by Katie Cherry
“So I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to escape- I just don’t make the same mistake dad did and tell him about it. The only one I told was George- and now you.” He looks at me pleadingly. “Please, if you have a plan… please include me? I mean, I understand if you can’t. You are the important one, obviously. Only you really need to get away.”
My heart softens. I may be too gullible for my own good, but I can tell this boy needs help. …And maybe I can be the one to help him. “Okay,” I say. He looks skeptical.
“Really? …Can you do that? Will it endanger your plan?”
“No,” I say. “It shouldn’t. In fact, you can help immensely. You see, my plan is to contact my friend Gale.”
He looks confused. “Gale?”
“Yeah. He’s a dragon- kinda the leader, actually.”
“And you think he can help you?”
“Yes. He said that if I need him, then I can just call- with both my voice and my mind- and he’d help. But something else he said stuck with me. He said that a few can go almost unnoticed in a large group.”
“Oh, I see,” he exclaims, his eyes lighting up with hope. “You’re going to ask him to get help- but not from a dragon!”
I’m surprised. “Well, yes. I’m going to ask him to alert my friends to my absence, and I will also give him my memories to relay to Nathan about this place, the spells and such.”
“And then they’ll come for you? …You’ll tell him that I’m a good guy, right?” he adds nervously.
“Of course. I also remembered the way to my room from the outside, so I’ll tell him that too. I’ll just need you to take care of the key.”
“Wow,” he says, impressed. “Were you working on this plan for a long time?”
“No,” I admit, a little embarrassed. “Just late last night and this morning.”
“Well, go ahead and call your dragon friend. I won’t stop you. Just… you’re going to have to make it quick. I don’t know what’s holding Patrick up, but it won’t last much longer.”
“Right! …Gale!” I shout, using my mind to push the message out with magic as well.
For a second, I think that it didn’t work when I hear his deep, rumbling voice in my head. “Crystal? There you are! I couldn’t sense you for nearly a month! What happened? Are you with the Dragon Hunters?”
“…Yes. They kidnapped me- and they’ve been hiding me here this whole time. I need help getting out! Can you contact Nathan in a dream like you did for me?”
“Yes. Why? What do you need me to tell him?”
There’s no time for words, so I just shove my memories since the winner’s banquet on him at once, not bothering to pick through them. “Nathan doesn’t need to know all of that, but I need to hurry. I don’t have much time before Patrick comes back!”
“Okay. Good luck, Dragongirl. …Would you like your other two friends to come as well?”
“Yes! Anyone Nathan can get- just don’t make the party too big!”
“Hold strong, Princess. Your rescue party will come. Good luck!” With that, he’s gone. I look over at Chet, whose whole body is tense with anxiety.
“Done,” I declare. He nods, relieved.
“Good. We need to get back- now!” He grabs my hand and hauls me back over the line. We get there just in time- Patrick comes striding up just moments after. Chet quickly drops my hand before he gets too close. George winks at Chet, chuckling. I don’t think he quite understands what happened, but I need to catch my breath and act like I have no hope at all, not in the entire world. I am once again completely devoid of happiness- at least on the outside.
When Patrick returns, he’s flustered. When George asks why, Patrick replies that the Sohos have been waging an attack; as have the dragons and mermaids. He glares at me. “It seems our little Princess has encouraged them; gave them heart again. You undid a lot of my work, girl,” he growls as he once again grabs my arm and begins dragging me back toward the building. I stumble after him, unable to keep up with his quick pace. “It looks like I’ll have to start from scratch to remove their hope. I even have an idea of how to do just that…” He ends there, letting fear settle in my heart once again.
He takes me back to my room and locks the door behind me. I take off the cloth around my eyes and collapse onto the bed. I’m still shocked at how much weaker my body has gotten while I’ve been held captive. I just can’t get used to it. I’ll just have to build my strength back up again. And until Nathan arrives, I guess I’ll have to try and stay on Patrick’s good side. I won’t promise him anything, but maybe I can pretend to give a little and not resist so hard.
