The doctor shook his head. “I have no idea. But I’m thinking it can’t be good.”
“Yeah. I second that.”
Max hesitated as he did something he knew was all kinds of stupid. The kind of stupid that if one of his brothers had done it, he’d have beaten them senseless. Thrown water on them to revive them.
Then beaten them more.
But he couldn’t think of any other way to spare his dragonswan from her fate. And if he didn’t move fast, it would be too late.
With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and ignored the pain of his wounds. He summoned every ounce of dragon’s breath inside him and teleported from Sanctuary to the Gates of Samothraki. While the humans in this time and place saw nothing but the jagged remains of a bygone era, he knew where the opening to a most sacred place lay. Much like the gateways to Avalon and Kalosis, it shimmered only in the faintest heartbeats right at dusk and dawn. So quickly that it was easily missed or dismissed as a trick of the eye.
But this was one of the last places where his brethren slept in the modern world.
And this was one of his last remaining siblings.
“Falcyn?”
Nothing but the evening sea breeze answered him. Max picked his way through the ruins of the ancient temple complex where mankind had once paid tribute to the gods of old. Where they’d once made offerings to his kind, hoping to win their cooperation and affection.
Things today were so different.
“Damn it, Falcyn! If you can hear me, answer!”
“I don’t answer to humans. If you want to speak to me, pick the right language.”
Max laughed bitterly as he switched over to drakyn. “I don’t have time for you to be an asshole. I need you, brother.”
Something struck him hard across his chest and knocked him flying. By the pain of it, and the distance he flew before he slammed into the ground, he’d say it must have been Falcyn’s barbed tail.
With a pain-filled groan, he pushed himself up. “Feel better?”
“Not really. When I slit you from asshole to appetite, then I should rally emotionally.”
This time when he attacked, Max caught the blow. Using his force field, he blocked and sent it back at his older brother. “Please, Falcyn… please.”
The pressure against him lessened.
Then it vanished. Max relaxed, only to realize too late that it was a trick. Falcyn materialized at his back and caught him in a vicious headlock. He choked him hard as he held Max against his body.
“Behold what is left of my island because of you, brother. You brought those Greek bastards here and I hate you for it!”
Yeah, okay, this might have been a massive mistake. He’d hoped a few thousand years would have mellowed his brother’s wrath.
Apparently, Falcyn needed a few thousand more.
“I’m sorry. I had nowhere else to go.”
“And I have nothing more to say to you.”
With no choice, Max turned on him and flipped him. “Listen to me! I don’t want to fight you.”
But a fight it was. Falcyn came after him like a starving dog in a buffet line that was after the last pork chop. Damn, he’d forgotten how hard his brother could hit. With no choice, he transformed to a dragon. It was the only way to survive and he didn’t really want to kill his brother.
Well…
Theoretically. However, if Falcyn didn’t come to his senses soon, Max might change his mind. He didn’t need his brother alive to claim what he was after. Only his conscience required a breathing Falcyn.
Oh dear gods, really? Suddenly, Illarion was between them in his dragon body, pushing them apart. Stop it! Both of you!