by Caleb Karger
Once the ice settled, Katherine got up and inched her way towards the chasm that had formed. She couldn’t see the bottom. A cold draft of air—colder than the wind above ground— was coming out of the rift. She thought that was strange.
“Get the rope!” someone said.
The woman she’d rescued ran to the others. Katherine watched them drive stakes into the ground and pull on climbing gear. Her stomach twisted into knots.
“You’re going in there?”
“It’s what we came for,” a man said. She’d be biting her lip if it weren’t for her mask. Something wasn’t right. We shouldn’t go down there; we shouldn’t have come at all. She glanced at Argo and Juniper; they were chatting as they kept watch.
“One of us should go down there with you,” Katherine said.
“Don’t be silly, there’s nothing dangerous down there,” the man said. “We need you up here.”
“It’s fine, we got it covered,” Argo said.
Without further argument, the man handed Katherine a rope. She tied it around her waist and came towards the edge of the rift. The other researchers were already down there. She could see the beams of their flashlights disappearing into the darkness.
She took the light she kept in her belt out and began to lower herself into the ice. Being underground didn’t bother her, she didn’t have to fear a cave-in or earthquakes squashing her. It was a whole different story now. Any moment, the ice shelves could press back together, and she’d be helpless to stop it.
The air had to be ten degrees colder in the rift, and the temperature kept dropping the further down she went. She lost sensation in her fingers and toes. She moved her flashlight over the ice. She could see some fish frozen in there.
After an hour, she finally reached the bottom. She saw sand frozen underneath her feet. All around her was a seaweed forest. The prehistoric ocean was perfectly preserved down there. She found the others all huddled up against the wall of the chasm like kids trying to see something in a museum.
“That’s gotta be it!”
“Well, what’re we waiting for?!”
They took out their picks and began hacking at the ice. Katherine had to get onto her toes to try to glimpse what they were going after. Whatever it was, was frozen a good ten feet from them. It looked like the size of a whale.
Katherine paced back and forth as they carved out a make-shift cave around the creature. Then, at last, they began taking away the layers of ice wrapped around it. She moved closer to see what it was. One guy hit a sweet spot, and a giant chunk fell off of the front of the creature.
“Oh, my God…” Katherine stopped breathing.
From the shape of the head, there was no doubt about what it was. A dragon. The teeth were the size of a man’s leg, the talons looked like they were made out of pearls, and the scales were a shimmering blue-white color. It had no wings, and its body was half lizard-like and half snake-like. The dragon had to be bigger than a cargo ship.
“No one has seen one in how long now?” someone whispered.
“This is amazing!”
The researchers began cheering and hugging one another. Then there was a rumbling sound like a distant drum mixed with a horn. The group stopped moving. Shivers went down Katherine’s spine.
A breath escaped from the dragon. The eyes blinked. The nostrils glowed with heat. The ice chamber grew hot and started melting. The dragon broke free from the rest of the ice encasing it. Everyone watched in wonder as it shook itself off. The dragon took a step and wavered. Once it got used to moving again, the corners of its mouth twitched and pulled back into a snarl.
Katherine blinked and the next thing she knew, the dragon snatched a research assistant into its mouth. With a loud crunch, the mouth snapped shut. Blood sprayed in every direction. Warm drops of it sprinkled across her forehead like rain.
Chaos broke out. Everyone else scrambled to get back to the ropes and escape. Katherine jumped in front of the dragon, hoping to stop it from killing more people. The dragon swatted her aside, moving faster than even a ninja. Her skull threatened to crack open as she struck the ice wall and slid down to the floor. She lay twitching in pain as the dragon picked people up one by one and swallowed them.
Once everyone was either dead or had climbed back up to the surface, the dragon pushed its way out of the abyss. Now she was all alone in the dark. Her knees were shaking. The smell of blood burned in her nose and her eyes watered.
