Chương 53: Madam Tempest

Andy stared, mouth agape. The room reminded him of a hospital room. Cabinets lined the walls, medical instruments sat meticulously clean and placed on trays. His horn was resonating with the pipes running along the ceiling. It was life magic. It was his magic. His eyes followed the pipes across the room and to their origination point. Toward a hospital bed. White blankets, and leather restraints held a patient in place. A woman. A similar network of machinery from the other rooms surrounded her.

Tubes ran from her arms and filtered up to the pipes in the ceiling. It took Andy a minute because his brain refused to process what his eyes were seeing, what his horn knew to be true. Signs of previous struggles marred her skin where the restraints cut into her flesh. The woman turned her head. Twelve freckles stared back at him.

"Veronica?" She opened her eyes and recognition passed over her face.

"Andy?" she croaked.

"You came for me." Kesseroth looked at Andy, "Who is this?"

"This is Veronica. She tried to bond with me without my knowledge or permission. We severed the bond and because I wasn't a full unicorn when she tried the ritual it was able to be broken if she purposefully did me harm. I don't know why she's here." Her eyes welled with tears.

"You didn't know I was here?" The question hit Andy harder than he'd expected, "No. I didn't." She looked away. Her disappointment was almost palpable.

"Oh." The single word carried far more weight than it had any right to.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you severed the bond. Madam T had been mentoring me after I discovered you. When you broke the bond she said she'd at least make her time worthwhile."

"Veronica–" Kesseroth looked between the two of them.

"Time really is of the essence. We need to decide what we're doing so that we can get to Lady Auriana." Veronica laughed.

"You came here for another woman. And not only any woman… the one who has been causing so much trouble."

"What do you mean she's been causing trouble?" Andy asked, alarmed.

"Where is she?"

"Untie me quickly and I'll take you to her." Andy didn't need to be told twice. A vine shot forward and immediately wrapped around the restraints. Instead of breaking, the restraint began absorbing the vine's magic. Andy felt the pull as it traveled backwards up the vine and through to Andy's core. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 1%... 2%] Andy winced.

"Andy!" Kesseroth shouted. He turned, brought his flaming sword up above his head and– A voice purred from behind them.

"Hello, my love. It's been too long." The look on Veronica's face had been enough to make Andy's blood run cold.. The woman who didn't think twice about braving any beast in the woods had gone completely pale. Every hair on Andy's body stood on end. Slowly, he turned. Leaning casually in the doorway stood a woman. The woman wasn't particularly imposing just from her looks. She was petite, with shoulder length curly brunette hair. Her eyes were sapphire blue with a ring of the same molten bronze of Kesseroth's eyes.

[LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 3%... 4%] Andy winced again and tried using one vine to detach the one that was currently stuck on the restraint. The second vine began draining as well. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 5%] The woman laughed.

"Kess, what took you so long? I've been waiting."

"Tempy." Kesseroth breathed, "I never should have left–" Andy's brain whirred. Tempy… Madam Tempest… The Conduit from Georgina's story.

"Kesseroth. You're the dragon." Andy said matter of factly and then grunted in pain as his life magic continued draining.. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 6%] Kesseroth's eyes never left Madam Tempest. There was a sad longing there. The kind that only came from seeing someone you cared deeply about but that you knew there was no future with.

"No," Madam said.

"No, you shouldn't have. We bonded. A sacred ritual that you insisted on. A ritual to tie my lifespan to yours, so that you wouldn't have to live hundreds of years after my passing. You left instead of facing me, instead of fighting for me."

"Tempy," he started.

"I didn't mean to sleep for so long. Sometimes, when you are as old as I am–""Don't start with me on that as old as I am business. I am a thousand years old, I have never managed to accidentally sleep for multiple days let alone years." Kesseroth looked embarrassed and ashamed.

"Technically speaking–""No."

"Tempy…"

"No."

"I can explain."

"You can explain why you left for two hundred years, and then why you avoided this confrontation for eight hundred more." She laughed with zero humor.

