“Quincy, are you able to break free yet?” Adrian spoke inwardly, so as not to be heard by anyone outside.
“No, this spell is too powerful. I can’t overcome it. Is Wylie anywhere nearby?”
“Sadly, her body is not far off.” Adrian answered, despondently.
“Her body? What has happened?”
“I don’t know, Quincy. I think being separated from her Dracosinum did something to her, she got sick. So very sick, and then she, by all appearances, died. However, I was informed by the Immortal Ones that she is in her sleep state.” Adrian paused, his heart heavier than it had ever been. “I must find a way to fix this. I must, before the last rites are performed, and she is buried, here, in a foreign place,” Adrian finished.
“Although the situation is far worse than I could have imagined, do not despair. I need you to think back when you were under water, and you heard her voice.”
“Yes, what of it?”
“Are you absolutely certain it was her voice?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it; it’s what brought me back.”
“Very well, then, first things first, I need to get out of here, and then we need to find her essence. She must be nearby.”
“Her what?”
“Her essence. It’s what makes Wylie girl who she is. It’s what transforms her from human to her Teselym form every night. If her human body is in its sleep state, that means her essence has gone somewhere. You must find it.” Quincy’s voice had grown desperate.
“Can’t you find her? Can’t you tell me where she is? I thought you two were connected somehow?” Adrian pushed back.
“Certainly I can find her, if you can free me. Besides being trapped in here, whatever spell has been placed on me is messing with my magic just like it did yours. I can’t ‘see’ anything.”
“What can I do, Quincy? I don’t know anything. I don’t know how to overcome the spell. I don’t know how to free you.” Adrian felt a deep feeling of despair in the pit of his stomach.
“Adrian, you have something inside of you, or the Immortal Ones would not have granted you your phoenix form.”
“What do you mean something inside of me?”
“Do you think they just pass out shape-shifting abilities to anyone? There hasn’t been anyone with those capabilities since the beginning of the Dragaleth race.”
Adrian allowed that to set in. “So what are you saying?”
Quincy went silent for a moment,
“Well, Wylie is a Teselym because she is descended from one. From what I know of the Immortal Ones that’s kind of how they work. Unless they are creating a new race. However, we know that Phoenix’s have existed for centuries, although most would claim they’re pure myth.”
“Are you saying that I am a descendant of a phoenix?”
“It’s what makes sense to me. Your lineage may go back centuries, but I would wager that is the case.”
“It's quite an incredible thought, Quincy.”
“I know it is, but for all the years that I have been a guardian of the Teselym, I’ve never seen them use someone who was not descended from some magical line or another.”
“Are you telling me there is more than just the Dragaleth line?” Adrian could barely process the idea.
“Indeed, where do you think all the fairy tales came from? The paintings of mythical creatures? Did you think they were merely man’s imagination?”
“But of course, that’s what I thought.”
“Simple human, you’ve so much to learn,” Quincy responded. “For now, must get back to the task at hand. We’re wasting time.”
Adrian could barely process that he might be an actual descendant of a creature from Greek mythology. His mind was full of questions, but the thought of saving Wylie far outweighed any of them.
It was time to focus.
Chapter Fifteen
I’m descended from the Phoenix of Greek mythology? I must find Wylie and free her and Quincy. Is everything I’ve always believed wrong?
“Well, not everything,” Quincy spoke into his mind.
“It certainly feels like it.”
“Adrian, I know it is a lot to take in at the moment,
but I must beseech you to put it aside for now and focus on the task at hand.”
“I’m still struggling with understanding it, Quincy.” He tried to make his mind voice as apologetic as possible.
“I understand, and there will be time to explore it later, but for now, since you are a mythical creature, that means you have been granted a certain limit of magic. I don’t know how to tell you to use it but I am sure it’s no coincidence you are a creature of myth. I’m positive that they did that for such a time as this. You have the power within you to do the task at hand.”
Adrian shook his feathered head as if Quincy could see him.
