Anomaly

by Scott Prussing

  CHAPTER 39

  THE FORCE OF THE FLAMES washes across me like a gale force wind. Surprisingly, I feel very little heat, no more than when the hot Santa Ana winds blow into San Diego from the desert. Wrapped in the plume of fire, I see the world as if looking through orange-tinted glasses. Somehow, without understanding why, I know what I need to do. The feeling is completely new to me, completely foreign to anything in my life before. Knowing without truly knowing is the best I can describe it. It’s as if a voice inside my head is whispering to me, telling me what I must do an instant before I do it. It’s not really a voice, though—it’s more like a feeling that guides me.

  At last, I’m beginning to understand what it’s like to have a Power.

  I quickly turn my head toward Kai, who is still clutching my upper arm. He’s staring at me wide-eyed, his face glowing bright orange in the fire.

  “Don’t let go of me,” I shout, trying to make sure he hears me above the roaring flames. “Whatever you do, DO NOT LET GO!”

  He nods, and I feel his grip tighten around my bicep. He has even less understanding of what’s happening than I do, but he knows one thing for certain—that if he lets go, he’ll be burned to cinders in an instant.

  The balrog’s fire blankets us for another few moments before finally subsiding. The monster lands in front of us with a thud that seems to shake the earth. Its fire cannot harm us, but the danger is by no means ended.

  The lava dragon is at least thirty feet long and towers over us. Its gaping jaws are as large as a full-grown man and filled with rows of glistening, scythe-like teeth. The four wicked-looking claws curving down from the end of each foreleg seem almost as long as my arm. Any one of them could cut a person in two.

  Kai lets go of my arm and fits an arrow to his bow. We both know the missile will be useless against a foe like this, but Kai will not go down without a fight.

  Once again, the voice-like feeling inside my head guides me. I extend my arm toward the beast, palm forward. For an instant, my hand seems to glow white hot, then a stream of yellow-orange fire streaks from my hand straight into the balrog’s open mouth. The lava dragon is a creature of fire. It lives in a volcano and breathes flames. But the fire from my hand is hotter than anything the balrog has ever known. I’m using its own fire against it, absorbed by my Power and now concentrated into a narrow beam that multiplies the heat ten-fold.

  The monster bellows in agony as the fire sears its throat. Wracked with pain, it rears up onto its hind legs, exposing its belly. My fire beam travels down the beast’s neck and along its less-protected underside, splitting it open. Boiling blood gushes from the wound, hissing like a nest of giant snakes as it strikes the cool earth.

  Along with the blood, dozens of yellowish oblong spheres the size of beach balls tumble from the balrog’s belly. With one last agonized roar, the monster crashes to the ground, dead.

  Kai spins around to face the Marines gathered behind us. “Destroy those things,” he yells, pointing back to the yellow orbs. “Destroy them now!”

  The Marines rush forward and open fire, sending hundreds of bullets blasting into the spheres, cracking them open. The gunfire doesn’t cease until all the objects have been obliterated. Dark, unrecognizable forms lie amongst the shattered spheres.

  My dad and the Miracles crowd close around Kai and me. Before they can say anything, I turn to Kai.

  “What were those things?”

  Everyone looks to Kai for his response.

  “Eggs,” he replies. “They were balrog eggs. Had they hatched, your world would have been infected by a plague of lava dragons that would certainly have ended life as you know it. Perhaps this was the disaster that was foretold, the one you needed to prevent.”

  Radar wraps me up in a tight hug. “Didn’t I tell you, Leah?” she crows. “Didn’t I say you’d have the biggest and baddest Power of us all? You killed a freaking lava dragon, for chrissakes!”

  “We need to think of a nickname for her,” Plush says. “How about Fire? Or Flame?”

  “I vote for Lava,” Doc says. “It’s close to her real name.”

  “I think we should call her Hot Stuff,” Sneak says, grinning.

  I slap the top of his head playfully. “We can think about a name later,” I say to everyone. “Right now, we need to go check out the Anomaly, just in case the balrog WASN’T the disaster we were warned about.” I fasten my gaze on Sneak. “My nickname will NOT be Hot Stuff, though.”

  Sneak grins again and turns away.

  Avoiding the still steaming remains of the balrog and its eggs, we hurry toward the cell block building. There’s no need to look for a door—we simply step over a crumbled section of wall that’s only three feet high.

