Dragon emperor 16, p.12
Dragon Emperor 16, page 12
Before they could respond, Arsenio laughed and shook his head.
“Seriously?” he asked. “You think we’d be dumb enough to hide it with the other teams’ goods? That’s too easy.”
“Then where is it?” I bellowed and slammed my hands against the cage.
“Like I said, we aren’t talking,” Arsenio replied and sat down next to his brother.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Then I’ll roast your brother until you change your mind. I’m sure the fire will feel great with his boils.”
Andres’ eyes widened as his brother put a hand across his chest to stop him from responding.
“You can’t kill us.” Arsenio smirked and templed his fingers. “Then you’ll never find your stupid sword.”
“No, you’re right,” I agreed. “But I can kill one of you.”
I held out my palm, and a small fireball formed in my hand. The arrogant smile slipped from Arsenio’s face as the fire grew larger and larger, and I let my eyes drift to his brother.
“Wait!” Arsenio called out. “Please, don’t hurt him. He’s my little brother.”
“I’ll be fine,” Andres said, though he didn’t seem certain. “I can take it.”
“No, you can’t,” his brother muttered before he sighed. “Look, I’ll tell you where I hid it, but you have to prove my father is safe. Once I know you haven’t already killed him, I’ll tell you where to go.”
“Pop will be so pissed,” Andres murmured. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Arsenio straightened his back and glared at me. “Well?”
“Fine,” I agreed. “I’ll go get him, and he can meet you in the dungeons.”
“We’ll take them down there,” one of the guards offered. “They should be locked up until you return.”
“Let me check their pockets first,” I said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to find a few more potions in their robes.”
Arsenio cursed under his breath as I shifted the roots to give myself an entrance. Sure enough, six more vials of various-colored liquids were tucked away inside his cloak, along with two daggers and a handful of tiny, spiked metal balls. I tossed them out of the cage and moved on to check Andres.
The younger brother only had one more dagger and a pair of blue potions, though one had broken and seeped out onto the grass. I got rid of the potions and weapons and grabbed them both by the arms to pull them to their feet.
I passed them off to the guards and watched as they dragged the duo to the dungeon entrance without much of a fight.
“Are you really going to get Odalis?” Morgan asked once the brothers were out of earshot.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “We need that sword, and even if we didn’t, it doesn’t need to be in the wrong hands.”
“Then we’ll have the guards prepare another cell,” she said before she and Nolan hurried after them.
“I don’t know if I trust those guards to keep the brothers down there,” I muttered. “We can’t risk them escaping, and they’ve already proven they can outwit the guards.”
“I’ll stay with them,” Nike volunteered.
“Me, too,” Aaliyah said, and her tail flicked back and forth behind her tight ass with excitement.
“Maybe everyone except Naomi should stay,” I countered. “She has to do her magic on Odalis’ trap anyway, but we can move faster with only two of us.”
“Good idea,” Alyona agreed. “The rest of us will stay here and keep an eye on the deviant brothers.”
“We’ll be back soon,” I murmured as I pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Naomi and I waited by the cage, and I looked around at the wide-open space that surrounded us.
“What are you thinking?” the lizard Demi-Human asked.
“I’m thinking there’s enough room for me to shift right here once I get rid of these roots,” I replied with a grin.
I called the roots back into the ground, and they slithered under the grass like large snakes. As soon as the space was clear, I transformed into my dragon body. The fresh night air smelled even sweeter in my natural form, and I inhaled deeply as Naomi pulled herself onto my back.
Then I kicked off into the sky and headed for the beach.
It took much less time to get to Odalis’ hideout now that I knew where it was, and I flew straight to the white building and landed in front of the shimmering gray dome.
“You’re back!” Odalis shrieked. “Please, you said you can heal, right?”
Naomi slid from my back, and I shifted to my human form to walk over to the stone circle. Odalis was close to the wall of the trap, and as we got closer, I could see burns all over his hands, legs, and face.