“The spell that holds the Dracosinum closed must be affecting me. I am not capable of anything.” Adrian told Quincy, sadness creeping in.
Unbidden, images of the magic fireball he had created around himself to break out of the water fist flashed in his mind.
What? Whoa, where did that come from? His brain was silent.
Something else tugged at his memory, but he couldn’t seem to place his finger on it. His mother had been there. She had called to him, asked him for help. No, not his mother. Wylie! Wylie had been there! Wylie had asked for help! That is what had given him the strength he needed to break free, or else, or else he would have drowned and had no idea.
The image of his mother was a ruse. Something or someone had wanted him to die there in the water, but Wylie’s voice had rescued him.
“Wylie! Wylie! I know you are here somewhere! I heard you! Where are you?”
“I told you, Adrian. She has to be nearby.” Quincy’s voice was hopeful.
“What if it was a figment of my imagination?”
“Adrian, you just told me moments ago you were sure it was her. Look for her!”
“You’re right, I can’t discredit anything.” Adrian started to smile.
“I can’t sense her even though we have a special connection, but it could be the magic.”
“She and I have a special connection as well, Quincy. I don’t quite understand it myself, but you’re right. I did hear her voice so she has to be here. I remember it clearly. We all would have drowned. I think I was enchanted, or hypnotized, I don’t know. I saw my mother, my beautiful mother. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn’t say a word. Then I heard a voice calling for help. Wylie’s voice…”
“Adrian, do you have anything with you besides Wylie’s Dracosinum?”
“Yes,” Adrian responded. “I carry my own and Lord Jameston’s as well.”
“You have Lord Jameston’s Dracosinum? Then that’s it, Adrian! That’s where she is! You must break the spell and free her! I don’t know how you heard her through dark magic, but that is clearly what happened. I couldn’t even hear her. You are special, you must free her. Reach inside yourself and find whatever it was that helped you escape certain death and find a way to free her.”! Quincy’s voice was parent-like and demanding. “I don’t…” Adrian was about to say he didn’t know how, but as he thought back about what happened in the water when his memory got clearer. He knew somehow inside him was the knowledge of how to perform magic. Think Adrian, think.
“Help me, please! I can feel the darkness closing in. I don’t think I can hold on much longer.”
“Wylie?” Her voice had come once more, unexpectedly into his mind, but it was her nonetheless. She sounded so frail and scared.
“Wylie? Is that really you?”
“Adrian, please hurry. I need you.” It was all he needed; he felt the burning sensation in his stomach that signaled something was about to happen, even if he didn’t know what.
The rapidly building fire spread throughout his entire being, encapsulating his arms, his head, his entire being.
“I must free her! No matter the cost!” He shouted out loud
. The fire that had gathered inside him burst out of him in shower of orange and red sparks that rained over himself and the Dracosinums. Wylie’s device popped open with a satisfying click, and Quincy darted out, shaking himself as if he was a wet dog.
Jameston’s Dracosinum rose into the air and darted back and forth as if fighting its destiny. Adrian focused all his energy on it, and the shower of sparks and magic fire pummeled it directly like arrows trying to break through the surface. It shook under the onslaught, finally bursting open, and then falling to the ground. Adrian focused his anger and raised it up using the sparks and then dashed it into the ground. This time, its lovely dark titanium case shattered into pieces.
The sight of it shattering was shocking. In the history of the world no event has ever been known to shatter titanium so profoundly. When the dust settled around them, Quincy had grown to the size of a large cat, and sat on the ground staring expectantly at Adrian, his little clockwork parts whirring and ticking in the silence.
“I’ve never noticed that,” Adrian stated, watching the cogs that made up Quincy shift and whirl this way and that.
“Yes, well, you couldn’t see me for what I really was.” The little clockwork dragon chuckled. “By golly, Adrian. You rascal, you. You did it.” Quincy thought to himself, Love truly does beat all, doesn’t it?
Adrian smiled in response before noticing a tiny blue light orb dancing and waving in front of him.