Screams from above ground echoed down to her. Slowly, she gathered herself. She had to get out of there. She had to help the others. She stumbled back to where she left her rope. Gripping it stung because her fingers were so cold. Somehow she managed to climb out.
A storm had rolled in. Snow fell in livid heaps. The wind tried to shove her back into the crevasse. What little daylight had shown before was now gone. She could barely see.
The researchers that had climbed out ahead of her hadn’t made it far at all. Pieces of bodies were strewn all over the place. In the distance, it sounded like huge metal cans getting crushed. Then it hit her. Those were the pods!
Sure enough, when she looked up, the dragon was stepping all over them, effortlessly flattening them under its weight. The dragon would lean over and pull someone out of the wreckage, fling them into the air, and swallow them. Not all of them were dressed in white; some of them were her teammates.
“No!” Katherine screamed. Pain struck her like a train. The impact should’ve left her lying useless on the ground, but somehow she remained standing. She struggled to run towards the wreckage. Her feet kept slipping in the snow.
Not again, she thought. Her eyes turned to the sky. Don’t do this to me again!
She didn’t know who’d gotten crushed in the pods, or eaten. As she got closer to the wreckage, she could see more of her teammates. They were scrambling to evade the dragon’s teeth, talons, and sword-like tail. She couldn’t help but notice they were missing three people, including their captain and commander.
Dakota turned into a black spiky sphere and rolled towards the dragon. Usually, she was a ball of rolling death, but the dragon squashed her like a bug without even flinching. Sasha’s hands shot out in front of him, and fog surrounded the dragon. Instead of becoming dazed, the dragon nearly split Sasha in two with its tail.
Argo stabbed at the air, a bolt of lightning shot away from the tip of his sword. It bounced harmlessly off of the dragon’s scales. The beast roared and swiped at Argo. Its talons raked across his chest.
“Argo!” Katherine yelled.
Before the dragon could eat him, Katherine unsheathed her sword and made a quick flick. The crushed pods flew through the air and hit the dragon’s head. Irritated, the dragon launched itself towards her. She raised her arms to summon a protective rock wall…nothing happened. She backed away, tripping over her feet in a panic. The stupid slippery snow made her fall over. She shut her eyes and prepared for death.
Suddenly, the dragon made a terrible cry. She opened her eyes to see Sirus on the dragon’s back. He’d gotten a chain around its neck. He yanked it backward with all his might. The dragon flailed like it was being choked and frantically scratched at its neck. A talon caught on the chain and ripped through it.
Sirus lost his balance and fell onto the ground in front of the dragon. He was on his feet in an instant. He pulled his sword free and batted the dragon’s tail away. No matter how hard the dragon tried to kill him, he was able to match the beast’s speed and strength.
Multiple howls tore through the air, but they didn’t come from the dragon. Katherine turned around. A horde of creatures was bounding over the snow. They were covered in grungy, white fur. They had long, spindly limbs and bulbous bodies. Instead of toes and fingers, they had razor sharp claws.
Katherine looked around. Only four of her teammates were still standing. The rest were dead or too wounded to fight. They were outnumbered.
“Forget this!” Stirling said. He started racing across the snow to the
aircraft that had brought them there.
“No! You won’t be able to…” She was about to chase him but stopped halfway. She could only watch as the snow monsters swarmed the aircraft. Stirling was fighting to get the door open when the creatures piled onto him. “…get in.”
“What’re we supposed to do?! I don’t want to die!” Jemma shouted. Katherine looked back at her teammates. They were letting their fear get the better of them.
“Look, we can’t run away, and we can’t hide. If you want to live, you’re going to have to fight for it!” Katherine said and took a ready stance.
It was hard to stay in one place and wait for the army of snow monsters to reach them when her instincts told her to run. The pounding of their paws on the snow grew louder and louder. Their stench filled the air, making everything smell like urine. The gap between them disappeared. Fifty feet, twenty-five, ten—a monster jumped towards her. She waited until she could see the creature’s pale blue eyes before slicing its limbs off. The rest of its body landed uselessly beside her, unable to move.
