Bane's Dragon: Revival (Bane Dragon Wars Book 4)

by Roxie Spears

  “That was a close one,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. All of a sudden the van door slid open, making way for a thousand arms, long and tentacle-like; they reached out and grabbed her. “Kyle, Kyle!” Jasmin reached her hand out to him, but he didn’t take it. Kyle stared at her through heavy-lidded eyes. His face was slightly different, and for a moment it felt like she didn’t even know him. His hands were in the pockets of his hoodie, and he wasn’t moving. Jasmin felt herself being snatched into the vehicle; her body was wiggling violently, like she was a wild animal desperate to escape. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain shoot up her neck, and that was when she realized someone had injected her with something. Her eyelids felt heavy and her head started spinning. The world around her turned into one fast-moving mess, the sound of honking fading into the background as Jasmin slipped out of consciousness.

  Colt was content with his conversation with Jasmin. The truth was that he hadn’t felt this close to her in a long time. Last night, he spoke with Maggy on the phone. He told her everything, from his fight with Jasmin to all the chaos that ensued. The vulnerability. The crying. He spilled everything on the phone, just because he knew she would understand. If it weren’t for that woman, Colt thought, he would’ve never been able to get through the Jasmin.

  On his way home from her school, he decided to stop by the supermarket. He had plenty of energy. As Colt strolled down the aisle, he took in a deep, refreshing breath. Everything felt right again. All that supermarket music wasn’t nearly as annoying as everyday. As Colt pushed his shopping cart down the wine aisle, he spotted a familiar face. When he saw Holland marching towards him, his heart dropped. Seeing Holland was never a good thing, and it was definitely not coincidental. The man’s face was drained of all color. His arms swung back and forth by his sides as he quickly charged towards Colt.

  “Please tell me you’re just here because you ran out of milk,” he said.

  Holland stopped and looked at him. He pursed his lips together, running a hand through his silver hair. Holland was in his thirties, but his hair had greyed recently, giving him a rather mysterious look. “No,” she shook his head at Colt, who felt a lump rise in his throat. “It’s the Makinens.”

  “What about them?” he demanded, his nostrils flared.

  There was silence. Colt knew exactly what that meant. “I’m so sorry,” Holland seemed to be shaking with fear. “I, I had no choice.”

  Colt turned around, charging towards the exit. Once again he had abandoned his cart in the aisle. He whipped his phone out and dialed Jasmin’s number. “Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up,” he hissed, standing idly by the door. But her phone was off. “Fuck, fuck!” he stomped his foot and clenched his eyes shut.

  Colt jumped into his car and drove off, his heart racing. He knew it was all too good to be true. A million thoughts were racing through his head, threatening to drive him insane. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jasmin and what had happened to her. He tried her phone, over and over again, grunting at the sound of the answering machine. Something must’ve been wrong, he thought, Jasmin couldn’t survive an hour without her phone. She carried a charger with her at all times. “No,” he said to himself. “Something must’ve happened.”

  Colt stomped the gas pedal, his car flying down the freeway. He was determined to find her.

  Chapter 12

  Colt pulled over in front of Fieldstone High. The yard had become crowded with people, frantic teenagers, and the weather was suddenly sunnier. There was nothing sunny about today. Their chatter rose in the air, mingling with the wind. Colt burst through the crowds, elbowing his way across the yard and scurrying up the steps.

  He mapped the place out in his head, his mind conjuring up images of Jasmin’s floor. Suddenly the place started looking familiar again, but it was hard with all those kids around. A bunch of teenagers eyed him, slamming their lockers and flashing Colt wry grins. “Out of my way!” he yelled, running past them, determined to reach his target.

  Finally he arrived to Jasmin’s class. “Where is she?” he asked, bursting in through the door. Maggy was sitting at her desk when she looked up at him.

  “Colt?” she said, her eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m looking for Jasmin,” he replied, struggling to catch his breath. Maggy got up and shut the door. The silence that ensued troubled him.

  “Well, she’s not here. I thought she was sick because she never came in today.”

