“She’s going to die!” Yulus shouted.
He found himself at the door of the audience chamber without knowing how he’d gotten there. He streaked for the front entrance. Behind him, Nagi pumped her tail, propelling herself after him.
“Your Majesty! Wait! Calm down and let’s think things through!”
“No! That mother’s going to get herself killed! And it’s like you said – if we don’t end things now, my people are going to die anyway! There’s no point in staying out of it if Lord Silurus is going to destroy my river anyway!”
They reached the gateway – and a blue-white wall that extended all the way from the riverbed to the surface of the river. Trapped inside the ice were the hazy forms of upside-down catfish, their mouths open in terror, and eels knotted up in a panicked clump. Captain Carpa’s shocked eyes accused him.
Yulus placed both palms against the ice. At once, demonic coldness pierced his scales and raced up through his hands into his arms. It tried to freeze his blood.
“Melt!” he commanded.
Under his chin, his pearl glowed, dimly at first, then brighter and brighter as he forced his power into the ice. The wild boar demon was strong, but he was no match for a dragon. He was no match for Yulus, rightful lord of the river. Slowly, ever so slowly, the ice began to give way.
“Can we at least be strategic about this?” Nagi shouted into his ear. “Your Majesty! If you’re going to melt your way to the surface, at least free the most important people on the way there!”
That was Nagi – practical even under the most dire circumstances. Yulus angled the flow of magical energy to the left, creating a tunnel that led towards Captain Carpa. Water flowed in after him and Nagi, lapping at and helping to melt the walls. The last sheet of ice between them and Captain Carpa thinned, and the carp spirit helped by wriggling and twisting until one of her spiked fins sliced through it. Between her and Yulus, they shattered it. Water gushed around her, and she fell into it with a gasp.
“Are you all right?” Yulus asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty, Prime Minister!” She snapped a salute. “Reporting for duty!”
Nagi sniffed. She’d never liked the captain much, Yulus knew. But she ordered, “Go downstream, get Captain Carpio and his guards, and tell them to cut our people out of the ice. Here.”
She passed Captain Carpa half of a bronze fish token. Captain Carpio carried the other half. Fitting the pieces together let soldiers know that an order was authentic.
“Of course, Prime Minister.” Captain Carpa swept an ingratiating bow. “I shall do so at once.”
Down the river she swam, the very picture of a reliable soldier.
A bright yellow glow lit the ice, then dimmed, like an explosion. Yulus cast a vision on the ice wall next to them and sucked in a breath. A star sprite had just appeared above the frozen river. He was speaking to two humans – one of the baron’s knights, and that traveling mage who’d once barged into his water court.
Hope and excitement surged in Yulus. “Is Heaven getting involved? Do we have Heaven on our side?” Maybe Lord Silurus’ time had come after all!
Nagi (figuratively) doused him with ice water. “If Heaven is involved, we need to be even more careful. Who knows which faction is here?”
Unfortunately, she was correct. Yulus debated with himself. He could stay down here and, if necessary, plead later that he was so busy being a benevolent ruler and rescuing his vassals that he completely missed the drama above him.
Or he could leave the rescue effort to his guards and be a king.
For a moment, he remembered Mooncloud, that adorable catfish he’d had. She’d told him once, I believe in you! Also: Yes, you can!
He couldn’t and he hadn’t in the end, that time. He hadn’t secured enough rain for Black Sand Creek, setting off the whole chain of events that culminated in watching Lord Silurus eat Mooncloud and that poor little human girl right before his eyes.
This time, he wouldn’t let it happen. This time, he wouldn’t watch the little girl’s mother get eaten. This time, he would stop Lord Silurus.
The Dragon King of Black Sand Creek raised his arms, pressed his palms to the ice above him, and commanded, “MELT.”
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Flicker shot through the night, past the confused rock macaque soldiers. Seizing Mistress Jek’s arm, he yanked her into the air. His golden glow wrapped around her, and she became as light as he. He towed her towards us. She struggled and shouted at first, and then begged, but he refused to let go.
The two floated over the rock macaques, who gazed up with awe in their exhausted faces. Sure, they were demons, but they were as susceptible to pomp and drama as any law-abiding spirit. For a moment, I hoped that the thrill would revive them long enough to finish off Lord Silurus. But as soon as Flicker flew past them and his golden light left them, they drooped again. No, the soldiers were at the end of their strength.
Flicker landed in front of us. Mistress Jek stumbled on the rough ice, wrenched her arm free – and crumpled. She lay on the ground, weeping. Floridiana knelt and put a hand on her back.
