The Firedragon Page 7

  He laughed humorlessly. “All your life? You’re fourteen.”

  “Well, I feel like I’ve been around forever, always doing the same freaking thing: Learning to fight the supernatural. It’s what I am. So I don’t care what the Triumvirate wants. I’m gonna win.”

  If Vilk was right about the government wanting everyone to watch the champions die, then it was more important than ever that she destroy the fangbeast. With that in mind, she returned to her motorbike, jumped on, and revved up the engine. There was no point in standing here arguing with the old jerkface. She had a monster to gank.

  As she rode away, she heard the rumbling of another engine and turned, puzzled. A moment later, Vilk pulled up beside her on his own motorbike.

  “Why’re you following me?” she snapped.

  “Like I said, I don’t want to see a kid get killed,” he grumbled. “With me as backup, you might stand a chance.”

  Hours had passed since she’d arrived in Manhattan, and they still hadn’t found the fangbeast. All four champions who had run into it were dead. A fifth, the third Norm champion, had been killed in an encounter with a group of skinwalkers, which had been roaming around the city … one more thing to watch out for.

  What if they got her too? Not so long ago, Aurelia would have dismissed the thought, but after all the deaths she’d seen, she couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. Yes, she was the best. But so were the people the fangbeast had torn to shreds. And none of them had stood a chance, even though they’d all been great fighters. They’d probably thought the same thing she had – that they would be the exceptional one who’d take down the creature. They’d all been wrong, and now they were dead. What if she was wrong too?

  Her blood turned to ice in her veins. She didn’t want to even think about that possibility. Thinking about it would just make it even more real, and she couldn’t afford that right now.

  She needed to finish the Challenge and take her victory. Once she had it, she would inspire Norms across the globe with her victory, and they would rise up. Force their evil governments to stop treating them like dirt. She’d be propaganda all right, just not the sort of propaganda the Triumvirate expected. She wouldn’t be an example of what became of Norms when faced with monsters. No way. She’d be a celebrated symbol of what humans could do without magic. Maybe they’d even make the anniversary of the Challenge a holiday in her honor.

  Firedragon Day. The thought brought a slight smile to her lips, and for a moment, the light of hope chased the doubts and fear away. I like the sound of that.

  But the moment was short-lived.

  A shiver ran down her spine, the kind that told her danger was coming. Unable to pinpoint what had triggered that feeling, she jammed the brakes on her motorbike and looked around.

  Then she realized what was wrong: Vilk was nowhere in sight.

  “Hey, Grandpa!” she yelled. “Where’d you go?”

  She glanced around, but heard no answer. Funny, he’d been with her a minute earlier. For the past several hours, he’d been riding beside her, fending off specters with that pellet gun of his. Why’d he disappear so suddenly?

  Maybe he saw something weird and went to take a look. She listened breathlessly for the sound of his motorbike, her heart thundering away behind her ribs. After what felt like ages of waiting, she jumped off her bike and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Hellooooo! Grandpaaaaa!”

  “Shut it, girlie.” Vilk’s gruff voice came from behind her. “I’m right here.”

  She spun around and saw him standing in the shadow of a crumbled skyscraper, in a spot she hadn’t even looked. Unwilling to let him know she was actually kind of glad to see him, she crossed her arms rather than grinning, and scowled. “What happened to your bike?”

  “Engine blew, so I had to run to catch up. You didn’t stop when I called.”

  At that, she dropped her mouth in a sheepish expression. “Oh. Sorry.”

  Then she paused. What he said about his motorbike failing made perfect sense, but something didn’t seem right. He didn’t sound out of breath, and she didn’t recall hearing him yell. But why would he lie?

  He held up a hand and motioned for her to approach. “Let me see your Procul Mirror.”

  She pulled the small mirror from her belt and handed it to him, still suspicious. “What happened to yours?”

  “Fell when my motorbike stopped and broke.” He held the mirror to his face, narrowing his eyes as he watched it.

