by Donica Covey
"Keely?"
"Oh, sorry. I was just curious. Renee, Di and I went out last night and I ... ended up in a park. It seemed kind of familiar and I was trying to figure out why."
Her mother's laugh came across the line. “Sweetie, I doubt very much you remember the place. You were only three."
"Right, yeah, of course."
"Aldmakeelia, danger," the voice shouted in her mind and her head nearly split from the pain.
She sucked in a breath and almost dropped the phone. “Damn,” she whispered as she grasped her head and squeezed tightly.
"Keely what happened? Are you all right?"
"I'm getting a migraine. I'm sorry, Mom, I have to go. Love to you and Dad. Bye.” She didn't bother waiting for her mother's parting words but clicked the phone off. Her head was pounding and her skull felt like a burning sword slicing it apart.
She went for an aspirin and heard a noise outside the door as she passed. A faint knocking began. She looked out the peephole. There was no one there. Keely turned away.
In front of her eyes her attacker appeared. The same man from the park. She darted her gaze from his evil face to the front door and back again. How had he got in? He menaced closer a nasty grin on his lips. She opened her mouth to scream but couldn't utter a sound.
Red rings appeared around the irises and he soon looked the part of a demon from hell.
"No!” she finally found her voice, screamed and took a running step away. She ran into an invisible barrier blocking her path. She tried but couldn't get around it. The man's iron grip clamped around her wrist and yanked her backwards.
"Time to go back Aldmakeelia,” a woman's voice said. It was a different voice than earlier. She jerked around, trying to break free.
A screeching laugh filled the room and Keely was stunned to see a woman appear just as the attacker had. She was almost the same size as Keely. She had an olive complexion and her eyes began to glow red as the man's.
"What do you want?” Keely shouted. She jerked her arm trying to break his vise like grip on her arm but couldn't escape. “Please. Please let me go. I don't have much money but you can have what I've got. Take anything you want, but please let me go."
"The only thing we want is you."
At the woman's evil grin, a sickening terror welled up from her stomach and began to cut off her breath. Keely's heart hammered in her chest and goose flesh rippled along her skin. What were they going to do to her?
The woman stopped in her tracks then turned to the man. “We've got to hurry. If we don't, he'll arrive and ruin everything. We need to reach the vortex."
The words swam in Keely's mind. Him? Vortex? “I don't understand. Please let me go.” Again she yanked back on her arm. Again to no avail.
"Be quiet,” the woman's voice roared in her ears and her head once more felt like it would shatter.
Dread stunned Keely into silence. The man who held her was watching her with heat in his eyes. This couldn't be happening. She tried to keep the terror at bay but it was no use, it filled every cell in her body.
The woman threw a hand in the air. “Blacdrake senses the fear. We must hurry so he will follow us and through the portal."
Blacdrake? Portals? “What the hell is going on?” Keely demanded in a piercing scream.
The woman opened her hand and slapped Keely across the face. “I said be quiet."
The man clamped his free hand over her mouth. Keely stopped moving, her heart slamming triple time beat into the walls of her chest. Blood pounded through her ears. The man's hand was smothering her. She couldn't breath. Panic kicked her back into action but the struggling was just as futile as before. She inhaled but her breathing was nearly choked off by the large hand clamped tightly over her mouth. Her lungs burned. Blackness gathered on the edge of her vision. The world spun.
* * * *
Xavier felt terror but it wasn't his, or his mother's. It was Keely's. He jumped up and ran out the door to the garage. The tires on his Porsche squealed as he sped out the garage and down the street. He didn't know where he was going but for some reason he knew how to get there. He stopped in front of what he somehow sensed was her building, leapt from the car, then sprinted up the steps.
He threw all his weight into the apartment door. It gave way easily. There was a lamp smashed on the floor and an overturned chair; all clues that she had put up a struggle. Had her attacker stalked her home from the hospital?
