Kingdom of Dragons

by Melody Rose

  Seemingly foolishly, I ran into the stone wall, back first. The chair crumpled into pieces beneath me and freed me from the confines of the contraption. I scrambled to the floor and used my flexibility to loop my butt and legs through my arms, so my tied hands were not in front of me, then I worked on untying the ropes on my ankles.

  Before I knew it, Troylan was there in front of me, helping me release myself from the restraints.

  “How did you get out?” I asked incredulously.

  Troylan held up his fingers for a moment. They wiggled and bent in unnatural ways. I could not help it, I had to laugh. I knew Troylan could bend his limbs about as if he had no bones. I did not count on his fingers being flexible enough to undo his bonds.

  “Well done!” I congratulated.

  The soldier had untied Heloise, who was working swiftly on Stella. She herself continued to concentrate on talking to the plant so it could keep holding Deedren. Sweat broke out on her forehead from the strain.

  Out of nowhere, the front door of the house burst open, and the two giant wolves flung themselves inside, ready to attack. My mouth dried instantly. Neither Heloise nor I considered the wolves joining the fight.

  Before I could truly think about what I was doing, I used my now free hands and grabbed Troylan’s shoulders. I spun him around and squeezed tight so that my gift could activate something in him.

  Troylan’s hands shot out in front of him and elongated to a scary length. They stretched like a cord until Troylan managed to stop the growth by grabbing onto the fireplace where Uri still hung. His arm spread out right in front of the wolves. The large beasts tumbled over Troylan’s limbs, and all of them, the wolves and Troylan alike, howled in pain. The wolves collided with the table, and splintered pieces of wood flew everywhere as it shattered beneath their weight. The soldier did his best to hide his anguish, but he could not hold on any longer. His arms snapped back to their regular size, and he tucked them against his chest.

  “What was that?” he asked with a weary voice.

  I got to my feet. “I will explain everything later. We need to get out of here.”

  Gurti clutched her head but rose to all fours. Instinctually, I grabbed a long piece of wood, remnants from my chair, and slammed the flat side of the board against the back of the old woman’s head. She collapsed to the ground, and her limbs splayed out like she were on a cross.

  Troylan weaved and bobbed through the wolves to get to Xavier and let him out of the cage. I dashed for Uri and worked at releasing her.

  “Took you long enough,” she scolded as if I was late for lunch rather than in the middle of an escape plan.

  “A thank you would suffice,” I snapped back, unable to put up with her at that moment.

  The sphinx didn’t say anything. Instead, she leaped to the ground on her feet as cats were wont to do. She barrelled forward, teeth bared and with a lengthy snarl. My djer hurled herself towards one of the wolves and snapped her jaws at him, piercing its thick fur.

  Red blood squirted out from her mouth, and the wolf twisted in agony. Still, Uri held on and did more damage, raking the wolf with her hind claws as he flayed about.

  I faced off against the second wolf with my impromptu club in hand. The beast did not take a second to assess anything, and I barely had a moment to breathe before he came at me. As he snapped at me, I stepped to the side and slammed the wood down on the wolf’s head. Unlike his mistress, the beast did not collapse right away. He whimpered and shook his head as if clearing his ears from water. I took that moment to lunge out of the way to the door and led the creature out into the snow.

  Whatever storm we previously walked through had dissipated. There was a fine layer of snow on the ground that made it slick and difficult to walk through. Nevertheless, I led the wolf outside, taunting him with a swipe here, a jab there. I trusted Heloise to follow through the rest of the plan and get everyone out of there. I just had to lead this wolf far away from the house so as to not distract them from the mission and to keep them safe.

  The wolf lunged for me with a snarl, and I jumped out of the way. What I would not have given right then for a bow and an arrow. I would dash away from the beast until I was within an acceptable range and shoot it right between the eyes. Alas, I was stuck with a splintering piece of wood and my own agility.

  Once again, the wolf attacked, and this time, I slipped on the snow. It pounced and landed with its paws on my chest. The weight of the beast pressed into me, and I struggled to breathe. My stick remained between me and the creature until it bit down and snapped the wood in half. Splinters flew down into my face as the beast chewed on the wood, the noise roaring in my ears like grinding rocks. Drool dripped down onto my nose and slid down my cheekbone and into my ear.

  He was too heavy for me to move though I still wiggled beneath him. I had never felt so trapped in my life. It was though my brain stopped working. It went blank without any reasonable options. My heart cried out, refusing to give in and die. I refused to be eaten alive by a wolf, not when my friends were still in that house. Not when we had not made our escape. Not when Eva was out there, counting on me.

  I closed my eyes and thought of her. In the seconds I had left, I prayed to Irena and the kings and queens of old to not let this be the end. To let me see her again before I left this world forever.

  As if by some miracle, the weight of the wolf was suddenly gone. I opened my eyes to see the creature high up in the air, carried off by another creature, even larger than the wolf. It was scaly and red. Even from this distance below, I would recognize that massive dragon anywhere.

