by Katrina Cope
I don't understand why they continue to attack me when I see this beast in the background coming for me, one long step after the other, the ground thumping and shaking slightly with each one. It tilts its head toward the sky, and its sides expand. Without warning, it shoots its head forward, and flames burst from its mouth, disintegrating everything in its path. What on earth is this creature if it doesn't even care for its own side? It breathes fire. It has to be a creature from hell.
The beast continues forward. Its strange green eyes stare at me as though I am its one goal. Fire bursts from its mouth, and smoke billows from its nose, scorching more things as it knocks demons out of its road with its wings. My eyes go wide, and I find it hard not to pause my battle as I watch it approach.
A strange sound fills the air, and I blink. Finally, I register that it is laughter I hear, which is an unusual sound for a battle. I can't believe it. Who on earth would laugh in the middle of a battle with this hideous creature coming our way? I take a closer look at the beast. It is hideous for sure, yet holds a strangely remarkable beauty. Scales cover its body, brilliant and green. On the edges of its wings, large spikes protrude menacingly, and its feet are like a bird’s, although much thicker.
The laughter peals through the air, and I punch and kick a few more demons away. I have to find where the laughter is coming from. I attempt to push off the ground. I can't. I have no energy. It hasn't returned after all the demon touches. With the tiny amount of energy I have left, I have to keep whatever barrier I can up to protect me, even if it is a weak one.
Continuing to fight the demons, I follow the sound of the laughter, and I notice that the beast appears to be following me. It is after me. There is no question in my mind.
After a while, I manage to battle my way through the demons enough to see who is laughing. It is Michael. I stare at him, dumbfounded. He is looking at the beast and laughing.
“Michael. Are you out of your mind?” I yell over the top of the demons and the roar of the fire from the beast's mouth.
“What is wrong, brother? Do you not see the funny side?” His smile is broad, and I have trouble comprehending his meaning even though I often understand Michael's humor.
I shake my head. “What is the funny side? There is a hideous beast coming in our direction and eyeballing me. Demons surround us, and we have lost our weapons and much of our strength. No, I cannot see the humor in that.”
He laughs some more. He must be going crazy from the fight and the way the battle is heading. Shock must've hit his body, and he is having trouble processing it. I continue to stare at him in disbelief, only turning when I sense a demon approaching.
“That ‘hideous beast,’ as you call it, is something wonderful and rare.” I hear him grunt as he kicks another demon.
“Yes, it is, but it is heading toward us. Can't you see that we have nothing to fight it with? It's a beast from hell. What chance do we have? It doesn't even worry about killing its own.” Two more demons join the ones I am currently fighting.
Michael laughs again, and I grumble.
“My brother. Do you not see? That is not a beast from hell. That is a dragon. Not only that, it is on our side, not theirs.”
“How did you get a dragon? I've never seen one before.” While yelling over my shoulder, I find it hard to pull my eyes away from it as I continue to fight the demons.
“My dear brother,” Michael says through chuckles, “that dragon has been in your care for close to a decade.”
I give him a strange look.
“That dragon is Ava.”
That does it. I look at the dragon completely. I'm so shocked, I almost miss the demon about to touch me, and I barely manage to kick it away in time. I know my mouth is open as I stare at Ava. No wonder those eyes are familiar. They are the eyes of Ava during her recent weird turns. Somehow, my brain manages to work as I kick out behind me and clear away the demons trying to reach me. “Since when has she able to do that?”
“Judging by your reaction, I believe it's the first time,” Michael says. “She must be completely confused right now.”
All of a sudden, all of her temper changes and personality dysfunctions over the last while make sense. Her body had been changing, preparing her for the transformation into a dragon, and she didn't know it. Inevitably, that would cause some anger issues or deep seething like what she expressed recently. “It all makes sense now.”
“Yes, my brother. I believe your job is complete,” Michael says. The big dragon continues to walk around, blowing out fire with each breath, clearing the path for its massive frame. As she nears, she breathes fire at the demons surrounding us, making our job a lot easier.
When she is nearly upon us, she looks down at the space she has cleared. There at her feet lies my Egyptian ax, and she flicks out her foot, sending it in my direction. I catch it and immediately start to fight, slaying the demons within the immediate area and working toward Michael so I can protect him too. I can tell Ava isn’t attacking close to us. I’m confident that she doesn’t want to breathe fire on us and hurt us. Instead, she works on disintegrating the demons outside of our immediate area to give us a better chance. She continues doing this until all the external demons are gone. Michael finds his sword, and we both keep slaying the demons until finally, we kill the last one.
~~~~~
WITH ALL THE demons slain, she takes to the sky in her dragon form and flies around. She flies around the whole battlefield in a lap of honor and victory. Diving and twisting, she looks so thrilled with herself. Pulling my eyes away from her magnificence, I look around to check up on all the archangels who I know are here. Raphael is immediately healing the injured. It is good to see him still alive and well.
