Book 2 Chapter 16
1608 Words
16
“I thought being tortured in a monster prison was the lowest point of my life,” Nico grouses. “But I was wrong.”
“Be quiet,” I shush him, “And keep your elbows tucked into your sides—you keep bumping me.”
“Our teachers will be appalled when they hear about this. Kratos might quit on the spot.”
“Seriously? The Greeks invented the whole Trojan horse thing.”
“This is no horse.”
Nico does have a point there. We are in fact stuffed into the inner cavity of a giant scorpion. The same one I drowned a few days ago.
When we returned to the portal to share my plan, Hepa and Jordan were playing tonsil hockey. I wasn’t even mad. Greg was napping so what else would a horny panther and the witch who’s obsessed with him do?
I cleared my throat and they parted, Jordan with a giant grin and Hepa looking sorta dreamy.
“Okay guys, pay attention,” I told them as I laid out the plan.
Nico pointed out three separate times that this was all “Edie’s crazy idea.” Jordan, as usual, was totally into it. He helped me find and recover the scorpion’s remains from the water. After that, all of us—except Greg—worked on digging out his water-softened innards.
Now, Nico and I creep ever closer to the compound with the scorpion’s body giving us cover. It’s like being inside of a nasty, putrid tank. So far what Nico described as “seriously the worst plan I’ve ever heard” is working exactly as I hoped. No one is sounding the alarm and rushing out to kill us. As far as the monsters know, their friend the scorpion is coming to the compound for his coffee break.
Even as I’m congratulating myself, a minotaur pops up from a tunnel entrance in the ground and stalks toward us. Nico growls low in his throat. I reach out and grab his bicep, my fingers curling around the tight muscle, begging him to just wait.
“What are you doing here?” The minotaur demands. “You’ve been tasked with guarding the portal. You can’t leave.”
As the minotaur gets closer I can see his expression change. His nostrils flair. “What’s wrong with your…everything?”
“Now?” Nico whispers.
I sigh and agree reluctantly. “Now.”
Nico slips out of the bottom of the carapace as I pop out my wings. They fit perfectly into the slots I carved on both sides of the scorpion’s body, using my sharper than knives dragon claws.
“What the?” The minotaur says, his eyes widening as he takes in the wings.
I give a long eerie moan and flap my wings, making the whole scorpion’s body shake. “I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”
As I totally rip off Charles Dickens and do my best impression of a ghostly reanimated scorpion version of Jacob Marley, Nico shifts into his wolf form and zips away, staying close to the ground.
The minotaur’s eyes narrow. Maybe his parents also forced him to read A Christmas Carol, or maybe like Greg, he’s not buying the whole ghost scorpion thing. Even shivering with fever, Greg argued with nerdy conviction that a reanimated body is technically a zombie, not a ghost.
The minotaur snorts and then leaps, disappearing from my limited view. It doesn’t take long to figure out where he went. He lands on my back, or the scorpion’s back, which makes a terrible cracking noise.
Shit. I flap my wings and get enough air to shake him off. But in that time he must’ve sounded some sort of alarm, because monsters start to pour out from hidden holes all over the place.
Well, crap. Nico was right. Worst. Plan. Ever.
The minotaur once again hurtles toward me, face twisted with rage. I fly and twist, knocking him with the scorpion’s tail. He rebounds quickly and with one swipe of his ax—the tail is gone.
Okay, time to ditch the disguise. I give a shake and a shimmy, but I’m stuck.
Monsters are roiling out of holes in the ground, like the ants Nico had promised they were. Everywhere I look, all I see are monsters, some reaching for bows, others throwing knives at me, some only shaking their fists.
Two arrows thunk into the scorpion’s carapace. Then another and another. I know it’s time to shift. Past time. But I’m nervous about letting my dragon take over. An arrow breaks through, piercing my leg. I scream and then I have no choice in the matter—my dragon bursts out of the scorpion shell and breaks free.
More arrows whiz by while harpies, flying in teams of three, come at me from both sides.
Fire rolls through my belly and I swoop down to take out the archers. Power, anger, fear, and fire are all brewing inside of me. As it comes to a boil, I expel it. Jets of fire erupt all around me.
I’d never tested my fire breathing abilities, and they are much, much stronger than I’d anticipated. Scorched sand is all that remains of where the archers once stood.
I blink at it, but my dragon is already wheeling around to face the first harpy team to reach me. They go for my wings, claws snatching at them. The third twists the arrow still embedded in my leg.
Inside I scream, outside my dragon roars. Together we fall, the ground coming fast.
The harpies break free right before I hit the ground.
Monsters of all types—more than I can name—are all over me in an instant. I scramble up, shaking them off and lighting them up, one by one, fighting for my life.
The last few run, realizing I won’t go easily. I give chase, letting my hot breath lick their heels, wanting them to feel fear before they die. I can no longer tell where the dragon ends and I begin.
“Nooo!” A woman’s voice pierces the chaos.
I twist my head to see a manticore running across the sand, a bundle in her arms. Her lion body stretches in great leaps while her human face twists in terror. The baby wails. She stops, throwing herself in front of the minotaur I’d been chasing. Her wings fan out, wrapping around him.
I realize this must be the baby’s father. And she’s the guard whose birth created the distraction when Nico escaped.
Our eyes lock.
“Please,” she says. Just that word and nothing more.
That bundle will grow up to be like its mother, maybe guarding a cell holding one of my friends. Maybe a cell that holds me.
Still…
I can’t.
I turn away from her and shoot back up into the sky. I’d rather take my chances with another trio of harpies then hurt her. Almost immediately, I do. The first harpy dives into my space, slicing at my wings with a dagger. But I’m ready for that move this time. I snatch her in my claws, crush her quickly, and let what’s left fall to the ground.
Another harpy comes after me and I pivot, diving low enough that my wings brush the sand, throwing up a wall behind me that goes into her eyes. Unfortunately, as I come around again, the same sand gets in my eyes too. I blink wildly, missing my human hands and the ability to rub my eyes.
I crash, rolling to a halt next to an opening in the sand—out of which comes Nico, Cassie on his back.
Nico is covered in blood, from his jaws to his great, heaving chest. Cassie is pale, but clutching him, her face a mask of fear. They bust through the remaining monsters, Nico tossing them from side to side with his jaws. I dive in close, plucking up Cassie and then Nico in each of my front talons. Nico instantly nips me.
It’s more surprising than painful. “I’m trying to help you!” I dragon screech.
“I don’t need help,” he snarls back. “And I don’t want to be carried!”
The third harpy comes at me.
“Fine,” I say to Nico. “Have fun.”
I throw him at the harpy. They slam into each other midair and it’s immediately all claws and teeth.
I circle, worried that I might’ve just killed Nico. But there’s no need for my concern.
Nico hits the ground, using the dead harpy as a cushion. Within moments, he’s back on his feet, launching himself at another victim.
High above, I can see a clear path for Nico’s escape.
“Nico!” I roar down to him. “This way!”
He glances up at me for the barest instant—just enough for me to know he heard me. And then he turns his back on me, his teeth latching onto the next victim.
That’s when I get it. He’s not leaving. Nico Tralano is staying to tear out more throats.
I wait a moment longer, wanting to believe I’m wrong.
In my claw, I feel Cassie sobbing, her tears running down my talon as I finally turn away and fly us back to the portal.
- Writer
