Anyway, here's hoping I can keep my work ethic up and churn it out sooner, rather than later. For now, please enjoy the chapter.
Chapter
12: Dragons
As soon as the
world stopped spinning, Mina took stock of her surroundings. The darkness around her was moist and
tepid. Several foul smells assailed her
nose and she could feel something slimy underneath her. Mina tried to get to her feet, but the moment
she planted her foot down on the floor, it began to swell and she dropped to
her knees almost immediately.
"Goddess..."
Mina held her nose and felt around her.
"Celi? Daryl? Deminos?
Can anyone hear me?" Her voice echoed around her, as if she were in
a large cave.
“Mina?!” a
sphere of light appeared a little ways in front of her and Daryl stumbled into
view. With her surroundings illuminated,
Mina glanced around her. The floor was
brown, lumpy, and seemed to be layered in places, while the ceiling and walls
were beige and leathery. Everything was
covered in moisture and every few seconds the ceiling, walls, and floor pulsed as
if they were alive.
“There you
are!” Daryl cried, rushing over and hugging Mina the moment she saw her. “What happened to us?" Sitting back on
her haunches, Daryl scratched her head with her free hand. "I remember that Dragon attacking us and
then something came out of the ground and-”
“I think we’re
in its mouth,” Mina murmured, taking a deep breath and trying to calm her
pounding heart.
“A mo-mouth?”
Daryl repeated, the sphere of light in her hand wavering as she began to
tremble. "W-We've been...you mean a
Goetian has eaten us?!
“Don’t be
scared!” Mina grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. “Deminos summoned this creature so we should
be safe.”
“W-where is
Deminos anyway? And Celine too?!” Daryl
exclaimed. Suddenly, the floor beneath
them began to ripple violently and rose up, knocking the girls off their feet
and carrying them forward. “Ugh!” Daryl
gagged, wiping spittle off her clothes and hair. “This place is disgusting!” When the floor stopped, they were deposited
underneath a large uvula.
“Hey! Is anyone there?!” a voice called from the
darkness in front of them.
“Celi?!” Mina
yelled.
“Mina?! Is Daryl with you?” Celine’s voice called
out. “Deminos is hurt and we need
someone who can heal him!”
“Sh-shut up!”
Deminos’s voice weakly cried out. “I’m
fine! Just leave me alone!”
“Daryl,” Mina
whispered, pulling on her friend’s arm.
“Let's hurry,”
Daryl nodded, holding out the sphere of light in front of them while they
trekked forward.
Advancing
slowly over the undulating floor, the two girls managed to make out a wall of ivory
white teeth, taller than either of them.
Propped up against the wall of teeth was Deminos, holding his right arm
and struggling as Celine crouched over him, trying to pull his left hand away.
“Get off me!”
Deminos panted, squirming under the tan skinned girl. “I said I was fine!”
“Stop trying
to be so macho! We’re in over our heads
as is, so just swallow your pride and let us see it!” Celine barked at him.
“She’s
right! You were badly burned! If you don’t get treatment soon, you could
lose the use of that arm!” Daryl called, hurrying over to Deminos and Celine
with Mina in tow. "Just let me take
a look," she added, kneeling down next to the brown haired teen.
“I said-”
“Let me see
it!” Daryl grabbed Deminos’s arm only to pull back in horror. “Wh-what in Shanadia’s name is that?!”
Lowering his
eyes, Deminos pulled his left hand away and sighed. “So...now you know…”
“Know what?”
Mina mumbled, craning her neck to see Deminos’s arm.
Holding her
hand over her mouth, Mina suppressed a gasp.
The bandages around Deminos's right arm had been completely burnt off,
but rather than being charred and swollen, the entire arm from the shoulder
down was covered in thorny black crags with dark, leathery skin
underneath. His hands ended in sharp
talons instead of fingers and adorning the surface of his flesh were several glimmering
white seals resembling halos, pentagrams, and six sided stars.
“Oh my…your
arm…” Mina stammered, holding her hand over her mouth. "Are...are you-?"
"I'm
fine," Deminos murmured, avoiding her gaze. "This is...normal for me."
Climbing off
of him, Celine took a seat next to Deminos and eyed his arm. “What haven’t you told us?"
“This…”
Deminos grimaced as he flexed his arm for the girls, “Is my shame. An eternal reminder of my failure. Gah!” he grunted, quickly wrapping his left
hand around his right wrist. “Dammit!
Even with this thick skin it still burns!”
“L-let me take
a look at it,” Daryl swallowed hard and took a seat next to Deminos. Placing his arm in her lap, she raised her
hand and white light began flowing out of Daryl’s finger tips. “O-okay.
Just focus the Leyline energy into my fingertips and pour it into the
wound,” Daryl whispered to herself.
“Just like I practiced…”
As white light
flooded out of Daryl’s hand, the skin on Deminos’s arm seemed to rise and fall
in waves. When Daryl touched it, the arm
let out a low squeal and ceased moving.
“Th-thank you…” Deminos mumbled, a look of relief flooding his
face. “This arm’s stronger than a
human's but I can still feel pain.”
“How…what did
you mean when you called it a mark of failure?” Mina whispered, taking a seat
next to Celine while Daryl tended to Deminos’s arm.
"I really
don't want to-" Deminos stopped and grimaced as Daryl ran her glowing
white hand up his elbow. Blinking in the
dim light, he noticed that Mina's expression was one of concern, while Celine
's tight jaw indicated that they wouldn't leave the issue be. Glancing back at Daryl, Deminos saw that she
was engrossed in her efforts to heal him and only paying marginal attention.
With a large
sigh, Deminos lowered his eyes.
"Alright...I'll tell you."
"That's
what got you thrown out of that academy of yours, right?" Celine mumbled.
Deminos jerked
his head up, nonplussed, and stammered, "How...is...is it that
obvious?!"
"Well,
you do clutch it alot, so when Yuka said-"
"Right..."
Deminos closed his eyes as Daryl began massaging his shoulder with her
hands. "But that's not even half
the story. You see...this is a mark of
Goetian possession."
