“Oh, I hear the dinner bells chiming,” he mused, changing the subject like nothing had happened. He placed his hand to his ear, leaning in to hear more. “Be at my side in ten minutes. One of the Mages has insight about the prophecy and we will be discussing it over dinner. I hear the cook has made my favorite again, heart of cow and yams. Oh and wear my favorite gown. The red one—you always look stunning in it.”
She winced as he smiled with delight. As soon as he left the room she slammed her brush down on the vanity and stormed towards the window, affectionately holding her lower stomach. Letting all reservations go, I followed her and was taken aback by the view. The room was located a few levels above the main hall overlooking the beach.
She walked to the ledge and looked down. Waves crashing over the jagged rocks matched the rolling skies and promised a quick death should someone fall.
Oddly enough there was no railing to keep someone from tumbling into an untimely death. My heart dropped. She had moved to the very edge, balancing on the heels of her feet.
This was not what I needed to see right now. I didn’t want to watch her die. A tear fell from her eyes, and she tilted her head down as if watching it fall into nothingness. Then her head went back and her arms went straight out to her sides. She looked like she was ready to dive.
“NO!” I screamed and ran towards her. Blue energy shot through my hands. As I grabbed her waist I expected my hands to move completely through her like they had before, but the energy that was flowing through them latched onto her. For a moment, our minds connected and I felt something more powerful than me, more powerful than anything, speak through me to her. “There is another way; this doesn’t have to be the answer.” And then the moment was gone.
She was limp, and it took everything in me not to fall with her as I tightened every muscle in my body and jerked backwards. I couldn’t let her do this, my future depended on it. At least that was the thought that echoed in my mind the moment she went to jump.
A split second later I fell back onto my butt with her in my hands. She was unconscious, maybe from the scare of choosing to die or maybe from the mind meld that had occurred between us.
I looked down to my hands, still blue and humming. There was an incandescent yearning to use it some more, to practice. It was natural, what I was meant to do.
Now what? I thought to myself. I sure as hell didn’t want Zordon to come back and find me here. I wasn’t sure if they could see me or not now that I had physically touched her. I looked at my hands again, amazed at what I had done. Was that magic? It felt good, whatever it was. It felt right.
Gwenevere stirred and then sat up, scooting quickly away from me.
“Who are you?” she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
What did I say to that? Umm, I’m a person from another realm? “I’m the one who just saved your life.”
I stood up, looking to the sky. A little help, Aurora? Now would be the time to wake up.
“Why?” she asked accusingly, staring vacantly out into the ocean. I tilted my head in puzzlement. “I hate this place, I hate my husband, and most of all I hate how he has tainted my sons.” She pulled her knees up to her chin and looked up at me with golden eyes of a doe. I swear I had seen her before, before all of this began.
“Do I know you?” I asked guardedly.
“I don’t think so. How did you manage to get by the guards?” She seemed so young, like my age young, but Zordon had said they had been married for over thirty years. She couldn’t be my age.
I shook off the unimportant question. “It’s a long story. Look, you really shouldn’t take your own life over this guy. Why don’t you just leave here?” I didn’t know how long this dream was going to last, and I didn’t want to leave not knowing if she was going to live or not.
“It’s not that easy to leave him. He is more powerful than anyone I know, well, besides the Dragon King, I guess.” She moved to stand up, a faint light replacing the despair in her eyes. But then it disappeared, as if she had ruled out hope. “He’s after revenge and he won’t stop until he has it. I’m stuck here. I can’t go on like this anymore. I’m not living and haven’t been for a long while now.” She turned back to the oceanic grave. “I won’t let him ruin another one of our children.”
Then her image began to fade. “Wait,” I said, hoping that I could hang on for a moment more, but she disappeared.
I felt myself returning to my realm, but grabbed onto the memory of Zordon. I had to know Gwenevere would be okay. I had to stay a while longer. “Apparatio,” I commanded, allowing the energy to encompass my body.
