“What are your goals?” Valerius asked.
“Again, what are yours, Valerius-Raziel? Is it not to rule over this bit of rock?” the brother on the left mocked. “Why should ours be so different?”
That made Illarion laugh. “Oh, you really don’t know him if you think that! He would rather brood in his castle than rule. But the people--ah yes, the people--they want him to be in charge. He only accepts such power grudgingly. That is different from you.”
Valerius glanced at Illarion. This friendship between them, nascent as it was, was going to take some getting used to.
“That must bother you, Illarion-Mephous. To have power simply given where it is not wanted,” the brother to the right said.
“It did,” Illarion admitted, which caused the Behemoth great pause. “But it is not his fault. He is the Black Dragon King and that… has its burdens.”
Valerius smiled as he looked down. Illarion did understand him. He always had.
“That is why I am grateful to have the support of my fellow kings and queens,” Valerius stated. His eyes fixed on the brothers. “But you… you enslave those at your side. All your power is stolen.”
The Behemoth gave him twin stares of rage. They spoke in unison, “You know nothing! We are meant to be one! Your feelings of comradeship now are only because we are here! You sense the one-ness! The helix shows the truth!”
Illarion shook his head and muttered, “Madness!”
But Valerius wondered if it was madness. Yet he didn’t think that the Behemoth’s interpretation of what was happening was correct. They belonged together. As a pack, a clan, a murder of Dragons. They weren’t meant to be without one another as he had so long believed. No, they were as one to protect this world and end the Behemoth.
Valerius smiled--and it was not a nice smile--at the Behemoth as he answered, “You have given us some insight, Behemoth. We are much stronger together than apart. You have shown us that. And that will be your undoing.”
Cat And Mouse
Landry stayed out of the open. Caden tracked her as she slipped between houses, raced across backyards and jumped fences. She was faster than he remembered her to be, but, then again, she was a Shifter now. Often she would lift her head to look up at the sky as his and Iolaire’s shadow fell over her. And when that happened she would speed up even more and snake towards the narrowest of side yards where there was no chance of him getting the drop on her.
She appeared to be heading towards the high wall that separated the Mid from High Reach. There were entrances to the tunnels and staircases there. If she made it to one of those before Caden and Iolaire cut her off, they would likely lose her.
And Caden was not losing her.
More than just anger and fear fueled him now. When he had told Valerius and Illarion to remain behind, he and Iolaire had chosen to take on the mantle of protection of Reach alone. They needed to keep the people safe no matter what. His feelings for Landry right now were complicated. He had no idea how much of her--if anything--was left. But he was haunted by the idea that Landry was inside of that body with the Behemoth, crying out to him, with him simply being unable to hear her. But killing her was not what he intended anyways. He wanted answers from the Behemoth.
She’s heading between those two buildings, Iolaire! What do you say about some frost breath? Caden suggested.
They would be able to drop down and send a gush of super cold breath between a two story hardware store and a single story home. There was enough room for them to get their head between the buildings and wrap Landry in a cocoon of ice.
Iolaire hooted in agreement.
They dropped down and hovered at the back of the house and hardware store just as Landry dashed between them. They stuck their head forward, their jaws opening, and let out a blast of icy air. The air went white before their eyes. It wasn’t until the frosty fog cleared that they could see that the sides of the structures and the ground were all covered in slick ice.
But Landry was not caught in it like an insect in amber.
Caden didn’t see her anywhere at first but then there was the tinkling sound of breaking glass from the far side of the house. She must have boosted herself up into one of the windows on the side of the house, run through the house and then threw herself out of the window at the front.
Lights immediately appeared in several rooms in the home as people were roused from their beds.
“What on Earth is that, Jacob?” a woman’s voice, high and tight, rang out.
A man’s voice, not much deeper, answered, “I don’t know, Mary! Oh, my God! The White Dragon is outside!”
“What? Let me see!” Mary responded.
The curtains in the back room opened and Caden saw a man and woman--Jacob and Mary--staring up at them in shock. Their mouths were open and they were pointing. Both were in night clothes and looked as if they might faint.
Sorry! Sorry! Caden called, though they couldn’t hear him as they rose up into the air again.
They caught a flash of white as Landry dashed across the street and entered the business district that separated the single family homes that comprised most of Landry’s old neighborhood from the wall to High Reach.
