Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers #5)(48)
“I think so,” Ghost said. “But I’ve never done anything like that, and I have no idea how I would. The closest thing I can think of are the temples humans built for me back when I was worshiped as a god. But that was long before the drought, and those places are all dust now. I don’t think I could even find where they were anymore.”
He finished with a helpless shrug, but Marci was staring at him in awe. “You were worshiped as a god? Like, with priests and stuff?”
“Occasionally,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “They were not kind forms of worship. I reveled in the power at the time, but you would not have liked them.”
“You are a face of death,” she said. “I can imagine things got kind of bloody. But that doesn’t bother me. I’ve always known what you are. I’m just impressed at how much you can remember now.”
“I remember everything,” he said, his voice wondrous. “The more magic fills me, the more I can recall. I can remember events from thousands of years ago like they were yesterday, and I’m still uncovering more. It seems endless.”
“You’re the manifestation of humanity’s fear of being forgotten,” Marci said, nodding. “I imagine you’re pretty old. But this is awesome! In all those memories, did you ever have another Merlin?”
“No,” the Empty Wind said at once. “You are the first and only. That I know for certain.”
“Crud,” Marci muttered. Not that she wasn’t flattered to be Ghost’s first, but she’d really been hoping he’d had a previous Merlin so she could pick his brain and discover how her predecessor had made the jump to the Sea of Magic. Unfortunately, it looked as though she was going to have to forge her own path, but Ghost’s comment about temples had gotten her thinking.
“You might not have a physical aspect to your domain, but the Forgotten Dead do have places. The whole reason you rose in the DFZ is because this city was packed with forgotten corners where people have died unnoticed. If we went to one of them, do you think you could take it over long enough for me to step inside?”
Ghost jerked back in horror. “You mean create Forgotten Dead?”
“No, no, no!” Marci said quickly. “I’m just saying that if we went somewhere where there happened to be a lot of Forgotten Dead, and you did your job by bringing them peace, then the whole place would be filled with your magic. I’ve seen the wind you can whip up when you take souls into yourself to carry to the other side. If we both happened to be standing in the same place when you did that a lot, do you think you could just, I don’t know, scoop me up too?”
Her spirit thought long and hard. “I suppose it’s possible,” he said at last. “But—”
“Possible is good enough for me,” Marci said, turning around. “Let’s go! We’re on a hard timer, and we’ve got a lot of city to cross. I’m just going to go tell Julius what we’re up to real quick, and…”
She trailed off, her sneakers crunching to a stop on the frozen, muddy ground. Should she tell Julius? It certainly felt like the right thing to do, but he was still jumpy from her last temporary bout of death. If she told him she was going to the Sea of Magic again, even if she made it clear that dying wasn’t part of the plan this time, he’d freak out, and Marci didn’t want to do that to him right now. The cavern was already half full of dragons, and Amelia and Svena were still going full tilt. Everyone had switched to their human forms to save room in the suddenly cramped underpass, but Marci could still feel the predatory menace like a knife in the air. Julius was already looking harried as he struggled to wrangle the constant stream of new, angry dragons. The last thing he needed was for her to throw a bomb like this at him. Maybe… maybe it would be better if she just snuck out and explained it to him later.
That sounded like the kinder thing, but as Marci turned to slip around the back of the house, she ran face-first into something warm, solid, and smelling vaguely of smoke.
“Ow,” she said, rubbing her nose. When she looked to see what she’d bumped into, though, confusion turned to anger. “Don’t do that!” she snapped, glaring at Bob, who’d appeared from nowhere to block her way. “Shouldn’t you be off groveling to all the family members you’ve wronged?”
“No one has that kind of time,” Bob said flippantly. “And is that any way to talk to a wise dragon who’s come to give you some advice?”
Marci had had more than enough of Bob’s “advice,” but it seemed stupid to ignore a seer, even a not-up-to-snuff one like Bob, so she waved for him to go ahead.
When she gave him the go-ahead, Bob leaned down to her eye level. It was almost certainly her imagination, but Marci could have sworn his expression softened as he whispered, “Don’t leave without saying goodbye to Julius.”
“Why?” Marci asked, breath stopping in her throat. “Is something going to happen to him?”
“Lots of things,” Bob replied, straightening back up with a shrug. “But I’m not telling you this because I foresee disaster. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to look down your future yet. I just happened to spot you hesitating just now, and as a loving brother, I felt compelled to intervene. Maybe it will matter, maybe it won’t, but you should say something to Julius in either case, because he’ll be insufferable if you don’t.”