The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (99 page)

Luccius and Emary dragged the exhausted Matthias through the
streets as Sikaris bore down on them again and again. There was
nowhere to run from the flames, but they tried anyway, altering
their route around the remaining houses as the fire melted the
bricks at a touch. Every now and again Matthias threw up his hand
and shot a cloud of ice at Sikaris as he chased them, but the
wizard could barely stand, much less fight, and the shots only
served to delay the dragon’s descent and make him even more angry.
They ran down another alleyway and stopped abruptly.

“
It’s a dead end.” Luccius exclaimed. They turned to back out
of the narrow passageway just as Sikaris thudded to the ground at
the opening. He roared at them again, the sound deep and booming
like a drum yet simultaneously piercing like a rusty metal handle
being twisted on a bucket.

Emary shrugged off Matthias, who fell to his knees and
reached for her sword, marching towards the gaping, analysing head
of the dragon, which stared at the small figure approaching
him.

“
What are you
doing?
” Luccius asked with astonishment, kneeling by
Matthias’s side.

“
What does it
look
like? I’m going to carve this thing another
nostril!
” Emary growled, and readied her sword.

“
Emary
don’t!
” Luccius cried to her just as a bright flash in
the grey, crimson - tinged sky pulled the dragon’s attention away
from her. Right above them a thick, jagged bolt of lightning
seethed through the sky and earthed itself in the creature’s back.
The Dragon reeled, thrashing its giant head about and smashing the
bricks of the surrounding buildings as it shook itself off. Another
bolt crackled into his head, sending sparks hissing off his
armoured scales. Sikaris roared angrily and jumped back into the
skies.

“
I
thought you had run out of power wizard?” Emary said, returning to
the others.

Matthias looked at the open street where the dragon had been
with confusion. “It wasn’t me!”

Lightning crackled around Sikaris. Wherever he dodged one
bolt, another spike would arc out of the broiling sky. Faster and
faster they hit him, until at the same time dozens of forks
pummelled his body mercilessly and he tensed with the shock of
every strike. The sky flickered every second with a new
bolt.

“
What is going on
now?
” Luccius asked.

Matthias smiled. “It must be
Josephine!
” he said and pulled himself to
his feet, pacing towards the street they had come from. The others
followed in his wake.

“
Could it not be those mage creatures?” Emary asked
him.

“
They couldn’t do
this
,” Matthias shook his head. “
No - one
can do anything like this
anymore.
Except
Josephine!” He stumbled and fell back against a wall. “We
have to find her and help.”

“
You can barely
stand
wizard!” Emary
exclaimed.

“
Then
help
me!” he asserted. A screech made him look up
again. Sikaris plummeted to earth, the onslaught of lightning
following him down. With his wings outstretched, he stumbled with a
great crash atop a building and it crumpled beneath his weight. He
flailed his legs and tottered, drunkenly, flexing his wings in an
attempt to fly again, but every time he tried another bolt
thundered into his charred body. He raised his giant head to scream
again, but forks shattered against his bony mane and he was forced
to cower. Smoke plumed from the craterous legions on his scales and
with a groan, he collapsed, and his wings fell about him like a
dismantling tent.

Together, Matthias and the others followed the line of
crackling energy to its end point. The frequency of the bolts had
lessened as they arrived at the wreckage of the building where
Sikaris lay, smoking and debilitated, exhausted from the onslaught
of the attack upon him, chest heaving quickly. Standing several
paces in front of them, a short way from the creature, the figure
of a woman stood with their back to them. It was
Josephine.

“
Josephine?” Matthias whispered, but she didn’t
appear to hear him. He shrugged off Luccius and Emary and rushed
unsteadily towards her, until he could see her face. Her eyes were
transfixed on the dragon, and her irises had crystallised to an icy
white. “
Princess
,” he tried again, looking at her with concern. Her face
was mottled with blue, lightning - shaped veins that stretched
horizontally from beneath her ears to her cheeks. “Princess
it’s
me
,
Matthias!” He tried to touch her, and then recoiled as a spark
singed his fingers.

“
What’s
wrong
with her?” Emary asked.

“
I… I don’t know,” Matthias swallowed.
“
Josephine
,” he tried again, standing in front of her. She looked
right through him. Behind him another bolt struck Sikaris and he
groaned. “We’ve
found
each other again. Don’t you
recognise
me?”

“
I am
ascending
,” she said. Her voice echoed with a metallic
tinge, distant and alien. “
I can see everything. The world and its building
blocks. They are tiny structures beyond any comprehension. And I am
the only one who can control them all.
” She looked beyond Matthias at
Sikaris. “
I
can make this creature disappear, as he has done so many others.
I
should
make him disappear.
”

Matthias turned to look at the dragon. It stared at them with
angry eyes.

“
And
if you do,” he said, turning back to her. “What then?”

“
I do not know,”
she said breathily.

“
Where does it
stop?
” he continued.

