by M. Arcturus
Though it was just a graze, the pain was searing hot to the dragon, and it had bought Oberon some time to roll out of the way. The dragon had an overprotective mate who butted in, and with his gauntlet, he shoved Campanula so hard that he threw her into a nearby tree. She laid in the cold, wet sand trying to catch the breath that escaped her lungs. The male dragon went in for the kill. Getting up onto his feet, Oberon left his thoughts to save his friend. With all of his might, Oberon summoned strength into his hands, formed an energy blast and launched it at the dragon. The blow sent the dragon into a cluster of ice-glazed trees toward the inland far past Campanula, which was dangerously close to the death. The dragon tumbled out of the trees and landed on his back in the melting snow. He sat there taking a moment to collect himself.
“Enough!” Oberon shouted almost as if he was a drunken, old, bitter man. Even his body movements were jerky as he stumbled around. “We didn’t kill your children. Those responsible are dead. Just leave us alone!” He fell to knees out of exhaustion. Campanula rushed to his side.
Campanula knew what his anger really stemmed from. “You can’t give up. Your family is out there. I know it!” Oberon didn’t seem to care what she had to say. He was so worn out that he did a face plant. “Oberon, look, you have got to see this!”
Oberon raised his head, and through sand-covered eyes, he saw a band of rainbow light, almost like the northern lights, fly from Mt. Caspen headed to the shore. Surely it was his wife accompanied by the Bennu. From his left, there came a bright white flash. When he looked over, he saw his daughter and her friends fall on their butts in the sand.
“Whoa, that’s cold!” Pandora jumped up wiping the snowy sand off of her backside.
Little Rowyn ran to her side, giving her a big bear hug around the waist and whispered, “Please don’t leave me.”
Taking her hand, Pandora replied, “Don’t worry; I won’t.” Shocked to see his daughter, Oberon couldn’t tell if it was real or just an illusion of wishful thinking.
The great stone dragon had delivered them to the shore along with the remainder of the baby dragons and Bennu. Those that could find their parents ran to them. The rest of the baby dragons encircled the stone dragon’s feet looking for comfort and protection. The baby Bennu banded together and with musical chirps, opened up a portal to the World Tree and stepped through heading home. Once the hatchlings were reunited, the great stone dragon bowed his head to Pandora and her friends. With his own little one, which Rowyn had named Sparkles, he flickered out of sight, taking the rest of the baby dragons with him. Pandora nodded back lovingly.
The rainbow aura faded, releasing its travelers on the beach. Kajaka fell hysterically to his knees mourning the loss of Giséi. Shadow, heartbroken as well, kneeled beside him, wrapping a wing around his mate. The Lady of Avalon turned to Sorbek and tried to read his face. He stood there strong as if nothing happened, but the Lady knew better. Once she looked close enough, she saw wet fur around his eyes, and more tears were silently falling. She had never seen the wolf cry before. Apparently, Kajaka and Shadow were not the only ones mourning for Giséi. For the first time, Sorbek had been burned by the tragedy of love. A little fearful, not knowing how Sorbek would handle the situation, she left him to his thoughts in search for her family, praying that her own heart would not feel the same fate.
Selené quickly ran to Anthony and gave him a massive hug, telling him, “I missed you so much! I thought I would never see you again.”
Anthony returned the embrace and responded, “I’m so glad you’re alright! I was so worried! By the way, I love your new look.”
“Huh?”
“Your hair—it’s short.”
Without thinking, she touched her hair. She had completely forgotten. All the memories of the spider guts and puking her guts out came flooding back to her. Now she wished those thoughts had stayed buried. “Well, the haircut was not my choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you once we’re off the isle.”
“Okay,” Anthony accepted. It was such a small word, but carried a lot of disappointment and saddened weight.
Icarus shot Pandora a look of betrayal. She had lied to him about Selené’s affections. He had risked everything to win Selené’s heart, and yet she still didn’t acknowledge his presence. All she saw was Anthony. Bitter and broken, it all finally soaked into his head. He would never win his precious angel. Though he never voiced it, he understood once and for all that they were right. She never loved him, she never spoke Greek, and he would never wake to her beautiful face.