“Wylie?” He asked cautiously, unsure of how to react to the thing that in no way, shape, or form resembled a human.
It danced up and down excitedly.
Adrian? The Wylie orb asked, her voice having lost its vibrancy, he could barely hear her speak in his mind.
“Yes, it’s me.” He spread out the expanse of his wings, suddenly aware that he had no idea how to take on his human form again.
“I’d wait on that if I were you, Adrian.” Quincy spoke up, meandering over to him. “I doubt the danger has fully passed and I’m positive you’re of more use to us as a phoenix than a human. Not meaning any offense, of course.”
“I understand.” Adrian nodded his head. He agreed with Quincy on every level, he just wanted to put the Wylie orb at ease.
“What happened to you, Adrian? Please don’t tell me that you’re sentenced to this for life?”
“No, well, in all honesty, my love, I don’t have the slightest idea how long I am meant to be like this. The Immortal Ones made me this way so that I could aid you in restoring the balance. Jameston has done so many terrible things, and then when you died, there was no one around to stop him. I wanted so desperately to help. What they have done allows me to help.”
“At least until we reunite your Teselym form with your human body again which is going to be buried today.”
“What?” Wylie cried out. “Has it been three days already? I lost track of time in there, in Jameston’s Dracosinum of death, it was so dark, so heavy. I cannot even… Oh, Adrian.” Her voice was growing weaker by the moment.
“Wylie, what is happening to you?”
“I need to be reunited with my body. As soon as possible, please Adrian.” The gentle bouncing orb, began to drift slowly downwards as if it was losing the energy to remain floating in the air.
Adrian grabbed Wylie’s open Dracosinum and used it to catch her essence before he closed it and hung it around his neck. Turning his back on Jameston’s Dracosinum, he headed toward the broken window they had entered through.
Chapter Sixteen
The sudden clanging of chain, and the breaking of the lock, drew Adrian’s attention to the front of the invention barn.
“Tut, tut. Not so fast, Adrian. You have something of mine.” Jacob stood inside the door, his mouth turned up in a malicious grin. Next to him stood Jameston.
Adrian extended his wings as wide as he could to appear threatening.
“How do you know who I am?”
Jacob offered a carefree laugh.
“Oh Adrian, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.” The door to the barn creaked loudly, as Jacob pulled it open to reveal Cyrus lying on the ground, blood dripping from his head.
“Cyrus!”
“Humph. Let’s try to focus, shall we?” Jameston said, his eyes meeting Adrian’s. He had expected to see something more there, but all Adrian could see for sure was fear. Jameston was scared though Adrian had no idea why. As far as he could see, Jacob and Jameston had the upper hand. He would not risk Wylie’s well-being. So, he was limited in his response if it came down to fighting the two of them.
Adrian had no idea what kind of magic Quincy was capable of, but he imagined it wasn’t much if Quincy wasn’t even able to break the spell on Wylie’s Dracosinum. The situation was growing dire indeed, and Adrian had no idea what he was going to do about it.
“Well, this is a nice surprise, Jameston. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Well, first off, you took something of mine. Second, I’m not letting you and Wylie out of my sight for a second time. Not unless it’s in a box on its way into the ground. Which, judging by the coffin I saw being carted into the inn, I am getting half my wish as we speak,” Jameston said smugly as he glanced quickly between Jacob and Adrian.
“What? No!” Adrian jumped into the air and flew quickly toward the door. Jacob whirled his hands around in the air as if throwing something. The door slammed closed, abruptly stopping Adrian in his flight path. “What in the…” He turned around, midair, to see Jacob eyeing him malevolently.
“Sorry, Adrian. Like I said, you have something that belongs to me, and you’re not getting out of here until you hand it over. So why don’t you just do that right now and save yourself some serious trouble?”
“Jacob? I don’t understand.” Adrian was truly confused. Jacob was just a boy. He couldn’t have been more than seventeen, possibly eighteen. What is happening?