  “What?” Colt’s heart skipped a beat. “But I drove her to school today. No, no. I’m sure she-”

  The look on her face made him even more anxious. Colt was having a hard time piecing it all together, mainly because he was in denial. Maggy reached out and started pulling at the hairs on the back of her head. She then crossed her arms and averted her gaze to the floor. “Have you tried calling her phone?”

  “I have, and it’s off,” Colt replied, his eyes darting back and forth. He walked to the end of the class, spun on his heel and walked back. The door burst open and the students came flooding in. “Out, get out!” his voice echoed everywhere, and then suddenly the entire place fell silent. The students stood with their books, staring at him.

  “Could you please give Mr. Bane and I a moment?” Maggy said with furrowed eyebrows. “We’ve got something to discuss.”

  Some students exchanged suspicious glances, later turning around and pouring out the door like a herd of sheep. Colt felt grateful for the silence, because it allowed him time to think. He then turned to Maggy, who looked equally distraught. “Thanks,” he murmured, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “You know what, I can’t stay here. I gotta look for her.”

  “Hey,” Maggy chased him to the door. “I’ll come with you.”

  “What? But you’ve got a class to teach; all those kids-”

  “They’re counting on me?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s okay, I’m sure they’ll live,” she added, rather cynically. If anything, Colt appreciated the dry humor, even though it didn’t really fix anything.

  The pair got into the car and drove off. Colt appeared tense, like he didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t know where he was going. He was just driving around aimlessly, regretting all those times that he didn’t pay attention. “Maybe if I had just paid attention,” he said, clenching his jaw. “I would’ve known where she was.”

  “Hey, you need to stop blaming yourself for everything,” Maggy said, placing a hand on his back. She then hesitated, removing it immediately and averting her gaze to the window. Colt let out a long sigh, not taking his eyes off the road. “Oh my God, be careful!” Maggy shrieked. A van seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, skidding across the road and stopping in front of their car.

  “Maggy, I need you to get down,” he said, his lips barely moving. He had a bad feeling. It was almost like the whole world had fallen quiet, awaiting that moment. The van door slid open and three men stepped out; Colt didn’t recognize any of them, but he knew what was coming. Without warning they shifted, their skin turning a greyish-green and their faces changing to something more vicious.

  Maggy let out a loud scream, shriveling away in her seat and bringing her hands up to her face.

  “Stay here, don’t go anywhere. I’m warning you,” Colt said, stepping out of the car. The men’s hands were on fire, glowing in daylight. They raised them up in the air and charged towards him. Colt stepped away from the car, luring them far from Maggy. His whole body ached as he, too, shifted, his fur coming into view and his canines extracting. They pierced through his gums, which shed a little bit of blood. Colt licked them, a metallic taste filling his mouth, driving him.

  Just as the dragon shifters were about to attack, Colt catapulted himself into the air. Like a comet he landed, body slamming one of them to the ground. The rest ambushed him, their fire targeting his fur. Colt had a thick hide, one that didn’t burn so easily. He jumped again, and suddenly he was everywhere, flustering them with his agility, moving faste
r than the three of them combined. But then they spread their wings and rose into the air. Colt avoided the fireballs, which were coming at him from all directions. He ducked and rolled, laying low and close to the ground this time.

  From his practice with Jasmin, he learned that strength wasn’t everything. Colt was fast and smart; sometimes that was all he needed. One of the dragons flew close to the ground, so he clawed at its wing, tearing the thick scales, which oozed a gooey blue substance. A shrill scream sounded in the air, alarming hundreds. The people of Victoria were now running around frantically; Colt hadn’t been paying attention for good reason, but when he did, he felt sorry for them. Soon they would face the same fate as the people of Quafin.

  The injured shifter collapsed to the ground, rolling around helplessly, blowing out fireless smoke. Its left wing was dismembered, hanging loosely from its body. Just as the rest were about to attack him he spun around and struck their snouts, sending them falling backwards. He knew well from Jasmin that a dragon’s snout was one of its weakest points. Just like that he threw them off balance, and they tumbled back, their wings flapping around frantically.

