by Teresa Grant
“You should see your face, seriously!” she taunted with glee. “Yes, my dear, they really are people, people who have annoyed me for one reason or another through the years. Pity I never did figure out just how to get them back out again. A few ended up in there from rather rash decisions.
“Nevertheless, they still make lovely keepsakes. Don’t you think?”
“Come child, meet your father,” she called, motioning for Elise to step closer. “I keep him here behind me, so he can always see what he’s missing, spineless jellyfish that he is. If once he would have shown a little backbone. Descendant of Rhom, my ass! Ha! I still can’t believe it. I think I’ve done Rhom a favor removing this embarrassment for him. Look at him! Even now, is there any anger? Any defiance? No! Just that pathetic, ‘poor me’ expression. He has been pouting like that for years now. He at least used to talk to me. Maybe he will talk to you child? Come, let’s see.”
Turning, she addressed the mirror, “Allan, look, you have a visitor.”
Elise walked up to the giant gilded frame. It was the largest in the room.
Behind her, Darion was completely still. Even his labored breathing was quiet, as if he were holding his breath.
The mirror had a man in it, sitting with his back turned toward her. As Elise approached, he turned his head. The shame on his face was unbearable to witness. He looked like a man with more regrets than was humanly possible.
Elise just stared. Never could she have believed that this would be how she finally met her father. Despite the little she had been told, and the open disapproval from her grandfather and Branadon, a girl couldn’t help but hold a secret picture of her father as a gallant and noble knight in her imagination, especially once she had been told he was a descendant of ‘Rhom the Conqueror’ and all. Even if he turned out to be much less, she could have loved him anyhow, if only he had loved her back.
“Father?” she asked in the tiniest of voices, feeling as if she was transported back to when she was a child, begging her grandfather for answers.
Slowly the man got to his feet and reached beseechingly towards her. “Oh Elise, you look exactly like your mother. Natalia would have been so proud,” he whispered.
“Is what she said true?” Elise asked beseechingly, fearing the answer but needing to know.
Pointing towards the gloating witch behind her, she asked “Did you abandon me and my mother, for her?”
“It’s not that simple,” Allan tried. How many times had he regretted his decisions! He wished for death a million times a day, just to rid himself of the guilt he would carry forever in this cursed mirror.
“Enough, this isn’t nearly as much fun as I’d hoped!” Angelica interrupted. “I have an idea! Wouldn’t it be nice to spend eternity trying to make it up to your daughter, Allan? And Elise, just think of it, a lifetime to listen to the groveling and sniveling. I think you should join your father.”
She didn’t even make a sound. It was as though a window was suddenly opened and a gust of wind blew through the room making all the glass in the mirrors tremble, and then it was gone.
There was a tiny poof of smoke left in the form of a thin ribbon curling towards the ceiling. Nothing was left of Elise but a small pool of liquid where she used to be standing.
This was more than Darion could stand. With a roar he broke free of the already smoldering chains and pounced toward Angelica.
She was distracted, gloating over her fallen prey. She reached for a vile that she used to gather up the remains of her victims. She would then pour the liquid between the glass and presto, with a simple spell she had another living portrait.
Not this time!
The vile was knocked from her hand and smashed as the Dragon seized Angelica by the waist. “This isn’t possible!” she screamed. That scream was cut short as Darion’s mighty jaws clamped together severing the witch in half. Her blood was bitter on his tongue and Darion had no stomach to devour her. He spat the venomous taste from his mouth and began tearing the mangled body into shreds until nothing identifiable remained.
The Troll had fled as soon as those chains hit the floor.
Leaping to the front of Allan’s mirror, Darion stood there starring dumbly at the pool of liquid on the floor. It was slowly running into the cracks between the tiles. She was slipping away, and he did not know how to stop it.
Finally, Allan’s yelling penetrated Darion’s frenzied mind, “Quickly, drink it! Her life force is in that liquid! Don’t let her slip away!”