A feeling of absolute terror rushed in a wave over him and he froze in place. He was sure she was standing next to him, but as he spun in all directions she wasn't anywhere to be seen. After several seconds the feeling faded and it was as if she was getting further and further away from him.
"Return to the park, Xiuhcoatl. She needs you," a voice directed him.
He raced back down the steps and drove the car like a madman along the many twists and turns. He ran across the lush grass and slammed to a stop at a large oak tree.
A woman dressed in strange robes stood near a swirling pattern of blackness. She turned to him. “This is the only way to save her. You must enter or she will die. Hurry Blacdrake, hurry so that she may live.” The woman grasped his hand and tugged him toward the swirling hole.
There was no time to consider any other alternative. Xavier followed the woman into the abyss and the ground fell away. He was suddenly floating, suspended from nothing. He would have been confused and more than a little uneasy if not for Keely's panic filling his mind. In less than heartbeat he was standing on dirt in dark cavern. The image of a child being dragged by his mother shot through his mind. This was the cavern in his vision.
He turned to the woman who had led him here. “Where am I?” He spun on his heel. “Where is Keely?"
She closed her eyes and placed a hand on his arm. “Xiuhcoatl Blacdrake you are home."
"What did you call me?"
"Merely your name. You are Xiuhcoatl Blacdrake."
His mind whirled in massive confusion. How the hell had he gotten here, where was here? “Where is she?"
"I don't know. But you can find her. Use the magic that is your birthright, focus on her and it will lead her to you."
"Wait. Magic? Birthright? What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?"
"I am the Seer. An oracle, if you will. I see future events, past events, I can read minds. I can serve you well."
"If you're so powerful Seer, then tell me where she is,” he sneered.
"You must do this for yourself Xiuhcoatl. Search your mind, search your memories. Close your eyes and picture her. You already feel a connection. Embrace it, encourage it, let it envelope you. The power to find her, to save her is your own. Let it awaken."
He felt Keely's pain and could sense the man's none-to-gentle-touches. Images of her being raped filled his mind. Rage suffused him. She was his. “How do I find her?"
"As you found her before, in the park. The way you found her home. Concentrate, let your heart guide you to her."
Xavier opened his mind and focused on Keely's pleas for help. The magnetic pull led him off into the cavern. The twists and turns of the path didn't confuse him. He knew this place as well as he knew his own hands.
The path led to an open chamber. He stopped in the opening. In the center of the room, his heart tried to lurch from his chest. A man held Keely to the ground, straddling her legs with his own. His hands were groping her breasts. She silently cried while straining to break free.
Anger surged and fire shot from Xavier's hands. “Leave her alone!"
The man turned, his eyes widened with shock. He rose from the ground, jerking Keely up with him. He spun her around, placing her ahead of him. Keely's face was stark white, her eyes round saucers, and even from the feet separating them he could hear her heart pounding.
"I will kill her if you come any closer."
It seemed as if the man's eyes peered at something behind Xavier, but he refused to turn around. His attention was riveted to the scene before him
. He stepped closer and then paused. He met Keely's fear-filled lavender eyes.
"Keely, focus on him. Think of him releasing you." He urged the mental words toward her. She shot him a look that said she'd heard his silent urging.
Her eyes closed and before Xavier could blink she'd slid out of her captor's grasp. A silver dagger appeared in her hand. She whirled to face the man and without second thought, thrust the knife into his chest. She stumbled backwards and Xavier caught her in his arms. He held her tightly as the man dropped to his knees. Blood bubbled from the corners of his lips but no words came, only the gurgle of blood in his throat. Then he fell forward, his face thudding on the hard-packed dirt floor.
Xavier turned Keely into his chest and held her close. “Are you hurt?"
"No.” Keely's confusion filled her voice. “What happened?"
He pulled her back to arm's length and looked into her eyes. They were lighter than before. “I'm not sure if I know."
"How did you get me the knife? How did I hear you when you didn't speak?"
"I don't know, Keely. I have no idea what's happened to us. I don't even know where we are."