“Did you really try to escape?” I laughed. “Even after she warned you not to touch it?”
“It was worth a shot or seven,” he mumbled. “Can you just heal me?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and walked past him toward the beach house. “I have something I want to do first.”
“My treasure!” Odalis gasped and ran to the other side of the cage to watch me. “No, you can’t have it!”
“Well, I don’t think the Noble Council is going to let you keep it in your cell in the dungeons,” I pointed out as my voice dripped with sarcasm. “Besides, I’m sure your boys will be happy to see you even without the treasure.”
“You found them?” The Nepin’s voice registered a bit of surprise.
“You didn’t think we would?” Naomi asked with a twinge of annoyance. “They’re young, stupid, and trying too hard to impress you. It wasn’t as difficult as you’d think to catch them.”
“Impress me?” Odalis echoed and looked back at the lady lizard. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” I interjected. “I’ll be right back.”
I climbed onto the raised porch, opened the door to Odalis’ house, and nearly fell over.
The entire room was filled with gold.
Gold coins, gold statues, gold bars, every gold item I could possibly imagine was piled up from wall to wall. My inner dragon roared with delight as I scooped handfuls into my spatial storage, and I could just imagine him staring at the growing pile from his little pool in his nest. I had to have nearly doubled my own considerable horde before I got a grip and stepped back from the collection, but there was still so much gold, it barely looked like I’d made a dent.
I wondered how many other people Odalis had stolen from to have amassed so much. It seemed I shouldn’t be the only one who benefited from finding this stash, and I walked out of the house with a wide grin.
“Oh, gods,” Odalis mumbled. “You took all of it, didn’t you? I always heard dragons loved that stuff.”
“I didn’t, actually,” I corrected him. “But I’m going to tell the council about it, so they can give it out to the people of Yrosa for all the trouble you’ve caused.”
“They’re the reason I did this!” he snarled. “They don’t deserve a single gold flake!”
“Neither do you,” Naomi hissed, and her forked tongue slithered out of her mouth in annoyance. “You deserve the sword to the throat you almost got already.”
“Can we carry the trap like this?” I asked her as I ignored Odalis’ curled lip.
“Possibly, but--” Naomi started.
“Aren’t you going to heal me first?” he interrupted.
“Do not disrespect her again,” I thundered as I shot an icy glare at the Nepin. “I’ll heal you when I fucking feel like it.”
Odalis shivered under my stare and closed his mouth.
“Like I was saying, it’s possible, but it would be easier to find a different way to transport him,” Naomi said as she tapped her lips with a clawed finger. “You could just carry him.”
“That would be easier,” I agreed. “And if he tries to escape, he’ll just fall to his death since I ripped his wing, though he should be grateful his are both still attached. It looked painful when I tore Arsenio’s right off his back.”
“You’re a monster!” Odalis wailed. “My poor son, I need to see him.”
“Which you will,” I said. “But if you try to fight me on the way there, you will die one way or another, so no bullshit.”
I shifted back into my dragon form as Naomi approached the gray dome. She looked up at me, and I nodded before she murmured a few words. The gray wall dissipated in a cloud of wispy smoke, and Odalis looked around as though he might try to escape again.
Before he could try anything, I wrapped my talons around his torso and squeezed just enough to make him uncomfortable. I could feel his chest rise and fall, though he coughed and pouted.
“You’re hurting my burns,” he whined.
I wondered if I could squeeze him hard enough to make him pop, but I decided against it. I had to find out where the Noble Sword was hidden, and there was no way the brothers would tell me if I brought their father back looking like a crime scene threw up on my claw.
So, I ignored his whining and let Naomi get onto my back. Then I flapped my wings and lifted us into the air. As we flew over the beach toward Yrosa, I healed Odalis’ burns, and he sighed with relief. If I wanted Arsenio and Andres to tell me everything, I couldn’t risk them seeing their father banged up, even if he had done it to himself.
