Our course would lead us over three Provinces and within eyesight of a fourth. The Black Fortress was about as deep into the Provinces as you could get without actually going to the Lake of Fire. No one goes to that place. It just isn't done. The environmental limits there are higher than most can tolerate and the lake itself is on fire. They named it well.
Even at three times the speed of sound, it will take several hours to get there. The view from eighty thousand feet is awe inspiring and the distance we can see is remarkable. Using the onboard scanners, we have already spotted some serious troop movement, and it seems that everyone is moving toward Apollyon. The usual numbers are somewhere to the tune of Tennants, maybe even Centuries, but the day of seeing groups of twelve to one hundred is long since gone. Every group we've seen so far surpasses such a small number. This time they're counted in the thousands, and it hasn't been uncommon to see masses of eight to ten Legions.
The good news is that they're very far off and present no real threat to Walter and me. It's impossible to tell if we've been spotted, but at this altitude it doesn't really matter. Walter has been recording everything that moved, and I'm sure the playback will not be good news to The Ariella.
We had just crossed over the boundary to Apollyon when we saw our first airborne entity, and whatever it was...it was big. Walter estimated its progress at around two hundred miles per hour, which meant that even if it saw us, we would outdistance whatever it was before we could even get a good visual. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. Just a footnote here; the airborne creature is also heading toward the Black Fortress, which means that they have dragons. That too is incredibly bad news because there's no way to avoid dragon versus dragon in the coming battles. The only dragons I'm aware of that can fly that high would-be Wyverns, and that really isn't going to do anything good for Queen Mother.
The enemy dragon was so far behind that it was only a blip on the screens and would disappear from our scanners in a matter of seconds. The Black Fortress had just come within range, and Walter started a secondary recording of our approach. We decreased speed until we had dropped below the sound barrier and flew toward the interior of Apollyon. When the fortress winked off the screens I banked right, and had Walter pull up the maps to show me the river Lethe. If I followed the tributary beneath me, it should lead me to the home of Hypnos, and then finally the Caves of Ice.
I didn't need a playback on our flyby. The Black Fortress was now the place I least wanted to be. There indeed was an army there, let there be no doubt. Legion upon legion as far as the eye could see.It was an army that not even Queen Mother could beat. They outnumbered us by a minimum of five to one, and as bad as it seemed to me, the recordings will probably show it to be even worse.
Here's a brain tickler for you, the only way to get to the Ice Caves is to first locate the river Lethe. Seems simple, but it's called the river of forgetfulness for a good reason. No one remembers where it is. Now assuming you can find it, then it's a short hop to where Hypnos is imprisoned, and that's the landmark we need. Once located, you simply follow that tributary until you get to the Ice Caves. Queen Mother had played there as a child, which brings to mind how they found it. My thought was if they could find it, so could Walter and I. The instructions didn't really sound all that hard and I had something that no one else ever had...Walter. An artificial life form is not capable of forgetting anything, which as you well know, is a major boon to me.
The farther we flew the less time seemed to pass until Walter shut down the cameras to the outside. We were flying blind, but it occurred to me that I hadn't been listening to him. I also couldn't remember why we were here or even how we got here. Walter started playing the recordings of our trip in, and it all came back with a vengeance. We had to do this procedure several times as we made our way down the Lethe. What a complete pain in the butt, oh, and my ego didn't fare very well either.
I swear the river turned back upon itself and yet it never ran in a loop or came into contact with any previous water line. I realize that isn't possible, but there you go...it's the Lethe, and quite frankly, I don't remember.
About the time we were going to give up, Walter spotted the first series of caves and we landed. Then we took off immediately when Walter figured out it was a lot worse on the ground than it was in the air. The higher we flew, the less I forgot. Perfect. How in the world am I going to enter the caves if I'm a thousand feet in the air, and which caves were these, the ones protected by Hypnos, or the Caves of Ice.
"Tanis?"
I heard a voice.
"Who's talking?"
"Tanis, it's me, Walter."
How on God's earth could I forget him?
"Of course, it is. Who else would I be talking to?"
Walter's voice never changed. He must be the most patient person ever.
"We need to go farther downstream before you forget who you are."