* * * * s
The Seer quickly checked her altered appearance. She ran her hands through her dark hair and the strands lightened from deep brown to white-blonde. It wouldn't do for the girl to see her true form.
The Seer stepped out from behind Xiuhcoatl. She took no small pleasure in the way the girl shivered in Xiuhcoatl's arms. “You are home in Grogan. Now that you are back you can fulfill the prophecy and save us from the tyrant King Alistair Montrose."
"Who? What is all this? Where are we?” Xiuhcoatl asked again.
"This is tiresome.” The Seer motioned for them to follow her to a second chamber. The cool darkened room was illuminated. Rocks formed long benches into the walls and she urged them to sit.
"Before I explain, Aldmakeelia, you need to take a moment to breathe.” She motioned into the air and produced a chalice of cool water. She pulled some herbs from the pocket on her robe and sprinkled them in the water. “Sip this, it will help calm you."
She handed to chalice to Keely who eyed it skeptically as she accepted it. “What did you put in it?"
"Merely peace-inducing herbs. Maldeca, Jungroot, and Uniforca.” The Seer placed the cup to her lips and took a drink. “See, nothing harmful.” She handed the cup back to the girl.
"I don't understand. How did we get here? Wherever here is?” Keely turned to face Xavier. “What is he doing here? How did he find us? What did that man want?” Images of her attack flooded her. “I know what that man wanted,” she murmured softly and the glass tipped in her trembling hand.
"Drink,” the Seer urged gently. Lull them into a sense of peace, then strike. If she made one small misstep Xiuhcoatl would kill her to protect the girl.
After several seconds, Keely sipped the contents.
"Now for the explanation. Many years ago King Montrose and his dark forces swept over the country. He craved power. He yearned to rule, alone. His forces attacked en masse killing all who refused to capitulate to his will. He murdered his rivals, wiping out entire clans. But the power over his land of Kimoore wasn't enough. He had to rule the entirety of Grogan. He made it his mission to destroy all houses of royalty so that he would have no competition for the crown.
"Only two houses could truly stop him: Alicorno and Draco. The houses of Unicorn and Dragon. According to prophecy a union between the unicorn and the dragon would result in more power than this world has ever seen. They would defeat Montrose. Their reign would be just and peaceful. Their descendants would grow in power and this world would change from the desolate land it has become, into a lush world filled with harmony. No one would starve. There would be an end to bloodshed and war."
She watched the pair exchange unconvinced glances. “Xiuhcoatl, when confronted with Vrono's brutality you were able to summon your magic and shoot fire from your hands. It is part of your power, your birthright. You have many gifts. You can control the weather: bring on rain, lightning and thunder. You have the ability to see clearly in the darkest of night. And it is plain that you and she are lifemates; how else could you explain the telepathic message you sent her?"
He seemed to consider her words. “It's not possible. I'm just a man."
She shook her head. “Oh no, you are so much more than that. You are a king. Search your heart, Xiuhcoatl."
"Stop calling me that. My name is Xavier Blake."
She nodded. “That is the name you were given by the parents who raised and love you. But the parents who bore you, the ones who took you to safety, who loved you more than their own lives, gave you the name Xiuhcoatl Blacdrake."
She faced the girl. “You are Aldmakeelia Alicorno and you are destined to be queen. Even now the powers you hold grow. Your eyes prove it. As the magic gets stronger, so your eyes lighten."
The Seer pierced the girl's thoughts. Although Aldmakeelia merely frowned on the surface, her mind was whirling, trying to accept the pieces and complete the puzzle. “If that's true, what are my powers?"
"Teleportation. Imagine an object, any object and it will appear."
The girl shook her head but closed her eyes.
"You don't have to close your eyes. Just think."
"A queen and king need crowns,” she smirked but when the jeweled objects appeared in her hands she trembled and they dropped to the floor. “What the hell?"