  Chyndron carried the wolf up and away from the house. I could hear the whimpers and cries of the beast from here as Chyndron released the wolf to the ground. With a thunderous crash, the beast broke through a lake of ice and fell into the depth of the cold water below.

  Layers of ice broke away from the point of impact, and I watched as the water stilled, waiting for the wolf to emerge. He never did.

  Next thing I knew, the four dragons surrounded the house. I rose to my feet and hurried for them. Running out of the house was the rest of the group, humans and djers alike.

  Without having to be asked, the four dragons opened their mouths and released a stream of multi-colored fire. Chyndron’s was the typical orange but had a more lava-like consistency to it. Myels expelled a frosty white flame that sizzled with heat. Lucien’s was as green as an evergreen tree, and Timone’s blazed purple. It was quite a sight as the dragons joined in unison to burn the house to the ground. Streaks of white, black, green, and purple smoke lifted into the sky, signaling the end of our torment.

  I glanced at the rest of the members of our group. Heloise and Stella held each other tightly, with Xavier resting on Heloise’s shoulder. Troylan crouched next to Uri, sitting in the snow, with one arm draped across the sphinx's hunches.

  With one thing on my mind, I stomped up to Heloise and interrupted her and Stella’s embrace. “Did you get it?”

  Heloise looked over Stella’s shoulder and nodded at me, with her eyes still closed, enjoying the comfort of her lover. I was about to demand that she show it to me when the dragons cut me off, inadvertently.

  “Where have you all been?” Chyndron demanded. His voice was harsh but more worried and afraid than angry. “We have been searching for you for days.”

  “What?” I gaped. “We were only there a day, not even.”

  “There where?” Chyndron looked back at the embers of the house. “In there?”

  “Yes,” I answered indignantly. “We sought shelter from the storm with this couple that turned out to be working for Reon. We need to get going and fast. They said they sent someone after us.”

  “We intercepted them,” Lucien informed us. “When we lost you all in the storm, we spread out thinking you might have gotten transported somewhere.”

  “I do not understand,” I snapped, my irritation mounting. “It has not been that long.”

  “Kehn,” Timone
said gently. “It has been so long since we lost you in the storm. There are only a couple of days left until the Lunar Eclipse.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “That cannot be.”

  “I think I know what happened,” Heloise said as she broke away from Stella, though the two of them still held hands. “I think we were trapped in the memories for longer than we wanted to admit.”

  “That happened to you too?” Stella asked, looking from me to Troylan. “It was horrible! I had to relive being in the prison cell.”

  “I relived my mother’s death,” Troylan whispered from his spot on the ground. He stroked Uri absently, and I was surprised to see that she let him. “They made us go through our worst memories over and over again.”

  “I had to break them out of it,” Heloise told me, “just as I did for you. Only you were throwing chairs around and smashing people’s heads in.”

  “And nearly getting eaten by wolves,” Chyndron said, for the first time his voice sounding as though he were scolding me.

  “If it really has been that long,” Stella said as her voice quivered, “we barely have enough time to get to the coast and get back to the others. Let alone find the key.”

  Then, I looked Heloise straight in the eye. “Was it there?”

  “It was,” Heloise said with a bright smile. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a half-metal circle with a broken line on one side.

  Stella gasped. Troylan stood up on his feet to get a better look. Lucien and Timone lifted their heads over Heloise to see the half of the key. Chyndron, Myels, and I did not move, as if trusting that it was the real thing.

  “What…? How?” Stella muttered. “How did you find it?”

  “Well, Kehn and I had a little more reprieve from the torturous memories,” Heloise explained. “We went into the white space, and using our gifts, we could see through the reality and search the cabin. While we were plotting our escape, we saw that the couple had this key in the fire. We assumed they were trying to destroy it.”

  “Wait a moment,” Timone called us out. “Go back. Your gifts? What do you mean? I thought you could only see in the dark.”

  Heloise raised her eyes expectantly at me. I inhaled a cold breath and rolled my lips over my teeth before saying anything.

  “I have the ability to enhance the gifts of others. When I used my gift on Heloise, she could see through the memories and was able to break whatever magic the old couple put on us.”

  “That would have been good to know,” Troylan said with a frown. “That is how you were able to make my arms stretch out like that.”

  “That is exactly how,” I confirmed.

  “You could have said something,” Troylan said sharply. He was offended, that much was clear. From his crossed arms to his wrinkled forehead, I could tell he was angry at me for not knowing this sooner. I could not blame him, considering how much we worked together in the past and now.

  “I am sorry,” I confessed, sincerity dripping from my voice. “I realize now that it was selfish of me to keep this to myself when it could have helped us. I have kept it a secret for so long, I did not think that it would be beneficial.”

  Troylan did not say anything, and I had no clue whether he accepted my apology or not. I did not have a minute to consider it because Heloise interrupted the moment with a squeal. There was a small thud as she dropped the key in the snow.

  “What is it?” Stella asked.

  “It suddenly got really hot,” Heloise said in between sucking on her fingers.

  Sure enough, the metal burned through the snow, melting it around the symbol. Then, the key began to move of its own accord. It zoomed through the snow, weaving a path like a snake.

