by Rainy Kaye
My stomach churned at the thought.
Since we had the mountain to ourselves—everyone in town was either at the newly-deceased assembly, or smart enough to stay away from these parts—Randall slowed the van to a stop in the middle of the road. He leaned forward and peered out the windshield, up at the mountains on either side.
“I don’t see—” he started.
Shouting cut him off, echoing around the mountain.
“Ah, shit.” Gripping my thumb with the opposite hand on my lap, shoulders hunched, I turned to Ever. “That might be Paisley and April. Can you tell which direction it’s coming from?”
The shouting echoed again, and she put a finger to her lips for silence and then tilted her head, listening. I waited for any more sounds, too.
Nothing.
With a scowl, she pushed open the van door and stepped out. I barely breathed as she inched across the road, body tense as if she expected the cockatrice to swoop down out of nowhere, her hand on the kukri at her side. Her soles barely left the icy asphalt as she worked her way toward the edge of the sharp drop on the right and then leaned over. I fixed my attention to her shoes, willing them to root in their spot.
She jerked back, then waved for us to join her. I scrambled out of the van as Randall and Sasmita stepped out. Fiona leaned across the backseat, on hands and knees as she peered out, eyes narrowed. I could picture her panting behind the mask.
Ever tottered across the ice to meet us.
“It is them,” she hissed. “They’re down the mountain. The cockatrice has them. Don’t make eye contact.”
I swallowed against the burning in the back of my throat and crept with her toward the drop until the scene came into view.
Down the side of the mountain, dusted in snow, hung a small structure like two buildings stuck together that must have once been part of a mine. Several holes punctured the plank siding and roof, and a few boards hung loose. The braces attaching the structure to the side of the mountain looked questionable at best.
Paisley and April crouched on top of the broken roof, heads bent as they huddled together, their palms flat against the planks. They were seconds from slipping over the edge of the building and plummeting down the ravine.
The cockatrice hovered a few feet away from them over the drop, beating her leathery wings. She jutted her head forward with a squawk.
My throat tightened until it hurt to swallow.
“They need to use the medallion,” Randall whispered as he and Sasmita came up behind us, and I shot him a look.
The cockatrice didn’t seem to notice us yet, and that was our only advantage at the moment, if we even had one. I doubted one blast of magic would take her out, and trying would only serve to infuriate the beast.
My brain raced for an idea, any idea, good or bad or mediocre. Even though Paisley had her kukri strapped to her back, there was no way she could reach it, let alone use it, without falling off the building. It would be a long ways down.
Pressing my lips together, I scanned the area. My body tingled in a familiar way, and I gave a silent gasp.
My magic had returned. It never returned when I needed it, not without sheer force and dumb luck, and even that had happened so few times I could count the instances on one hand.
I waved Sasmita to retreat with me, away from the cockatrice’s line of sight if she happened to look up. We slid our soles on the icy asphalt until we were halfway back to the van. Fiona remained in her strange hands-and-knees pose, watching us, eyes hungry behind her mask.
I wished she would just go back to sleep.
Forcing my attention away from her, I turned to Sasmita. “We have to go down there. I think we can team up like we did with Winston and at least knock the cockatrice back long enough to either use the medallion, or get Paisley and April the hell off of there.”
Sasmita cringed in the direction of the drop. “And we get back up the mountain, how?”
“Ever has climbing gear,” I said in a rush as the thought occurred to me. “Once we get the cockatrice out of the way, Ever can lower her backpack to us and we can use the equipment to climb back up. There is no way these two can fight off the cockatrice and climb back up without someone down there protecting them.”
With magic. Nothing mundane was going to get them out of this situation.
I expected Sasmita to punch a hole into my plan, but she lifted her shoulders.
“Not sure we have any other options,” she said.
With that, she shuffled her way back to Ever and Randall, who remained near the ledge, conversing in low voices. I hurried after her, one arm tense, ready to catch my balance before I landed on my ass on the ice.
By the time I reached the others, Sasmita was already sharing the plan.
Randall whirled on me. “That’s absurd, Saf. There is no room on that building for you, and I don’t think it can hold all four of you.”
“It’s been up there for probably a hundred years,” I said, waving it off as if it was no big deal and not at all like my stomach was sinking with realization of what I was about to do. “It’s not going to fall today.”
He opened his mouth, but I put up my hand.
“It’s what we do,” I said with surprising sincerity.
He clamped his jaw shut and stared at me for a long moment. Right as I was about to say something, anything to make him stop looking at me like that, he turned back to Ever and Sasmita.
“Drive the cockatrice up here onto the road,” he said, “and Ever and I will distract it while you four get back up here.”
I intended to protest but stopped myself. It was actually the best part of the plan. Fighting the cockatrice on solid ground would be immeasurably safer than teetering on top of an abandoned mine clinging to the side of a mountain.
“On it,” I said as I slunk closer to the edge and peered down.
Nothing had changed since the last peek. Paisley and April still pressed against the roof of the structure, and the cockatrice continued to intimidate without making good on her threat—yet. We’d already seen she was willing to play ball.
