and they were obviously very anxious about seeing me stride into the demon-infested territory. It was sweet, but I knew they would do what had to be done and follow my plan.
“Okay,” Brooke said with a determined nod. “Just tell us what you need, and we’ll be here. I am sooo ready to smash some demon skulls, so long as you come back out to us alive!”
“Yeah, these new swords are begging for some demon blood.” Cyra grinned as she stroked the hilt of her elven weapon.
“So are the beings of this land,” Nisha added as she turned to me. “What’s your plan for our allies?”
“Well, first, I want to make sure we can stop any more demons from getting into the palace,” I said. “Once the battle begins, I don’t want every red-veined fucker in the land to run in and help their queen.”
“You want to block off the palace completely?” Nisha asked. “But how? Our army alone may not be able to hold so many demons back… Do you think we can turn the forcefield back on?”
I glanced down at the key in my hand, but I had no clue how I would go about activating angel magic. That seemed like something only Ruby would be able to do. The key had opened the door for us, but I didn’t have time to fuck around working out how to close it.
But what I did have were three whole dragon forms in my arsenal.
There had to be a way of creating a blockade myself.
My fire powers could work, but it was too risky to build a ring of flames around the grounds. It could overtake the palace before we were able to stop it. My night dragon form was best for disorienting my enemies and using stealth to my advantage, but that wouldn’t do much to stop an incoming horde of demons for long.
Then my eyes fell on the bottom of the hill, and I thought back to the castle toys I used to play with as a kid. They always had a crocodile-filled moat surrounding the castle to protect them from enemies. Maybe I didn’t have any crocodiles, but I sure as hell could try and build a moat with my newest form. It would just need to be dangerous enough to create a death trap.
“I think I have an idea,” I said. “Brooke, I might need your help with creating it.”
“Of course,” the water angel said eagerly. “What are you thinking?”
“I want to create a border the demons can’t cross,” I said. “If I build a moat around the base of the hill, is there anything you can do to make it… uncrossable?”
“Oooh,” Brooke giggled. “Ryan, I know exactly what to do! What about if I make the water all super stormy and violent? Like tidal waves that stay in the same spot?”
“That would be perfect,” I said. “Is that possible? Can you put some kind of enchantment on it to keep the water brutal?”
“Yes and no,” the angel said. “The dangerous water is totally doable, but I would need to stay with it to keep the waves up. If I stopped the magic, then the moat would just fall still.”
“Okay,” I said. “So we just need to make sure you are well-protected, and you can keep the barrier up while we fight.”
“That would take a lot of power,” Cyra said hesitantly. “Brooke, you might be really exhausted afterwards.”
“I can do it,” the water angel said determinedly. “I’m all fueled up from sex, and I want to do everything I can to help! Trust me.”
Brooke’s beautiful face was serious, and her eyebrows knitted together as she studied the land. I was impressed to see the bubbly angel was capable of being tough as hell when necessary, and I decided it’d be wise to trust her on this one.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” I said. “We’ll need to get all of our fighters over the line first, and then create the moat to separate our battleground from the rest of the lands.”
“The demons will attack the moment they see us,” Nisha said. “You’ll have to create that water while the fight begins.”
“I know.” I nodded. “That’s why I’m going to need our fighters to be ready to go immediately. We don’t have time to fuck around here.”
“Wait,” Cyra said. “The moat will block demons traveling on land, but they have a whole underground tunnel, remember? That’s how they get in and out of the place. They don’t even know they can leave on the grounds right now because they think the forcefield is still up.”
“That’s where our giant friends come in,” I said. “The problem is, as soon as our army crosses the threshold where the forcefield was, the demons will know it’s open. So we’ll block the surface access with our moat as quickly as possible. But below ground, the Obsidian Giants, along with the golems, can bring down the tunnel once they cross through.”
“Yes!” Brooke said. “Perfect! Oh, Ryan, you are so good at this! I can see how you managed to free the Water and Night Lands.”
“He is pretty skilled.” Cyra grinned. “But this is a whole new world of demons. We need to make sure everyone follows Ryan’s plan.”
“Nisha,” I said. “Can you make your way underground to tell the giants and golems the plan? Once they have the word to cross over the border, they need to bring down the ceiling behind them. I want you to go since you can disguise yourself while you fly to the tunnel entrance.”
“Got it,” Nisha said. “Do you think the giants will fit in the tunnel?”
“Ask them,” I said. “If not, then the golems will be strong enough to do it, and the giants can join us aboveground.”
“Understood,” the night angel said.
“I’ll need everyone else to stand by,” I said as I glanced back at the hills. “We’ll be able to hide the army in the valleys. Keep everyone poised and ready for my signal.”
“We can handle that.” Cyra nodded. “I’ll make sure everyone’s as out of sight as possible. Good thing these hills are so dark, it’s going to be pretty easy to hide folks.”
