What is they say about best laid plans having to change?
Duff went to see Jane and to gather up some weapons she’d stashed at her house. She was here when we returned, but she hadn’t given me time to ask any questions before disappearing.
The Leprechaun princess seemed as good as new this morning, which meant Duff was back to being her sassy, sneaky self.
I wished I could have said the same. My powers were still not what I thought they should be, even after I spent what I did healing Liam.
We told Duff to meet us at the Dragon lair when she finished, which was what Cale now called his family’s home. He didn’t call it that in front of his parents or Indar, but I didn’t tease when he used the term with me. One of the little things I enjoyed about our relationship was that we both laughed at similar things… or people… whatever struck us as odd and funny.
“Amber is made from tree sap. That definitely sounds like Elf magic,” Indar said after I’d described the prison holding Duff’s parents.
“Do you know what kind of trees?”
“Extinct conifers of many kinds,” Indar said.
Great. Who had access to sap from extinct trees? “Maybe it’s not real amber and just looks like it,” I suggested to make myself feel better. I had to keep hope alive.
“Perhaps it’s not,” he answered.
My mind pulled up an image of Duff’s parents in their magical prison. “Whatever they used had fossilized the Otherworld king and queen and preserved them like creatures from the dinosaur age. Then their son put them into a protective glass case and turned them into Exhibit A of his evil work. He uses them to scare people into doing as he says.”
“Leprechauns are natural deceivers,” Indar said and rolled his eyes. “Did you know that before they went extinct some dinosaurs were used as Dragon pets?”
“You’re kidding,” I said, trying to imagine Indar with a pet dinosaur on a leash.
Then I remembered he hadn’t been able to shift into a human back then. He’d simply been a big Dragon with dinosaur pet. Still, that image… well, it boggled the mind.
Indar’s memories made him smile. “I once trained an archaeopteryx to hunt the way humans train birds of prey. She was with me for centuries. Her mate stayed close by.”
“Okay, I just have to ask this. What did you train your dinosaur to hunt for?” I asked, genuinely fascinated with his story.
I was also a bit worried to hear the answer, but that was half the fun of the conversation. It was no secret that apex predator Dragons once sustained themselves by devouring humans as well as other animals. If humans hadn’t been carnivores too, I might’ve been put off by the news.
The truth was that most of Gaia’s creatures considered each other to be food, and only empathetic ones sought their required protein from plants instead of animals.
Indar chuckled as he talked. “I trained her to find the dinosaurs I liked to eat best. The asteroid impact wasn’t the only reason those large creatures disappeared. Dragons viewed it as population control to hunt them for food. It was obvious that dinosaurs were too large for our planet.”
“Your stories fascinate me, Indar. I could listen to them for hours.”
“I feel the same about your stories, Atlanta, but let’s go back to your Otherworld dilemma. What do you know of the magic used to capture the Leprechaun royals?”
“I heard that a combination of Light Elf magic and Druidic Witchery got used. I set my sisters to researching Druids who abandoned their true calling to become Witches for Hire. The Tuatha de Danann was not pleased to learn of their defection, of course. They set the entire Celtic pantheon to hunting the Druidic Witch outliers, but I heard not many were found to exist. Prince Hamlin allegedly killed the one he used because she failed to drain off my magic. I ended up in Dragon chains because of her.”
Indar crossed his arms. “Sadly, I’m familiar with Druidic Witches. Doesn’t your evil prince know that it’s bad business for an aspiring royal to kill his hired help? Word of that sort of behavior spreads quickly among both friends and enemies. He’ll end up paying costly fees next time he needs something, and those he hires won’t trust him.”
I nodded in agreement as I played with Moose. The pup drew back into a play bow and then pounced on me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. Like Cale, I found him too adorable for words. He never morphed when he was playing with us. I considered that a good sign.
His puppy brother, Demon, sat nearby glaring at me. Demon had not been happy to be left behind when I went to Otherworld with Duff. He kept his distance from me now to make sure I knew I was being punished. I didn’t like Demon being upset with me but saw no way around it. There would be no normality in my life until the prophecy was fulfilled.
My gaze eventually left the puppies and returned to Indar. “How long do the effects of being bound in Dragon chains last?”
Indar’s youthful appearance, his allegedly true one, still freaked me out. He looked fit and healthy, and to be in his late thirties. Well, maybe forty, but no more than that. Dragons aged as slowly as all the Titans and their children. My generation was the first to age at all before many millennia had passed.
What would happen to Indar’s mortal descendants? Many generations had come and gone before I freed the Dragon from his magical captivity. Galen, Cale’s father, looked older than Indar. Or Galen did when we first met. Now Indar and Galen looked almost like twins in age.
