43. THE ENEMY OF OUR ENEMY

Janel’s story

The Afterlife

Several hours after they began searching for Xaloma

Fourth time was the charm, as they say.

One of the three other locations they searched was, to Janel’s vast amusement, the very lake where she had first met Kihrin. But it didn’t look like Xaloma had been there in months—probably not since a certain golden-haired reincarnation of a sun god had literally burned the dragon from the inside out.

No, the place they found her was one of her lairs underneath the ocean.

Swimming through the ocean was … uncomfortable.

Janel adjusted easily enough. After a few false starts, both Xivan and Talea were able to come up with spells or something close enough to spells to allow them to “breathe” underwater and communicate with each other, a process that begged several ontological questions they didn’t have time to address at the moment. But the water itself tasted of death, and many of the creatures who swam in the dark waters were little more than skeletons. Not all, though. Occasionally, Janel would spot what looked like living fish, sharks, and once, off in the distance, a whale.

She found herself intensely curious about how exactly reincarnation with animals worked. Had these beasts originally been born in the Living World, only to pass into this one when they died? Were they born here? Could one be born here?

So many questions, but this was neither the time nor place to ask.

It didn’t take long before they had to summon up mage-lights, because the waters became too dark to see otherwise. Janel also introduced them to the idea that if they traveled too far down, the weight of the water above could begin to suffocate them. It wouldn’t kill them—not here—but it would hurt.

Every once in a while, one of the ocean creatures—a shark or an eel, once a massive jellyfish—would approach Xivan. It was an extraordinary thing to see a shark butt up against Xivan’s leg like a cat asking to have its back scratched.

As dark and twisted a place as Janel found this to be, she knew that Xivan didn’t share her sentiments. Janel had rarely seen her look so content.

“Eshi says Xaloma’s the weakest of the dragons,” Talea had volunteered before they’d gone for their swim. “Which doesn’t make her weak, exactly, just smaller than some of the others.”

Thinking of Aeyan’arric, Janel nodded. “It is indeed wise not to confuse those concepts.”

Janel’s plan was for initial reconnaissance—establishing that Doc was in Xaloma’s custody. Once they’d ascertained that, then they would regroup and come up with a solid plan for freeing the man.

Like most things, the plan didn’t survive contact with the enemy.

Janel didn’t hear so much as feel the vibrations of the dragon’s scream. She’d thought that they were too far away for the dragon to detect them, but clearly, she’d underestimated Xaloma’s ability to sense people in her native element. Out of the darkness of the seabed, a smooth indigo shape came rushing at Janel with burning eyes.

Xaloma remembered her.

Janel ran. Or swam, rather.

She could only hope that neither of the other two tried to stay and fight. This was the worst possible place to fight a creature like Xaloma. A shadow slowly swept over her, and Janel knew that she was unlikely to escape. Xaloma was catching up.

Janel crafted a spear in her hand. If she could get close enough to Xaloma without dying—if she could touch the dragon—she’d inflict more damage. Unfortunately, there was an excellent chance Xaloma would kill her before she ever had the chance.

“Like this?” Xivan asked empty water. She was talking to Khae, but it was still unnerving to know that even a sliver of the old Thaena was with them. Xivan stretched out an arm; a blast of bright energy shot from that hand and struck the dragon in her rear left flank.

Xaloma screamed again, causing the water around Janel to hammer against her like an overly enthusiastic musician playing a kettledrum. Whatever Xivan had done hurt the dragon, who curled around her own center to turn and face this new threat.

Janel swam harder, back down, trying to catch up before the dragon killed Death.

Jaws gaped, teeth snapped, and Xivan …

Wasn’t there. Janel felt the buffet of displaced water as the former Yoran duchess appeared next to Janel with Talea in tow.

Xaloma whipped her head back and forth for a second before realizing she had nothing in her teeth. She undulated, flowing in a semicircle to face up toward the three women once more.

Janel imagined that spotting them would be simple as they floated there, between the dragon and the more brightly lit surface of the water above.

Xaloma opened her mouth again, but this time, instead of screaming, she issued forth some other sound that vibrated Janel to her bones. She felt incredible, searing pain as small pieces of her flesh tore away. Talea and Xivan writhed as the same thing happened to them.

The assault ended after an eternity of heartbeats, leaving Janel bleeding from dozens of coin-size wounds. The bits of her that ripped free dissolved into the water. Xaloma was the Dragon of Spirit, of souls … and in the Second World most inhabitants were comprised of nothing but souls.1

Before she could share this revelation, a new threat materialized; all those sea creatures that had previously amused or disgusted Janel began swimming toward her and the others. It’s hard to judge the facial features of a fish, but Janel didn’t think they were approaching to be friendly.

Her spear lashed out once, twice, impaling an angler and a pike, a situation she would find ironically humorous later if she survived. A school of herring swarmed around her then, blinding and biting. She thrashed, lashing out this way and that, but it was impossible to target a single fish in the flashing, constantly moving school.