Instantly, the
massaging stopped and Deminos glanced over at Daryl. He didn't seem surprised at all when he saw
her eyes widen and her body begin to tremble uncontrollably. "You...you've got a Goetian living in
your arm?!"
“Coulda been
worse,” Deminos flexed his black talons and grimaced. “He coulda taken my whole body. I was...I AM stupid,” he mumbled. “Life at the academy was a nightmare. In between lessons where I frequently made a
royal ass of myself, I was taking flak from my peers for all sorts of
things. For being abandoned by my
family, for my ineptitude at runes...but mostly because I was weak and looked
like a girl. I didn't have any friends
at the academy. It was like living and
working with a bunch of complete strangers."
“I’m sorry,”
Mina whispered, touching his left arm.
Wiping at his
eyes, Deminos shook his head, "After a while...I couldn't take it any
more. So, I tried to wow everyone. See, at the academy, the ability to summon
powerful Goetians meant respect, prestige and maybe even friends. I attempted to form a contract with a Goetian
noble named Asmodeus, but..." Deminos's voice trailed off and he glanced
down at his arm.
Following his
eyes, Mina saw Deminos's arm pulsing underneath Daryl's fingers. Lowering her own eyes, she murmured, “But
something went wrong, didn’t it?”
“That’s an
understatement,” Deminos mumbled. “I
stole the necessary ingredients from the academy’s storerooms, prepared a
tribute, wrote up the runes...I did everything perfectly, but-agh!" he
grimaced and glanced over at Daryl.
“Did I hurt you?” Daryl stammered, pulling her
hands away momentarily. “I’m sorry.”
“No…no, it’s
not you…” Deminos grunted, “It’s this damn arm…it’s got a mind of its own! See…” he took a deep breath and managed to
get his arm under control, “I wasn't powerful enough to bargain with Asmodeus
as an equal. He took my tribute, then
tried to corrupt me. I wasn't enough for
him, though. After he took hold of my
body, Asmodeus tried to corrupt everyone
around me. I don't know why. Maybe he wanted to take us to Goetia as
slaves or just have his fun with an arrogant conjure-agh!" Deminos gritted
his teeth and suppressed a sob of pain.
"B-but I got lucky. A-Aeon
was visiting the academy when it happened.
Together with Headmaster Dezolis, he managed to subdue me and seal
Asmodeus into my arm," Deminos exhaled sharply and wiped sweat from his
brow before running his left hand over the glimmering emblems on his skin. “That’s what these marks are. Aeon and Master Dezolis couldn't break the
contract I'd made...so they settled for sealing Asmodeus in my arm.”
The girls all
looked at Deminos with a mix of shock and pity while the conjurer averted his
eyes from theirs. After a moment of
silence, Celine asked, "So…that’s why you were expelled? For breaking the rules and attempting
something so dangerous?”
“No..."
Deminos growled, a tear leaking out of his eye.
“I was expelled for the dozen or so students Asmodeus tainted while possessing
my body. His presence shattered their
minds and drove them mad. I was only
spared because he needed me as an anchor.
Heh..." a derisive snigger escaped Deminos's lips. "It's no wonder they kicked me out. I was probably lucky they didn’t kill me!”
"Even
so..." Daryl stammered, momentarily lowering her hands and her eyes,
"You still came here looking for Dragon scales so you could try
again."
"Are
you really that thick?!" Deminos spat, making Daryl recoil in surprise,
"Do you really think I haven't learned my lesson after THIS?!" He
held up his scarred right arm. "I'm
not going to try anything that stupid again!"
"Then
why?" Mina touched Deminos's shoulder, "If you were willing to risk losing
Aeon's trust, why would you-"
"I...I
happened across a ritual in a book I'd bought at the Umbran Bazaar for breaking
contracts with Goetians and Metronians.
The scales were part of that ritual," Deminos stammered, slumping
back against the wall of teeth. "I
just...I just want to be free. For
that...I'd do almost anything."
Silence
overtook Mina and the others, broken only by the occasional undulation of the
mouth they were sitting in. After a few
minutes, Daryl reached out and continued healing Deminos's arm, but avoided
meeting his gaze. Deminos closed his
eyes and would have appeared to be sleeping save for the pained expression on
his face.
"I
wouldn't sacrifice you three for it, though," Deminos mumbled, rubbing his
eyes. "Maybe...maybe you don't
trust me after seeing me like this, but I promise I'll get you home. Even if we have to walk."
"Umm...we
could still go find Aeon..."
Daryl tried to smile, but her trembling gave away her true feelings.
"The
entire mountain is after us," Deminos sat up and looked down at his
blackened arm which still twitched and undulated whenever Daryl ran her fingers
over it. "That's no longer an
option. I guess..." he sighed,
"It was a long shot, anyway. I'll
have to take you back to Gesthal the long way.
And when we get back...it'll be over for me."
"No
it won't!!" Mina exclaimed, shaking Deminos's shoulder. "Even if we have to walk back, we'll
talk with Aeon! We'll-"
"You
could be right," Celine locked eyes with Deminos and smirked, "Aeon
might boot you out. But so what? You're still alive, right? Doesn't that count for something?"
When
Deminos didn't reply, Mina steeled her gaze and nodded, "If he does kick
you out then you can stay with us! My
uncle'll gladly put you up after all you've done for us."
Raising
an eyebrow, Deminos mumbled, "What?"
"There's
plenty of space in my uncle's inn, provided you don't mind waiting tables or
cooking to pay for your room and board," Mina smiled at Deminos and gave
him a hug. "It'll be okay."
Leaning
his head back against the wall of teeth, Deminos suppressed a snicker. "You three really are crazy..."
"I told
you, it's contagious," Daryl managed a weak grin, "So, what do we do
now?"
“We’re safe
for the moment. Charybdis can swim
through rock and soil like water, so we're hiding inside the mountain. It’ll buy us some time, at least,” Deminos
mumbled.
“Charybdis?”
Mina muttered. "Is that the name of
this Goetian?"
