Dragon 6 Chapter 27 (Patreon)

As the two hands threatened to crush me, I shifted back to my hybrid form, grabbing the closest hand and hanging on for dear life as they came together.

My head rattled and I felt like I was going to vomit, but I was alive.

As small as I was compared to Iapetus, the indentation at the center of his palm was deep enough that I wasn’t crushed. But now I was relatively trapped. The heel and the crown of his hands were touching above and below me.

As I tried to clear my head, the surface of his palm crumbled in my right grip, forcing me to lose my hold. I just took the chunks of rocks and stuffed them in my face. Then I grabbed another fist full, and kept stuffing my face, even though my stomach felt like it was going to burst.

Iapetus raised his hands to his face, glaring at me as I continued to tear into his palm.

“Sorry, man. I don’t know the next time I’ll have a chance to eat titans. I mean, you have to be some special sort of food right?” I spoke between crunching rocks.

His other hand swung high, and I knew it was time to skedaddle. Wings shot out of my back, and I flew on the air pressure from his hands. Like a daredevil, I shot out of the closing gap in his hands just as they clapped together in a boom that shook the air.

Escaping his hands, I once again found myself flying amid the giants. The monstrous one was still holding the others back while Iapetus spun to face me.

There was a red flash, and jags of red magic filled the air before something small shot from Bart above.

“I missed. You need to get that into the back of his neck,” Bart shouted.

In Iapetus’ chest was a thin, red lance glowing red and gold, with magic that was rapidly fading.

I tucked my wings and dove under Iapetus’ hand. As I got into position, I unfurled my wings to catch the wind of his next swing and rode the air high as the titan roared in my face. I knew where I wanted to go, and he seemed to also understand that I was targeting the new glowing spot in his chest.

He hand swung down, and I rode the wind until I was at the bottom side of his hand. I used my claws to catch his craggy skin and hung on with all my might. Iapetus’ hand clapped his chest with enough force that I doubted even Tiamat would have survived.

And my heart raced seeing that I was about four feet from where I would have been crushed to paste. I clung to the side of his hand as Iapetus lifted it off, checked his chest and frowned. Then Iapetus started looking around.

Thankfully, I’d fought off enough flies and gnats to know how to use some of their tactics. While the giant was looking around, I flew off his hand and got my claws on the magical spear my father had shot.

The giant’s last slap had driven it in deep, forcing me to brace my feet against its chest and heave to get the spear to even budge. I pushed once more, knowing I didn’t have long to dislodge it.

The hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and I jerked with all my strength once more. The spear came free, and I let myself tumble downward before his hand thundered another clap on its chest. Snapping my wings back out, I rode the wind and sailed around the giant.

Iapetus spun around several times, and I bid my time, waiting to swoop down and plunge the spear into the back of its neck. But it hadn’t escaped my notice that the spear seemed to be glowing dimmer by the second. I couldn’t wait for the perfect timing.

Seeing a good enough opportunity, I dove, rushing for Iapetus’ neck with the spear cocked back in my right arm. I got so close just before the giant’s eyes swiveled to track me.

I saw the recognition in its eyes, but it was too late to pull back.

His hand came around, and I threw the spear with all my momentum and strength. It shattered Iapetus’ craggy skin, sending chunks flying as the spear embedded itself into its neck.

I waited for a big boom, or really anything, to happen and stop Iapetus. “Did it work?” I shouted.

As my voice echoed around the space, a big, red sphere expanded from the spear, wrapping around Iapetus and caging him. It shoved me back as it expanded and out of range of his swing.

I stared at it, wondering what would happen next as his fist punched a big crack into it.

“Get out,” Bart shouted, and I didn’t question him. I flapped my wings for all they were worth.

There was a sound of a thousand windows shattering after Iapetus broke Bart’s spell and a soul whizzed past me, thrown by the giant. I shot into Bart’s little dingy, which now felt woefully too small for the giant heading our way.

Iapetus clambered over the other giants and tried to climb out. But it did look like he was struggling against the tide.

“Time to go!” Bart pushed with his oar and the boat started to leave.

There was a roar behind us, and Iapetus’ head rose above the edge of the river. But then the second, far more terrifying, giant got involved. It grabbed Iapetus and jerked its head back as the giant, fanged gorilla tore into its throat.

“Holy shit. Is that one about to eat the other?” The power beyond the fanged gorilla was beyond anything I’d seen on Earth.

“Typhon. He seems to like you.” Bart looked over his shoulder. “Doubt he’ll be able to eat all of Iapetus, but they’ll bloody each other up enough that we can escape.”

As he said that, Typhon pulled a serpent from the hundreds dancing on his head and then hurled the snake at us.

“Watch out!” I grabbed my father and pushed him down, shifting my arm and holding it out as if it would do anything.

