Page 90 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

Tyche stuck close to Jules as he worked his way through the crowd. Occasionally he would catch a hint of him barking in a pseudo-deep voice that he normally didn’t speak in, trying to project a threatening air, but it was a hard sell considering his slender frame. The young man was barely an inch taller than Tyche’s pathetic height.

All around him, people crowded close, jostling him and shouting angry chants in his face. He felt heartbreaking sympathy for them, but his instincts to fight were triggered. Prickles danced across his skin, and dark whispers crowded his mind. The magic he’d avoided touching stirred in his chest, begging to lash out. The pain these people wallowed in begged to be twisted into nightmares that would hound them through their nights.

“Back off, or we’re taking you in!” an unfamiliar voice threatened. A massive hand grabbed Tyche’s arm and pulled him through the crowd.

He stumbled forward, breaking through the throng and past the closest barrier. Tyche looked up and blinked at the scowling mug of an older man with gray hair and scars.

“Where the fuck are you coming from?” the man demanded.

“Uh…”

“Little Stip,” Jules interjected. “Captain heard you needed more help. We’ve been sent to patrol the lower levels of the capitol building.” Jules edged closer to the commanding figure and added in a lower voice. “There’ve been rumors.”

“Fuck, what hasn’t been rumored? This entire ceremony is a goddamn fiasco, and there ain’t nearly enough men to keep these people under control. Get out of my hair if you’re not going to help me out here.”

They did not need to be told twice. Tyche and Jules scurried off through the ranks of soldiers and police who were fighting to keep the eastern exit closed to protestors. They rushed past another set of barriers after flashing their fake badges and stepped into Founders Square, where their steps slowed.

The main capitol building was arranged to the north, while the supporting government buildings stretched along the east and west, framing three sides of the square. In the center of the square was a massive fountain that soared nearly three stories into the air and shot up an elegant geyser of water. Tyche could imagine the rainbow that the spray would cast once the sun hit it. However, the hour was still early, and the angle of the sun hadn’t crested the eastern building yet, leaving the interior of the square cast in deep shadow.

Within the square, a growing crowd of people moved closer to the barriers set up in front of the wide stairs that led up to the capital. This crowd was quieter and much more civilized in appearance. There were a few banners, but they were all supportive of the new Federation of Order. More than a few people carried tiny black-and-gold flags representing the Federation of Order.

Shey and the others had left after them but were supposed to take a more direct route. Had they sneaked in with this crowd? Were they in there somewhere, lying low and waiting for their moment to cause chaos?

Tyche wanted to believe that he could feel Shey out there in the crowd, scanning for a glimpse of Tyche among the lines of guards protecting the square, but it was just as likely to be wishful thinking on his part.

There was magic sparking in the air, but there was so much turmoil and negative energy churning with the growing accumulation of bad luck that Tyche couldn’t sort through any of it. Some of it had to be dragon. Shey and Adrian had to be in there too, right?

“Ty! We need to hurry!” Jules shouted, sounding as if he’d been trying to capture Tyche’s attention for a while.

“What time is it?”

“Quarter to ten, but we need to get inside in the event they choose to cancel it rather than take the risk.”

Tyche nodded and motioned for Jules to lead the way. He had a good point. There was always the chance that these morons might realize that they were provoking a beast they couldn’t hope to control and decide to cut their losses early.

The young man charged ahead with a kind of single-minded determination that made Tyche think that he’d finally overcome his lingering terror and concentrated on achieving their goal of killing Feng. Other guards stopped them twice more, demanding to know where they were going. Jules answered sharply each time, flashing his badge and barking, not allowing them to be bullied.

It was only when they were in an empty corridor that they paused. Jules stopped and pressed his hand to the smooth, white wall and bent his head. Even though lamps and fancy chandeliers glowed overhead, there was an eerie darkness to the place, as if the marble floors and the heavy wood that comprised the door and decorative wainscoting soaked up all the light.

After nearly drowning in constant shouting, the silence of the building was stifling rather than a relief. Tyche almost wished to retreat into the square so that he could breathe, but there was no going back.

Tyche drew close and flipped his face shield up. “Are you okay?”

Jules grasped the bottom of his face shield with trembling fingers and shoved it up. “Yeah. Okay.”

A crooked smile lifted one corner of Tyche’s mouth, and he cocked his head so that he filled Jules’s vision. “Okay or not, you were fucking impressive.”

“Really?”

“Definitely. I’m not very good with people, but you handled all that as if you’ve been doing it your entire life.”

His new friend grinned more easily, and his ragged pants slowed to something more normal. “Thanks. I’m not very good with people either. I prefer my books and my computer. Those make more sense. Less chaotic.”

“True, but that gets boring after a while. You stepped out of your comfort zone for a good cause, and look at what you’ve achieved.”

“Thanks, Ty. It means a lot to me to have you say that.”

Tyche shrugged and straightened before glancing up and down the hall. “I wish we could talk to the others. At least tell them we made it inside.” Out of habit, Tyche’s right hand went to the back pocket of his pants.