Dragon Magic: Book 3: Prophecy of the Dragons (22 page)

It looked the same as last time, or, rather, had that same non-look, with fog surrounding her on every side. It was sort of funny how she'd forgotten all about this place not long after they left, but now that first trip was as bright in her mind as if it had never vanished. Ben was near, and her entire concentration went to getting to him. It took seconds, days, years, but they were again in each others' arms. Their lips met, drawn as if by magnets. The fog still swirled around them, but neither noticed. Yes, this was how she wanted to spend her eternity, and she knew he'd be perfectly content this way, too. They couldn't end up burning out into nothing.

Though the kiss might have lasted forever, it ended far too soon. They needed to talk this out. Neither wanted to, but their future, which quite literally hung in the balance, necessitated it.

"What do you want to do?" Ben asked.

She shrugged. "Are we positive they're telling the truth? What if they're trying to get us to give up?"

"They are trying to get us to give up, but that doesn't mean it's not true. We know from experience there are ways for souls to cease to exist."

"Yeah, but what if that isn't the case here?"

"I don't know. I wish I could ask Felix. I doubt he would know the answer, but he does make a great sounding board."

"So if it's not true, they'll keep killing us forever. That's going to get old quick. I imagine they'll take shifts, maybe hire out the fun to others."

He winked at her. "I wonder what the going rate for a never-ending whack-job is?"

"You're a whack-job," she said, then giggled and threw herself back into his arms. At least they could joke about it. What choice did they have? Either way, she couldn't see a way out of this. They'd pass through the heavenly doors, or whatever it was, before they signed their life away to those two rat-finks.

"There's something else," he said. "Right before Timothy slit my throat."

"What?"

"Fillmore. He nodded at me when Timothy said he and Sasha were good masters, but it wasn't a nod of agreement, more a nod like he was ready to start the plan."

"The plan? What plan? Why wasn't I made aware of any plan?"

He kissed her, shutting her up. As always, it annoyed her that he could do that, but, also as always, she was happy with the kiss. "There was no plan. That's what I'm saying. He's all set to do something, but I have no idea what."

"So not only are we stuck in an endless death loop, but Fillmore is going to get him and Mila killed because of us? This keeps getting better and better."

"Yup," Ben said. She didn't like the hopelessness in his voice, but she guessed hers held the same. "So what do we do?"

She shrugged. "I refuse to become their mindless slave again, and I won't have our souls destroyed. If I can't be with you in that world out there, then I want to go through the shimmery door and be with you forever. That's the prettier one anyway."

"You dragons and your bling," he said, and nudged her with his elbow. "So we give up?"

She stared into his eyes. Again, what choice did they have? His emotions agreed. "Yeah," she said. "Let's forget about all the hassle and leave."

"Why die over and over again to get to the same conclusion?"

"So you two quit that easily?" a voice sounded.
Daddy
! "I know your mother and I didn't raise a quitter, Alexandria."

They were there, right in front of them. Mom and Dad. And Heidi and Trent. She flew into her parents' arms, while Ben went into his. They felt real, as real as life, and she lost herself to tears. Ben wanted to talk, wanted to say something to his parents, but he was wracked with sobs of his own. To be honest, his heart-wrenching sobs fuelled hers as much as being in Mom and Dad's arms again.

It took a few minutes, but Ben finally managed to say, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

All four parents laughed, causing Ben to frown and share a quizzical look with her. "Ben," his dad said. "There was nothing you could have done."

Mom let go of her and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Ben, sweetie, you've had to make horribly difficult decisions, decisions no one should be forced to make at your age or any other age. I know our deaths, both mine and Lee's, to say nothing of your parents', hurt, but you made the perfect choice both times. If you hadn't resurrected the Demon of Dreams, the multiverse may already have imploded with madness. And there was nothing you could have done to save your parents. If you hadn't sacrificed them, the Dragon Council would be in ashes, and Timothy and Sasha would firmly control all that is dragon."

"So in case you haven't gotten the message," Heidi said, "even though it hurts, you two have done great." She kissed Ben on the forehead, and then gathered Andi into her arms for a hug.

After a few seconds – or a few hours or years – Dad grabbed her left hand. "Let's have a look at that finger."