"Yeah. We're in his mouth," Deminos said. His eyes briefly widened and he quickly
added, "B-but there's nothing to worry about! He won't eat us. Charybdis is one of my bound Goetians and
he's very loyal, so-"
“Dem,” a gruff,
but somewhat muffled voice called out.
The lumpy, brown floor pulled out from underneath them and the girls
recoiled in surprise at what lay before them.
Two red eyes and innumerable mouths full of razor sharp teeth were
visible on the bottom of the moist, undulating mass of brown flesh they had been
sitting on moments before. All of the mouths
spoke at once in a unified voice. “We
have a problem.”
“…” Daryl
opened her mouth but only a shrill squeal escaped.
“It’s
alright,” Deminos whispered, placing his hand over Daryl’s. “He’s one of my Goetians, remember?” Daryl nodded and gave Deminos a nervous smile
before continuing to heal his arm.
“Okay…I didn’t
expect that,” Celine mumbled, her eyes widening while she held tightly to an
equally wide eyed Mina.
“Don’t mind
them, Charybdis. Please, continue,”
Deminos ordered.
“Well, it’s
about getting out of here,” Charybdis murmured.
“There's something in the center of the mountain. It's blocking my way."
"Can't
you just go through it?"
"No, I
can't," the innumerable mouths replied. "Dem, I think it's alive. Not sure what it could be, but I do know it's
big...and powerful. So powerful that I
can't even approach the damn thing."
"I
wonder..." Mina murmured, "Do you think it could be connected to the
tremor we felt before?"
"Possibly,"
Celine sighed and furrowed her brow, "Does it know we're here?"
"Can't
say," Charybdis muttered, "However it's making progress difficult. I do not believe the Dragons on the surface
know where we are, however I cannot hide within the mountain. I must stay only a little below the
surface."
"That's
fine, so long as we're not caught. Let
me know when we're out of their range," Deminos said. The lumpy mass of mouths seemed to nod in his
direction before lying flat once again.
"Oooookay!"
Daryl exclaimed, brushing her hands off on her dress. "The burns should be gone. How do you feel?"
"A little
stiff," Deminos mumbled, flexing his right arm while clenching and
unclenching his fingers, "But otherwise, great. I...ummm...thanks, Daryl," Deminos
blushed deeply.
"No
problem," she stammered, averting her eyes from the grotesque mass of
black crags, "After all, what are friends for?"
"Friends?"
Deminos looked up at her, then turned to Mina and Celine.
"Oh
for...really?!" Celine sighed and slapped her forehead.
Stifling a
giggle, Mina smiled and nodded.
"Friends. Feels nice,
doesn't it? We don't punch as hard as
Yuka either. I promise." To her surprise, Deminos cracked a smile and
chuckled a little.
Suddenly, the
four of them were thrown out of their seats as the walls and floor began to
rumble and quake. "Charybdis, what's
happening?!" Deminos yelled, stumbling out of a puddle of spittle.
The mouth
pulsed violently and a voice seemed to echo all around them. “Dem, brace yourself!" Before anyone could move, a strong impact
threw Mina, Daryl, and Celine against Deminos.
“Dammit! What now?!” Celine cursed, extricating
herself from under her friends.
Charybdis’s
giant mouth bucked and heaved, tossing Deminos and the girls every which
way. Seconds ticked by slowly, as the
Goetian was jerked upwards. Mina and the
others fell hard against the wall of teeth.
“Charybdis!”
Deminos yelled.
“Sorry, Dem,”
Charybdis’s voice echoed all around them.
“Looks like I’ve been caught.”
The teeth
beneath Deminos and the girls unclenched, dropping them onto a patch of rocky
soil. The four looked up and gaped at a
purple Dragon as big as Kano's
tavern that had a claw wrapped around the middle of Charbydis’s squirming
body. The tentacles that made up the
lower half of Charybdis flailed wildly about, while its giant eyeless mouth bit
and hissed, trying to get free.
“Get up!”
Celine yelled, pulling the wide eyed Deminos to his feet while Mina helped
Daryl off the ground. “We need to move!”
Deminos watched in frozen terror while his Goetian writhed about in the
Dragon’s grasp, the scaly creature's long talons digging into Charybdis's
leathery hide.
A long bulbous
tongue covered in miniature mouths snaked out of Charybdis’s maw and wrapped
around the purple Dragon’s neck before biting down, eliciting a howl of pain
from the Dragon. The tip of the tongue
opened up to reveal another set of teeth.
“Run, you idiot!” Charybdis’s gruff voice echoed out of the new
orifice. “You don’t have time to worry
about me!”
“C’mon!”
Celine grabbed the dumbfounded Deminos and slung his scrawny body over her shoulder. The three girls barreled down the mountain
before ducking into an ornately decorated cave a fair distance from the purple
Dragon. Crawling over to the mouth of
the cave, the four of them looked back at Charybdis and the Dragon.
The purple Dragon
let out a roar before biting into Charybdis’s leathery skin, a torrent of ice
flooding out of its mouth. As frost
washed over it, Charybdis’s body turned an unhealthy shade of blue. Cracks spread throughout the Goetian’s body
and the black blood which leaked from its wounds froze into grotesque
icicles. Holding the Goetian still with
both claws, the Dragon chomped down harder on Charybdis, splitting it in
half. A weak cry of pain came from the
mangled corpse before a brown and beige pentagram formed around Charybdis’s
frozen remains, which sank into it and vanished.
“Charyb-mpph!”
Deminos began to cry before Celine clamped a hand over his mouth and yanked him
into the cave. She forced him down next
to Mina, who had her arms wrapped around Daryl.
The purple haired girl had tears streaming down her face, but kept a
hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs.
Celine and Mina held a finger to their lips as a tear sprang to
Deminos's eye. The conjurer nodded as
the roof above them shook.
Snorting could
be heard outside and the four of them could see a set of talons hanging over
the top of the cave, gripping the stone.
There was more rumbling around them and a low, annoyed roar before one
final shock rocked the roof and they could see the purple Dragon soaring down
the mountain.
Once the
Dragon was out of sight, Mina and Celine breathed a sigh of relief and slumped
against the cave wall while Daryl removed her hand from her mouth and began to
sob. “Goddess…w-we’re not going to make
it,” Daryl whimpered, rocking back and forth in place.
