Ch. 13 Fire and Fangs

Ten minutes have passed and as the anger inside me rises by the second it is becoming harder and harder to block out Aristotle. I have placed him on like a telepathic telephone hold while I’ve been listening to Lina explain the entire situation now that all of her updates have been completed. In just these ten minutes she has easily explained to me the entirety of the situation. Everything from what she is, an automation created by Hephaestus, to the fact that I’m not even the only mix breed, she tells me outright, quickly and concisely. I must say, I do appreciate it.

I take Aristotle off hold and tell him to make this left. He’s been running through the city under my guidance trying to make it to my mother’s side. She’s taking refuge in the Marriott where me and my bunch of NAACP-Act-So participants stayed during the competition my senior year of high school. That was an awesome trip! Anyway, originally I was telling him the shortest path, but after noticing the major difference in his version of the story I switched him to the long way. Unbeknownst to him of course.

Now, nearing the hotel the only obstacle left is a couple of those zombie-like dragon tooth warriors. Aris easily dispatches the two of them but as he is starting to trot inside I notice him slightly grimace as if his wounds weren’t completely healed yet. Immediately, I regret making him run all that way even more so than I did at that time knowing it was wrong. However, there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’ll just have to apologize later. Knowing this, I quickly brush all thoughts of remorse aside to focus on the problem at hand.

I direct Aris to the fourth floor, via elevator, and the rest of the way to my mom. They meet on the skyway that separated the girl’s side of the hotel from the boys during the trip. It was a good effort but that didn’t stop us from sneaking over there the last couple of nights of competition. God ties, good times I think to myself in sweet, sweet remembrance.

The dragon tooth warriors are starting to quicken their pace and are no longer moving as if they are zombies with swords and shields. Currently they seem to be moving like senior citizens who have taken ancient versions of a self-defense course. Looking at the monitor, I zoom in and realize that the warriors are also starting to look more alive as time passes. Some of them have even started developing skin and muscles moving around much more fluidly than the rest. This is not good, says Tomika, the freckled sentry, as she hopes forward on her torso until she is beside me. I named her after my roommate’s crazy ex-girlfriend who smashed my car windows with a brick trying to hit his parked car parked beside me. Then she tried to justify it saying “oh, well they are the same color.” TRICK, HE DRIVES A 2015 PICK UP! MY CAR IS A ’98 CIVIC COUPE AND YOU

WERE STANDING FIVE FREAKING FEET AWAY!!! HOW DO YOU MISS

OR MISTAKE THAT!! My bad, is all she said before smashing his too, but with a hammer this time. Yes sir, indeed. Anyway, I digress.

Tomika has a seriously worried look on her face as she explains to me that the longer the Dragon tooth warriors are summoned, the more life-like their appearance and the greater their skills become. Eventually, their abilities will rival that of some of the greatest warriors of the Argo. Perhaps even greater. In addition to this, they now seem to have tracked them to the hotel and are all rapidly converging on both buildings the skywalk connects. We estimate about six minutes until several dozen warriors arrive at the same time and nearly complete like Imhotep’s final form from The Mummy. We fill in Aristotle and my mom of the news which takes two minutes and they use the last four to prepare. On the first three floors around the Marriot, they set up Trigger spells, which are trap spells activated by touch or a specific action, like magic hieroglyphics. While they do that Lina, Tamika, and I pan through the entirety of the cityscape because the explosions from the battle between Ace and Orion have ceased with no signs of a winner and neither can be found.

The battle ensures just as we predicted, with the dragon tooth warriors surrounding both buildings of the hotel in the allotted time. Things start off well but quickly start taking its toll on Aristotle and my mom’s Trigger spells. With each trigger trap, being a one off and only four minutes to prepare there just wasn’t enough time to cost more. All things considered though the dozen or so triggers that were cast are taking out the enemy by twice that much, leaving Aristotle and my mom to only pick up the strays. Boom! Boom! Boooom!!! The Triggers roar to life with various destructive scenes. This one opens a portal to another realm where a hungry young hydra waits. Seven heads full of fangs and poison erupt from the floor engulfing the warriors and dragging them down into the portal just before the magic circle closes. That one, in the elevator, ignites as the soldiers either the numerical floor and by the time the elevator doors chime open at their desired destination all that’s left is a clutter of searching, sizzling, weapons, armor, and shields. Aww…for me you shouldn’t have, my, mother says as she picks out a new bow and quiver to replace her torn and empty one before flicking her wrist and magically whisking away the remains.