"It's ugly," she said, "but I'm more upset about my ring than the finger."

"Rings can be replaced. Besides, when this is all said and done, I'm sure Benjamin can figure out how to grow you a new one." He tossed her a wink. "If not, scars and missing digits show character."

She giggled. Such a perfect Daddy thing to say. Both moms fretted over it for a second, and then Ben brought up the real problem.

"We're all overlooking the most obvious thing here. Yes, we can resurrect, maybe we can grow her a new finger, and we can certainly buy new rings, but we can't get to that point anyway. Timothy and Sasha can kill us again before we can defend ourselves. And if they don't, their protection spell makes it near impossible to even hurt them. A power boost can do it, but they'll never give us the time to hold the concentration."

"What about Fillmore?" Trent said. "You said he gave you some sort of look."

"Boy, we sure had him pegged wrong," Mom said. "Everyone did."

"Makes me feel bad about the time I slugged him," Dad said. "It should have been Timothy and Sasha getting the knuckle sandwich."

"I don't even know what he meant by that nod," Ben said. "Whatever he has planned, he's going to get he and Mila killed."

Andi couldn't help but agree with that statement.

"You two sure have become Negative Nellies in the last few minutes," Heidi said.

Trent put a hand on both their shoulders. "Listen, I can't begin to pretend I know even half of what you two have done, but from what I understand, when you use your heads for something other than self-pity, you tend to do some pretty amazing stuff."

"And speaking of those magic rings," Dad said, "how did they get them from you in the first place?" His tone of voice made it clear that he expected them to think on that, not answer.

"Now you two have some business to attend to," Mom said. "And we don't expect to see you back anytime soon."

"But no pressure," Andi said, rolling her eyes.

Mom winked.

"No matter what happens, we'll be watching," Heidi said. "And we're always proud of you both, no matter what."

More hugs were exchanged, and she heard Dad say to Ben, "If you two put your heads together with Felix, I wouldn't be surprised if you can come up with some sort of afterlife communication device."

Ben nodded, and she could tell he was already mulling ideas over in his head. Then they were gone, swallowed up by the fog, this realm of death. She and Ben looked at each other, eyes again wet with tears, and hugged. Ben, of course, said the perfect thing to break the tension.

"I hope they at least go for coffee or whatever when we have bedroom time." She giggled and smacked his shoulder.

"So," she said, "can we get the rings back from them since they're protected?"

"I don't see any reason I can't magic the ring off Sasha's finger. It's not like that's a direct attack. I hope."

"Biting Timothy's finger off might be a problem, though."

"If it is, I'll kill Sasha quick." The steel in his voice relaxed her. Yes, he would. As long as they survived the resurrection paralysis, this could work. And if it didn't, they'd be back in a few minutes to discuss Plan B. If there was one.

Ben kissed her forehead. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

He spoke the words of the spell, and the fog dissipated. The two doors, like she remembered them, popped up in front of them. She still wanted to go through the shiny one, to discover the wonders behind it, but not yet. They stepped towards the barred door which would return them to their bodies.

Ben had clenched his eyes shut when Timothy slashed his throat, so he couldn't see anything when he returned to his body. Like last time, movement was out of the question, at least for the moment. He sensed Andi back in her body, but, of course, couldn't talk to her. A headache-induced chat wouldn't work, either, not until they were over the resurrection sickness. At least his body had taken care of the gigantic slash across his throat. Was it the resurrection that did that, or his own healing powers? Something to worry about another time.

"If you two grovel at our feet and beg for mercy, we may let you back into our services," Timothy said, no doubt to a cowering Fillmore and Mila. Good, if they returned to that, whatever plan Fillmore had wouldn't get him and Mila killed.

Before either could answer, Sasha said, "The children have returned, my king."

"Excellent. More servants for us. But, first, the two whelps need to know we mean business."

Ben still couldn't move, meaning he couldn't open his eyes, but he both heard and felt Timothy standing over him. The evil dragon grabbed the hair on the back of Ben's head and pulled, exposing his unprotected throat. He imagined the wickedly sharp claws on Timothy's hand aiming to slit him open again. He tried a shielding spell, a bolt of dark energy, and even a gravity ball to draw the dangerous claws away, but nothing worked. His magic, like the rest of him, was paralyzed. Maybe that was something he and Andi could figure out before they tried again. He braced for death to take him.