But before the snake reached us, it shrank to something that wasn’t even a concern.

It bit my arm as I watched, and then wrapped around the bracer on my arm, becoming the same metal as the bracer and fusing to it. But its fangs were still rooted into my arm, making the bracer seem far more permanent.

“What the?” I lifted it up to see a very scary looking snake with horns on its head curled around the bracer. The girls had once told me it was made out of some sort of tungsten carbonate, yet the serpent managed to blend right into that very specific metal.

Bart stood back up and brushed himself off, as if there weren’t two giant titans fighting just a little further out. “I told you. I think he likes you. He’s always been a fan of his progeny.”

“Wait.” I had so many questions. “He’s where dragons come from?”

“Among other monsters. Don’t sweat it. We are long distant from Typhon.”

“And what about your spell? It failed.” I looked over my shoulder. There was no sign of his spell still on Iapetus.

“It worked. Son, those creatures are primordial beings that have been alive before the first things gave breath. We never were going to be able to seriously injure them at our current strength. I simply cut his connection to the outside long enough to sever any existing connections he had made. Winter will be free of his influence, but she’ll still have what he gave her,” Bart explained.

“Oh. That doesn’t sound so bad.” If Winter held onto the power, then we wouldn’t have to use the fragment of the crown; actually, I could give it to Maeve. It would be a good tool for her to protect herself if she needed it.

Bart shrugged. “What is done is done. Winter made a deal with Iapetus. I don’t know who initiated the deal, but they will both likely suffer.”

I frowned but nodded. “So, then, what about this?” I held up my bracer.

“No clue. That’s a surprise for your future apparently. Like I said though, Typhon is the father of monsters. We are monsters after all, my son. We might pretend to be humans, and we might have noble goals, but time and time again when humans discover what we are, we are nothing but monsters.” His words held a tiredness within them.

I wanted to argue, but there was a reason we tried to keep ourselves under wraps in Philly.

“What do you suggest? Right now, humans are sniffing around the paranormal community.” I waited, happy for some guidance on how to proceed.

“I don’t know the present situation, but I know of the recent past. How did everything fare from our collision with the Church?” My father leaned in, interested.

“We lost most of the dragons. Sentarshaden survived, so it became a gathering point for paranormals in Europe. The vampires held the Balkans. Otherwise, it didn’t really spill out past Europe, though there are small conflicts in America,” I tried to summarize the complex history.

He cast a glance back at the whirlpool that we were quickly leaving behind. “And you just picked a fight with the titan responsible for starting humanity. I’m sure nothing could go wrong.” His tone was dripping with sarcasm.

I set my jaw and looked at my bracer again, not liking the fact that the father of all monsters had felt the need to send the snake with me. It felt like a part of something larger, something I didn’t understand yet.

“If I try and head this off by talking to important people in the human world, do you think that would do some good?” I asked.

“What a perfect mission for a dragon raised as a human.” Bart gave me a knowing smile. “Sorry, son. You will not have an easy life, but at least you seem to have a large number of partners to help you. I even saw Ikta among your women. That was a shock. I would have thought she would hate you given your mother and I.”

I sighed. “Maybe she got crazier when she was sealed away. But she just wants to make a lot of dragon babies.”

She’d certainly changed her opinion, and I was hoping that my siren would be able to have the same change of heart. Ikta had wanted to wear Jadelyn’s skin at one point, and I had a feeling that was going to be a touchy subject.

But I had a year and a half to figure it out.

As we continued back to the beginning of the Underworld, I could see the others arrayed out on the beach, watching and waiting for me. My heart warmed. The beast in me preened as it looked at its mates, the insatiable fucker not seeming near done.

Ikta saw me first, rising on her spider legs and waving wildly.

“Eager even,” Bart grunted. “If it turns out well, tell her I’m sorry for the whole sealing thing. In my defense, she had become a menace.”

“You can tell her yourself. Besides, we have a wedding to go to as soon as I can grab mother and free Winter,” I started talking quickly in my excitement, only to realize that my father was silent.

His pained smile told me all I needed to know.

“You aren’t coming.” It wasn’t a question. My excitement dropped to the bottom of the river as if a bucket of ice water had been poured on me.

“Sorry. I made a deal with Thanatos to get you out of Faerie. He’s a friend and made me a good deal, but I cannot break my bargain.” Bart looked remorseful. “But the good news is that you will live a long time, and I’ll be done with this eventually.”

I let out a breath and forced myself to stand up straight. “Then thank you, Bart. Your help here was vital.” I couldn’t call him father, not when he wasn’t going to stay.

“Thank you. I’m glad I got to see you. You’ve grown up to be an amazing man. I wish I could have watched it. And I wish I could join you for your wedding.” His boat ran ashore, and Ikta was practically pulling me out of the boat.

