I ran to Ursula, and had almost reached her, when a boulder crashed into the ground next to me. I looked in the sky behind me and saw a comet streaking my way, except this comet was decidedly human-shaped. It took me a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t a comet.
It was Monty.
TWENTY-FIVE
I was momentarily distracted from Monty’s blazing flight by several large, orange orbs racing through the night sky, heading in the direction of the hub.
<Get Monty! He’s hurt.>
Peaches turned his head, focused on Monty and blinked out. One moment a massive hellhound the size of a large SUV was standing next to me, and the next he was mid-air catching Monty in his large maw and dousing the flames. I really hoped he didn’t think Monty was a sausage.
Peaches disappeared from sight again and appeared next to me, placing a slightly charbroiled Monty on the ground, who groaned as he got to his feet.
“That certainly gives a new meaning to ‘coming in hot’,” Monty said, shaking off some of the excess drool from his ruined jacket. “Please thank your creature for the assist. It would have been an unpleasant landing had he not intercepted my trajectory.”
<I BELIEVE THAT ACT DESERVES ADDITIONAL PROTEIN IN THE FORM OF LARGE PORTIONS OF MEAT.>
<Give him a chance to recover. He was just blasted across the city. I’m sure he’ll make you some meat. Thank you for catching him.>
I patted PeachesXL on the flank, still in awe that he was a puppy.
<YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, BONDMATE. I SENSE AN ANTAGONISTIC FORCE HEADED IN OUR DIRECTION. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO ENGAGE, OR CONFRONT THE GOLEM CURRENTLY HEADING AWAY FROM OUR POSITION?>
<Shit! You can’t let the golem get close to the hub!>
<I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHY DOES FECAL MATTER FACTOR IN TO THIS ENGAGEMENT?>
<It doesn’t! It’s just an expression. Please go help Ursula stop the golem. We’ll stop the mage coming our way.>
<AS YOU WISH.>
He bounded off to intercept the golem, who was currently being given shock therapy by Ursula and her hammer. I made a mental note never to get on her bad side as she pounded the golem and sent bolts of electricity at it.
“What happened?” I asked a disheveled Monty. “Were you able to use the shortcut?”
He shook his head and threw his jacket to one side.
“Ruined,” he said with disgust. “That was bespoke.”
“I’d really suggest combat armor. Maybe Ermenegildo can start the Montague Battlemage Collection?”
“It appears the Earth’s Breath has afforded Toson mastery over more than just the earth discipline,” Monty said, glancing back at the jacket. “I really liked that jacket.”
“That was a nice jacket,” I said, glancing at what was left of the smoldering jacket.“Looks like Toson got the hang of fire, too.”
“Indeed. It was all I could do to prevent myself being incinerated where I stood. His control is impressive.”
“I noticed what looked like orbs of destruction accompanying your flight,” I said, glancing skyward. “They headed that way, toward the hub.”
“Most likely Toson trying to finish the job,” Monty answered, gazing in the direction of the hub. “I’m not seeing any activity over there, besides your creature and Ursula.”
“And Toson is headed this way?” I asked, looking over to where Ursula and Peaches were tangling with the golem. “I don’t know how long they can keep that up.”
Monty glanced over. “We can’t let the golem reach the hub. Once Toson arrives, I’m going to need you to distract him while I cast the shortcut.”
“Why does ‘distract him’ sound like ‘be a moving target’ while he tries to blast me?”
“Speaking of moving targets, where are Bangers and Mash?” Monty asked, looking around. “Don’t tell me—?”
“No, I sent them to Haven before they were the ones bangersmashed. Turns out Bangers is a mage apprentice dropout.”
“A weak one, if you ask me. What about Mash?”
“Mash is an ex-military cook. The only time he dealt with Navy Seals was when he was feeding them. I told Frank they needed to be put on lockdown, just in case.”
“Charlatans—how they’ve survived this long is a miracle,” Monty said. “I’m sure Roxanne will want to hold them for ‘observation’ if only to keep them out of trouble.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked, reloading Grim Whisper. “My magic missile isn’t going to do squat against someone who flambéed you, and getting close enough to use Ebonsoul doesn’t look likely.”
“I’m not asking you to engage Toson in combat. He may be beyond both our abilities,” Monty replied. “I just need you to push his buttons and distract him, enrage him if possible. Remember, he needs to keep most of his energy and focus on the golem. Splitting that focus will give us an opening.”
“You want me to piss-off the super-powerful mage coming to destroy us?”
“Yes,” Monty said. “It seems to be something you are supremely adept at.”
“Why don’t we call in the big guns? Starting with Dex.”
“In case you haven’t realized,” Monty said, gesturing and forming violet orbs all around us, “tonight, we are the big guns.”
“I’m not quite feeling the ‘big gun’ vibe. Big target maybe, but definitely not big gun.”
“It would seem…there’s no time,” Monty said, looking up. “We have incoming.”
I looked up and saw Toson. He reminded me of an angry Liam Neeson and, for a brief second, I wondered if he was going to threaten us with his “particular set of skills”. I noticed the glowing Earth’s Breath around his neck, as he glanced in the distance to where the golem was currently doing the rock-crushing tango with Ursula and Peaches.
Toson wore a brown robe similar to Jen’s, though his was covered with red and yellow runes that danced around as it blew in the wind. He was standing on a large flame-covered boulder, one that floated in our direction.
“Monty, he’s riding a flaming boulder.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I did mention he’s an elemental mage?”
“A flaming boulder. I will give him style points for that one,”
