Demon Lord 5: Silver Crown King (10 page)

Copper Hair pursed his lips eyes staring off into the distance.  “I haven’t been there since the fifteenth century.  Villagers still handing over virgins to passing dragons?”

I sighed with regret.  “Hard to find a virgin anywhere anymore.”

Shades said, “You realize we need more than your say so, right?”

“Just ask the girl who I am,” I said. 
Not that it can be that easy.

Copper Hair shook his head no.  “We’ll call her teacher over.  She’ll clear you, then you guys can go run amok on earth.”

“Have her bring Julia.  You can see that what I said was true.  That way we’re only interrupting the class once.” 

Shades nodded at the reasoning I’d given him.  “Stay here.  I’ll be back in two shakes of a dragon’s tail.”

I waited, knowing that this was going to come down to a snatch.  Julie would come willingly.  The teacher wasn’t going to let her, not without clearing it with a parental figure.  It was going to cost me a lot of strength and magic.  I fed a trickle of raw magic to my
Dragon Roar
tattoo, awakening it, and prepared myself to hypnotically compel these dragons to do what I wanted.  That would be the easy part.  Then I’d have maybe two minutes to get Julia to a portal, and off-world.  Any longer than that, and dragons would be all over me like a plague.

Going to have to do some powerful talking, then some serious flying.

Fast footsteps ran my way, followed by slower ones.  I turned and Julia flung herself into the air, into my arms, planting a kiss on my cheek.  I could tell Julia’s reaction had mollified the security.  They were buy my story now.  I let Julia slid down to the floor.  She stayed close, hugging my side, legs sheathed in black tights, her body clothed in a frilly pink dress and white blouse. 

“You didn’t forget that today was the day for your outing, did you?”

Anxious for a day away from the usual grind, she played along, “Oh, I did.  I even left the note home I was supposed to give to my teacher.”  She looked to look back at the woman in the tangerine robes.  “I’m sorry.  It’s all my fault.”    

I turned toward the teacher and let magical power coat my words.  “Well, no harm, right?  We’ll just go so you can get back to work.”

“I’m not sure…”  Her brow furrowed.  Trickles of sweat rolled down the side of her face.   Her right hand—held in her left—closed in a fist, as a buried core of strength in her flailed against my influence.  She was naturally resistant.  Enspelling dragons required a lot more power than for ordinary humans. 

I poured even more raw magic into my tattoo so it blazed on my skin almost burning the air. 

I murmured a suggestion.  “You see everything is in hand.  It’s time to send the bastard
gold
on his way.  Really, what’s he doing among properly bred red dragons anyway?  Do we want other student’s exposed to his barbarian ways?”

The teacher pointed her nose into the air, sniffing delicately.  “Oh, just be off.  We’ve more important things to do than cater to your needs.”

I nodded, speaking louder, “You’re perfectly right.  We’ll just go now.”  Arm in arm, I walked Julia out of the school, all too aware the doomsday clock was running down.  Word would be out soon to stop me at all costs.

TEN

“I make crash and burn look good!”

                                                    —Caine Deathwalker

We stood outside of the school, around a corner where we’d not be spotted at once.  I turned my back to Julia.  “Get on.  We’re flying out of here.”

She didn’t question me, but climbed on at once, her thin arms cinching around my neck, her legs going around my waist.

“Not too tight,” I rasped.  “I like to breathe.”

She loosened her arms’ stronghold a little.  “Better?”

I grunted, leaping into the air, dragon wings beating furiously.  The climb was killing me.  Take off required pure power.  Until a proper altitude was achieved, I’d be bleeding strength already depleted by the magic I’d used.  No help for it, but to muscle through and hope I don’t collapse too soon.

As we curved up around a tower, fleeing its shadow, I felt for a thermal updraft in the air.  My color values shifted; the dragon world became a slightly blurry mix of reds and yellows.  My inner dragon said,
Look for columns of gold.  Those will be thermals.

I avoided the parks and greenery below, figuring my chances were better over the stone and steel part of the city that had been basking in sunlight.  Julia’s weight on my back, and her tightening grip across my throat hampered.  Sweat dripped into my eyes.  Fortunately, with the recent change, I seemed to have developed secondary, transparent eyelids to shield my eyes. 

My lungs worked like billows.  My heart hammered.  Fresh pain assaulted me as my inner dragon tweaked my biology, fueling the growth of extra muscle and tendon, bulking up my back and wings.  My feet hurt. 
What the hell!
  My shoes and socks ripped off, falling away.  I wiggled my—
Giant clawed feet?

In case we have to fight in close quarters
, my dragon told me. 
We can’t use our lightning breath while carrying Julia.  She could catch a backwash and get fried.  I’d feel bad about that.

And I wouldn’t?

My dragon didn’t answer.

When I couldn’t climb another foot, and faced falling back, I found a thermal.  I leveled out in it, noting that my wings were larger now, more size-appropriate.  The first hurdle was past, but the knife of hunger was cutting up my stomach from the inside.  The changes, the riotous cellular growth, had a cost.  I needed to eat to fend off starvation. 

I also needed to watch where I was flying.

