by Tricia Barr
Kol looked at her with a neutral expression. “I just saw my best friend get impaled,” he said. “I was coming to get you out of the fight. I didn’t want to lose you, too.”
Myreen’s eyebrows furrowed above her glistening blue eyes. “You know,” her mouth twisted and Kol wondered if she was trying not to cry. “Since I’m a mer, harpy, and an ursa, I could have defended myself even without...” she trailed off.
“Yes, I know. I was reminded of that.” Kol heard the irritation in his voice, but didn’t correct it or apologize.
“But you were coming to save me anyway?”
He nodded.
“And now?” Her voice caught.
“And now I know you’re a hybrid, bent on killing Draven.”
She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips. His response was minimal.
“And you’re leaving now because you know I’m a hybrid and can defend myself?” Her eyes pleaded with him.
The bellow of the kraken shook the ground, the rotted boards of the boat creaking. The beast was attacking again. Kol briefly wondered where the squid-octopi, whatever, had been up to that point. He bent his knees again and extinguished the fire.
“Something like that,” he said.
“Come with me?” she asked, now a disembodied voice as his eyes tried to adjust again to the darkness. “Fight alongside me?”
“I need to get to Brett and Char,” he said.
She paused, then sighed before saying, “Okay.”
He jumped and shifted mid-air, choosing his camouflage scales so he vanished immediately.
***
Leaving his vampire girlfriend behind, Kol headed toward the southern shore, the direction Brett had gone. But the ones holding the line had lost serious ground. Their line had been bleeding drastically since before Kol left the Dome—vampires were already attacking inside the Dome before he left—but now the bulk of the fighting was very near the Dome.
Kol remained camouflaged as he assessed the scene. He glided on a warm air pocket as he took a breath. Forcing his eyes to roll over the mess of blood and broken bodies, he focused on the shifters who still moved, scanning them for his friends and parents. A jet-black dragon fought in the midst of the battle. Eduard’s maneuvers and attacks, not to mention his fire, were almost instantaneously lethal to the vampires. It seemed that one flick of his claw, one aimed fire-blast, and his target fell to the ground, forever unmoving. It wasn’t something to smile about, seeing his father as a killing machine, but at least Kol didn’t need to be worried if the general would make it out alive.
Kol couldn’t spot the pearly white of his mom’s dragon and hoped that she’d flown high above the clouds and away from the danger. He’d never heard her speak of battle or fighting, but Kol suspected his mother’s combat experience were the spars she learned at the academy, long before the school even had the technology of the sim.
He doubted she had real-life battle experience.
A thick, blue tentacle slid over the side of the cracked Dome and into it, looking very much like a gigantic slug with the absence of water. The Dome was ruined. Cracked with a gaping hole, like an egg crushed by a spoon. It would never protect anyone again. The vampires still trickling inside proved that.
A different shade of blue caught Kol’s eye and he snapped his head toward it. Char. He raced toward her, flipping his scales to match hers and called to her.
“Kol!” she shouted back, a little breathless.
“Where’s Brett?” he asked, a lurching panic threatening to gut him.
“He’s inside,” she said, motioning to the broken Dome. “That feisty girl, Juliet? He went inside to help her. He said something about phoenix’s banding together and not letting Nik’s girlfriend get killed.”
Kol nodded.
“I heard about Nik,” she said softly.
Kol didn’t respond, only locked eyes with her.
“Remember that thing you did in your final sim?” Char asked after a beat. “With the kraken? How you flew up high and dropped it?”
“Yeah,” he said, grateful she’d changed the subject and wasn’t dwelling on Nik’s death. If they survived, they had the rest of their lives to mourn their friend. “But this kraken is at least three times the size of that one. The thought crossed my mind, but I struggled even getting that one high enough. And besides that, it was a sim.”
“Well, I think the two of us might be able to do it.” It was clear she’d put a lot of thought into it.
Kol glanced down at the black dragon. It would be easier with three, but he had his hands full. When the kraken pulled out a tentacle wrapped around a student, kicking and screaming, the decision was made.