After standing in nothing but swirling darkness for a moment, I was once again in the main hall of the Lyceum. This time it was different. Everything seemed chaotic. The suspended objects pulsed wildly in their places.
Zordon paced in rage. He yelled for someone named Gabe and began moving objects angrily with a swish of his hand. He picked them off the shelf and slammed them into the fireplace where they burst into flames. His eyes were even darker than before. I ducked out of habit to avoid the flying objects.
I tried to seem inconspicuous as I quickly receded to a shadowed corner. The few Mages that remained to witness Zordon’s rage were too busy ducking to notice me.
“FIND MY WIFE!” he screamed, the Lyceum air turning a dull gray. A well-seasoned storm churned outside the archways. His robe billowed behind him as he stalked through the room, shoving monk-like men out of his path. Trails of paper flew everywhere from the scattered wind.
A biting breeze, hissing like a rattler’s tail, entered through the open windows.
Wait, did he say find her? Find the sweet Gwenevere? Oh no, what did she do?
“My Liege,” said Gabe, taking his plated helmet off and bowing to Zordon. That face, I knew that man’s face. All I could think of when I saw his face was a gentle smile on a full-mooned night. My head began to throb.
“What?” asked Zordon, ruining the slow appearance of a memory. “If it’s not the answer I’m looking for then you better leave me at once.” He was scowling at Gabe. Gabe’s weight shifted.
“We think we may know what has happened. I’m very sorry. Your wife is dead.” His voice broke off in sorrow on that last word, carrying the realization on the hissing wind. He backed up a step, perhaps in fear of Zordon’s outrage, but Zordon stood silent for what seemed like an eternity. The skies rolled furiously.
Sorrow replaced my anger. I let this happen. I didn’t try hard enough to save her.
Lightning struck just outside the Lyceum, splitting a tree in half. The sound of the cracking wood and the smell of the burnt sap infested the hall, singeing my nose.
After a long enduring moment Zordon spoke. “What do you mean she’s dead?” he dissented on a growl. He grew an inch, looming over the armored man. “She cannot be dead. Do you know why she can’t be dead?” Spit flew from his mouth as Gabe squinted from the vile debris. Everyone else had left the hall.
“No, my Liege, I don’t,” he answered squarely. He kept his eyes leveled with Zordon’s. The hissing of the wind hollowed out. Claps of thunder ripped at the quiet while the lightning flashed savagely, illuminating Zordon’s sunken, shadowy face. Then his teeth gleamed in a twisted smile.
“She can’t be dead because I trusted her with your men, Gabe. You wouldn't train your men to fail me, now would you?” His words were laced with anger, heavily pronounced, emphasizing his disapproval.
“My Liege,” Gabe implored, wincing as another lightning bolt hit outside the opened hall. “I am sorry to have failed you. We aren’t sure what happened. We think something may have been slipped into the guards’ drinks because all three of them fell asleep. I unfortunately wasn’t with them on this trip…”
He was cut off by Zordon shouting, “Why weren’t you with her? It was your task to escort her!”
Gabe shifted again and moved his helmet to the other hand. “Sir, I was also on task to check in on Myrdinn and ensure he was work
ing on deciphering the prophecy. I was only gone for a few hours. When I returned, I found the guards unconscious and the Lady Gwenevere gone.” Zordon didn’t respond, but he continued to glare daggers at Gabe.
“We’ve ridden all day, trying to find her. We had a Seer scan the area to see if they could pick up where her trace is, but there is nothing. There is no trace of where she may have gone or of her life force. She just disappeared. I will report this to the Counsel. I’m truly sorry to have failed her, my Liege.” He bowed his head.
A deep-bellied laugh grew from the pit of Zordon’s dark soul, spilling over into madness. The tumbling sky went charcoal. “You should be sorry to have failed me,” he pointed his finger at Gabe’s chest, “not to have failed her. You are my commanding officer and you have lost my most prized possession.”
Gabe winced at that remark.
