by Katie Cherry
Turning to Jared and the Soho boy, I tell them they can go. After the door swings shut behind them, I walk back to Nathan and sit beside him on the bed. There’s barely enough room for both of us. I put my arms around him as he cries, clutching Greg to his chest.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, but my muscles are stiff by the time his tears abate. Sniffling, he murmurs, “I just can’t believe he’s really gone…”
“I know,” I quietly sympathize, cursing the empty words. “…I know.”
<<
Patrick glowers across the table laden with food at Hunter as he discusses something with Dexter. The disbelief and shock he had felt when Dexter had swapped the offices of himself and the boy had long since boiled itself into resentment and loathing. He had raised the boy- taught him everything he knew! Dexter had no right to lift the untried boy higher than himself- and especially not to demote him with no reason besides to praise a boy who just happened to have an extraordinarily large amount of luck!
Dexter laughs at something Hunter says, causing Patrick’s hand to promptly tighten around a berry he’d been holding. Purple juice drips between his clenched fingers, landing on his steak. Dexter glances up and notices this. “Why, that’s a splendid idea, adding more flavor with the Dournberries!” he says, piling more onto his plate, moving them onto his steak before smashing them with his fork. “There are, however, cleaner ways to do so,” he adds in a condescending tone, which Hunter chuckles at. Their attitudes towards him so remind Patrick of his lonely school days that for a moment it seemed like he was back there all over again.
The laughter of the other boys echoes mockingly throughout the courtyard behind the school, causing the small, dirty boy who was the target of their scorn to cringe. “Stop it,” he quietly protests. The others ignore him.
“He can’t even fly!” They chortle amongst themselves. “How can he not have any Gifts?”
Tears form in the young boy’s eyes and one of the boys finally notices. “Aww, look, the little baby’s going to cry!” he calls, bringing the attention of the others to the small, distraught face. “Hey, I know! How would you like to learn how to fly, Patrick?”
Young Patrick peers up at him with glittering eyes and wet cheeks, sniffling. “You would do that for me?” The hope he shows on his face causes a pang of regret in the boy for what he’s about to do. But when the other boys flash him knowing smiles, he decides he must continue or risk being persecuted as well.
“Absolutely!” he confirms, helping the younger boy up from the ground. “I want to help you. It must be awful to not have a single Gift.”
Patrick follows trustingly as the boy leads the way up a nearby tree. “Now what?” he asks, clinging nervously to the trunk.
“Now you need to give me your belt.”
“My belt?” Patrick repeats incredulously. “Why?”
“You’ll see,” the boy promises. After a pause, Patrick removes his belt and hands it to him. “Now crawl out on the branch,” he orders. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”
As he slowly crawls down the branch, the wood bends and sways in the wind, causing Patrick to stiffen in panic. “You… you’re not going to push me off, are you?”
“No. I’ll make sure you don’t fall,” the boy assures him. “…Okay, stop there. Now lie flat on your stomach and hold still.” As Patrick consents to the orders and does so, the other boy cinches the belt around his chest and arms, pinning him to the branch. Then he shimmies back up the branch towards the safety of the trunk.
“Wait!” Patrick calls frantically. “Where are you going? What do I do now?”
“Now you bob there in the wind like the loser you are,” he says, loud enough that the boys waiting at the base of the tree could hear.
A group of three girls passes below, pausing to witness the spectacle. One of them laughs. “Patrick, you silly boy! Don’t you know there are better ways to fly?”
Patrick blinks, disoriented, as he returns to the present, drawn back by a familiar voice. “…Patrick never let me do anything like that! That sounds amazing!”
Dexter chuckles. “I doubt he’s ever even done it himself.”
“Done what?” Patrick asks, confused.
“Oh, nothing,” Dexter sighs impatiently, dismissing his question with a flick of his hand. Patrick just grunts in reply to the action, feeling too down to argue or fight back, bogged as he is with his unhappy memory.
After dinner, Dexter addresses both of them as they walk towards their quarters in the castle. “Well, it seems that things are in order here,” he begins. “So I’ll be on my way.”
“What? You’re leaving Hunter in charge of everyone without any training?” Patrick rages.
Dexter lightly raises one of his dark grey eyebrows. “I’m sorry, I thought you already trained your next in line so he could take over when you were unfit to lead. Or did you not have the foresight to do so?” he insinuates with a barbed look.
“Well… of course I did, but-”
“Great! I’m sure he’ll be fine, then,” Dexter declares, clapping his hands together with finality. “Hunter, you know how to contact me should you need anything, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” he replies with a sharp salute.
Dexter laughs and pats him on the head affectionately. “That’s a good boy. Try and keep Patrick out of trouble!”
“Of course, sir,” Hunter replies, trying hard to swallow his grin. With one last smile at the new leader, Dexter turns and waves his hand through the air, opening a portal without even voicing a spell. Without a backward glance, he then steps forward and disappears.
<<
“Crystal?” Kate steps cautiously into the room. Nathan and I look up at her approach, but neither of us says anything. “The Sohos and the Villagers are about to have a meeting… we figure you should be there,” she informs me.