I banked sharply to avoid an oncoming horde; Mommy Purple Dragon and a little flock of dragonets.  They zigged.  I zagged.  One of the baby dragons passed a few feet away, it eyes bugging out as it looked Julia and me over, possibly considering a snack.  I met its stare, letting it see the death in my eyes should it dare slow me down.  Sometimes, words just aren’t needed.  It flinched back and hurriedly got closer to momma.  She swung her head to give me a glare, like it was her right of way after all.  She flicked her tail in passing, nearly crushing my skull with a close swipe.

The dragon in me took offensive.  I found my head turning her way, my mouth opening for a shot of electrical fire.

Julia’s aboard, remember?  Is the time and place to start anything, now that the hunt is probably in full swing for us?

Alright, but next time I see her…

Fine, next time you see her.  We’d just better be in full dragon form.
  I closed my mouth so I wouldn’t swallow a bug.  We were under a stream of dragons now that were content to ignore us.  I scanned the ground, aware that Julia had sat up to ride me like a horse, her fingers clutching at the base of my wings.  Taking note of a few landmarks memorized earlier, I adjust my course, falling in a shallow dive.  I had a lock on the park I’d come in through.  The Dragon statue with the open maw lined up just right.  I aimed myself to fly straight down its throat, shifting my vision back to normal color mode.

Reading my body language, Julia lay flat between my wings, snuggling against me, her hands shifting to my shoulders.  I was a little amazed that none of this had freaked her out.  Riding a half-phased hybrid across the sky couldn’t be common place in her experience.  Either her dragon instincts were telling her this was normal, being up here, or she really trusted me.

Both
, my inner dragon said. 
You were there to care for her when she lost her mom.  She imprinted on you.  It doesn’t matter that you’ve been letting Red raise her.  She will always think of us as her rightful father.

Me?  A father?

My inner dragon smirked.
  Yeah, scary, huh?

Don’t be a wise-ass
, I told myself.

I had no more time for introspection.  I was on final approach, possibly in more ways than one.  The official dragons I met when in human form, wearing the turquoise uniforms with gold buttons, were waiting near the portal statue.  And they’d brought along a couple full-sized dragons for backup.  One was a Green.  The other Black.  These two stood with wings spread like a pair of goalies guarding the same net.

Clearly, they expected this to stop me.

Julia called out, “Caine, they don’t want us to go.”

I yelled back over the wind roar.  “Not their call.  Hang on tight.” 

I kept a course straight for the portal, increasing speed, sharpening my downward glide. 

They could certainly stay there, but then we’d all go down in a bruising, bone-breaking tangle. 

Julia could have her thin neck snapped like a twig.  Any dragon attacks used against me would also hurt her. 

“All or nothing!”  Starving, my magic low, I fed what I had left into my
Demon Wings
tattoo.  I didn’t notice anything and Julia wouldn’t either, being touch with me, but to those on the ground, trying to intercept us, it would look like we’d simply ghosted away into nothing.   Our smells would be much hard to pick up, especially at this speed.  They might hear us
whooshing
in, but by then, it would be too late.  So they couldn’t anticipate my timing with an educated guess, I pulled up a little and used the change in my wings to catch air and slow down.

Blinking in confusion, the full dragons stomped forward, as if to consult with the officials.  Thinking better of it, they simply launched their attacks.  Buried roots from nearby trees burst into view, reaching, thrashing across the sky.  However, my shit of timing and altitude left them clutching in the wrong area.  The Green’s earth magic failed.  The black, a shadow dragon, roared at me, a cone of darkness spewing forth.  His aim, too, was off.  I heard the officials telling them to get back in position so I could sneak into the gate that was preprogrammed to take me back to earth.

Too late!

Wings coming in, folding protectively over most of Julia, made her squeal in surprise.  We dropped like a rock.  Julia clutched my neck, strangling me as the ground rushed up.  We were behind the Green and Black.  The cone of shadow swept over us, blacking out the statue.  But I was oriented on it, my over-sized dragon feet leading the way.  It hurt when I hit, momentum dragging me to the portal.  I skidding through, knowing this by the blue-green light of transit that bathed me.

I came slamming out of one of the confessionals of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion. 

Several patrons were knocked off their feet.  I skidded to a stop, groaned, and loosened my wings from around Julia.  “You all right?” I asked, letting go of the
Demon Wings
spell that was draining me.

“Yeah.”  She pushed off me, standing.  “Can we do that again?”  The people I’d brought down were cursing and stabbing me with angry glances.  Julia looked at them.  “There’s a child present, you know?”

I don’t think she knew that her human eyes had gone dragon with vertical pupils. 

Several of the small, hooded attendants swarmed us, helping us to stand.  I needed it, feeling wrung out and hungry enough to devour my weight in McDonald’s fries.  I wavered on my feet, needing Julia to steady me.

I didn’t want to get banned from portal use, so didn’t shoot my way out of the angry crowd.  I did something rare for me; accepting responsibility.  “Really, it’s my fault.  I’m sorry.  Please accept my apology.”  Then I lied to gain their sympathy.  “I didn’t know the kidnappers would follow us all the way back.”  I pulled Julia into a dramatic hug.  “At least my poor daughter has been rescued from those monsters.”

