Dragon Falls (Indigo Apocalypse Book III)

Chapter Seventeen: Mother Of All Spiders

HUNTOR:
    As we stood on the edge of the Dodonian countryside, I, Zavala, Wenzi, Kitana, Camille, Sydney and all the rest listened to what the grove told Brooklyn. When she finished, we were all quiet, the weight of the truth hitting us full force. In the wake of her story, of Arachne's story, and the truths finally revealed, Zavala's hand slid into my own, as if she needed just that contact. Sydney leaned against me with her full weight, as if she too needed someone to hold her up. Sarah was the first one to speak. "Wow, just, wow." In a small silvery glow, she shifted into her dracon skin, and examined herself. Her wings, her tail, her talons, as if now wondering just what it would feel like to have been tortured in such a way, to be turned into a monster. Arachne, our, Arachne, Said, "What, what, what are we in?" Luna opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it again. Joy too seemed at a loss for words. Jazlyn looked like she was ready to vomit. True that Lorna, Hecate, even Jeffry, already had vomited.
    "If anyone—"Don't." Said Audrey. "Don't ruin this by saying if anyone wants to go home they can." "Speak for yourself chick." Muttered Joy. Audrey stood to her full, none too impressive, hight. "Excuse me if some of us died to get this far." She snapped to Joy. "I'm not leaving, I'm not going to chicken out when a great war is on the horizon, where everything we hold close is going to die. Arachne didn't take Earth, why, we don't know besides the fact we won that battle on the ocean. But she's wounded, and is now unleashing her true army, true spiders who can't die on the first few slashes. I'm staying." I looked around the assembled gods. Wenzi, goddess of flames, Kitana, goddess of death, Arachne, goddess of spiders, of darkness, Audrey, goddess of dolphins. Everyone brought here, here to face this powerful choice. Here, to decide if they truly want to fight in a war they have to know they won't make it out of. Kendra Joy Camille Luna, even little Holly, untried and brash. Shaking my head slightly, I stepped forward, Sydney righting her stance. "We're going to die in this." I announced. "There's no avoiding it. We're going to die, and not have a come back." I gave Audrey a meaningful look. As if she sensed it, she sighed.
    "I will not blame you, any of you, for wanting to go back home, for protecting Earth, rather than going into an Indigo Apocalypse." Silence reigned, and as it did, I turned and started walking away, not far, but far enough to allow them privacy to debate. Sydney and Brooklyn followed. "Why?" Sydney asked. "Why do I have to be directly related to such a fucking monster?" I shook my head, not having any answer. But I slid comforting hands through the inferno between us, letting my mate feel that I was in the same feeling as her. Brooklyn ran a finger over the blade at her hip. "There's something else." She muttered. "Huntor, you remember how Amanda had twelve lives, before Kitana killed her and destroyed her essence?" "Yeah." It wasn't like I could ever forget that. Wasn't like I would ever stop feeling grateful to Kitana for doing the deed that I couldn't do, not just because I wasn't death, but morally, I just couldn't kill her. I had killed her once already, had felt her blood on my hands, had cut her in half with my dracon talons. And, nearly lost my mind doing it. If it wasn't for Sydney, for the struggle I had went through trying to civilize her, I might have become the very dracon Kneecora wanted. "Well thank you for that." Said Sydney dryly. I rolled my eye. Then heard Zavala coming over. I turned, and my young friend looked pale, and terrified. "Zeej?" I asked, wondering if my warrior-hearted friend really wanted to leave, to go back home.
    Then I noticed Arachne walking along side with her. "I have to talk to you." She said. "Do you want to go back to the Symbol?" I asked. Zavala frowned. "What, no." She rustled her wings restlessly. "It's just that, well, during the battle, when I was electrocuted, and taken." She rustled those wings again, "I, I was in this kind of holding cell, but, but, Huntor, I—I—I—I—I saw her." "Who hasn't seen her though?" I asked. But Zavala shook her head. "No, I mean, I, saw, her." It took a moment. "Holy shit." I murmured. "Holy freaking shit." Arachne nodded. "We both did, so did Kneecora." "Wonder why she forgot to mention that." I muttered. "You saw her, exactly how Brook described her?" Zavala and Arachne nodded. "Everything, right down to the eyes around her head, but no crown." I sighed deeply. "Well then, looks like she—" then I paused. "Wait, there's more to that." Zavala whimpered, whimpered. "She, I didn't know what she wanted to do at the time. I thought it was just torture me, which she did do." Zavala lifted her shirt to show a number of scars, scars that were still healing. "But, but, but after Brooklyn's story. I think—"We think she wanted to turn her." Said Arachne, her high voice filled with agonized pain. Pain for my friend, for what it would've done to me to have seen Zavala like that, done to Audrey.
