We walked back inside. At seven hundred and fifty two years old, I couldn't remember a time with more dragons than demons. In what the humans called the paranormal world, we were an endangered species. Hunted first by men in old Europe, and then by demons who realized we threatened their power. A dozen of the ancients still survived in caves and mountain ranges around the world. Asleep on their wealth in case the demon hordes found them.
“If Nitha takes Laythe’s place we may need to alert the Court. In fact, I’ll do that now. Cim, the alliances in this hemisphere collapse if we don’t prevent her from killing Laythe.” Wretch went to his security room.
“I’m so flattered I might puke,” Laythe said as the sound of gunfire erupted out on the street. “Either my brother in law has decided to pull us outside, or one of my subjects needs reminding about the rules in the city of New Orleans.”
I wouldn't put it past Narran and Nitha to leave dead humans at the door. Laythe reached the courtyard ahead of me and vanished. I shifted, flew to the upper balcony, and checked over the back alley. No one was there. I heard a small group of loud voices in the same direction the smell of gunpowder came from, and took off in the direction of St. Louis Cathedral.
I landed at the northeastern edge of the square and sheltered myself under the trees. My black wings folded behind my back didn't twitch. In the flickering light that filtered through the leaves, my black scales were impossible to distinguish from dark black skin. Only my eyes moved.
A drunk human stumbled past on the sidewalk and decided to relieve himself under the trees. He spotted me and stumbled backward. “You’re naked!”
“I’m a dragon leaning against a tree, and you notice that?” My smile revealed my dragon teeth, and he ran zipping his pants on the way.
The next day I would be a fuzzy memory he’ll dismiss before lunch.
He ran toward the fountain yelling, ”Godzilla! Godzilla!”
He was either very drunk, or he though Godzilla could fit under a tree.
Narran wasn't here, but another demon was. The smell of sulfur came from across the street. A half dozen humans sat in the fountain off to my left, and the peeing kid got his pants on just before he joined them.
The demon noticed them too. I saw a shadow move under the archways at Cabildo. Whoever it was stepped out onto the sidewalk a few feet with their eyes fixated on the fountain group with a gun in hand. At least I knew who’d fired the shots. A demon was out hunting humans for sport. The yellow slitted eyes glanced around the square, and when it didn’t sense anyone, it moved toward the humans. Demons ability to walk just like humans gave them a tremendous advantage. Humans were their favorite food, and toy, so mimicking their movements to fit into crowds allowed for better hunting. This one tried to walk like a female.
Demons couldn’t quite mimic women’s subtle flourishes. The swaying of their hips and almost liquid seductive motions had to be built into the anatomy. I loved that about them.
One of the human women didn’t like the person headed her way and got out of the fountain. Staring straight at the demon coming toward her, she pulled on a pair of pants she had left on the grass trying not to wobble as she put them on. Her attempts to warn her friends were ignored as they told her it was another partier who wanted to join the fun. She knew different. Humans had the ability to sense danger and this young woman knew it had spotted her. Headed toward the other side of the square, she got three yards away from her fountain before the demon ran after her. She stumbled as the demon caught her taking her neck in its hands strangling her life away.
Her friends paid attention at that point, but somewhere in their alcohol riddled minds they didn't register the danger. I moved toward them trying to stay in the shadows to catch the demon before it could vanish.
Demons preferred struggling human souls because the struggle excited them. It was why I enjoyed pulling their heads off and sucking their souls. Twisted and evil deserved a twisted death.
I heard the woman’s neck pop as the demon twisted her head, and I took flight. That sound would stay with me for a few days since I could’ve saved her if I’d moved faster. This demon would pay tonight for the guilt I would feel later. The group in the fountain began to scream as the demon started to invade her body. I landed behind them, grabbed the surprised demon by the head, and twisted it as hard as I could.
The demon changed forms and the humans screamed while leaving incoherent descriptions to 911 operators. I stood still while the now devil-looking demon tried to claw through my scales. I swiped its claws away, and it turned back trying again. There was a frenzied look in its eyes. The third time I swatted its hands away, I pulled back punching it in the head right between the eyes. It stumbled back cursing incoherently.
