"I can sympathize with you," Bracken said. "Life can wear a man down. Especially a long life on the run. Still, mistake or not, you have to fulfill your duty. The stakes are too high. This is not the time to let your existential crisis come to a head."
"This is exactly the time," Mark argued, eyes intense. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this? I've toyed with death, sure, mostly to sample the illusion of an end. To pretend I had some control over my fate. But I've never sought out a dragon or a phoenix to conclude my life prematurely. If I had put my mind to it, I could have. Now a natural end is coming. Not suicide. Just the inevitable finally catching up. After all of these centuries, I have a right to stop fighting."
"You don't have that right," Bracken said. "If this was just you, I'd agree. But you can't let the rest of the world pay for your mistake. This became about more than just yourself the day you agreed to help keep Zzyzx closed."
Mark clapped his hands over his ears. "You need that to be true. I get it. Here's the problem. I am still a person. Like it or not, I have a will. All the guilt and all the accusations and all the compulsion in the universe can't fully take that away. Is it wrong of me to have accepted this responsibility and then not follow through? Yes. Tux tells me, my heart tells me, a few others like you have told me. Wrong or not, it remains my promise to break. I'm not the one trying to end the world. If you want to blame somebody, blame them. I'm just a guy trying to finally move beyond a mistake I made centuries ago. You can try to force me to live. But since we're talking about vows, let me make a new vow. First oath I've taken in a long time. If you drag me to a dragon sanctuary by force, I will immediately and without hesitation seek out a dragon to end my life. You'll be putting me in a place with limitless opportunities. I'll probably last longer if you leave me be."
"Please," Kendra said. "Think of all the lives that will be destroyed."
"I have," Mark said. "Believe me, darling, I grasp all aspects of this, I really do. But how much has the public I'm protecting worried about me? My sanity, my happiness, my right to find peace?"
"They made no promises," Bracken said. "They are not preventing the end of the world. Those who know about your sacrifice appreciate you immeasurably. Your life may not be fair, but it is absolutely necessary."
"Leave me alone," Mark growled. "I don't need to justify myself to you. This conversation is over. Trust me, I have no feelings left to manipulate. You'd have better luck tickling a corpse. At least there's one other Eternal. Hopefully somebody as tough as you, Mr. Unicorn. Take the other sucker, I mean hero, to your sanctuary. Leave me be."
Mark turned and ran. Bracken and Kendra watched him in silence. "Raxtus is following him," Bracken said. He crouched beside the cat. "What do you make of this?"
"I'm unsurprised," Tux said wearily. "This was the most likely response, but I quietly hoped the confrontation might go differently. I'm so familiar to Mark, like a nagging sibling; I hoped he might put on a bolder face for noble strangers. I was also hoping the prospect of actual impending death might shake him up. After this display, I'm convinced that
Mark really is as hollow as he claims to be. He was a good man, once."
"What now?" Kendra asked.
"We abduct him," Bracken said. "Raxtus will carry him to Wyrmroost. Agad will have to lock him up. Meanwhile, we'll get a car and track down the last Eternal."
"I have to stay with him," Tux said. "If he gets too distant, I start to feel like a chain is dragging me toward him. I agree with you, by the way. Incarcerating us has become the only option."
"I don't reach that verdict lightly," Bracken said, walking in the direction Mark had run. "I've spent time in prison. It's inhumane. But prisons serve a necessary purpose. Prisons protect the freedom of the masses from those who abuse their freedom. On my scale, the freedom of the world outweighs Mark's personal rights. He may have made a mistake in becoming an Eternal, but the rest of the world shouldn't pay for his error. Like it or not, it remains his chore to pay for his decision."
"Amen," the cat approved.
"Are you in touch with Raxtus?" Kendra asked.
"I just told him to grab Mark," Bracken replied. "Okay, Raxtus has him. We'll meet up on the beach so Tux can join him."
"This way," Tux said, hurrying. Bracken and Kendra broke into a jog.