I gave Walter control of the suit, and only then realized I should have done it sooner. I know that if I had totally lost myself, he would have taken over. Since he was technically flying the suit, I didn't question why he played the recordings continuously and raised the suit's temperature until I was uncomfortable. He knew it was easier for me to concentrate when my blood pressure was higher, and heat always did that to me.
The first set of caves were the Caves of Hypnos, of course they have also been called his prison, so I guess it depends on who you talk to. It was indeed a straight shot to the Ice Caves and didn't take us long to reach them. I was still blind when we landed, and Walter pushed as fast he could go to get us into the caves. He told me that the whole memory thing would subside once we got inside. He was right, and for the first time in quite a while I could think a straight line without running into my helmet. The visible screens told me the temperature inside the cave was down below freezing, and the ice crystals refracted light until it was bouncing everywhere constantly. It was breathtaking and we just stood there staring through the helmet's filters, not moving, hardly aware of anything but the cave.
Walter began scanning for life forms when we finally moved forward into the interior. It was devoid of anything living and quiet as a tomb. The cave turned into tunnels that were as smooth as glass and we picked up speed until we were running as fast as possible. The first tunnel sloped down steadily until after several miles it finally ran parallel to the ground. Several miles later it began to ascend back up at a fairly steep angle, until at last it came to a cave with several more tunnels heading off in different directions. We stopped there while Walter took more in-depth readings, mostly to determine how far away we were to the Black Fortress. As I suspected, we were directly under the massive army just outside of Enmakar's home.
The next hurdle was to figure out which tunnel led to the fortress and which ones led away. That was critical to the plan, and we had to deduce which was which before we left this underground wonderland. Odd to think that not very far over our heads was a landscape that had been blasted beyond recognition. You would never know by looking at what we saw inside the Ice Caves. I'm sure that without the suit I would surely have died from exposure, but the beauty transcended the fact that it was deadly. The screens in my helmet told me there was a stiff breeze blowing and that the temperature was somewhere close to fifty degrees below zero. There was no way to tell where the wind was coming from, and this far down underground, that fact was a bit disturbing. I wondered if that is what caused the walls to be so smooth. Depending on how much moisture there was in the air, it could indeed be a contributing factor in the perfectly slick walls we now encountered. Like pouring water on the walls of an igloo to make it seamless.
I knew that if Queen Mother knew where I was, she would positively poop a moose, but I felt compelled to know the answer to my theory. Demi was right; two could get into the fortress as long as it didn't involve an assault against their front door. Once inside, we had no idea of their strength, coupled with the obvious unknown about the dragons. Will they be sympathetic toward us or have they been turned to the Dark Lords?
I counted the tunnels, and there were only three that went any farther than a few feet, which was good news. Too many tunnels just make the endeavor take longer, and time isn't something we have in abundance. I've got a thing for the number three, so we chose the tunnel farthest to the right. Thankfully, it ran parallel to the ground above. Forty-five minutes later we came around a bend and ran into a Class Four Soldier demon. He was running toward me at the same time, and I have to assume it was because of Walter and me. For the time being we will have to pretend that he was scouting on his own. If not, then this tunnel will soon be crowded with more of his kind.
My weight was the greater of the two bodies, consequently he went down hard. He carried a sword, but it was still in the scabbard, and I took that as good news. Maybe he was just investigating a random noise and hadn't alerted anyone else. I shot a dart before he could get back up and the demon collapsed again, only this time the Hell spawn laid still. That gave us fifteen minutes tops, and this sentinel would be back on his feet alerting the rest of his cronies. Damn it, not good. I hadn't planned on killing demons on this trip, and where you find one, there are always more. This is not the way it's supposed to be working. That's when a second Soldier demon came around the same bend with an identical intent. He might have heard his friend having a problem. I brought up my hands and released two disruptor pulses and took out both of them. This was an example of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't leave them alive and allow them to tell their superiors about me being down here. Now that I had two bodies lying on the floor, I had to find some way to get rid of them. I didn't leave hats on the ground, especially where these tunnels were concerned. I made a mental note to dispose of them on our way back out. There was no way I was going to alert the Dark Lords to my presence this close to the Black Fortress.
