CHAPTER NINETY

Fire and Ice, Part 1

Someone yelled, “Incoming!” pushing the team to scatter just as two orange clouds of fire exploded on the marble floor where they’d been standing only seconds earlier. Then two winged serpents—each one the size and length of a city bus—landed on the spot Sam and his friends vacated. Their shiny golden scales reflected the light of the flames they’d breathed onto the ground.

“So that’s what Greek dragons look like,” Jackboot commented.

He was closest to the two horrors, even locking eyes with one of them which was a terrible mistake.

“Oh, no…” Sam noticed how Jackboot had suddenly gone rigid. His gaze fixed on the dragon whose mouth was widening by the second. “Jack!”

He rammed into his friend, tackling Jackboot to the ground just in time to avoid the pillar of fire that would have burned the British-born hero to a crisp.

“Don’t let it mesmerize you again, Jack,” Sam warned.

“Dragons can bloody mesmerize...with all the things they can do, doesn’t that count as cheating?” Jackboot complained.

Sam shrugged. “They’re dragons...they’re supposed to be terrifying.”

He helped Jackboot to his feet just in time for Thunder to yell, “Sam, dodge!”

Sam dived back to the ground with Jackboot in tow so that they both dodged the barbed tail that whipped across the space where their heads were only a second ago.

“Is it crazy of me to wish we could just go back to fighting Apex?” Jackboot asked.

“Nope,” Sam replied. “I’m wishing the same thing right now...”

They both rolled to the right to avoid the tail slapping against the ground to their left.

“Apex suddenly feels manageable, doesn’t he?” Jackboot sighed. “Compared to dragons, an immortal sorceress, and bloody Pandora, I mean...”

“You’re not making me feel better, Jack,” Sam complained.

They were quick to jump away as one of the two bus-sized lizards dropped in on them from above. Its tail lashed out at them, but a well-timed arrow struck at the chink between its scales, forcing the dragon to pull back from its attack.

“Go, go, go!” Sam yelled.

He and Jackboot dashed across the marble floor to rejoin their friends behind one of the pillars at the far corner of the hall.

“Dragons,” Sam blurted.

“Alpha-level solar dragons,” Thunder corrected.

Sam frowned. “Seriously?”

He glanced over his shoulder, his gaze fully taking in the two horrors slithering toward them from the center of the hall.

The dragons looked identical; golden scales running over serpentine bodies that were as thick as the trunks of ancient redwoods. Two large bat-like wings sprouted out of their thorny spines. Their faces were reptilian; long snouts with rows of extra-large, shark-like teeth and a pair of golden eyes which were known to mesmerize prey trapped in their gazes.

“They’re alphas...” Sam couldn’t repress the shudder that came with sensing the massive amount of energy leaking off these two horrors. “You think these are the same dragons the old sun god Helios gave Medea...?”

“If that is them”—Farsight notched another arrow to her bow—“then that creepy old hag is the real deal, too.”

Sam noticed that the arrow’s tip was a cylindrical canister that oozed white vapors around its rim like dry ice from a fog machine.

“Fire suppressing arrow,” Farsight explained.

The fire suppressing arrow launched out of Farsight’s bow and collided with dragon fire just as the horror on the right unleashed its breath, causing the dragon to nearly choke on the white foam that exploded out of the canister that was the arrow’s tip.

“Nice shot,” Sam grinned.

He watched as the dragon thrashed about with its wings whipping back and forth in obvious irritation.

“I only have two more of these, so we better make a plan—run or fight?” Farsight asked.

“I’m all for making a quick exit,” Jackboot answered. “Sorry, mates, but I don’t think we’re a match for all these villains.”

His words cut to the heart of Sam’s worries. For how could five heroes—tired and drained from previous encounters—fight against such odds as two alpha-level horrors and a sorceress as ancient and powerful as Medea?

“But we can’t leave without that coin,” Thunder reminded them.

“We could always find some other way to heal you,” Jackboot suggested.

“It’s not just about healing me, Jack...we can’t let Chimera have the fleece,” Thunder insisted. “She wasn’t entirely forthcoming with their evil plan, but Medea made it clear that the Golden Fleece was a key component of that plan... It’s our job to make sure they don’t get it.”

She was right, of course, but Sam thought that this wasn’t something they could achieve without reinforcements. As things stood right now, they were basically on a suicide mission.

“Wait...” Sam’s thoughts brought about a sudden epiphany. “I think we can do both.”

He pointed a finger at Dr. Hearthstone.

“You’ve got an entire raid team outside this place,” Sam reminded everyone. “You think they’ll be ready to back us up as soon as we get out of here?”

“Not everyone’ going to come out swinging, but…” Dr. Hearthstone grinned widely back at Sam. “…some of my people are as crazy as you four, and I know they would love some payback.”