"Wonderful, darling. Let's hear it." She spread her arms, "Because from my perspective we bonded. We made plans. We built a life together. Us against the world. Then one argument and my dragon went to sleep and forgot about me." [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 7%] Andy cried out, "Kessero-agh" Nobody paid attention. Kesseroth's eyes darkened.

"You are not the victim in this Tempy. You were throwing things at me. You were inconsolable. I didn't want you to see what happened when I lost my temper so I removed myself from the situation. And," he added.

"You draining my magic is what kept me asleep. If I had been at full strength I never would have needed that slumber." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 8%]"Okay–ergh– wow guys. That's a lot to unpack. Pretty dramatic stuff. But uh, mind helping me owwwwww-out here?" The conduit and the dragon stared at each other. No one moved. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 9%] Andy winced again.

"Guys, my B. A. L. L. S. are stuck and it hurts really badly." The vines began to lift and then almost if two invisible hands it started stretching in the middle"Kess.." Andy called out.

"Kesseroth, something's happening." The vine ripped in half. The other one began stretching out in the same fashion. Andy felt himself draining more slowly. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 10%] With a final snap the second vine was torn in half as well. Andy stood there panting.

"Whew.. that was… unfortunate. Now that I'm free though, I appreciate that we're in the middle of the world's most uncomfortable divorce but Kesseroth I think you've forgotten about Operation BONER." This seemed to catch even Madam tempest off guard and she looked at Kesserorth with confusion and disgust. Kesseroth closed his eyes slowly. An ancient dragon contemplating the sum of the bad decisions he'd made in his life and how they'd brought him here, to this moment. Madam Tempest looked horrified.

"You broke in here for something called Operation BONER?"

"Technically," Andy provided, "It's an acronym."

"For what?" He opened his mouth, thought a moment and then closed it.

"--I may have forgotten." Everyone seemed to stare at Andy for a minute.

"It was an exceptionally good acronym."

"I somehow doubt that." She turned back towards Kesseroth.

"So these are the things you've decided to slum it with these days?"

"He's funny. A little crazy–but funny." Madam Tempest's face fell.." It doesn't matter now, Kess, does it? You can't hurt me. You won't stop me. You will be the last sophont in existence so you can know just how lonely it feels." Even Andy stopped joking when he saw the look in her eyes. Her anger, the fury she was feeling wasn't directed solely at Kesseroth. It was directed at everyone. His Truth Sense confirmed it– she wasn't bluffing.

Veronica flinched as the machine whirred and continued to feed on her magical energy.

"Andy…" She said quietly, "Please."

"Tempy," Kesseroth begged, "Don't do this." The woman reached into her coat and withdrew a staff. It wasn't wooden like the staves the soldiers had used. It was black stone. At the head of the staff a spiraled horn. She activated the rune on it and the moment she did Andy's horn screamed. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 11%... 12%] The drain doubled and Andy nearly collapsed. Magic surged through the room toward Tempest. The pipes groaned as the magic inside them was being drawn outward.

"Tempest!" Kesseroth roared. She ignored him.

"You know what I discovered after you left?" A pipe in the ceiling came loose. Magic began leaking from the seams. The tubes connecting to her arms pulled toward the staff as if it were a very powerful magnet.

"You were right." Tempest said "It really is lonely being immortal." The staff pulsed. A sharp pain went through Andy's head. Almost as if his horn was being torn away. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 15%]"Agh." Andy fell to the ground. Veronica screamed. Kesseroth lunged. His hands wrapped around her throat picking her up off the ground.

"Stop this now." As he held her up there a red mark appeared on his neck in the same place he was holding her. He began to make choking noises and his eyes bulged. He set Tempest down and snarled. Madam Tempest looked at Kesseroth with a gleeful smile but sad eyes.

"You can't hurt me. We're bonded. When one of us is injured the other takes half. You know this." Kesseroth's hands clenched into fists.

"Tempy." he said through clenched teeth.

"No." She shook her head.