I hesitate, but Nathan squeezes my hand reassuringly. “I’ll be fine,” he murmurs. “Go. They need you.”
“…Alright,” I sigh, instinctively giving him a light kiss on the forehead before standing and walking towards the door. “I’ll be back soon, though. I promise.” He gives me a tight smile and nods. As much as I don’t want to leave him in his grief, I know that I should also start stepping up and accepting my leadership role in Zilferia, and going to meetings is just one of the things that I’ll need to start doing.
Kate leads me back to the Dragon castle, where we find the Village Council and a few of the Sohos gathered around a large table. Susan and Reed are there as well, and they stand to either side of the only empty chair once Kate sits next to Zeke. Sighing, I squeeze past Reed into the seat.
“Alright, it looks like everyone’s here,” Vlad says. “Since Thaddeus is unable to come at this time, I’ll be leading this meeting in his stead. Let’s move to the first item of business. Zeke, we have decided that your people can stay in the houses that we had set aside for the contestants of the Games. There should be enough room for you there. You and Kate are invited to stay here, in the Dragons’ home.”
“We would be honored,” Zeke accepts, lowering his head into a slight bow.
Vlad returns the gesture. “Wonderful. Next; Crystal Dragon.”
I glance up from the table, which I realize I had been glaring at. “What?”
He smiles kindly at me before continuing. “Since the Princess can and obviously will do as she pleases, I suggest that we don’t try and control her so much. Although we may not wish it, we need her in this war. …All in favor?”
“Agreed,” comes the response after some hesitation. I glance over at dad, who hadn’t said anything, although mom had consented to it. Alexander’s face droops with sorrow as he holds me in his gaze. “…Agreed,” he finally acquiesces, moving his stare to his hands.
“Wonderful. On that note, Crystal, is there anything you’d like to say?” Vlad invites.
I start at the unexpected invitation to speak. “Um… sure,
I guess.” I clear my throat, buying a little time to get my thoughts together. “…Life as we’ve all known it is over. There is no going back. Not until the Dragon Hunters are stopped- for good. They’ve had the advantage so far in this war, but that does not mean that we can’t turn the tables on them.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the diagram of the Dragon Slayer machines that I had been studying. I continue as I unfold the paper and show it to everyone there. “This is a diagram of the machine they built to destroy the dragons. The dragons cannot destroy them due to their ability to resist fire and brute strength. However, as I have been studying this, I have found a way that we can break them down- from the inside.”
Lying the paper flat on the table, I trace with my finger as I explain. “The outside of the machine is the fireproof part, but the inside is completely vulnerable.” I point to the chair and the controls that rest inside of the machine. “They are controlled from the inside by a Dragon Hunter, but if we could sneak someone inside of one of the machines, replacing some of their men with ours, we could even use those machines to break down the others. That’s the good part about them being powerful enough to take down dragons- they should be able to take down the other machines as well,” I proudly announce.
No one responds, sitting there in astounded silence until Susan leans forward and looks at the picture as well. “It could work,” she murmurs. “There are also some weak links on the outside that although are too small for the dragons to utilize, we could get at with our swords and knives, which would weaken the machines- hopefully enough that the dragons could then crush them.”
I nod, verifying her words. “These machines are not invincible. We just need to rely on each other to crack them open- and then press on and use our combined strength to defeat the Dragon Hunters. It’s not as impossible as it seems,” I finally declare, leaning back into my seat proudly.
Zeke is the first to speak up. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I say we go with Crystal’s plan.”
“Agreed!” The others pipe in. Even dad accepts this, his smile beaming with pride. I smile back at him, happy that I finally did something right in his eyes.
“Wonderful,” Vlad grins. “Well, I do believe that’s all we had to discuss at this time. Therefore, this meeting is dismissed,” he finishes, standing. The others follow suit. After retrieving the paper with the Dragon Slayer designs on it, I race back towards the hospital before anyone can stop me.
“Nathan,” I gasp when I open the door to his room. “I’m back.”
He smiles at me, tears still fresh on his cheeks. “I’m glad. …It’s good to have someone here with me right now.”
I frown a little as I sit in front of him on the bed. “What do you mean? Hasn’t Angela been visiting you?”
He grimaces a little. “No, not for a while. She said she would check in on Chet, and she hasn’t come back yet.”
“Chet?”
“Yeah. I got him and Zelda and Y’vette out at the same time.”
I pause, torn between staying with Nathan and seeing if the real Chet is alright. I decide to stay for now. Nathan needs me more. “Why hasn’t she come back?”
He shrugs a little. “I guess she just doesn’t want to see me right now.”
“Because of Thaddeus?” I guess.
He gives me a slight nod, his head lowered so I can’t see his face. “But… that’s ridiculous! She’s not blaming you, is she?”
“I… well, I’m not really sure,” he admits, pain in his voice. I feel a pang in my heart at his tone. I’m going to kill that girl for hurting him.
“Well then that’s her loss,” I decide. “If she can’t trust you, then I guess that’s that. She’s obviously just too blind to see the real you.”
Nathan then lifts his head up and meets my gaze again. He smiles for the first time that I’ve seen in a very long time. “You have no idea how much I missed you.” He then leans forward and wraps his arms around me in an unexpected hug.
