by L. A. Boruff
Sparks flew from my mouth as I screamed out my grief. Anthony jumped back, and Elias gawked at me in fear. Only Axoular and Boudicca seemed unconcerned.
Fear coursed through my body when I saw the sparks, and it washed away the rage. My temperature cooled rapidly. I became exhausted, my head sinking to my chest, my entire body shivering and shaking. Goosebumps erupted across my arms.
Anthony sat down behind me, enveloping me in his embrace. I stared at Peter, looking at the details of Michael's features, knowing it would be the last time I’d see my first love, the father of my children, my husband's face.
"Why?"
He paused before replying. "I couldn't allow the portal to be opened. I searched for you for so long, Riley, but I don't kill unnecessarily. Michael was already going to be killed, I heard the thugs talking. He was to be taken back to your high council and be made example of.”
Anthony stiffened behind me. “I suspected that was the case. They told us he died in the fight. If you killed him as he lay on the ground, unconscious, they must have thought they’d accidentally killed him.”
“I don’t understand why you needed my line? What did you care about the Sárkány or the portals?” I cried. “Tell me why you did this to me! Why did you ruin my life?”
“I didn't ruin your life, Riley. Whether I took on Michael’s image or not, he would've been killed and your children ripped from you. That part wouldn't be any different. The only difference is, you wouldn't have had this time with him. With me.”
“That time with him was cruel! How could you? Once you knew who I was, why didn’t you kill me if you didn’t want the portal opened ever again?” My anger built back up. “Why did you pretend to be my husband?”
“I had to know for sure that you were a dragon. I didn’t want to kill you if you weren’t. And then, when I got to know you, I… Well, I rather liked you. I didn’t want to hurt you if I could avoid it. I hoped against hope that we would get here to the portal and nothing would happen when your blood touched the stone.”
He finally showed signs of emotion. He swiped his hand across his face, across Michael’s face. He looked weary and regretful.
“I should've killed you then. When I grabbed you and tried to stop you from leaving. We were the only two here. I should've ended it then. But I couldn’t do it.”
“Tell us why you want the portals closed so badly,” demanded Boudicca. “Your people hunted mine down. You drove us to near extinction, both here and in our own world. Your people hunting mine caused mine to go into a great civil war that wiped out most of my species! Tell me why.”
“Because you created the portals! Because only your blood can stop them. And because you wouldn't listen to us.” He hung his head. “My ancestors tried so hard to convince yours that the portals must be destroyed forever. Your ancestors were greedy and enjoyed being worshiped. They wouldn't listen, or believe us.”
“So you killed them all?” I asked, furious. He killed my husband and impersonated him. He stole Michael. There wasn't much he could say that would redeem himself.
“Not at first,” Peter replied. “At first we pleaded with them. Then we destroyed portals, any portal we could find. They caught on, and the old gods began returning to their home worlds in droves, scared of being stuck here forever. It took us hundreds of years to find the ones we did destroy, but by the time we found out this was going on, you’d created portals all over the world. We were behind before we even got started.”
“All of what was going on?” asked Elias, obviously still in pain watching an impostor speak through his best friend’s mouth.
“Portal travel.” Peter adjusted his position a little and moved his legs. Axoular jumped and loomed over Peter threateningly. “I’m not getting up, dragon. I’m just shifting a little.”
Haha. My thoughts were a little crazed. The shifter was shifting. Jackass. My mind was a maze of emotions, and I was struggling to navigate my way out of it. A short giggle erupted from my mouth and every eye was on me. “Sorry, it slipped out. I’m overwhelmed. Please, continue, Peter.”
Peter, behind Michael’s face, stared at me with wide eyes. “Yes, um, as I was saying. Portal travel. I’m not from another dimension. I’m from Earth’s dimension, but I’m not from Earth. Humans would call me an alien.” He paused there, I supposed he expected us to shout or react in fear or something. I wasn’t sure if anything could ever shock me again.
When nobody else spoke or reacted, I said, “Okay, so you’re an alien. You’re from another planet in Earth’s galaxy or dimension or whatever?”
“Yes,” Peter said. “We were an advanced race. Our science was a millennia beyond that of the young Earth. We visited Earth many times—it was a sort of vacation destination for us.”
Anthony snorted and Peter gave him a nasty glare before continuing his story. His people were working on teleporting: stepping onto a teleportation device and being instantly transported to another location. The how behind it was scientific, not magical. But their science went terribly wrong. Their teleportation device, instead of moving them to another destination, opened a portal to another dimension.
“You understand, I wasn't alive when any of this happened. I don't know the science or the magic. When the transporter was activated, our world began to disintegrate. It took several years for them to understand what was causing the world to dissipate. It started with the plants. They died and crumbled to dust. Then our sun dimmed. Scientists who were already scrambling to find a disease that could be killing the plant life were baffled by the sun. We kept the teleportation device active and visited the other dimension often. It was a lush planet with active wildlife, but no intelligent beings. By the time they figured out the teleporter was essentially dissolving our world, it was too late.”