“
I see beyond life and death now. There is
so
much
more.
”

“
Matthias!
” Luccius exclaimed, as behind the princess, two
feathered wings began to materialise, the white dazzling against
the darkness surrounding them. They shimmered constantly as if they
were not really there, but they moved with the princess as she
swayed on the spot.

“
We are all tiny,
” she continued. “
It is insignificant.
Life
is insignificant.
This being has
proven
that with its actions. The existences of many people
destroyed in the
blink
of an eye.
”

“
Only the gods should decide who lives and who dies
and maybe not even
then
,” Matthias said softly. “Josephine, this
isn’t
you
.” Sikaris grumbled from deep within his belly behind
them.

“
She should
destroy
the beast,” Emary called at them. “You have
brought him to heel but for how long? What
else
can be done?”

“
The light...
” Josephine said. “
I can show him the
light.
”

“
What does that mean?”
Matthias asked.

“
The poison can be drained. But does he deserve a
second chance?
”

“
Doesn't
everybody
deserve that?” Matthias asked. “Josephine, are you
saying you can
cure
him of the taint on his mind?” She nodded distantly. “Then
princess, you
have
to do it!” She continued to stare at nothing. Matthias
reached his hand towards her again gingerly. He concentrated until
he could feel a thin trickle of power within him again, and wove it
into the ground. Then he placed a hand on her cheek. He felt a
tingle, but he wasn't shocked again. “Josephine, I don't know
what's happening, but you
have
to come back.” He swallowed. “Come back to
me.
Please
.”

She
reached up slowly and placed her own hand on top of his, and traced
its features curiously. Then she blinked, and as if a fog had
lifted, her eyes and face changed, and the shimmering wings
disappeared.

“
Matthias?”
She whispered.

“
Welcome back,”
he smiled.

She threw her arms around him and hugged him
tightly. “I
knew
you weren't dead!” She said. He placed a hand on her hair
and cradled her head on his shoulder.

“
You can't get rid of me
that
easily,” he whispered back at her.
“Where's Thadius?”

She released her grip on him and stared up sadly
at him. His face fell. “
Oh no.
” Their reunion was cut short as the dragon
snorted loudly behind them. “Josephine, you said you could cure
him. Do you remember?”

She nodded. “
I've been practising. I think I know what to
do.”

“
Then we should
end
this,” he responded. “We can catch up later
about... what happened.”

She nodded. “
You should stand back. I don't know what will
happen next. I truly don’t.”

“
But”-
he began.

“
Don't start
arguing
as soon as you
find
me,” she smiled thinly. “Now
trust
me and let me do
this.”

He
took a breath and nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Good
luck.” He returned to the others and watched anxiously.

Josephine nodded. “
Right then. Here goes
nothing
.” She stepped forward slowly towards
the Dragon.

Sikaris shifted as Josephine approached him. He moved slowly
backwards like a crocodile, on his belly, but then, shaking, his
legs and arms gave up again. She drew within a few paces of him. He
growled and then snorted, and fire shot from his nostrils. The
flames surrounded Josephine. Matthias stepped forward, but then
stopped as she emerged from them as they dissipated, a clear field
flickering around her body. Josephine reached out with the power
and wrapped the dragon in several tight bonds. Sensing them,
Sikaris strained against them, but remained where he was. Finally
she reached within arms length, and stopped and stared at him. This
close it was apparent just how incredible the creature was. His
scaly skin looked old and dry, his horned collar and beak strewn
with tiny cracks and blemishes. Beneath his large, marble - like
eye, a pock - mark from the lightning storm still smoked. She
stared into the snake - like iris.

“
So
much anger,” she breathed. “You
hate
me so much,
don’t
you?” The creature grumbled. “I will take
that as a yes. It is
alright
. I could
see
it, a moment ago. But I saw that it was
not
you. Underneath you
try to resist it, but you aren’t
strong
enough.” She reached up. “It’s time I gave
you
back
that strength.” She pressed her palm onto his collar and
Sikaris reared at her touch, pulling against the bonds. She
tightened them further, until he couldn’t move his head more than
an inch, and then replaced her hand on his skin. She repeated what
she had practised for weeks, probing into his head. It was like
pulling nails from a block of wood, but as she continued, she began
to feel the veil across the creature’s mind shift. Around the
outline of her hand a golden light pulsed, spreading through the
cracks and scales in the dragon’s skin until, in moments, his
entire body was submerged in an aura. She continued to pick at his
mind until she reached a section she could not pry away easily. She
increased the power and pulled harder.

Suddenly with a flash her head pounded as if she had been
struck and her shoulder stung with a sharp, piercing pain. Her mind
blurred and then she was standing in a room she didn’t recognise.
It was an old, Aralian - style house. The windows were dirty and
the furniture was covered in dust and cobwebs.

“
Where am I
now?
” she whispered to herself and ran a finger across
the dust of a sideboard. “I am fed up of being transported here
there and everywhere, whenever my mind decides to flit off on
a
whim!
” She looked around further at the dank, dark room.
“Wherever this is, it hasn’t been lived in for a very,
very
long
time.”