“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 thatyounever 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. Heneverbreathed smoke, but then, he’d never been this angry before. It was as if everything he’d fought against since he’d realized hecouldfight 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 thereisa 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 didnotexpect 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 didnotjust come back from the dead to lose you overBob. 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. “Heiscalled 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 fightingyou. 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’veneverseen 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 isourworld! We say who lives and dies around here. I’m not a fan of letting Bob put my future on rails, but I’m abigfan 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.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Amelia said with a grin. “These are crazy times, and crazy times call for crazy plans, not the same old hard line. Isn’t that right, Chelsie?”
Julius jumped. He hadn’t even realized she was there, but the moment Amelia said her name, Chelsie appeared beside them. She had a long piece of broken metal in her hands that she was holding like a sword, and her face was a sour scowl, as though she couldn’t believe it had come to this.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, shoving her way past Amelia to stand in front of Julius. “I’m not on Brohomir’s team, and I refuse to participate in the hell he calls a future, but I owe Julius more than can ever be repaid.” She pointed her makeshift sword at the Black Reach. “If you swing at him, I will swing first, assuming Fredrick doesn’t beat me to it.”
The words weren’t out of her mouth when a cut opened in the air directly behind Dragon Sees Eternity, and the familiar curved blade of a Fang of the Heartstriker slid through the hole to rest on the construct’s back. A heartbeat later, Fredrick followed, stepping through the portal he’d made with the confidence of someone who’d been doing this for decades rather than a day. It wasn’t until he slid the edge of his Defender’s Fang up to the construct’s neck, though, that Julius finally realized what was going on.
Dragon Sees Eternity was completely surrounded. Everyone facing him was doing so for their own reasons, but, like a triggered trap, the moment the Black Reach had turned his claw on Julius, all their disparate elements—dragons, humans, spirits, even the Qilin, who’d moved in to support Fredrick—had suddenly snapped together into one powerful whole. Even Svena and Katya had stepped forward, though Svena mostly seemed to be trying to keep her little sister in place. Ghost was there as well, his grave-cold magic filling the air to bursting as he prepared to fight at Marci’s command.
If it hadn’t been so terrifying, the joy of seeing everyone working together for his sake would have made Julius cry. But while he was fighting back emotions, the Black Reach didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He wasn’t even looking at the deadly force surrounding him. He was just standing there, staring at Bob with a sad, sad look.
“Is there no depth you won’t stoop to, Consort of a Nameless End?” he asked bitterly. “You’ve built something truly amazing, a web of real connection built on trust and friendship instead of fear. You could change the world with power like this, and you’re throwing it away on a desperate, selfish bid to save your own skin.”
“Am I?” Bob said, letting go of Julius as he rose to his feet.
“That question insults us both,” the construct said irritably. “You know as well as I do that I can kill everyone here. Your forces are children, not even in their mid-thousands. I am a weapon forged from the combined magic of the greatest dragons of our old world. My fire could consume all of theirs without even noticing.”
That sounded suspiciously like bluffing to Julius. The Black Reach had the advantage in age and power, but there was only one of him versus alotof them. To his surprise, though, Bob nodded rapidly.
“You are stupidly powerful,” Bob agreed. “No living dragon can challenge you, but that’s the most beautiful thing about this. We don’t have to beat you.”
The Black Reach arched an eyebrow. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“From you,” Bob replied, leaning closer. “You were the one who taught me that the future is never set, old friend, but you wouldn’t know it from how you act. We seers get so focused on what’s ahead, we often forget that the most important decision is the one right in front of us. We forget thatwemake decisions too. We are part of the stream of time same as everyone else, and just as you told me only minutes ago that I could still choose to change my fate, you have a choice as well.”
“You’ve left me no choice!” the Black Reach roared, pointing his claw at the pigeon, who was still sitting placidly on Bob’s shoulder. “You deliberately sought out the force whose only purpose is to break theoneruleI’ve ever given you! I am the guardian of the future she exists to destroy! Whatchoicedo I have?”
“A very simple one,” Bob said. “You can decidenotto kill me.”
A visible wave of anger rolled through Dragon Sees Eternity, but Bob wasn’t finished.
