Chapter 8
Bas Greatdrakes was stuck at a table between a glowering Valentine and an increasingly drunk Apollo. He knew that Apollo was hiding out from Lachlan Ironwood because he was incapable of being normal around him. He almost felt bad for him, but the little brother in him was enjoying watching Apollo act like a ridiculous tit. Valentine's pout, however, was a mystery.
"Out with it, Val. You're ruining my buzz," Bas complained. He had learned not to rummage about in his brother's brain, but he was still tempted to do it some days.
"He's pissed because Yelena is leaving." Reeve sat down opposite them and pushed some food in Apollo's direction. The wolves had roasted pigs and lambs over spits, and the bowl was full of bread and meat. Apollo cooed in drunken happiness and started eating.
"It's good that she's leaving. Maybe now I will be able to get some work done without her jumping out from behind the stacks to try and catch me doing dark magic or think that I'm going evil or some shit," Valentine muttered into his ale mug.
"She doesn't think that," Reeve said and pushed another bowl of food at Valentine. "At least not anymore. She's been spending time with Charlotte, and she's convinced her you aren't some evil dark sorcerer, even if you like to dress like one."
Valentine ignored the food and shot Reeve the finger. "If Yelena doesn't think that, why is she always spying on me?"
Bas sometimes found it hard to believe that his eldest brother could be the most accomplished magician of them all and yet be so clueless at the same time.
"Maybe dark and broody does it for her?" he said.
Valentine pulled a face. "Don't be childish."
"It's more to do with your magic," Charlotte said and slipped onto the bench beside Reeve. "She's never seen anything like it before. So dark, but you aren't evil."
"Not yet anyway," Apollo slurred. Charlotte kicked him under the table. "Ow! That was mean."
"Keep it up, and I'll get Lachie to take your fool ass home," Reeve threatened.
Apollo muttered under his breath but went back to his food.
"Why does she care about my power? None of the other dragons do. She's the kind of girl that would cry over a butterfly, not be curious about dark magic," Valentine said, his words slurring just a little. He was more wasted than Apollo but was hiding it better.
Charlotte snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. "No, she isn't. You know why she's here with the knights? Because she's so powerful, she terrifies the rest of Taran's court. They are worried if they step out of line when Taran is not there to control her, Yelena will eviscerate them."
"Baby Girl Galadriel couldn't eviscerate shit," Valentine argued.
Bas let their drunken rantings wash over him and gently dissociated from his body. He instantly felt calmer. It was something he had done since he was a boy when all his brothers’ personalities became too much for him to deal with. It probably wasn't healthy, but his magic was all about his mind, and letting his consciousness go off to the astral plane was as easy as breathing. His body was in no danger where it was, and his family was used to him drifting off into his own little world.
Instead of his usual mind palace, Bas found himself walking through a forest in the astral plane. He had never been there before, but the astral plane was infinite in space and weirdness. As long as he was careful of anything that would try and eat his consciousness, he was totally safe.
The forest was brightly lit with twisting gold and green trees. Like a lot of places in the astral plane, the usual laws of nature didn't apply. Trees were covered in autumn leaves, sitting next to those in full spring plumage. He crossed a pretty bubbling stream of crystal clear water. Nothing tried to jump out and eat him, which was nice. He followed the path and began to spot stone statues of animals in the trees, along with stately people who looked like they could have been gods and goddesses.
"So this is feeling more and more Narnia by the second," he whispered under his breath. He kept walking until he found the ruins of a great building that looked like a Gothic cathedral that had been overrun by trees.
Inside was filled with piles and piles of books. It was like someone had dumped the Library of Alexandria in the middle of a fairytale forest.
The rustle of a page turning had him looking behind him. A woman was sitting in the bower of a tree that was filled with velvet cushions. Her black hair was in braided pigtails that hung to her shoulders, and she had a small spray of freckles over one golden brown cheek.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded, making Bas startle.
"Ah…" he said.
"You can't be in here! This is my mind palace, and you aren't welcome," the woman said, lifting a heavy tome like she would slog him with it.
Bas lifted his hands in surrender. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, sweetheart, but this isn't a mind palace. It's the astral plane."
