Axis and Ally

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The dead drake lay behind them, steam still rising faintly from its body.

Joey stared at Behemoth.

Behemoth stared back.

Cassandra was the first to break the silence.

“You're Leviathan's brother.”

“Yes.”

“And you just saved our lives.”

“Yes.”

“You've been following us.”

“Yes.”

Joey raised a hand.

“Okay, I know I'm technically the least supernatural person in this conversation, but could you maybe stop answering everything with one word?”

Behemoth's mouth twitched.

“I suppose I could.”

“Thank you.”

Cassandra crossed her arms.

“Why?”

Behemoth's expression became more serious.

“Because Leviathan cannot be allowed to have the Avalorian.”

Joey immediately stiffened.

“You know about Taylor?”

“I know what she is.”

“And you know what Leviathan wants from her?”

“Yes.”

Cassandra studied him carefully.

“Then start talking.”

Behemoth looked toward the distant mountains.

For the first time, Joey saw something other than confidence in his expression.

Regret.

“My brother and I were not always enemies.”

He turned away from them and looked into the darkness.

“Once, Leviathan and I fought together.”

Joey frowned.

“Against who?”

“Everyone.”

Joey blinked.

“That clears up absolutely nothing.”

Behemoth smiled faintly.

“Our people lived in a very different world. The supernatural clans were constantly fighting over territory, resources, ancient magic, and bloodlines. Leviathan was powerful even then. I was stronger.”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

“You were stronger than a basilisk?”

“I am a celestial kirin.”

Behemoth said it matter-of-factly.

“Basilisks are dangerous. Kirin are something else.”

Joey glanced at the hole that the horn had made when it impaled the drake moments earlier.

“Yeah. I noticed.”

Behemoth continued.

“My brother hated weakness. He believed the supernatural world needed a single ruler.”

“And you disagreed,” Cassandra said.

“I believed the world needed balance.”

Behemoth's golden eyes hardened.

“Leviathan believed balance was simply another word for weakness.”

Joey's expression darkened.

“Sounds familiar.”

“He began conquering.”

Behemoth paused.

“First the smaller clans. Then the larger ones. Anyone who refused to submit was destroyed or absorbed into his army.”

“And you fought him?”

“No.”

Behemoth looked down.

“I helped him.”

That ission seemed to weigh heavily on him.

Joey stared.

“You helped him?”

“I believed I could control him. I believed that if I remained beside him, I could keep him from going too far.”

Cassandra's expression softened slightly.

“And you were wrong.”

“Completely.”

Behemoth looked toward the graveyard.

“When I finally understood what Leviathan had become, it was too late. He had already gathered an army unlike anything the clans had seen.”

Joey swallowed.

“How big?”

Behemoth gave him a solemn look.

“Large enough that defeating it through conventional means would be almost impossible.”

That wasn't exactly encouraging.

“So what changed?”

Behemoth's gaze returned to Cassandra.

“You happened.”

Cassandra frowned.

“Me?”

“You have something Leviathan cannot understand.”

Joey stepped closer.

“What?”

“Choice.”

Behemoth looked at him.

“You chose to stand beside Cassandra when you had every reason to run.”

Then he looked toward the distant darkness.

“You chose to protect Taylor even after discovering what she was.”

Joey shrugged awkwardly.

“I mean… they're my friends.”

Behemoth smiled.

“It is more than that and is precisely why Leviathan fears you.”

Joey looked confused.

“He doesn't even know me.”

“He knows enough.”

Cassandra's expression became grim.

“Leviathan has spent centuries believing that power determines demands.”

Behemoth nodded.

“And you have demonstrated something he cannot comprehend.”

“What?”

“That someone can become powerful without becoming cruel. That loyalty doesnt have to come from fear or power but can come from friendship”

Silence settled between them.

Joey looked uncomfortable with the compliment.

“So… you said there was a way to stop him.”

Behemoth's expression changed.

“Yes.”

Cassandra immediately became attentive.

“Tell us.”

“My power alone is insufficient.”

Joey frowned.

“But you just killed that thing in about three seconds.”

“That was a drake.”

Behemoth looked almost amused.

“Leviathan is considerably more difficult.”

“How much more difficult?”

Behemoth considered the question.

“Imagine that drake possessing centuries of experience, an army numbering in the thousands, and enough magical power to poison an entire valley.”

Joey stared at him.

“…I officially liked the drake better.”

Cassandra ignored him.

“You said your power isn't enough. What is?”

Behemoth's eyes moved toward the distant graveyard.

“There is an ancient magic beneath these mountains.”

“The Dragon's Graveyard,” Cassandra said.

“Yes.”

“And the herb?”

“The Dragon's Grave Bloom.”

Behemoth nodded.

“It grows only where the remains of ancient dragons have saturated the soil with their magic.”

Joey frowned.

“So that's why we're here.”

“Yes.”

“Can it heal Malcolm?”

“If you obtain a mature bloom, it can.”

Joey's shoulders relaxed slightly.

Then Behemoth continued.

“But the flower is not the only thing buried here.”

Cassandra's expression hardened.

“What else?”

“The first dragons.”

