The Assassins: Code Death Chapter 15

The Assassins: Code Death

Chapter 15

Robyn's POV

Once Thanatos departed with Hector and Logan the other members escorted us to their "tour bus". The thing looked like it had been through a demolition derby, a hail storm and a large shredder. I mounted the steps and looked around. The interior was almost as bad as the exterior.

"So this is what you guys have been traveling around in?" I asked, sitting in a leather chair with a large tear in the back.

"Well, not exactly," Hanna said sheepishly. "It used to be really nice, until Cerberus used it for a chew toy and those spirits attacked."

"Oh... I see." I said calmly. I managed to hold my poker face even though my mind was racing. How could Cerberus have escaped from the Underworld? Only Hades and a few other gods had the power to release him from his post at the entrance to Hades. With all the souls escaping were the Underworld gods loosing their power?

I was lost in thought for a while until a loud bang brought me back to reality. I looked out the windshield and saw nothing but a plume of black smoke pouring from the engine. Samuel and Cole ran outside to see what had happened. A few minutes later they came back in with grim faces.

"Well?" Courtney asked.

"Well we've got good news and bad news." Cole said.

"Let's hear the good news." Zahir sighed.

"The good news is the bus isn't going to blow up." Cole replied.

"And the bad news?" Aubrey asked?"

"The bad news is the engine's shot and we're too far from any garages or town to get it fixed." Samuel finished.

"Looks like we're up a creek without a paddle." I said, shuffling one of my decks.

"So why are you smiling?" Hanna asked, a cross look on her face.

I rose from my chair and continued shuffling my deck. "Gather your weapons, belongings and anything else that you feel sentimental towards and meet me out side in ten minutes."

"What are you going to do?" Courtney asked narrowing her eyes at me.

I simply smiled and exited the bus. "You'll see!" I called as I walked a distance away from the bus. I picked through my deck until I found my three favorite cards. I tossed them on the ground and waited for the others to disembark the bus. Cole, Aubrey, and Samuel left the bus after only a few moments but Zahir, Courtney and Hanna took longer than I thought they would.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked when everyone was assembled. They looked at me with confused and frustrated looks but no body protested. I turned and thrust my palm forward. The cards began to glow with a faint gold light. The images beneath the surface to stir.

"Afxisi!" I spoke. The cards exploded in golden light blinding the others. Three figures emerged from the cards, roaring and screeching. When the light dimmed three large dragons, one gold, one green and one red, each about the size of a school bus stood in front of us. Everyone freaked out, reaching for their weapons, cursing and screaming like banshees.

"Siopi!' I barked. Everyone became abruptly quiet. Zahir turned and shouted at me but found his voice wouldn't work.

"Everybody just calm down, these dragons aren't going to hurt you." I said placing a hand on the middle dragon's head and scratching behind his horns. The dragon made a low rumbling sound in its throat and exhaled smoke through it's nostrils. "Allow me to introduce Rosso, Amarillo, and Vert."

The group seemed to calm down and began putting their weapons back. Aubrey began to speak but no sound came from her mouth. I snapped my fingers and everyone found their voice.

"Where did you get these dragons?" She asked taking a hesitant step towards the one furthest to the left.

I chuckled. "Long story short I captured them two years ago and bound them to their cards."

Samuel gave me a weird look. "You can kill monsters without sending them to Tartarus?"

"Yeah." I said casually. "It's actually a simple process. All I have to do is fatally wound a monster then cast a spell that absorb their essence into one of my cards. Only problem is I can't have more than fifty monsters and I can control no more than five at a time. Other than that I literally have a whole collection of monsters in my hip pocket. These three dragons are not only my favorites, they're my strongest."

The group seemed pretty shaken by the fact that I had a whole platoon of monsters at my command. I simply brushed it off they'd get over it eventually. I climbed onto Rosso and gestured for the others to follow my lead. Samuel and Courtney climbed onto Amarillo, Aubrey, Cole and Hanna mounted Vert, and Zahir jumped up on Rosso and sat down behind me.

"Anybody ever rode a dragon before?" I asked looking around. No body raised their hand. "Alright well they're pretty good with passengers just, you know, don't fall off."

IMagical reins appeared around Rosso's neck as I dug my heels into his neck and yelled "Hiyah!" Rosso took off into the air with Amarillo and Vert close behind us. We climbed into the air circling the old bus before Rosso started flying west, towards the setting sun.

As we flew I talked with Zahir about the mission we had been sent on. Lord Thanatos hadn't given us much information about it, only that his team needed serious help. While he filled me in on the recent events I kept an eye on the five other members of our team. At one point Hanna started spilling off Vert but Cole managed to haul her back on.

After less than an hour of flying we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We landed at the edge of the Canyon on the opposite side of the Skywalk.

WIP