Chapter 33

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Marc smelled salt in the air long before he saw water, surprised at how acute his senses were. It was too dark to see much more than the shape of the land beneath him. The sensation of flying, something he seemed to automatically know how to do, would have been a lot more fun if not for the malignant weight of the altar. He was forced to draw strength from it when he knew he shouldn’t. He felt its evil will trying to supersede his own, and refused to allow it, using it instead to give him the energy he needed to stay aloft.

He checked on Dain periodically. He slept fitfully, shivering in the cold. Marc realized he had the means to help keep him warm. Deep within, there was the sense of a constantly burning furnace, a chamber where hot embers glowed. Air was the only thing needed to stir them to a blazing fire. He knew the mechanism to bring the flame to life just as he knew how to fly. He pulled in a little bit of a breath and let it out again, flying immediately through warmed air. Taking care to not draw in too much air – he didn’t want to burn Dain to a crisp while he slept – Marc breathed on him every now and then as he flew and searched.

He woke Dain as they crossed the shoreline. Far below, the white plumes of breaking waves marked the coast. He didn’t know where he was, but felt there had to be some correlation to Cobalt’s surface. Dain crept up to look over his forearm, glancing down as land disappeared quickly into darkness. Marc waited a while longer, until by the light of the stars he saw the shading of the water deepen, and judged this as good a place as any to rid himself of his burden.

“You want to go ahead and get back up under the collar, Dain. Once I drop this thing, Maralt will likely show up.”

“Right.” He carefully maneuvered himself underneath the harness. “All right. I’m in.”

“Good. Here goes nothing.”

He let go of the altar, immediately relieved of not just its weight. It shifted as it fell, plunging in vertical. A geyser of water shot up and the altar was swallowed. Marc looked for Maralt even as he turned.

Dain gasped. “We’re not in the same place we just were. Look at the stars. We’re over the Wythe Sea. Turn around. See that star over there? That’s Altair. Head that way and we should come up on Rianamar.”

Marc swore as realization struck him. “So is Maralt.”

“What?”

“He didn’t come after us. He’s trying to get to you. The physical you. In the ballroom.”

“What happens if he does?”

“He can open the gate. Everything you saw and probably a lot more that’s worse gets out.”

Marc shut him out then, and concentrated on making himself stronger, but above that faster. Their peril was terribly close to becoming real. He knew exactly where Maralt was then, and willed himself there.

Dain started yelling at him, and kept yelling as the Governor’s Hall loomed abruptly before them. “Damn it, Marc! Slow down!”

“I’m sending you back now, Dain. Remember our deal.”

He let him go, and gave him the slightest push, yelling all the while, leaving himself little time to slow down. The next instant he realized that the dragon form he’d taken was somehow real, and he was inside it. He hurtled toward the only window left intact, opposite where a black shadow stood poised to strike.

“Get me up.”

Dain swallowed a scream, gritting his teeth together to keep the cry of agony from bursting out. Geneal started digging in her medic bag. Dain cast one glaring frown at Ralion.

“I said, get-me-up.”

Avry moved to help, while Ralion hesitated, but then he reached for his arm. Geneal muttered under her breath, and rose as they lifted him. She clamped two devices on either side, activating the brace as he stood. Pain medication followed quickly, but not fast enough to stop the wave of black that pulsed at him. He fought to stay conscious.

“Ralion, see that Shalis and Garan are taken back to the Palace,” he said between gasps. “Full alert. Start yelling if you have to. And, for future reference, you’re not allowed to save my life any more. All right? The rest of you, go. Avry, you’re with me. Trevan, go to Chambers and move as many people as you can to the far end of the building, preferably underground. Gaden and Allie—”

He stopped, his eyes locking on a face he expected to see alive and found only the pale hue of death. Slowly and with care, Gaden eased his brother down to the floor, composed his arms, and let him go. When Gaden stood, he turned to face Dain.

“Somebody get me a sword.”

Avry moved to the injured guards and relieved them of their weapons, passing them out quickly while keeping an extra. The moment Dain was armed, he turned for the ballroom.

A huge crash greeted him, followed by the destructive sounds of a dragon, hurtling into the interior wall, unable to stop its momentum. The floor shook underfoot.

“I told him he was coming in too fast,” he muttered and then he saw Maralt. The wraith stood over his brother, springing forward. “Dynan! Sword!”

He threw the weapon hilts first, while beside him Avry swore. The scythe swung down. Dynan caught the sword and ducked.

“What ... what is—” Gaden stared.

“The dragon is on our side. That is a wraith.” He glanced at him. “Maralt.”