I reached out and took Zavala's hand. I'm sorry. So sorry, but you're here, and safe now." Zavala turned away, and breathed deeply. "If it weren't for Arachne, for this Arachne, I owe her my life. Literally." Arachne looked bashful, and dare I say it, embarrassed. "I, well." She held up her hands, as if the answer was there. "She'll pay." I said. "But one step at a time. We sent our army ahead, but we still have Amala's forces, including the gods, my gods. And I fear that Brooklyn isn't the only one who will have to face her origins." "The prophecy." Said Brooklyn. I nodded. "I feel someone else will have to face her origins. And that last bit, now that we know this so called crown is in play, it may make this whole prophecy actually work out the way I think." "Careful." Said Brooklyn. "You know they don't work like that." I shrugged. "We'll see, so to speak." "You said that the grove said we'd know where to look for the crown?" Asked Sydney. Brooklyn nodded. "Is it a point in mentioning that no, neither of us have any idea where the thing is?" She turned to me. "Never mind." She sighed. "Because he has that look, that, I know where the secret shit is look." "I don't know, per se." "You think you do." She clarified. "Which, in your book, is the same damn thing." "It's a possibility. I could be wrong." Zavala raised her hand apprehensively. "Question, what if she's still turning dracons into Ragni Di Morte?" "Why would she?" Asked Sydney. "She rumor has it, has a stock pile of them hidden underneath her castle. She'd have no reason to turn dracons into Ragni." "And if she doesn't have a reason?" Asked Arachne. "If she does it for the fun of it?" "Then we have to stop her." Brooklyn said. "But first." I said as my gods walked toward us. "There's still the thing." Said Brooklyn. "About Amanda?" She nodded. "She was alive, alive in the vision, meaning—"Meaning she was one of Arachne's dracons, long before we met. Meaning, she was in this all along." As my gods surrounded us, I breathed deeply and it was my turn to lean against Sydney. "Well fuck it. I knew she had to have been around for a while, but not for millennia. And, and, huhhh it changes nothing. Just states that all along Amanda felt nothing, was too insane to feel anything but lecherous craving for power." "I'm sorry." Said Brooklyn. I nodded and pushed off my mate. "This adds nothing to the tale. There's an item out there with incandescent, literally, power." I looked at my gods again. "Audrey?" 
    "We aren't going anywhere." Said Audrey defiantly. "What she means is," said Joy, giving Audrey an annoyed look. Audrey acted like she didn't see it, oh wait, or didn't she? "This is going to be a great war." Said Joy. "Possibly the greatest of the ages." Added Luna. "So," Said Joy. "We want our names written in the stars, in the stone, we want it known we fought and did what we could for what we believe." I honestly never heard the two of them speak in unison like that before. Typically, it was them arguing, never agreeing on something. But sure enough, they were, and had. "I am pregnant with my child." Kitana spoke reverently, as if the surreality of it was still hitting her. Unable to process that she was, A, pregnant, and B, that she was pregnant by another woman. "I intend on living through this, and ensuring that my child knows his parents and sister fought and survived." She threw a meaningful look to Kendra. Kendra nodded. Holly said, "Plus I wanna fight and kill." Werewolves. Briella said with a glance toward the dark sky. "Always bloodthirsty monsters." Holly stuck her tongue out at Briella. "And you kitty-cats are so tamed." Briella snarled. "Don't call me a kitty-cat Bitch." "Kitty-Cat Kitty-Cat Kitty-Cat Kitty-Cat Kitty-Cat." "You wanna die, right now?" Holly shrugged. "Can't say as I do." "Now now children." Said Kitana, laying a handd on Holly's shoulder. Reina sighed. Then stepped toward me. "The point we're all trying to make is, you brought us in, every last one of us, we fought beside you before, we know death is going to happen, one way or another, better be in battle against our enemies, than alone at home." I nodded. "We have a lot of time to get back. Arachne is MIA, no one knows where she is, or what her condition is. But she's introduced her army Ragni Di morte in the Snow Kingdom. They are more vicious, stronger, faster, and harder to kill." "What fun." Said Audrey dryly.