One by one all of the Triggers have gone off and still the warriors are piling into the hotel by the truckload. To make matters worse, six that have reached their completed form have just entered the hotel as well. They split into two groups of three using both entrances to flank Aristotle and my mom. Their every movement is both purposeful and majestic leaving no trace of their former staggering and zombie like selves to be used against them.

The battle is intense. Aristotle is ripping through wave after wave of dragon warriors with Mom slinging around daggers ad throwing knives in addition to the volleys of arrows she’s letting loose. The two of them are something to behold individually but together they are truly a “hundred eighty degrees. Fingers are falling to the floor like yautumn leaves. Arms…legs…necks…backs…ha-ha... we don’t need those things, must be the theme of such a scene.

With every cut, and bruise they receive Mom and Aris’s teeth grit tighter and they howl, grow and roar back into the fray. Slashing, biting, stabbing, harder than before. Regardless of how hairy the battle seems at times, I can still hear Aristotle in my head telling me to stay put that they “got this.”

Even after getting slashed across his dominant paw he still feels the need to tell me that they’re fine telepathically and don’t leave the sentries side. At first after seeing them going ham on those soldiers, I honestly didn’t want none of that. However, now seeing as they are beginning to show signs of exhaustion standing back to tail against , six fully realized spartan like soldiers cornered on the skywalk I seriously feel compelled to intervene somehow. To make matters worse Tomika and Lina have finally figured out how they all got in the first place and where Orion and Ace have disappeared to.

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Lina plays on encrypted voice message over the comms in the room that she, from what I understand has backed into via the magical version of a cell tower. She calls it the ambiance. The message plays and the voice heard is that of the person I’d been rooming with in the dorms back on campus for the last two semesters Markus, my dorm mate sounded like he was hauling ass through the middle of traffic on foot. Even through his heavy breathing the message we can hear the rush of wind blowing and the cars honking and screeching to a halt like a nut job had just ran out in front of them during peak rush hour traffic in the metro. Dude, he says if you get this message please relay this to your moms for me. Tell her that Darwin Dozier says that you have been made. Do not go to the Villa. Location will be compromised, D-Trackers in last night’s alcohol and Boom! Blam! Blam! Screeeeech! We hear the sounds of a vehicle going airborne before pounding the pavement twice and coming to a heavy metal screeching sudden halt. The rushing winds dies down leaving only Markus heavy breathing to let us know he’s still alive as the ambient noise in the background have also ceased causing an eerie silence to sweep over the surrounding area. Even though the audio alone I can sense an unnatural, supernatural presence drawing near to him. For eight, nine, ten, full Mississippi seconds, all is sheepishly quiet in the immediate areas. Then, there’s a slight friction frisk sound of fabric as Markus starts to slowly move again in a way that sounds like he’s bear crawling or stealthily dragging himself along so as not to be seen. This along with returning to himself as Darwin Dozier instead of Markus Fargus is especially strange, mostly in part, due to the fact that I’ve never met a guy who was more outspoken, loud, and loved his own name as much as him. Seriously we’re talking about a guy whose midterm class project was creating an original opera song and instrumental that consisted of repeatedly saying his name, Markus Fargus, over and over again. Obnoxious night, night, but here’s the kicker, it actually sounded, not good, but great. Awesome even, like it was performed by the greatest opera singer of all time, and I don’t even listen to opera. My point is, Markus is a bold, and naturally annoyingly gifted, loud kind of guy and this is out of character, for him. Like really, really, out of character. So as if things couldn’t get any worse I know right off the back all hell is about to break loose, that is if it hasn’t already.