"It's
alright, Daryl," Mina cooed, cradling Daryl's head against her own. "I promise, we'll find a way home. We're in this together."
“Ch-Charybdis,”
Deminos stammered, staring at his hands as he clenched and unclenched his fingers. "H-He's...gone. J-Just like-"
Deminos's face
was numb with shock. A few errant tears
streamed down his cheeks, but he didn't seem to notice them. Mina's heartbeat quickened when she
recognized the look. Grabbing Celine's
hand, she gave it a squeeze. The tan
skinned girl nodded and swapped places with Mina, wrapping her arms around
Daryl's shoulders while Mina lifted Deminos's chin until they were eye to eye.
"He's not
dead, Deminos. Miss Kinana told me that
Goetians don't die in this world. They
just get pulled back into Goetia when they can't fight anymore. Isn't that right?"
"Y-yeah,
but-" Deminos stuttered, "I...I've never seen one of my guys go
like...like..."
“Look, we
can’t fall apart right now!” Celine grunted, helping Daryl to her feet and
wiping the purple haired girl's eyes with her blouse. "We'll need your help if we're gonna
survive this."
"Charybdis
gave himself up to save us," Mina whispered, "So that we'd have a
chance. But we need you, Deminos."
Swallowing
hard, Deminos put his blackened hand to his chest and took a deep breath. “Y-you're right...” he muttered. “We…we can still make it if we can get down to
the plateau we arrived on. It's a
straight shot down, so if we jump then I can use my magic to conjure some wind
so we'll float down to the ground.”
"Then
that's what we'll do," Mina said, helping Deminos to his feet.
"B-but
there are Dragons everywhere," Daryl sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "How will we make it down without being
spotted?"
"I might
have an idea," Celine nodded and glanced outside before glancing down at
the cobbled floor of the cave they were hiding in. "Take a look at where we are."
Mina, Daryl,
and Deminos glanced around the cave.
"This is...a Dragon's cave, right?" Mina mumbled.
"An empty Dragon's cave," Celine
couldn't hide her smirk. "I think
all the Dragons are out looking for us.
That means their caves will be deserted."
"So we
sneak from cave to cave till we're low enough to make the jump?" Deminos
said.
"Right,"
Celine nodded and grabbed his hand.
"Now take hands. We don't
want to get separated." Mina took
Deminos's blackened hand before grabbing Daryl's arm. When they were all connected, Celine gave
them a little pull. "Let's go!"
The four of
them stumbled out of the cave and broke into a ragged dash. The rocky path made it difficult to keep from
tripping on stones or slipping on the loose soil, but they managed to make good
headway until three large shadows appeared beneath them, growing larger with each
passing moment. They scampered down the
mountain and ducked into another cave just before three Dragons came down on
top of it, causing the cave’s roof to shake.
“Did you see
them?”
“Everything’s
tiny from up there. And thanks to Balkan
flying around smelling like frozen Goetian, I can't get a whiff of the
conjurer."
“Could they be
dead already?"
The cobbles
underneath Mina and the others shook and rattled, along with the rest of the
mountain, as a tremor ran through it.
However, once the tremor had settled, a coarse, booming voice that oozed
authority came out of the ground.
"I feel them still, brothers and sisters. The Goetian boy and his accomplices are still
here."
When the voice
had died down, there was a brief moment of silence before the Dragons overhead
spoke. "Do you think Rudra heard
us?"
"He's
supposed to be as strong as father and nearly as wise. It wouldn't surprise me if he did."
"Regardless,
if he says they're still here, then they're still here. Come, brothers." When they had finished speaking, Mina and the
others felt the cave they were in tremble before three distant shapes appeared
in the skies in front of them, vanishing into the clouds almost as soon as
she'd spotted them.
The four teens
stayed in the cave for a few minutes, catching their breath and listening for the
voice which had come from the ground.
Eventually, Daryl said, "What was that?!" she glanced from Mina, to Daryl, to Deminos.
"I...I
don't know!" Deminos stammered.
"My
mother once told me a story about Dragons as big as mountains..." Mina
mused. "Do you think..."
"I guess
it's possible," Deminos mumbled
"The older a Dragon gets, the larger they become."
“Well whatever
it is, it's searching for us. We need to
keep moving,” Celine pulled them to their feet.
“Ready for the next cave?”
“Hold on a
minute…” Reaching inside his tunic, Deminos pulled out the three Dragon scales
and the egg fragment he had taken.
“These damn things have been rubbing against me while we were running,”
Deminos snorted, scowling at the glittering scales and egg shell. “I'll be glad to be rid of them," he
spat, dropping them on the ground.
The girls
watched him in silence. Then, Mina
slowly picked up the scales and the egg shell and tucked them into her dress.
"What in
the Goetian hells are you doing?!" Deminos hissed.
"You said
you wanted to be free, right?" Mina fixed him with a piercing stare and
put her hands on her hips. "Well, I
don't mind a few glittery scales rubbing against me. So I'll carry them and you can have them back
when we're off the mountain."
Celine put her
palm to her forehead, but couldn't suppress a snicker at Deminos's stunned
expression. Daryl even managed to crack
a weak smile. Grabbing Deminos's and
Daryl's hands, the four of them headed to the cave's entrance, but before they
could leave, the upside down head of a large, scaly, yellow Dragon leered in at
them.
"Gotcha,
thieves!" it cried.
Lurching
forward, Daryl raised her hands towards the Dragon's eyes and two spheres of
fluorescent, white light formed in her palms.
Mina saw the Dragon's eyes scrunch shut and the head jerked out of the
cave, followed by a roar of pain.
Standing
there, breathing hard, Daryl looked as if she were ready to collapse out of
sheer shock, but Mina grabbed her hand and Celine pulled the four of them out
of the cave. They broke into a run as
the sound of flapping wings started to grow louder all around them.
Risking a
glance behind them, Mina saw the yellow Dragon flying through the air, barely
able to keep from toppling over. The
creature blinked its slitted eyes as if in a daze. Reaching out its claws, the Dragon careened
towards them.