Peter’s head fell back against the wall and he stared up into the air. “We made mass evacuations. Many of my people came here, many went to other planets that could sustain life. The scientists that studied the other dimension went there and convinced thousands to go with them, even knowing they could never return. We managed to get the entire planet evacuated as it died. My great grandfather was on the ship that stayed and watched the planet break apart and blow away. The sun was almost dead, the gravity evaporated. The atmosphere outside the ship was too cold for life.”
He brought his gaze back to me. “We began our lives on Earth and destroyed proof of our technology, but we never forgot. Then, we found your portals. They were made with magic. And they’d been open long enough that they were obviously not destroying this world, but who knew what dimensions they connected to? We learned they connected to many, many other worlds. The proof was in the creatures that came through them to Earth. The Old Gods. We were trying to save a world—which world didn't matter. No creature should have to watch their home crumble, especially considering that most worlds were not able to evacuate as we did.”
Boudicca’s face looked like it was etched from stone. “So, to save lives you took them? That sounds like a warmonger’s defense.”
“We were left with no choice!” Peter cried. “On Earth, we have been taught to never take a life if it can be avoided. We began killing Sárkány only when we thought we had no other alternative. And it worked! Most of your greedy, power hungry kin went back home. We were able to destroy many portals. Eventually, only one Sárkány was left, and we knew when she left Earth because the portals went silent. We destroyed any we found, until we started finding them already destroyed. We never knew if they were somehow demolished from the other side, or if someone on Earth did it.”
“It was us,” said Boudicca. “I was the last Sárkány you searched for. I had a family, Shapeshifter, I had children on Earth. My elders wouldn't let them come to my world, and I knew if I had any chance of ever seeing them again, I had to return home and leave them here with their father. I've lived over a thousand years with no knowledge of them.” She leaned forward and pointed in Peter’s face. “I don't know if they surv
ived or if your people murdered them.
“Back in Galdiart, we argued among ourselves. Many wanted to return en masse to Earth and destroy the shapeshifters hunting us. One on one, you are no match for our magic and strength, but you always attacked us when we were vulnerable and alone. Our arguments escalated into a civil war that wiped out most of our population. We’re an almost extinct species because of you! You should've tried harder to warn us. What did you do, go try to warn the most power hungry among us? Every species has their bad seeds; the humans certainly have a great number of power hungry leaders. We had our share of them too, as I’m sure did your people.”
“Well, they did try to contact the most powerful. They thought they could do the most good,” said Peter. “Maybe they did take the wrong approach, but they were desperate. The different Old Gods on Earth, that came through your portals, were corrupt and ruining society. They were ruining the new world we’d escaped to.”
“So you followed the dragon lines through the ages. Are there more?” I asked. “Are there more of my people, with dragon DNA, in the world?”
“There are several dozen surviving, that we know of,” he said, his voice defeated.
“And how many shapeshifters are there?” I asked.
“We have several clans, totaling maybe a two hundred in all, spread over the entire world. Our sole purpose is to guard the world against these portals. We’ve been searching for this one for eons, but since it was inactive for so long, we were no longer able to pinpoint it. I’ve searched this room myself, but the well just resembled a well.”
“And where were you in the five years I believed my husband to be missing, dead?”
“Waiting on this idiot to make his move,” he said, nodding at Elias.
“What the fuck did I have to do with it?” Elias was outraged.
“I needed you to either take Riley and try to find a way to the Supay, or to show me where the children were. The children were the real danger. We had to watch them and make sure they never opened a portal. We never wanted to kill anyone, I swear.”
“Then why did you kill Michael?” I screamed.
“Because he was going to die anyway! Having his appearance gave me an edge. But even with his face, I had no desire to interfere in your life unless absolutely necessary. When you three moved toward Bolivia, I knew where you were going. I was afraid you’d try to get Riley to the mythical spring of life.”
“It’s not mythical,” interjected Anthony. “We just left it.”
“At least she can never get to it.”
Another question plagued me. “How’d you track me? You obviously didn’t drink my blood.”
“You’ve had a tracking spell on you since birth.” He waved his hand, dismissing my look of outrage. “All I needed was to stop you from opening the portal, then I could destroy it. I didn’t anticipate running into that horrible Supay woman, Mama Pacha. Once you two went through, I should've killed Riley. You'll kill everyone by keeping that portal open!” He pointed at the well.
We turned to look at the portal, falling for the oldest distraction game in the book. When our attention was on the portal, Peter lunged for me. Caught completely unaware, I flailed about while he pinned my arms to my side and used me as a shield.
Elias and Anthony roared their anger. Axoular’s head was nearly engulfed in smoke. Boudicca remained calm, still seated serenely on the floor.
She was the first to speak. “Riley, he killed your husband. He wants to use you to get him out of this mess, and then he'll most likely kill you. How does that make you feel?”
I blinked once at her. I was so damn angry! If he hadn’t killed Michael, the Junta might not have done it. Michael might’ve been beside me, he might’ve talked them out of their plans. Or Anthony and Elias might have saved him. Rage built inside me. Peter hissed as my skin grew hot under him, but he didn’t let go.
