Page 19 of Elixir of Strife
The Masque held his hand flat above the crown of his head, then swept it down his body so quickly I didn’t even realize that most of him had vanished. Most of him. Only his mask remained, a hovering crescent moon, an infuriating Cheshire smile. And then that disappeared, too.
“No,” I muttered to myself, alone in the alley once more. “That wasn’t an illusion. That’s just how you teleport.”
So what did he really mean about Leon and his dragons?
9
LEON
Iknelt on the ground, lurking in the darkness of a great, hulking building. A warehouse, to be specific. Waves lapped at the jetty, gentle and soothing by night. The scent of saltwater tickled and stung at my nostrils, a slow breeze. The docks were still. The docks were quiet. But my heart was racing.
By all accounts, this was a terrible idea. Monstrously terrible. What kind of genius would go back to the scene of a crime? Not that there was any crime committed back at the bottle warehouse — well, if you didn’t count Max picking the locks and letting us in. But the broken bottles? Not our fault.
Still, I had to know. What if Roscoe was right? What if that stupid Aqueous Elixir was still inside the warehouse, sitting pretty? And perfect, and unblemished, and unbroken, because its structurally superior bottle was supposed to be all sorts of impervious to magic.
And what kind of magic did they even use to explode the warehouse, anyway? They being this faceless, nebulous piece of crap who had to go and sabotage our first run at the elixir. Had to be an aquamancer. Lame. I couldn’t imagine dedicating my life to the study and arcane use of water, of all things.
“Have some respect,” said a voice in the back of my head. “Do not underestimate the power of water.”
“Pipe down back there.” I frowned into the darkness. “Bakunawa? Is that you? Do you always listen to my thoughts?”
He harrumphed, exactly as I imagined an ancient dragon would. “Only when you say patently false things about water and the wonders and terrors it brings. It offers nourishment and vitality to every life form on this pitiful planet of yours, but it can also bring floods, drown cities, crumble mountains.”
“Over a long period of time,” I said, holding up a finger, putting it down again. I was losing it, talking to an actual voice inside my head. “It’s a universal solvent or whatever, but that still takes time.”
Bakunawa grunted. “You weren’t complaining when I sent those walls of water to save you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. Thank you for saving my hide, but especially Max’s hide. I really am grateful, actually. I didn’t even specify and you offered protection anyway.”
After a moment’s pause, he answered. “Well, I like your tone much better now. You’re welcome,bruho. Now, why are we here, and what are we hoping to accomplish?”
“Honestly?” My fingers dug into smooth cement, my nails picking up grit. “I have no idea. I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be here.”
“You really shouldn’t,” a voice growled from beside my head.
A hand clapped over my mouth, the other arm restraining me by the chest. I struggled, kicked, until I recognized the voice.
“Calm down, Leon,” Max whispered. “It’s just me.”
I slapped at his hand, pulled it off my face, hissing. “What the hell are you doing scaring me like that?”
“You were going to scream otherwise, whether in surprise or in fear.”
I scoffed, staring at him aghast for a quiet moment, but he was absolutely right. He smelled absolutely delectable, too, like he’d just stepped out of the shower, gotten all dolled up for the evening. Hints of tobacco and leather, and faintly of flowers. Was he wearing Diablo 69?
No. Pointless question. I had to ask the right one.
“What are you doing here, Max? Were you following me?”
He grimaced. “Don’t flatter yourself. And I could ask you the same question.”
I chewed on my lip for a second, then guiltily admitted the truth. “Aqueous Elixir,” I mumbled.
“Same,” he said, the sea breeze catching the fog of his breath. “I hate feeling as if we’ve left this particular stone unturned. And I was getting antsy, waiting on Daniel Lyon to get back to us about a second bottle. How do you even go about tracking something like that?”
How indeed? “Through their nebulous grapevine, maybe.” I nodded at the warehouse. “I know I won’t sleep well until we’ve seen for ourselves that there isn’t any Aqueous Elixir in there.”
Even in the dim light, I could sense the shadow of Max’s smirk. “And how were you planning on breaking in, exactly? By burning your way through? Rusting the hinges until the door fell off?”