“Duck!” Celine
tugged hard on her three friends and managed to pull them to the ground. The yellow Dragon’s claw soared over them,
barely missing the four teenagers. It
turned to glance back at them, but when it did one wing dipped too low and hit
the ground. The Dragon fell out of the
sky and crashed into the rocky dirt.
Panting hard,
Mina and the others managed to get to their feet and slowly approached the Dragon. "I-Is it dead?" Daryl stammered,
unable to keep from trembling.
Springing to
its feet, the yellow Dragon's claw snaked out to grab Daryl, but Mina shoved
her aside and was swept up instead. “I
won’t let you escape!” The Dragon snarled.
Daryl and Deminos tried to hold onto Mina's arms, but the Dragon pulled
her away. Holding her up to its eyes for
inspection, the Dragon snickered.
"Got one of you..."
“Celi!” Mina screamed, squirming in the Dragon’s
golden talons.
“Let go of her,
dammit!” Celine charged at the Dragon head on, ramming her shoulder into its
leg.
“Hmm?” the
Dragon looked down at Celine, who had fallen to her knees, holding her
arm. "And now you throw yourselves
at my feet! You should have done this at
the start, vermin!" the Dragon roared.
“Mina…” Celine
grunted, a tear springing to her eye.
Reeling back, she began to pummel the Dragon with her fists, even after her
knuckles began to bleed.
From behind
them, Mina saw Daryl grab Deminos by his collar and shake him. "You're a conjurer! Do something!" she yelled.
"I can't
hurt Dragons! Charybdis tried and got
split in half for his efforts! I-"
Deminos
stopped when Daryl slapped him, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Don't give me any of that! You have an army of satyrs! I've seen them!"
"But...they'll
be slaughtered!" Deminos grunted, his hands trembling as he spoke. "They don't have a prayer of
victory! And even if they won't die,
they're...they're my friends and-"
A squeal
escaped Mina's lips as the Dragon tightened its grip on her, reveling in the
spectacle of Celine pummeling its hide until she was too exhausted to
move. "Just...just run!" Mina
cried. "Celi! Daryl!
Aggggggh! D-Dem...! Just...just..." the pressure on her body
increased and it felt to Mina like the breath was being squeezed out of her.
“Please…”
Daryl sank to her knees, still clinging to Deminos. “I know they’re your friends but…but if you
don’t do something, Mina and Celine will…”
“Dammit…”
Deminos hissed, raising both of his hands. Two spheres of swirling black and silver light
formed around his fists. “GODDAMMIT!!!”
he screamed, joining his hands together and thrusting the combined spheres into
the ground.
A huge circle
of silver light that held a pentagram with a crescent moon in the center formed
on top of the rocky soil. Fifty white
haired satyrs climbed out, hefting spears, hooks, and pikes over their
shoulders. Leading them was a taller, more
muscular satyr, wielding a large black axe and wearing a black breastplate with
matching knee guards. Looking around,
the lead satyr scowled at Deminos and bowed obstinently. “Fool!
This is Draconia! Would you have
us fight our own brethren?!” the lead satyr bleated, running the tip of his axe
down one of his large horns.
“I don’t care
if this is Draconia, Lune!” Deminos yelled at the satyr, his face growing
bright red. Storming over to the giant
satyr, he took his shoulder and pointed him in the direction of Mina and
Celine. “They’re my friends, so just
shut up and save them!”
“Friends?” a
smile flickered onto Lune’s lips and the tuft of hair under his chin seemed to
bristle with energy. “Fine then. In that case…we move!” he motioned for the
other satyrs to follow him.
The small army
of satyrs charged the Dragon, avoiding its clumsy claws and the occasional gout
of fire or ice, and clambered up its legs.
When they began to hack at the golden scales, the Dragon effortlessly
bashed them aside, but while he was distracted, Lune and five others managed to
climb up the dragon’s arm and pry Mina free of its talons. Two others grabbed Celine and carried her
back to Daryl and Deminos. Holding the
handle of his axe with his teeth, Lune took Mina in his arms and jumped down to
the ground just before the Dragon batted away his comrades, who vanished into
silver pentagrams on the ground. Lune
bleated and dumped the shivering girl into Deminos’s arms before raising his
axe and charging at the Dragon.
“Lune…”
Deminos mumbled, looking down at Mina, who let out a small cough while holding
her sides. “Thanks,” Deminos whispered.
Clutching her
shoulder, Celine tried to get to her feet, but was unable to rise until Daryl
lent a hand. “We have to get out of
here,” she grimaced, stumbling forward with Daryl’s help.
“Y-yeah. Let’s go,” Deminos mumbled, carrying Mina
down the mountain after the pair.
When a
smothered bleat cut through the air, Deminos froze in place for a moment, only
to have Daryl and Celine pull him forward.
They ducked into another cave just before the yellow Dragon barreled
past them, snarling and roaring. Laying
Mina on the ground, Deminos peeked his head out of the cave. “I…I think we’re in the clear,” he panted,
choking down a sob.
“Mina?! Mina, are you okay?!” Celine gingerly raised
her head, a few tears running down her cheeks.
“I…I’m fine,”
Mina grimaced, holding her sides and breathing hard. “But I don’t want to do that again any time
soon,” she said, trying to smile.
“You two are
so stupid!” Dary whispered, wiping away tears from her puffy red eyes. “Worrying me like that…I mean...who told you
to save me?” she sniffled before placing a hand on Mina’s side and Celine’s
shoulder. Dim white light poured into
them and the girls relaxed for a moment.
“Thanks,
princess,” Celine grunted, gripping her shoulder.
"Is
everybody okay?" Mina asked, sitting up with some help from Deminos. She glanced around at her battered friends
and blushed slightly. "Err...I
mean, can we all still make it down?"
“Just look at
us,” Daryl sighed, averting her eyes from the two of them. “You two can barely stand and me and Deminos
are almost out of energy. I...I think
we’re done.”
“We can’t just
give up…!” Mina mumbled, trying to stand, only to have Deminos hold her down so
Daryl could continue healing her.