Walter was scanning the tunnels, and that was yet another problem there in the Ice Caves because false readings were becoming common place. If we could believe the scanners, there were no more enemies in the tunnel we now occupied. We slowed down considerably and tried to be sneaky. The suit doesn't really allow for that, so in my opinion it was a moot point, but it made us feel better about our situation.
According to our onboard compass, we were still moving toward the fortress, and I was beginning to become hopeful. Queen Mother didn't say anything about the tunnels reaching the fortress proper, but she may not have gone over all the different options the caves presented. The closer we came to the fortress, the louder the background noise became, until I recognized the sound of voices. This was going to have to be the end of the line for us, and so far, all things considered, we had been lucky. It was time to get the heck out of Dodge.
We back tracked until we found the two downed demons, and I grabbed the both of them and dragged. We made sure nothing had been dropped and left behind. We had to move at a slower speed, but I finally saw a vertical well that would work nicely for demon disposal. Finally unencumbered, we made better time and worked our way back to the original opening. Stepping outside would cause the whole memory problem thing again, so Walter shut down my outside vision and began playing the entry recordings. He would keep that up until we had gained enough altitude to nullify the Lethe's effect on me. I mentally blacked out, and as a result, I don't remember leaving the cave system.
When I came to, we were flying at seventy thousand feet, and it was like waking up from a bad dream. Bits and pieces were muddled in my mind, receding to the back like thinning clouds. After less than an hour, they were gone, and I had no idea what I had lost. Irritating at best, more likely tragic depending on what had slipped away from me.
At this point we were far away from the Lethe, and most of the effects had at last drained out of me. My head still felt thick, and I had to work at thinking a straight line. Walter took a look at my anatomical signs and decided to change the gases in the suit as a method of waking me up a bit quicker. A few minutes more, and my head finally cleared. He also lowered the temperature until it was slightly chilly. I could feel my mood changing, and according to the onboard diagnostics, I was beginning to normalize.
We were still over Apollyon at high altitude and screaming along at mach three. Retracing our steps would lead us back to the first Province and Cheron's ferry. Depending on where the second army was at the moment could dictate a multitude of things, so we needed to check how far back from Gehenna the Legions had progressed. This was one of those questions that Queen Mother would surely ask, so I needed to give definitive answers about troop movement at and around the ferry dock.
What seemed like forever and a day later, Walter announced that we were almost to the river Styx. We immediately banked in the direction of Gehenna, picked up speed to mach four, and began looking for demon soldiers. I didn't think we were going to have to look very far, and sure enough, one hundred miles later we found them.
Well, here's a surprise. A second, near identical army was on the march and heading straight for the river. The only difference between the two armies was their location.
It was exactly as we predicted, two separate and distinct factions, one at the Black Fortress and the second taking position at the river. For Queen Mother to proceed she would have to split her army and attack on two fronts. If that wasn't bad enough, each of their armies outnumbered The Ariella's by a factor of five. To split her army in half would then alter the number to a factor of ten. That's a war she cannot win. If she didn't attack the fortress, then the two dragons would keep the barrier down while the entire strength of army two flows across and attacks everything on our side. Even under worst case scenario for them, army one could become mobilized to take up the slack if their initial attack didn't go well.
We slowed and finally came to a stop. A screen slid into place inside my helmet showing me that an enormous Projector had just fired, and a fiery bolt was on its way toward us. They shouldn't be able to launch anything to this altitude. I was watching the blip getting bigger with every passing moment. It just doesn't pay to underestimate your enemy, and in this case, it was good info that I could tell our forces when I got back to Mt. Drago. It was bad news for dragon riders, but critical to know before we go into battle with them next. Needless to say, we altered our course, and discharged a rocket that would fly quickly to the Projector that fired that bolt. Walter showed the bolt's progress and gave me a readout defining its size. A full six inches in diameter, and a squeak over seven feet long, made this the largest bolt I had ever seen. The biggest shock was its speed; it flew at just under the speed of sound. It's too bad we have to destroy this weapon cause I would really like to know how they got that thing to fly that fast. I can only hope they don't have very many of them, otherwise fighting against their armies just got a lot worse.
