HOME | DD

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

    “I’m not…” Adam frowned as he looked around the chamber. The small tunnel had opened up into a larger area, and the remains of what had probably been a card table were still present, along with a few other items. The cut chamber opened up into a somewhat larger natural cavern, though not a particularly attractive one. “Seeing any signs of —” A small metal knife sitting in one corner of the cave tickled at his memory. “What’s that?” He nodded to it.

    Laura headed in its direction. “Not sure…” She frowned, then tilted her head to the side before her eyes went wide. “Uh, Erilon isn’t picking up on the demon-channel.”

    Michaels turned toward them, and his eyes met Adam’s. “Communication black-out.”

    “So, we can’t call for help.” Adam nodded. He swallowed. “But if they know to freeze out Erilon…”

    “Gradually…” Another voice floated lazily through the tunnel. “He catches on.” A man leaned against a rocky outcropping. “Would have thought Ryuu’s kid would be a bit faster on the uptake.”

    “Pachua.” Michaels narrowed his eyes. “Back for another ass-kicking?”

    “If I were here to kill you…” Pachua waved a hand. “I would have simply wired this place up to explode.” The dragon smiled. “Of course, a fight between a horseman and a dragon would have similar results, and that wouldn’t be in the best interest of your companions now, would it?” The dragon shot a look at Laura, and Adam moved in front of her protectively as Michaels gave the dragon a murderous look. “So, lets keep the glowing to a minimum.”

    “What do you want?” Michaels shook his head.

    “I already got what I came here for.” Pachua grinned, then held up a ring dangling from a silver chain. Michaels went utterly still, and behind him Laura gasped. Adam swallowed as he realized what the ring was. Diana’s engagement ring.

    “If you think…” Michaels’ voice was low and dangerous, with just a hint of something reverberating within.

    The orb. “Michaels, don’t.” Adam shouted. “It’s a trap.”

    “It is.” Pachua’s grin widened as he flicked his eyes at Adam. “And I do want to thank you for helping us get what we needed.” The dragon winked at him. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”

    “Adam?” Laura touched his hand.

    “Nimue’s athame.” Adam jerked his head at the knife, then looked around. He saw the other items spread out, forming a circle. One Michaels stood nearly in the center of, and Pachua remained carefully outside. “This whole thing was a set-up.”

#

     That thing had been near Diana. Near Diana and near their child. Michaels felt his hand itching for a blade, and he knew not all of the urge to cut the thing down where it stood was his alone. Why would Pachua come after him? I fear, my friend, it is not you he seeks. “Adam, get Laura out of here.”

    Pachua smiled. “The boy can go, if it suits him, but if the girl tries to leave…” The dragon showed his teeth. “I’ll kill him.”

    Adam made a snarling sound but stayed in human form. Pachua was right. A fight between dragons would create a lot of collateral damage, and Laura would be right in the center of it. “What do you want, Pachua?” Michaels glared at him.

    “I answered that already.” Pachua chuckled. “I’ve collected my fee. Now it simply remains…” Power suddenly seemed to swirl around the dragon, and items began glowing with harsh light, creating a circle around him. “While I do admire that you made a fool of Merlin…” Pachua shrugged. “It was not a wise idea.”

    Something seemed to tear around him, and he heard Laura screaming. The dragon’s eyes shifted. “Now…” Pachua tilted his head at Michaels before turning toward Laura and Adam. “You can either watch me slaughter them…” Flames flowed around the dragon’s body. “Or the other one can give me what I came for…” It started toward Laura.

    In the back of his mind an avalanche started to form.

#

     Tears streamed down her face. The creatures the dragon had left her with were like something out of a nightmare. Feathered serpents with glowing eyes and vicious teeth. Erilon? Erilon, please! Diana swallowed.

    Outside the van, something thudded. The creatures started to stir a heartbeat before something ripped the door off the van.

#

     Realization flooded into her as the dragon turned in their direction. Michaels was standing in a trap meant to catch a Horseman. Laura swallowed. And Pachua didn’t want Diana. He wanted the child. The child of a Horseman’s mortal host. “Adam…”

    “Run.” Adam’s voice was tight. “I’ll hold him as long as I can. Get help. Get…” He took a step forward.

    The items in the circle suddenly made horrific screeching noises, like metal tearing against metal as they suddenly glowed brighter. Laura closed her eyes as she threw her arms up to shield her face and felt Adam’s arms close around her as his shape altered to protect her. Something screamed, and she just hoped it was that dragon.

#

     Adam lifted his head. The cavern was nearly dark again, save for the light coming from a single orb laying a few feet from a prone Michaels. He saw no sign of Pachua, though there were scorch marks to indicate where the dragon had been. He felt dizzy, and he looked down to see Laura was groaning on the ground beneath him.