  Colt quickly began to calculate his next move, charging towards them again. First he clawed at their wings, causing them to groan in immeasurable pain. Then he leaped into the air and slammed into them; they were unconscious now, their bodies coming to a rest. Colt was sweating all over. Slowly he started walking away from them, his eyes landed on his car, which was right where he left it. He squinted, realizing that Maggy was still in there.

  He had forgotten that he was still in his wolf form, but it was already too late. She had seen it all. Her eyes were wide and her lips were slightly parted. When she saw him she started fidgeting with her seatbelt, like she was planning her escape route.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said, catching a glimpse of his own reflection on the car window. His skewed form was terrifying; Colt felt like a circus freak, especially with all those people staring at him. The road was now full of parked cars, which had become abandoned by their owners, though some people were taking pictures of him. He shook his head frantically, tapping gently at the glass of his windows. Maggy shivered in her place, eventually rolling them down and staring at him.

  “Hey, I’m not gonna do anything,” he said, his eyebrows furrowed. But she didn’t say anything. This whole encounter had made him hate himself, and so he retreated, diving back into the woods, where he belonged. He left his car behind and her in it. Lying in the middle of the road were three dead dragon shifters; the whole world would be talking about this the next day, he thought, grunting in disbelief. His truth chased him wherever he went. Colt couldn’t deny who he was, and he figured Jasmin couldn’t, either. Try hard as they must, they couldn’t deny that they were different from everyone else in the world.

  Colt hadn’t killed anyone in a long time. Even though he thought his victory would elate him, Colt felt dirty on the inside. He had been living in this city for so long, peace had become a natural part of life. Confrontations were scarce; the most that happened in a town like Victoria was two people fighting over discounted goods on Black Friday. Other than that, Victoria was a peaceful place. The last thing that Colt wanted was another Quafin; what was he going to do now?

  Eventually he found himself in the middle of nowhere. He had trekked too far into the woods, and now he had no idea where he was. He looked up at the light drizzling down from the canopies. He felt hideous. No woman had ever seen him in his wolf form, and those who did were used to this because they were wolves themselves. Colt sighed deeply, kicking at some rocks. He felt a pain in his abdomen, realizing he had burn marks down there. Somewhere downtown there were three dead dragons lying in the middle of the road; how could he explain that? How could anyone explain that? At the time of his departure from the scene he thought he had heard police sirens. Things tended to get ugly when the police got involved, he thought. Colt started walking again, his eyes darting back and forth frantically. Green surrounded him, hurting his vision, which strained for clues. For Jasmin.

  Suddenly Colt smelled something, a human stench, which he immediately recognized at Jasmin’s. His senses became heightened and his ears perked up in attention. Colt felt hopeful again. For a moment he froze, spinning back and forth, trying to identify the source of the scent. Jasmin had a very distinct scent, one that he could recognize from a mile away. The juddering noise of helicopters echoed in the air, driving Colt mad. He tilted his nose up towards the sky, his heart dropping at the sight of three police choppers headed east. The same nightmare repeated itself all over again.

  Jasmin’s scent intensified as Colt headed west, opposite to the direction of the choppers. His fur kept him warm in the freezing Colt wind, which whipped him as he bolted across the forest. All his senses converged towards finding Jasmin. She was his target, and he thought he would stop at nothing to find her. The smell of oak and animal droppings traveled up his nostrils, throwing him off, but he continued on, eyes open wide, fangs extracting, claws ready to kill. Colt was Jasmin’s father. He was her soul protector. She was vulnerable at the moment, he could feel it in his bones. That realization brought him even more pain, because what if he was too late?

  Chapter 13

  Victoria was full of greenery. Even though it was a relatively lively city, there existed a remote forest on the outskirts where Jasmin and Colt liked to practice. The first time they went there, Colt was reminded of his time after leaving Quafin. Moving from city to city was never easy, and he often found himself gravitating towards remote forests and setting camp there. He found comfort in places like these, but for the most part, he felt alone. Living in the forest awakened a different side of him, one that hated tall apartment buildings and concrete jungles. One that chose to live alone, away from humans. In the forest, Colt was a lone wolf, a beast that only cared for himself and those related to him by blood.