“Let’s do it.” He said. “Let me take care of that first.”
Char made a yipping sound of excitement and took off after the kraken before Kol did.
He flipped his scales invisible again before diving toward the tentacle squeezing his classmate. Building the fire within to an intense heat and pressure, he released it, blowing it out like a torch on the appendage nearer to the body, causing a sizzling sound as the slimy skin scorched. Then, opening his jaws wide, he bit down on the freshly burned spot, hacking at it until it fell away from the creature. The kraken screamed and the tentacle flip-flopped on the ground for several seconds, wriggling itself and squeezing the girl tighter, before finally slowing and relaxing.
The girl pushed the tentacle away from her and shifted into her naga form. She was okay.
The momentary distraction nearly cost him as another tentacle reached for him. Its suckers were wide and ready to snatch him in the air, but Kol was quicker and shot up higher than it could reach. But it was a close miss. Despite his invisibility, the kraken’s aim was good. If Charlotte—
It was too late. She roared as another tentacle wrapped itself around her. Kol raced for her as the translucent blue tentacle pinned Char’s wings painfully against her body. It didn’t seem to matter that she was much larger in her dragon form than the naga girl, Char was just as effectively immobilized.
Kol prepped his fire again, but the tentacle lowered Char quickly into the broken Dome, disappearing from his sight. He couldn’t risk hurting anyone below with his blast from the distance he was at, and so followed it into the Dome. He hoped his invisibility would prevent himself from being grabbed by one of the six tentacles still left.
Char screamed again right as Kol re-entered the Dome, giving him a clear view of the four vampires clamoring to kill her. One had located her vulnerability—the spot in her side where the scale had been ripped off—and bit down in an attempt to drain her.
“Char!” Kol shouted.
“I’ve got this!” A fire-bird yelled at the same time. It was Brett. He sounded much better, almost excited, than he had the last time Kol had seen him.
Another fire-bird joined him with a shriek of her own. Juliet.
A fire-rope appeared and wrapped itself around the tentacle as Brett sent a cannon-ball sized fire orb at one of the vampires. It blasted away, crashing into the broken fountain. Kol shifted his scales to dark gray for his friend’s sakes as he went for the vampire who drank from Char.
The vampire was efficient. Charlotte looked slightly pale when he finally reached her. He clamped his teeth around the center of the vampire and ripped her away, bringing another scream from Char as her flesh tore.
Another dragon roar came from above and slammed into the tentacle holding Charlotte. The impact stunned the appendage enough for Charlotte to break free. Kol snapped his head to the dragon whose speed was much quicker than his own, or his father’s.
The iridescent, mother-of-pearl coloring of her scales were unmistakable.
“Mom?” Kol said following her up and out. He was impressed by her speed. Brett and Juliet continued dispatching the vampires below with fire waves and ropes. The tentacle retreated from the opening again.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Victoria said, slowing as she gained a safe altitude. “Charlotte.”
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“Thank you, Mrs. Dracul,” Char said, a little sheepishly. “I think we can try it now, Kol. If your mom helps...” she trailed off.
“Helps with what?” Kol could hear the eagerness in her voice. She might be his mother and Lady Dracul, but that was the dragon in her speaking.
“In my final sim test, there was a kraken,” Kol explained. “It wasn’t nearly this big, but I lifted it high enough that when I dropped it—”
“Let’s do it!” his mom interrupted and scanned the kraken draped against the Dome for a good place to grip, then dove a second later.
Kol and Char exchanged a glance and followed her, arriving more seconds after her than he thought possible. He knew he was fast. He had no idea his mom was faster.
Kol located a spot at the back of the head near the base of two tentacles and sunk his claws in. Victoria had the top of the head and Char was around the other side in a similar spot as Kol.
“Lift!” Victoria commanded. “And watch for the tentacles!”
“Yes, but there are only seven,” Kol informed.
