Domanick and two of the other board members helped to clear the plates of food away, storing them back in Arthur’s briefcase. As soon as enough space presented itself, Sandy slid the long cardboard box onto the table.
Once she’d settled it to her satisfaction, she stepped back and gestured toward Arthur.
“Sir, all instructions are inside the box. As the leader of the group, it is required that you perform them.”
Arthur looked around the table, seeing everyone besides Carina nodding in quick agreement. She looked confused, but followed suit as everyone stood up and briefly moved away from the table. With a shake of his head, he reached out and pulled open the box to see what was inside.
What greeted him was the most stereotypical cultist gear he’d ever seen. They were items from any book he’d ever read that included dark rituals mentioned at least once. Darkly colored folded robes covered in what appeared to be arcane symbols lay underneath dragon-headed pendants on real golden chains and small silver knives.
It took effort not to groan as he reached down and picked up a pendant from the box. Whatever sense he’d gained with his transformation told him it was pure gold, and not only that, but it was the same gold as the coin in his possession. The longer he held it, the more he sensed the same flicker of warmth.
“Are you serious?” He asked as he reached out to touch the robe, appreciating its softness.
Jim nodded, the motion somehow seeming curt. “Yes. From what we understood from the files, this is what the original casters wore and used to perform the ritual.”
“I see.” Arthur didn’t hide his growl this time as he picked up a small sheet of paper and read through it. “We put on the robes, etch the symbol onto a surface, and then bleed a drop of enhanced blood onto the circle.”
The last part made him frown, and he looked around the table once more.
“Enhanced blood?”
This time, Jim looked uncomfortable. “We aren’t sure. The papers I found mentioned someone gave them access to a vial of blood, but they didn’t say more.”
“Though I’m sure you can figure it out, sir,” Domanick said, and the others nodded.
Carina snorted. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Oh?” Arthur turned to her and noticed she didn’t so much as flinch under his gaze.
“Yours. They want something special, and you would be it. You, or maybe Theobold, over there.”
Arthur wanted to disagree, but he found he couldn’t. It made sense, and if it was Wilth or Rathnil who had given over this ritual, it wouldn’t be hard for them to procure the blood for it. A thought tickled the back of his head at that, but he ignored it for now. They had a ritual to complete.
“Fine. Let’s get this done.” As he spoke, he reached down and grabbed a robe.
To his surprise, it glowed before lengthening under his touch. When he pulled it over his head, it fit him perfectly. The others murmured in surprise as the robes did the same for them, all turning to watch him.
After a small nod of his head, he moved on to re-read the sheet. They needed to carve the symbol into something and then use gold to cement it. That would be easy enough. The question was where they wanted to do this.
The easiest spot, of course, would be a section of floor, but Arthur wasn’t sure he wanted something so permanent in his place of business. His mind whirled as he tried to come up with other ideas, and then it hit him. Carina raised an eyebrow as he whirled toward her.
“Do you have a spare tablecloth or sheet around the store?”
“A sheet?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Maybe?” Carina furrowed her eyes before she nodded. “I think we have some bedding on display.”
“Great. Please grab that for me. Oh, and a marker or something as well.”
For a moment, he thought she might argue, but she nodded, turned, and left. The swishing of fabric filled the room as the ex-board members shifted and fidgeted, but he paid it little mind. Excitement filled him at the idea, and he couldn’t wait to see if it worked. A simple, moveable way to summon the dragon could be useful.
All Indigo wanted him to do was make Rathnil talk about the fact that Wilth was responsible for it all, or for Arthur to kill him. Not that he was sure that he could take out Rathnil, not even with The Goddess’s new upgrade. Though a part of him wanted to try, damn the consequences.
Before it could get loud enough to convince him that fighting the dragon was a good idea, Carina returned. In her arms, she held a sheet large enough for a single bed.
“Where do you want this?”
“On the floor here, Theobold and Domanick, help me move this table out of the way.”