Not knowing what else to do, or able to process if this was not the sickest idea he had ever heard, Darion quickly slurped the puddle off the floor. He was immediately blinded by a splitting headache, and almost crushed the tiles as his body hit the floor in a dead faint. Elise’s crown slowly appeared fused to his head like a symbol of life that Elise was not gone.
As he slowly came around moments later, he could hear Elise’s father calling to him again. It sounded as though the room were full of voices. What shot his eyes wide open was the voice of Elise screaming inside his head, “Darion, what the Hell have you done? Where am I? What is going on?”
“Elise?” he asked, dumbfounded. “Elise, you’re in me! I didn’t know what else to do to save you… Hang on one minute… You’re Pregnant! You can’t keep that in here!
I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it. I don’t know what I’m saying!”
“Where the hell is my body, Darion!” Elise screamed, panic raising her voice to an ear-splitting level.
“Calm down Elise, you’re breaking my eardrums!” Darion yelled back, shaking his head as if to dispel her from his mind.
Slowly the other voices were beginning to sink into Darion’s already crowded brain. He could hear the others trapped in the mirrors along the walls; many were handsome warriors unlucky enough to have caught the Witch’s eye.
They were all screaming about the Scale.
Darion looked up.
The wall between them and The Scale had crumbled in the turmoil. There was a gigantic scale suspended way above them. Fynlaylyn had told them about it, but the size had to be seen to be believed. Pieces of the volcano were breaking off from the sides of the flute and tumbling down around him. The Scale was slowly beginning to tip.
All other thoughts were erased from his mind as he leapt into the air. There was nothing he could do to save the victims left behind in the hall, but he had to try to stop the destruction of Garr’s Scale.
Even through the mayhem, Elise was astounded by the Dragon’s strength, “Darion, this is amazing,” Elise cried, “I can fly… Watch out!”
Darion just missed a large piece of stone rocketing down like a missile. He beat his wings harder to make it to the top. There was no way he could have carried Elise up this steep of incline on his back. It was hard enough flying straight up without a run at it. He wasn’t sure if he could even make it himself.
“Of course you can make it!” Elise scolded. “Come on Darion, I’ll help!”
“She can read my mind?” Darion thought, as he felt Elise forcing more effort out of his muscles and giving him twice the strength that he previously had.
“And, Yes, I can read your mind! I’m in your mind! Now concentrate on what you’re doing! I’m not too comfortable with this idea myself you know.”
Together they strained Darion's poor body almost beyond its endurance. Floating in the middle of the massive fissure was a giant Scale made of gold. There were steps carved into the side of the cavern but there was no way anyone or anything could reach it, except by flight. There was no time to wonder how Angelica had sacrificed Sedric into it, let alone how it was ever controlled to begin with.
“We’ll never be able to save it!” Darion cried.
“Don’t be too sure about that, Darion.” Elise hollered with death defying determination.
Suddenly Darion knew!
The fire within was not evil as Angelica thought, nor was it the fire inside a Dragon. It was the fire of a woman’s maternal instinct to protect he
r young. Nothing on earth, or below it, could match the intensity of that adrenaline rush. He had never felt anything like it!
“My god!” He thought, "What would his beautiful wife Silina be like if she ever achieved an egg?"
Snapping back to the task at hand, Darion joined his will with Elise and together they were going to fix that thing. And, for the first time he really believed they could!
As they approached, they saw that the massive bowl on one half was filling with lava. Evil things roiled around and splashed in the porridge as it was about to overflow and ooze into the volcano’s depths. They knew if that happened, the lava would not stop until it rose and overflowed the volcano, spewing evil over all the world.
On the other side of The Scale, the bowl glowed with light, it looked weightless but solid. They flew to that side first and without knowing what to do, landed amongst the light. One large Dragon was not enough weight to help tip the Scales back to balance, but the light seemed to take heart from their presence and glowed stronger.