Pleased with my plan and full of hope once again, I feel better than I have in weeks. For the first time, I climb into bed and fall asleep with a smile rather than tears.
<<
After spending another great day with his friends, Nathan heads home with Crystal. As they walk, she seems to zone out, just as she has for the past month or so. Ever since we won, she’s been acting differently, he reflects. Yet… no one else seems to notice. …Maybe I’m just paranoid. I mean, who says you act the same after the Games as you did before? It’s not a drastic difference, so… maybe I’m just imagining things? He lets out his breath in a huff. I may be imagining that, but I am definitely not imagining this feeling I have that we shouldn’t leave. It’s real, I’m sure of it… I don’t know. Maybe I’m the one who changed. I mean, I never thought it was a bad idea to leave before.
He looks over and sees Crystal nodding slightly with a hand near her ear. This just reconfirms how she’s acted differently for the past while. What changed? She’d acted… a little colder to him at times, and then at others, she would suddenly be happy and talkative and stand a little too closely to him… all he knows is that this is not like the old Crystal.
Most of that was after the Winner’s Ceremony. Now she’s closer to normal, but for some reason, she tries to avoid talking to anyone whenever possible. She would normally seek others out to talk to them- especially him, Sierra, and Ham. She even declined his invitation to join them when they went to visit the other contestants in the hospital. It just wasn’t like her to not care about other people and how they’re doing.
Crystal notices Nathan watching her and smiles at him. He smiles back, although the pit in his stomach grows. That isn’t right. Crystal’s highly inquisitive, wanting to know everything that’s going on. If she saw him watching her, she would ask why, not smile!
Maybe she’s just excited to go home, he decides. Once again, he has a sick feeling about leaving. He tries to figure out what’s holding him back, but once they get to their little house and he climbs into bed, the only thing he can think of is that their Familiars are still mysteriously unconscious. But that was nothing new, and Thaddeus said they could send their Familiars through portals to them once they’re recovered anyway. Finally, he decides that he will go home. If he can’t decide what’s holding him back, then there probably isn’t anything. Besides, he hadn’t seen his family in months. He needs to go home.
He closes his eyes and sees a picture of his family in his head. He smiles, eager to go home, and quickly falls asleep. He instantly has a dream. He’s confused and startled, for it usually takes a while after he falls asleep before he dreams. Well, that and the fact that standing right in front of him is a dragon so large he feels like he’s standing at the base of a vast golden mountain.
He backs up, gasping. He’s almost blinded by the sunlight reflecting off of the beast’s brilliant scales. The dragon doesn’t waste any time. “Nathan Anderson, your friend is in danger.”
“W- what? What friend? I just barely saw them all- they’re fine!”
“The one sleeping in your house is not Crystal.” Boy, he sure gets right to the point!
“What do you mean? Of course it’s Crystal! Who else could it be?” Even as he says this, he feels like the dragon’s right. What he’s saying confirms what he’s been secretly thinking for the past month.<
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“The real Crystal was kidnapped the day you two won the Games.”
“Wait… what?!”
The dragon sighs impatiently. “I don’t have much time. Time moves faster in your dreams than it does in real life. Here, I will show you her memories since that night. …Are you ready?”
“I… I don’t know. I guess,” he replies. The instant he says this, a torrent of memories floods his mind. He’s Crystal as she responds to Dallas’s knock and follows him into the woods. He feels her fear and then her power as she retaliates against the Dragon Hunters. He’s her when she first meets Patrick, when she cries herself to sleep every night, and when she attacks him.
Nathan feels her suffocating hopelessness after every one of Patrick’s visits, he learns about the spells protecting their main building, about Crystal’s parents- or at least what Patrick shows her. Through her, he learns about the porcupine-tiger and how to subdue it. He feels how she feels when she meets Chet and how hopeful she is while talking to Gale.
And then, as suddenly as it started, the memories end. He staggers back, gasping.
“Do you see now?” Gale asks impatiently.