Tux led them along a path to a footbridge that spanned the Pacific Coast Highway. They hurried onto the bridge. Cars zoomed beneath them, most with their headlights on.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving the hazy sky above the ocean streaked pink and orange. The footbridge led down to a deserted parking lot where pulverized glass glimmered in the fading light. A barren expanse of sand separated the lot from the foamy breakers. Unmanned lifeguard stations stood guard along the beach at regular intervals. Off to the left, a larger parking lot alongside the Santa Monica Pier contained dozens of cars and several people.
Mark lay sprawled on the sand not far from the water. Seagulls wheeled and cried in the air above.
Kendra, Bracken, and Tux crossed the parking lot and a jogging path and started across the sand. The way the sand absorbed each step made walking a little awkward. Kendra glanced over at the roller coaster on the pier. Between the beach, the pier, the shops, the weather, and the restaurants, this could be a really fun place under different circumstances.
They reached Mark. He glared up spitefully. From his posture, Kendra could tell that Raxtus was holding him down. "You're thugs," he accused.
"And you're a sorry joke of a man," Bracken said. "I'm out of patience. We're going to save your life, so you had better get used to the idea."
Mark glowered at Tux. "What have you got to say for yourself?"
"Meow," the cat replied, pronouncing the word the way a human would.
"Raxtus, take Mark and Tux to Wyrmroost. Explain the situation to Agad. Give him this stone, so we can communicate."
Bracken held out a small pouch, and the invisible dragon took it. "Take an unpredictable route."
Raxtus flickered into view, his neck craning up. "We have company."
Kendra's gaze went to the sky. A pair of large winged creatures were quickly approaching. "Wyverns," Bracken muttered.
Mark started laughing.
A Hummer screeched to a halt in the parking lot near the footbridge. "Fly!" Bracken urged, drawing his sword. "Take Kendra!"
"Wait," Kendra protested, reaching for her sword. Without hesitation, Raxtus turned invisible and seized her around the waist. Kendra, Mark, and Tux rose into the air, the unseen dragon's fierce wingbeats stirring up gritty clouds of sand.
As they soared out over the water, Kendra looked over her shoulder at the people exiting the Hummer, at Bracken striding across the sand, and then up to the oncoming wyverns.
"More wyverns," Raxtus warned, veering up the coast.
Scanning the horizon, Kendra saw a wyvern approaching from out to sea. Another was coming toward the pier from the south. Yet another was streaking down the coast from the north. As Raxtus fought to gain altitude, the wyverns closed in from all directions. They had wolfish heads, batlike wings, and long black claws.
"Wyverns are quick," Raxtus panted. "They're built like me. I'm not sure I can lose five, not with visible passengers."
"Over here!" Mark yelled, waving his arms. "Come and get me!"
"Shut it," Kendra snapped, readying her crossbow.
As the nearest wyverns swooped at them, Raxtus rolled and dove. Kendra fired her crossbow, but the evasive maneuver made her quarrel go astray. Claws clashed against dragon scales and Kendra felt Raxtus shudder; then the ocean came rushing up at them with alarming speed. Raxtus pulled out of his dive and skimmed the wave tops, paralleling the shore. Wyverns descended from both sides, keeping pace. With a triumphant howl, one crashed down onto Raxtus, and all of them plunged into the brine.
After recovering from the shock of the impact and of the cold water, Kendra found herself blinded by bubbles. Tearing free from her wolf-hide cloak, she stroked to the surface, the weight of her leather armor and sword slowing her ascent. She found herself beside Mark, fighting to keep her nose and mouth above water. Huge bodies surged and lashed nearby, snarling and splashing, sending up fountains of spray.
A wyvern who had not yet joined the fray swooped at them. Mark raised his arms invitingly, and the wyvern seized him. Kendra grabbed Mark's leg and was yanked up out of the water, heading toward the beach.
"Leave me alone," Mark growled, kicking at her arms with his free leg.
Kendra clung desperately for a few seconds, then lost her hold and dropped into the foamy surf. The water helped break her fall, but she still hit the seafloor hard, and then a curling wave sent her tumbling forward. Regaining her feet,
Kendra staggered through the shallows toward the shore, throat burning as she coughed up salt water.
On the beach, an arrow thunked into Bracken's shield as a pair of swordsmen descended on him. Blocking one sword with his shield, Bracken deflected the second sword with his blade, then dispatched one of his assailants with a vicious counterstroke. The other swordsman backed away, weapon ready, waiting for Bracken to make the next move.