It didn't come. Instead, Timothy flew off him with an "Oof!" Ben's lifeless body twisted towards the action, but his eyes didn't open. Though no words were spoken, he guessed Fillmore had jumped Timothy, saving him and Andi. At least temporarily. After all, there was no way he and Mila could take down Timothy and Sasha, was there? The only hope was that they could keep the evildoers busy until the resurrection paralysis wore off and Ben and Andi could step in.

After a few seconds, Ben's head exploded in the painful shared speech with Andi. "Oh good, this works again."

"Yeah, it's great."

"It is. We should be able to move in a few seconds."

"Not that I don't love talking to you, but couldn't you have let us figure that out on our own?"

He heard the eye roll in her voice. "I thought you should know Fillmore and Mila are kicking butt. Be ready to snag the rings so we can mop up. This might be easier than we thought."

"You had to say that, didn't you?" he said, but she'd already left his head. He planned out the spell to snatch the ring from Sasha's finger when a different magical energy buzzed through the air. Everything went quiet, and Ben figured the worst. If it had only been a few seconds later. He could already feel his muscles vibrating with life.

"You should have bowed to our wishes," Sasha said. "At least you'd still be alive."

That's when the resurrection paralysis snapped off, and Ben and Andi leapt to their feet. Andi went back to her half-dragon form, which prompted Timothy back into his. Sasha twirled her daggers and said, "What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"This," Ben said. He shot his hand out towards her. His magic grabbed the ring and yanked. She reached first with her hand to snag it back, and then with her own magic, but he had too strong a grip on it. Sasha snarled as it settled into his palm, and he curled his fingers over it, ready to defend it from her.

As Ben's attack happened, Andi lunged at Timothy, but didn't meet the same success. Be it the protection spell, his good reflexes, dumb luck, or a mix of all three, she couldn't return the favor in nipping off his finger, and therefore the ring. Though Ben couldn't watch her attempt, their bond let him approximate everything. She feinted high before launching her head at the clawed finger which wore the ring, invisible on his leathery skin, but still there. Maybe Sasha warned him, or maybe he did it on his own, but he dodged Andi's attack and smashed her full-force with his powerful reptilian body, sending her tumbling across the room. It battered, bruised, and dazed her, but she'd be fine in a few seconds.

Timothy grew, transforming into his full dragon form despite the cramped space in the room. He built up his acid breath to melt Andi, while Sasha began a spell which would no doubt burn Ben where he stood.

Ben didn't think. He cast a dark hand, which he launched into Sasha's chest and gripped her heart. A quick squeeze, and it was over. Timothy collapsed down, acid burning through his lower jaw in a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of their duel with Athena and Ares.

Andi shifted back to her human shape. "That was easy."

"Yeah, if you leave out the fact that we almost died. Again. And this time there wouldn't have been any safety net on this side to keep them from killing us before we fought off the paralysis."

With the mention of a safety net, both looked to Fillmore and Mila's fallen bodies. A burnt hole in the middle of Mila's chest proved how they'd been killed. Both looked majestic, heroic, as their corpses lay crumpled against the wall.

"Can you bring them back?" Andi asked, trepidation lining her voice as she remembered his inability to revive her parents from their deaths.

"Yes, young one, can you?"

He and Andi whirled around to see who this voice, so gruff, so gravelly, belonged to. Both gasped, which caused the figure in black to laugh. "You know me. I know not how, but this is good."

It was the mercenary who killed Fillmore and Mila's parents, but at the same time, it wasn't him. No, as dangerous as he was in that distant point in time, he was much worse now. He was a lich, the deadliest of the undead. A being with all the power from life with so much more given to him through death. Ben's Dragon Guard powers supplied him with plenty of information about liches in general, as he remembered it had from past adventures against the undead. How had he not felt this presence from a mile away?

"Instead of those two insignificant creatures you're standing over, why not resurrect my servants? They are mine for an eternity, and not nearly enough of that time has passed."

"Why not raise them yourself?" Ben asked, hoping his voice didn't waiver too much. Yes, handling the undead was his specialty, but this one had power to spare. He'd rather take on Derian and the pirate captain simultaneously than consider fighting this ancient lich.