Markus continues to slow his crawl until the sound of the friction between his clothes and the ground is virtually silent to the untrained ear. For a moment the silence is almost all encompassing almost absolute, and almost so deafening a newborn’s parent would sell their own souls for half of such a silence. However, this momentary peace to gather our thoughts is but a fishing dipped into the vastness of the mind with the sole purpose of reeling us in. It is the calm before the storm disguised as victory and I certainly fall for it. Just as the tranquil sight of a false alarm seeps in there is an uncanny rumble so strong that it causes Markus’s teeth to chatter for a second immediately followed by a jaw dropping, ear shattering, cringe worthy roar that, severs the call.

I turn to the twin sentries and ask if they can take the time stamp from the audio message left on my phone and use the ambient tower thing to pull up a visual of the area at the time of the call? You know like on television, but whatever the magic equivalent is. After a brief hesitation they agree to try but warn me that if the cause is what they suspect it is there’s bound to be major distortion magic afoot to cover their tracks. I accept their warning and promise not to get my hopes up. In the back of my mind though I can’t help but wonder how in the world my college roommates know my mom, and the secrets of my heritage I didn’t even know.

Plus, what kind of creature made that bone- chilling roar?

Enough of that, I say to myself shaking my head. Focus Aaron, gather the pieces of the puzzle. Make them fit like tetras. They were able to follow us all the way here because I was the weak link, the chink in the armor, the sleeper agent of betrayal and didn’t even know it. Even so though, everyone else told me in the beginning that the barrier around this place was considerably strong. Ace even said himself that he wouldn’t be able break it solo, and he would need at least two top tier mages like mom or another primary deity to assist him just to put a dent in it.

Basically, our keys are the only easy way in especially since the likelihood of a team up of that caliber is extremely miniscule mom had added. Aside from Ace and I most realms have little to no interaction with each other unless absolutely necessary. When I think back on their words again but then restarts the for earlier the centuries had said there were multiple intruders and one being Orion was so dangerous, he has been blacklisted. However, despite his great skill set something tells me he still would not be able penetrate the magical barrier by himself through sheer force. Orion was somehow able to acquire not just a few but tens of dozens of dragon teeth to spawn his Warriors and that is just the ones we have seen. Who knows how many he really has? Which leads me to believe one of two things either he came back to life on his own is it some great power he obtained in the afterlife, or he is being backed by someone much more powerful than himself.

Honestly, I would like to believe it is not it's the latter and it's not that easy to snatch fangs from a dragon, if only for my pride's sake. I trained hard for the last 40-plus days in here. True, Orion does have a few thousand years’ experience on me, but I really feel that unless he always possessed a monstrous physical strength like Hercules or Beowulf the only way those fangs are coming out is if they are stuck in your dead body.

Because of these reasons I really feel like an idiot when I realize that it must be Sovereign again. As the Undisputed god king of dragons acquiring such an army would be Child's Play. Furthermore, by aligning himself with the Ryan who for the record doesn't like us anyway given his history with Ace. The only ones who stand to lose everything is us if all goes well, so in their eyes this is a win-win except for maybe the dragons that lost their beloved face of course. The real question or at least the most important one still eludes me. I know the who, the where, when, the Y, and the general Howe of the events that lead us here. Sovereign has teamed up with Orion oh, the hunter of Legend, launched an assault on Earth, here and now I do not location we believe to be most secure so that we would have a false sense of security. I was unconsciously used as bait together everyone and followed like breadcrumbs from Hansel and Gretel. It had only taken a few moments for me to put everything I had gathered thus far together. I guess my expression still struck the century is a strange because when I turned to look in their Direction, Linda's face was just inches from mine. Almost done Instinct I have step back and start to throw a left straight stopping part way realizing it is her. "Jesus Christ! Don't do that we're on freaking high alert, I say. She responds, "apologies master your intense concentration gave us cause for concern what's wrong. " shaking off the surprised I tell her that the "what," is the problem. What do they want I ask Alena? if they wanted to kill me, they could have put poison in my drink at the party and if Zavran wanted my body like when I was first born some date rape drug could have done me in. Instead, after drinking too much, I catch a lift and crash at my mom's place just to be safe. Only, to wake up and get pummeled by the estranged mythological father I never knew I had, because his informant said they were soon coming for me. But they had already made their move on me, so it does not make any sense. No alarms were raised and the barrier shows no signs of forced entry according to this magic output chart I just pulled up. The enemy is here for a reason and I know it's not for me what is it you two?