Requiem's Song (Book 1) (24 page)

All
that remained of Shedah was a red stain.

The
demons stood upon the balcony, necks bobbing as they swallowed their
last bites. They gazed at Issari, eyes red, saliva dripping down
their chins.

As
she watched, they began to grow.

The
living strip of meat lengthened, widened, sprouting higher and higher
upon the balcony until it wavered like some malformed tree of rot.
The pale creature with the swinging belly ballooned in size. Its
abdomen extended so widely Issari thought it might burst, and through
its translucent skin, she saw snakes coiling between its organs. The
last creature, tube-like, bulged and lengthened into an obscene
tapeworm the length of a boat. They could no longer fit upon the
balcony but flew to hover before it.

They
are as large as dragons,
Issari thought, reaching under her tunic for her amulet.
That's
why they craved human flesh. It makes them grow.

They
hissed at her, smacked their lips, licked their teeth, and reached
out their tongues.

"We
want more." Their voices were dry as old bones. "We want
your flesh too."

She
pulled out her amulet and held it before her.

"Leave!"
She took a step closer, letting the sun gleam against the talisman.
"You may never eat more human flesh. Nor will others of your
kind. Leave!"

They
flew closer, almost reaching her. One's claw caressed her cheek.
Another demon's tongue licked her neck. She refused to cower or flee.

"We
want more."

"You
will have no more!" She raised her amulet as high as she could.
"Here is the sigil of Taal, the god who banished your queen five
thousand years ago. I banish you too! Leave this city. Fly to the sea
and nevermore return to this land. Leave now or feel Taal's light."

The
amulet shot out a beam, blinding, crackling, searing. The demons
screamed, beating their wings madly, slamming against the balcony
railings, ripping into stone, clawing at their faces. One demon
ripped out its own eye, a horrible mimicry of Shedah's mutilation.

"Leave!"
Issari shouted.

They're
too strong,
she
thought.
They've grown
too large. They will not be cowed.
Yet she snarled, stepped closer, and placed the amulet against one's
flesh.

"Feel
this burn and flee this place."

The
demon skin sizzled, raising foul smoke. The amulet blazed red, and
Issari cried out, for it burned her hand. She would not release it.
She pulled the amulet back—it tore free with ripping skin—and
placed it against another demon.

The
creatures howled.

They
wept blood.

They
turned and fled the balcony.

Issari
panted, her hand burning. She stared at the bloated demons; they were
the size of the ships in the canal. They flew across the city,
wobbling, crying out in anguish. The smaller demons watched from
below, cawing up at their swollen friends. Only once did the three
turn back, and when Issari held out her amulet again, they turned and
kept fleeing. She stood watching from the balcony, shining her light,
until they fled across the shore and vanished over the sea.

She
dropped the amulet. It clanged against the floor, red-hot. When she
looked at her palm, she saw the sigil of Taal branded upon her.

She
stumbled back into her chamber, fell to her knees, and trembled for a
long time.

 
 
TANIN

Tanin
woke up upon a dragon's back, saw only sea around him, and yawned.

"Still
no sign of land?" he asked, tapping his sister's scales.

He
rubbed his eyes, yawned again, and sat up. He was in human form, but
his sister flew as a dragon, her scales green, her horns white, her
mouth full of fire. She looked over her shoulder at him, and her eyes
narrowed.

"Are
you blind? No land. No damn land. Not a sign for three days now."
Maev blasted flame over his head, nearly searing his hair. "And
we're running low on food. We turn back."

Tanin
cracked his neck and rose to his feet upon the dragon's back. He
wobbled and held out his arms for balance. Since leaving the southern
coast, they had seen only water. Their packs—which rested behind
him—held enough fresh water, ale, and food for perhaps another three
days.

"We'll
find land." He shielded his eyes with his palm and stared south.
"According to my map, Eteer is near."

Maev
growled. "A charcoal drawing on tattered old buffalo hide isn't
a map." She sighed. "Maybe Grizzly was right. Maybe Eteer
is only a myth. Maybe—"

"Oh,
be quiet and get some sleep," Tanin said, interrupting her. With
another yawn, he leaped off her back.

