85. Malkar

85

Malkar

I sure hope I did the right thing leaving Oz and Kami together. Trying to get Oz to deal with his mother isn't a good idea. He's got conflicting feelings, and we can't afford for him to hesitate when it might be our lives on the line.

I've tracked Daleyne to Godtown.

She's a master at manipulation. In just the hour I've watched her, she's managed to convince two heads of guard to switch their allegiance from Eskyn to her, promising them the world once they win.

If they win.

I know my pets are doubtful we'll be victorious, but they don't know how dragon magic works, our ties to those of Chance.

The worse our odds, the better our survival.

And I've never faced worse odds than I have now.

I can feel the others inside me, aware of them in a way they will grow to understand. Right now, they can speak mind to mind in close proximity. But distance detracts from mental communication.

I didn't want to freak them out too much with how much I can now control them. A savvy hunter knows how to stalk his prey.

And my pets are powerful and canny. Deserving of my ownership.

I wish Ulrast could see me now and know my sister is once again part of her kin.

At least she's forgiven me. The moment I ingested her, her remaining spirit, buried in the gem, told me as much.

Actually, she'd told me I was a moron for ever harboring guilt, as the only person to blame for her death was Folas.

Now dead.

Ries did a tremendous job killing our enemy. And now Iskae rests in peace, I have a small hoard, and we're working to kill a monarch, evil elves, and a god.

Truth to tell, it's not a bad quest. One worthy of a Better.

I preen as I leave Daleyne to her bribery.

I'm prepared to return to Oz and Kami when I sense something not right with Ries and Crash.

I try to tune in but find myself blocked by ethereal magic.

Algraas, no doubt.

Damn it. I told those two not to do anything, to just report back what they found.

If they've encountered the archdemon, the monarch will not be far behind. As powerful as Ries and Crash are, I don't know that they can successfully battle the light elf and his demon.

I rush up into the clouds overhead in my half-form, successfully hidden by my magic, and make haste to the monarch's chapel, only to see my water and fire mages battling with beings covered in dense magic .

It's Algraas who tips the battle's favor. He's extremely powerful and extremely secretive. No one knows what he's capable of, only that he's Goras Vamyar's shadow. Where one goes, so too does the other.

It's said a monarch always controls his or her ethereal. But I'm not so sure.

I've seen other ethereals turn on their supposed rulers.

But I do know Crash and Ries have no business engaging with Algraas alone. And that's no shame on them, but on the fact the ethereal has a well of power none of us are familiar with.

I streak down as Crash tries to light Algraas on fire while Ries battles the light elf.

Goras Vamyar is a beast at combat. He makes Rilitar look like a babe.

I'm impressed, though I shouldn't be. It's known light elves have no equal on the battlefield, which makes me wonder why the war god chose Enwiss to possess and not Goras.

Perhaps not everyone is happy to be the war god's puppet. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Goras clashes with Ries, blade to water pike. Though Ries is fast and has the flexibility of a Kept and the fluidity of a mage, he is barely hanging on while Goras strikes each blow with precision.

Meanwhile, Crash is trying to set Algraas on fire, but the demon just laughs and pushes back with his own flame.

Were Crash an ordinary fire mage, he'd be dead by now. But his inner rage, that fire that so enthralled me when we first met, burns bright.

I can tell it's intrigued Algraas. Which isn't good.

"Ah, not so feeble, are you, fae?" The demon laughs and dances around in the air, his movements fast and sure .

They need surprise on their side, and I'm the element that's going to turn the tide of this battle.

I shoot a blast of ice at Goras's feet that Ries manages to avoid and arrow through the air at the light elf.

Ries, I'm coming in, I warn him.

Ries turns and dashes to Crash, shooting Algraas in the face with spikes made of water.

They do some damage, I'm pleased to note, while Goras looks up at me in alarm.

I'm on him before he can move, and we're battling, sword to claw and tail.

My skin turns to scales.

His eyes widen. Fear, sharp and pungent, fills the air. "Algraas, to me," he shouts.

But Crash blasts the area between them with a wall of flame.

I fight harder, sensing the elf's weakness.

I smile into his eyes, letting him see my hatred. "I'm so hungry." The amount of power ingesting the light elf will give me will truly help in our battle against Beyrthnel.

" Algraas, " Goras yells and fights harder.

His swordsmanship is top par, and if my skin weren't so hard, armored by my scales, he'd have killed me a few times already.

I let him beat on me while the others keep fighting the demon.

Goras gets sloppy, so I eat the hand he puts too near my snout, his magic weak compared to Iskae's rage.

He shrieks as I swallow down the light magic in his fingertips.

"That's so gross," Crash says to Ries. "Is Malkar seriously eating the monarch? "

I'm surprised Algraas hasn't tried to come to Goras's aid. But I'm too focused on finishing this dickhead to care.

I can't believe how bound I've been without my magic. But now, to have it and Iskae's power in my blood, I'm unstoppable.

Goras can't handle the fact he's bleeding and keeps making mistakes. A blow that's too forceful pushes him a fraction too far.

It would be a crime not to answer such passion, so I bite off the arm to go along with his missing hand.

He screeches and stumbles back, shooting a stray bolt of poison my way, which I would have deflected back at him, but I do want to eat the rest of him, so I don't.

A Nyte Guard appears out of nowhere and gets hit by the blast. He turns rock solid before dropping to the ground and shattering into pieces.

More Nyte Guards arrive. Crash sets them all on fire, laughing with glee while Ries dances with the archdemon.

An archdemon letting him play.

This feels wrong.

Ries, he's setting you up. Crash, back to me. Both of you, now .

I rip through Goras's torso with my tail and bite through his neck at the same time.

He's clinging to life, but barely.

Algraas waves at me. "Nice touch, dragon. See you soon."

He grabs a Nyte Guard, who teleports them both away.

Kill the rest, would you? I ask Ries and Crash, who waste no time disposing of the guards in the cathedral.

I turn into my Better form and quickly devour Goras Vamyar, once monarch to Sacred Lakes.

He's spicy and deadly, and his magic flushes out my system with a wealth of power.

I flap my wings and stir the winds and stalks of grain in King's Field.

Chattered anger reaches me, and I sprinkle the monarch's golden light over the field, enhancing growth.

"Apologies, pixies."

They settle quickly enough.

Ries and Crash rejoin me, staring while I assume my regular form once more.

"You had to eat him, didn't you?" Crash scowls. "So now if I tell you to eat me and die, you'll make some stupid reference to this. Today."

I smile and pick at the tendon caught in my teeth. "Sounds about right. I?—"

I feel lightheaded as one of our connections is torn and see the others blinking away the pain.

"Oz," Ries and Crash say as one.

"We're losing him."

"No, we're not." I start running "Baphomet Tower. I'll meet you there."

To my surprise, Crash is faster than Ries and me, and he races ahead.

"You can't change forms," Ries rasps as we run as fast as we can. "Don't do it."

"I won't."

Unless there's no other choice.

Because I can't lose my hoard now.

I won't. Great Lady of Death, I so swear.

I'm shocked when she answers. So be it.