“W-we're not dead yet...as long as that's true..." she stopped,
unable to finish the sentence, and hung her head.
"She's
right," Deminos mumbled after a few moments. Balling his hands into his fists, he nodded
at Mina. "We're not dead. And I intend to make sure we stay not dead. "
“Good
sentiment, but Daryl might be right,” Celine groaned, “My shoulder’s numb,
Mina’s insides are all shaken up, Daryl’s exhausted and…” she stopped when
Deminos turned and glared at her. “And
you’ve been fighting the whole time.
Look, I don’t want to die here but maybe you should just-"
"I told
you, I'm not abandoning you!" Deminos growled, "We're all getting out
of this together. Besides," he
smirked at Mina and ruffled her hair, "You've still got my scales."
“Interesting. For humans, you certainly have spirit,” a
voice called from above. The four of
them looked up and saw the roof of their cave getting torn off by an orange Dragon
the size of a mansion. “But the chase
ends here.”
Putting his
hands to the ground, Deminos turned to the girls. “GO!” he yelled as the stones around him
slowly levitated into the air. Lifting
up Mina, Celine and Daryl carried her out of the cave as fast as they could.
“How noble,”
the Dragon snorted. “I suppose there’s some
honor among thieves.”
“They
aren’t thieves,” Deminos gritted his teeth and flung his arms upwards.
Looking back
at him, Mina saw the stones floating around Deminos fly at the Dragon, pelting
its shimmering orange hide with a barrage of rocks and pebbles. Batting away the stones, the Dragon tried to
grab Deminos with its claws, but one of the stones struck its eye and the beast
let out a roar of pain. Fixing its good
eye on Deminos, the Dragon reared back and spat a torrent of jagged spikes made
of stone at the conjurer. Letting the rocks
that hovered around him fall to the ground, Deminos barely managed to leap out
of the way of the spikes. The Dragon
began to hack up whole boulders at him and he rolled along the ground to avoid
being crushed before tumbling down a slope, landing on his feet, and breaking
into a run after the girls.
Still supporting
Mina, Celine looked over at Deminos when he caught up with them. “Think they’ll let us go after that?” she
grunted sardonically.
“Brothers, they near our border. Cut off their escape!” the booming voice
from earlier called as the ground underneath them rumbled.
“What do you
think?!” Deminos snapped, sweat pouring down his face. Looking into the sky, Deminos saw something
flash above them. “Get down!”
The conjurer
put his arms around Celine and Daryl’s shoulders, forcing the two of them and
Mina into the dirt just before ten beams of light shot over their heads,
carving out a monstrous chasm in front of them.
"Wh-what
was that?!" Daryl exclaimed.
"That's
what happens if you turn that nice little holy magic of yours into a
weapon," Deminos said through gritted teeth, never taking his eyes off the
chasm.
Getting to
their feet, the four friends shambled over to the wide rift separating them
from the plateau they had arrived on.
Glancing into the chasm, they saw nothing but a small, barely visible
glimmer of red a long ways down.
“Th-there’s no way around!” Mina cried.
“Dammit!”
Celine hit her bloodied knuckles against the rocky soil as Dragons alighted
behind them. "We're boxed in!"
“I-I don’t
want to die!” Daryl whimpered, clinging tightly to Mina.
"I told
you, I won't let any of you die!" Deminos snapped. "I'll protect you." Reaching into his tunic, Deminos pulled out a
single gold coin. "Well...I suppose
now's as good a time as any to see what he can do..."
Several
Dragons who were only the size of small buildings had formed a perimeter around
them while the ten largest, each as big as a mansion, approached Deminos and
the girls. Twirling the gold coin from
finger to finger, Deminos raised his hand in the direction of the ten
Dragons. “Here goes nothing…” he
mumbled, taking a deep breath. “You, who
knows only of money, spirit of gold and silver, may the clinking of coins guide
you to me! Paymaster, I hold this coin as
payment and invoke our contract!
Melchom!”
Immediately, a
green and gold aura began to swirl around the coin held in Deminos’s hand. Reeling back, he threw the coin into the
air. It fell only a few feet from the
Dragons, but before it could strike the earth, a circle of light holding a
pentagram of gold and green formed beneath the coin and a warty, yellowish
green hand reached out and caught the coin.
A creature a
slightly shorter than Mina rose out of the circle of light and polished the
coin on his drab, brown trench coat that seemed to be made entirely of pockets. After holding the coin up to his large orange
eyes, a smile filled the man’s goofy, yellow-green face. He sank two buck teeth into the soft metal,
smacked his lips, and dropped the coin into one of many money belts that were
fastened around his waist.
“Genuine gold! Must be worth a good hour or two at least! Well, let’s see…” the Goetian mused, a
whistling sound coming from between his buck teeth as he spoke. He looked up at the Dragons, who were coldly
scrutinizing him, before turning to Deminos.
Pulling his long black hair upwards, into a spike, the Goetian flapped
his tiny golden wings in amusement. “So,
youse finally decided to give me a call, eh, sonny?” he muttered.
Celine cocked
an eye at the strange Goetian while Mina and Daryl’s mouth just dropped open in
shock. Deminos, however, had a
triumphant smirk on his lips. “I know
it’s not much, but I trust that coin will buy your services for a while at
least, correct, paymaster Melchom?” Deminos bowed his head to the squatty
little man.
“No need to be
so formal, sonny!” Melchom whistled, clapping Deminos on the shoulder. “If youse got the money, I gots the
time."
“You can’t be
serious…” Daryl shook her head despondently.
“I think he
is,” Celine sighed, rubbing her eyelids.
“Don’t be so
judgmental! He could be really
powerful…right?” Mina gave her friends a half hearted reprimand.
“Smart girl,”
Melchom whistled at her before turning to the Dragons. “Now, as for youse youngsters, I don’t want
to fight youse, but I will if there’s gold involved. So just do us both a favor and back off.”
The dragons
watching from a distance began to laugh.
Many of them fell to the ground, roaring and howling derisively at the
tiny little creature in front of their larger brothers.