  The space inside the destroyed walls is filled with mangled machines of unimaginable complexity, but we pay little attention to them. Instead, our eyes are fixed on the giant portal in the middle of the wreckage. From this close, the shimmering of its edges is more apparent, and we can hear a low hum that must originate from its vibrations. The Anomaly is as black and empty as anything I’ve ever seen, almost as if it swallows light like the black holes in space I’ve read about in astronomy books.

  Dad pulls his eyes from the portal and looks around the huge area within the walls.

  “None of these machines look like they’ve worked in years,” he says. “I doubt they have anything to do with the portal now. It seems to be self-sustaining.” He looks at me and flashes a wry smile. “We could use your mom right about now. Maybe she could figure something out.”

  I return his smile. If anyone would know what to do here, it would be my brainiac mother. She’s five hundred miles away, though, so it’s up to us.

  We all move forward until we’re about twenty feet from the portal. From here, I can feel the thing’s immense energy. Nobody seems to want to get any closer, and I don’t blame them.

  “Maybe I can get inside it,” Lieutenant Gregerson offers. “I might see something from the other side that we can’t see from here.”

  Kai shakes his head. “You can’t enter it,” he says. “You can’t even touch it. To do so would be instantly fatal.”

  “Nobody’s going into that thing,” Dad agrees. “It’s way too dangerous. We’ll save that as a last resort.”

  The lieutenant’s suggestion gives me an idea.

  “Lights, can you send some of your light balls into it? Maybe they’ll show us something.”

  Lights edges a step closer to the portal. “Sure can,” he says. His eyes begin to glow gold as he forms a luminescent yellow sphere with each hand and sends them floating toward the Anomaly.

  We all watch carefully as the glowing orbs approach the portal. When they touch the blackness, they simply disappear. They don’t flash, or fade out, or make any sound—they’re just gone, as if they never existed.

  “So much for that,” Rerun says. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to light up the inside of that thing.”

  “Just a second,” Lights says. “Let me try my eyebeam. It’s way more concentrated than the light balls.”

  He stares hard at the portal, squinting slightly as his eyes start to glow again, much brighter this time. A moment later, a narrow beam of bright yellow light shoots from his eyes.

  What happens next is totally unexpected. The light doesn’t penetrate the sphere, nor does it disappear like the globes did. Instead, the beam splits apart and spreads across the surface, looking like a rapidly growing spider web of yellow cracks. The light seems to have no effect on the portal, however, and we still can’t see inside the blackness.

  The image combines with the new thing inside my head to give me an idea.

  “Move back, everyone,” I say. “I want to try something.”

  Dad studies my face for a moment, then signals everyone to step back.

  I raise my arm and point my palm toward the Anomaly, calling upon my newfound Power to unleash more of the dragon fire still stored inside me.


  Once again, yellow-orange fire shoots from my hand, striking the outer edge of the portal with an audible hiss. For a moment, nothing happens, but then the fire begins to spread over the surface of the black globe, turning the area it touches to a dull orange. A crackling sound fills the air, growing louder with every second as the orange area expands and consumes more of the black. I continue sending dragon fire at the portal until suddenly, with a loud boom, the Anomaly vanishes.

  My friends crowd around me, hugging me and clapping me upon the back in congratulations. Even though I know they’ve always considered me to be one of them, I finally feel like I deserve the title of Miracle.

  “You freaking did it,” Radar gushes. “You killed the Anomaly!”

  “Way to go, Hot Stuff,” Sneak adds, grinning.

  I give him a withering look. “Unless you want some fire sent your way, buddy, that had better be the last time I hear that name.”

  Sneak abruptly vanishes, taking no chances I might be serious.

  Dad squeezes his way through my friends and wraps me up in a loving hug.

  “Good job, sweetheart,” he says. “Well done, indeed.”

  I’m feeling totally warm inside, and it has nothing to do with any dragon fire.

  Before I can reply, Radar shouts, “Anomaly!” She points to a spot just a few feet to our left. “Right there!”

  My heart sinks as we quickly back up. I can’t believe we’re still not finished, and that another portal could open up so close to the one I just destroyed.

  The Marines form an arc around the spot Radar indicated, guns and flamethrowers ready for whatever might come through. The air begins to shimmer and a black portal pops open. This one is the smallest I’ve ever seen, barely the height of a person. We wait anxiously. For a long moment, nothing happens.