**ENOUGH!** she thought, and unleashed a burst of tenyé, shaped into heat. The water bubbled around her, and hundreds of fish died in a second, their bodies floating away. Janel also found herself several yards above her companions when she could see again, which surprised her.

They had their own problems: Talea was surrounded by jellyfish, their stinging tendrils lashing her arms and face, while Xivan’s shark friend had returned, with buddies. They weren’t on Xivan’s side anymore.

And during all of this, Xaloma drew closer.

**BELOW YOU!** Janel screamed. She pointed her spear at Xaloma and channeled tenyé through it as a lance of heat. It wasn’t as strong as what Kihrin did during their first meeting, but it seemed close enough to distract the dragon. Instead of swallowing Xivan whole, Xaloma raked her with a claw as she swam past, heading up for Janel.

Janel swam for the surface, glancing down now and again to judge the distance. At just the right moment, she flipped herself over and dove back down, narrowly missing Xaloma’s mouth. She kicked with both legs, so close she could have reached out to touch the spirit dragon. As she reached the bottom of Xaloma’s torso, the dragon was just starting to flip around to give chase. Janel lashed out with her spear and again unleashed an inferno.

Xaloma screamed; the shock wave of water sent Janel spinning end over end. She couldn’t see how much damage she’d inflicted. By the time she had righted herself, the dragon was on top of her, mouth agape.

Darkness covered the surface above as the dragon’s mouth loomed ever closer, and Janel fought off the distraction of a flashback. She’d been through this before. She’d once killed a dragon by tricking him into swallowing her whole, after all. So had Kihrin, if with less intention. She wondered if she had enough energy to pull off such a trick again.

She didn’t feel like she did, if she was being honest with herself.

Just as Xaloma stretched forward to take that all-important bite, a tentacle reached out of the darkness above, wrapped itself around the dragon’s neck, and yanked.

That hadn’t been an octopus’s tentacle. It had been too large—and barbed. But the answer was obvious.

If fish could swim in these seas, the Daughters of Laaka could too.

She felt cold. Because this wasn’t a case where the enemy of her enemy was a friend.

Janel didn’t know why she hadn’t thought that Daughters of Laaka would end up in the Afterlife too. This one clearly had. It was the largest Daughter of Laaka that she’d ever seen. Except she quickly revised her opinion: it was exactly the same size as the largest she’d ever seen.

Talea tugged on her arm, intent on a retreat. She was bleeding from numerous locations. Some of the jellyfish stings were swollen and red. Xivan swam up also, cradling the stump of her left arm against her body. A shark under Xaloma’s control must have gotten in a lucky bite.

Janel pointed down. They still needed to find Doc.

But Xivan shook her head firmly and pointed up. Together, they dragged Janel toward the surface at an angle. At first, Janel wasn’t sure why, then she realized that the “ground” was sloping up in that direction; an island.

Which would do exactly nothing to stop Xaloma from chasing them, but at least they’d die on dry land.

Exhausted, they dragged themselves onto the shore and collapsed a few feet above the waterline. If this were the Living World, the island would be lovely: palm trees and white sandy beaches. Just the sort of place Kihrin would love, Janel thought with a weak grin. Here, however, the trees clustered menacingly and giant spiderwebs filled the spaces between. The beach was more sharp stones than sand. At least it wasn’t the ocean.

“We have to find Doc,” Janel said the moment she’d caught her breath. “Otherwise, this is all for nothing.”

“Agreed,” Xivan said. “But we need a moment.” She turned her head and looked to the side. “Show me,” she said, evidently to Khae. After a moment, she nodded. Lifting the base of her severed arm, Xivan concentrated, and the arm began to regrow. All her wounds “healed” at the same time.

Janel frowned at that. She had thought that only demons knew that trick, but why wouldn’t Immortals know something similar? Especially Thaena, in her own realm.

Xivan then went to Talea and did the same, then to Janel, who started to wave her away before realizing that no, she really was weakened. In fact, she hadn’t felt this weak since Yor. She allowed Xivan to heal her.

“Here,” the new Death Goddess said, putting a hand on Janel’s shoulder even after the healing was done. “You need energy too.” Janel felt tenyé pouring into her. Unlike when it came from her mother, however, she actually felt it this time. Probably a lack of practice; Tya had had lifetimes to perfect the trick while this was Xivan’s first try. Still, it felt amazing as Janel’s strength returned. Yet, at the same time, the demonic side of her hungered for more, always more.

She clamped down on it.

“Was it just my imagination, or was what attacked Xaloma…?” she asked.

“No,” Xivan said, looking off into the distance. “That was what you thought it was: a kraken.”

“I prefer the term who,” a familiar voice said. “What makes me feel like an object.”

The ocean splashed and rippled as the Lash drew herself tiredly to shore, like a mountain that had decided to heave itself on land. “Hello again, Xivan,” she said and then collapsed onto the sand. “We really have to stop meeting like this.”