We landed in the clearing by the school, and I waited until Naomi’s feet hit the ground before I set Odalis down on his belly. Then I planted my rear leg on his chest as I shifted into my human body. When I was done, my boot still held him down, and the Nepin looked at me with disdain.
“Come on,” I muttered as I grabbed his arm and headed for the dungeons.
“You’re hurting me!” he pleaded. “Slow down!”
“I don’t have time for your stupid games,” I growled. “Let’s go.”
Odalis stopped arguing and stumbled along with me as I led him to the entrance, and the guards parted and allowed us down the stairs to the underground jail. The other thieves looked up with interest, and they began to whisper among themselves as they realized we’d caught their boss.
“Pop!” Andres cried out and then cringed with pain.
I’d forgotten about his boils, but maybe it would give Odalis a little incentive to follow my rules. The eldest Nepin’s face was distorted with anger as I pushed him into the cell across from his sons and chained him to the wall.
“What did they do to you?” Odalis shouted as he flailed against his cuffs. “My boys, my poor sons, are you alright?”
“Yes, Pop, we just had to make sure you were okay,” Arsenio answered. “I told the dragon I wouldn’t tell him anything until we knew.”
“What does he want to know?” their father asked and glanced at me.
“It doesn’t matter,” I snarled. “I kept up my end of the bargain. Now, it’s their turn.”
“Unless you don’t want us to,” Arsenio said as he yanked at his chains to get closer to his father. “They want to know where the sword is.”
“No!” Odalis bellowed and turned to me with wild eyes. “You can kill me, I don’t care, but you aren’t getting it back! Just kill me!”
Arsenio and Andres looked at each other with confusion for a moment before they glared at me again.
“You heard him,” Arsenio muttered. “We aren’t talking.”
“Seriously?” Aaliyah rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do? Run away with the sword?”
“You’re kind of chained to a wall right now,” Trina pointed out. “I don’t think keeping your secret will work out well.”
“Plus, letting your dad die is pretty terrible,” Rebecca added with an arched eyebrow.
“They can do it!” Odalis insisted. “They can escape whenever they want! They got the sword on their own, didn’t they?”
“You are absolutely right,” I said and cocked my head to the side. “I guess the better plan is to just kill all of you and find it by ourselves.”
“What?” Andres’ face fell as his skin turned to a pastel shade of blue. “You’d just kill us all?”
“Why would I keep you alive if you aren’t going to tell me what I want to know?” I scoffed. “It’s a waste of time.”
“And think of all the money we’d save on food for prisoners,” Morgan pointed out. “I think that would suffice as recompense for the pain you caused our city.”
“Okay, wait,” Odalis cut in. “Let me talk to my boys. Perhaps we can discuss a better arrangement.”
“No, we had an arrangement,” I growled. “Either I get the location, or you all die. Take your pick.”
My ultimatum seemed to sink into their thick skulls, and the criminal family eyed each other for a few seconds. They had no leverage for their lives other than the sword, and they had to know it. I could see defeat written all over their faces, and I smirked when Odalis released a dramatic sigh.
“Fine,” he mumbled. “Go ahead and tell him.”
“Are you sure, Pop?” Arsenio asked. “I just--”
“I said, tell him,” Odalis grunted. “Get it over with. We lost, son. There’s nothing else we can do.”
Andres’ head dropped to his chest, and Arsenio took a deep breath.
“The gardens,” he finally said. “The sword is hidden in the side of a hill. I dug it out and put the sword inside. Then I covered it back up.”
“How do I know which hill?” I pressed.
“I marked it with a herrata flower,” the eldest brother answered. “You can’t miss it.”
“If it’s not there, I’m coming back to kill you,” I warned. “One at a time until someone gives me the truth. You understand?”
“It’s there,” he muttered.
“Where are the gardens?” I asked Morgan.
