Page 12 of Hex and the City
My fingers curled into fists. My toes curled into the floorboards through my gross, wet socks. What did the goddess want?
“No doubt you’ve heard tales of dragons who would lower themselves, allowing humans to ride them. Reduced to pack animals, they are, to beasts of burden. We do no such things. We are dragons of the sea, my kin and I. Free as the ocean, tumultuous as the waves, strong as the tides. And we mean to rideyou, human.”
A chill ran down my spine. The air smelled of seawater. I thought I could hear the distant crash of waves against the shore. I held my hands up. “Okay, hold on. This is confusing. You don’t mean literally, of course?”
Tiamat narrowed her eyes. “Don’t be preposterous,” she said, throwing the word right back in my face. “For whatever reason, your puny body appears to be conducive to receiving temporary surges of power. As a host, if you will.”
I clenched my teeth tight, choking back the word ‘parasite,’ which sounded very much like what Tiamat and her sea dragon siblings were. These wormy, squirmy serpents, snaking their way into my body. I shuddered, shook my fingers off.
“You’re telling me that you want me to offer myself as a puppet for you to control. Give you consent to possess my flesh. Don’t take this the wrong way, Tiamat, but that sounds like a terrible bargain.”
The goddess raised her eyebrow, ears pricking at the sound of the word. “Yes. A bargain. It would not be an unfair exchange, little creature. You would be granted access to the greatest of our talents. A taste of true draconic might, if only for a short while.”
My lips pressed together tightly. I kept my features still, holding my curiosity on the inside. A taste of true might. Something beyond sleeping salt, more concrete and certainly more destructive than the harmless holographic projections I could make with my magic.
“Okay. Then why me? Why not just exert your influence on the world directly, you and your kind?”
She rolled her eyes, like the answer was something everyone already knew. “There are those in this world who wouldn’t look kindly upon ancient creatures of legend unleashing their powers in such open and crass ways. We entities of this Earth have survived so long by keeping ourselves hidden. Gone are the glorious days of worship, of old temples and offerings and sacrifices. We are now the other. To many, we are now the enemy.”
I noted that she deliberately did not answer my first question. Why me, exactly? Maybe for the simple fact of what was familiar. I was born by the ocean, hailing from a nation made of over seven thousand islands. We had our own legends, and one of the greatest involved our own dragon of the sea, a myth echoed by cultures all across the planet. That could have been her reasoning, the mere resonance.
“That would lay the blame squarely on me,” I said. “Whatever action I take while one of you rides me, as you put it, to the eyes of everyone who lives in this reality — that would make your actions my responsibility.”
“You make it sound as if we would be in total control of your actions.” Tiamat shook her head and chuckled. “No, little speck. We simply long to unleash spurts of our wonder into this world. You are merely the conduit. Free to open the door at will, shut it at your every whim. We long to savor the freedom of reaching our claws into the world of man, of breathing our fires. We long to Emanate.”
Emanate, she said, infusing the word with so much meaning and gravity. I looked down at my hands. A fast track to unimaginable magics, quite literally at my fingertips.
Tiamat padded forward, a single wet footstep. “Think on it, little lion. Become our link to this world. Allow us these smallest luxuries that we’ve been denied for so long. We exhale. We unfurl our wings. And you, in turn, breathe fire — take flight into clearest skies.”
Chills. Fucking chills. Conjuring dragonfire, experiencing the total freedom of flight? And that was a new name, too. Better than puny thing, or feeble creature. Little lion, she called me. Tiamat was clearly trying to get her hooks into me, ingratiating. The worst part was that it seemed to be working.
“I can’t say that I’m not a little tempted,” I said, still struggling to play it cool. “How often? How long? And — and how much will it hurt?”
She laughed. “Only as long as you are willing. And pain is fleeting, little lion. What is a moment of hurt compared to the sheer exhilaration of relishing divine power? I offer you the strength and the scales and the flames of the world’s greatest behemoths. A chance of a lifetime. Of several lifetimes.”
My lips trembled. I couldn’t answer. But was I actually considering? Was this really happening?
“Will you accept our offer? Unleash a world of power beyond your ken. Show this Earth that you are so much more than a mere witch boy.”
The knot in my stomach tightened. We’d only just met, but the goddess already knew me too well.
“Show your hand, little lion. Let them hear you roar. Are you not tired of running?”
Tiamat reached out with taloned fingers, inviting, beckoning. My hand trembled as I lifted it to meet hers. Her skin was cold and wet with seawater, but the pact seared like flames between us, fire rushing from her flesh into mine.
“Run no longer, Witch Boy. From now on, they shall run from you instead. Burning, and screaming.”
Dragonfire filled my veins, filled every crevice of my body, my soul. My blood was boiling. I fell to my knees, whimpering in agony through gritted teeth, trying to pull my hand away. Her fingers gripped with monstrous strength as the flames surged between us, pouring into my skin.
“Tiamat. I’m dying.”
The goddess shook her head and smiled.
“No, little lion. Your life has just begun.”
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