  At first, all of us watched it go before anyone came to their senses to head after it. We raced as a group, everyone on their feet until we caught up with the heated metal. I managed to get ahead of everyone and slap my foot down on the key, stopping it from going any further. The metal burned under my foot, but luckily, my shoe protected me from any severe damage.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked the group. As if they knew any more than I did.

  “Serendipity,” Myels replied with a knowing smile.

  “What?” I wondered, not in the mood for ambiguity.

  “I believe what my friend is trying to say is that the other group must have found their key, too,” Chyndron translated. “The pieces have been found and wish to be rejoined.”

  “You mean…?” my voice trailed off as my heart dared to hope.

  “Our piece will lead us to their pieces so they can be reunited,” Chyndron continued, the glee apparent in his voice. “All we have to do is follow it.”

  “Well, that is great and all,” Troylan grimaced, “but is there any way we can follow it without letting it go all haywire on the ground? It will be quicker to fly.”

  “Troylan has a point,” Timone agreed.

  Stella passed by me and crouched low on the ground. Her hand was wrapped in a piece of cloth she took out of her bag to protect her skin from the heated metal.

  “If you move your foot over just a hair, then I can get a good grip on it, so it does not escape,” Stella informed me.

  Without a better idea, I did as I was told. I shuffled my boot over just enough so Stella could get a piece of it. All the while, I maintained the pressure on the key so it could not slip out from under my grasp. Stella pushed her fingers through the fabric, though they stayed wrapped. She looped a couple of fingers around the jagged edge of the key, the part that would undoubtedly fit with its missing half.

  “Got it,” she told me, signaling that I could lift my foot.

  I released the key, and it tried to scoot away, but Stella held a firm grip. She got to her feet and took the key with her. Her arm stood stiff as a board as the key tugged her in a certain direction.

  “Looks like it wants us to go this way,” Stella announced.

  We did not waste another minute. The four of us mounted on our respective dragons and took to the skies. We flew without stopping. The dragons seemed to be invigorated by the prospect of seeing their queen. I knew I was.

  We traveled through the night, each human taking shifts to sleep on the backs of the magnificent creatures. They powered through, exhaustion seeming to have no effect on them. We broke our original formation by having Chyndron and me in the lead, but it was Stella and Timone who formed the tip of the v we traveled in. They let our half of the key guide us and point us in the direction to find its partner.

  After nearly a full day of travel, the dragons were on their last leg. Even though they were powerful beasts, they could not continue at this rate for much longer.

  “It is getting warmer,” Stella called out. “I think we are close.”

  Hope soared in my chest. I wanted nothing more than to get off the back of this dragon. Aside from the shortest of breaks, we spent every minute in the sky. I wanted my feet on the ground and my arms around Eva.

  “There!” Stella cried suddenly. Her arm jutted out, seemingly even farther than before. But this time, it was pointed downward, signaling a place for us to land.

  Timone had to do a complete circle to narrow in on the spot. We followed suit before diving towards the earth. We burst through the clouds and saw the tips of the bare trees. However, there was a clearing in the forest where three large figures sat with four smaller figures. As we approached, everything gained perspective, and we could see them.

  Zulu stood on a rock with her antlers held high.

  Gideonia lurked by a nearby tree with her tail wrapped around its trunk.

  Hannan and Julei stood next to one another, waving in big strokes up at us.

  Freja leaned against a tree, looking like she did not have a care in the world.

  Monte lounged on his belly, though his head lifted towards the sky

  Eva stood in the dead center with a winning smile.

  My heart swelled at the sight of her, and tears nearly sprung to my eyes.
I was overwhelmed with a sense of relief like I had been holding my breath the entire time we were apart. My body vibrated with excitement at the sight of her, knowing that she was alive and well. From what I could tell, she was not injured or harmed in any way. They had survived whatever ordeal they went through to get their half of the key which swung proudly from a leather band around Eva’s neck.

  When we touched the ground, I hopped off Chyndron and fell to my knees in my uninhibited quickness. I scrambled to get to my feet, not caring that I might have made a fool of myself. Eva reached me first, though, a worried look on her face from my fall.

  “Are you alright?” she asked as she grabbed my elbows to steady me.

  I looked into her heart-shaped face and green eyes. They burned into my own blue ones, and I melted right there. I was overcome and determined. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around the small of Eva’s back and pulled her closer. I brought my lips to hers and kissed her in the middle of the clearing, uncaring who saw.

  31

  I felt Kehn’s lips before I could really tell what was happening. The gesture was so unexpected and intimate. It made my heart thump against my chest and made my blood race, so I felt warm and happy. I missed him more than I knew how to say. I missed his kisses. They made me feel like I was home again, wrapped in his embrace with his body pressed against mine. His lips moved with such an urgency as if there was no time left in the world. This moment was all we had.

  The moment, however, was interrupted when Kehn was ripped violently away from me. The soldier stumbled backward, and I had to blink a couple of times to clear my vision. Once everything came back into view, I saw that Hannan had slugged Kehn right in the jaw.

  “Holy shit!” I cried out. I dashed forward and put my body between the two feuding men. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”