I thought you might say that.
I felt her gather the magic inside me.
Wait! I ordered. Let's see where this goes first. I'm itching for a true fight. You can have him on the off chance that I start to lose.
That's your dragon talking, she huffed.
He hasn't attacked me yet, Star. Then I called out to Marduk, “Here I am. Your father has bargained for your life so I will not make the first strike, and I will even offer you the chance to surrender.”
“Surrender?” Marduk sneered. “That won't be happening. I killed Tiamat, and I can kill you, Dark Star.”
“Please, Marduk!” Enki shouted. “She will incinerate you with a thought. You cannot win against her. She's a far greater goddess than Tiamat. Stand down. Convince the others to surrender and this will all be over. I promise you; the Dark Star will spare all of you.”
“You stand down, Father,” Marduk growled as he slapped the Tablet of Destinies with his palm. “I don't need to grovel before a dragon, I have Destiny on my side.”
Power rent the air like a torn page, a shock wave of sound and magic that sent me tumbling backward. I heard the screech of my dragons and the startled shouts of my star gods. But I wasn't worried. I spread my wings and righted myself easily. The blast hadn't injured me, only given me a little push. I looked around for Viper to let him know I was okay and felt my jaw drop open.
Everything had gone quiet. Dragons hung in the air around me, wings extended but not flapping, mouths open, and eyes unblinking. Below me, the armies were frozen in place, streaks of magic like ribbons lashing between them. Everything was on pause like a still shot in a movie. Everything but Marduk and me.
Marduk's eyes gathered light from the air as he chanted, pulling electricity within them. I couldn't hear his words, but I could feel them shivering between us. He was trying to rewrite my destiny. The power crackled over my scales; a gleam of iridescent blue that sparked wherever it touched. I flew closer to him and cocked my head once more. What a curious man he was. Curiouser and curiouser.
“Does this usually work for you?” I peered closer at him.
Sweat dripped down Marduk's brow as he started his litany again, one hand on his lightning bolt and one on the tablet.
“Do you think maybe it's broken?” I suggested congenially.
Destiny boiled in the air around me, squeezing against my body and pounding on my impenetrable scales as it sought entrance. I could feel another future lurking within the sparks; a future that Marduk desperately wanted for me. Death and disgrace; my body lying broken on the bridge that once again connected Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. Dragon blood staining the water. The Dark Star fallen.
Star laughed inside my mind. There was a note of hysteria to it but also relief. You have no destiny! She shouted and laughed more. The Tablet cannot touch you. We are utterly freed from fate.
I smiled as I reached out and plucked the tablet from Marduk's breastplate as easily as I might pluck a grape from a bunch. My talons dented his armor, but I was careful to cradle the stone. Marduk gaped at me, panting. Fear finally replaced the light in his eyes as around us, the world resumed its progress. Wings flapped, throats screamed, and magic burned.
“No!” Marduk shouted. “You cannot have it! You cannot defy it!”
“Star, would you mind taking care of this? I've had enough time to cool down, and I've decided that I'd rather not upset his father.”
Marduk vanished.
“No!” Enki echoed his son's cries. “You promised me that he would live!”
“He's fine, Enki,” I said calmly. “I put him in a cell within my stronghold. Your son is alive. I simply couldn't let him remain in the battle. Honestly, if he had kept flapping those annoying lips, I probably would have killed him anyway.”
Enki's face went slack with relief and then he bowed at the waist. “Thank you, Dark Star.”
“Don't thank me, get down there and finish this for me,” I countered. “Convince them to surrender, and you can help me save even more of your pantheon.”
“Yes, Dark Star!” Enki swerved his dragon mount about and headed for the ground.
I sighed and stared across the land toward the horizon as I clutched the Tablet of Destinies within my claws. This was only the beginning. Many more battles lay ahead. Now that I had Destiny on my side, I hoped that there would be less than anticipated, with far fewer gods standing against me. But even if there weren't, even if every god in existence came to fight me, I knew that I would win. Peace was within my reach.
I roared triumphantly and dove.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cheering bombarded me from all sides, but I loved it. I soaked up the sunlight, the adoration, and the smell of rose petals that floated down around me, cast by the crowd of humans who lined the streets of Madinah. I stood in the lead chariot of my victory procession, my general and star gods in their own horse-drawn, golden chariots behind me. We were making our way up to the Quba Fort, renovated just moments before to be an outpost for my Dragon Army. Behind the chariots of the military leaders, my dragons rode in vehicles I had designed and created; massive metal things that rumbled over the road like beasts prowling for a fight. Enki stood in one of those vehicles, waving at the crowds with a big, relieved smile on his face. His son was safe and he'd been able to convince several more of his friends to surrender; that was all he cared about.
But I cared about these people and it lightened my heart to see their appreciation for what I'd done. I had liberated them; freed them from