“Y… Yes. How long do you think she has? Even with the help of her memories, it will be difficult to get to her quickly. Who else does she want to help? I know she wants a small group so we can slip in and out, but who does she want?”
“I do not know how long she has, but I would hurry. Patrick is not a patient man. I have a feeling he will take his anger on us out on her, just because he can. She wants you, Lloyd, Sierra, Ham, and Thaddeus. Anyone else you deem necessary is welcome as well, as long as the group doesn’t get too large. You know the castle thanks to her, so you can judge how many would be sufficient. Chet and George will help out in any way they can- count them as allies. You must also plan on taking Chet out of there with you.”
“Of… of course,” Nathan replies, still reeling. “But… what should I do with the impostor? If we tell her we know what’s up, then she will immediately tell Patrick we’re coming. We need to be sneaky. Should we tie her up? Take her with us?”
“I… do not know what you humans would prefer to do, but since they are the enemy, we dragons would kill her, no questions asked.”
“Oh. Well, I don’t think so. I’ll come up with something. Maybe Thaddeus can help.”
“Yes, very good, but the sun is coming up. I cannot stay with you much longer. Good luck. Remember- do not fall for the spells’ tricks. It will waste time and will likely get you discovered. Farewell, Nathan Anderson. Crystal is counting on you to save her… you are her only hope…” His voice fades even as his body does and next thing Nathan knows, he’s sitting upright in bed, covered in sweat and panting.
‘Crystal’ sits up in the other bed. “Are you okay?” she asks.
He nods. “I’m just… going to see Thaddeus. I… might need some… medicine. Don’t worry, you can go back to sleep. I’m sure it’s nothing.” The impostor nods and lies back down. Nathan quickly gets dressed and heads to Thaddeus’s place, noticing that the sky is beginning to lighten, although the sun isn’t up yet. Luckily, he’s there, already awake.
When he knocks on the door, Thaddeus opens it, glances at him, then double-takes and peers at him as if just seeing him. “Wh-what? Nathan? What are you doing here?”
“I… need to talk to you about something. …In private.”
“Oh… okay,” he says, letting him in and closing the door. He quickly mutters a spell to make it so no one will be able to eavesdrop on them, then sits down at the table. He gestures for Nathan to sit across from him.
Once he’s seated, Thaddeus asks him to reveal everything that’s on his mind. He quickly tells him about his dream and how he felt about ‘Crystal’ even before he knew the truth. “The thing is,” he finishes, “I have no idea how I felt not to go home. I mean, I’m not a descendant of the Dragons- am I? Could I have dragon powers as well?”
“Perhaps,” he muses, his hands folded in front of him. “I do not know, but there is a chance you two are very distantly related. One of Alex’s children left Zilferia and went to another realm, likely Quagon. You are likely not closely related- if you are at all. But that isn’t important right now. Rescuing Crystal is, and our most pressing matter is disposing of her impostor.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know what to do with her. Gale suggested killing her outright, but… well, I thought I would ask you first.” He says, the idea of killing someone making him queasy. He was fortunate to not have to in the Games, and he certainly doesn’t want to now unless it was absolutely necessary.
Thaddeus looks thoughtful. “I don’t know. I see a few options, but I know there must be a better option that I do not yet see. …I shall ponder on it. For now, don’t let this impostor know anything. Pretend that you are still ignorant. Make sure you continue to address her as Crystal. Try to act normal. …I will take care of the rest.”
<<
When Patrick comes the next day, I ask him if I can see Vlad- the real one. I tell him I won’t believe anything he says until I have proof of Vlad being here. He smirks and seems to find this as a great opportunity to brainwash me- just as I was hoping. He grabs my arm in the same place as before, his fingertips lining up almost perfectly with the purple bruises I received from being dragged behind him the day before. Chet and George follow behind us again. We follow the hallway, then head down some stairs.
It becomes dark and damp the further down we go. I shiver, glad Patrick didn’t decide to keep me down here as well. It’s super creepy and the walls seem to radiate an even stronger feeling of hopelessness than those of my room. I feel worse and worse for Vlad as we plunge deeper. After a while, there are no more torches on the walls, so Patrick lets go of my arm and grabs the last torch. I wonder how I’m going to get Patrick to leave me alone with Vlad for a while and see if he can help with the escape. I’m sure he’s going to want to leave this place as well.
