Dmitri strolled a few paces away, rubbing his chin. He appeared so different from Martin in his natural form, yet his mannerisms were surprisingly familiar. Though if he’d been in Martin’s realm as long as he claimed, maybe he’d adopted their habits.
How, indeed. “Then we find a way to share a realm,” Martin conceded. “We have to win the battle first before we squabble over any spoils. You say many have tried and failed to stop Thomoth. What right do we have to think we can?”
“The young pup has a point,” Garamel said.
Martin rolled his eyes. “I’m not a pup.”
“What’s wrong with being a pup?” Garamel snapped. “We call our young pups.”
“I’m too old to be a pup.”
“My infant daughter is older than you,” the demon pointed out.
And Martin thought demons were bad when they’d been attacking people in the streets. No, not demons. Dreckons. He’d have to open his mind if he didn’t want to be thought of as a pup. “I have a friend in the Lad… Thomoth’s temple, training to be an oracle. Is there any way we can move him out of harm’s way before the fighting begins?”
“If there is any way to spare lives, it must be only us and Thomoth.” Dmitri snuck a quick glance at Xariel, darting his gaze away when Xariel caught him.
Martin might give his mentor a hard time if the situation wasn’t so dire. “I’m friends with the commander of the city guards. He can rally his people to get the townsfolk away from the temple.”
“Do we have any idea how to kill it?” Dmitri asked.
“My mother told me two heroes would come. Would save us.” How Martin enjoyed the stories as a child. Now, looking back, he should have been horrified.
Garamel raised a scaled hand. “I was one of the two in my realm. We failed.”
Dmitri and Xariel both raised a hand. “And the two of us for ours,” Dmitri said. “You’re powerful and have a mage bond, but Xariel and I trained together for most of our adult lives.”
Then they didn’t stand a chance. “What makes you think this time will be different? And why did you deliberately keep Peter and me apart?”
“Because we wanted to watch you—”
“Have you heard yourselves? Entire realms running out of magic. You’ve used magic your entire lives. Peter and I have not. Wouldn’t the same hold true for mages if there is only a finite amount of magic in a realm?”
Xariel and Dmitri both opened and closed their mouths a few times. Finally, Dmitri spoke. “We draw from the magic of the realm.”
“Again, finite. A serpent from a particular area in my realm can sicken a man with one bite and kill a child. The adult serpents. The hatchlings have venom so potent, a mere scratch from one fang kills a full-grown man in seconds.” Martin had seen such a death once when he’d been summoned to the city gates to aid a wounded traveler. He’d seen death before, but never so painful or horrifying.
Xariel brought himself up to his full height. “Are you suggesting we’re serpents?”
“Hey, don’t sound so condescending,” Garamel snapped. “Some of my best friends are serpents.”
“What I’m saying is that mine and Peter’s magic is relatively unused. And there’s always two. Xariel, you and Dmitri were the two from your realm. Peter and I are possibly the two from mine. Maybe it’s two per realm. Garamel, is your partner still alive?”
Garamel nodded.
“The boy does have a point.” Dmitri stroked his chin. “There are always two, but what might we accomplish with two from each of three realms?
Martin let the “boy” comment go while he seemed to be winning his case. “How can we collaborate with the Dreckons if my race can’t see them.”
“They are only hidden when they want to be,” Xariel answered. “If they drop their glamour, they can be seen by all.”
Which might be a huge shock to the good people of E’Skaara.
“What now?” Garamel asked.
Since no one else answered, Martin took it upon himself. “Now, we plan how to defeat Thomoth.”
Guardians, Dreckons, and locals gathered outside of E’Skaara, mages with staffs to channel magic, Martin’s kind with blades and knives.