I watched from our stationary position as the bolt actually ceilinged out at seventy thousand feet. Its speed had drastically tapered off, but the fact that it made it this high was impressive. I also wasn't sure how they had managed spotting me at this altitude either. Needless to say, the enemy was a bit savvier than I had originally thought. We did some quick calculations and determined the bolt would fall back to the army below. I call that poetic justice, although I don't think they'll make that mistake again.
What I wanted to do was open fire and render as much damage to this army as I possibly could. The problem was if anything went wrong, I was up a creek without a paddle, not to mention the idea was foolhardy and rash. That's probably why I liked it so much.
I begrudgingly banked in the direction of the river and began picking up speed. Walter stabilized the suit at mach three, and we flew steady until we reached the Styx. I needed to talk to Cheron, heavy emphasis on need, and began slowing down as well as losing altitude when I got close to the ferry dock. The ferryman, aka Cheron, is difficult to look at and is an incredibly powerful entity. He doesn't talk much which is good, because his voice creeps out most people, and if that wasn't enough, there's a smell of death that surrounds him that is somewhat of a deterrent. Other than that, he's actually a pretty cool guy, and the best thing about him is that he's honest. Now, I want to make sure I put this succinctly because I don't mean that he's just honest. I mean that he's incapable of telling a lie, and that my friends, makes for very good and consistent intel.
I touched down at around fifty miles per hour in a three-point landing configuration. The shoreline at this particular section of the river is very porous and if I land vertically with booster rockets, it lifts the silt and blows it everywhere. I wanted to make a good impression with Cheron, and I figured blowing dirt all over him wouldn't accomplish that. Sometimes it's the things a Machinist doesn't do that counts for more than what he does, and this is one of those times.
The spot where we landed was about thirty feet away from the ferry dock which was elevated between four and five feet above the ground. The dock looked to be around fifty feet long and made of dark thick wooden planks. There was a set of stairs that ran up to the dock platform, and they too were made from the same type of wood. Eight gigantic pillars held up the platform, each disappearing into the reddish murky water. A railing rose above the platform and encompassed it on the outside leaving the stairs and the opposite side open to the ferry. Next to the dock was an odd-looking raft that projected out just slightly beyond the last set of pillars. It too had a railing that ran around it, leaving a gap that was five feet wide. There was enough room for even the largest man to enter the raft proper. A large rope ran down the opposite side of the craft and was tied to another pillar that jutted out of the water. This same rope stretched out across the river and from my vantage point, disappeared in the haze that was ever present over the top of the toxic water. It was connected in the same manner on the opposite side of the Styx.
Next to the stairs was an open container made of thin wood that resembled an apple basket. Inside of it were hundreds of bone chips of unknown origin. Imagine taking a femur and chopping it up in the same manner as slicing a carrot. A grisly thought, but in this case, even more so because it constituted the main food source for Cheron. I probably shouldn't feel bad for this guy; he earned the punishment he lived with day after day. He was once a man, a long time ago, and during the course of his life racked up a body count that was staggering. He was a professional assassin, and as a result killed more people than everyone else during his generation. My understanding was that the number of dead was truly astronomical, and thus earned him the position of the Reaper. He has also been known as the Ferryman, and the Spectre of Death. According to legend, he has to ferry across the same number of souls as he killed before his judgment will send him to either Heaven or Hell. Crappy job, if you ask me.
Cheron looks pretty much the same as most of the existing documentation describes. Long flowing robes, a shrouded hood and he carries a long staff with a sickle blade at the top. His face is skeletal, and his height is somewhere around six and a half feet. He is an imposing figure with bony hands, and once you know his background, it tends to heighten the experience. My understanding is that he represents the third strongest power in the universe, but not allowed to use it except to defend the ferry in the event it gets attacked. But who in their right mind would do that?