“How are you going to get inside?” Nisha asked as she eyed the hill where the palace sat.
“The good news is the demons aren’t really using the main door,” I said. “They obviously use their tunnel entrance to get in and out, but getting up the hill is going to be the main issue.”
“You want us to cause a distraction?” Brooke asked. “I’m sure we can conjure up something.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly. “But I don’t want them to think anything is going on. I reckon using my night dragon form would be best, and then I’ll change back to creep through the palace.”
“That’s going to be so dangerous,” Cyra said. “I know you can handle it, but I hate thinking about you in that place with all those things around you. Can’t you just stay in dragon form?”
“I’ll be okay,” I assured her. “Besides, I won’t be able to fit inside with my dragon form.”
“I know,” Cyra sighed. “I just love you, and…”
She trailed off, but I knew she was feeling anxious. I put my hand on hers and gave her a squeeze. Her amber eyes were wide with unease, but she offered me a nervous smile.
“I’ll be fine,” I promised. “We need to do this for Ruby, okay?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I know. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said. “I love you, too, and we’re in this as a team.”
“Yes!” Brooke said. “A team, a family, a really good-looking group!”
“I think the sex might have worked too well,” Cyra said as she looked at the water angel. “You’re far too excited about this.”
“I’m just ready to help,” Brooke said. “Then we actually get to meet Ruby! We’ll have another sister in our group, and we’ll all be best friends. Then we can--”
The demonic screams suddenly got loud again, and Brooke winced as she covered her ears.
“Ewww,” she hissed. “Why do they have to make those sounds? It’s bad enough being evil, can’t they at least learn how to sing nicely?”
There was a dull thud like someone was beating a rusty drum, and the whole of the Crystal Lands sang the eerie lullaby.
“It’s time,” I said. “Stay hidden and protect each other. I love you all.”
“We love you, too,” the angels echoed.
“I’ll head to the underground now,” Nisha said. “Be safe, Ryan. We’ll be ready to go when you need us.”
The angel slipped into her night form and shot into the sky. Her barely-noticeable silhouette soared off through the hills, and I turned back to the other two angels.
“We’ll head into the hills,” Cyra said. “Brooke can stay over here, and I’ll head further north to make sure we can speak with everyone.”
“Good plan,” Brooke whispered. “We should come up with secret hand signals to communicate when we’ve organized our people!”
“Uh-huh,” Cyra said dryly. “Why don’t I just give you a thumbs-up?”
“Perfect!” Brooke said excitedly. “We’re going to make suuuch a good pairing! Go, team buddies!”
She tried to high-five Cyra, and the fire angel clearly had no idea what was happening. I snorted as Brooke lowered her hand, and I gave them both a quick kiss on their cheeks.
“Perfect,” I said. “Make sure everyone stays as hidden as possible. I’ll let you know when it’s time to attack. Just keep all the fighters quiet when they arrive.”
“Let’s do it,” Cyra said. “Come on… team buddy.”
Brooke squealed happily, and I smiled at my beautiful warriors.
The angels both gave me a determined nod, and Brooke slipped her hand into Cyra’s as they turned to race into the Obsidian Hills. I watched my brave lovers race off, and then I turned my attention back to the demon-covered hill.
There weren’t any of the fuckers directly at the main door, and I focused hard on my night dragon form.
An electric shock buzzed at my fingertips as energy and strength exploded from inside. It was like a quick burning sensation, but it didn’t hurt. My skin rippled into deep midnight-black scales, and I felt my whole body elongate as I transformed. But I made sure to concentrate on my night form at the same time so I wouldn’t be spotted, and I was glad to see it had taken effect immediately. When I looked down, I could only see the faint outline of my dragon body in the dark, but it blended into the background perfectly as I moved. It was still surreal to see clouds and trees through my own skin and bones.
This was also the first time I had slipped straight from my human body to the night disguise, and I grinned at how far I had come with my abilities.
Being a dragon was feeling more and more natural every day.
My powerful wings carried me into the air, and I felt my heart leap into my throat as I noticed how quickly the sky had darkened. I couldn’t have any longer than half an hour until the moon and stars appeared. It wasn’t long, but it would have to do.
Demons were lumbering around the top of each gleaming turret, and I could see from the air that they were dragging bloodstones up onto the towers. It took several of them to move each one, and they seemed to be placing them in certain spots that had been marked with black spots on the ground.
I figured they must be preparing them for the final ritual, and my blood boiled at the idea of so many innocent people being used for an evil ritual.
My invisible wings soared down toward the golden doorway, and I landed gracefully on the hillside directly outside it. The ground was hard, and all the grass felt crunchy and dead, but I didn’t waste too much time studying the area.