Sam could think of at least two heroes who might fit Dr. Hearthstone’s description. That thought sent embers of hope springing to life in his chest.

“Can you contact them and let them know what’s coming?” Sam asked.

“No, but they’ll be ready.” Dr. Hearthstone nodded his chin toward the two dragons slithering closer and closer to the team’s position. “All we need to do is give them a target.”

As it approached, the dragon on the left unleashed another wave of dragon fire on them, forcing the team to scatter.

“We’ll go with Sam’s plan!” Thunder yelled.

She and Farsight moved toward the double doors that led back into the library’s lobby while Sam, Jackboot, and Dr. Hearthstone were forced further into the hall and closer to the far end where Medea and her minions were waiting.

“So…how exactly are we getting past that one?” Jackboot asked.

One of the two solar dragons moved to block their way while the other one chased after the girls as they raced for the double doors. The dragon before them wasn’t their only problem, though. Sam was also worried they might get stabbed in the back. So he glanced over his shoulder to see what their enemies were up to and found his brow arching up at the sight.

The sorceress was sitting on one of the assault troopers who’d bent over for her like she was some dominatrix from a horror-themed brothel. She looked completely relaxed and uncaring of the three heroes who weren’t close enough to strike at her.

“She’s just chilling like a—”

It was Pandora the 8th, however, who caught Sam’s eye. It was the way she was looking at him—a hint of recognition in the widening of her teal eyes that stumped Sam.

“Who...are you?” he wondered aloud.

What really worried him was how he felt when they locked eyes. Like he knew her too or they’d crossed paths before. Although Sam wasn’t sure how. He’d never run into big-time villains back when he was just a zeta.

“How do I—”

“Sam!” Jackboot yelled. “Run!”

Pandora the 8th’s distraction cost Sam. The dragon’s tail whipped toward him, catching Sam in the side and driving him off his feet. It was a hard whack in the ribs that threw Sam sideways, and he might have fallen off the edge of the hall and into the void beyond if Jackboot hadn’t jumped back to catch him.

“You saved my life. I saved yours,” Jackboot said.

“Th-thanks,” Sam grimaced. The pain in his side made it hard to breathe. “Give me a second...to regenerate...”

Jackboot pointed a finger forward. “I think Dr. Hearthstone’s got us covered, mate.”

With veins of fire coating both his arms, the veteran hero charged toward the dragon blocking their path.

“Smoldering Glare!” he roared.

The dragon’s gaze snapped from Sam to Dr. Hearthstone like it couldn’t help itself from perceiving the Samoan man as the bigger threat. It lunged for Dr. Hearthstone with jaws wide open.

“Fahrenheit Max!” Dr. Hearthstone yelled as he too leaped forward to meet his foe’s attack.

The dragon’s jaws latched onto his shoulder but found no purchase on his flesh as the fiery aura coating his right arm expanded outward, protecting the doctor momentarily from having his arm ripped off him.

“Here…have a taste of my other arm too!” Dr. Hearthstone said.

His free arm whipped forward so that his burning fist smashed against the underside of the dragon’s neck. It was a powerful blow accompanied by a “Boom!” that resounded across the hall. The explosion that followed lit up the surroundings in a brilliant flash that blinded all who witnessed its advent.

“Now!” Dr. Hearthstone commanded.

Sam and Jackboot hadn’t been warned, but they had both instinctively shut their eyes to the blazing light, and so they were spared from being stunned by it like their enemies were. This gave the duo an opportunity that they weren’t about to waste.

It only took seconds for both Sam and Jackboot to reach the dragon, and like their first team-up against the banshee, Jackboot went high while Sam went low.

“Herculean!” Sam roared just as he sent a left uppercut into the dragon’s underbelly.

[Herculean (Δ)] is now active. Based on probability and threat assessment calculations, your current strength is temporarily quadrupled.

Sam grimaced as Herculean’s energy caused pain to wrack his left arm. Still, he endured this discomfort and let unbridled power explode out of his fist. Power strong enough to lift the dragon off its feet.

“Lucky Rabbit’s Foot!” Jackboot yelled.

The spry hero vaulted over the dragon and then smashed his left heel hard on its spine in an ax-kick motion that drove the dragon crashing back onto the ground.

However, despite their successful combination of attacks, they were all painfully aware that they were dealing with an alpha-level horror many times above their power levels. This is why none of them waited to see if their attacks caused it any lasting damage. Instead, they ran past it, all three of them rushing to follow after Farsight and Thunder who were fending off the other dragon by the exit doors.

For a moment, Sam imagined that escape was possible. His hopes, however, were quickly dashed by the ray of cold light that blasted past his shoulder to explode onto the double doors just before Farsight could open them.

Ice expanded from the point of impact, growing into a flower-shaped glacier whose thick petals stole escape away from their clutches.