So, let's say you've died, and you find yourself at the ferry dock with the intention of crossing to the Provinces to receive the everlasting damnation. Yeah, pretty picture. Anyway, you grab a handful of the bone chips before you walk up the stairs. You step onto the ferry and give Cheron about half as your paid passage. Then hang on to the railing, because you don't want to fall off, and I swear he delights in ragged, uneven starts. Halfway across, the ferry stops, and out comes Cheron's hand, uh huh, that's right, now he wants more. If you had given him all of the chips in your possession, then the ferry sinks into the water, and you're gone. That's with a capitol "G" as in forever. In this case, you've only given him half so you're good. You then give him one more bone chip, and he takes you the rest of the way. Oh, as he pulls into the other dock, hang onto the railing again because his stops are as ragged as his starts. Once on the other side, right before you step off, give him the rest of the chips, and you're free...well at least from him anyway. The preverbal deck of cards seems stacked to me, I mean, who actually knows the instructions to this other than a few geeks. It's not like death comes with an instruction manual. Perhaps it's tied up with that whole eternal damnation thing I mentioned. I don't know, but it doesn't really matter anyway, I'm one of those geeks who know the rules. Maybe he wants a portion of the incoming bad guys to end up in the river. It would minimize the number of criminals inside the prison, if you know what I mean.
It didn't take rocket science to know that Cheron was watching me, so I made my way over to the dock. He hadn't said a word, but he watched as I made my way over to the basket. I contemplated how to work this aspect of the procedure, and then decided to pick the whole thing up. First, I took a handful and placed them into my right leg storage bin. The weight wasn't an issue, and I carried the entire basket up the steps and onto the ferry itself. His face was just barely visible, but his eyes glowed red and watched the basket now. It was important to him, and it dawned on me that he must not get enough to eat during his duties. I could have turned around and left once we had finished talking, but I didn't want it to look like charity. He glanced up at me and then down to the basket again.
"Thank you, Emerald Warrior. I would have given you the information you sought without being bribed."
Ouch, I don't like the "B" word. I hope he didn't see me flinch.
"No action can be taken by me, and you know that, but my part of the river is a sanctuary, and I cannot allow the Dark Lords to sully my purpose or alter my task. When they reach the dock, I will have moved the ferry to the middle of the river. They shall not cross."
His voice had two octaves, one low and the other down in the pits of Hell. All of the short hairs on the back of my neck stood out and a wave of apprehension passed over me.
"Do you know how many are headed this way?"
Cheron turned his head in the direction of the approaching army and then slowly turned it back to gaze into my eyes. My knees felt like mush.
"The Dark Lords have harvested sinful souls and trained their demons for twelve millennia. They bring a legion for each and every year."
That was potentially the single worst news I've ever heard. The Spectre of Death just told me the Dark Lords were bringing six thousand legions to the Styx. Could it get much worse?
If both halves of this massive offensive force were equal, then the Dark Lords actually had twelve thousand Legions, and were prepared to bring all of it through to our side once the barrier was down. Mt. Drago would go down like a sack of lead, and then what was there to stop that tide from over running the rest of the world? The weight of responsibility bore down on me until it was difficult to breathe.
I took the helmet down because of the claustrophobic lack of air and took a couple of deep breaths. That's when the coughing attack grabbed me. I can't think of too many things that smell worse than the river, and it was almost as bad as the helmet that kept me enclosed. Cheron could probably sense it was time for me to leave, because the ferry lurched forward on its path to the other side. I pressed the switch on my gauntlet and pulled the helmet back up. Walter flushed the system and flooded the suit with fresh air. I don't remember much about the rest of the trip, except giving Cheron the remainder of his payment.
The ferry began to move away from me, and I watched as it approached the middle of the river. Walter reset the plates and primed the boosters in preparation for takeoff. Seconds later we were cruising skyward and heading for the Ley gates. It didn't take long to maneuver our way through to gate three and we exited only yards away from the South Entrance.
I saw the guards hanging around just inside and there were quite a few more than usual. Walter powered the boosters down and we landed several feet inside the cave opening. Queen Mother was standing over at the left wall with an indecipherable look on her face. I attempted to appear normal, but the tired part of me took over, and she stepped over to the guards that had surrounded me. There's no way I could have been in trouble...yet. Queen Mother dismissed the guards and came over to stand directly in front of me.
"Take the suit down, Tanis. Tell me you haven't been injured, and what in the Hell took you so long?"
Well, here we go. I knew she wasn't going to be happy with some of the things Walter and I did, but I hadn't intended to tell her everything either. I pressed the main switch, brought the suit down and she went over me with a fine-toothed comb, eventually standing back satisfied. I pushed on to minimize the number of questions I could see forming in her mind.