The wyvern had dumped Mark on the far side of the beach, near the parking lot and the Hummer. Beside the Hummer, bow in hand, Kendra recognized Torina. Sand clung to Mark's clothes as he knelt on the sand facing his executioners. He shed his army jacket and tore open the shirt underneath, baring his chest in an unmistakable token of surrender. Torina nocked an arrow, and a man robed in gray from head to foot strode forward, a slightly curved sword in each hand. Kendra recognized him as the Gray Assassin from Obsidian Waste.
"No!" Kendra shouted, running across the damp sand, fumbling with the hilt of her sword, much too far away to reach Mark in time.
Swords clashed as Bracken engaged his foe. Their blades met several times before Bracken skewered the other man. Wrenching his sword free, Bracken raced toward Mark, kicking up sand with every stride.
Kendra reached drier sand and it slowed her. Her waterlogged clothing clung heavily. The parking lot remained hopelessly distant. A falcon dove at the warrior in gray but he slashed it out of the air with a casual sweep of his sword.
Bracken shouted in frustration as the Gray Assassin stood before Mark and issued the killing stroke. Instantly, Mark dissolved into dust, wet clothes flopping emptily to the sand.
Torina switched arrows and took aim at Bracken, who lifted his shield as he charged. She released the arrow, and he caught it on the very bottom of his shield.
"Kendra!" Raxtus called from somewhere behind her.
Turning, she saw a wyvern diving at her. With rage and frustration, she swung her sword above her head. Ringing against razor claws, the sword flew from her grasp. Kendra fell to the sand, hands stinging, the wyvern's swiping claws missing her by inches. The wyvern banked to come back around, then abruptly crumpled to the sand, head askew. A moment later, with a rush of wind, Raxtus alighted beside her, becoming visible.
Tires squealing, the Hummer roared out of the parking lot. Kendra and Raxtus joined Bracken beside the wet army jacket and jeans. Bracken smoldered impotently. His eyes softened when he saw Kendra. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Kendra said.
Sheathing his sword, Bracken plucked an arrow from his shield. "We were so close!" He glanced at the sky, then at Raxtus. "How many wyverns did you get?"
"All five. Two in the water, three in the air. Hardly a fair fight. Their claws couldn't penetrate my scales, and I was invisible. They have this really fragile spot, right where the neck joins the back of the head. My dad taught me that."
"What happened to Tux?" Kendra asked.
"He changed into a falcon and tried to help," Raxtus said. "The shape-shifter turned to dust along with Mark."
Bracken kicked the army jacket. "Blasted craven! If only I'd been a little quicker."
"They were watching," Raxtus said. "They knew just how to thwart us. If we'd been a little faster, they might have still tracked me and gotten Mark."
"How did that sword kill him?" Kendra asked. "I thought it had to be phoenix or dragon fire or unicorn horns."
"He had magic swords," Bracken said bitterly. "The hilts were made of dragon teeth, and the blades were enchanted. The magic must have been equivalent to dragon breath."
"Torina was with them," Kendra noted.
"She had a few arrows fletched with phoenix feathers," Bracken said. "Magical as well. They would have done the job too." He pulled the other arrow from his shield and held it up. "She didn't bother to use the special ones on me."
"They ran from you," Raxtus encouraged.
"I expect they were running from you," Bracken said. "As well they should. You're becoming quite formidable. I'd give chase, but it could be a trap, and our only priority now is the Eternal in Texas. We could waste time pursuing these clowns while another hit squad moves in on our last hope."
Raxtus exercised his wings. "After our last trip, Texas is just around the corner. Hmmm. Might be time to make an exit."
"The police are coming," Bracken said.
After the comments, Kendra noticed the distant whine of sirens. She looked over to the pier. "People must have seen us."
"I'm not sure what I look like to bystanders," said Raxtus. "Not sure about the wyverns either. But onlookers certainly could have glimpsed people flying around and firing arrows and stabbing each other. Bracken left a couple of bodies on the beach. The police probably received multiple calls. It's time to flee."