Gabriel, as per usual, doesn’t look the slightest bit dirty after flicking out several shuriken with dainty hands. After a short time, Ava flies down and lands next to me. She is easily several sizes larger than us, and my neck is thankful for the relief after she changes back into human form.
“See? I told you I should come with you.” A smile spreads across her face, and I am happy to see that her eyes have returned to normal.
“There was no way we had any idea that you would change into a dragon and breathe fire.” I cross my arms. “If you were just in your human form, you could've been killed.”
“But I wasn't. And I changed. This is what's been happening to me over the last little bit. I never knew about the dragon shape.” A thoughtful look crosses her face.
I scratch my head. “Then how did you turn into one? Don't you usually have to memorize every bit of the form before you change into the animal?”
“Normally, yes. Usually, I would have to picture every little detail. But I got angry when I saw you cornered and without your weapon, and Michael was in no better position. Something sprouted from the anger, some kind of protectiveness, and I just changed into this big beast. It was by accident that I found out I could breathe fire. What I don't get, though, is how come they can take your energy away?” Her brows push together in confusion.
“For some reason, when they touch us, they can take away our energy source bit by bit until eventually, we crumple,” Michael says.
“Well, that stinks, now doesn't it? I can’t think of anything worse. Some of them touched me, but they didn't take any of my energy.” She rubs her arm, looking deep in thought.
“You are not an angel. You’re human. I'm surprised they didn't take your conscience away and cause you to be evil.” Michael fiddles with the hilt of his sword, looking pleased to have it back in his grasp.
“I protected myself with a spell. They couldn't touch my mind and my heart. They couldn't touch my body. I was fighting well, and then the real change came when I saw the demons attacking everyone else, and I couldn't get to you. They seemed to be winning”—Ava smirks at me—“and I can't have my guardian for the last decade falling into the hands of demons.”
“Don't get too confident. You did a great job, but they will
always find a way past your defenses. Somehow, they always find some weakness allowing them to get past,” I say.
“Always a downer. Always thinking of the negative,” she teases.
“I am not. I'm only thinking of your safety. It's embedded into me.”
“And it always comes through as negativity. No matter how well I do, you always find the negative part in it.” Annoyance taints her voice.
“The good news is that he doesn't have to protect you anymore,” Michael says.
Her mouth drops open, and she stares at Michael in shock then looks at me. “What? Is he going to leave me in the middle of the forest all alone?”
I approach Michael and place a hand on his shoulder. “I believe she's right, brother. I can't just leave her like that. I have to get her to move in with other people—to adapt to being around other people. I haven't done this before now. I thought she was a delicate little thing in danger. At one point, this was true. I didn't know that I was guarding her until she matured into a dragon. I don't want to leave her to be lonely.”
“Ah, gee. Thanks,” she says sarcastically.
“Ava. You know I would never leave you. You're like a daughter to me, but I have to go back to angelic duties. As much as I'd love to hang around you for much longer, it wouldn't do you any good. I also need to get out into the world. Perhaps you will find a mate,” I say. My arms spread as I almost plead with her to understand.
“A mate. Are you serious? Are you trying to marry me off to get rid of me?” She screws up her nose.
“No. That's not what I meant. I meant more for companionship, long-term and serious. Perhaps you'd like to raise kids of your own one day.”
“Do you really think I could go back to a normal life now that I know all of this exists? I want to be involved. I want to help you. There has to be more to my life than just being a dragon and raising a family.” She doesn't look happy.
“I agree. But it wouldn't hurt to have a family that you love to be there, backing you behind the scenes. If you continue fighting as well as you fought today, we will certainly involve you to help us with our wars. You came in handy today. You were instrumental. Thank you,” Michael says.
His words seem to cut away the tension, but I am not ready to leave her alone yet. “I believe I should still spend some time training her for a new life—a life with humans. I believe it will benefit all of us if she learns to live with them as well as developing her gifts.”
“And you think you're the best one to teach her how to blend in with humans?” Michael studies me under a raised eyebrow.
“I believe I have a better chance with her than if we leave her on her own. I think she would stand out too much. She has never been to a town, even when she was a child. She wouldn't remember how to interact with people. Her parents kept her too sheltered and too harbored.”
“Then take a little longer to train her, my brother.” Michael places a hand on my shoulder. “I think we can do without you for a little while longer. Stay alert, though. We need you back soon. The demons are starting to expand, and they are getting worse. We must stop them.”
- Chapter Twenty-Four -
“Come on. We have to go,” I call from outside. I round up Mademoiselle, her favorite chicken that I rescued from the farm, and lock her away. I don’t want any predators getting her while we are away.
“You just can't wait to get rid of me, can you?” she chastises from the cabin door. “Just can't wait to train me up so you can leave.” She closes the door behind her and steps off the porch, pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen over her face.
“Come on. You know that's not true. You can't spend your whole life hiding. And from what I understand, witches can live a very long life. You need to get out, meet people your age, and socialize. You must learn how to communicate and live with the town folk.”