After the Lady of Avalon saw Pandora standing in one piece, she fought the urge to hug her and frantically looked around for her husband. She silently reassured herself that she would hug each of them once she had found them both. The Lady’s eyes stumbled upon him, his face buried in the sand. She wasted no time rushing to his side. “My love, are you alright?” He looked up and saw the face of his beautiful wife. She was a sight to behold. After wiping his face off, she helped him up. “We have got to get out of here.”
“Yes, I see the death. It’s nearly upon us,” Oberon said. “Do you know what it is?”
“No, unfortunately, I don’t.”
“—but I do,” another voice interjected.
They turned to see Pandora walking up to them with the pithos in her hands, presenting it to them.
“You opened the box? You knew that was forbidden!”
“Please father. I didn’t do it.” A moment of silence fell. Then she mumbled, “Icarus did.” Everyone stepped aside to reveal Icarus, who was cowering and shaking in fear where he stood. Once again, Icarus felt the hot searing pang of Pandora’s betrayal. It was quickly replaced by fear as Oberon’s shadow fell on him.
“You have doomed us all! I’m not even sure if we can contain the death to the isle. It’s probably traveling out into the sea by now. All we can do is pray that their destructive power has been deluded and dispersed throughout humankind’s timeline as we merged into the fabric of time and space. As you can tell, there is still a highly concentrated dosage headed our way. The sun is no longer running through the sky like it was before. I take pity on the people who live in this moment of time, for they will be getting the brunt of it.” He picked Icarus up by the collar until he was nose to nose with him. “What in the hell were you thinking?” Oberon’s anger toward Icarus scared Rowyn so much that she hid behind Pandora.
Icarus’s words trembled as they fell from his lips, “I thought that if the pithos contained humanity’s fear, that the terror inside would scare the dragons, too.” They were not aware that the male dragon that Oberon had thrown into the icy trees slithered in closer to the group, waiting for the opportune moment to exact his revenge. His mate, though babying her nose, was elated while coddling their baby. He was grateful that the stone dragon delivered their young, but his wounded pride would not let him rest.
“You are simply an idiot!” Lord Oberon threw Icarus back down into the sand.
Shadow approached Aros and whispered, “About the idiot—you are still taking him with you, right?”
“As much as I would love to leave him here, yes, I don’t see we have a choice.”
“Father, what was in the box?” Pandora tilted the pithos in the natural light, seeing the silver sheen in the glass for the first time. “What is this made out of?”
“Many, many ages ago, there was a small gathering of leaders who met in the house of Taios, King of the Dark Elves. They were the headmasters of Blood Oak, a secret society studying the dark arts. It consisted of all the great leaders, such as Stonebeck the Great, leader of the Dwarves; Broomwick, the eldest of Witches; to Turquin, Prince of the Lily Fae.” A smile stretched across Oberon’s face. “Now he was a force to be reckoned with! For his stature, he was so mischievous and powerful! Looking at his sweet, childlike face, no one would have ever guessed. As for the jar, that was cr
afted by Lazarus, a shady vampyre alchemist. In exchange for his handy work, I gave him the Emerald Tablets of Alchemy. Only Lazarus knows what exactly was used to create the jar, but I do know silver was added to the glass. It gave a werewolf one nasty burn, as he tried to steal it from Broomwick.”
Campanula overheard Oberon and smirked. She continued to help the crews with the boats as she reflected back to the days of the Vampyre Council and thought to herself, well, what do you know? Juron was telling the truth.
Oberon carried on with his story, “One by one, the members of Blood Oak trapped the Keres inside. The Keres are female death spirits; Apate, Oizys, Limos—they were all bottled up in that jar.” He pointed at the pithos.
Aros asked calmly, “What type of death-riddled talents do they possess? How many are they?”
“There are seven, eight if you count their escort, but Charon is no real threat. He ushers souls to the other side. Their powers are devastating and are as follows: disease, famine, impending doom, violent death, sleep—as in comas—deceit, and suffering.”
“Father, I believe we saw nine, none of which appeared to be male.”
“Stonebeck was talking about capturing Eris and Nemesis. He must have succeeded. So, you can include strife and divine retribution to the list.”