All of a sudden Zordon’s tone changed and the skies returned to a normal sunny day. With resolve he added, “You will find her, Gabe, and she won’t be dead when you find her. Understand? You will spend every waking moment personally looking for her, and you are not to return here until you have found her. If I see your face before then, I will kill you. It will not be a pleasant death either. You will beg for me to finish with you.” He turned his back to Gabe and stared out of the windows into the skies. “No one takes what is mine.”
Then all of a sudden, I felt myself being pulled, forced back out of the realm.
I was back on the bench. My cell was flashing through the thin material of my purse, and the bus driver was getting ready to shut the creaking doors.
“Wait!” I called out, shoving the book into my purse and bolting to the door, almost slipping on the graveled sidewalk. Of course he was still closing it when my fist landed on the outside of it. He smiled an evil smile, and I imagined lighting his head on fire. If only.
He slowly opened it back up, still grinning from ear to ear. “Thank you,” I said snidely, giving him a sarcastic grin. Why can’t he find a different passenger to torture? He sneered and I shot him a nasty glance as I made my way to the back of the bus.
My heart skipped a beat as I locked eyes with Mr. Creepy. He was staring at me, as expected, so I boldly sat on the opposite side of him, knowing this was my one chance to ask about what the prophecy means. “Of dragon born a conqueror prevails,” echoed in my head.
The barren bus took off slowly, engine sputtering. I glanced over at Mr. Creepy, who was still staring at me, and then looked up to the rusty bolted roof. It’s now or never, I told myself as I turned to face him.
“I’m ready to learn,” I said, hoping that he would have a little sympathy and shed some light on my situation.
“Where’s your protector? He should never leave you unattended,” he chastised, ignoring my question.
“I don’t need a babysitter, you know. I am the chosen one.” I felt my face flush from his disapproval of leaving Fenn. “And it’s not like I need a guy anyway. Besides, he wouldn’t have let me go. I was in a hurry and left him. Believe me, I’m sure he’s freaking out right now,” I rambled on. “The important thing is that I’m here now, and you’re here, and I want to know about the prophecy. I want to know about me.”
“I told you I was done,” he dismissed, now facing forward.
“Please,” I begged, “I need to know.”
“Do you even know who you are? Have you at least figured that much out?” he asked, annoyed.
“I’m a dragon,” I replied, the words feeling foreign on my tongue.
“I see you’ve met Eve then.”
I paused a moment, taken aback that he would know that, and then asked, “Are you following me?”
He smiled, ignoring my question with one of his own, “And you saw the prophecy given?”
I nodded.
“Then that is all you need to know,” he said with a sharp nod of his head as if ending his side of the conversation.
“What do you mean? Before you said that you would help me, that I needed to know things, and that you were going to show me. I have until the full moon to find these keys, which obviously doesn’t give me much time.” I leaned over and pointed to the almost full moon hiding inside a cloudy sky.
“I told you, girl, you’re on your own,” he recalled, eyes pointed in irritation.
Anger rolled through me. “Oh, I don’t think so,” I replied, feeling my energy awaken inside of me. Searing heat began as a ball in my chest, suddenly rushing through and bursting out the tips of my fingers.
My unstable tone made Mr. Creepy look up in acknowledgement and twitch as if he was startled. “Careful, young dragon, you’re revealing yourself,” he commented, pointing in my general direction.
“Yeah. I keep hearing that yet somehow I don’t care.” I glanced to where he pointed and saw in my reflection wisps of smoke trailing out from my flared nostrils. But it didn’t seem to matter anymore.
“See, what you don’t understand…is that you don’t get to pick what you do or do not help me with. I need to read this map, and you can help me understand it, yet now you won’t? Now that I’ve asked for your help? Don’t you see the contradiction in that?” A growl slipped past my lips and I stood up. “I need to find the keys,” I finished. “People’s lives depend on it.” I thought of Gwenevere.
He stood to face me and said, “You have no idea, do you? You still haven’t realized the importance of you being in this realm. You’re so eager to jump into something you’ve barely begun to understand. Things don’t just get handed to you. You have to fight. Prove that you are worthy and then maybe the answers will be found. The Fates help all those who look to your return as their saving grace.” Sarcasm laced his judgmental words.