"I could, but we both know I can only raise them to be dead. Undead, I believe the popular term is. They would still prove useful, but I have to admit, I enjoy the challenge of keeping their living souls under my thumb. As I'm sure you can guess, these two are quite headstrong."

"But how could you control them?" Andi asked. "They were members of the Dragon Council. And though they were jerks, they were probably the most powerful members on it."

"Indeed they were. I admit I'll miss being an unknown member by proxy. I enjoyed knowing the goings-on of the dragon world. I knew those two would slip up at some point, but I'd hoped it wouldn't be to this extent." He glanced over at their fallen bodies, Timothy's taking up more than half the room in his dragon form. "Of course, I'd still much appreciate it if you'd raise them for me."

"How did you get control of them?" Ben asked. Like when they fought Timothy and Sasha earlier, he wanted to keep the lich talking for as long as possible. But where Timothy had been a megalomaniac, all too happy to spill their plan because he was so confident he and Sasha would win, the lich would talk simply because what was time to him? Plus, he wanted something from Ben, so he'd be focused on that, too.

"Yeah," Andi said. "When we saw you in Fillmore's memory, it looked like the three of you were equals, maybe friends."

The lich tilted his head as if contemplating this. "Friends, colleagues, equals. Maybe all three. When an expedition went catastrophically wrong, Sasha attempted to raise me from the dead to behave as her and Timothy's faithful servant. Her eyes proved bigger than her stomach, so to speak. Had she made me a mindless zombie, ready to do her bidding, it would have worked, but she wanted the power of a lich, and she couldn't handle it. Unlike you, my young necromancer, she wasn't properly versed in the dark arts. She'd read plenty of books and thought her magical ability would cross over. While she could raise me with so much power, she couldn't maintain control. Her lack of training, lack of power in the dark arts, made her and Timothy easy pickings. And do you want to know the best part, young ones? Even at the end, they honestly believed they'd bested me and pulled all the strings. I'd give them the tasks I wanted them to complete, and then erase their memories so they believed they came up with the ideas. It's like what they did to you, young dragon, but on a much grander scale."

"I thought I heard them slip up a few times and almost say 'Master' when they talked about plans, but I was never sure," Andi said.

The lich smiled, which proved to be a disturbing sight. "They had no idea they did so. You might have heard the slip, but they did not."

"So what's your plan if I don't bring them back?" Ben asked. "Make us your obedient little servants while we think we're the ones in charge?"

"Isn't it better than if Sasha and Timothy had imprisoned you? If they'd won, I'd have let them keep you, and they never would have let you forget who was in charge, even if they didn't know the truth themselves. But here's the fun part. You are a true necromancer, and a powerful one on top of all your other talents. You may come out victorious. I wouldn't bet on it, but your chances are much better than those of Sasha and Timothy."

"Figures you want to fight here where I can't go full dragon," Andi said.

"My dear, we won't be physically fighting. Why would I want to risk damaging my powerful new playthings? No, we'll be in the magnificent arena of our minds."

He and Andi should jump him right now, take his scourge out of the multiverse, but that instinct felt wrong. This guy might not wipe the floor with them, but he'd win. He'd been around too long, collected too much power, had too many tricks up his sleeve, and, as Felix liked to say, Ben was no master yet. Powerful, yes, but not a master. Not to mention, as proven by watching other dragons and guards, he and Andi had a lot to learn about fighting as a team. But if the battlefield was in their minds? Well, maybe the lich would still cream them, or, for reasons Ben wasn't sure, maybe he and Andi would wipe the floor with his undead ass.

"So, children, are you prepared to challenge me?"

Ben grit his teeth and looked the lich dead in his dead eyes. "Bring it."

"What are you doing?" Andi hissed, and then gasped when she saw him. He glowed gray, as she called it. He couldn't see it on himself, but he knew it was there. His vision was a bit blurred, even if he could see everything clearly, and he imagined it poured from his eyes.

Uncertainty flickered across the lich's face, but it then hardened to anger. "We fight alone. The dragon waits."

Ben heard Andi's muffled voice shout, "No!" as he faded into the battleground, their very souls at stake.