"We stopped at the ferry dock and spoke with Cheron, not to mention, Apollyon is not exactly in our backyard. That was one hell of a long flight, and you are not going to like what we saw."
Queen Mother's demeanor was dubious, but tolerant, and I don't think she bought why it took so long. What can you say, I figured she'd verbally beat it out of me later.
"How was Cheron, did he seem well?"
I chuckled, and she pursed her lips, obviously not happy with my mirth about the Ferryman.
"He seemed okay, but how bad off could he possibly be, I mean technically he's already dead. It's not like he can catch a cold or come down with a life-threatening disease. He was somber, and if I had his job, I guess I'd be that way too. Other than that, he seemed fine."
She shook her head like I was an imbecile, and then motioned me to follow her. The next stop would be the medical area, and then up to the Castle for a leisurely three-hour debriefing. Somewhere during that little ordeal, I felt sure she would drag everything out of me, because that's just the way she is and there's no way Queen Mother's going to change that part of herself today.
The Ariella had her own personal electric cart a few yards up the corridor, and we hopped in for the first leg of our journey into the mountain.
It was almost as if she anticipated what Walter and I ultimately did, but I can't figure out how she knew. Either she was a great deal more intuitive than I thought or I was broadcasting things that were supposed to be secrets. Demi also knows an undisclosed amount of what's in my head, and that whole communal thing could be where I underestimated the potential outcome. What if Queen Mother could tap into any given dragon's mind at will? What if The Ariella knew I would react to the scenario, and take whatever control into my own hands? She has known me for a long time, and it's possible I've underestimated her in my haste to overestimate myself. Crap, I've given myself brain strain, again.
A young girl was standing at the end of the corridor and had the look about her of anticipation. She had blondish hair that dropped down her back to about her waist. Even from this distance her green eyes sparkled in the light. A wave of calm descended around me, and I realized how much I had missed Demi. Queen Mother stopped long enough for her to get into the cart, and we turned left to head down into Commons.
Demi and I got eye contact and she smiled. You have no idea what one of her smiles does for me. They quite literally tell me things I didn't even know to ask. Each one indicates a sense of well being and love. Her eyes darted in Queen Mother's direction but came back to me before she spoke.
"I see you are not harmed. I am intensely satisfied."
A tight grin flashed across her entire face making her eyes twinkle with some unknown bit of mischief. It was also an indicator of something she wanted me to hear, but unheard by anyone else. You can always tell when they speak to you but when it's private, well trust me, you can tell that too.
"Tanis, there's no way you can hide what you did on the Provinces. Queen Mother already suspects, and she can dig into both our heads until she finds what she wants."
I glanced over to Queen Mother, but she seemed oblivious to our hidden conversation.
"I know. Maybe it's best if she finds out. I technically didn't do anything wrong, it's just a bent truth not a bold-faced lie. Anyway, it's hard to get mad at her, she's just trying to keep you safe, and that's something I want too. In the end, I wouldn't be able to justify the loss of others if it was caused by my attempt to protect you. The whole situation is complicated." Demi sat pensively for a minute, and then nodded her head.
"It will all work out. She is going to be mad, but she'll get over it and I understand. There will be things that only you and I can do. When it comes time, we'll simply go and do them."
We eventually drove up to the medical area, and I got a tad nervous because the doctors did tests that checked for ozone poisoning and radiation. Maybe there were some things about Apollyon that I didn't know after all. I felt fine, but it took effort to convince the medical staff that I did. They also managed to keep my suit off, and that meant there was no way to talk to Walter for confirmation of my health. I wondered if that was done on purpose too and was just a method to get me rattled so I would admit to whatever they thought I was hiding.
I had the last laugh, as all the tests came back negative. It was finally time to go to the Castle for the real debriefing. Demi was quiet during the medical testing but watched their every move. It wasn't paranoia or anything, but I think she was watching for the same things I was, subterfuge, so that their tests looked one way when in fact they were for something else. We both thought they were for nothing more than making me admit to whatever wrong doings I might have done. The whole affair was mentally exhausting.