    Something was coming into the cave. Several somethings. They looked like serpents, though far larger than any natural serpent had a right to be, and some had feathered crests. He got to his feet and saw three of the creatures head toward him as the fourth headed for the orb near Michaels. He scrambled to get to it first, and the tail of one of the serpents slammed into him, throwing him back against the stone of the cavern and knocking the wind out of him.

    Laura was pushing herself up on her hands and knees, and one of the serpents made a laughing sound as it moved toward her. Adam glanced at the orb, then moved in to defend Laura.

    A heartbeat before the serpent grabbed the orb, there was a sharp cracking sound, and then what looked for all the world like a javelin pinned the serpent’s head to the stone floor. It started thrashing, and he looked up to see a tall blond man entering the cave.

    He shifted, coming down on the nearest serpent in the form of a hippopotamus and catching its upper section in massive jaws before biting down as hard as he could. The serpent made a screeching sound as he crushed its spine.

    “Laura, don’t look at their eyes.” The newcomer shouted before it’s hand suddenly opened up to reveal what looked to be a cannon.

    “Tobias.” Adam shifted back to human as he let the serpent corpse drop. “The hell are you…” He shifted as another serpent tried to grab him, then took a rhino’s form, rearing up before bringing the massive creature’s weight down on the snake. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but it definitely hurt the thing.

    Behind him, Laura moved, scrambling down to drag the unconscious Michaels out of the way of the fighting as two more serpents entered. “Get clear.” Tobias yelled at them. “Adam, get them out and I’ll detonate.”

    “Right.” He shifted into a hawk form to grab the orb before a serpent reached it, then headed for Laura and Michaels. As soon as he made contact with them, he concentrated and yanked them with him.

#

     Laura stumbled as her feet hit concrete, and nearly lost her grip on Michaels. Whatever he’d done to drive Pachua away had knocked him out good, as he was still completely limp. “Adam, what —”

    The ground beneath them suddenly rumbled, and Adam caught Michaels before she could drop him. “Oh, thank god.” A voice came from her left, and she turned to see Diana rushing toward her, followed by the same blond man that had entered the cavern. Only this one was a little worse for wear. Something had taken a chunk out of its right arm, and she could see metal and wiring, as well as the occasional spark.

    “Diana.” She held out her arms and they hugged each other tightly. “I thought…” She looked up at Tobias.

    “She went dark.” The android nodded. “That’s not supposed to happen, ever, so as soon as it did I headed into the last known.” He looked over his shoulder, then back at her. “Found her being guarded by some of what I think were amarun…” He shrugged. “Though it might have been a wekufe.”

    “They were here serving Pachua, so probably the later.” Adam looked down at the limp Michaels. “He did something to kick Pachua out of here, but it took a lot out of him and uh…” He looked down at the orb he was carrying. “Charged this or something. The basilisk things were after it.”

    “Then I suggest you not let them have it.” Tobias nodded, then tilted his head briefly before nodding again. “Take them all back to your base. I’ll bring in some drones and figure out if there is anything left here we need to deal with.”

    “You’ll be alright here by yourself?” Laura raised an eyebrow at him.

    “I’m only here remotely.” Tobias gave her a reassuring smile, then shrugged. “And Zeke is curious as to what would happen if we detonated a SADM inside a dragon, so…” He waved a hand. “Get Michaels to Daniel.”

#

     Diana breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the walls of Ted’s house manifested around them. She must have been pale, because Ash was coming to her side even as Magda was helping Adam set Michaels down on the couch. “What happened?” Magda looked back at her.

    “What happened?” Erilon’s voice came from the air around them almost simultaneously.

    “Pachua happened.” She let Ash set her in the chair and curled in on herself a bit protectively. “He wanted the baby, and Merlin wanted something from Michaels and…” She swallowed.

    “Michaels kicked Pachua out, but Pachua apparently still had minions in the area. Tobias had a couple bots nearby, and uh…” Adam glanced at her. “Apparently Zeke set up Diana’s phone to alert them if it ever went dark because he came in guns blazing.” Adam made a growling sound. “It was a setup from the beginning.” He put the orb on the table. “Erilon, what’s this?”

    “Oh, that…” Erilon’s voice trailed off. “That is a glowing so bright I really can’t get a good look at it. It’s kind of making it hard to see anything there, really. Laura, I might need to borrow your head as soon as you’ve calmed down a bit.”

    “Okay.” Laura took a few deep breaths, then went to the couch when Michaels started to stir. “Dad, dad, are you okay?”

    He blinked at her, then blinked again as he shifted a little. He stared down at his hands, then moved them in front of his face as he stared as he gave them a wide-eyed look. “We should probably get Daniel.” Adam glanced at Ash, who was already dialing a phone. “I think he got his bell rung pretty good.”

    “Dad?”

    “These are amazing.” Michaels was still staring at his hands. He was starting to smile.

    Adam turned as the door opened, and saw Ted and Gabriel coming in. “Glad you —”

    Gabriel’s eyes abruptly shifted to golden light. “What the fuck?”