Ragged cheers rose on the riverbank. I turned, still perched on Sir Gil’s head, and surveyed the scene. Of the army that had assembled there this afternoon, hardly anyone was left. The rock macaque soldiers had all been sent in against Lord Silurus, and now they were dead or injured or eaten. Captain Rock looked dazed by the losses, perhaps wondering how he was going to explain himself to his king. Den sagged, drained by all the magical energy he’d spent. The cats’ eyes had dimmed to practically nothing.
Lord Magnissimus’ snuffling drifted from the other side of the catfish, so I knew he was alive, but he wasn’t dealing the finishing blow either. Lord Silurus might be at the end of his strength, but if we couldn’t kill him now, it didn’t matter.
If only I had one more trick to play, one more ally to summon! But I didn’t, and we couldn’t finish off the demon.
He groaned and began hauling his mass over the ice, towards open water, where he would escape, hide in his lair until he recovered, and then return to his wicked ways.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
We’d bought the people here a handful of years, decades perhaps, when the river would be safe – but that was it. A brief respite.
So close! We’d come so close to defeating Lord Silurus! I had to go wail at someone. At Stripey. He’d understand how I felt. Where was he? I scanned the sky – and remembered, once more, that he was gone. He’d died, saving me.
Would the Accountants count that for him – or against him?
There was no way to know. But it would be more likely to count for him if he’d saved the life of someone who then went on to defeat a human-devouring demon, right?
I looked up at my last hope. Maybe the star sprite could manage more than light tricks and transportation. Hey, Flicker –
But I never finished the question.
Because the ice next to Lord Silurus exploded. The shards sparkled in the moonlight, cascading down around a familiar figure.
A black dragon, with a pearl blazing under his chin.
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“It’s over, Lord Silurus!” Yulus shouted. “Your reign of terror has come to an end!”
(That was what you were supposed to say, right? When you confronted the Evil Demon?)
He burst into open air, landed on the ice in front of the catfish, and skidded on some pebbles. A cold, scaley coil braced him and held him upright: Nagi, right next to him as always.
Her tongue flicked in and out. She reared up like a cobra about to strike. “Monssster! You’ve killed too many people in this river!” She was so upset that a single, snake-like hiss slipped out.
One catfish eyeball swiveled around to focus on them, but that was the only part of Lord Silurus that moved. “A monologue? You plan to monologue at LORD SILURUS?”
It was the quietest they’d ever heard him speak. He really was at the end of his strength.
Nagi whispered, “I’ll distract him,” and drew herself up straight. “Lord Silurus! Demon spawn! In the name of the Dragon King of Black Sand Creek, I hereby charge you with the crimes of betraying your liege lord, committing lese-majeste against his person, pillaging and plundering his fief, murdering and devouring his vassals, deliberately taking actions that force him into conflict with his neighbors the Green Frog and the Right Honorable Baron Claymouth….”
As the list of offenses dragged on, Lord Silurus’ eye narrowed.
Trusting Nagi to hold his attention, Yulus shut his own eyes. He focused on gathering all the power he could from inside himself and pouring it into his pearl. He was angry, he realized. He didn’t get angry very often, but he was now. Or maybe he had been, for a long, long time, and he just hadn’t admitted it.
Anger was good. Anger gave him strength. Anger helped solidify his magic, like a hazy mist transforming into rain.
He recalled all the times he’d stood by as Lord Silurus murdered people – his people, people who as his vassals were entitled to his protection, which he owed them as their liege lord. He recalled the attacks that Lord Silurus made on humans who only wanted to fish or play in the river. He recalled that massacre where Lord Silurus poisoned the river to decimate Yulus’ vassals and intimidate him. It had worked too. After that, Yulus had never supported another hero against the demon.
Then Yulus recalled when he’d been appointed to take over here from the previous Dragon King of Black Sand Creek, who’d been promoted to a lake somewhere in the south. The star sprite clerk who’d given Yulus his seal of office had hesitated, chewed his lip, and mumbled something about a “troublesome” catfish spirit who lived in the river.
Troublesome indeed! True, Yulus’ laxness and failings as a dragon king had enabled the demon to grow bolder as the centuries passed – but from the start, Lord Silurus had been more than just “troublesome”!
Rage flared. The pearl blazed brilliant white, lighting up the insides of his eyelids until he could see the web of blue-green veins. Yulus opened his eyes.
