True Flame nodded. “That would be wise.”
“I’ll take Earth Son.” When faced two evils, Wolf would rather deal with the known.
When True Flame announced the pairing, Earth Son shook his head.
“I do not like this pairing. Forest Moss will go with Wolf.”
“You will go with Wolf.”
“I see reason for the pairing, and as clan head I should be with you.”
“I have given the choice of partners to Wolf since he is in disadvantage,” True Flame said. “We don’t have time for this. You are to pair with Wolf.”
Thorne Scratch stepped forward to murmur in Earth Son’s ear. The Stone Clan domou cast a dark look at his First and then smoothed his face to the unreadable mask of court. Wolf wondered what Thorne had to say to Earth Son.
“So my mewling infant of a cousin, I swear that was the last time that you’ll twist matters to get an unfair advantage.”
Clouds boiled across the sky. Wolf could sense a magical shifting of the winds, as if someone called them with a spell.
“I think the dragon is coming.”
“Wolf.” Storm held out something. “This goes in your ear. It’s like the walkie-talkie but smaller. Nagarou wanted you to have it. You should be able to use it without it interfering with your magic — I tested it with my shield.”
Wolf took the small bud of plastic. “How does it —”
Storm fitted it into Wolf’s ear. “Nagarou has gone to act as a spotter with the NSA. He is in the Cathedral. He will talk to you.”
“Windwolf, this is Oilcan.” The young man’s stated calmly in Wolf’s ear. “The dragon is in south east Oakland, at the intersection of Bates Street and Boulevard of the Allies. It’s seems to be leveling houses.”
Which meant it was less than a mile away.
Wolf did a wide range scry and caught the passage of something large in that area. Earth Son finished his spell and as he shook his head, Wolf lost the scry on the dragon.
“This way,” Wolf started to walk. Forbes Avenue was a major street in Oakland with multiple lanes leading from the downtown out to the Rim. The EIA had stopped traffic in the city, erecting barriers. To his right, at the center of its lush lawn, was the towering Cathedral of Learning with Oilcan at its summit. To his left was the massive stone Carnegie museum.
“Tell me how to get to Bates,” Wolf said.
“Go through that parking lot your left.” Oilcan started into the directions.
True Flame indicated that he would continue down Forbes Avenue, following his scry.
The boil of clouds had darkened to angry gray, with streaks of black where thunderheads were starting to build. When Wolf reached the top of Bates Street and looked down the hill it climbed, he saw that the shield around the massive dragon created a miasma that was forming the clouds. He understood now why the humans thought his lightening would be able to strike — it was the perfect lightening weather. Cloaked by his shields, Malice moved within the misty darkness, showing only flashes of himself.
“Call your shields,” Wolf told Earth Son. “Keep him back, otherwise the lightening will arc to us.”
Remember, you can’t trust Earth Son, Wolf thought to himself, and called on the winds in order to summon his lightening.
The darkness shifted, as if Malice had turned, and the gleam of his eyes appeared in the miasma and then vanished.
“He’s shifting to your right.” Oilcan’s voice was flat with the effort to keep the information concise. “He stopped just around the corner, behind the brick house.”
Wolf didn’t know how Oilcan could tell from his perch above the miasma but Wolf knew the humans had their ways. Magic thrummed around him, ready to be used. He shifted through his call lightening spell. His right hand primed the clouds as his left hand readied the ground. Magic flooded the street on a hot wave of air that flared out his duster. The hairs on his arms lifted as the magic shifted into potential. He felt it reach critical point and he brought his hands together, aiming the channel through which the lightening would run. The faint leader flashed downward out of the belly of the clouds, and then the return stroke leapt from behind the brick, up to meet the leader with a deafening clap of thunder. The blinding column of light flared the dark miasma to white haze, and the thunder rumbled as the stroke climbed up into the sky.
Malice roared in pain and anger. The lightening licked the sky, as leader and return stroke danced back and forth over the open channel.
“He’s coming at you!” Oilcan said.
“Keep him back!” Wolf shouted at Earth Son and started another call.
Earth Son locked into place, both hands set into shields. He was holding a force wall set half a block around them and another shield wrapped tight around himself. The lightening flared again and again. Wolf could feel the thunder in his bones. Malice stepped through the brick house, coiling like a ghost snake. His eyes gleamed blood red. Down Malice’s left flank was a massive smoking wound.
Wolf felt twin spikes of magic flash through the area and a moment later a fire strike bloomed around the ghost Malice. The dragon ignored the flames, rushing toward Earth Son’s force wall. Wolf focused on the growing potential, waiting for it to hit the critical point. He could only cast the spell, though, if Earth Son kept the dragon at a distance.
The lightening died and darkness closed in around them.
“He’s through your shield!” Oilcan cried. “He’s through your shield!”
Malice must have stepped through Earth Son’s shield the same way he had walked through the house. There was no time for Wolf to change to spells.
“Earth Son, cover me damn you!”
In the dark, the ghost Malice was a presence felt, not seen or heard, bearing down on him. A fire flare went off, lighting the area. Malice loomed over them, transparent as smoke. As the dragon snapped into solid form, a shield wrapped around Wolf. Forest Moss was protecting him.
The dragon struck him. The shield held, but the ground underneath didn’t. The pavement under his feet lifted, and he was airborne.
He had a dozen heartbeats to realize that Forest Moss had been able to save him from the blow, but that he wouldn’t be wholly protected at the landing. And then he hit.
“Windwolf! Windwolf!” Oilcan shouted over the radio. “He’s still after you! Can you hear me! Malice is coming for you!”
Pain shot up from Wolf’s right hand. Hissing, he looked down and found his fingers bent at impossible angles. He cursed, hunching over his hand. He could attack or defend, but not both now.
“Windwolf?” Oilcan called to him again.
“I hear you.”
“The oni are attacking the dreadnaught.”
Wolf cursed. “Get a message to True Flame. Tell him to deal with the oni. I’ll keep Malice busy.”
A backup source for magic was shielded, the spells were printed off and floated in place, the computers were turned off, and the crew was gathered around her. She cast the magical magnetic pulse spell and it flashed through her like a cold wind, leaving her feeling strangely empty. With sudden panic, she realized that her body might be a living computer.
Oh gods, I hope that didn’t destroy my ability to call the stones!
Esme powered up the workstation beside her. “Well, it didn’t kill our computers. We’re coming up to spell stone range in two minutes.”
Tinker triggered the first spell that pumped the filtered stored magic out. It was a relief to feel the magic start to pool around her feet. Tinker had told the astronauts they needed silence, and they had taken her seriously. They watched now, silent, fearful. More than one had their eyes closed, and lips moving in prayer.