The humans’ soul escaped its body hovering for a moment. The scream of pain was for the young life cut short. Next, she yelled at the demon trying to hit it only to fly right through. The demon reached out with magic catching the humans’ soul. I wasn’t going to let the demon possess this one and with one whispered spell, I froze the demons tongue. Reaching over, I snapped the demons wrist.
The young woman’s soul pulled free mouthing “Thank you” before taking off into a small slit in reality to start her next phase of existence. I freed the demon from the spell watching as the wrist snapped back into place. It turned back to me and again tried to claw my scales.
I looked close, and it appeared the demon chose a form with poor or no eyesight. “They’re demon proof. You’re new aren’t you?”
The answer was a growl, and the demon extended claws on its right hand to a foot long. That would hurt. I jumped up landing behind it.
“You aren’t even trying.” My right talons scratched across the demons back leaving a trail of slow oozing blood down its back. It looked black against the pale pink color of flesh it had chosen.
“This is no fun. I needed a fight tonight, and I got you uselessly killing a human in public. The Arcane Court will remove your magic at the least, if not imprison you for fifty years. If I don’t drink your soul tonight.”
The demon’s body shook, and it turned toward me.
With the humans yelling, “devil,” and “demon,” at us, I grabbed it in my talons and flew to a strip of rocky shore along the Mississippi River landing on a pier.
My passenger teased me. “They think you are a devil.”
My spell had worn off faster than expected. “I’m not the only one they’re yelling at. You came close to imitating a really bad B movie villain from the 1950’s. You should be proud of your lackluster talent.”
The body I carried shook with laughter. “I was playing with that child to put more stress into her escaping soul.”
Something in its tone made me look closely at the face as I landed on the end of the dock.
Suddenly, I knew who I had with me. “Hello, Nitha. Out for a little killing tonight?” My voice was raspy from the change and lowered for full effect.
“The Lords are meeting soon. I wouldn’t miss that for the world.” Her spiked teeth looked like they belonged on a shark.
“Since when did you start killing humans in public? Isn’t a dungeon prison with shackles and chains more your style?”
Her rapid intake of breath told me I’d hit a sore spot.
“And what if I change you into human form and play with you? No scales to keep my claws out. I could shred you piece by piece for years.” She licked her lips.
“Even in human form I have dragon strength, Nitha.”
“I’m counting on hit, Cimmerian.”
She was a very twisted bitch.
“Torture? Is that all you have planned for me?” I lowered my voice to a level that vibrated my chest. “You are unoriginal and boring. I will kill you when you try.”
I picked her up by the neck dangling her over the edge of the pier. She shifted into human form and grabbed me by my neck. I could feel her squeezing my throat shut. Unlike demons, I couldn’t heal any damage short of beheading. With my free hand, I tried to pry her fingers from my throat as I became dizzy.
“No more smartass comebacks, dragon?”
She vanished, and I stumbled over the edge of the pier landing in the water. I had to fight the urge to take a deep breath, holding it until my head broke the surface. My initial breath filled my lungs letting me know there would be bruising on the inside of my throat. Her stare followed me as I walked parallel to the pier up the rocky bank. Her grin infuriated me.
The memories of our last fight ten years ago that prompted my prolonged vacation came back to me. I won that battle without any help, even though it took months for me to recover. Wretch’s magic sped up the healing process and without it, I might have needed more than a year to regain my full strength. She had pulled half of the scales off my chest trying to reach in and grab my heart.
When she stopped to lick her lips, I was able to put my fist through her chest throwing her in the lagoon before I lost consciousness. I would do the same again tonight, if I got the chance. “Are you playing with your food, bitch? Or do you plan on finishing the job this time?”
She stood still and looked inconsequential at no more than five foot tall with short dark brown hair and black eyes. She couldn’t weigh more than a ten-year-old human. At twelve hundred years old, she knew more magic than anyone, other than Wretch.
“You almost won last time, dragon. It won’t happen again.” She ran at me.
