Heart of a Dragon

Chapter Twenty-One

Kim leaned down, drew the stout, oak wand she held across the dirt a final time, and stood. The last of the symbols had been carefully completed, and now the final seal had been set. The entire ceremony was double ringed, once for protection from outside forces, and once…this last…to keep other forces in. She stood back and contemplated her work.

She didn't try to penetrate the smoky haze and see what was taking place within the circle. It wasn't her concern. She had duties, and she had fulfilled them. Now all that remained for her was to see to those remaining outside the circle, like herself, and to watch for the culmination of the ritual. She didn't know if Anya Cabrera would exit that circle alive; she didn't know if what they were attempting was possible. Soon, she would know. If they failed, she would remain, and there would still be work to do. If Anya were to suddenly disappear, someone would have to tend the business. She had always known it would be her.

As she turned away, the silver caskets dangling from her hair jingled and the sound blended with the music. That blending made her smile, and she danced as she made her way around the circle, past the braziers, and back toward the small storage room.

She'd only gone a few feet when a sound like the tearing of the very veils between worlds erupted behind her. She spun and pressed herself into the outer wall, obscured by the smoke and watched the entrance to the small courtyard, her eyes wide.

~* ~

Jake and Enrique reached the end of the entrance tunnel very suddenly. With the smoke swirling about their feet and obscuring even the shadows, it took a moment to realize that the walls to either side had dropped away, and they were in the outer ring of the central court. The middle area was completely obscured by smoke, and the music, which had been loud before, was overwhelming here near the source of whatever dark power was afoot.

With a scream of rage intended to catch their enemies by surprise and fuel their own courage, the two hurled themselves into the mist. They didn't see Kim huddled against the wall, and they were unaware of the two guards rushing around the perimeter of the circle. Their goal stood directly ahead, and that's where they launched.

Jake struck first. He hit what seemed to be a solid, shimmering wall. Sparks shot up in all directions, green and gold sparks, and he struck with a solid crash into what had looked like nothing more than smoke. He bounced back hard and reeled into the outer wall of stacked cars. Enrique struck that same barrier a second later, reacted to Jake's motion and, instead of slamming head-on, he managed to jump andget his feet in front of him. He was moving so quickly he literally ran up the wall of smoke, kicked off, and flipped, landing back on his feet.

Jake, who'd seen this from where he stood rubbing his shoulder, gaped in amazement. It was like something out of a science fiction movie, or a bad Kung Fu flick.

"Jesus," he said.

Footsteps pounded toward him through the mist, and he had no more time to wonder how his friend had pulled that particular stunt off. One of Anya's tall, bald servants came around the circle with a short club raised over his head. Jake leaped to meet the charge, dropped, and whipped his leg across the other man's ankles. The big man went sprawling, and Jake rose, grabbed the man's head and pounded it hard on the ground once, twice, and a third time, before he turned back to Enrique.

A second tall bald man had squared off with Enrique, but this one was more cautious. Maybe he'd seen what happened to his friend, or maybe it had finally occurred to someone that the two couldn't be standing where they were without plowing through a small army of guards. Whatever the reason, the big servant turned and took a fighting stance, his gaze locked on Enrique and wary. Enrique didn't hesitate. He screamed again and ran at the bigger guard. Jake cursed and followed, watching as the huge bald man pulled a blade from his belt that had not been visible a moment before and lashed out.

Enrique turned, but that's not how it looked. To Jake it seemed more like his companion's body rippled, like the blade passed right through flesh, bone, clothing, and out the other side without leaving a mark. Enrique stepped under his opponent's guard, drove his hand palm first up into the man's face, and even from where Jake ran at the two, a couple of yards away, the crunch of bone was loud and sickening. The dark giant tumbled to one side, and Enrique turned back to the circle with a snarl.

It was then that Jake registered the small form in the shadows. She had pressed off of the wall and was closing on Enrique from behind, moving silently. She had something in her hand, and Jake wasn't waiting to find out what. He lunged, and he cried out. She saw him from the corner of her eye, and cut to the side, forgetting whatever it was she'd planned to try on Enrique in favor of a quick retreat.

Enrique, meanwhile, turned his attention back to the circle. He didn't charge it again, but he stepped forward and placed both hands against the wall of smoke and air. He pushed, and Jake saw the veins stand out in the man's arm. He saw the exertion, but whatever force it was the prevented them from entering did not give.

"It's no good," Jake said. "We're going to have to get out of here. They aren't going to just ignore us, even if we can't get in."

Enrique frowned. He pressed his face against the barrier. Jake saw the flickers of blue sparks again. He wondered what it meant, wondered if it was the dragon on the jacket, or something that Martinez had done, or a little of both. He thought about the aerial maneuver his friend had just made, and the men they'd fought their way through to get to this point — the ease with which they'd fallen.

