Genesis (Cain and Abel #1)

Chapter Twenty-one

Amos's roar filled Eden. It rose into the sky, dove into cracks and crevices, made insects shiver in midflight, and knocked the travelers off their feet. It skimmed over the Fountain of Eternal Fire, and the lava formed waves, lapping dangerously near the edges; it made the sword vibrate in Cain's hands and the leaves shimmer on their twigs. Outside the entrance, the guardian fell to his knees, hands clapped over his ears. The roar began as disbelief, melted into horror, into despair and sorrow, and finally, ended in a rising crescendo of fury.

Amos's wings clapped open as he arched to his hind legs, roaring his heart out for all the world to hear. And then his breath ran out, and he fell to all fours. His lips curled back over his fangs; his forelegs thumped the ground mere feet from the travelers as his nose lowered to them, breathing smoke.

"You really should have slain me as I slept," he growled in a voice that was like the grumblings of the Earth, "because now I'm stronger than five ice dragons, and I'm going to kill you all." He drew in a terrific bellyful of air.

"No!" Abel shouted. He dove for Ruth and scooped her into his arms with all his vampiric speed, rushing her out of the way of the flames and into the nearby undergrowth. As Amos exhaled, Cain dove under the flames, ignoring the way they seared his hair and arms as he passed. He thrust upward with his sword at Amos's neck, slicing neatly through scales.

Amos roared again, this time in pain. He staggered back, dancing to the side lest he topple into the fountain. His forepaws touched his neck in astonishment, and it was with new respect and fear that he looked down at Cain. "You have the guardian's sword," he said wonderingly. "How did you slay him and take it from him?"

"He gave it to me-to stop you!" Cain yelled. He leapt forward, dancing up the dragon's tail toward his back. Amos twisted, but Cain stayed on with preternatural balance and strength. He upended the sword and plunged it down, but the movement took a moment, and Amos had time to raise one of his legs and swipe Cain off his back.

Cain adjusted immediately, twisting in midair and swinging himself one-handed from Amos's paw. He pulled himself up and sliced the delicate skin of his palm.

Amos threw him to the ground, spitting a thin, white lance of super-hot flame after him.

Cain somersaulted out of the way-and directly into the path of another lance, which seared off a chunk of his shoulder. Cain howled in pain. His shoulder was aflame! Dodging further lances of fire, he darted away, toward the little rill. He threw himself in the water just long enough to douse the burning, and then out of it again, as another lance vaporized the spot.

"I am young again!" Amos bellowed. "I am strong again. You will die, little vampire."

"Not before you do!" Cain replied. "You know why?"

"Enlighten me."

"Because I know something you don't know!"

"And I've heard that one before," Amos said, stalking nearer, his talons sinking deep into the grass.

But Cain had been telling the truth, for Abel was waiting for Amos. Abel might not have had a flaming sword, but he did have Cain's stone knife, the one he had used against the ice vampires. Silent and swift, Abel ran up the hard scales of Amos's back as lightly as he had sometimes run along the surface of snow. Under the guise of Amos's distraction, he jumped from the dragon's back to the head and, using all his strength, drove the knife into Amos's right eye. It sank deep, and Abel let go even as he was flung free, landing catlike on one of the pillars of the pavilion.

Amos was in any agony worse than any he had ever known, save the time when Eve had burned him. He lost all control, stomping and breathing fire everywhere, without aim or purpose. He fell over twice, crushing greenery beneath him, deafening every living being in Eden with his cries. Talons scrabbled at his eyes, pushing the knife in further, until finally, he flicked it out.