They lifted in unison and managed to get the entire creature several feet above the ground, which was quite the feat especially when they realized how long it was stretched out from head to the tip of its tentacles. It took great effort, but between the three of them, it was possible.
But the kraken was only stunned for a few seconds before the tentacles came to life and wriggled up, reaching for each of them.
“Go higher!” Charlotte screamed. “Before he gets a hold of one of us!”
Kol flashed to his camouflage right before one of the tentacles brushed against his back. His invisibility probably would not help in the situation, but might buy him some time. He turned his head toward it and blasted the tentacle with his fire, causing it to sizzle and fold on itself to get away. He couldn’t see Charlotte, but he hoped she did the same to any tentacle that came her way. He hoped his mother was out of the octopus’s reach.
Someone lost their grip and gave gravity the upper hand, and the kraken jerked toward the ground.
“Got him!” Char shouted and the kraken became lighter again.
Above him, Kol heard his mother snap her jaws and roar, the rushing sound and heat wave indicating that she blasted her fire. He took a split second to look up at her right as a flash of white was snatched away by two of the tentacles.
“Mom!”
Kol nearly lost his grip as the kraken rushed toward the earth again. Without his mother’s help, gravity was winning the tug-o-war. But Char must’ve lost hers, because the kraken slipped through his hold when another hard jerk tore it from his claws.
Without thinking, he took a nose-dive as it crashed toward the lake-bed, the white form of his mother clutched in two of its tentacles. It was getting smarter. Two would be harder.
Kol bit down on one of them, again and again, hoping to sever it like he had the first one, but he felt more frantic than he had before. This was his mom. He couldn’t lose his mom too. Not like he’d lost Nik.
Kol could see Char’s blue in his peripheral trying to do the same, biting frantically. The flesh felt tougher than before. He felt like he wasn’t making quick enough progress. Maybe it was because he’d cooked the other one before chomping down? Maybe it was because he was trying to save his mother now and not a nameless naga girl? Char’s form jerked away and out of sight. As if she was swatted away like a pesky fly. Kol’s head jerked up to see if she was okay as she crashed into the glass of the Dome. When she lay limp, lifeless, against the side, his heart tore inside him and he released his grip.
He didn’t see the same tentacle that swatted her away, wrap around him. He could feel the slimy mucus slide over his scales and get caught in his own vulnerable places at his side and shoulder. The suckers licked over him, pulling him tightly against them. As the appendage situated itself around him, squeezing until his wings were immobile, his fore-claws dug between a few of his scales and pierced his skin.
“Kol!” Brett popped up and over the jagged Dome with Juliet at his heels. “Mrs. Dracul?” His bafflement didn’t last long and the two of them headed toward them.
A slithering tentacle writhed along the ground toward the unmoving blue form of Char.
“Get Char out!” Kol shouted at them. He could swear she was still breathing even as his vision blurred with the severely reduced reserve of oxygen. The kraken was squeezing his lungs tightly.
Brett and Juliet didn’t hesitate and quickly got to Char’s side, blasting the creeping tentacle enough for it to curl away. Kol hoped they could get Charlotte to safety. He craned his neck and tried to look at his mom, to see if she was still conscious, but all he could see was her tail hanging limply next to him.
He wriggled, trying to break himself free, but his energy was sapped as his airway was further constricted. It was all he could to do keep his eyes open as he felt himself losing consciousness.
“Malkolm!” A deep voice cried. “Victoria!” The second cry was laced with deep pain.
Though the second part confused him, Kol knew the voice as well as his own. It was Eduard. It was his father.
Air rushed into his lungs as the tentacle holding him hung limply with an oozing gash ripped through the side. A bite mark. Kol flew up and out of its grip, though his wings felt heavy from the oxygen deprivation. Spots floated in front of his vision as he strained to stay airborne. Fly higher, he ordered himself and he forced more air into his body, gulping huge breaths. Get up to safety until your head clears.
Kol forced himself to keep his gaze on the horizon and not at the chaos below. A few more seconds. He counted down from ten.
Ten... nine... eight...