He
fell through the sky, the wind whipping his hair and clothes. He
smiled, enjoying the freedom of it. Somehow falling felt even better
than flying. He was only a small seed floating in the air, trapped in
a world of blue—the water below, the sky above, and his sister a
mere little annoyance. Sometimes Tanin wished he could fall forever.

Yet
the sea grew near, and his sister waited. Tanin sucked in his magic
and shifted. Beating his wings and blasting smoke, he soared as a red
dragon. The green dragon dived from above, positioned herself above
him, and aligned her wings with his. She descended slowly, finally
landing on his back, her limbs draped across him. The weight nearly
shoved Tanin back down toward the sea.

When
Maev shifted into human form, the weight vanished. As a woman, she
seemed to weigh almost nothing. When Tanin looked over his shoulder,
he saw her on his back, a human again.

"One
more day!" she said, her hair streaming in the wind. "If
evening falls and we still see no land, we turn back home. Agreed?"

He
grumbled and spat out fire, knowing they had no choice. Failure was
better than death.

And
yet I don't want to turn back,
he thought, and a sigh rattled his scales. What did he have to return
to? Life in a cave? Juggling in town squares as people booed and
tossed refuse his way? Flying south was dangerous. He had already
battled rocs, and who knew what other dangers awaited. Yet Tanin was
willing to keep flying, to keep fighting, to drown his fear under
hope.

Maybe
I have no home,
he
thought.
Not unless I
find others. Not unless we build a tribe.

He
looked back toward the southern horizon. "Agreed. But I still
say the map was accurate. I—" Tanin blinked. "Maev . . .
what is that?"

Three
creatures were flying toward them across the sea. Tanin gasped. Rocs?
Other dragons? When he squinted, bringing them into focus, his breath
died.

"Stars
above," he whispered.

Wings
beat and scales clanked above him—Maev shifting back into a dragon.
She moved to fly at his side, the sunlight bright against her green
scales. She wrinkled her snout. "The stench of them. What are
they?"

"They're
. . ." Tanin grimaced. "Stars, I don't know."

The
creatures were large as dragons, maybe larger. One was a bloated
thing, its belly swinging like a sack, gray and bristly with hairy
moles. It wings seemed impossibly small upon its ridged back, and a
dozen red eyes blinked upon its swollen, warty head. A second
creature was slimmer, cadaverous, barely more than a skeleton. Black,
wrinkled skin clung to its knobby bones, and it beat insect-like
wings. The third creature looked like a clump of flying entrails, red
and wet, coiling forward, a parasite the size of a whale.

Maev
hissed, filled her maw with fire, and flew toward them. "Whatever
they are, they're in my way. They will burn."

Tanin
growled, beat his wings madly, and flew alongside his sister. He let
the fire rise in his belly and crackle in his throat.

The
three creatures were close now. Their stench wafted, smelling like
rotted meat and mold. Their mouths opened and they shrieked, a cry
like shattering metal, like snapping bones, like a world collapsing.
One of them—the bloated, sagging thing with the swinging
belly—emitted a gagging sound and spewed out yellow liquid. The jet
flew toward the two dragons.

Maev
and Tanin scattered, and the jet blasted between them. Heat and
stench like vomit assailed Tanin. Droplets landed against him, and he
screamed. Each drop felt like an arrow, and smoke rose upon his
scales. A hole spread open in his wing.

Acid.

With
a roar, Tanin soared toward the sun and swooped, blowing fire. At his
side, a second flaming jet pierced the sky—Maev raining her heat.

The
inferno cascaded onto the demons.

They
screeched, the sound so loud Tanin thought his eardrums would
shatter. Two of the demons ignited, but they kept flying, balls of
flame. The cadaverous creature, mere bones and skin covered in black
hooks, shook off the fire. It swooped toward Tanin, its mouth opening
wider and wider, splitting the creature in two, peeling it open. Its
jaw seemed to extend across its entire body, down to the tailbone,
until it formed a great mouth full of teeth. Human limbs filled the
obscene maw, half-chewed.

For
an instant, Tanin could only stare in horror. He had faced rocs in
battle, great hunters of the north. Yet here was no earthly terror;
this was a creature of nightmares.

"Tanin!"
Maev cried somewhere above.