A thought burst into my mind, literally igniting my rage. I fucked him! With that thought, my entire body burst into flame. The anger I’d controlled since the day I came home to an empty house, more than five years before, came out of my skin in a thousand degree inferno. Peter was ignited and his screams were indescribable. His shrieks of pain didn't last long as the flames consumed him.
I stepped away from him, my body a pulsing blaze. Obsidian tears fell from my eyes—my anger giving way to sadness as I watched the body of my beloved husband burn. Elias and Anthony couldn't come near me, they even had to shield their extra sensitive eyes from my bright light, but Axoular and Boudicca held my hands as I watched Peter scream and burn. Retribution coursed through my veins. I knew one day I might feel guilt, but in that moment, it was worth it. It was good.
As the flames died on the charred mass that was Peter, they quieted and disappeared from my body as well. My emotional pain left with the flames. The numbness was back, I was empty inside again. The confusing maze in my mind was gone, static replaced it. I hung my head and discovered the flames burned my clothes off.
How do I always end up naked? I giggled again. Elias and Anthony approached me with caution, hands up in front of them. Watching them try to make sure I was cool enough to touch made my giggles turned into laughter. Seeing the pity on their faces made my laughter turn into sobs. The numbness never lasts long enough.
I heard Anthony ask Axoular, “Will she burst into flames again?”
“No,” Axoular whispered. “She'll most likely pass out. She used a vast amount of energy.” Those were the last words I heard. I saw Elias rush to grab me as I faded to black.
Epilogue
The sunlight was hot and comforting on my face, almost blinding through my eyelids. I threw a lazy arm up to rest on my forehead and shield my vision. Moving my arm caused my hammock to sway, so I waved it to and fro. Funny, I could walk through fire and burst into flames, but the sun still blinded me. The summer heat was heaven to me after my body changed. It made me energetic, almost like I drew sustenance from the sun.
“Mommy! Are you waving at me?” came a squeak of a voice.
“No, Kohbi, I was saying hi to the sun,” I replied with a laugh. I lifted my head to squint at my adopted daughter. Her heterochromatic eyes twinkled as she made a flower crown in the grass beside me. When she’d come through the portal, her hair was as white as pure snow, and her eyes were the color of her scales: one Jade, one Jasper. She adapted quickly to our world and she thrived.
It wasn't easy to come home. David and Daniel took the longest to adjust. They couldn’t understand how their Supay family kept them from me for so many years. Six months since I burned up their facade of a father, and they were still a little resentful toward their Aunt Tammy and Uncle Danyelus for lying to them for so long.
We held a massive memorial for Michael a couple of weeks after we’d returned home. It was a beautiful service, and was attended by Unseen from all over the world. Michael touched many lives in his relatively short time on Earth.
We were able to confront the Junta after the service. The Fae Leader himself came to the funeral. I thought Anthony was going to burst into flames himself when Alexander shook my hand for a tick too long.
We sat down to a formal dinner with Elias, Anthony, Axoular, and the council. They questioned Axoular and me extensively. We made it abundantly clear that we would love to incorporate into their council and world, but we would do it on our own terms. We hinted that we had the power for opening and closing the portals, and for creating new ones, even though we didn't have the first clue how to create a new portal. I wanted us to have a bargaining chip to plant Axoular in a spot on the council.
Axoular came home with us after sending Boudicca home to Galdiart. He spent some time devising ideas for saving his people, then we used the gateway in the basement to travel to the well-room in Bolivia with a massive load of supplies: food, medicines, blankets, and toys. While there, I brought the orphans back with me. Elias called a witch friend - Cindy - who came with us to Bolivia. When we were ready, she brought Elias, Anth
ony, me, the orphans, Axoular, and Axoular’s sweet little lavender-colored girlfriend, Minda, to the big manor house in Tennessee.
I’d not been able to get Kohbi off of my mind once Michael’s funeral was over. As we made plans help the Sárkány, I insisted that the twelve orphans from the village come home with us. Tammy agreed to help us care for them. Anthony’s little girl, Jaime, and Kobhi became fast friends. After Kohbi grabbed my heart in Galdiart, Elias, Anthony, and I asked her if she’d like to be our daughter. David and Daniel were head over heels in love with her and were wrapped around her perfect little fingers in no time.
The other orphans were adopted out to Unseen families. Children were cherished in the Unseen world, and most were happy to rise to the challenge. It became something of an honor to be raising one of the famed Dragon Orphans.
Tammy and Danyelus, childless, took in a brother and sister. The sister was an infant when they came to us, her mother had died only a few weeks before I first crossed over into Galdiart. Elias said he’d never seen them happier than they were with their new family.
Slowly, with Axoular’s help, we were bringing the Sárkány to Earth. We established identities and names for them all, but it took time. We didn’t want to flood the world with too many false identities at once, or it might be noticed somewhere. Boudicca was one of the first to come over. She and Morcan disappeared, searching for Boudicca’s descendants.
We kept the portal opened for the briefest amounts of time as we could. We didn't know for sure that every other portal was destroyed, and remembering Mama Pacha’s advice, we didn't want to let anyone or anything else cross over into our world. The Sárkány we could handle. We were mindful of Peter’s warnings about dissolving dimensions with the portal. Once the Sárkány were here, we would destroy this last portal.