If he raced back, prematurely, he’d be useless to help his dad get his mom free. But if he waited too long...
Seven... six... five...
Roars sounded below. Kol closed his eyes tightly. His head felt less fuzzy, a few more seconds.
Four... three... two...
One.
He opened his eyes before diving. Eduard managed to rip apart one of the tentacles to free Victoria, but they had done their work. She was unconscious. Still, the kraken seemed more determined to keep squeezing.
Kol went to work, gripping the tentacle with his hind claws and pulling up, forcing it away from her.
“Victoria!” Eduard sobbed, then hurled himself into the kraken’s head, maybe hoping the shock would wrench her free. “Pull harder Kol!”
Kol obeyed, feeling his own sobs work its way up his throat as he pulled with everything he had. “C’mon mom!” he said, but knew it was useless. “Use your strength, break free!” Kol could not lose his mom. She was kind and gentle. She was strong and apparently very fast. She needed to know the curse was broken. She needed to feel the joy of being loved back.
Myreen’s face briefly rushed through his head. Myreen did lose her mom. Not to a kraken, but violently to vampires. His heart ached for her as he put himself in her place, as he contemplated how he could possibly survive losing his mom.
Kol didn’t know what Eduard was doing, but whatever his tactic, it seemed to be working. Kol pulled again and the tentacle slipped further away from the white dragon.
“Again!” Eduard shouted. Determined.
Kol pulled again, using all of the strength he had in him and hoped it was enough.
It was enough.
Victoria rolled to the lake bed in a slump.
“Get her to safety!” Eduard shouted, then snapped at the tentacle aiming for him. He bit off the tip and spit it to the side.
Kol looked at the space where Char had been. She was gone, but so was Brett and Juliet. He’d hoped they would come back to help. With no time to waste, Kol gripped his mother’s body behind the shoulders and lifted. He felt immediate relief when her chest rose and fell.
She was alive.
Kol would not lose his mother.
Eduard roared behind him and Kol nearly lost his grip. He can handle it, Kol told himse
lf. Lord Eduard Dracul, the general of the shifter army, his father, could handle himself. He would get out alive.
But when he roared again, Kol couldn’t help but look behind him. The kraken had rolled on its side and lifted its tentacles to reveal its massive hard black beak. The jet-black dragon was struggling in two of the tentacles and was slowly nearing the crushing jaws.
Kol gently placed his mom on the ground and thankfully saw two flashes of red-orange rise up and over the Dome.
“Help her!” he shouted without looking and hoped that wherever they’d taken Charlotte, that his mom could be brought to safety too. He desperately hoped they’d both make it.
But he also couldn’t allow a kraken to eat his dad.
He rushed forward, shooting fire as fast and furious as he could, snapping—but missing—the tentacles that neared him.
Eduard fought violently, charring the flesh near the base of several of the tentacles, but the kraken was on a mission.
Kol flew harder. Faster.
But he wasn’t fast enough.
The black beak opened into a gaping maw and, in a flash, crushed down right into the center of his father’s dragon.
Kol flinched at the gut-wrenching crunch and snap. A few seconds later he forced himself to look, to see if there was any possible way his dad survived.
But Eduard was gone.
Chapter 54: Leif
Chaos was everywhere. The school Leif had tried so hard to protect for the past fifteen years was in ruin. The thick glass that gave the Dome its name was now completely gone. Like a turtle that had its shell ripped off by bloodthirsty predators, it now lay exposed. And Draven’s forces were inside, fighting the shifters still trapped there.
Leif was in the thick of it, and it terrified him. The ferocity of the shifters was alarming. At the last battle at a shifter school, it had been a massacre. It was very apparent that Oberon had taken the loss of The Island seriously. If only he were still around to see the fruits of his labors.
Still, both sides were taking losses. Leif was cautious, for although he was wearing a shifter military uniform given to him by General Dracul, he was afraid an enraged shifter would still see him as a vampire and attack. He doubted word had gotten out that a lone vampire was on their side.