Theo, Cale’s grandfather, also looked more vital these days. Theo looked like he’d sipped from some fountain of youth. And the Drakon wives both looked like they’d gotten cosmetic work done.
If Cale had been married, would his wife have reverted to being a teenager? One day I’d ask Indar how it all worked. I guessed Cale’s future wife would be a lucky woman. She wouldn’t have to worry about her deepening smile lines or loose skin until she was Theo’s grandmother’s age.
Indar’s full-Dragon energy was vastly different from any of his children’s, though, but only if you’d honed your awareness of power the way I had.
Indar’s vibrations were even stronger than those from Zeus. I felt sure Athena was picking up on his expanding power as much as I was. What worried me now was his seemingly endless ability to keep growing it.
Were Athena and I ever that powerful? I couldn’t say for sure anymore. My memories said we thought we were, but had we ever been pitted against anything like a Dragon? I had never fought a Dragon. Athena probably wouldn’t have admitted it if she had.
My goddess twin was currently in the grass doing sword exercises while pretending not to care what Indar and I were discussing. I felt sure she heard every word. Occasionally, Athena seemed to lose track of which part of her exercise she was doing and would have to start over. My sister was far from being unaffected by Indar.
The powerful elder Dragon in human form paced away from me and put his hands in his pockets. What had been the question he was now thinking so hard on before he answered me? Oh, yes… I’d asked him about the effects of Dragon chains.
“Zeus removed my restraints mere moments before he cast that spell on me to put me into the statue. Before that, the chains stayed on constantly. I tried everything to break them. I tried strength. I tried magic. Nothing worked.” He turned to look at me. “It would be helpful to know how they were made. Perhaps one day we can ask a friendly Dwarf—if we ever find one.”
While I’d been listening to Indar’s answer, Demon had snuck over to sit beside me. I chuckled as I looked down at him. “You’re going to have to get used to me coming and going. I can’t take you or Moose along with me until you’re much, much bigger.”
Flames leaped into Demon’s puppy gaze. I snorted and reached out to pet him. “It takes a lot more than that to scare me.” The flames faded away as Demon leaned against me. “I know, buddy. I miss you too. One day we’ll have a house, a yard, and I’ll get to play with you guys every day.”
I felt Indar staring at me and raised my head. “Sorry. I promise I was listening.”
“I understand your fondness for the puppies. They’re animals with good souls, just very young ones.”
“Athena says they’ll make good battle dogs one day. Before that can happen, I need to find a trainer for them.”
Indar smiled. “Who trained you, Atlanta? You’re excellent under pressure and have great control of your powers. I highly commend the trainer you chose.”
A visual of a snorting, irritated Zavak popped into my head and I chuckled. “It’s fairly easy to control nearly non-existent powers. I feel like I’m magically constipated and need a laxative. I can’t go back to Otherworld like this, Indar. The memory of having to relieve myself in a dungeon bucket still haunts me. I never want to do that again.”
When Indar’s expression switched from concern to one of disgust, I laughed aloud. “Sorry,” I said, apologizing again as I laughed.
“I believe my children would call that TMI,” he said with great dignity.
His stiff criticism only made me laugh harder. It felt good to let some of the stress go. “It was too much information, but that really is how I feel. My magic remains in me, but it’s blocked.” I lifted my shoulders and let them fall. “Maybe time will make me normal again.”
“Or eating a lot of fruit,” Indar suggested with a smirk.
The puppies started barking non-stop when I laughed hard enough to roll on the pavilion floor. I could tell Indar resisted for a while, but soon he was laughing at our conversation too. It was one of those moments of vulnerability between two people that made their friendship stronger. Or it was simply funny comparing magic to poop.
I managed to sit up again just as Athena—a sweaty, scantily dressed version—stomped to Indar’s side. She looked terrific for someone our age and showed no signs of boob droop at all. My abs looked way better than hers, though. Athena had gone soft around the middle. Luckily, she didn’t have a roll yet.
I giggled as I looked up at her from my seat on the floor. “Greetings, sister. You usually look happier after your workouts. What’s wrong?”
Athena glared down at me. Her irritation instantly cheered me up and I smiled at my reaction. Maybe it was a good thing Athena and I hadn’t grown up together. She had no sense of humor, and I would have tormented her constantly.
“Must you exert yourself to charm every man you speak to, sister? There is little benefit in gaining more friendship from someone already a friend. Your never-ending mirth is distracting.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “If you must know the gross truth, sister, I was talking to Indar about being constipated. I doubt he considered our discussion to be charming.”