I quickly focused on my human form, and I felt every bone in my body shrink as my talons turned to fingernails. My sword reappeared with a comforting weight on my hip, and the angel key was still deep inside my leather satchel. I pulled the hood of my cloak up and pressed myself up against the doorway.
The entrance was cold against my palms, and I carefully grabbed one of the huge handles that was shaped like a diamond. I held my breath as I turned it, and I was overcome with relief as it moved without any objection or noise.
But there was no telling how many demons were standing on the other side, so I opened it inch by inch.
Then I slowly peered through the door to see the room on the other side was pretty dark and unlit by candles or torches. That was about as good a result as I could have hoped for, and there weren’t any movements I could see in the dim light.
There were echoes of demonic howls and footsteps everywhere, but none of them seemed to be directly in the entrance hall.
I slipped into the palace as I carefully pulled the door shut behind me, and I was plunged into almost complete darkness as the entrance shut. My only source of light was the red, pulsing veins of bloodstones, and I could see a few inches of purple carpet around each cluster as the eerie glow lit up the surrounding floor. It turned my stomach to see how many there were, but it looked like I had three options for my route.
Bloodstones lined what I assumed was a long hallway, and I could go either left or right. There was also a stack of stones that sloped upward on what I assumed was a spiral staircase. It seemed likely that the angel would be held somewhere as secure as possible, and I took a guess that she was going to be kept upstairs, like Nisha had been.
But before I could take a step, there was a horrifying, low rumble below me, and the ground suddenly shook beneath my feet. I grabbed the wall as the whole palace seemed to move, and after considering how much power and strength it would take to affect a structure this size, I had a feeling I knew where the queen was.
It would make sense that she was underground organizing all the demons who would pile in through the tunnel for the sacrifice. Surely she was the only thing that could make a sound like that?
The rumble and tremors died off after about fifteen seconds, and I waited a beat before I started to move again.
I began to hurry along with my hands held out to the bloodstones for guidance, and I carefully stepped around each one with my eyes fixed on the barely-lit purple floor. It felt wrong to press my palms up against the tombs, and I tried not to focus on the poor people trapped inside. But it was impossible not to notice the terrified eyes and outreached hands. People who had dreams, lives, and families before it was all stolen from them in the blink of an eye.
My skin prickled with every stone I passed, and I began to make my way carefully up the stairs. The staircase seemed wide enough despite the many clusters of bloodstones dotting them, but if a demon raced down, then it might become more of a tight squeeze.
The screams and howls got louder as I crept upward, and it was clear that most of the activity was going on upstairs. From outside, it had looked like there were three or four floors, so I figured the demons were setting up on the roofs of the turrets to be as close to the blood moon as possible.
I just hoped they were waiting until the last minute to bring out Ruby. It looked like they had been pulling up as many bloodstones as they could, but they wouldn’t be able to fit all the tombs from the palace up there on the turrets.
I froze as the sound of thundering footsteps echoed right above me and began to race down the spiral steps. There was nowhere to run, so I dove behind the closest bloodstone and pressed myself against the cold tomb as tightly as I could. My hand gripped the hilt of my sword as the footsteps got louder, and the slobbering sounds of the demon drew closer.
I watched the scuttling legs race by me, and I could just make out that it was one of the crystal-throwing beasts we had fought on the border. It ran past me and scuttled down the stairs with excited snarls, and I waited until the footsteps died away before I got back to my feet.
My instinct had been to slit its throat, but I wasn’t risking any hints of a break-in until all of my army was ready to move. And I was suddenly hyper-aware of how easy it would be for the alarm to be raised. Then Ruby’s life could be taken before we were able to make a move.
Just the thought infuriated me, and I realized I already felt as protective of her as my other angels, which was a little odd to me.
But having her key somehow made me feel like I was already close to her. It was like we had met before somehow, and I had something incredibly important that belonged to her and needed to be returned.
I couldn’t explain it, but I felt completely responsible for what happened to her.
More light began to flicker around the palace as I crept further up the stairs, and I winced as one of the steps creaked. Luckily, the sounds of demonic howls were much louder, and it didn’t seem like anyone had heard it.
Once I could see the next floor, I could make out that there were several lit torches along the walls. The fire was a strange, deep red color, and I assumed it was some kind of dark magic like the beings of these lands had warned about.
There weren’t as many bloodstones on this level. I had the option to head left or right again, but I couldn’t see another staircase from where I was. I could hear more howls coming from the left, though. There was a draft coming from that direction, too, and I figured there must be an outside turret over there where the demons were setting up more of the bloodstones.
I hurried off down the right-hand side hallway, and I kept myself crouched down low as the tuneless shrieks pierced my eardrums. There was a strange smell on this level. It was like a mix of burning and rotting flesh, and I tried not to focus on what that could mean as another staircase came into view at the end of the corridor.