As they continued their conversation, they were still oblivious to the dragon that was nearly upon them. He eyed the group, trying to decide which one to attack first. Out of spite, Oberon was to be saved for last.
Aros continued, “Great! I was hoping to add more joy to the mix. Though I don’t think I want to encounter this Nemesis, Mistress of Divine Retribution. So, you think their destructive power will be dispersed throughout human time?”
“It has already been dispersed as much as what it’s going to get. As you can see from the sun sitting in the sky, we have successfully merged with human time, and there’s so much more concentrated death that has yet to spread. I’m afraid the people of this time will not be able to survive the plague that is headed their way.” Oberon looked out to sea. “The creatures of the ocean will be the first to die.”
In the water on the far side of the isle, he saw the first few dead fish floating on the water’s surface. More fish were joining the death every second. “We’re too late. The magic of Avalon’s boats should protect the Kinnowwa and us, but we have to get out of here.” He turned to his people, “Everyone to the boats! Pandora, I’ll take the box and pithos now. It is no longer your burden.” She looked up at him with eyes filled with confusion, grief, and guilt. Out of sentiment, she traced some of the intricate carvings and rudimentary stones on the wooden box. “Please do not be upset, my daughter. You protected the box far better than anyone else could have. You never let your curiosity get the better of you. And for that, I’m eternally proud of you.” With tear-filled eyes, she handed the artifacts over to him. Then Oberon addressed the golden phoenix, “I’m sorry, old friend. We must be off.” He smiled at Aros, “Maybe we will meet up again someday.”
Rowyn tugged at Pandora’s hand. She looked down as Rowyn whispered, “Remember, you promised me.”
“I haven’t forgotten. Why don’t you head on over to the boats and see if your parents are aboard? I’ll be there shortly.” Pandora focused her eyes on Seth, wondering if he was going to join them.
The Lady walked over and hugged Pandora, “I see you have a tagalong.”
“Yeah, we found her in one of the pipes that ran inside a wall of the maintenance shaft. She’s lucky Anthony heard her. Otherwise, we would have walked on by.”
“I’ll leave you two to talk. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Your father has no choice; he’ll do whatever I tell him to accept.” She said with a smirk.
Selené looked at Anthony. “What are we going to do? Are we going to go to Avalon?”
“Are we even welcomed?”
“I’m not sure. If we go, what’s going to happen to the people who live here, in this time and place? We can’t just bail on them, can we?”
“I suppose we can’t, but what can we do?” Anthony asked.
Aros approached them and coughed to get their attention. They stared at him in shock and with a little annoyance.
In his rich golden voice, he spoke up, “I’m sorry, but Sir Anthony can’t go with you no matter what you decide. He still has unfinished business.” He pointed at Nostradamus, who looked a little shook up, standing confused on one of Oberon’s boats. Just moments before, Dr. Jekyll had vanished right before his very eyes. Not knowing the good doctor had actually gone back to his place in time, Nostradamus was terrified that it would happen to him next. Aros saw what had happened and took pity on Nostradamus, “Someone has to take him home. There are only two seats in the time machine.”
Selené got defensive and stood in-between Aros and Anthony. “No, you can’t take him away from me!”
Anthony rested a hand on her shoulder. “He can’t take me away from you. The time machine, it’s still at the palace. I can’t get to the machine from here. I guess Nostradamus will have to stay with Oberon.”
“You mean this machine?” asked Aros as he stepped aside. The time machine stood in all of its glory on the cold sands of the beach.
“No!” said Selené in emotional pain, looking away from the machine and burying her head in his chest. “You can’t go!” Her voice quivered with soft sobs. Anthony didn’t know what to say. He was speechless and didn’t want to leave her either. His heart was breaking.
Aros walked up and put his hand on her shoulder from behind. “I’m not doing this to hurt you. Nostradamus has a wife and kids. To not take him back would tear a big hole in humankind’s history.”
“I don’t care!” came her muffled retort.
“It’s not just human history; it’s the history of Anthony’s people. They need him to return as well. He’s a genius, too brilliant if you ask me. He is the only one who can help them.”