He
snapped out of his paralysis. As the demon charged toward him, Tanin
soared and blasted flames.

The
jet crashed against the creature, filling its mouth, roasting the
meal within. The demon spun and soared after him, covered in smoke.
Its flesh was too dry to burn, Tanin realized with a grimace.

He
tried to see Maev, but smoke and fire filled the sky, and the demon
jaws charged again. Tanin growled, swooped toward the creature, and
lashed his claws.

He
screamed as his claws banged against the creature's flesh. He might
as well have attacked a boulder. Sparks rose and the creature seemed
unharmed; Tanin felt like his claws had almost torn off. The creature
snapped its great jaws, and Tanin fluttered backward. The jaws
managed to close around his wing.

He
howled. Tears of pain filled his eyes. The jaws chomped down,
grinding his wing, and Tanin screamed and leaned in to bite. His own
jaws were large enough to swallow lambs whole; they seemed puny by
this beast. Yet still he bit, and his teeth drove through mummified
flesh and scraped against bone.

The
creature released him. Tanin fell through the sky, his left wing
pierced with holes; wind whistled through them.

"Maev,
some help!" he shouted.

He
glimpsed her battling two creatures above. Both were still smoking
and crackling with fire. Blood covered Maev's leg.

"I'm
battling two already!" she shouted down to him. He could swear
he saw her roll her eyes. "Grow up and fight your own battles."

Before
he could reply, the gaunt demon swooped again, mouth opening wide,
splitting the beast down to the tailbone like a halved fruit.

Tanin
gritted his teeth, growled, and soared.

He
flattened himself into a spear, driving upward. The creature dived
down, cackling, raining drool and bits of rotted flesh.

Heartbeats
away from a collision, Tanin grimaced.

He
roared as he soared, driving into the creature's mouth, shoving
himself into the beast.

The
jaws began to close around him. Tanin kept soaring, horns pointing
upward.

The
force of his onslaught split the creature at the tailbone, tearing
the great jaws apart.

The
demon's two halves tumbled through the sky. Each wing beat
independently. The broken pieces spun wildly, shrieking their own
cries, until they crashed into the sea and vanished.

Tanin
spat. "Stars damn it."

Wincing,
his wounded wing a blaze of agony, he rose higher.

He
found Maev spinning in a circle, scattering flames, holding the
remaining two demons at bay. Cuts ran along her leg, and a gash bled
upon her forehead. Still she managed to glare at him.

"Are
you done playing your games, brother?" She swiped her tail,
clubbing one of the beasts. "Go on, choose one and kill it, damn
you!"

The
two demons hissed, their flesh charred, fires still burning upon
them. Their skin had peeled back and their muscles blazed; through
the flames peeked black, jagged bones. Yet still they flew, cackling.
The slimmer one, a creature like discarded entrails, thrust toward
Maev, snapping its teeth. The obese demon, his charred belly swinging
like a tumor, turned to fly toward Tanin.

The
demon's many eyes blazed like cauldrons of molten metal. Its mouth
opened, lined with sword-like teeth. Its wings—so small they were
almost comical—flapped mightily, propelling the creature toward
Tanin like some obscene bumblebee toward a flower. It pulsed as it
gagged, spewing another stream of acid.

Tanin
grunted and swerved.

The
jet blasted above him, its raining droplets searing his scales.

The
creature dived, snapping its teeth.

In
midair, Tanin flipped upside down, dipped several feet, and raised
his claws. The demon shot above him, unable to stop. As it flew,
Tanin's claws drove along its swinging belly, gutting the beast.

Snakes,
worms, and maggots with human heads spilled from the wound, smacking
their lips and biting at Tanin like ticks. He screamed and shook
himself, knocking them off, and blew his fire again.

He
caught the demon as it was turning back toward him. The flames
entered the gutted creature through its wound, filled its innards,
and blasted outward like a collapsing pyre. With a final shriek, the
creature tumbled from the sky. It crashed into the sea with hissing
smoke.

Tanin
looked over his shoulder, panting, to see his sister bite into the
last demon's rotted flesh. The green dragon tugged her head back,
ripping out a chunk of flesh, and spat. Gurgling, the creature
tumbled. It gave a pathetic whimper before crashing into the water.
It vanished into the depths.