Three hours later, Demi and I headed for the Ugly Duckling, somehow exonerated from all wrongs, other than my impromptu trip to the river Lethe. Queen Mother didn't ask me not to go again, but the innuendo was there like a blanket over the conversation. I personally thought she knew exactly what I was doing and was in the same quandary where it was concerned. Queen Mother didn't want to see anyone hurt, but Demi was the only Emerald in a thousand years and prophecy made claims to her importance. How far do you go, and in what direction? Rest assured, I would never deliberately endanger my dragon, but there are times when you realize that other things, people and concepts are more important than self. For Queen Mother, and me, well...this was one of those times.
Demi stayed in human form, mostly I think because she didn't want to lose sight of me. She was clingy and for the first time since I had met her, was acting alarmingly codependent. Personally, it felt like everyone was giving me the distinct impression that I had somehow lived through the unlivable, but I just couldn't see it. I had been through much worse.
We had steaks at the Ugly Duckling and washed them down with some Charley Temples. Even Demi began to settle, and the atmosphere in the Pub was festive. It was probably the only thing we needed more than sleep.
As we were about to leave, Queen Mother came into the Pub, walked over to the main bulletin board at the far left of the bar and pinned some papers up for people to see. I had noticed this cork board before I left on my last excursion, and duty rosters were posted on it as well as any new developments Queen Mother wanted to share. She never even looked over at us as she walked back out. Okay, that was weird.
I walked over to the newly posted material to get a better look and saw there was a meeting scheduled for the following day. It appeared to be a war meeting, now there's a shock, but what was a shock was that I wasn't on the list of attendees. The leader of the Dragos, Malachai, Ragnar, and Jeremy from the Chosen were listed, but not me. Well, that explains the cold shoulder while Queen Mother was here.
Pick your battles wisely and you'll rarely ever lose them, at least that's what I'd been taught, so I attempted to restrain myself from doing something stupid. No one likes being left out. Looking at the names again, it occurred to me that each of the names was a leader of an entire faction of people, and it explained why I hadn't been invited. Even Malachai was in that class as he had slowly become the unspoken leader of all the demons. Tanis, on the other hand, was technically a leader of none. I was the section leader of the Emerald grotto, which to date was the home to children and dragons unready to fly. Queen Mother knew all this and didn't want to get immediately confronted when she posted the rosters.
Demi and I decided to lose ourselves in yet another round of Charley Temples. We had a good time and laughed about how the next morning would be spent lounging. Maybe we'd lounge and bathe at the same time, but right now the relaxation was just what the doctor ordered. A good night's sleep in the arms of my dragon was the only other thing that seemed mandatory, not to mention desirable. Just thinking about it caused a premature lethargy and instead of fighting it, I just gave in. Next stop, the Emerald grotto, and some much-needed rest.
Applause woke me the next morning. I sat up and tried to figure out where it came from when it erupted again. It was fairly far away, but definitely people clapping. I threw my clothes on, motioned to Demi, and we made our way out into the corridor.
Hundreds of yards from the Emerald grotto out in Commons, were scores of people watching and cheering the squadrons that were practicing take offs and landings. There were several dozen groups working on saddling their dragons and learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Maybe I should have looked at the roster more closely.
"Demi, were we supposed to be somewhere?"
I heard bells, and it settled me down...almost. Well, I could tell it wasn't serious anyway, even if we were late for something.
"We've already gone through the training, silly. You've done so much for the war effort that Queen Mother didn't have the heart to ask you to do any more. Let's go get coffee and then take a bath, my scales itch. I can smell steak, and that sounds good too."
She's good for my stress levels. All this activity, people gearing up for war, and tension...lots of tension. Yet, Demi zeros in on itchy scales and coffee. Yeah, we can do this.
"Coffee, now there's an idea."
Demi hunkered down and I climbed on, vaulting up over her right shoulder. It felt good to be riding, especially bare back, instead of being cooped up in the suit. I grabbed onto her shoulder ridges, and she sprung into the air. Her spring took her thirty feet into the air, and her wings pressed down cupping the wind with the power of a jet aircraft. The first beat of her wings took us to about sixty feet, the second to one hundred feet and we were soaring, banking to the left-over Commons. We swept across the Wheel, banking again to swing around toward the Ugly Duckling.