“You’re going
to fight us?!”
“The little
girls stand a better chance!”
“Yeah! All four of them!” the Dragons snorted and
hollered.
"Goetian..."
one of the larger Dragons barked.
"You are the one who should stand down. This is our home," it raised a claw and
poked at Melchom. "And you are very
tiny."
Before the
Dragon could touch Melchom, gold coins swarmed out of his money belts and
formed a hand, which caught the Dragon by its scaly wrist. Shaking his head, Melchom let out a long
whistle and chuckled. "Youse boys
are still pretty green, en't ya?"
Melchom kicked
off the ground and jumped into the air, flapping his wings and hovering at eye
level with the Dragon who'd approached him.
More gold and silver coins flew out of Melchom’s money belts and coat
pockets, forming a gigantic fist.
Reeling back, Melchom slammed his gold and silver fist into the Dragon’s
face. The creature gaped at Melchom for
a moment in disbelief before collapsing on the ground.
“He got
Meldo!” one of the other Dragons called.
“C’mon…what’d
youse think would happen?” Melchom whistled.
When he touched down on the ground, the coins he'd used to form a fist
buried themselves in the dirt.
"Youse youngsters ain't got no respect for yer elders. The old uns'd be more careful," he
smirked, jutting two of his fingers upwards.
"The old uns know what us Goetians can do."
The ground
underneath them began to rumble and one of the nine remaining Dragons called
out, "Take to the air!" All
the Dragons leapt into the sky seconds before colossal spikes made of Melchom's
coins burst out of the ground.
The area
around the Dragon Melchom had felled was conspicuously absent of spikes and
before retreating to a safe distance to watch the battle, the smaller Dragons
swooped down and carried off their larger brother. The nine remaining Dragons hovered over
Melchom, snarling angrily.
"Woah..."
Mina gasped.
"You said
it," Celine stammered.
"Haha,
Aeon really knew what he was doing when he suggested I make a contract with
you, eh, Melchom?!" Deminos laughed.
Rearing back,
the nine Dragons let out a roar before belching streams of flames at the
Goetian. "Look out," Daryl
yelled.
"No need
to worry on my account, missy," Melchom laughed.
Touching one
of the golden spikes, it collapsed and the coins formed into a large circular
shield that hovered a little ways out from Melchom's arm. With a wave of his hand, the shield separated
from his arm and floated into the air, forming a barrier between Melchom and
the flames. However, the intense heat of
the flames began to melt it after a few seconds. Gold dripped down from the shield and into
Melchom's waiting hands. Rubbing his
palms together, he began to mold the gold as if it were clay and formed it into
long, golden whip. Lashing out with his
whip, Melchom caught one of the Dragons by the neck. With strength that belied his size, Melchom
pulled on the whip and brought the Dragon crashing down onto one of the
spikes. The golden spike shattered
against the Dragon's thick hide, but after crashing to the ground, the beast
couldn’t even raise its head.
More of the
smaller Dragons swooped in to carry it away, but froze when Melchom glared at
them. "Ehhh, go on, young
uns," he laughed and waved his hand, "This en't persnal and I wasn
told to kill no body."
The Dragons
stared at the Goetian for a moment before carrying their fallen comrade out of
harms way. Above him, the eight larger
Dragons reared back and breathed a whirlwind of ice and snow down at him. Raising both of his hands into the air,
Melchom recalled the gold from his spikes to his side and formed a twister of
golden coins around himself. They spun so
fast that the ice and wind were unable to penetrate the maelstrom of coins.
The twister of
gold and silver coins slowly floated into the air and from the center, Melchom
held out his hands. The gold coins
clumped together to form small but hard metallic missiles which he fired at the
Dragons in rapid succession. While a few
of the golden arrows bounced harmlessly off their hides, many crashed into the
joints and membranes of the Dragons' wings, as well as shooting up their noses
and slamming against their eyes. The
eight Dragons dropped out of the sky and crashed to the ground, holding their
eyes, wings, and noses while roaring in agony.
Forming a cloud with what remained of his gold coins, Melchom took a
seat on it and floated down to Deminos, Mina, Celine, and Daryl.
“Amazing! You’re even more powerful than Aeon told me!”
Deminos exclaimed.
“And don’t
youse forget it, sonny!” Melchom winked at Deminos before snapping his
fingers. Instantly, the gold cloud broke
apart and the coins flew into his money belts.
There was a
flash of light behind them and Mina screamed, "Melchom, look
out!" A beam of light pierced
through the Goetian's chest and Melchom looked down at the large hole that had
been burned through him. Gold oozed out
of his wound instead of blood.
“MELCHOM!”
Demninos screamed.
“Not so
loud! I can hear youse just fine from
here, sonny,” Melchom groaned, cleaning one of his ears with his finger. “Gah, they hit me right where it hurts…in the
wallet,” the Goetian sighed, pulling gold out of his belts with a quick flick
of his wrist. The coins poured into his
wound and it closed instantly.
Glancing back
at the Dragons, Deminos and the others saw the eight that remained slowly
rising to their feet. Any hint of
arrogance they may have possessed had vanished from their eyes. Opening their mouths, Mina saw a flash of
light appear deep in their throats.
"They're going to try again!" she exclaimed.
“I see em,
missy!” Melchom snapped, stepping in front of the four of them and holding up
both hands. Gold and silver coins flew
out of his money belts, forming a protective shield around the five of
them. The beams of light crashed into
the thick golden wall, melting the coins together, but failing to pierce the
golden rampart.
“Just…what are
you?” Daryl murmured, her mouth agape at the mound of coins surrounding her.
“A greedy ol
skin flint who'll do anythin for a bit a coin,” Melchom smirked. With a twist of his hand, the golden shield
dispersed and the melted chunks of gold and silver shot into his pockets. “Youse youngsters are pretty good,” Melchom
called, looking up at the large dragons that were leering down at him. “Must be close to a hundred years old, eh? Not bad for kids like youse."
"Melchom..."
the mountain shook and a commanding voice echoed out of the dirt. The Dragons froze in place when they heard
it. "The humans belong to me. Stand down."