Then Enrique screamed again. This time it was sheer frustrated rage. Jake had never heard such a sound emit from a human throat. It was high-pitched and piercing. It cut through the music again and drove through the barrier. Jake saw, just for a moment, that Enrique was able to press himself inward. He crossed the threshold of that eerie circle, just for an instant, and then fell back.

"Enrique!" Jake cried. "Get off of there."

Enrique pulled back, just slightly.

"I can see them, Jake. I can see them right on the other side of this damned smoke. They're dancing past me like I wasn't even here."

"It doesn't matter," Jake said. "You have to get back. We'll try again — another day, some other way. This isn't working."

Jake scanned the outer circle and glanced back down the passageway the way they'd come. Whatever the girl he'd seen had planned, it wasn't happening yet. They had a clear path out, and he was ready to take it. He stepped forward and grabbed Enrique by the shoulder, pulling him back from the circle.

In that moment, a dark figure burst through the smoke from within. There was a sharp crack, like lightning striking a tree, or a gunshot going off too close to your ear. Jake reeled back, and Enrique stumbled after him. A second figure followed the first through the smoke, and suddenly it all began to drift and fall away.

"No!"

The cry rose from within the circle. It was a woman's voice. Jake had a momentary glimpse of a naked woman, her hands clutching her hair, staring at the broken circle in dismay. Then he had no time left to think at all.

The two who had broken the circle were Escorpiones, but they were nothing like those Jake had encountered in the tunnel leading inward. These two bent low to the ground. Their eyes were flat and dark, and they moved like greased lightning. His mind flashed on Santini Par, and the thunderstorm. He saw Vasquez going down under piles of small, powerful bodies, and he braced himself.

The first came at him low and hard. He had no weapon, but bared his teeth and emitted a sound halfway between a low squeal and a hiss of escaping air. Jake felt a strange sense of detachment. What he saw approaching him was a Hispanic man in his early twenties wearing dark jeans and no shirt. His senses expanded though, and he felt something else — something powerful and dark — something frustrated and angry. Something trapped. The thing sprang, and Jake ducked to the side. Fingernails raked across his chest like claws, but the leather of his jacket protected him, and he spun, gripped the thin body of the thing and flung it at the wall with all the strength he could muster.

There was a wet splat. He started to turn away, but the creature peeled itself from that wall of broken metal and turned like a cat. It clung there, actually hanging off of the wall for a moment, and then, with a scream of its own, it scrambled up and onto the wall of the small courtyard, looked back once, and disappeared.

Jake spun. Shadows flashed all around him. All of those who'd danced moments before in the circle were fighting to reach the exit. Anya Cabrera stood behind them, waving her arms and trying to be heard. Jake thought she might be chanting, but it was hard to tell. He ducked as another Escorpione took a swing at him in passing. They didn't seem bent on fighting, they were trying to get out of the circle — out of the junkyard. Apparently, though Enrique had not been able to break in, his scream had broken some spell, or disrupted the rhythm of the music, just long enough for one of those inside to break out.

Enrique held one of the Escorpiones by the throat, and they wrestled together, falling back. Jake saw his friend slam a fist hard into his attacker's head. The thing — that's all he could call them now — reared back, but it did not topple. Instead it fished a blade from beneath a heavy black belt and slashed out and down. Enrique saw it coming. He turned and released his hold, throwing the writhing bundle of hate he fought away, but it was too late. The thing was fast — far too fast to be human.

The blade slashed through the front of Enrique's jacket and buried itself in his flesh. He rolled, and the motion wrenched the blade form his attacker's grip, but it was buried deep in his chest, driven between ribs. Blood gushed out from the wound, and Jake cursed.

He went after the Escorpione, but it was too late. The thing followed the others up and over the wall, out into the yard and the streets beyond. Jake turned briefly to see that the circle where Anya Cabrera had stood was empty. There was no sign of the woman, or her followers.

There was more motion in the back of the circle, and Jake moved swiftly. He gripped the knife, pulled it from his fallen comrade's chest, and flung it in the direction of the sound he'd heard, Then, gripping Enrique under his arms, he pulled him aside into the shadows. The smoke was still thick enough to obscure sight, but still, he knew something was wrong.

He heard someone moving, and voices, but he saw nothing. He had the vague impression of something or someone passing through the exit, and then — as quickly as the sound and frantic motion had begun, it ended. He knelt alone by Enrique's side, pulled the jacket apart to get to the wound, and began to wonder how there could still be life when there was already so much blood. It coated his hands and soaked the ground beneath him. He knew he was going to have to do something, and quickly — but he couldn't think. He had never in his life felt more alone.