Carefully, I crouched down and, keeping awareness on the cockatrice, hissed at April and Paisley. “Don’t look up. Just make room for us to come down.”
April shuddered a little sob, but Paisley worked her way farther from the mountain, inching closer to the cockatrice, and nudged April along with her. It wasn’t the safest maneuver, but we wouldn’t be able to drop down otherwise. Hopefully, this would all be over in a few minutes and we would be safely on solid ground again.
Paisley twisted around, lowering her feet to the roof of the back portion of the structure. Her hands splayed against the higher part of the roof. With a grimace, April avoided looking at the hovering cockatrice as she adjusted her position to mimic her sister, clearing space for Sasmita and me.
Without allowing myself further thought, I took a deep breath as I spun around in a crouch and hung my leg over the edge of the mountain. I didn’t look up at my group—I was halfway between tears and throwing up—as I finished swinging around and let go of the road. For a moment, everything went dark as I fell through the chilly air and wind whipped up around me. My feet landed on wood that gave ever so slightly under my weight. I shot out my hands and grabbed the roof before my vision returned.
As soon as I could breathe again, I snapped back to look up at the road. Sasmita, Ever, and Randall peered over the edge like cats.
I flashed them a thumbs up sign with one hand before slamming it back onto the roof. Slowly, I slid my soles around until I found footholds on the braces holding up the structure.
Paisley and April huddled a foot away, staring at me. I nodded to the side, hoping they understood Sasmita was about to join us. If I could get the damn shield to work on-demand, then she could have stayed on the road and hurled her magic at the cockatrice. Since my magic did whatever it felt like these days, I needed to be closer. Not to mention, since it came and went without warning, we had to act b
efore my ability to contribute fizzled away.
A shadow flickered overhead. A thud sounded beside us.
My muscles clenched as I resisted jerking back. Sasmita rested on all fours next to me, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. Over her mask, she stared wide eyed past Paisley and April at the cockatrice, careful not to meet its gaze.
The cockatrice flapped closer, her reptilian eyes twitching as she took us in, and it wasn’t too unlike someone peering into a bakery case at all the tantalizing options.
“Okay, I need to get closer,” I said between pants. “We’re going to have to, somehow, switch places. Paisley, April, you should be closest to the mountain and Sasmita and I will try to get the cockatrice close enough that Ever and Randall can piss her off and distract her onto the road.”
“I still have the medallion,” April said, voice small and barely audible over the wind swirling around us. If it wasn’t for my feet wedged in the beams, I would have been knocked off the building.
I perked up. I probably should have asked about that before I dropped myself off the side of the mountain. “Can you try it?”
She nodded, stiffly, and then eased one hand off the roof. Paisley tensed, ready to pounce and grab her sister if she slipped. With slow, careful movements, April reached into her pocket and retrieved the medallion. Clamping her jaw, she twisted around to face the cockatrice, head turned away, jutting out the medallion clenched in hand.
The cockatrice reared back and then lurched toward April with a screech. April screamed, reeling. The medallion slipped from her hand.
With a cry, I lunged forward. Sasmita grabbed my arm. The medallion dropped through the air to the trees far below, disappearing from sight.
My heart and stomach felt like it tumbled down with it.
I tried to swallow. “Okay, um, back to the original plan. Or second plan. Whatever plan we’re on.”
Everyone remained stock still, as if we were all too chicken to make the first move.
Which we probably were.
Paisley lifted her hand to move toward me.
With a cry, the cockatrice swooped in. I shot out my arm, summoning my magic to zap it on contact.
A cracking sound erupted around us and the roof gave out from under me. My heart rocketed up my throat, cutting off my scream. Yelling engulfed the mountainside, and my palms and knees slammed into the hard floor, jarring my teeth together. Thuds dropped around me.
A shadow rocked back and forth over me as I stared at the plank floor. Slowly, I twisted around and squinted up to the opening where the roof had been. Sasmita, Paisley, and April pushed upright next to me. Around us, the broken walls of the building stood as a frail barrier between us and the nothingness below.
“The roof caved,” I said, which was sort of a given, but it was as much for my jostled brain than anything else.
The cockatrice hovered directly above the building, as if she didn’t want to lose sight of us. To be fair, there probably wasn’t a lot to eat around here between the snow and the chaos. We were likely the tastiest morsels to trap themselves in a while.
Dinner had served itself, apparently
“Alright, fine,” I grumbled, raising up onto my knees. “At least we’re not on a roof anymore. The walls around us are better. Not by much, but some.”
The others huddled around me, our body heat and noisy breathing filling up the small structure. We stared upwards as the cockatrice bobbed in the air. At least from this angle, it would be more difficult for her to meet our gaze and turn us into concrete ornaments.
Still, we couldn’t just sit here and hope she went away. I had to attack, even though it was ridiculous to try to take on this beast.
“Here, birdy,” I called. “Polly want a fuckin’ cracker?”
I let my magic sizzle across my skin, pleased enough that those would be my final words.
It was the little things; always had been.