“They’re in trouble, from what?” Anthony sounded worried.
“In the lab, the equipment has gone haywire. They need you to fix it.”
He turned to Selené. “Just like you can’t turn your back on the humans in this time, I can’t turn my back on my family and friends either.” He looked at Aros. “How can we be together and get done what we need to?”
Aros smiled, “The same destiny that brought you here to Atlantis is the same destiny that keeps you two together.” The look in his eyes sparkled as if he knew something they did not. “This is not the end of you two. It’s only the beginning. No one, not even I, can keep you two apart even if I tried, and I don’t want to.” He started to glow with his golden aura. “Keep in mind that it’s not only your friends that need you, but it’s also the world. As far as your bond with Selené, you’ll be together before you know it. Have some faith!” Touching Icarus’s shoulder, Aros vanished along with the other two phoenixes, Gepsom, and Vermilion taking Icarus with them. Everyone could tell by the look on Icarus’s face that he had no clue that the phoenixes were planning on abducting him. In a way, they all wanted to be flies on the wall when Aros and the others reached their destination. They were curious as to how Icarus was going to be handled.
Before she faded, Hermetrien in her lavish green glow lightly kissed Kajaka on the forehead. “She will be alright. You’ll see. Those that die in the service of the Universe are always heavily rewarded.” Kajaka briefly stilled his tears, but kept Shadow close.
Anthony looked back at Selené. She was past furious, “So now what? You’re going to choose your friends over me?”
“No, I could never do that. Why do you think I asked Aros what was to become of us? I wasn’t going to help them if it meant losing you. You mean more to me than all of the worlds combined, but I could not live with myself standing by as my friends, my people, get hurt or even die knowing that I could have saved them—especially since I know now that it w
ill not risk us being together. I must do this. We’ll be together again soon. All I have to do is take Nostradamus home, fix the lab equipment, and then come looking for you. It won’t be that bad.”
Her tears began to pour down her cheeks. “So, what am I supposed to do? Paddle around in a boat all by myself praying that I find land?”
Kajaka, Shadow, Sorbek and the Lady overheard their conversation and started to take an interest. A shadow fell on them. “No, you will not be alone,” came the deep, rich voice. They looked up and met Sorbek’s eyes as he told her, “I will travel with you.” He bowed low to them.
“So, you’re not coming back with us?”
Sorbek looked at the Lady of Avalon and bowed to her as well. “I realize now that there is much I have not learned. Though I love my service to you and to my Lord, I don’t think I could grow the way I need to if I stayed on Avalon.”
“I respect your decision,” the Lady told him. “I’m sure my love will, too, once I tell him. He’s too involved at the moment.” She looked over her shoulder at Oberon, watching as he helped with the gryphons and the last few onto the boats. There was one boat from Avalon that was still left empty. “Sorbek, if you wouldn’t mind, please secure that lonely boat over there for you and Selené.”
He went down on bended knee, lowered his head, and crossed his arm over his chest. “With honor, milady,” he stood up with pride in his eyes as he went off on his new mission.
“Selené, between you and me, just keep the wolf busy and loaded with duty. That always makes him happy,” the Lady said. She hugged Selené. “Please take one of our boats. They’re loaded with supplies like food and elfish mead. Plus, if you need to, the boat can always lead you to Avalon. Your singing crystals can do the same once you learn your own gift of teleportation.”
She put her arm around Selené’s shoulder and led her away from Anthony. “Please don’t stay mad at him. He is truly a good man and cares deeply for you. However, he also has a big heart. That is a very good quality to have, but as you can see, when it comes to relationships, it has major downfalls. It will take a strong woman who is secure in herself to be with someone like that.” Selené looked into her eyes, wanting to say something, but nothing came to mind, so the Lady continued. “Personally, I think you need this time away from him. You have a tendency to think the worst and look down on yourself. The road ahead of you will test your strength and will make you trust in yourself. By the time you are reunited, provided that you learn what needs to be learned, you will have the strength that he knows is inside of you. And remember, if things get too hairy, you have two safety lines to Avalon. Even if we leave the human world, both your gifts and the boat have the ability to travel home.”