    "I have no doubt that we're going to have interludes with them. But the goal, we need to find Arachne, find her, and destroy her once and for all, and her army of Ragni Di Morte two point Zeroes." "What about the whole deal of liberating and raising armies." Asked Camille, then it seemed to hit. "Oh fuck no Huntor, I don't think so." "Nuh-uh shit no." Said Jeffry. "I'm lost." Said Lorna. "Me too." Said Hecate. "It's the only way." I said. Sydney's hand slid into mine. A steady presence, steady, for what I had to say next. "We have to find the Ilio Drakous crown. And because of that, we cannot continue this race with you." "Oh no." Jazlyn stepped through the group of gods and shoved herself in front of me, her eyes insistent. "You brought me in this, you believed in me, in the rest of us, you're not going to leave us, not now." Vera stepped to her side, taking my other hand. "No Huntor, you aren't doing this." "We have to." Said Sydney sweetly. "We—"This isn't about you girl." Alexandra snapped. "You're not our leader." Pain lashed across Sydney's face. "You haven't been here long, haven't been here with us, fought with us like he has, not been our leader." "Nor have you seen the weight he carried on his shoulders." Muttered Joy. "You aren't leaving us." Jazlyn said again. I let my mate's hand go and wrapped my arms around Jazlyn. She broke, sobbing quietly into my arms as I hugged her. I looked toward Audrey, to Kitana and Diana, to Kendra, To Reina. I looked to the gods who were left, the leaders who were left from when the Symbol first started. "You aren't saying anything." I said quietly. "Because I understand." Said Audrey, just as quietly. "I remember what it was like for you, to choose to carry the weight of every death, every loss. I remembered that you used to bring us all along to fight battles. To fight the Keepers, organizing us into lines so we all played a part in breaking them down. And, some of us dying or sacrificing ourselves. It hurt you, hurt you to see us die, see, me, die. Hurt you to know that it came down on you. And to put yourself into these missions to protect us. You have to do this though." She turned to the others. "Only he can wield the crown. Only he can truly unlock it's power, he and Sydney together are the only ones who can stop the Dark Queen. With their power, and the power of this crown, they can both destroy her, and raise the sun."
    Long gone was the Audrey I use to know. Kitana nodded. "Go, we'll liberate as many as we can. Find the crown, find where she's hiding." I nodded and let Jazlyn go. She sniffled but turned and walked back into the group dejectedly. I looked at Arachne, and said, "You're with us." Her eyebrows shot up as surprise lit her depthless black eyes. "Me? I—"Something tells me you're as a part of this as we are." I looked at Brooklyn who nodded. "It's darkest before the dawn." She recited. "That makes no sense." Noted Audrey. "It kinda does to me." I said as Arachne stepped to my other side. "I'll get word out where I believe the final battle will take place. I'm leaving Amala and her army with you all, and note that each of you are more powerful together than you are apart." I looked at Kitana, "Take care of yourself." She raised her eyebrows. "Huh?" But I took Sydney's hand and Arachne's, and with another meaningful look at my gods, I said, "Tell Amala the plan." Then, with a blast of daylight, we were gone. In another lash of daylight, we appeared on an outcrop of stones, overlooking a great valley. Arachne took several uneasy steps, then got her balance. "Where, where are we?" "Bit South of Dodona." I said, gesturing around us, around at the mountains. "Wait a moment." Said Arachne. "I thought there was only one mountain that lead out of Dodona." I shook my head. "There's an entire range. And, with what I suspect, we're going to need help getting to wherever the crown is." I gestured again, down, to the wings that flew up, fast wings that flapped straight up the wall face and dropped to stand a dozen feet away. Wings, that when a lash of fire appeared between a set of female hands, showed the face of "Theia." Said Sydney reverently. The dracon nodded. "Huntor," it was Arachne's turn to be reverent. "How—"I fear that I do know where the crown is, and do fear that we're going to need as much light as possible to retrieve it." "I volunteered for this." Said Theia. "I got tired of Seeka and Vello getting the attention." Her voice may have been bored and dry, but there was a flash in those golden eyes, a flash of excitement, hunger to fight. "Where do you think the crown is?" Asked Sydney. "Arachne's castle." Arachne's voice was quiet, barely audible, and filled with fear. I nodded. "I believe that she stole that crown. I believe that she took it and in the midst of her fall, she managed to get her hands on it and have it stored in her castle." "How?" Asked Sydney. "She's been presumably dead for centuries. How—"Dargonue." I said. Sydney's face paled. "You think he stole it for her, stole it and had it set in her underground castle?" "Yes." Theia answered for me. "It's where she'd have it, stashed in her stronghold, the place of her absolute power, her seat of power, where she fell as a dragon, and rose as a spider of death, the mother of all spiders."