Once that was done and Carina spread out the sheet, Arthur sketched out the required design onto the sheet. It took him longer than he would have liked, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief when it was done.
Murmurs sprang up as he opened his briefcase and placed the small amount of gold at the required points. Then he stood and gestured for everyone to come close. He felt foolish as he held up his palm and ran the blade over his scales.
It didn’t work, and he sighed as he changed his grip on the blade. This time, he aimed for a section on his arm, a place where he saw a minor gap between the scales. The tip of the blade pierced in, and he flexed his arm, watching as a small trickle of blood dropped down and stained the sheet.
All the steps completed; he stepped back and said it in his deepest voice.
“Rathnil. I summon thee. We need to talk.”
***
Arthur had expected a pillar of purple smoke, or perhaps even a dark shape that hid the dragon’s actual form.
What he got was a flash of golden light, and then Rathnil stood on the sheet with his arms folded. He looked much the same as when Arthur had last seen him amongst the trees of The Orchard, but with one key difference. No longer did he wear a suit; instead, he wore a simple t-shirt and jeans, with a stained lab coat covering them up.
The smell of chemicals and rot filled the room, and someone behind the dragon coughed. Rathnil whirled at the sound, his wings stretching out as he slammed into the invisible barrier. Now that Arthur was getting a look at him in the light, he noticed the dragon’s feet weren’t touching the sheet. A measure to stop him from destroying the circle, he expected.
That would be useful, considering the flimsy material.
“What is this?” Rathnil demanded as he whirled back towards Arthur. “We—”
His words seemed to die in his throat as he stopped to stare, and then a grin came over his face and he laughed. It was a deep, guttural sound that filled the boardroom completely. As the dragon doubled over, clutching his sides, Arthur resisted the urge to lash out.
Such an action might break whatever barrier stopped Rathnil from leaving, and he wasn’t willing to risk it. Instead, he forced out words to get him to stop.
“What do you think is so funny?”
“You!” Rathnil almost howled the world as he continued to laugh.
Everyone else in the room seemed too terrified to move, and so Arthur took a step closer as he bared his teeth.
“Stop laughing. We need to talk.”
“Oh, please,” Rathnil gasped out between chuckles. “You’ve already failed Mother enough. She started your transformation early. What makes you think you’re a threat to me? This room is filled with people who worked for me for years.”
“Because it’s not me, you should be scared of,” Arthur said, and this time it was his turn to laugh.
“Then who?”
“Indigo.”
That shut the dragon up, and he looked about the room with a glare. “Everyone out. This is a private conversation.”
When no one moved, Arthur could see the rage flash across the dragon’s face. His own smile grew wider as he nodded to Sandy. “Please escort everyone from the room. Theobold will stay with me, and if you can please send Augustus back as well?”
“I’m not talking in front of your pet pony,” Rathnil spat.
“Yes, you will.” Arthur didn’t flinch from the vitriol present in the dragon’s words.
Sandy nodded. “Right away, sir.”
With that, everyone else left the room, with Sandy carrying the box away. When the door swung shut, Arthur turned back to Rathnil.
“There, you have your privacy. Talk.”
Rathnil snarled before he shook his head. “I’m going to kill you, Arthur. Agreement or no.”
“Really? You wanted the audience sent away for threats?” Arthur bared his teeth and leaned in. “Try again.”
“Is that meant to be scary?”
“You seemed scared enough when I mentioned Indigo’s name. Wasn’t he the same dragon who investigated you before? How much did Wilth need to pay to get you off that one?”
His smile widened as he saw the dragon flinch at the sounds of Wilth’s name, and so he pressed his attack. “I know things, Rathnil. No. Kulthuck.”
That got a reaction, as Rathnil slammed a hand against the barrier loud enough that it made Theobold flinch. His eyes were almost rolling in his head as he bared his sharp teeth. Both of his wings were outstretched to the point they hit the barrier and bent in a way that looked uncomfortable.