I felt everything begin to vibrate from the angry energy I was unleashing. A small part of me knew that this had been a long time coming. All of my past frustrations were surfacing. I saw red.
“Sit down back there,” the bus driver yelled, bracing the wheel as the bus shuddered from the stress of the energy streaming through my hands.
The few passengers on the bus hung on for dear life as the bus shook, the anger continually building within me. Eyes watched as Mr. Creepy and I stared each other down.
He smirked as if this were simply a mere annoyance to him. The bus driver shouted once again for us to find our seats.
“Yes, young one, do sit down. And how do you young people say it…chill? Yes, I believe that’s right.” He turned away to regain his seat as the bus tires found a pothole, jarring the passengers around. At that moment in time, the worry and concern that was strewn across their faces didn’t matter. I was too focused on the smug twinkle in Mr. Creepy’s eyes.
“I will ask you one more time. Are you going to help me?”
“Miss,” the bus driver called out again, this time sounding more like a plea than an order.
I continued to ignore him, waiting for an answer from Mr. Creepy. Time dragged on as he ignored me. He had to have felt my anger rising as the energy began to gather in the palms of my hands.
The bus was now vibrating so hard you could hear the bolts in the roof jingling out of socket.
“That’s it! I’m pulling this bus over and you are getting off!” shouted the bus driver.
“You shut up!” I shouted, pointing towards him. The balls of blue energy that had been forming flew towards his head. But another jarring pothole caused the stream to miss him and hit the dashboard instead, flames roaring to life on contact.
Uh-oh, I thought as I glanced back at Mr. Creepy, wide-eyed and looking for help. He just continued smiling.
“No brakes, NO BRAKES!” the bus driver shouted as he tried pumping them repeatedly. Headlights lit up the inside of the bus as we headed straight towards a semi with no power to stop. He swerved. But it was too late. Everything went flying from the impact, including me, as we spun out of control. The windows on the opposite side of me shattered and showered the passengers with broken glass.
I was thrown ahead int
o a seat and my head smacked the window. Then I flew up and into the next seat only to be shoved onto the ground and somehow rolled into the aisle. That’s when I felt a snap in my arm.
A scream ripped out of me as the fiery burn raced throughout my body.
My arm had caught on the seat and bent the absolute wrong way. When the bus finally stopped, I opened my eyes and gently pulled myself out of the awkward position. My purse was behind me and so was Mr. Creepy. He seemed to be knocked out. I poked his forehead and watched as his head lolled back and forth for a moment. Yep, he was out.
My arm was definitely broken. The bone was protruding underneath my skin. A wave of nausea rolled through me. I bit the inside of my cheek and promised myself not to look at it again. With my good arm I grabbed my purse while registering moans from the other passengers.
What have I done? I slid the purse over my neck and noticed a glittering object next to Mr. Creepy.
It was that necklace. My necklace, I thought strangely. Instinctively, I snatched it up. This is mine and he shouldn’t have it.
“Miss,” a man called from behind me. I shook my head out of the trance and quickly pulled the large necklace carefully around my neck as I turned to face the voice. “Miss, I work up at the hospital. Let me help you up.”
He was nice and I was suddenly very tired. As soon as my feet touched the floor everything began to spin. My horse knick throbbed from the collision with the window.
“I don’t, I…don’t…feel…” The floor rushed up to meet me.
Chapter 15
History, Fun…
“RORY, WAKE UP,” FENN WHISPERED while rubbing the side of my head. I pried my eyes open and there was his beautiful face, fatigue written all over it. “I called Mily. She was about to wake up the triplets to come, but I told her you were okay, just some bruising. She said to tell you she loves you and is here in thought. Oh and she let me borrow her car. I had one of the guys from the restaurant drop me off at her place. She said we could use it tomorrow to get around until they get the bus thing figured out.” I smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.
Born In Flames Page 11