She looked up into my face.  “I have?”  Catching on, she spoke more emphatically.  “I have, I have!  Oh, daddy, thank you ever so much for saving me.  You’re my hero!” 

I waved off such sentiment.  “Any loving parent would do the same for their child.”

Some of the patrons I’d tackled looked suspicious, but the gathering crowd beyond them seemed to buy the act.   Really, they owed me a lot, bringing a little drama into their stale, trifling lives.

Julia wiggled free and picked up one of the little, robed fuzzies.  “Oooo, how cute.  Can I keep him?”

“That’s not a pet,” I said.  “Put him down.  All beings are worthy of respect, no matter what they look like.”

She set him down and looked back at me.  “Yes, Father.”  And then her glance slid past me and she froze, mouth dropping open.

As the crowd around us dispersed, I turned, wondering what I’d have to deal with next.   Aggie stood there, red hair piled high, jeweled with rubies, her indigo eyes piercing, locked onto me like she was going to tear my heart out and eat it. 

My inner dragon said,
Bad idea.  She’s wearing a cream-colored linen pantsuit.  Our blood might never come out of that.

Yeah, that would teach her,
I thought.

Julia moved between us to protect me.  I put my hands on her shoulders, keeping her there so Aggie couldn’t just snatch the child back and go.

Aggie spoke, voice hard as her stare.  “Caine, what the hell do you think you are doing?”

Once more, I did the unexpected.  I told the truth.  “I’m tired of Red sulking and avoiding me.  I want my friend back.  He needs to man up and make things right between us again.”  I looked down at Julia.  “This is to encourage him to do the right thing, now as opposed to fifty years from now.”

“You could have just asked me to help you.  I was intercepted on the way to Julia’s school with the news that she’d been abducted by a demon.  You know what that did to me?”

I looked her in the eyes.  “I’m sorry you were hurt, but I’m like God; I give and I take away.  And I am a demon—in spirit anyway.  This is how I’m supposed to act.  Besides, Julia is as much mine as yours.  I have a right to see her, and that wasn’t going to happen as long as Red had his head up his ass.”

“You have a point.  All right, take her for a few days.”  Aggie moved closer.  She stuck a finger in my face.  “Just don’t ever do this again.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She said, “I will go impress on Red the urgency of him making amends.”  Aggie bent and kissed Julia on the forehead, telling her, “Try not to pick up any bad habits hanging out with riffraff.” 

Julia said, “Yes, ma’am.”

With a last glare at me, she turned and walked away.

Julia turned under my hands and faced me.  “You’re afraid of her?”

“Am not!”

She smiled at me.  “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“C’mon,” I said.  “Let’s get out of here.”  I turned toward the “church’s” entrance and led the way.  Julia walked along with me, humming what I assumed to be the theme song to some anime.  We went out, much to the relief of the staff escorting us, and passed he statue.  She, too, wore a lightly disapproving frown.

As Julia and I went down the steps, I asked her.  “How’s the finger?”  During her brief kidnapping by the Blue Star Priestess, she’d had a finger cut off and mailed to me.

She held up her hand.  “Aggie had some healers grow it back.  You can barely see the scar.”

“Good.  I’d wondered.”

We walked in silence along the street until we came to my Mustang.   I deactivated my alarms, and we climbed in, buckling up.  Minutes later, I located a McDonalds.  We pulled in, parked, and bailed out.  “Keep a sharp watch,” I told my car.  “I’m expecting trouble.”

“Red?” Julia asked.

“Yeah.  He’s been unkind to me so I’ve had to kick him in the teeth.”  I opened the door for Julia.

“Using me?”  She stopped by the display that showed various happy meal toys being offered.

“Uh-huh.  Got a problem with that?”

“Depends.”  She pointed at the toy of her preference.  “Can I have that?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, then I forgive you.”

We got to the counter.  A perky high schooler smiled at me.  Her name tag said Sandy. 

“Hi, what can I get for you?”

“Five cheeseburger happy meals, a different toy in each one.  A milk with that, and I’ll have the Sirloin burgers, one of each type, with three large fries, a chocolate shake, a large soda, and a couple of apple pies.”

“To go?” she asked.

I shook my head.  “No, we’ll eat it all here.”

She looked at me like I was crazy, but rung up the order.  I paid and took my order number.  She gave me the empty cup for my soda.  Julia followed me over to get it filled.  “I can’t eat all those cheeseburgers,” she said.

“I know.  I was planning to help you out there, out of the goodness of my heart.”

“You are too good to me.”

I sighed dramatically, proud of her growing knack for sarcasm.  “I know.   What can I say?  I’m just a hell of a guy.”

Shut up and feed me
, my inner dragon said. 
You know how many calories I burned up for you?

Don’t worry about it.  It’s all in service to my growing legend
. 
A fearsome reputation will someday mean less of this bullshit.  People and things will get so they won’t dare mess with me. 

Crazy violent sociopaths get left alone.

Or locked up.