“How do you know that name?”
“Because Indigo told me. Your friend, Wilth? He took me to what I think was your old office and tried to kill me for one of your scales. Didn’t work. Now I’m talking to you to give you a chance to confess. The other option Indigo gave me was to kill you.”
“Lies.” Rathnil smacked against his prison again. He sounded almost unhinged as he ranted. “They don’t care about what I might say, not with what I know. How do you plan to kill me? How many debts were called in for you to set me up? Did Wilth send you here? Is this all to tie up loose ends?”
Arthur stood, unsure what to say, as Rathnil continued to rant about Wilth. While it was fascinating to watch, it told him little he didn’t already know. Indigo suspected the secretary of placing Rathnil here already. He needed more.
“I have a way of contacting Indigo, and he wants a statement. From when I spoke to him, he sounded like he cared more about Wilth than you, to be honest. If you can give me some solid proof, he might leave you alone.”
Rathnil scoffed, but he backed away from the edge of the barrier. “Fine. Fine, you want information from me about this? Then let’s make a deal. A simple one. I’ll tell you where to find my lair, and you come to me. I’ll give you everything you need. The bastard has left enough clues.”
When Arthur opened his mouth, Rathnil held up a hand. “But! I want amnesty and to be left alone. If the spooks know, then I’m done with the whole thing. I don’t care anymore. Guarantee that, and it’s all yours.”
“And what can you give me that proves you aren’t full of it?” Arthur asked.
Rathnil thought for a moment before he nodded. “Alright. Indigo will want something. Let me see.”
The door opened, and Augustus walked in, looking worried. Upon seeing Rathnil, he bared his teeth and let out a low squeak.
“That’s it.” Rathnil snapped his fingers. “Those demons I gave to the cultists. They were a project being worked on at the head office. The documents have Wilth’s name all over them. Not a silver bullet, but it should be enough.”
“Alright,” Arthur said. “I’ll head to the mall tonight and summon you when I get his reply.”
Rathnil nodded. “Deal. I’ll even teach you the words to release me. I don’t think I want to be in the same room as you right now. Not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t.”
Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle, but he repeated the words Rathnil said and watched the dragon vanish.
***
He laid out the sheet the next day in one of the cleared-out buildings that Davey had finished with. Theobold and Augustus kept people back, along with Mike’s external security force. Arthur didn’t want to be too far from the store when he did this, but he also didn’t want anyone extra to get involved.
Thus, he picked the building with the most roof left and hung some hides over the windows. It wasn’t perfect, but he hoped it would be enough. Some moss on the walls provided the light he required, and he finished his chant as he backed away from the circle.
Rathnil appeared with little fanfare and didn’t let Arthur speak before he opened with a question.
“So?”
“So,” Arthur repeated. “He’s onboard. Though, in his words, you better cough up something good if you want to get away scot-free.”
“I have it.” Rathnil sounded serious.
Arthur nodded, even as he flipped open a notepad and clicked a pen. “Alright. Then how do I get to your lair?”
“Simple.”
It took a full five minutes for him to note down all the instructions, and he had to double-check a few times in certain sections. When he felt satisfied that he’d gotten it all, he looked at the dragon.
“How do I know that this isn’t a trap to kill me?”
“Because I’m not an idiot,” Rathnil snapped. “I bet you told him where you were going. If you turn up dead, he’ll use that as justification to come himself. No. This path is as safe as I can make it. Don’t mess it up.”
“Alright, but it’ll take a day or two as I’ll be bringing others. They can stand outside the room if you like, but I’m not braving that death trap alone.”
“Don’t trust Mother’s gifts?” Rathnil smirked.
“Not for what I paid,” Arthur admitted, and he didn’t feel the slightest twinge of guilt.
“Smart.”
With that, the dragon waved, and Arthur summoned him. That done, he turned and headed out of the building. He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to take a group down with him, and he had the perfect selection in mind.292Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHGP0Wp7Kg