Athena looked at Indar then back at me. “He was laughing with you. I heard him.”
My sister’s jealousy was tiresome for me, but hopefully, Indar saw it as an encouraging development. “It was a bad joke between friends, Athena. Indar is trying to help me solve a problem.”
Athena made a face. “He’s a Dragon, not a doctor. Good Gaia, Atlanta, eat some fruit. Things will move eventually.”
My mouth dropped open at her suggestion. When the puppies stopped playing and turned to look at Athena, I started laughing again because… well, just because. The demonic hellhounds were super smart and already understood people far more than they should have at their age.
I rubbed my face hoping not to turn into a laughing idiot. I spoke calmly when I responded “The problem I have is not with my bowels. The Dragon chains did something to my power, and I haven’t been able to fix the problem. My goddess magic is returning slowly, but only a little at a time. I feel blocked.”
Athena’s gaze went from angry to alarmed. Did I dare believe she cared about me? I snorted and looked away. Wanting to believe was one thing. Being stupid enough to trust anyone in my family was never happening again.
Then my sister went from being alarmed to smiling at me. “Let’s spar and see what happens,” she said.
Right. Did Athena really think I was that stupid? “You just want to kick my butt in front of Indar,” I accused.
“Before you went to Otherworld, you said any place and any time as I recall. Are you saying you’re not as brave as your words make you seem?”
I grunted at the verbal slap. “At the risk of losing my goddess card, I will admit this only once. I don’t want to die on the tip of your golden sword when I’m unable to defend myself. That would make me as foolish as you seem to think I am.”
Athena turned and whistled in her booming goddess voice. The shrill sound penetrated the air with the speed of an arrow flying toward its target. A few moments later, Wizard neighed loudly as he landed next to the pavilion. He’d been hanging out with the Drakon horses.
My warrior goddess sister walked to one of the bags strapped to Wizard’s back and pulled two long wooden practice swords from it. She brought them back and laid them on a nearby table.
“These are petrified wood weapons I use to teach swordplay to mortals. They won’t cut you, but I can’t promise not to render you unconscious with them. I do promise not to use magic unless it becomes clear yours has fully returned.”
“Wooden swords? Sounds like a girl fight instead of a real one,” I said with a grin.
Athena glared down at me. “Bring it—I believe you said.”
My sister might not be as schooled in modern mortal vernacular as I was, but I could tell Athena enjoyed throwing my exact words back at me.
Despite her beliefs about my skills, my words hadn’t been a brag. At my request, Zavak trained me in strategies to defeat both Athena and Ares. Neither of my mega-warrior siblings could take me down in non-magical combat. I’d worked hard to make it a reality and believed it in my soul.
Climbing to my feet, I dusted off my butt and walked to glare down at Athena. Intimidation was a powerful thing, and I used my height ruthlessly on anyone shorter than I was. Unlike most females I knew, I loved being tall.
I smiled down at my twin. She had no idea how long I’d dreamed of this moment.
“Let’s make a wager like our goddess ancestors would do before they fought. If I knock you out first, you have to go with me to Otherworld when you wake up and do whatever I say. If you knock me out first, I’ll build you a house with a stable for Wizard next to the mega-Muse-mansion. You won’t have to be around Dragons then unless you want to be.”
Athena snorted at my offer. “Your magic isn’t working, Atlanta. You have no advantage in this fight. That wager seems incredibly unfair to you.”
I lifted a shoulder and grinned. “Guess we’ll see.”
No one had studied my warrior sister’s fighting methods more than I had. Even without my goddess magic, I believed I was still the better fighter. My motivation to prove it was the same one I’d carried around with me all my life.
I was not a natural Muse and one day everyone in my pantheon would be forced to admit I was the best warrior in our family. That was my long-range goal, and I was determined to achieve it.
During my friendly chat with Indar, which soon I would be paying for, he’d given me an idea about solving a big problem on my shortlist. It actually might be possible to hire Zavak to train my demonic hellhounds.
With most everyone gone from the God Realm, what else did the Minotaur have to do? Gaia only knew what he’d ask for as payment, but first, I had to get him to say yes.
I smiled at the puppies that I badly wanted to keep. “Go find Cale. I don’t want him to miss seeing me kick Athena’s butt.”
While they ran like the wind to do as I asked, I grinned at my sister who lifted an eyebrow over my audacity. It took a lot, but I didn’t laugh in Athena’s face.
“Maybe you’re too good to try to impress Indar, but I enjoy impressing my Dragon.”