  Aurelia tapped her foot. When a minute or so passed without an explanation, she asked, “What’re you doing?”

  “Looking for the others. I think it’s more than obvious by now that the fangbeast can’t be killed by one person, and even two probably isn’t enough. We should team up. Might be our only shot at surviving.”

  A few hours earlier, she would have said she didn’t need anyone’s help. But with half the champions dead, she was beginning to think that having backup might not be bad idea. Though something about him still made her uneasy, she had no reason to doubt his logic. So she just shrugged. “Okay. As long as I get the kill shot.”

  She expected some kind of lecture from him, but he remained silent and continued to watch the Procul Mirror. After a few minutes, he said, “Found someone.” He handed the mirror back to her. “There’s another champion a few blocks from here. Let’s go.” He turned and walked along the sidewalk, remaining in the shadow of the building and obviously expecting her to just go with him.

  Aurelia raised her eyebrows. “Um … Gramps? Motorbike might be faster? You can ride with me.”

  He grunted in response and turned to follow her to the bike. She watched him closely, still wondering what was going on, and noticed him squinting in the sunlight, his face twisted into a scowl.

  He must have noticed her bemused expression, because he turned to her and said, “Just got a splitting headache. Light makes it worse.”

  “That sucks.” She eyed him skeptically, wondering if there was something else that was bothering him. But she had no real reason to doubt him – just a bad feeling. Maybe she was overthinking everything, and he really did just have a headache. He was old as the hills, after all. A lot of help he’ll be if light bothers him, she thought disdainfully, jumping onto her bike. “Okay, where to?”

  He got on behind her and gave her a few directions to get to the other contestant. He seemed to know the layout of the city awfully well, and she frowned again at his behavior. This city had been destroyed for ages. How did he know where the streets went?

  “Did you live here before it got wrecked or something?” she asked sarcastically, twisting back to shoot him a glare.

  He gave her a wry smile. “Let’s just say this isn’t my first time in Manhattan.”

  Turning her eyes back to the street, she felt a chill creep down her spine. Something about Vilk seemed … wrong. What was it, exactly? The feeling of looming danger lingered, but she couldn’t figure out what was causing it. He was acting weird, but was she over reacting?

  The sound of shouting interrupted her thoughts, and she jammed the brakes and brought her vehicle to a halt. Unable to understand the language, she whirled to see who it was. A boy with black hair, who looked about Connor’s age, stood next to a motorbike in the middle of the street, aiming a wand at her.

  Recognizing him as the champion from China, she called, “Hey! Relax!”

  “Ni yao shen me?” the boy demanded.

  “Huh?”

  The boy repeated his question slowly.

  Aurelia swung her leg over the bike, jumped off, and walked toward him. “Okay, I know you and me probably share some common ancestors, but I’ve lived in the Triumvirate all my life. I know exactly two words of Chinese: ni and hao, which I think mean ‘hello’ when said together.”

  The boy looked past Aurelia, and his eyes widened with alarm. “Lu huo!” A green blast flew from the tip of his dark brown wand, and Aurelia ducked instinctively and glanced back just in time to see it hit Vilk in t
he stomach. The older man fell, screaming in pain.

  Shocked, Aurelia pulled out one of her swords and faced the boy. “What’s your problem?”

  He pointed at Vilk. “Skinwokah!”

  Skinwalker? Where? Sensing an attack, she spun again in time to see Vilk jump to his feet. His eyes glowed unnaturally white, and his face was horribly contorted, scowling, and ravenous. He charged at her, his hands reaching for her throat. Raw instinct took over, and she lunged at him, swinging her sword in a high arc. Her blade sliced through his neck, beheading him before she could register what was happening.

  Vilk’s head tumbled to the ground, where it quickly shriveled into something that looked like a skull made of ground meat – dark red and mottled with black. The rest of his body collapsed and shriveled as well, becoming a human-shaped monstrosity of skinless flesh. Aurelia gagged. A human skin was tied around the thing’s neck like a cape, its weathered arms twisted in a knot.