Darion could see an incandescent image of Elise floating away from him towards the center of the light. He could just barely make out the image of an ancient woman greeting her as they embraced. Slowly the light grew even more in strength and the Scale inched a tiny bit back towards level. The light seemed to delve into Darion’s memory and burn brighter as it touched on all the good things he and Elise had done, as if it were being reassured that not all was lost in the world, that goodness was still alive and strong in other areas of the land. He could feel the light had almost been smothered by evil and just about to give up. Hearing without any sound, Darion listened as the Mother Light informed Elise of what must be done.
The Mother Light looked upon the world as her young and protected it with the same maternal strength that Elise possessed right now.
“There is a valve my child, at the very bottom of the pit of evil. The Witch has somehow enlarged it allowing this travesty to take place. Your misty form will be able to penetrate the lava. With this light you take with you, you need only touch the valve to shrink it back to its proper proportions. Alas that I cannot do it myself, for Rhom did not allow that I should ever leave my post. May the light shine strong in you as you go forth.”
Darion was not certain if Elise could make it back through the quagmire of filth and corruption uncontaminated, and was about to protest, when a beam of light shone across the expanse and Elise’s shape glided along it to the other bowl. Looking back, she blew Darion a kiss of farewell.
Suddenly Darion knew… she meant to sacrifice herself.
Granted, there was not much left of Elise to bring home, but Darion had given Rylan his word! If there was even the hint of her spirit left, he was bringing it home! Someone, somewhere, would be able to put her back together again. Elise figured out how to divide the Shifters. She would just have to damn well figure out how to reestablish herself.
He leapt into the air as he watched Elise sink beneath the lava’s flames. Darion dove in after her slicing through the lava like a knife, his scales protecting him for the time being from the lava’s heat. They did not however protect him from the things that lived, struggling in the mire. The noise was deafening. The cries of agony mixed with the screams of sadistic joy were almost enough to drive him mad. He could not see to find Elise, nor, he only just realized, could he feel for her.
He let himself drift, conserving his energy while he tried to block out the things that groped at him, trying to pull him further and further below. Dragons could hold their breath for an extremely long time, flying at some altitudes required it, but he could not hold it forever. The only thing he could think of, was to concentrate on calling Elise. Since the Dividing had been completed, Elise rarely spoke to any of the Dragons telepathically. He did not even know if it would work in here, since Elise wasn’t physically there. All he really understood was that he would not surface if the girl were not with him.
Elise felt, rather than saw, Darion follow her into the bowl. Damn stubborn Dragon, she thought. She said goodbye. She had no body. She did not relish the thought of living like a leach or a parasite inside Darion as an uninvited guest. But, she realized the only way of saving her friend now, was to complete her task and return to him, consequences be damned.
It was so peaceful in this state. Nothing could harm her. She felt nothing.
Ahead of her was the valve. But sitting above it like a giant watchdog, was a Gargoyle. As she approached, he seemed to be the only one in this quagmire to be able to see through it as she could. He looked straight at her and sniffed as if to test the air around her. She couldn’t approach. “Who dares come? Rhom say, stay and guard! I guard!”
“But Rhom was on the side of the light you blasted oversized canine! Why would he leave a guardian to protect the evil? Let me pass! I am of the Light!” Elise commanded.
“Rhom say stay till he come back. I guard, no one enters,” he insisted stubbornly.
Elise argued back, “I do not wish to enter, only to put things right.”
“No! Only Rhom!” the thing demanded stubbornly.
“This is ridiculous,” she fumed. “Look at all the filth you’ve let come out of the valve already. What about that?” Elise chastised.
“I was commanded not let anyone in but him… not out,” the gargoyle replied logically.
“Maybe Rhom should have commissioned a slightly more intelligent guardian. Do you know what havoc you have caused? I am a descendant of Rhom. Let me pass! You must have let someone by. Who opened the valve?”
