Once Wasp-Daria is close, I jump up, wrap my tail around her skinny neck and hoist myself onto her back. After I have a good seat, I get to work. In this case, that work means trying to tear her wings off.
Wasp-Daria goes berserk. She takes me on a high-speed flight around my own wedding chapel. Wind whips through my hair and my veil gets torn off. A few angels were still in the air when Lady Daria magically re-froze everyone, so they’re still magically hovering around now. In an act of supreme nastiness, Wasp-Daria makes a point to slam into them whenever possible. They aren’t hurt necessarily, but still. That’s just mean, so I pull on her wings even harder. Damned things don’t so much as crack.
There’s a bright spot to my little ride of terror. No matter where Lady Daria flies, my igni do a bang-up job of keeping the tether going between Lincoln and me. The dim line of power between us stretches thin as the strand of a spider web. It doesn’t break, however. Go igni.
Meanwhile, Lincoln’s turned his baculum into a fiery bow. He shoots off flaming arrows at Wasp-Daria. Sadly, every hit bounces off her exoskeleton. And all my work at tearing off her wings is coming to nothing.
This chick is tough.
Wasp-Daria tries a new tactic and flies right toward the ceiling. As plans go, this one doesn’t suck. She has an exoskeleton after all. At the same time, I’m pretty squishy, except for my tail. Call me crazy, but I do not want to end up crushed to death on the ceiling of my own wedding chapel.
That’s not even the worst part. From a distance, the stone ceiling of the Chapel looks pretty smooth and white. Yet as I get closer, I notice that it’s actually lined with blade-sharp stalactites, which means I’ll not only get crushed there, I’ll also be skewered. Not okay.
As I hurtle toward the ceiling at an ever faster rate, my tail tightens its grip on Wasp-Daria’s insect throat. At the last possible second, I leap off her back and swing upside down, hoping my momentum will steer her away from the rock above us.
It works. Sadly, it works too well.
Instead of making a high-speed crash into the ceiling, we’re now diving Kamikaze-style toward the floor and my frozen guests. Wasp-Daria buzzes from side to side, trying to shake me. It works. My grip on Wasp-Daria slips until I’m only hanging on by her stinger. Sure, my tail is doing the hanging-on part, and since it’s covered in dragonscales it can’t get stung, but still. This has disaster written all over it.
Below me, Lincoln holds out arms. “Jump, Myla! I’ll catch you.” Damn, do I ever love that man.
Wasp-Daria speeds toward the floor. I point to a spot about three yards ahead of Lincoln. “There, okay?”
“Perfect.”
For the record, it’s not easy to think when you’re hanging upside down from a demon bug in your wedding gown, yet somehow I’m able to calculate when I should free myself from Wasp-Daria. Ideally, I need a little runway so I have a fighting chance for Lincoln to catch me.
There’s also the matter of the stinger. Sure, I could just let go. However, the thing has felt loose for a while now and if I can cause Lady Daria a little extra damage, that’s what I’ll do. I begin my silent countdown.
Three, two, one.
At the end of the countdown, my tail tightens its hold on Wasp-Daria’s stinger and yanks, hard. There’s a loud crunch as it pulls the stinger right out of her backside. Perfect. For a few seconds, I free-fall through the Chapel. Then, strong arms enclose around me. Lincoln.
“I got you.”
“You’re awesome, have I told you that?”
He kisses the tip of my nose. “Once or twice.”
I chuckle. “Good.”
Wasp-Daria lands back on the stage. Red light envelops her body again. Yipes. Another form is coming. I realize that I’m still holding her wasp stinger with my tail, so I chuck it aside.
Lincoln sets me on my feet. “She’s a tricky one.”
“I know. Right? It’s like she doesn’t have any vulnerability. I mean, beyond the fact that I was able to pull out her stinger and all. But that didn’t slow her down.”
“My warrior sense tells me she’s hiding something. Keep an eye out.”
“I’ve the same suspicion, my love.”
The red light around Wasp-Daria grows brighter as her body balloons in shape. Within seconds, she’s taken the form of a massive stone golem. These are elementals and super-rare. Unfortunately, they aren’t demons, so I don’t know too much about them. The form Lady Daria has taken is nine feet tall, bald, and has what looks like elephant hide for skin. The thing also sports the single largest forehead I have ever seen, along with a filthy loincloth and a massive club. For the first time, I’m wishing my wedding gown had some hidden pockets for weapons. That sure would come in handy right now.
I jump up into a somersault, planning to land behind her onstage after spearing her at the top of her spine with my tail. It’s a classic soft spot for most creatures. Once I’m airborne, I notice something that throws off my game completely.
There’s another face on her neck.