I've complained about the distances between things, but when you're flying, they truly aren't far enough, and you tend to get where you're going long before you want to get there. Suddenly, the Pub was almost upon us, and we were changing our flying posture, cupping the air to lesson our speed. We dropped like a stone, and at the last second, Demi pushed her wings down right as both back feet touched the ground. Bringing her front legs down in the correct position, she settled as easy as a pocket of dormant air, and we were grounded. I slid over the side and my feet had no more than touched the rock floor, when Demi morphed into human form. We both took a step toward the Pub, like the move had been choreographed just for us. Come on, are we bad, or what?
There was an acoustic foursome playing inside that had a medley of the Eagles in progress, and I had to admit, they were good. The place was packed and had a very strange ambience to it. The mood wasn't festive, but it had a feel to it that contradicted the stressful reason there were so many people in the same place. If one had to put a title to it then I'm sure it would be defiant, and I identified with the feeling whole heartedly.
About half of the Pieces of Eight were at the tables to the left of the bar and were comparing scores for the tests they had taken for advanced training. They were not drinking Charley Temples. They too had that same air about them of defiance and were bantering about taking righteous indignation to the enemy. I think quite a bit of their bravado was enhanced by the mead they were drinking, but the underlying currents of their anger were as plain as the nose on my face. The demons here were angry and wanted retribution. The thing not being said was how hard they were trying because of their dragons. Their Aguivas meant everything to them, and there was no way they would jeopardize the Warbirds just to take vengeance out on their past or the people who had controlled it.
No one was sure what was being decided up in the Castle, but the tension concerning it was palpable. Everyone knew that a battle was imminent, a foregone conclusion, and it was now just a matter of when.
For the first time, my suit was a topic of conversation in a positive way. No longer was it looked at as the loose cannon and the object of ridicule. Walter and I were looked at now as a major gun in the arsenal that would one day soon take mass destruction to the enemy. It felt good to be one of the guys for a change.
Xan and Caleb, the two Pieces of Eight leaders came over to where we were sitting with two fresh Charley Temples. Their grins were contagious; we were glad to see them. Xan placed the drinks on the table and announced to the Pub how he felt.
"Everyone, listen up. Nothing is certain in life, but if it hadn't been for these two and their run to the Provinces, The Dark Lords would soon be on us like thieves in the night. Demi and her Emerald Warrior are going to be on the front lines making sure that we continue flying, and in the end...we win the day!"
A cheer went up from everyone in the bar, and both Demi and I turned beet red. Man, that was rich. I spent so much time trying to receive acclaim, and when I finally got some, I blushed like a teenager at his first prom. Real suave.
I glanced over to Demi, and she played bells to let me know she appreciated being included, even though she didn't make the run to which he alluded. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Xan and Caleb plopped themselves down and began singing the praises of Demi, greatest of all Emerald dragons. The smell of mead permeated the area around the table and took my breath away. I also sensed fear, underlying and deep, but there none the less.
Eventually Queen Mother walked into the Ugly Duckling and went over to the roster board. Just for a moment she regarded the patrons, then turned and inserted a push pin with the next roster beneath it. The music had stopped, no one spoke, and everyone performed a collective breath intake. Time stood still as Queen Mother walked purposely out of the bar.
Nobody moved for about a dozen heartbeats, and then it was like a stampede heading for the board.
Demi and I sat still. It wasn't that we didn't want to go and take a look, but there was a plethora of people between us and the roster. Several cheers went up when names written on the paper matched the ones who looked, and conversely there were groans from those whose names were absent. Or maybe it was the other way around. At any rate, the number of disappointed folks was drastically higher, and slowly the crowd dwindled down to just a few. It was only then that Demi and I wandered over to the wall where dreams were born, and nightmares had the flavor of bitterness.
My name wasn't on the first page, and I felt my mood slip. Not on the second page either. I could feel my attitude changing, and I wondered why Queen Mother couldn't just tell me if I was not to be sent someplace. Halfway down the third, I spotted my name, and running my finger to the right side of the page told me the duty I had drawn. It was listed as sporadic attacks on the ground base Projectors. The person I was to report to would be Queen Mother. You think? Demi stood there quietly, a somber introspection with a tear. She took a deep breath, and I put my arm around her.
"Your day will come little dragon."
She smiled her crooked smile at me and nodded.
"Sooner than most think, Tanis."