“How did you escape the last time? Did the alligators decide you were too foul for their dinner? A bit tasty but too vile for vultures?” I stepped to the side missing her chanting a spell. The air flew from my lungs, and my body ached from a complete lack of oxygen. I folded over and curled up on the ground.
“You will die this time, Death Dealer.” She stood as close as she could outside of my reach.
I mouthed a spell for inflation focusing on my chest in hopes it would work. It did. I stayed down and inhaled as slowly as I could so she wouldn’t notice.
“Get up you weak pile of scales.” She kicked me in the side.
At her size, I shouldn't have felt it, but I did. It had to be a spell that kept her true, larger size, compacted. Her right foot appeared in front of my face. I opened my left eye and peeked up at her. She faced the bank, and I heard voices.
“You attracting attention again, you foul smelling creature?” I swung my left wing into what I hoped was her knee.
Pain ran through my wing and into my shoulder. Damn she was solid. The smell of burning flesh reached me. The bitch set my wing on fire. I pulled my legs underneath me and stood straight up. My left wing smoked, but the damage was small. It still stung, and I didn't remember the pain spell. It wasn't one I had to use often.
“Surprised? You aren't the only one here who can use demon spells,” I said.
“You've gotten better, but I'll win every time.” She looked ready to kill me.
One of the tactics I learned from Wretch over the years was to stop thinking and hit with everything you have. I shoved her chest with both of my hands as hard as I could, and she landed on her back two yards away. “Make sure to get some splinters in your ass while you are down there.”
“You son of a bitch, I'll kill you.” She stood up fast.
“That’s the Nitha I know and loathe.”
She ran at me. I reached out and grabbed her around the neck again.
We were back where we started with her dangling over the edge of the river, unable to swim, staring at me. Demons sink. It’s why I lived near the river.
“You didn't see that coming? Tell me why I shouldn’t finish the job?”
“Because you owe me.” Laythe was behind me. “If I let you kill her all of demon kind would hunt you down.”
I turned around to see Wretch with Laythe. “Wretch, why am I not killing this bitch tonight?”
“Because we have a new deal with the demon lords.”
Nitha crossed her arms over her chest confident I wouldn’t kill her now. She managed to look cool and in control while hanging over a river by her neck.
“All of them?”
“All of them.” He held up what looked like a contract. “They have decided Nitha's actions tonight violated council rules, and they want first crack at her.”
“They won't kill her and you know it.” I growled in frustration. All I had to do was drop her.
Her smile grew wider. The council saved her life, and she would play them again. Laythe walked down the dock stopping behind my right shoulder.
She whispered in my ear. “Not tonight, but soon.”
Nitha’s face didn't register she heard the words as I lowered her down to her sister.
Laythe took out handcuffs and placed them on Nitha. “You can’t kill humans in my territory. You defied the Court again by killing in public. The holding cell in my basement is where you’ll stay until the Court or council gives me permission to kill you.”
They vanished without a sound, and Wretch walked up to me. “Nice of her to tell us right where to find her.”
“I got that too. Seems she wants us to take care of her problem.”
“I can get in there,” he said.
“Port me back to your place.”
“My pleasure.” Ten seconds later, we were back in his den. “Does she have full power back?”
“She does. I don't know if it's back up to full, but she can do minor spells and shift her appearance.” The devil looking creature wasn’t her best work.
“The handcuffs Laythe used are spelled and should keep her from being able to get out of the cell. A house full of demons who want her dead one floor away might help.” He didn’t sound any more confident than I felt.
“Or they could decide they liked the old ways before there were laws to obey and humans were hunted openly and release her,” I said.
Wretch looked worried and that got my attention. He wasn't young even by demon standards. Centuries older than I was, he kept his age a secret.
“I need to get back home.” It had been a long night, and I wanted rest before we tried to invade a demon household, even if it was to kill Nitha.
“Warn Grace. She needs to be on alert for all demons right now.”
“Yes, sir,” I said saluting him.
He didn’t answer, but his expression told me he wanted me to perform a move that was anatomically impossible.