“Rhom open valve. I not question Rhom,” the gargoyle growled, starting to get edgy.
“How do you know it was Rhom?” Elise’s patience was wearing thin. She had to move faster before Darion ran out of breath. She was starting to draw the attention of the demons around her. They still could not touch her but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t figure out some way of obstructing her if she gave them enough time.
“Rhom see through like you. I smell him,” the gargoyle growled.
Slater! The worm!
How could Angelica have sent her own son into this hell?
“Then smell deep my friend, for Rhom’s blood flows thicker in my veins (when I had them) than it did in that fool who approached before. Quickly, this madness is over. I release you from your bonds.”
Suddenly she was free to pass, as she reached for the valve it began to shrink, but as the flow slowly eased, a gruesome figure tried to crawl from the diminishing entrance.
She recognized it as Slater. He reached for her, and she could not stop her form from drifting towards the rotted claws that used to be his hands. She felt herself being pulled into the opening by his essence.
“Darion!” she screamed hysterically in her mind. “Help me!”
Darion had been trying to call out to her with no effect, so it was quite a shock to hear her scream for help. He swam towards her call, squeezing his eyes tight and concentrating on the homing device they used to share. It was not the same, but there was enough left for him to follow. He still could not see her as he clawed his way through the thick soup of lava and demons, shredding any that got in his path.
Elise could see Darion coming closer. She fought with all her might to drift towards him, if she could get out of Sedric’s reach and simply touch Darion; she somehow knew it was the answer. Darion was beginning to run out of air. If he didn’t surface soon no one would be returning to Neglavale, or Arilonia, or anywhere.
“Darion, swipe your wings backwards!” Elise called frantically.
That did it! His massive wings scooped backwards and pulled the lava with Elise in it towards him. As her mist touched him, it was as if she passed right through him. All was dark to her again as she realized she was back within the Dragon.
“Swim Darion! Move it! I can feel your lungs are about to burst,” she screamed, forcing more power into his exhausted limbs.
Darion gave it all he had as he used his legs and wings to pull himself towa
rds the surface. His head broke through heaving air into his tortured lungs, but it was some time before he was able to haul his bulk towards the edge of the bowl and drag himself out. Demons clung to him and scrambled up his back. He gave himself a mighty shake like a wet dog, but instead of water, the lava sprayed away from him like sheets of rain.
Frustrated he found that the demons were a little tougher to get rid of. Every time he blew fire at them it only made them laugh and call for more. Finally, he just leapt from the bowl, circling above, he barrel-rolled until all the final passengers were dislodged.
Already Darion could see the Mother Light standing taller and giving off a stronger and stronger light. Garr’s Scale was decidedly better and hopefully in time would return to balance.
As he spiraled down to the cavern floor, he assured Elise that their first stop would be the hall of mirrors. There had to be something they could do for those poor souls, but as he approached, he could see the hall lay in ruin.
Great boulders had landed everywhere smashing everything in sight. Just to be certain, Darion flew to the front of the hall, but all that was left of the huge gilded mirror was a portion of the frame and a few shards of glass that tumbled to the floor.
“I’m so sorry Elise,” Darion said. “I wish you could have met your father under better circumstances.”
It was not like having a shifter inside, Darion thought. He could hear her thoughts as well as what she spoke to him. Right now, he felt like an intruder as he tried not to hear what her mind thought about her father.
Darion flew down the hall hoping to find the lever the Witch had used to open the gates. Thunder was still coming from behind the metal plates. As they swung open it was a lucky thing the only one standing there was Darion. Anyone else could not have survived the assault from Drake as he hurled himself through the opening.
Tumbling end over end in a mass of claws and scales and literally tons of shrieking Dragon, it took Drake a few minutes to realize it was his son he was grappling with, and stopped.
“Darion! My Son! You’re alive! Thank the heavens! Oh my God! Where is Elise? Have I killed her?”