The scythe swung again, this time at Carryn and she dodged aside. Dynan picked himself up off the floor, scrambling away. Dain readied a dagger and threw it. The dagger struck in the upper chest of the creature and it screamed, lurching back a few steps. Then it reached up and plucked the offending sting before attacking again. A beam of light flashed from its open hand, lashing toward Carryn, but was deflected by an invisible shield.

Beside him Avry pulled out a laser rifle, assembled, charged and armed the weapon in record time. He took aim and fired. The beam struck and was immediately deflected as if the wraith itself had a shield. It turned on them, hissing. A charge of light barreled toward them. Dain snatched Avry back and hauled him around a fat pillar just before another line of tables exploded into bits.

“That just pissed it off,” the guard said, “How is that possible? It should have cut it in half.”

“All the rules are changed,” Dain said, grabbed the extra sword and rushed in.

Another well of light grew, blasting toward Dynan a second later. It hit him, and he was knocked over, thrown back into the remains of a table that collapsed around him. He slid a few paces, and then rolled back up to his feet. Dain knew he wouldn’t likely get up again, ever, if he was hit even once.

He ducked under a sweeping forearm, stabbing into the wraith’s belly, but the blade was turned by scales as hard as steel. Something struck him across his head, exploding black spots behind his eyes. He was grabbed across his chest, a scaled arm wrapping around him, and lifted off his feet. He tried desperately not to scream from the pain that threatened to pull him into a black void. He felt his ribs grinding together.

He saw Avry knocked back, flung across the room, as the guard tried to come to his aid. Gaden was picked up and tossed. He landed in a heap by the dais where he lay still. Carryn tried to get to Dynan, but was stopped by repeated blasts she had to defend against.

The wraith’s mouth opened, revealing grisly teeth, blackened with dripping ooze that stank. Dain heard Marc’s warning again, of a gate that would open should Maralt get into any of them. Teeth sunk into his shoulder and back, and something else attached to his neck. Through crippling pain, Dain felt Maralt trying to get inside him and he weakened.

A searing light blasted right by him. As the wraith reared back, screeching, Dain was dropped. He watched the floor rush up to meet him. Then Dynan was there, softening his landing only a little. Everything went dark, but he could still hear. The floor shook beneath them. He knew Marc was coming, and forced his eyes open. Dain was surprised he’d already arrived and stood looming right over them.

The dragon’s neck arched back, and Dain heard it pulling in a great draught of air. Dynan started to stand, thinking to get out from between the two combatants, and reached down for him.

“Oh no,” Dain breathed and yanked his brother back down beside him, covered his head with his arms and hoped Dynan was doing the same thing. An engulfing roar surrounded them, flames swirling so close it felt like they were on fire.

The wraith screamed in agony, backed away and Marc came on. Dynan choked, grabbed hold of Dain again and started to move.

“No, Dynan he knows where—”

The dragon’s forelegs came down over them, missing by the space of a head the spot they cowered on the floor, and they were under it. The scythe whipped by over Marc’s head. He sprang up, wings spread out and a terrific wind beat down on them as he rose briefly. He landed on Maralt when he came down.

Dynan breathed. “Can we move now?”

Dain nodded, unable to speak. The jaws of the dragon snapped down on the shaft of the scythe, breaking it into useless pieces. A forearm struck the wraith across its head, sending it reeling across the room. Marc leapt after him, and Maralt screamed again as claws dug into his side. Bolts of light energy blasted down into the wraith, mercilessly reducing the creature to a writhing mass. The dragon leaned down over it, jaws widening, then closing around it. He lifted the wraith up into the air, his head snapping back and forth and then down, slamming it to the floor where it lay still.

The mouth of the dragon opened again, teeth ripping open the flesh above the wraith’s heart, ripping the thing apart, piece by grisly piece. It settled to the floor, wings folded back along its body, its muzzle nestled inside the gaping wound. The sound of it left little doubt that it was drinking.

Dain looked away, remembering his promise, suddenly terrified he’d have to keep it. It didn’t seem to him that the creature that crouched over its prey, growling as it fed, could be Marc any more. He kept expecting him to change back, without understanding how he’d do it. Finally, he couldn’t stand the sound of it any more, and struggled to get up.

“What are you doing?” Dynan shook his head.

“I’m going to stop him.”

“You can’t stop him,” Carryn said, approaching them from across the room. “He has to stop himself.”

“So in your book, he’s on his own? Well, what if he can’t? What then? It’s that kind of thinking and your kind of help, or lack of it, that got us into this mess to begin with. I’m going to help him.”

