Chapter 26
“He who wearsthe mantle of the Sorcerer King cannot wield both black and white magic!” Azazel shouted over his shoulder.
The wind lashed at Mae’s hair as she stared at her father. They were flying through Hell Deep on Vozgan. Since the dragon was smaller and faster than his father, they’d requested his help in their search for Ran Soyun’s prison.
The young dragon had agreed with an enthusiasm that had worried Vannog and Armaros and had caused Astarte to frown.
“This isn’t a fun little adventure, you know,” the Goddess had grumbled as they’d prepared to leave Armaros’s keep.
“I know,” Vozgan had whined.
He’d stood patiently in the courtyard while Us’gorith and Armaros’s servants fitted a giant saddle on his back.
“Be careful, my son.” Vannog had nuzzled Vozgan’s face lovingly. “And don’t just eat anything you fancy,” he’d warned sharply, blowing smoke in the dragon’s eyes.
Vozgan had flinched and avoided his father’s hard stare. “I won’t.”
“Ten bucks says he’s coming with us because of the potential snacks we may come across,” Cortes had told Nikolai dully.
I don’t trust that dragon as far as I can throw him, my witch, Hellreaver had muttered where he hung around Mae’s neck.
“You’re one to talk.”
Ilmon had hugged Vlad tightly, his eyes bright with a sheen of tears.
“Make sure you come and visit,” he’d mumbled. “Just ask Alicia to open a portal for you.”
“Hey!” the Reaper queen had protested. “What am I, a revolving door to Hell?!”
Ilmon had ignored her. He’d cradled Vlad’s cheeks in his hands and stared into his eyes. “I’m going to miss you, son.”
Vlad had gripped the Incubus king’s fingers, his face tight with emotion. “Me too,” he’d hesitated a beat, “—Father.”
Ilmon’s pupils had rounded, his expression crumpling. He’d started bawling loud enough for the demons in the castle to run out to see what fresh calamity had afflicted their home.
Azazel had pinched the bridge of his nose while Astarte and Armaros had sneered at the Incubus king.
Vlad had grimaced and gently patted his father’s arm. “Now, now, stop that.”
A harsh wheeze had left him when Ilmon locked his arms around him, squeezing hard enough to make his spine pop.
“No! I don’t wanna let you go!” Ilmon had wailed.
“The Wicked Ravisher sure is an ugly crier, huh?” Hellreaver had mumbled.
Astarte had cracked her knuckles and cut her eyes to Armaros. “You grab Ilmon’s arms. I’ll punch his lights out.”
Nikolai’s voice brought Mae back to the present.
“What do you mean?” he yelled at Azazel.
“It’s a condition I placed inside the soul of Davor Lazar! A curse that meant he could never simultaneously wield the ultimate magic granted to me by God!” Azazel frowned. “My ability to wield white magic was limited when I fell to Hell, but I could still teach it to Davor and Ran Soyun. Davor had little aptitude for it, but Ran was a natural.”
Mae shared a startled look with Nikolai. “That’s why Vedran couldn’t absorb your mother’s magic!”
The sorcerer swallowed and nodded.
They gasped when Vozgan banked. The dragon arrowed toward a narrow pass between two peaks and hurtled through the gap with mere feet to spare on either side. He whooped excitedly as he emerged into a dark valley beyond.
Popo released a panicked screech on Cortes’s shoulder as Vozgan swooped in a near-vertical drop.
“Did someone give the damn dragon coffee?!” Cortes yelled, the parrot wrapping his wings around his face.
“Just shut up and hang on to something!” Vlad shouted, his arms locked on a wide-eyed and green-looking Tarang.
“This is why I hate riding hellbeasts,” Alicia grumbled, her scythe humming in the wind while she gripped the saddle with her thighs.
Mae finally asked Azazel the question that had been eating at her to distract herself from the rapidly approaching forest below. “Was Davor’s familiar Brimstone’s father?”
Brimstone stiffened in her hold.
Azazel met her stare steadily over his shoulder. “How did you know?”
Guilt knotted Mae’s belly when she felt the fox’s discomfort across their bond.
“I just had a feeling.” She squeezed the familiar gently. “I’m sorry, Brim. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
The fox sighed. It’s alright, my witch.
A low whine escaped Hellreaver. Azazel studied Brimstone with a sad expression.
“His name was Akarami,” the demon said quietly. “He was a divine beast. And I will forever regret connecting his soul to Davor’s.” He was silent for a while. “There is something else you must know, daughter.”
Apprehension tightened Mae’s shoulders. “What is it?”
“You sure you want to talk about this?” Alicia asked Azazel warily.
“It is better that I say it now than never.” Azazel hesitated before meeting Mae’s anxious stare. “Barquiel, Ran Soyun, and I used to be close friends. Which is why his betrayal stung all the more.”
A heavy feeling formed in the pit of Mae’s stomach.
“You were friends?” Cortes said, stunned.
Alicia sighed. “This is a bad idea, Zaz.”
“Ran Soyun mentioned something similar when I was in the cave, but I wasn’t certain if she meant it,” Nikolai murmured awkwardly.