Nagi was still next to him, holding Lord Silurus’ attention. She’d stopped speaking in generalities and begun to list specific crimes in chronological order. She was still two hundred years from the present day, but when Yulus opened his eyes, she gave him a tiny nod and wrapped up: “And, finally, for the crimes of sullying His Majesty’s official progress down the river by murdering a human girl right in front of him, and of robbing His Majesty the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea of the tribute prepared for him! The Dragon King of Black Sand Creek will now pronounce your sentence!”
Lord Silurus’ whiskers, which had been lying limp on the ice or drooping down his face, twitched. Another time, Yulus might have fretted, but right now he was too full of wrath and magic to care. Stepping forward, he flung back his head so the demon got a full view of his blazing, crackling pearl.
“Silurus! Catfish demon!” he shouted for all to hear. “By the power vested in me by the Jade Emperor in Heaven, I hereby condemn you to death!”
And he released his power. Bolts of lightning shot out of his pearl, splitting the air with a deafening BOOM and lancing at Lord Silurus. They struck him everywhere, from above, from the sides, from the front, and where they hit, his skin sizzled and bubbled and blackened. Under the assault, Lord Silurus flopped and screamed wordlessly.
A burned smell – not entirely unpleasant – filled the air and spread to those on the riverbank. Gasps rose.
At last, Yulus ran out of energy. One last line of lightning, thin as a thread, licked out, failed to jump the distance, and shrank back into the pearl. Yulus sagged, remembered that a king could not be seen to sag, and straightened.
Before him, Lord Silurus lay motionless, his skin golden brown and crispy all over. By the Jade Emperor! Everywhere the wind blew, it carried the aroma of roasted catfish!
Yulus gagged.
A familiar voice broke the silence. One that he’d heard calling, Your Majesty! as the cutest little catfish ever swam towards him, glistening in the sunlight that lit the river…. The same voice that, come to think of it, he’d heard from that turtle who’d taunted Lord Silurus out of his hole.
Ha! And that’s what you get for refusing to listen to me, the voice gloated.
It couldn’t be!
…Could it?
“Mooncloud? Mooncloud! Where are you?” Yulus looked around frantically, all dignity forgotten.
“Your Majesty!” hissed Nagi. “You forget yourself!”
Of course. That trick of stealing victims’ voices. Yulus had literally just heard it in play. His heart sank. Had he failed to finish off the demon after all? Was he really just that weak?
Movement on the ice. Was it his imagination? He looked harder. Yes, there was movement.
A small dark blob, turtle shaped, was lumbering towards the demon’s head.
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Ha! Lord Silurus was dead at last! Dead! There he lay, roasted in his own skin, smelling amazingly delicious. Off to my right, an oversized belly growled. Now that Yulus’ lightning show was over, Lord Magnissimus trotted back up to his meal. One crispy, golden-brown fin broke off and crunched between his teeth.
I told you so, I informed the cooked catfish. I told you that you needed to learn how to earn good karma. Now look at you. Dead as dead can be, a feast for those who killed you. Oh, you’re going to fill so many bellies tonight!
And indeed, Captain Rock was leading his surviving rock macaques forward, all of them with rumbling tummies. Sir Gil was galloping up the riverbank, shouting to Den that he was going to report back to the Baron and invite everyone in the barony for a feast.
I offered you an alliance. I told you we could work together. And instead, you claimed that you would never be killed or die, and you ate me. Now you’re going to reincarnate as tapeworms and leeches and lice and other parasites until the end of time. You’re going to love that, aren’t you? Life after life living on humans, always doing them harm? Never getting a chance to earn good karma?
I got a sudden, unwelcome image of Stripey doing just that, but I stamped it out. Stripey had never killed this many people. Plus he’d played a crucial role in defeating Lord Silurus. He’d be fine. Maybe an earthworm – but I’d started as an earthworm, and look where I was now.
Something moved on the edge of my vision. A whisker? No, all the whiskers lay still. They’d never move again.
It serves you right. You should have listened to me from the start. You should have –
There was motion! The closest whisker lurched at me. Slowly, oh, so painfully slowly for the Ex-Bane of Black Sand Creek, but I was a turtle and I was even slower.
The whisker looped around me and dragged me across the ice.
I craned my neck to gape at Yulus, who was running forward with his hands outstretched. Golden light shot through the air: Flicker coming to my rescue.
I thought you killed him! Why isn’t he dead??? I yelled at the dragon.
Then the whisker jerked and I was sailing through the air between two very familiar rows of jagged steel teeth.
Flicker! Flicker! Save me!
Crunch.