They all three jumped when a deafening roar filled the room. Dain remembered how bad it was the first time Marc had taken Maralt. As he watched the start of another lasting struggle for control, he thought that this time would be a lot worse.

A liquid stream of flame streaked overhead, melting the chains that held up the Grand Chandelier. It plunged down to the floor. The vertical central pipe didn’t stop, piercing marble and wood as it continued into the floor below. Glass crystal blew into shards, erupting at them. Dain felt something jab into the back of his left arm, even as he ducked down, but pain along his ribs drowned out that minor irritation. He meant to straighten as soon as the glass settled, but found it difficult to breathe, much less move. He staggered a few steps, just keeping his balance.

Ralion appeared suddenly at his side, dragging Gaden behind him, and took his arm by a fistful of jacket. At the same time, Carryn moved Dynan toward the door. A second stream of fire shot over them, combined with another earsplitting roar. To Dain, it sounded more like a scream.

He pulled out of Ralion’s grasp, and had to dodge aside when his old guard reached to take him back. Ralion knew what he intended. It was Carryn who turned on him though, after pushing Dynan another pace toward the door.

“Go Ralion, and get that other guard on your way,” Carryn said.

“I’m staying!” Dain said, raising his voice to be heard.

“You can’t!”

“He has to be stopped or he won’t make it.”

“I thought you would have realized from the last time that you can’t stop him. I’m not sure I’ll be able to, but I know I won’t if I have to worry about whether the two of you are safe.”

“No!”

Carryn swore after him, then followed, and put herself between Dynan and the dragon. Dain saw out of the corner of his eye that his brother remained, ignoring Carryn’s wish for him to get out as well. His attention was taken when Carryn found herself facing the full wrath of an adept locked inside the body of a dragon.

Its neck arched, air pulled inside, and Dain thought he was about to see Carryn incinerated right in front of him. He started running, limping forward as fast as he could manage, calling to Marc and trying to reach him at the same time.

Carryn threw her hands up over her head, not in fear but to ward off the attack. Fire engulfed her, but through the surrounding flames, she could still be seen. The invisible shield held, but Dain could see that it was weakening, watching as Carryn was slowly beaten down to her knees.

“Marc!” He yelled as he moved as close as he dared, which he discovered when he opened his eyes again, was a lot closer than he’d actually intended.

Hissing, the head lowered toward him, its mouth drawn back in a cruel sneer. It took a step toward him, jarring the floor enough to knock him off his feet. The room swam and a black wall came at him. No one else knew of their promise to each other, and fear of failing halted his descent into darkness.

He saw Dynan running toward him, but he abruptly stopped a pace or so away when he was faced with the same specter. He stood frozen when the hiss lowered to a menacing growl.

“Marc” Dain said as he tried to get up, knowing if he didn’t reach him somehow, he’d get to watch his brother get eaten just as easily as a wraith. “You said you’d try. You swore it.”

One giant foot stomped into the floor, shaking him again. Dain held in what wanted to be a scream as he pushed himself up to his feet. “I can’t keep my promise,” he whispered. “I don’t remember fighting a dragon as being part of the deal. So if you want me to kill you, you’ll have to come back first.”

A shudder ran through Marc, and he backed up a pace, great head shaking back and forth. “Don’t growl at me about it. It’s not my fault you picked a—” He stopped when jaws opened and snapped closed a hand span in front of his face. “I can’t do it, Marc. You have to come back. Look, the place is filling up with smoke. Ralion broke my ribs again. I can hardly breathe as it is. I want to go home.”

For a long time, only the sound of flames crackling filled the room. Most of the smoke was drawn out the windows, but the cold air coming in fueled the growing fire. Dain felt himself getting weaker. Pain overcame fear, the only thing keeping him on his feet.

The great body of the dragon shook, breathing in hard shudders. He stretched his neck out, lowered down and exposed before him. There came with that act of submission, a mournful, low moan, a sound of entreaty. It was a rending sound that hurt to hear.

Dain shook his head, made himself dizzy and he had to sit, which was a little more like falling than he intended. “You promised me you’d try.”

“I am trying!”

Dain managed a smile, watching the slow metamorphosis of dragon back to just a man, that ended finally in a horrified scream of pain, and Marc lying on the floor beside him. In his left hand, an orb of inner black rested, marbled with thin ribbons of light. A solid thing, not of the mind, but real, in the world with them.

Dain looked around the ballroom, and at the flames that had now taken hold of wood, burning greedily. He realized that the body of the wraith was gone.

Then Dynan was beside him, moving to lift him up. “I’ve got you. I’m going to get you out of here.”

It was the last thing he heard before the black wall came and finally claimed him.