"Your magic. You can make anything you wish appear. You are also telekinetic. You can move anything with your mind. You can heal with the touch of your hand."
"You both can also shift."
"Excuse me?” Blacdrake asked.
"You shape-shift. Blacdrake, you can shift into a dragon. Your lineage is descended from Basiliscus who came from the fire at the very core of our world. At will you can shift from this form to that of a large black dragon. Then you will be able to take to the sky and with the vision you have, will be able to spot something as small as a field mouse from as far as five hundred miles away."
She turned back to Aldmakeelia. “You have the power to shift into the form of a pure white unicorn."
She must be very careful how much she revealed to the girl. If all her powers developed fully then she could see the Seer in her true form and know that betrayal was imminent.
Aldmakeelia stood and paced the chambers. “Powers? Magic? I'm just a woman. A human, no-nonsense woman. If I was this all powerful being why couldn't I do magic before?"
"Your parents felt it would serve to protect you if they bound your powers. They would only begin to awaken when the time was right for a revolt. When Montrose would be at his most vulnerable. That time has come. This is why you found each other."
"I want to go home. I don't want any of this. I just want to be left in peace.” Aldmakeelia walked over to a crystal protruding from the rock wall. “My mom and dad must be going out of their minds missing me."
Xiuhcoatl nodded in agreement. He moved to stand beside the girl. “This is all very interesting but I have a life and I'm ready to return to it."
At least they didn't make inane comments about mind tricks, or spout out about disbelief. She'd come this far, it was time to see how much further she could push. Letting the girl return could be done but it wouldn't be wise. If the girl was allowed to leave, then at any point in time she could be summoned by Blacdrake. “I understand you care for your adoptive parents a great deal, both of you, but you must think of what you mean to this world. People who are in agony, starving and being tormented—you could save them. Please have mercy on us. If, after you defeat King Montrose, you still want to leave there will be no dispute. But please, stay and help us."
"This isn't my world.” He shot Aldmakeelia a glance and then shook his head. “Our world. We have families and friends we have to get back to."
"I just want to go home,” the girl muttered again.
The Seer was angry, but she hid it from them. She needed them, well h
im anyway, and the only way to get to him was through the little twit. “If that is your wish. The portal is this way."
She led them down the pathway to the large cavern and walked to the wall. She passed her hand in front of the rock and waited. She did it a second time then turned to look at them. “I don't understand it. My magic has opened this portal before. What has happened?” She fretted the hem of her robe sleeve. “I'm afraid there is no way to return you. At least not at this moment. I beg your forgiveness but I hadn't counted on my trip to take so much out of me. I will try again soon, I promise. For now may I take you some place more comfortable, maybe you'd like some food and wine?"
Aldmakeelia inhaled sharply and her disappointment was easily readable on her face. She turned an exhausted face to Xiuhcoatl. “I really want to go back."
The Seer watched as his arm stole around Aldmakeelia's waist. “We'll get back, I promise."
She nodded and turned to face the Seer. “I suppose there is nothing left for us but to go and rest."
The Seer turned to lead the way out of the cavern, a smile played on her lips. They really didn't have a choice in the matter. She wasn't going to let them go. Not now, not ever.
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Eight
Keely stayed close to Xavier as they followed the strange woman through the cave. They came to an opening with a large waterfall curtain. The Seer stepped through the water and Keely kept hold of Xavier's hand as they passed through and emerged atop a large boulder in the middle of a small river. Along the banks, deep green trees, unlike any she'd ever seen before, stood tall. Sunlight dappled the brush and grass beneath the majestic giants. She was amazed to find the sky was a strange periwinkle color.
Xavier was also gazing around with wonder on his face. Her mind spun out of control. This wasn't possible. It couldn't be real. “I'm going to wake up in my bed,” she mumbled. “Any minute now."
"Did you say something?” Xavier asked.
"I said that I'm dreaming and soon I'll wake up in my stuffy apartment to find all of this has been some kind of weird nightmare."