  She stared at the real Vilk’s empty face, lying there like a discarded rag, and the truth struck her like a blow to the head. So that was why he’d fallen behind. He’d been attacked by a skinwalker, and she hadn’t even known. She’d never heard of a skinwalker taking human form before, but obviously it was possible.

  She could only guess that the monster had watched them long enough to be able to imitate his behavior … And she’d been dumb enough to fall for its act. The idea about teaming up with the others must have been the monster’s way of rounding up its prey. She’d known that skinwalkers took the forms of pack animals and waited for the herds to reassemble before attacking them all at the same time. She’d just never imagined she would see one try to do the same to humans.

  Before she could explore that thought further, a mixture of howls and roars surrounded her. She whirled toward the sound and saw several sharp-toothed, snarling predators running toward her. Wolves, cougars, and bears with luminous, supernatural whiteness in place of their eyes – skinwalkers in animal form. Their sharp claws flashed in the waning sunlight, their hungry eyes fixed on her, and she knew that one of her greatest fears had come to life. The skinwalkers had surrounded her, and if she didn’t act soon, they’d devour her.

  But she couldn’t move; the sight of Vilk’s lifeless skin paralyzed her. Then, in the corner of her eye, she saw the Chinese boy throwing blasts at the creatures, shouting the magic words in his language.

  A moment later he reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Kuai pao!”

  He yanked her toward his motorbike and jumped on. Though her mind was still too foggy to form any meaningful thoughts, a sense of urgency spurred her to follow. She jumped on behind him, and he revved up the motorbike’s engine while she grabbed his waist with one hand, holding a sword aloft with the other. There was no telling whether the skinwalkers would catch up with them. Not that she’d be able to see them. Her eyes were stinging and watering until the world around her was a blur.

  It could have been the wind. Or it could have been the sobs that rose in her chest.

  The motorbike zoomed forward, but she scarcely noticed. Now that Vilk was dead, only four champions remained. Maybe it was time to beg for mercy. Seeing what remained of Vilk frightened her like nothing had before. He’d been an experienced Defender whose skill even she had to respect, and yet it had killed him so quickly, he hadn’t even had the chance to cry out. Which meant she hadn’t had the chance to help him.

  He’d been an ally. And she’d failed him.

  If she’d been paying more attention, she might have realized earlier that he wasn’t riding his bike beside her, and she might have found him in time to save him from the skinwalker. She hadn’t asked for his help, but he’d been on her side, and in spite of all the not-so-nice thoughts she’d had about him, that meant something to her.

  But now, he was dead. The Challenge had killed him. And if she didn’t get a grip, it would kill her too.

  The motorbike came to a sudden, screeching halt, cutting her thoughts short, and Aurelia’s face banged against the back of the boy’s head. The impact forced her to confront reality, and she looked around wildly for the skinwalkers, raising her sword. But they were nowhere in sight, and the tall buildings around her were unfamiliar. Dark panels hung askew off the walls of each, the jagged glass of their broken windows reminding her of teeth.

  For a moment, she was confused. Then she realized that the motorbike must have outrun the creatures. A slight trickle of relief loosened her taught muscles, but it was short-lived. There had to be a reason boy stopped his motorbike, and she had an uncanny feeling that they were being watched.

  He jumped off and held up his hands in a gesture that clearly said: “Wait.”

  She nodded, then watched as he pulled out his wand and approached the ashes of a burnt building. What did he see? She’d always been good at sensing when danger was near, but now her instincts were thrown by the shock of seeing Vilk dead. Wake up, Firedragon! If there was something out there, she needed to know about it!

  She jumped off the bike and moved to follow the boy. “What is it?”

  “Yao guai,” he whispered, his voice tense.

  Aurelia didn’t need to know Chinese to understand what he’d said. Monster … She pulled her other sword out of its sheath and swung both blades by her sides, trying to shake the tension away. This was what she’d been waiting for. Come on, focus …

  In the distance, a black creature emerged from behind the ashes, eyes and fangs glowing. It had the body of a hound, but the hungry look in its feral eyes made it look fiercer than any creature Aurelia had encountered before. Though it was too far away for her to see it clearly, she knew what it was.