Patrick stops in front of one of the cells and unlocks the door. He turns to me, the torchlight making his sneer more gruesome than ever. “Here you are. This is the real Vlad. You two will have plenty of time to talk since I’m not coming back until tomorrow. Have fun!” he says, pushing me into the cell. I stumble and fall to my knees on the worn stone as he locks the door behind me and walks away, laughing, leaving us in the near darkness.
There’s only one torch inside the hallway of cells, so the lighting is horrible. I cautiously call out, “…Vlad?”
A hoarse voice toward the back of the cell replies. “What? Who’s there? …I recognize that voice…”
“It’s Crystal,” I reply, relieved.
“What? Patrick got you, too? I’m so sorry, poor girl!” he says. I’m startled at the difference between this Vlad and the other one. I mean, I knew there was a difference, but not this severe!
“Yeah, but it’s okay.”
“Wha… no, that’s not okay! You need to finish the Games so you can go home! But before that, you need to meet your parents so they will begin to heal from the terrible wounds Patrick dealt them. They need you. …Are they out of their comas yet? Do they realize that you’re here?”
I smile to myself in the darkness. I hadn’t realized how little Vlad knows. I forgot that he had been taken the night I arrived and has no idea of what happened since. So I tell him everything that happened. I spare him most of the details so the telling would go faster. I finish a few hours later. My eyes have adjusted somewhat, so I can see how big his eyes are.
“Wow. That’s… that’s amazing! You are the most extraordinary person I have ever met. I am deeply sorry for how much my impostor hurt you.” Again, I’m surprised. He’s apologizing for something that’s not even his fault!
“It’s alright. I’m sorry you’ve been down here for so long, and none of us had any idea. But don’t worry, I have a plan to get us out of here. Of course, it all depends on Nathan and Gale, but still…” I tell him my plan. He’s impres
sed.
“Well then. You are quite full of surprises! Well, let’s just hope this works. But for now, you need to sleep, Princess. You won’t be able to help with your own rescue if you are too tired to move.” I nod. Vlad offers me his bed, claiming that he won’t be able to sleep tonight anyway. I’m surprised at how tired I am after doing nothing but talk all day. I fall asleep quickly.
Chapter Seventeen
The Gift Stealer
I sit up suddenly, startled. “W… where am I...?” I gasp before I remember. I am sitting in a dungeon with the real Vlad… and it’s pitch black. My eyes flicker back and forth, straining to see even a hint of light. I start panicking. I have always been afraid of the dark, especially when the darkness is so thick and stifling. My breaths start coming in rapid, small little wheezes. I hear Vlad in the dark, trying to comfort me.
“Crystal? What’s… oh. It’s okay. Nothing is in here but you and I. No one can hurt you. There’s nothing here…” As he tries to reassure me, I hear his footsteps shuffling over to me and I feel his hands hold one of mine between them. The warmth and gentle pressure helps a little as I struggle to keep myself from hyperventilating. He continues to talk to me, to try and comfort me, but I can’t understand what he’s saying through my hysteria.
I burst into tears. My heart is racing, sending waves of heat through my body. I start sweating, despite the chilly air around me. My head starts to feel like and I know I need to get more oxygen in with each breath, but that’s easier said than done. I fight to slow my heart, but there’s no stopping it from racing away. I close my eyes and feel the same panic. It doesn’t help; I know that it’s dark around me. I soon pass out from the irrational terror.
This time when I wake, I open my eyes and it’s dark, but I soon see a light coming toward me. The flickering light reveals Patrick’s face. I’ve never felt so relieved to see the monster. I turn and see Vlad. His eyes are bloodshot, but he smiles at me. “Good luck. I’ll be waiting,” he says, reminding me of my plan. I nod and follow Patrick out of the cell as he grabs my arm yet again.