Beside me, Sasmita pushed to her feet and shot a blue blast of magic at the beast. It slammed into her stomach, knocking her back.
Figured Sasmita would one-up me.
The cockatrice screeched and dived toward us. As her shadow blanketed the building, I rammed my palm against her thigh and unleashed my gathered magic. Blue pulsed through her limb, but she pulled back and came at us again. Her talons clutched the side of the building, and the floor rocked beneath us.
“Oh, fuck.”
As it turned out, those would be my final words.
Not really a surprise.
The structure swayed as the cockatrice released it and circled back around. Tight together, our little group pushed back toward the mountain, standing between the braces that held up the building.
“Look,” April hissed, nudging me.
Before I could respond, the cockatrice slammed into the building again. She snaked her head toward us and screeched. I flinched, turning away.
Right behind us gaped a large hole that opened straight into the mountain.
The mine.
The cockatrice dove toward us again. The broken plank sides of the building wouldn’t last much longer as a barrier between us and the cockatrice, or the long fall that awaited.
Without a word, I ushered the others toward the mine. One by one, they scurried inside. The cockatrice rammed the building again. Planks broke free and toppled down the drop until they disappeared.
I ducked inside the mine but crouched in the entrance, facing the cockatrice, hand poised on the ground as I waited, panting. Hopefully, when she realized she couldn’t fit through the opening, she would retreat long enough for Ever to deploy her climbing equipment.
The cockatrice arched back around and dug at the building again. More planks fell apart, until the structure was little more than several jagged pieces of wood and a clear view of the expansive drop.
“She’s doing this on purpose,” I muttered. “She’s trying to tear down the building to get to us.”
She had nearly succeeded.
We were stuck. Until the cockatrice gave up, we couldn’t scale the mountain. The mine behind us remained pitch black past the first few feet, and I couldn’t imagine how we would make our way through that to look for another opening, which probably didn’t even exist anyway.
The cockatrice swept down, forcing her way past the remaining planks that splayed out like petals before falling. Her talons gripped the brace, and she rammed her head through the mine opening.
I scrambled backwards into the others, shielding my eyes, and we retreated farther into the darkness. The cockatrice snapped her beak at us as she wiggled her body through the entrance.
“Get down,” Sasmita shouted.
I dropped to the ground, the others crumpling around me as Sasmita unleashed a blast of blue magic. The gust caught the cockatrice in the face, and she narrowed her eyes as she pushed harder to get to us.
“Great, now it’s hungry and pissed off,” I said as we slunk farther back.
The cockatrice inched her way closer, wings folded, working her body side to side as if to slither into the mine.
I pulled up my magic, ready to double down on the attack. Before I made a move, the cockatrice screeched and reared back, popping free from the mine. She flung around, talons clenched on the braces.
Straddled on her back, Randall held up a kukri and then plunged it into the cockatrice’s flesh. She released the braces and bucked in the air. Randall yanked the kukri free, throwing himself forward and latching his arms around the dragon neck. Blood oozed from the wound under him and trickled down the cockatrice’s side.
I shot forward, breath caught, and scanned the scene back and forth. Randall held on with the kukri still in his grasp.
The cockatrice zigzagged just out of my reach.
I turned to Sasmita.
“What do we do?” I asked, gasping. “If you blast the cockatrice, it’ll knock Randall off.”
I checked down the mountain again, as if maybe the fall wasn’t nearly as far as I beli
eved it to be, and he would be able to survive such a tumble.
It was, and he wouldn’t.
“Let’s see if we can lure it close enough we can reach Randall,” Sasmita said. “We just need to get him into the mine with us.”
I nodded, stepping forward, ready to serve myself up as bait. Just outside the opening, I whistled, because I had no idea how to call a cockatrice to dinner.
“Hey!” I waved my arms around. “Come and get it!”
A tapping noise came from above, and a shadow swayed overhead.
“Come on, fucker, get over here,” I growled, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet.
The cockatrice arched around and beelined toward me.
Randall jerked upright, slicing the kukri across the cockatrice’s throat. The cockatrice gargled a screech as she flung Randall off her back. Randall dropped the kukri, tumbling through the air toward the bottom of the mountain.
Overhead, Ever yelled and I ducked back as she rappelled down the mountain, free falling from her rope. She grabbed Randall and swung back toward the mountain, under the mine. The cockatrice circled around toward us. Her talons hit the side of the mountain as she clamped Ever’s rope with its beak and pushed off. The rope snapped. I stared down, wide eyed, through the building braces as Randall and Ever plummeted below.
Magic roiled up in my chest, fiery and nearly blinding. Through the burning, a tentacle of magic shot out and coiled around Randall and Ever mid fall.
Those men were here?
The tentacle reeled in with a zipping sound, yanking Randall and Ever up through the braces. They scrambled onto the remaining floor of the building as the tentacle retracted and disappeared.
I took a step back, panting.
The tentacle had retracted into me.
It had disappeared…into me.
I had created it.
I dropped to my knees, unable to think past that thought. I created a tentacle of magic.
How was this possible? Where was this magic coming from?