“Past the noble community,” she answered. “Almost to the city wall. You can’t miss them.”
“Come with me,” I said to Miraya. “The rest of you, stay here with them. If they say anything different, let me know. If they try to escape, kill them.”
None of the family members responded, and I knew I’d won. They were terrified of the consequences, which, before I’d arrived, were probably not so scary. Now that I was here to defend Yrosa, they’d discovered I didn’t play around. I could torch the whole bandit tribe if I wanted to, and they knew it.
I led Miraya up the stairs and out into the night air, and she looked up at the stars and smiled before she turned to me.
“Why did you let me come with you?” she wondered as I took her hand and began to walk toward the gardens.
“You deserve to see your sister,” I answered easily. “And you’ll know when we’re close. I want to know the sword is safe, and the spirit is good.”
“I can’t believe she’s been locked inside for so long,” Miraya sighed. “It must have been so lonely.”
“Weren’t you lonely before I found you?” I asked.
“Of course,” the spirit replied. “But I knew you were coming. My poor sister has a mistress who doesn’t even know she exists. I can’t imagine the pain.”
I mulled over Miraya’s concerns and wondered if the time alone had affected the other spirit. Could a spirit go crazy? Or would she be completely normal? I couldn’t begin to guess about spirit mental health, so I decided to just pick up the pace and get to her sooner.
As we neared the gardens, I realized Morgan was right. It would have been difficult to miss the large wrought iron fence that surrounded the plot of flowers. A rainbow of colors surged across the ground behind the gate, and I pushed the metal door open to enter.
“Wow,” I breathed.
I wasn’t a garden kind of guy, but this place was magnificent.
Flowers of every shape, size, and color seemed to flow in every direction. I recognized a few species like the sunflowers and the roses, but thousands of other blossoms were new to me.
“This is incredible,” Miraya gasped as she leaned down to smell a hot pink flower. “I love pimurettas.”
“What about the herrata?” I wondered and looked around. “What does it look like?”
“It’s gold,” she answered. “They usually grow about four feet tall, so it shouldn’t be difficult to see.”
“Of course, he picked a gold flower,” I murmured as we wandered around the winding path until I saw a hill around the curve. “Let’s look over there.”
We walked past the first hill and moved onto the second with no herrata flowers in sight. Then Miraya turned to her right and froze.
“She’s close,” she whispered before she took off at a dead sprint down the path.
I followed her past four more hills full of flowers until we reached a smaller rise in the landscape. My attention was caught by a tall golden flower that rose above the others, and my heart pounded against my chest.
This had to be it.
I called on my nature magic to pull the soil out of the hill while Miraya bounced on the balls of her feet. My spirit lover practically vibrated with excitement as she clasped her hands together and waited for the dirt to clear.
Finally, I caught a glimpse of a blade, and I reached in to grab the handle.
It was dirty from its burial, but the jewel-encrusted gold handle still gleamed in the moonlight, and Miraya covered her mouth as she stared at the sword.
“The Sword of Youth,” she gasped.
Chapter 8
“We found it!” I turned the blade over in my hand and dusted the grime away from the shiny handle.
“She’s so relieved,” Miraya sighed. “I am, too.”
“That makes three of us,” I chuckled as I stood up and held the Sword of Youth out in front of me. “Now, can she come out and talk to us?”
“Well, ummm,” the spirit murmured as though she was listening to her sister. “Yes, she wants to, but she hasn’t been in the physical world in a really long time.”
“So, can you help her do that?” I wondered.
“Not easily.” Miraya frowned and bit her bottom lip before her eyes lit up. “Wait, there’s another poss-- yes, that’s what I’m telling him! Okay, so while you possess the Sword of Youth, its spirit can move to your spiritual sea.”
“She can go in my head like you do?” I was intrigued. “Can you both go at the same time?”
“Yes,” the spirit giggled. “I’ll go first. It’ll make it easier for her to get there.”