"No, it's not. It's my mind palace, and I don't think I would create some scruffy nerd to bother me." She was still holding the book defensively in front of her. Her bower was higher than him, and he couldn't see what other weapons she had up there.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, keeping his hands up. "But I don't understand how it's possible I am in your mind palace right now when I specifically went to the astral plane."
The woman laughed. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Anything is possible here, nerd," she said and tossed the book at him. Bas caught it before it could hit him, and the woman was suddenly a hawk. She dive-bombed him, making him duck, and then she was gone.
"What in all the fuck…" he murmured.
Strong hands shook him, and Bas hit his body with a start. Apollo was shaking him. "Hey, you in there, little…little Bas bro?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Bas said, jittery still from being ripped back into his body.
He had never seen someone transform like that so quickly in an astral plane before apart from him. What the hell was that all about? Who the hell was she? If he had been in her mind palace, he didn't know how that was possible either.
Bas rubbed his smoke-sore eyes. Maybe the elves had put some fun mushrooms in their mead. "What's wrong, Apollo?"
"Need…need you to take me somewhere to lie down," Apollo said, resting his head on Bas's shoulder. "Gonna pass out. Too much magic in the air."
Now that he mentioned it, Bas could feel currents of power rising up from the earth. It was close to midnight, and he had to assume it was just a part of the elf's bond with their land that made the natural power almost heady on a solstice.
Was that the reason he had casually wandered into someone else's head? It was a worrying thought, but the magician in him was intrigued.
Bas helped his older brother up and slung an arm around him. They were sharing a cabin near the lake, and as they crossed the field, Apollo started crying.
"Oh gods, you really did a number on yourself tonight," Bas sighed.
"I'm going to be a really bad dragon, Bas," Apollo cried.
"What nonsense are you talking about now?"
"Taranis used his king daddy voice on me and said I had a dragon waking up in me. That I could shift," Apollo babbled. "I don't know if I want a dragon in me. At least, not unless they ask nicely. Oh shit." Apollo stumbled and landed face-first on the grass. "Just leave me here. The grass is soft."
Bas took a deep, patient breath. His other two brothers would absolutely leave Apollo's drunk ass where it was. Unfortunately, after their mother died, the nurturing duties had fallen to Bas. He helped Apollo back up, but only after taking a video of him muttering things about Lachlan’s hair to the crushed wildflowers underneath him.
"You're going to shift into a dragon, or you are going to seduce one?" Bas asked him.
"I wish I was seducing one. They are all so handsome. I should be seducing them all at once," Apollo babbled. "But noooo. Stupid face Ironwood would be there to stop me having any fun at all."
"I thought you were meant to make friends with Lachie tonight. Didn't the sword work?" Bas really couldn't keep up with his brother's dramas some days.
"Oh, it worked. Then my sword worked, and I ruined it," Apollo said and started crying again. "I made an ass of myself, and now he's never going to look at me like I'm not a weirdo fuck up little brother."
"I'm sure Lachlan doesn't think of you that way."
"Taran said we are going to turn into dragons now that magic was fixed. What color do you want to be?"
"Blue. How about you?" Bas helped him up the stairs of their cabin and put him into bed in one of the rooms.
"I don't know, but what if I'm ugly? I don't think I could handle being an ugly dragon. Then stupid Ironwood will never think I'm cool."
Bas tried not to roll his eyes. "Look, don't worry about it tonight, okay?"
"I'm sorry if I turn into a dragon in my sleep, Baby Basset Bear," Apollo slurred into the pillow.
"It will be fine if you do," Bas said, and after making sure his brother had some water on his bedside table, he quietly shut the door.
He didn't want to go back to the party, so he sat on the grass in front of the cabin's porch and stared up at the sky. The power in the land curled around Bas's ankles like an affectionate cat, whispering secrets to him that he couldn't understand.
Dragon shifting and pretty hawk girls in your head all in one night . Bas lay back, looked at the stars, and grinned at the thought of a new magical puzzle to unravel.
He had a feeling it was going to be another weird year, and he couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Thank you for reading!