I hug him back just as fiercely. “I missed you too.”
“Let’s never go so long without seeing each other again, agreed?” he laughs, pulling back.
I smile at him. “Agreed.”
After that, we talk for hours and eat the dinner that the hospital provides for us. The longer we talk, the more he seems to heal- both mentally and emotionally. He doesn’t cry anymore, although sadness lingers in his voice and he avoids looking at Greg’s broken body. He says he wants to remember him how he was when he was alive. I understand that.
Talking about what happened on First Earth and at Patrick’s castle seems to help him put the events behind him as well, which I’m glad about. I do the same, and don’t shirk telling him how I felt about Chet, since I now know that it was just Hunter’s mind tricks anyway.
We both seem to heal as we catch up, although our talk goes late into the night. We both fade off to sleep at about the same time. I didn’t mind the hardness of the chair, much preferring to stay by Nathan’s side and be there for him in case he needed me.
Honestly, I slept better that night than I had in months.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Drop Everything and Go
Nathan stirs as he feels the warmth of sunlight on his face. Opening his eyes, the first thing he sees is Crystal, sitting in the chair with her face on his bed. She’s still fast asleep. A small smile tugs at his lips as he watches her sleep. It had been a long time since he had been able to do so, and he’s surprised to find how much he missed simply seeing her at peace.
“Nathan?” A soft voice at the door causes him to turn faster than he meant to.
“Angela?”
She gives him a small smile as she steps into the room. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
“I’m… I’m fine,” he replies, watching as she comes to stand by the side of his bed. “What are you doing here? I thought…”
She shakes her head before he can continue. “I know. But I didn’t mean it. I know that my reaction yesterday was a little out of hand… you would never voluntarily do that to Thaddeus. I’m sorry.”
He smiles up at her, glad he had her back. “It’s alright. How is Chet doing?”
She shrugs a little and sits down by his legs on the bed. “He’s doing a little better. I convinced the doctors to give him some of that quick-healing stuff, so he should be good as new in a few days.”
“That’s good.” As he says this, Crystal stirs.
“Angela?” she murmurs, blinking open her eyes. She covers her mouth as she yawns, sitting up. “How is Chet doing?”
“He’s doing fine, Crystal,” she responds with a smile. “He says he’d like to see you, though.”
“Me? Why does he want to see me?” she asks. Nathan’s gut tightens a little as he notices a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. Does she… like him? From what she told him, her feelings for Hunter/Chet were because of Hunter’s Gifts manipulating her… but did it possibly run deeper than that?
Angela shrugs. “I’m not sure, but I told him I’d send you in.”
“Oh… okay,” Crystal accepts, standing and running her hands through her hair to straighten it. “I’ll be back soon, Nathan,” she assures him. He just smiles at her and nods, watching her leave with a frown. Every time he had to say goodbye to her it got harder and harder to do.
Looking into Angela’s pretty eyes, though, he scolds himself. He had a gorgeous girl with him right now. He had no reason to feel so sad about Crystal stepping out for a few minutes.
<<
I stop outside of Chet’s room, calming my pounding heart. I had nothing to be nervous about. This was the real Chet I was going to talk with… there was absolutely nothing to worry about. “Chet?” I crack open the door and look inside.
“Crystal!” He quickly sits up on his bed and waves me inside. “Please, come in.”
“Alright,” I accept, walking cautiously into the room. I sit in the chair beside the bed and keep my head lowered shyly. I’m no
t sure how to act around him anymore. I can’t stop thinking about what I had felt for him when I thought Hunter was Chet.
When he doesn’t say anything, I look up to find him watching me with his pretty green eyes. He gives me a small smile. “How are you doing?” he finally asks.
“Me?” The question surprises me. “I’m more worried about you,” I chuckle.
He shakes his head. “That’s not what I mean. I know you’re fine physically. But I also know that you’ve been through a lot, and you may not have many people to talk to about it. I just want to make sure you’re alright on the inside.”
I stare at him in surprise. Not many people really cared about how I felt about what was going on. …No one besides Nathan, actually. Warmth blossoms inside of me and tears rush to my eyes. “You… you actually care about how I feel?”
“Of course.” He takes one of my hands in his and looks me in the eye. “Crystal, if anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you. It’s not fair that you have to go through as much as you do- especially with little or no credit or relief. …Just know that I’m here to talk to, alright? About anything.”
When he says that, the tears fall from my eyes. Laughing a little at myself, I self-consciously wipe them away and smile at him. “Thank you.”
The next person I go to visit is Thaddeus. I haven’t seen him since he fell down the stairs, and I want to make sure he’s really doing alright. To my surprise, he already has visitors when I get there. “Angela? Nathan? What are you doing here?”
Angela starts to explain, but Nathan cuts her off. “I needed to apologize to Thaddeus in person.”
“But… you should probably still be in bed!” I reply. “Plus, what if Hunter’s mind control hasn’t worn off? What if you still try and kill him again?”
“That’s why I’m here,” Angela responds. “Besides, Nathan is feeling much better already.”