  When he shifted back, though, he felt a lot different. The man in Colt knew some things about love. He had a taste for early morning walks and fine wine. He enjoyed the small things in life and had a poor sense of smell. Colt was two things at once; two beings at once. The forest, he thought, was his home and exile. He wanted to stay away from all those people, yet the human in him hated feeling this lonely. The truth was that he was torn, torn between living a normal life and succumbing to his true self. It was tough, because there was no “true” self; Colt was both of these things. He was the mattress salesperson and he was the beast. He was the uncle and the lonewolf. The early bird and the insomniac. There was no escaping this because there was no escaping himself.

  Jasmin was in a weird state. She was floating around in her own body, unable to touch base. She felt like she was falling endlessly, like she was both awake and asleep at the same time. When Jasmin opened her eyes, it felt as though she had floated to the surface of the ocean. Her whole body flinched. “Oh, God,” she winced, blinking repeatedly, the room swimming in and out of focus. For a while all she saw was darkness. A dull pain crept to the back of her head, and when she tried to hold it up, she couldn’t.

  Jasmin didn’t want to know where she was. She stared up at a high ceiling; a single lightbulb swung overhead, illuminating only a portion of the room. Jasmin wasn’t even sure she was in a room. Her surroundings were spinning. She tried to speak, but no words came out. Finally Jasmin lifted her head and looked around her. She seemed to be in some sort of warehouse, one that was cold and musty, like it was located on a rock in space.

  Her gaze landed on Kyle. He was standing in the corner of the room, his hands clasped behind his back. He seemed a bit older, and that was when she realized he was dressed differently. He was in a dark button down shirt now and was smoking a cigarette. No longer was he wearing that oversized hoodie of his, and no longer did he resemble a teenager. Jasmin wondered if it was a dream, all of it. If Kyle was only a figment of her imagination, if meeting him was all one big lie.

  Her head was spin
ning again. She moved it from left to right, her eyes squeezed shut. She then muttered something inaudible, something only she could understand. She was crying for help, but even in that state she was in, she knew no one would hear her.

  “Kyle, what the hell?” were the first words to come out of her mouth. “Why did you bring me here, what is this place?”

  The man standing in front of her smiled. It was that same wry grin he had flashed her right before the men in the van took her. It was funny how Kyle was this totally different person; a character from a movie. He flicked his cigarette aside and walked towards Jasmin, who was still very much delirious. Suddenly Jasmin noticed that another man had been standing there all along. He was a skinny, sickly looking individual, his hair black and greasy and his cheekbones protruding in this overhead light. Jasmin couldn’t recognize him from anywhere else, but she was pretty much certain he was one of the people who took her away. Slowly he walked towards her, grinning.

  “Hello, there. Rise and shine,” he hissed with a raised eyebrow. His teeth were yellow and stained. He was wearing a brown velvet jacket that was slightly long and oversized, almost like it wasn’t his. His shoes clicked against the hardwood, hurting Jasmin’s ears, which were still sensitive to sound.

  “Who are you?” she asked, squinting. Finally she was able to open her eyes fully.

  “My name is Ludwig, and this is Kyle,” he gestured. Kyle had already lit himself another cigarette.

  “Right,” Jasmin replied, clenching her jaw.

  “We’ve been dying to see you,” the raven haired man snarled, tilting her chin up towards him. She turned her face away, frowning. Jasmin’s eyes searched for the exit, but all she saw were wooden walls and a high ceiling. There was one rug in place, at the center of the room. Everything else was empty and the place was quiet, almost like they had teleported to another dimension. “If you even think about escaping, bad things will happen to you,” Ludwig said, his face changing into something vile. He then ran his fingers through his crunchy gelled hair, spun on his heel and began to walk towards Kyle.