Page 7 of Elixir of Strife
An induced hallucination, then. Another taste of my own medicine, illusory magic, a dose of it delivered by an actual dragon. Touché. Still, this guy could easily break me in half and half again. Knowing he was a dragon clothed in the skin of a man only supported that theory.
“Do not presume that seawater is my only domain, impetuous whelp.” Bakunawa’s features were harder, making this already intimidating man seem that much more threatening. Somehow, the room seemed darker too. “You know for yourself how far my influence ranges. You know the old stories, do you not, Witch Boy?”
There was a twist of distaste to those last two words, which felt very strange to hear from him indeed, considering how my friends used it as something closer to a pet name, a mark of their fondness. Surely an ancient dragon of my home archipelago wasn’t going to be an old-fashioned grump about my unusual arcane status. Right?
“Come now, brother,” Tiamat said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Times have changed. A witch is a witch is a witch, regardless of how the human presents itself. Why does it matter that thebruhasof his line birthed abruho? I’m quite sure you’ll change your mind once you’ve tasted the sweetness of his soul.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I held my hands up, backing away. “Was that what you were doing to me, Tiamat? Eating bits of my soul each time I called on you to Emanate?”
The goddess waved her talons at me dismissively. “Please. It’s nothing, little lion, I assure you. Simply a figure of speech. Trust that we are not gradually nibbling away at pieces of your soul, slowly consuming it. How utterly droll.”
I ruffled up my hair in frustration. “Well, that doesn’t reassure me at all, now, does it?”
Bakunawa sighed. He walked closer, leaving a footprint of sand under every step. Oh, good. Something else to clean up. Didn’t I have a mop around here somewhere?
“Consider this. How does it benefit us to weaken and kill a human who has willingly presented themself as a conduit for our power? Early man could not have traversed the oceans without a seaworthy vessel. Why would we break the best vessel we’ve found in a long while, knowing that the rest of our kind may still want a turn on the raft?”
My gut was so prepared to send me running away from all sea dragons, blaring warning sirens throughout my body. But yet again the lure of power left me standing with feet firmly planted on this little island that the dragons had designed for me. Were they offering me a resort vacation by the sea, or secretly planning to dump me there as a lone, stranded survivor?
Bakunawa was right, though. Why would they break their only boat? Surely there were more out there, but why ruin the one vessel they’d found who already had a grasp on magic in the first place, no matter how minuscule? And again: the promise of meeting and manifesting even more dragons.
Tiamat crossed her arms and clucked her tongue. “Well, human? Do you accept? The sands in the hourglass, they don’t stop trickling. We don’t have forever.” She chuckled and shook her head. “What am I saying? Of course we do.”
I studied the faces of the sea dragons, these immortal beings of supreme power hidden within the flimsy skin of their near-human disguises. Of course I was going to accept. Tempting me with a figure of folklore from my own homeland, from my actual childhood? Even my mother would tell me to at least consider the offer.
I held out my hand. “I accept.”
“Excellent,bruho.” Bakunawa smiled, taking my hand in his own, his palm and his fingers rough, his grip strong. “You will not regret it.”
Where our skin met I felt the crackle of electricity, the sting of quiet lightning as his power surged into my flesh. Oh, God. He said I wouldn’t regret it. Very funny. I fell to my knees, clenching my teeth as the rage of an ocean storm poured into my soul.
I forgot about this part. I completely forgot about the agony.
4
MAX
Irocked on my heels as I stood in line at one of my favorite bakeshops in Dos Lunas, the air sweet with the scent of sugar and delicious bread. Closing time at Batter Up was the best. That was when they discounted most anything that hadn’t sold yet. Fifty percent off some of the city’s tastiest pastries!
And Maximilian Drake loved him some tasty pastries.
I craned my neck, hands in my pockets as I checked out the selection still in the display cases. Not long to go now, just three people ahead of me. Lots of this stuff would still be great with a little reheating. I could split something nice with Leon at my apartment before we ran out to scoop up the relic that the gruesome twosome at Succulence wanted.
Sure, the pastries weren’t as fresh as they could be. But I loved a bargain. I learned that I loved them especially after separating myself from the rest of the Brillante clan, understanding that I’d need to scrimp and save where I could, no longer having access to my family’s wealth.
Things were better this way. I wouldn’t have to answer to our elders, how they sent the younger among us to do the filthiest work, sullying our hands and our souls with blood and dirt. Even more importantly, it meant I no longer had to answer to my mother, the coldest and cruelest of them all.
The Brillante family had a way of following me around like that. Granted, I’d have a better chance of avoiding run-ins if I’d only move away from Dos Lunas, but the convenience of the apartment, of having my pals at Unholy Grounds nearby made that such an unpleasant option. Maybe part of me still hadn’t accepted the severance completely.
Plus, I never would have met Leon if I hadn’t stayed in Dos Lunas.
“Next,” said the woman behind the counter.
I scratched my chin as I perused the goodies behind the glass. Funny, that, because it was usually a dude handling the register around this time. No matter. I pinpointed three things I wanted by sight alone — a huge chunky chocolate chip cookie, a lemon loaf, and some buns — then raised my head to place my order.
My finger pointed at the stuff I wanted, my face wearing an automatic smile. “This, this, and this, please, and can you — oh. Oh no.”
The creature behind the counter grinned at me with rows of perfect white teeth, luscious lips painted in red lipstick, hair set in enormous, swooping waves. On the outside, she resembled someone who belonged in a beauty pageant, all smiles and big, bright eyes. On the inside, she was a swirling pit of evil.