  The fangbeast. It was here.

  And it had spotted them. Yellow flames erupted from the fangbeast’s body, and it disappeared in a burst of flames. A split second later, a giant fireball appeared between Aurelia and the Chinese boy. The flames vanished, leaving behind the growling, ferocious monster.

  Aurelia held up her swords. This is it. No more searching. No more waiting. The ultimate fiend, the favorite of the Lord of the Underworld himself, was crouched before her. Waiting.

  But before she could make her first move, the Chinese boy raised his wand and yelled, “Bao zha!”

  A red explosion tore through the air, sending Aurelia flying. She landed on her back, the impact knocking the wind out of her, and scrambled to get up, inhaling deeply in hopes of steadying her head. She couldn’t have chosen a worse time to encounter the fangbeast. Right now, she was shaken and distracted by what had happened to Vilk. It was the only excuse for missing that first shot.

  Now, she saw that the fangbeast had taken things one step farther. It had rapidly multiplied and was attacking the boy, who yelled a spell in Chinese and threw up a green force field.

  Her chest clenched and she had to concentrate on her breath to keep it from freezing in her throat. Realizing how tightly she was gripping her weapons, she forced herself to loosen her hands. Any moment, those monsters could zero in on her as their target.

  The second she thought that, one of the fangbeast clones turned away from the Chinese boy and leaped at her. She automatically swung one of her swords and hit its neck, but the hide was too thick to cut, and the impact through the blade rippled up her arm. She yanked hard to get her blade back and bent her knees to steady her stance. Then she recalled a move she’d learned for this kind of situation. Sky Three …

  When the next fangbeast clone came at her from behind, she spun, sweeping both swords to her right side, and cut its throat with her right sword. She hit the same spot with her left in a backhand strike as she swung the first sword over her head, drawing a ring in the air. Then, quick as a flash, the first sword sliced across the creature’s neck again, sending its head flying.

  The head dissolved in midair, along with the rest of its body, and she allowed herself a moment of relief.

  But another beast jumped at her from the side and started to split into two. She turned to it – an in
stant before it actually split – and used the same quick, three-stroke move to behead the clone. The body vanished.

  Her head was still in too much of a fog for her to really think about what was happening, but her instincts seemed to know what to do, and she obeyed. Instead of commanding her body, she listened. She’d been told once that letting go was the key to success in combat, but only now did she fully appreciate what that meant. She couldn’t think – she just had to fight.

  She had no choice.

  Those instincts told her to duck, and she did. No questioning – just action. She couldn’t afford to get caught up in feelings and fear now. A beast flew over her head, and she knew, as clearly as if it had happened, that if she hadn’t moved when she did, it would have snapped its jaws around her neck.

  She sprang up, and before it could attack her again, sliced its head off. Only one stroke was necessary this time. She must’ve hit the sweet spot.

  The heat of combat surged through her veins, and she looked around for her next target. A monster charged at her from the left, and she turned to face it head-on. She could sense everything the fangbeast was about to do, see its moves in her head before it made them. It was freakily predictable – or maybe she was freakily predictive. Seconds had probably passed, but to her, time seemed to slow down. None of the physical strain she was accustomed to bothered her; she felt as if she were a being of pure energy. She leaped out of the way an instant before the clone swiped at the spot where she’d been standing, then swept her blades back and sliced through its neck.

  “Bao zha!” the Chinese boy yelled, and his voice rang in her ears.

  Aurelia dropped to the ground, and a moment later, an explosion ripped through the air above her. A blindingly bright flash of green filled her vision, and she resisted the urge to close her eyes. Whiteness blotted her vision from the lingering effects of the explosions, but it was better than losing sight of her surroundings.

  Meanwhile, the fangbeast clones were charging at the Chinese boy again, as he shouted spell after spell, each one sounding more panicked.