Joey looked at him.

“…The first dragons?”

Behemoth nodded.

“Some of their remains still contain fragments of their original power.”

Cassandra's eyes narrowed.

“You're saying their magic could be used against Leviathan.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Behemoth hesitated.

“Because Leviathan's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness.”

Joey waited.

“His body is his strength, he has weakened his essence to increase his physical presence in this world.”

Behemoth pointed toward his own chest.

“If his body is destroyed, so is he, no one has been able to kill him because he h a s found a way to rob power from his essence to strengthen himself. I also believe it is why he has lost what goodness he had.”

Cassandra slowly understood.

"That is why he needs Taylor because he can tie his essence to hers essentially allowing him to regenerate the only thing weakening him.

“And if his essence could be destroyed…”

“His body would be destroyed.”

Joey's eyes widened.

“So we can't just kill him.”

Behemoth nodded.

“We have to kill his essence? Well how the fuck do we do that?”

Behemoth looked directly at him.

“With celestial magic.”

Cassandra was silent.

Behemoth continued.

“I possess a portion of that magic.”

“You said you couldn't defeat him alone.”

“I cannot.”

“Then what changed?”

Behemoth's golden eyes settled on Joey.

“You.”

Joey pointed at himself.

“Me?”

“You are bonded to Cassandra.”

He looked toward Cassandra.

“When you willingly allowed Cassandra to feed on you, and she did not turn you afterwards, you gained an immense amount of spiritual energy. Which has only continued to increase as you have acted selflessly through your deeds.”

Then he looked back at Cassandra.

“And you carry something powerful as well”

Joey frowned.

“What?”

“Besides centuries of supernatural energy? She might be one of the only vampires to be in love, which is a beautiful and terrifying thing”

Cassandra's expression actually looked bashful.

Behemoth's expression became almost reverent.

Joey swallowed.

“What?”

“A human with your essence and character, could wield the remnant magic from the first dragon's”

Cassandra looked at Joey.

For once, she didn't make a joke.

Behemoth stepped closer.

“but Taylor changes everything.”

Joey's stomach tightened.

“How?”

“She is an Avalorian.”

He looked toward the darkness.

“When she completes her rebirth, her essence will become extraordinarily powerful.”

“And Leviathan wants that power.”

“More than anything.”

Behemoth's voice became colder.

"We cannot allow him to bind his essence to hers.”

Cassandra's eyes flashed red.

“And if he succeeds?”

“He becomes effectively immortal.”

Joey's hand tightened around the cursed machete at his side.

“Then he doesn't get the chance.”

Behemoth studied him.

“You are willing to fight him?”

Joey looked at Cassandra.

Then toward the direction of the manor.

He thought of Taylor.

Greta.

Malcolm.

The people who had somehow become his family.

“For them..." he gestured back towards the manor, "for her..." he took a long look at Cassandra. "It's not even a hard choice to make."

Cassandrs smiled

Behemoth grinned.

“Good.”

Joey looked suspicious.

“That sounded way too enthusiastic.”

“There is something else you should know.”

“Of course there is.”

Behemoth's expression became serious.

“I do have an army.”

Joey blinked.

Cassandra's eyebrows rose.

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Waiting.”

“For what?”

“For me to call them.”

Joey stared.

“You have an army just sitting around waiting for you to make a phone call?”

Behemoth laughed quietly.

“Not exactly.”

He raised one hand.

Golden light gathered around his fingers.

The air seemed to vibrate.

Far away, somewhere beyond the mountains, something answered.

A deep sound rolled across the night.

Not a roar.

Not thunder.

A call.

Another answered it.

Then another.

Joey's eyes widened.

Cassandra slowly smiled.

“How many?”

Behemoth looked toward the mountains.

“Enough to make Leviathan nervous.”

Joey looked at Cassandra.

“Okay.”

He exhaled.

“That's probably the first good news we've had all night.”

Behemoth's smile faded.

“Do not mistake numbers for victory.”

Joey's expression became serious again.

“What do we need to do?”

“First, obtain the Dragon's Grave Bloom.”

Behemoth looked toward the distant bones.

"We need to locate a fragment of the first dragon's energy, leave that to me."

“Then we return to your people.”

“And after that?”

Behemoth's golden eyes burned brighter.

“We prepare for war.”

Joey nodded.

Cassandra stepped beside him.

“And Leviathan?”

Behemoth looked toward the horizon.

For the first time, Joey saw something almost frightening in the celestial creature's expression.

Not anger.

Not hatred.

Something much older.

Resolve.

“My brother has spent centuries believing he cannot be defeated.”

Behemoth's gaze hardened.

“I intend to teach him otherwise.”

Joey tightened his grip around the cursed machete.

“Then let's get the flower.”

Behemoth nodded.

“Stay close to me.”

Joey raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

Behemoth glanced toward the darkness surrounding the graveyard.

“Because the drake was not the most dangerous thing calling this home.”

Joey sighed.

“Of course it wasn't.”

Cassandra smiled faintly.

“Welcome to our lives.”

And somewhere in the darkness beyond the dragon bones—

something enormous moved.