She emptied her mind until the only thing she knew how to do was slash, stab, and cut. She struck anything that moved. The fuzz-monsters came in an endless wave. Places on her body lit up with a stinging pain. Somehow she must’ve gotten hurt.
At last, there was a break in the attack. She was able to look around. The creatures were darting around the wreckage, feasting on what remained of her teammates and the researchers. Rage roiled through her. She tried to kick a monster away from her teammate, but their body was locked tight in their jaws.
“My friend is not your food!” She buried her sword into the monster’s skull. It dropped her teammate’s limp body. She rolled what was left of Jemma over. Somehow, she was still clinging to life. “It’s okay, you’ll be okay.” Katherine scanned the area. She couldn’t see Juniper anywhere. Jemma made an agonized gurgling noise. “Stay with me!” Katherine was about to reach for the cloth wrapped around her shin when her teammate stopped moving. Katherine screwed her eyes shut as a wave of grief hit her.
A cloud of fire flew over her. If she’d been on her feet, she would’ve gotten cooked. The rest of the snow monsters yelped and retreated. Katherine got to her feet. Sirus was still fighting the dragon. He looked like he was starting to get tired. She tried to run to help him, but her legs didn’t have much energy.
The dragon growled and sent a blast of fire at Sirus. He dodged to the side, but the dragon had finally outwitted him. By the time he realized he’d jumped towards the dragon’s tail, it was too late. His head rolled across the ground like a ball covered in red paint.
Katherine froze. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Sirus had survived so much. He couldn’t die now, not like this. Hot, angry tears filled her eyes.
She ran in front of her commander as the dragon tried to eat what was left of him. One tooth pierced her shoulder while another dug into her side. Her arm wobbled uselessly, attached only by a thin strip of muscle as the dragon threw her up into the air. Then she fell into the dragon’s mouth.
Somehow, she managed to bury her sword into the roof of its mouth, but her legs were halfway down the throat. The dragon choked and struggled to swallow her. She shouted as she fought to hold onto her sword. Putrid smelling saliva covered her. Still wedged between the dragon’s teeth was the flesh of the dead.
At last, it spit her back out. Now that she was wet, the wind quickly tore what little warmth she had left from her body. She curled up into a ball. Blood gushed out of her wounds. Her head was getting light, and her vision was failing.
Angry that it couldn’t eat her, the dragon put its paw on her and began applying pressure. The pressure rapidly went from uncomfortable to blinding. Katherine wailed. Her lungs were compressed, and the air was shoved out. She couldn’t inhale. Her muscles were squashed to the point where the veins were bursting. Her bones shattered.
For some cruel reason, the pain hadn’t knocked her out yet. All she could see were malicious yellow eyes watching her slowly burst like a grape. She wondered why she wasn’t dead yet. She wanted the pain to be over.
When she shut her eyes, she could feel her body fighting to mend. The more it broke, the harder it fought to heal. It was just like training only sped up. Now it was a race to see if she could heal before the dragon could kill her.
The moment the bones in her arms snapped back into place she pushed against the dragon’s paw. She’d lifted buses, collapsing roofs, and a yacht, but those felt like feathers compared to this.
She pushed the paw up enough to take in a breath. Life flowed into her, charging her with power. She grunted and heaved with all four limbs, then rolled out to freedom. The dragon’s paw fell into the snow. She jumped to her feet before it could try to crush her again.
She held out her hand. Her sword came flying out of the dragon’s mouth. She caught it and charged towards the beast. The only thing she could reach was a leg. She tried to cut it, but her sword couldn’t get past the scales.
The dragon kicked her far off into the distance. She landed hard on the snow. When she got to her feet again, the dragon was coming towards her. It opened its mouth. She could see a bright orange light coming from deep within its belly. A scorching torrent of flames flew at her. She jumped out of the way.