“She truly cherished Barquiel,” Azazel said.
Anger heated Mae’s blood. “Whereas he only coveted her!”
“Your mother was a powerful woman. Many were attracted by her incredible magic.”
“Don’t defend him!” Mae snapped.
She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled miserably. “But I—all I can see when I think about him are Na Ri’s memories of the war he brought to your doorstep and what he did to Rose.”
Azazel reached out and clasped her hand. “It is quite alright, child.” Sorrow tainted his voice. “I do not expect you to forgive him. I have known Barquiel far longer than you. After all, we were brothers in Heaven before we became enemies in Hell.”
Vozgan spoke up in the hush that followed.
“I know you’re all having a deep and terribly meaningful conversation, but would you mind awfully if we went to explore that lake for a minute?” the dragon said sheepishly.
“What lake?” Alicia said suspiciously.
Vozgan shot over the edge of a bluff.
The land dropped vertiginously beneath them. Trees blanketed the flanks of the cliff they had just passed and the distant valley below. A dark body of water occupied the center of the depression.
“That lake,” Vozgan said brightly.
Mae’s eyes teared up at the speed of their passage as the dragon dove.
“You’re not thinking of going for a dip, are you?!” Cortes yelled.
Vozgan flinched guiltily. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we’re on top of you, lizard brain!” Vlad snarled.
The dragon looked over his shoulder and huffed out smoke at their frowns. “Jeez. Alright, I’ll just dip my toes in for a moment.”
He was above the lake in seconds and skimming the surface of the water with a delighted sound, his claws and wing tips leaving white trails in his wake.
Nikolai grabbed Mae’s shoulder, startling her.
“I just sensed white magic!” he barked.
Her breath caught.
“Stop, Vozgan!” Azazel roared.
The dragon startled and snapped his wings up and forward, his abrupt deceleration almost sending everyone tumbling into the lake. He circled around to the spot he had just passed.
Mae’s heart thundered against her ribs as whiteness flared in Nikolai and Alastair’s eyes. The sorcerer furrowed his brow, his gaze on the dark waters below.
“There’s something down there.”
Heat filled Mae’s belly and veins. The spell left her lips at the same time Azazel invoked it.
“Contain!”
The barrier of magic and demonic energy that bloomed around them and the dragon pulsed with so much power it cast ripples across the surface of the lake and bathed it in a crimson glow.
“Whoa,” Vozgan mumbled. “That is so cool.”
He extended his neck and sniffed curiously at the shield, only to wrinkle his snout when scarlet static danced across his scales.
Azazel gave Mae a look of admiration. “Your spell is very powerful, daughters.”
She smiled faintly. “Na Ri and I learned from the best.”
Azazel chuckled before patting Vozgan’s neck. “Let’s go.”
The dragon climbed until he was some two hundred feet above the lake, closed his wings, and dove. Mae hung on to his back grimly as he entered the water inside Contain, violent waves exploding around them and surging across the surface.
What little ambient light had illuminated the valley faded rapidly as they sank into the inky depths. Brightness flared around them as Nikolai manifested a sphere of Moon Magic above their heads.
Brimstone shifted in Mae’s arms a moment later. Her head swiveled, her gaze finding the giant, sinewy shapes he was staring at.
Tarang made a worried noise and shuffled closer to Vlad. Popo hugged Cortes’s face with his wings, causing the sorcerer to curse. Even Alastair let out an anxious squawk.
“Do not worry,” Azazel reassured them. “They cannot get to us.”
The water monsters of Hell Deep swam close to Contain, the eddies they cast bouncing harmlessly off the barrier. The radiance of Nikolai’s magic glinted off dark scales, curious crimson pupils, and rows of jagged teeth that Mae suspected would haunt her dreams for a long time.
“Those are sea serpents,” Alicia muttered.
Vozgan licked his chops. “They taste nice salted and grilled.”
The dragon’s eyes glazed over with longing. Hellreaver drooled a little.
“How about we focus on the mission?” the Reaper queen said hastily.
Nikolai’s hands clenched on Mae’s waist. “There.”
The sorcerer pointed at a spot a hundred feet below them and to the right. White magic erupted on his fingertips. The pale trails danced out of Contain and weaved languorously through the water toward an underwater cliff.
Mae’s pulse quickened when his magic traced the contour of an opening. Azazel guided Vozgan into the mouth of the giant tunnel.
The dragon flew for what felt like an hour, his wings beating occasionally as he surfed the currents inside the passage. The shaft twisted, dropped, and rose time and time again, until even Mae started feeling sick.
Redness brightened the darkness below them when they emerged above a precipitous drop.
A chill danced through her at the sight of a river of lava coursing through the bottom of a mile-deep canyon, the eruptions causing hot bubbles to rise toward them. More underwater volcanoes appeared as they navigated cavern after cavern.
Mae suspected they were well beyond the boundaries of the lake and had passed several valleys. She tensed when Nikolai spoke.
“We’re close.”
An intersection appeared up ahead.
“Which way?!” Azazel shouted.
White magic blazed in Nikolai’s pupils. He furrowed his brow.
“Go left.”