“See, that’s where you have it wrong. I’m much older than that, centuries older as a matter of fact. I’m so old, I doubt your tiny mind could count that high.” Jacob was still smiling, but his voice came out in a hissing noise between his teeth.
Taken aback that Jacob had been able to read his mind and fearful of what that could mean, Adrian knew he had to work fast.
“Quincy! Out the window!” The clockwork dragon immediately perked up, nodded his head at Adrian and flew towards the broken window. Adrian balled up as much fiery energy as he could muster, and when he had it pinpointed in his mind, focused it on Jacob. Adrian’s feathers flared up, liquid fire dripping from every feather. He took aim at his former stable hand and let him have it.
The size of the fireball that burst from Adrian’s body was shocking, even to him. Taking advantage of what he thought would be a huge impact and effective diversion, he flew towards the back window following Quincy.
“Pitiful, Adrian. You think you have any power against me? I can control water.” Jacob’s voice rose louder. “So as powerful as you think you are, you’re no match for me!” Adrian realized then the evil laughter and the watery hand that had tried to drag him to his death had been Jacob all along.
Adrian tried to fight against it, but he felt weak. He could feel his body being pulled backwards as if by a magnet and he knew he had to save Wylie. Using the tip of his wing like a hand, he plucked Wylie’s Dracosinum from his neck.
“Quincy!” he yelled. “Reunite her!” and he threw the magical device at Quincy with all his might. Behind him, Jameston and Jacob both yelled out in unison. “No!”
Quincy caught the Dracosinum in his teeth and immediately shrank small enough to fly out of the window. As soon as he was out of sight, he made himself the size of a flea and the Dracosinum shrank right along with him. Quincy couldn’t risk trying to unite Wylie and her body at that precise moment. If her body was being put into a coffin and buried, Quincy worried she would run out of air, and he would end up killing her by reuniting her essence with her human body too soon.
No, it would be best for me to w
ait. He flew up to a nearby tree, and listened with his mind to what was occurring inside, knowing he would not be allowed to step in, even if he wanted to.
“Adrian! Impudent fool. Why did you do that? If he succeeds, you’ll destroy my plans and I’ll be forced to kill you both!” Jacob turned to Jameston, “Go, find him. Do not let him reunite Wylie’s essence with her body. Do you understand?” Adrian could see that Jameston was quaking in fear.
“Yes, sir.”
“Off with you. I’ll take care of this one.” Jameston nodded and hurried out the open barn door. When he had disappeared, Jacob turned his sinister eyes back upon Adrian. “I suppose you’re curious as to what’s going on?”
Adrian nodded, but kept his eyes focused on Jacob, unsure what he might do next. I only hope that Quincy will be able to reach Wylie and reunite her essence with her human body and her Teselym form so that she can restore the balance of good in the world before it was too late.
“What big plans you do reveal. If Wylie is united with her Teselym form, I will kill her instantly. Do you understand that? She’s as good as dead, and you won’t be able to stop me, because you will already be dead. Do you understand?”
Adrian nodded his head again.
Chapter Seventeen
Adrian struggled to wrap his mind around the situation. So Jacob is not who he says he is. Fine, but why would he want Wylie and I dead? We’ve done nothing but show him kindness.
“Might I simply ask why you wish such malevolence toward me? Toward Wylie?”
“Oh, but of course. Let me explain. Long before the world began, I resided with the Immortal Ones and I was the most beautiful and beloved being in all the heavens. When I sang, all the Earth and even otherworldly beings stopped to listen. I had such plans, such plans of grandeur.”
“In fact, I began to enact some of those plans, I was the reason there was war. I was the reason for battle and death. You stupid, small-minded humans. You’ll believe anything tossed into your puny minds. People began to fight and kill each other off, all at my suggestion. It was quite glorious! The Immortal Ones were beside themselves. Why had humankind turned on itself? They asked time and time again.
The Phoenix Lord (The Dracosinum Tales) Page 12