"No more apologies, no more excuses. No more sleeping away for two hundred years while I killed your friends and family." The staff pulsed again. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 20%]"This time you get to watch." Andy cried out. His body was starting to get that empty feeling. His horn felt dull and one hundred miles away.

"She's going to kill him," Veronica screamed.

"Very good girl. You always were a quick study." Veronica's eyes widened.

"You can't."

"I already am." [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 25%] Swaths of life energy were leaving his body. The room spun. For just a moment he thought he heard the System screaming.

"Kess," Andy gasped.

"Save Auri." The dragon just stared with horror at his bonded partner.

"You would kill him?" The smile vanished.

"Oh, Kess. I'm not going to kill him. Yet. I'm going to use him like a rechargeable battery until his body can't take it anymore. And then I'm going to make you kill him."

"This is what you deserve." Tempest hissed. The pipes rattled overhead. A high-pitched squeal was coming from a leak one had sprung. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 30%] Delirious, Andy barely heard the notification. His vision was blurring and everything seemed so far away.

"Why aren't you angry?" Tempest spit at the staring dragon.

"Fight me! Hate me! Blame me!" Kesseroth looked shocked and then it changed to something more akin to pity.

"You want me to hate you?"

"Yes. I want to see your passion again." Kesseroth closed his eyes. In that moment he definitely looked older than Andy had ever seen him. When he opened his eyes the only thing in them was sadness.

"Oh Tempy. You still don't understand." Something inside Madam Tempest cracked.

"Then explain it to me!" The shout rattled the room. Fire magic crackled from her fingertips.

"I didn't leave because I hated you." Kesseroth explained.

"I was afraid. You were grieving, hurting and lashing out at everything around you." His eyes softened.

"I didn't leave because I stopped loving you." A glimmer of something shown on Madam Tempest's face. Suspicion, confusion, maybe even a small amount of hope.

"I was afraid I'd hurt you." The hope died on her face and Kesseroth looked away.

"No." She screamed. The staff flared and a blazing inferno began spinning around Madam Tempest. Flames spiraled upward twisting around her like a living tornado. Heat washed through the room. Instruments melted, cabinets blackened. The white sheets on Veronica's bed ignited.

"Don't you dare." Tempest shouted. The firestorm grew.

"Don't you stand there and tell me you ever loved me!" The room shook.

"You left!" A wave of fire exploded outward. Kesseroth stood still, absorbing each blow both physical and emotional. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 35%] Andy stood up shakily and pulled the burning blankets from a screaming Veronica. He took one step forward. Walking straight toward the literally on fire woman. Tempest's eyes snapped toward him.

"Oh, you dare challenge me? You think you have what it takes?"

"The turn of phrase is the balls. You think you have the balls. And the answer is yes." A vine darted out and slapped Tempest in the face. Crack. An angry red welt appeared on her cheek. Her hand flew to her face in surprise and pain. An identical welt appeared on Kesseroth. The dragon staggered. Tempest slowly turned back toward Andy. The red mark stood out vividly against her skin. Her smile returned: cruel and vicious. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 37%] The world tilted and Andy shook his head trying to clear it.

He took another step forward. The woman's smile widened.

"Go on." she spread her arms.

"Attack me." Fire spiraled and began to lick at the ceiling. If he attacked her he'd be hurting Kesseroth too. If he didn't – he would die. And if he died he wouldn't save Auri. The thought hit him like a hammer. He took another step forward. Tears welling in his eyes. [LIFE MAGIC DRAINING. 39%] Auri was here somewhere. Waiting. Believing he'd come. Reggie was down here with a group of injured sophonts who were waiting for him to get back to escape. He took another step forward and lowered his horn.

"Andy." Kesseroth's voice cut through the panic in Andy's mind. The dragon had picked up the sword. He smiled sadly.

"Save Auri." Andy's blood ran cold, "No." Kesseroth finished the arc of his swing stabbing through Madam Tempest's middle. She dropped the staff, looked at Kesseroth. Identical blood stains appeared on their midsections.