The construct’s giant claw flicked down, the point stopping less than an inch above Julius’s head. Terrifying as that was, though, Julius had been threatened by giant dragons many, many times. He couldn’t stop his flinch, but he didn’t move out of the way, which seemed to anger the Black Reach more than anything else.
“Why are you doing this?” he snarled. “Your brother has done nothing but use you!”
“He has,” Julius agreed. “But he never tried to hide it. For all his other faults, Bob’s been up front that I was his tool since the very beginning, and he’s never forced me to do something I didn’t already want to do. In fact, the only time he ever tried to give me a direct order was when he told me not to free Chelsie, and I did it anyway. You call me a pawn, but the choices that brought me to this spot were always my own. That makes this my problem as much as Bob’s, but it doesn’t excuse you.” His eyes narrowed. “You stand there and accuse Bob of ruining the future, but he’s the only one who saw this disaster coming and tried to stop it. You’re a seer too! You knew this was coming. Where’s your solution?”
Dragon Sees Eternity frowned, but even though he’d asked the question, Julius was rolling too hard to stop. “At least Bob was trying!” he cried. “He used us, sure, but unlike Bethesda or Estella or anyone else who’s called us pawns, Bob takes what we want into account. I’m sure he didn’t have to help me achieve my dream of changing our clan to get what he wanted, but he did. He helped me and believed in me when everyone else in the world thought I was a failure. It’s because of him that I’m standing here as a clan head instead of cowering in my mother’s basement.”
“You think he did that for you?” Dragon Sees Eternity scoffed. “He was manipulating you. He abused your compassion by playing the kind brother so you’d defend him, exactly as you’re doing now.”
“I’m not defending him because I was manipulated,” Julius said. “I’m refusing to let you kill my brother because he’s my brother. Gregory treated me way worse than Bob has, and I didn’t let him die either, because killing doesn’t fix anything. When will you stubborn snakes get that through your skulls?” He flung his hands up at the blacked-out sky. “The world is ending! Literally! We should be working together to fight that, not wasting what little time we have left fighting each other. That’s how we got into this mess and lost our old home in the first place! Seriously, what is wrong with you?”
In hindsight, lecturing an ancient construct of dragon magic several thousand times older and bigger than he was probably wasn’t the brightest idea, but Julius didn’t care. He was so sick of fighting the same fight again and again and again. Especially with the Black Reach, who, of all dragons, should have known better.
“You told me back at Heartstriker Mountain that you were sick of watching history repeat itself,” he said, leaning toward the construct. “Why can’t you see that you’re doing the same thing? You saw this coming. You knew Bob’s back was against the wall, but did you help him? Did you even try to work with him to find a solution that wouldn’t get him killed? No. You just watched from a distance and judged. You didn’t even act until it was too late.”
“I did act,” the construct snapped. “I gave him warning after warning—”
“Warnings aren’t the same as help,” Julius said stubbornly. “If you really are the guardian of our future, then you should be helping us shape it, not just smacking down every seer who steps out of bounds. I don’t like Bob’s solution any more than you do, but at least he has one. Your answer to this seems to be to kill a seer who can’t fight back and then leave us all to die in the tentacles of an unbeatable monster that you never thought to warn us was coming!”
He was growling by the time he finished, the words coming out in angry curls of smoke, which, if Julius had been calm enough to pay proper attention, would have made him jump. He never breathed smoke, but then, he’d never been this angry before. It was as if everything he’d fought against since he’d realized he could fight had finally come to a head in this one terrifying moment, and Julius was determined to beat it back once and for all, even if he had to use his own head to do it.
“I’m not moving,” he said, wrapping his arms around his brother. “Bob might not be right, but neither are you. I don’t know if there is a right answer, but I’m certain murder isn’t it. So if you want to actually try something new, put your giant claw away, and we’ll talk this out like reasonable dragons. But if you’re determined to kill my brother for a crime he hasn’t committed yet and only planned to attempt because he saw no other way to save us, you’ll have to go through me to do it. I know I’m not enough to stop you, but I’m not moving, and you can’t make me.”
Julius wasn’t actually certain of that last part. If Dragon Sees Eternity’s true form was anywhere near as big as that claw made him look, the construct could easily pry Julius off Bob and send him flying. He was still determined to try, though, so he held tight, clutching his oldest brother with all his strength. But while Julius fully expected that rash decision to be his last, he did not expect Marci to suddenly appear in front of him.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, heart pounding in terror.
“Same thing you are,” Marci said, reaching up to shove the Black Reach’s giant claw away from Julius’s head. “Taking my last stand. I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on, but I did not just come back from the dead to lose you over Bob. No offense.”
Bob spread his hands to show that none was taken, but before he could actually say anything, the ice around them turned to steam as the dragon magic binding Amelia broke.
“Finally,” the dragon spirit growled, glaring at Svena as she stomped over to stand beside Marci.
Julius gaped at her. “You too?”
“Of course,” Amelia said, cracking her knuckles. “Bob and I have been partners in crime since before he could fly. He couldn’t tell me exactly how this would go down because of that whole ‘knowing the future changes it’ problem, but I knew it would come to a standoff eventually.” She nodded at Dragon Sees Eternity. “He is called the Death of Seers.”
The construct growled in frustration. “So you’re going to let your sister die for you as well, Brohomir?”
“I’m not dying for him,” Amelia snarled. “I’m fighting you. You might be a construct built by my ancestors, but I’m the first dragon ever to blend with the magic of this plane. I’m something you’ve never seen before, pal, and Marci here’s the First Merlin. She keeps monsters bigger than you for pets.”
“Yeah!” Marci said, her face lighting up. “This is our world! We say who lives and dies around here. I’m not a fan of letting Bob put my future on rails, but I’m a big fan of avoiding the end of the world, and I think Julius makes a very good point. We’ll never get anywhere new if we keep playing by the same old rules.”