She concentrated on the dragon’s scales. If those were made out of what she hoped they were…The dragon skidded to a stop as its scales began moving. They stood up like the hairs on a cat. Katherine made a fist. The scales went slicing into the dragon and diced it into a million pieces.
The scene changed again. Katherine was sitting in a chair in some office. She’d just gotten back to the base after being rescued.
The Jonin of the Ninth Legion was sitting in the chair across from Katherine with a stern look in her eyes. The jonin’s conical hat was like the commander’s hat, but tigers were engraved on the metal and the trimmings were white. She wore a dark grayish purple robe that cut off mid-thigh. Underneath the robe, she had on a lighter grayish purple shirt that was folded closed. Her cloth belt was spotless white. Her pants were gray, and the wraps around her shins were black. The band that ran across the top of her mask and the symbol on her cheek were silver instead of gold.
“In the absence of your commander, it is my duty to decide what to do with you now,” the jonin said. She’d already spoken to Argo and Juniper, the only other survivors. Katherine was going to be the last to receive the bad news.
“You’re going to separate us, aren’t you?” she asked.
The jonin shook her head. “No, I don’t feel that would be right. Not after all that you’ve been through.” She stood up and came around her desk. She sat on the edge and tried to meet Katherine’s eyes. “I’ve decided to promote Argo and Juniper for their courage in overwhelming circumstances.”
The corners of Katherine’s mouth twitched. She was happy for her friends. They deserved to move up. They were ready for it.
“So, where are you putting me?”
“I suppose that all depends on you, doesn’t it? I can put you on another team, and you can continue as you are. You can keep being fearful and unsure, or…are you ready for more?” The jonin leaned closer. “Are you finally ready to be the woman you were meant to be?”
I heard a pop as Katherine tugged the wire from my temple. I rubbed my head and blinked a few times. I looked down, relieved that I was back in my body.
Tears built up in my eyes. I was still feeling the aftershocks of her emotions. I felt the empty hole where a heart should’ve been, the heavy weight of knowing I’d killed everyone who’d gotten close to me, and the long years of loneliness with not a soul to share anything with. It’s all my fault…my fault…and I deserve it. Now I understood why she was afraid to lose anyone else. I couldn’t imagine piling more pain on top of what she’d already endured.
I shuddered and tried to breathe as I wiped my eyes. “Is this what you feel like all of the time?” I fought to say. I was on the verge of bawling, but
Katherine sat there stiff as a tree.
She twisted the Mind Wire back and forth in her hands, unsure if she could answer that. “It used to be.” Her fingers were trembling. “You say I make you feel special and wanted, but I don’t know how. All I do is yell at you and tell you to quit. If anything, it’s the other way around.”
I dared to look at her. “How?”
“No one looks at me like I fulfilled their greatest dream by making them a pancake in the morning.” She laughed. “No one else wants to listen to me talk about string theory. You saw the worse picture ever taken of me and you liked it.” She chewed the corner of her lip. “You never have a bad thing to say about me.”
“Why would I?”
“I’m not perfect.” She traced the frog’s eye on her blanket with her finger. “Someday you’re going to see that and regret doing this.”
My ears filled with heat. I felt like I’d gotten caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I tried to laugh it off. “You think I’m doing this for you?”
She looked at me like the answer to that was obvious.
Chapter 12
Two Types of Falling
O ne afternoon, Katherine led us past the training field and the pool towards the obstacle course. The group lit up with excited whispers. Everyone had been wondering when we were going to try it out. The closer we got, the bigger the course seemed to get.
“I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before,” Spaz said, scratching his head.
“Probably, I was inspired by a TV show,” Katherine said. We came to a stop at the beginning of the course. “These obstacles will combine your strength and endurance with skill and technique. Don’t expect to be able to muscle through everything. So, who wants to go first?” Several hands shot into the air. “Kaine.”
I groaned internally. I didn’t have my hand raised.
I jumped up the massive stairs to get to the first obstacle. I shook my hands out as I came onto the starting platform. If I fell, the whole team would see it.