Requiem for a King [MxM]

Peak of Disaster

The sun didn't rise in Avaly the next day. Not in the traditional sense. Sunrise came with birdsong and warm light and the promise of a productive day. But this time, it came with silence and dread and a purple haze that clung to the sky.

Quintus looked up at the spore clouds. The bone dragon's shadow writhed and coiled within its depths, and the clouds plumed and pulsed as though they lived. Through his efforts, they'd managed to keep the clouds just above the buildings. If it breached the roof, the spores would seep into any hole or crack that wasn't sealed shut, and Avaly would turn into a city of nightwalkers.

He made his way to the Cathedral, or what was left of it, his echoing footfalls and the basket of food warming his hands, his only company. The smell of burn hit him long before he reached the abandoned building. Its doors and windows were gone, affording a clear view of the charred walls inside.

Quintus bypassed them to enter the wooden doors of the bell tower instead. The winding steps carried him up three stories up to the top floor. An enormous brass bell occupied the space. Amadeus sat by one of the many pointed arches that encircled the room. A book was in his hand, but his eyes were on the horizon.

Quintus had been skeptical about assigning the boy to this role—the most dangerous one, in the most vulnerable position, closest to the bone dragon. But Amadeus was young and hot-blooded and wanted to prove himself. They'd given him a chair, a small table, an hourglass, a lantern and some books to pass the time. So far, his job had been easy—ring the bell once an hour.

"How's it going?" Quintus asked, setting the food on the table.

Amadeus set down his book. "I think it's getting irritable. It dipped pretty low the last time I rang the bell."

That didn't surprise Quintus. That monster above their head was hungry. It would make a move eventually, and if the gods favoured them, Octavia would be here when that happened. Quintus leaned against a window and stared out at the empty port. All the boats had cleared out by midday yesterday, the fish market and port house were boarded up. If he'd happened upon Avaly without context, he would've thought the netherborne already had their fill.

"Stay diligent, Amadeus." Quintus turned and started for the stairs. "I'll return soon."

He took the steps back down to the street. It was an uphill walk back to the castle grounds, and he spent it mentally going over the timeline they'd set out for each necromancer in the city. Cantrelle would take over for Amadeus in an hour. The boy had relieved Calliope long before dawn and needed a break.

He'd need to check the chimes they'd set up around the castle to keep the spores at bay, and pray Octavia arrived soon. The bone dragon was behaving for now, but a couple more rings of that bell and it would have enough.

As if on cue, icy needles ran up and down Quintus' back, and he whirled around in time to see the dragon spiraling down from the cloud, the rattle of its bones sounding like dice clicking together. The chime of the cathedral's bell made the air vibrate., but did nothing to deter the monster.

"Amadeus, you need to get down now!" Quintus shouted. He broke into a sprint, his feet pounding against the road. The dragon whipped its tail around and slammed it into the top of the bell tower. The impact sounded like a cannonball connected with the structure and a plume of dust rose into the morning air.

Quintus skidded to a stop, and a slab of concrete slammed into the ground in front of him. "Shit! Amadeus!" He backpedaled as more debris rained down. A metal bang rattled the road as the bell bounced off the pavement. The fall warped its shape from a circle to an oval. It rolled down the road and settled next to a florist's shop.

This was bad. He hadn't anticipated the monster getting riled up this early. If he couldn't hold it off until Octavia got here, Avaly was done.

"Amadeus!" He rounded the tower to the wooden door on the other side and saw the boy stumble out, face-first, into the grass. Dust coated the boy's hair and his glasses sat askew, but he seemed no worse for wear. "Are you alright?" He offered him a hand up.

"Yeah, barely." He accepted Quintus' hand. "Almost didn't make it out in time." He took a moment to catch his breath, then looked up to where the bone dragon was weaving in and out of the clouds. "What should we do?"

Quintus pulled his singing sticks from his back. "You will go back to the castle."

"But—"

"Amadeus, if anything happens to me, you and the others are the last line of defense until Octavia gets here. Go, now." Quintus started down the road, and the sounds of Amadeus' retreating footfalls echoed behind him. He hadn't fought a netherborne this big since the night of the Calamity. This was more Octavia's speed. He'd been using necromancy all morning to keep the spore cloud at bay. There wasn't much left in him.

The bone dragon spiraled down from the spore cloud, its black, flaky skin peeling away and raining over the buildings like ash. Stark white bone shined from underneath, held together by a tangle of vines filled with purple flowers.

Quintus spun, and his boots warmed as he skidded down the road. Power hummed through his body, from the soles of his feet, up through his torso and down his arms. The dragon was halfway to the buildings when he cracked his singing sticks together. Sound and necromancy shot through the air and hit the monster square in the head.

And didn't phase it at all. The dragon shot through the attack, and Quintus leapt out of the way as it snaked past him. But he did see the vine wrap around his leg. Suddenly, he was upside down and the city shrank beneath him.

Purple spores clouded his vision, and his chest exploded with the hot tightness that warned him he'd used too much necromancy. Well, too bad. He wasn't about to allow this beast to whisk him off to netherland.

He gathered his power again, so much that his muscles cramped in response, and slammed his sticks together again. They vibrated so hard, the wood split and the metal bent. Necromancy radiated from his body and shook the air enough to make it waver. The dragon freed him and he fell down towards the city as darkness eclipsed his vision.