ENTICED (#3 The Valkyries)

Chapter 2 - Pazuzu

Pazuzu exited the silver event horizon and stepped into the expansive but cold white marble of his father's circular reception hall. Halting, fine hairs rose at his nape and he clenched a fist, restraining the press of defensive claws emerging at his fingertips. Made to accommodate their twelve-ton dragon size, the thick pillars and high-arched dome easily dwarfed the human's Roman Colosseum—a building inspired by the gladiatorial sport born here on Muspelheim as an outlet for demon aggression and which the mortals had taken to with surprising zest. Open to the sky in the center with an oculus that spanned four dragon wings, the red sky reflected on the white stone like spilled blood—a sight made more ominous by Absu's shadow, the massive gas giant, creeping across the floor as it rose on the horizon like an ancestor spirit come to drag him to the Abyss. Not that he believed in such portents, but still, his nose flared, scenting his surroundings and the mixed bouquet of old soured copper that permeated the floor, walls, and ceiling.

A shiver of awareness rose gooseflesh as the tastes mingled on his tongue and found their mate. He swallowed the bitter recognition. So rare for him to be on the receiving end. If it wasn't for Anna's vulnerability, he'd have ignored the summons. None of the bastards could take him one-on-one, after all.

And fuck, but he couldn't recall the last time he'd entered from the deliberately formidable formal reception—an indication of his father's fury that Pazuzu's portal had been deflected from the family's private palace wing. Despite his resolve to not let the parental disapproval get to him, the prince's heart sank. He'd hoped to talk to his father, to at least explain the situation, before Hanbu passed judgment. But the King was distancing himself from his son already, assuming Pazuzu would be found guilty.

"The Council awaits you within, Sarru," a white and sky blue leather-garbed harpy guard stated. She bowed deeply as befitted his status as heir to the demon realm, extending her black wings as her beak almost reached the floor. Other palace guards, also in the ruling House of Sky's white and blue, eyed the prince warily as they rose from their bows and hooked talons on the massive blackened metal double doors, unlatching the inner council sanctum.

Shoulders back, Pazuzu strode through and grit his teeth at the tread of boots behind him. Apparently, he wasn't even trusted enough to make his way to the circular council chamber on his own. A set of gargoyle guards stood at the entrance and after the prince passed through, the doors shut with a heavy clang. There would be no leaving until the council made its ruling.

"Good of you to finally join us, Sarru," snarled Debrutu from his red House of Fire stone seat on Pazuzu's left, partially behind him. Ignoring the surly dragon, Pazuzu continued down the stairs to the centre judgment circle engraved in the floor with its ominous black drain. No living being wanted to be surrounded by the council, the five Apkallu dragon lords that ruled each of the five houses. Few escaped the circle unscathed. But he was no mere lesser being and despite his precarious position, Pazuzu raised his chin to look each of the lords in the eyes. The Abyss-blinded fools crossed him at their peril.

"You forget yourself, Sar Debrutu. Bit Ishum is not the ruling house," growled his father from his centre seat, the seat of the Sarru Rabu, King of the Apkallu and ruler of Muspelheim. "Sarru Pazuzu has the right to defend himself against the charge of treason."

Treason.

Shards of ice cut into Pazuzu's lungs, a metallic bitterness coating his tongue as he sucked in a breath. At his second breath, the shards heated into a searing betrayal that burned through the veins of his body. For his father to accuse him... him, of all dragons... after the sacrifices Pazuzu had suffered at Lamashtu's hand and the hundreds of years he'd put in to solve the issue of their dwindling female population and lack of dragonets.