  “Do not be afraid,” says a disembodied female voice from within the Anomaly. “Nothing will be entering your world through this portal. I opened it so that we might talk.”

  We edge closer. Still, we can see nothing inside but empty blackness. I’m pretty sure I know who is speaking to us, though. A glance at Kai’s face confirms my guess.

  “You’re the one that sent Kai and the mermaids to help us, right?” I say toward the portal, brushing aside the strangeness of speaking to a black hole.

  “Yes, I am,” replies the voice.

  “Then have we done what we needed to do? Has closing the original portal saved our world?”

  “Yes, it has. You have made your world safe, for the time being at least.” She pauses for a moment, but there’s something in her tone that tells me there’s more to come. Finally, she continues. “Now, will you come and help save ours?”

  ####

  If you’d like to read more magical fantasy by Scott Prussing, try Breathless, Book One in his paranormal romance Blue Fire Saga.

  Check out what reviewers have been saying about Breathless:

  “Scott Prussing’s use of vivid visual details and captivating, moving characters made it very easy to step into the story. The characters are brilliantly built into the tale and are impossible to forget. I was so emotionally connected to the characters I wanted to contact the author to find out what happened next. Breathless is a truly captivating read.” ~ VampireRomanceBooks.com

  “The storyline of Breathless was different and new and the vampires were as well. I was excited that it was not all the same old vampire stuff I've read, nor was the love story in the book the same as most. Yes, there was an awesome love story for sure and I was excited to be a part of it, it made me happy and sad all at once. The book was for sure a page turner. When I finished, I wanted more. You will not be disappointed!!!” ~ Paranormal Book Club

  “Mr. Prussing writes an amazing tale with this wonderful fantasy and romance novel. Breathless has a refreshing view of vampires and is filled with mystery and intrigue. Prussing scores a big win with this book. Breathless is truly a book you will fall in love with and want to read over and over again.” ~ Bite This! Vampire Book Blog

  “This book has its own unique quality; it takes you on a spellbinding adventure. A story of passion, young forbidden love, danger, vampires—it captures the reader and does leave them truly Breathless… The characters are just amazing. Most of the time it felt like I was right there with them.” ~ Sassy Book Lovers.com

  “Breathless is an excellent book. I could hardly put it down and kept reading to find out what was going to happen next. The chemistry between Leesa and Rave is wonderful. They play off each other brilliantly. I can't wait for the next book in this series.” ~ ReadersFavorite.com

  “I have to give kudos to Scott Prussing for writing a book that, although it includes vampires, has managed to break away from the same old over-worked concepts and instead puts a new and creative spin on things. With straight forward prose and a fresh perspective, there are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very last page has been turned.” ~ BookFetish.org

  “I like the one-fanged vampire hook!!! With a descriptive writing style, Scott Prussing delivers a refreshing spin on vampire reads. What I love about Breathless are the twists and turns, and that the characters are well developed and believable, with issues, just like us. One-liners made me chuckle out loud to myself more than once. I would recommend this book to any vampire reader who is looking for a new spin in vampire reads.” ~ Lovetiggi’s Book Reviews

  Click here to visit Breathless on Smashwords.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Scott Prussing was born in New Jersey, but was smart enough to move to beautiful San Diego, California as soon as he received his Master's degree in psychology from Yale University. In addition to Anomaly, Scott is the author of the six book (so far) paranormal romance series the Blue Fire Saga. He also wrote Blue Fire Heat, an erotic companion piece to the Blue Fire Saga, and Blue Fire Beginnings, a collection of short stories recounting the origin of some favorite Blue Fire Saga characters. He is also the author of the mystery/suspense novels Unturned Stones and Tangled Webs, the fantasy/adventure novel Dreams of the Last Born, and the teen romance Mine: A Love Story, whose plot is based on the hit songs of Taylor Swift. Writing under the name S. T. Prussing, Scott penned the three-book Letting Go erotica series.

  Besides writing, Scott enjoys riding his bicycle at the beach, going to the movies, reading books of all sorts, hiking and golf. He remains one of the few people in the United States without a cell phone.

  Learn about all of Scott’s books at http://www.scottprussing.com.

  Scott loves to interact with his fans and has placed many of them into his books as characters. Anomaly is filled with them. Leah, Kristin (Radar), Kai, two of the mermaids and two dolphins are just some of them.