"Ohhhhh,
so it's youse," Melchom shrugged.
"Well, I en't lookin to pick a fight with youse, Rudra, but I've
already been paid. Youse can understand,
right?" Melchom clapped his hands together in a prayer.
The ground
rumbled and the voice spoke once more.
"Something approaches!
Hurry, my brethren! Finish this now!"
"Guess
that's a no, eh?" Melchom sighed.
Wrapping his arms around himself, coins poured out of his coat, gathered
around the Goetian, and formed into a pile with Melchom at the center. The mass of metal rose into the air and formed
a serpentine figure made of gold that was even bigger than the Dragons. From the top of the creature, six Dragon-like
heads made of coins burst forth and snapped at the remaining Dragons.
The heads of
Melchom's beast lunged out at the Dragons, who rolled aside with surprising
speed and whipped their sharp tails out, slicing through a few of the beast’s
heads. Pulling back for a moment, more
coins emerged from the beast’s body to reconstitute the lost heads. Circling around the beast, the Dragons tried
to tear it to shreds with their claws, but the beast ducked and wove around
their strikes before wrapping its body around one of the dragons. Three heads bit into the Dragon’s neck and
chest. Another Dragon tried to pull the
heads away from its comrade, but the other three golden heads ensnared it,
squeezing and choking the Dragon until it stopped moving.
“Brothers!”
one of the Dragons whipped out its tail to try and decapitate the heads holding
its comrades, but a seventh golden head sprouted from the creature’s body and
caught the tail in its mouth.
“En't gonna be
that easy, youngsters," Melchom snorted from within the golden
monster. "If youse wants to get
angry with someone, blame yer big brother for bein so stubborn!"
“U-Use fire!”
the Dragon being bitten howled before belching flames on the golden beast.
As the flames
wafted over it, the metal began to melt together and the golden beast quickly
pulled away from its prey, leaving the two Dragons it had ensnared prone on the
ground. “Damned kids today…!” Melchom
snorted. The beast’s metal heads swayed
back and forth, gazing at its six remaining opponents, but the melted heads
swayed much slower than the rest.
The remaining
Dragons opened their mouths and doused the beast with fire, despite the golden
creature’s attempts to avoid it. The
gold melted together and the beast’s movements slowed, allowing the Dragons to
easily dodge its lunges and counter with more fire.
When the beast
had melted into one solid block and could no longer move, the six remaining
Dragons pounced on it, ripping off huge chunks of gold from the creature’s
hide. The metal beast was slowly picked
apart until Melchom was revealed, kneeling in its chest. He raised his hands into the air and the remnants
of his golden beast began to squirm and rumble.
Five of the Dragons tackled the squirming mass of gold, allowing the
last Dragon to snake its head out and bite down on Melchom, tearing him from
the metal beast’s chest.
“Ah dammit…”
Melchom grunted, holding the dragon’s mouth open with his hands and feet while
the golden remains of his creature fell apart and crashed to the ground. Looking over at Deminos, Melchom let out a
sigh as the dragon forced its jaws down on him.
“Sorry, sonny, but I’m spent! If
youse live through this, I’ll give youse a discount next time,” the Goetian
called as the Dragon chomped down on him.
Melchom's body cracked under the pressure, collapsing into tiny fragments
of gold. A gold and green pentagram
formed on the ground and the remnants of Melchom's beast, his coins, and the
golden bits that his body had been cracked into swirled into the five sided
star before it vanished.
Once Melchom
disappeared, the six Dragons shambled over to Deminos and the girls. "Now, it ends, thieves," one of
them panted, narrowing its eyes at the four of them. Opening their mouths, the six Dragons
breathed a stream of fire down on the teenagers.
“Dammit!” Deminos cursed, throwing out both of his
hands. A vortex of water swirled out of
his palms, momentarily holding back the flames. “I…I refuse to let it end this way!” Deminos’s called, the intensity of the flames
slowly pushing him backwards.
“Deminos, just
run! Don’t die for us!” Mina yelled,
tears springing to her eyes.
“Get out of
here, you idiot!” Celine screamed, hugging Mina and Daryl close to her. “You said you could teleport yourself back,
right?!”
The water
coming from Deminos’s hands faltered, but instead of retreating he slammed his
right fist against the flames. The
blackened arm let out a squeal of agony, but the black crags pulsed and
undulated, dispersing the flames around Deminos’s fist.
Panting,
Deminos fell to one knee and scowled at the three girls. "Even if I wanted too, teleportation is
impossible at this point! The spell
takes time to cast and if it's disrupted for any reason, it won't work!" Gripping his blackened arm, Deminos slowly
got to his feet. "But even if I
could...I wouldn't abandon you! This
ain't the first time I've faced down death.
It is the first time I've done it for someone else, though," he
flashed the girls a manic grin and began to pull the glowing seals off of his right
arm one by one. The blackened arm began
to twitch and swell violently, its black skin rising and falling in waves.
“What are you
doing?!” Mina called, trying to crawl over to him only to be held back by
Celine and Daryl.
"I'll
make sure you survive...I promise," Deminos said. "In exchange...please...tell Yuka and
Aeon...I'm sorry," he bowed his head and began to chant as he pulled the
last glowing seal off his arm. A sable
pentagram formed underneath his feet and around his arm. "You've been listening..." Deminos
muttered, glaring down at the arm.
"I'm yours if you protect them.
Do we have a contract?" His
arm let out a shrill screech and a joyless smile filled Deminos's face. "Very well."
Taking a deep
breath, Deminos faced down the Dragons and ran his left hand over his blackened
arm. “You, who spread lust like a
cancer, one of seven ancients, three headed King, hear my words and deceive me
not! I offer you my body, I offer you my
soul, and in exchange, safeguard my comrades!" Deminos’s arm let out a squeal and the
blackness began to creep up his shoulder and into his face, spreading over his
skin like a virulent disease. The
Dragons in front of him reeled back and breathed another wave of fire down on
Deminos as he continued his incantation.
"King of Desire! With this,
I break your seal and invoke our contract!"