“The sun is only just coming up. Why do we have to leave so early?” she whines.
“Because a slow walk to town takes a very long time. We can't just teleport there.”
“Why not? It would be so much quicker than taking a donkey with a pack on its back.” She indicates to the donkey that patiently waits for us to go.
“Yes, it would. But you wouldn't be able to carry everything back. Even though we can grow everything we need ourselves, you need to learn how to communicate in the markets. Sometimes, we are going to have to buy things. Just put up with that. We need to go. I'm not budging. You are going.”
Ava squats down to put on her new shoes, groaning as she does so. “All right. Let's go.”
I turn my face to hide a smile. Finally, I have won a little battle over Ava. She has become quite a determined young lady, especially after changing into a dragon.
The donkey is laden with heavy packs that hang empty on its back. I grab its reins, and we start our long walk to town. Ava walks slightly behind me without saying a word. It almost appears that she is nervous. We walk out to the road, which happens to be in the direction of the old farm. I don’t have to see Ava's face to feel her pain as we pass her old farmyard. It is now dismal and overgrown. I took all the animals to our little cottage and set them up there. They settled in well, and I think they also brought Ava some form of comfort at times.
The trip is slow and tedious until we finally get to hook the donkey up and head for the markets.
A young man sits behind the first stall. He looks about Ava's age and is selling homemade bags. The pouches are sewn together meticulously. Ava stops and runs her hand over some of the colorful bags.
The young man behind the stall instantly observes her curiously, watching her fingers caress the artwork. “I made it myself.”
Ava looks up from her distraction and realizes that he is talking to her. At first, she seems bashful, which is unusual for her, although she hasn’t had the opportunity to mingle with young men before.
The young man's eyes don’t leave her, and he seems to pick up on her hesitation. He continues, “I make everything here. But some of the more decorative patterns my mother does.”
Ava pulls her hand away from the bags and looks at him suspiciously. He has shoulder-length blond hair tied behind his head. He is dressed in a homemade leather coat and looks cared for.
I touch her arm and lean in to whisper in her ear, “It's okay. He's just making conversation and trying to sell you his product.”
She drops a hand down to a bag again and feels the stitching. “They are beautiful. I do some handiwork, but not in the form of bags.”
He leans forward and grabs her hand, and her face turns crimson. He studies her fingers, touching them gently. “I can see you have artistic hands—very long and delicate.” He drops her fingers again in a very relaxed manner and looks at her face, reading her expression. “Sorry. I seem to have startled you. Perhaps I have overstepped my mark. Forgive me.”
I approach and talk over her shoulder. “You have done nothing wrong. She has lived in isolation and hasn't been to town much, so she hasn't had much contact with people.”
His face softens, and he studies Ava more. “Then, please, come back and visit more often. Is this your daughter?”
“Close to that. I'm her guardian,” I say.
“Please visit me often.” He glances at Ava then back at me. “Perhaps I can suggest that I take her around and show her the place, if you don't mind looking after my stall for a bit?”
At first, the request surprises me, then my overprotectiveness of Ava sets in. Without thinking, I approach him and place a finger on his forehead and read his mind and his intentions.
“Zacharias, what are you doing?” Ava sounds embarrassed.
I realize what I have done, and I pull back and drop my hand. But I already gathered enough reading of his personality and gauged whether he is trustworthy or not. “I was checking on him.”
“Is that necessary?” she asks through clenched teeth.
I feel embarrassed, especially when I remember what she is capable of. “No, it’s
not necessary when I remember who you are.” I turn to the young man, who now looks at me and Ava with a confused expression. He will have no recollection of me reading his mind. I made sure of that when I touched him.
I look at him and say, “We should ask the young lady if she would like that.” I turn to Ava, “Would you like the young man to escort you around town?”
She looks at her feet and twiddles her thumbs. “I...” She glances at him shyly. “I guess so.” She asks me, “Is he good?”
I nod.
“Then I guess that would be a nice change.” She still sounds unsure of herself. I can see the thought of making a new friend start to sink in, and it seems to please her.
Reluctantly, I sit behind the stall. It is not my ideal position. I have never done this before, yet I will give it a go for Ava's sake. I watch them as they retreat further down the road, and my eyes bore holes into their backs. Even though I read the young man's mind, I am so protective that it is hard to let her go. I am lost in thought when I am interrupted.
“Excuse me. Excuse me.”
I look to find a man staring at me.
“I will only ask one more time. How much is this?” he demands, his eyes constricting with disapproval.
It isn’t a great start to a new job. “Forgive me. I am sitting in for a friend, and I am new to this.” While I searched the young man's mind, I also saw what he expected to charge for each of his items. I begin the bargaining process with the man in front of me and manage to get higher than what the young man was asking for. I also know that the person before me can afford it. This happens several times during the day, and I wait impatiently for Ava and the young man to come back. The day is nearing its close, and I am starting to get worried. We have a long walk home.