“See you.” I swallowed and forced myself to look away.

“My king.” Poly grabbed me and Trina looked me over head to toe for injuries.

I was naked and a little banged up, but the bruises would all heal relatively quickly compared to my spirit. “Let me get some clothes on.” I pulled my last pair of jeans from my bracer.

But as I moved my arm, Polydora grabbed it and flipped it over in her hands, noticing the serpent.

“What is this?”

“A gift from Typhon.” I shrugged, not sure what it meant.

Ikta let out a small squeak. “Typhon?” She came over and gingerly touched the bracer, tracing the snake. “Yes, this is one of his serpents. What in the world did you do?”

“I got in a fight with Iapetus and cut off his connection long enough to save Winter.” I really didn’t feel like getting into all of the details.

All of the ladies looked at me as if I had grown two heads.

“How are you alive?” Ikta pinched my cheeks as if to check. “Huh. You seem to be living. We should leave. Like now. I do not want to see an angry titan charging across the river Styx to take us all.”

“Titan?” Evelyn nearly shouted, catching up with those who understood a little more. “Yes, let's get out of here.” The nymph pushed me, and I cast a last glance over my shoulder at my father, who was waiting on the little boat and smiling at me.

“Don’t look back.” Ikta pushed on my cheek. “We need to go. You too, bag of bones.”

T grumbled and stood up from where he’d been resting next to his family’s tree. “I’m coming.”

I had to do a double take. “Holy shit. You look… like you are alive.”

T still looked like an old man, but more like a friendly grandpa than shaking hands with death himself.

“Ha,” T let out a dry laugh. “I had time to commune with my tree and restored much of myself. Maybe I should make this journey more often.”

“Pardon me if I don’t come with you on those.” Helena was the first to the passage and crouched before it, launching herself upwards before catching the cliff face and starting to climb.

“Come, come.” Ikta started up ahead of me, her spider legs doing all the work. Once again, she was making me look up her dress and laughing about it.

But her antics made me smile a little, forgetting the pain of leaving my father behind. If she was going to mess with me, I’d mess right back. “You know, you are kind of cute from this angle, Ikta.”

“Oh my god,” Helena cursed from ahead. “Really?”

“What?” I shrugged as I hauled myself higher. “I’ve promised that I’d join her in a pool with nymphs. We all know what that means.”

Ikta blushed and paused to bat her eyelashes at me. “I’m surprised you are opening up to it so much.”

“You are attractive, Ikta. A little crazy, and I still have a grudge against you for going after Jadelyn, but we’ll figure it out,” I reminded her.

“The wolf?” She looked at Maeve.

“The siren,” the fae corrected her.

Ikta made a sound of understanding. “Yes. That one really had your eye, and she is a more comfortable height than the wolf or fox.” She let out a lamented sigh. “Are you sure that is going to be a problem? It is in the past; besides, my attacks gave you a good reason to ‘protect’ her. If you think about it, I helped you quite a bit.”

“I promise it is going to be a problem for her, and for the fox. You need to make it up to them.” I looked around her dress to meet her purple eyes.

“But I already have your promise.” She smirked.

“You do, but I still have some power. I could get a vasectomy before I go in the pool with you and the nymphs. I could take away what you really want: my seed.” I didn’t hold back.

Ikta’s eyes went wide. “I have no idea what a vasectomy is, but your threat is understood. There are still loopholes available to you. What do the siren and fox like?” She leveled herself with Maeve and Evelyn on the climb.

She seemed most comfortable among the other fae.

“First off, try using names. Jadelyn is a siren with blonde hair that is nearly white, and Scarlett is the kitsune with orange hair,” Evelyn coached her.

Ikta nodded vigorously, bobbling on her spider legs. “Yes. Jadelyn and Scarlett, but he often calls them Jade and Scar?”

“Those are names you get to use when you have reached a certain friendship with them,” Evelyn instructed.

“Yes, yes, this all makes sense. What does Scarlett like?”

“Muffins,” I said, still moving ahead of them. “You can win Scarlett over with muffins and by proving that you aren’t a threat to either of them any longer.”

“Muffins?” She frowned and looked to the two fae to translate.

“A type of baked goods. We can show you how to make muffins, and then you can try and make some creative ones with things from Faerie. She’ll appreciate that.” Maeve shook her head, like she couldn’t believe she was helping the wild fae. “But we have a few things to do first.” She looked over to me.

“Yes. Time to go free Winter, grab Tiamat, and get back before I’m late to my own wedding.”

“Wedding.” Ikta’s eyes lit up. “Are there special muffins for weddings?”

I shook my head and continued the climb. She was a whole bag of crazy that I had apparently signed up for.