“Getting Fading Smoke now,” Svena said quietly, her pale face tight in concentration. “Make room.”
Julius didn’t realize that last part was for him until the dragon came flying out of the freezing flames. He was impressively big, a heavyset European dragon with thick armored black-and-green scales, amber eyes, leathery wings, and a mouth full of shining teeth and black smoke. He landed with a crash in the dirt right on top of where Julius and Katya had been standing before they’d managed to jump out of the way, and the moment his claws touched the ground, he started yelling.
“What is the meaning of this?” the old dragon roared. “Planeswalker! How did you…”
His booming voice trailed off as he looked around at the cavern, which was now very crowded. The ruins of Julius’s house were completely overrun with the Golden Emperor’s dragons. The Qilin was still in human form, probably because his giant golden dragon wouldn’t have fit inside the cavern, but it was still unquestionably him. Likewise, Svena’s identity was obvious, and Amelia was a giant dragon made of fire. Even to Julius, who was used to sudden gatherings of powerful dragons, it was an impressive sight. For a newcomer like Fading Smoke, it was enough to render him speechless.
“I see you weren’t exaggerating,” he said, much more calmly this time as his reptilian eyes rolled up to take in the Leviathan filling the sky overhead. “I will tell my sons to follow at once. Who is in charge?”
The Planeswalker pointed a burning claw at Julius. “He is.”
Julius and the giant dragon exchanged a look of mutual disbelief. When they turned back to Amelia, though, she was already calling out their next target to Svena, who yelled at both Fading Smoke and Julius to move. They obeyed at once, pressing themselves into the wall as Svena brought the next dragon through, this one in human form but looking no less upset than Fading Smoke had been. She also started by demanding to know what was the meaning of this and who was in charge, only to fade off when she saw the army of dragons and the monster in the sky. She was still staring at it when Fading Smoke hooked her shoulder and pulled her over.
“They say he’s the leader,” he growled, nodding at Julius when the new dragoness—whose human form was tall, dark skinned, and incredibly striking—smacked his claw away. “But who is he?”
Both dragons looked at Julius then. Fortunately, being stared down at by bigger monsters was something he’d a lot of experience with at this point, and he managed to stare back without flinching. “I’m Julius Heartstriker, and I promise I’ll explain once everyone is here. Meanwhile, please change into your human forms and go wait with the Qilin. We have a lot more dragons coming, and there won’t be room below the barrier if everyone’s their true size.”
He pointed at Ghost’s barrier, which was still protecting them from the thinning—but still present—magic. Fortunately, that plus the Qilin plus the monster overhead was a combination that worked miracles. Despite the painfully obvious fact that Julius was by far the smallest and weakest dragon here, neither of the newcomers questioned his request. They simply nodded and shuffled over to pay their respects to the Golden Emperor, leaving Julius alone beside the portal to greet the next confused, angry dragon who came barreling through Svena’s ring of freezing fire.
Chapter 7
Even with dragons rapidly filling the urban cave that sheltered their broken house, the Empty Wind towered over everything. Over the course of what had happened with Bob and the rest, he’d expanded his barrier to cover the entire cavern. His shadowy form had grown with it, leaving him so tall, he could easily touch the top of the spiraling underpasses. That was actually where his hand was now, the giant palm pressed flat against the same spot in the roof where the hole to the Sea of Magic had been inside Marci’s death. Considering what she was here to ask, the coincidence made Marci shiver, drawing her spirit’s attention as he appeared beside her.
“Whoa,” Marci said, hopping back as Ghost—in a new but still completely solid and real-looking body—materialized next to her. “Nice,” she said, looking back and forth between the towering giant and the regular-sized Empty Wind at her side. “So can you just multiply yourself now?”
“I’ve always been able to do this,” the Empty Wind replied, his glowing eyes glancing up at the massive version of him. “I just never had the magic to waste on it before. I have so much power now, though, I can divide myself however I like.”
To prove it, a ghostly cat appeared in the Empty Wind’s arms, his glowing blue eyes smug as he flicked his tail at Marci. Amazed, Marci held out her hands, and the cat jumped over to her, purring deep in his transparent chest as she petted his soft, freezing head. “This is so weird.”
“The word you are looking for is ‘useful,’” the Empty Wind said as the larger version of himself above adjusted his grip. “I can do many useful things now. Things I haven’t been able to do in a thousand years.” He closed his eyes. “I feel whole again.”
Just like back in the kitchen, Marci felt his happiness vibrating down their connection like a plucked string. Beautiful as it was, though, they had no time to bask in the glow. “I’m really happy for you,” she said. “But if you’ve sobered up from your magic binge, we need to talk strategy. Myron and I have cooked up a plan to banish the Leviathan, but I need to get back to the Sea of Magic to do it. Can you just take me there now that you’re all souped up? You know, open a portal or something?”
She finished with a hopeful smile, but though she couldn’t see the Empty Wind’s face inside the shadows of his helmet, she could feel him frowning.
“No.”
“Why not?” Marci demanded. “The DFZ can take Myron any time he wants. Look, she’s doing it now.”
Sure enough, Myron had finished his discussion with the general and Raven and was now talking to the DFZ, who still looked a little loopy. A few moments later, the city spirit nodded and grabbed his hand. The moment she touched him, his body fell unconscious to the ground beside a closing manhole that hadn’t been there a second ago.
“See?” Marci said, turning back to Ghost. “I’m not generally a fan of leaving my mortal shell just lying around, but that’s pretty convenient. Why can’t we do that?”
“Because I’m not her,” Ghost said irritably. “This entire city is DFZ’s domain. So long as Myron is inside her borders, it’s easy for her to pass his soul back and forth across the barrier, but I have no such physical domain. My realm is the Forgotten Dead. I had to cheat to get you through before since, though you were dead, you were not forgotten. Now you’re neither, and that means I cannot pull you through.”