Chapter 736: The Drach
"Hang on," I said, hand still engulfed in his. "The Creator made the maji who formed the planes."
A rumbling song rang from the gathered dragons.
"They would have you believe so," Max said. "It was Creator's desire they be responsible for the formation of life. But we, Creator made and set free."
Random. My brain sizzled with further connections. "The wild magicks," I said, thinking of the tumbling, happy threads I'd freed from the Brotherhood, the same power that warned me about the sorcerers' takeover of the stronghold.
Max nodded as the song softened, my skin no longer crawling from the push of their power. "Our souls," he said. "What remains of us when we are done in physical form."
Oh. My. Swearword. "Those ribbons?" The flittering butterfly-like magic I'd carried with me as they grieved. "Drach souls?"
Max's laugh was nothing like his spoken voice, reaching inside me, in harmony with my very spirit, making me smile, too.
"Their freedom was our trigger," he said. "We've been watching you since your creation, Light One-Syd." Nice I didn't have to remind him. "We knew you would come to this place, when the time was right. Fate foretold it and we have long awaited your coming."
Fate again. Sigh.
Then again, hadn't Demetrius said random needed to be free? And that random always won?
My gaze drifted to the female drach waiting behind Max with the silent patience of a statue.
Not so random, then, if Ameline and I both had access.
"The maji won't help me," I said, doing my best to keep the bitterness from my voice.
"We don't have their excuses or restraint," Max said. "We are here to serve in any way you need." His smile returned. "You remember me," he said. "I'd already told you I was a friend. But our only restriction was being forced to wait for you to come to us of your own free will."
Which hadn't exactly happened, had it? Ahbi cheated. Why wasn't I surprised? Not that I was complaining. The idea of having a dragon army to command when I crossed to the empty plane to fight Liander Belaisle made me feel way better all of a sudden.
I couldn't help the grin pulling on my lips as the mental image of the sky over the stronghold filling with winged fury just made my day.
"You've been here the whole time?" Damn, I could have used them in so many scenarios, if I'd only known.
"Not at all," Max said. "We reside within the veils themselves."
Shock. Hang on, veils? And another memory, of being lost, drained of blood. Alone and dying.
His eyes didn't change, but Max nodded.
"The young maji would never have rescued you from the veil where you were trapped," he said, "if we hadn't opened the way for you."
Wow. "I guess I owe you a big thank you," I said, feeling my throat tighten. Guardian angels the size of a house? Sign me up.
"Not at all," he said. "It was our honor. And our duty to you and to Fate."
I guess I could forgive Fate for the past then, as long as it stayed out of my way from now on.
Yeah, that was going to happen.
"For now," Max said, body shrinking further until he was no bigger than Dad, gray skin taking on a pinker, more natural tone, though his corneas remained that same, shining diamond. "We have a rescue to undertake."
Meira. Damn it, where were my priorities?
Gasp. One further memory made my urgency even more abrupt.
"Quaid." My hands trembled violently a moment. "Trill and her brothers."
"Caught by the Brotherhood." I looked up, realized Max already knew.
"Can you help me free them, too?" That blow to my head really did a number, but frankly I wished someone would whack me again to make me forget I'd abandoned them.
To save Meira.
Still.
Max's eyes darkened, as though the light behind the jewel went out a moment. "We can try," he said.
Not the resounding "hell yeah" I was looking for, but he didn't say no. So I'd just let that be a yes and carry on.
"Enough yammer," I said, taking his hand again. "You driving or am I?"
Max's laugh went a long way to endearing him further. A dragon with a sense of humor and almost limitless creation power? We were going to be very good friends, I could just tell.
"Perhaps I should lead the way," he said. "Since you don't know where we're going."
Oh. Right.
I don't know what I was expecting. A chorus of angelic cherubs singing their hearts out. Fireworks and the stink of brimstone, maybe. Instead, Max simply tore a hole in the veil and stepped through.
Just like I would have done.
Not sure why knowing how similar we were freaked me out, but it did.
Yup yup.
Be ready, his mind touched mine, brushed against it, really. Even so, the briefest contact made me gasp as the vastness of his spirit opened for a moment and showed me his soul.
Good thing he stopped talking before he let us out the other end. Or I wouldn't have been able to function.
As it was, my temper saved me, as per usual. The second we passed through the veil into the dark beyond, I spotted Meira. Fighting. On the edge of a platform, so close my demon shrieked in fear and drove me forward to save her.
I might as well not have bothered. As it turned out, despite Max's knowledge to the contrary, Meira seemed to have this little battle well in hand. Her amber eyes flashed at me as she spun and planted her booted foot-platforms edged with six-inch spikes-into the chest of one of her kidnappers.
I tried not to wince at the sound of him screaming as he fell.
And fell.
And-
Thud.
Ick.
Another went down under a swift blow from Max's big fist as he roared. Not a normal roar, like one my demon might utter. Oh, no, not even close. His roar sounded like a freight train was coming. Sorry, ten freight trains. And an earthquake.
Meira's wide-eyed stare left her wide open to an attack, but I was there, lashing out with both fists, calling on my marital arts training and the pure fighting power of my demon, snapping her attacker's nose in crunch of splintering bone and then a solid thunk as my other fist impacted his breastbone, the deep, wet sound of his insides tearing almost enough to cool my temper.
Almost.
I spun to find Max had a demon pinned even as my sister flashed me a grin, long hair trailing around her in the breeze.
"Nice of you to show up," she said. I took a step toward her, hooked her with one hand, dragged her back from the edge. Only then did I answer.
"Way to get yourself kidnapped." I grinned back.
She shrugged. "I was bored. Needed a little excitement."
We stood there a long moment, giggling. It was only Max's soft sigh that broke our hysterical moment.
"This one is their leader," he said.
Meira raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me before nodding to him. "Good guess," she said.
"Meems, this is I can't pronounce his name so call him Max." I turned to the dragon who smiled at me. "Max, my sister, Princess Hathenemeira, heir to First Seat of Demonicon."
He bowed his head to her. "A great honor, Your Highness," he said. Hoisted the groaning demon in one hand as his head tilted, diamond eyes glittering. "What would you like me to do with this?"
Meira's answering grin was vicious. "I think he needs to meet my father," she said. "And say hello to the bitch who hired him."
I bumped her fist. "Time to narrow down Dad's choices."
Meira's anger glinted in her eyes. "Can't wait," she said.
***
