Elemental Dragons Book 1: Blood and Water

by Jessica Turnbull

  Rocky rolls his eyes and mutters: “Not on my watch.”

  I try to push her away, but she clings to me like glue. I swear she only does it because she knows it annoys me. Yesterday when she saw me in the street she screamed and jumped onto my back, begging for a piggyback ride.

  Her sister chuckles. “You say that about every girl you see.”

  Braith pouts. “But this one’s for keeps.”

  “Do you have markings?” Wes enquires, having forgotten about his food since Olwen arrived.

  “No, I don’t.” Olwen points at her sister with her fork. “I only found out when Braith came to me panicking about them. I did some research and sent her some books to calm her down.”

  “I wasn’t that scared,” Braith mumbles in between chewing.

  Her sister shoots her a disbelieving glare before continuing. “They have a deep significance, but I have no idea what that could be yet. I don’t even know what the link is to Primordial Dragons.”

  “No-one does,” Braith sighs.

  “Someone will,” her sister retorts. “We are so close to creating the Primordial Dragon, we’ve used preserved DNA to create an egg. Its survived all odds so far; with it will come answers.”

  An egg?

  I don’t doubt the scientist’s plans, but is this the right thing to do? Bringing back dead species, especially dragons of such horrible reputation, sounds like a terrible idea. I mean, what if it escapes?

  What if it goes on a rampage?

  What if it comes for us?

  * * *

  I don’t know where I am.

  Everything is dark, and my whole body aches like hell. The only thing I can see is an inch of light right in front of my eyes. A blast of wind hits my face, blocking out the light for a second. It stings my eyes horribly, so I squeeze them shut, gasping at the sharp, icy cold air. When I’m able to open my eyes again, the light is gone.

  I’m so cold.

  My arms and legs are trapped. They feel imprisoned in ice. The only sound is my jagged breathing, and the screams of the muffled wind. The air is so thin I feel as if I’m choking. All I taste is my own sweat, with a coppery taste.

  Blood.

  When did I start bleeding? Why am I bleeding?

  The worst part is: I’m all alone.

  No-one is around. If they are, I haven’t seen them.

  What’s going on?

  Two seconds ago, I was in my bed, and now I have no idea where I am. Is this a really vivid dream?

  “Marine! Marine! Are you there?”

  Who the hell is that?

  “I’m here! Help me!”

  I didn’t say that, yet my mouth moved. I’m unable to speak. It’s my voice, but not in my control.

  “Where’d it come from?”

  “There! Dig there!”

  Rummaging noises come from above and I feel the weight around me loosen a little. Whoever is up there is working hard to get me out. After a few minutes a hole appears in front of my face, and two blurred faces look back at me.

  “She’s alive!”

  “What are you waiting for? Haul her out!”

  As my body rises, a stinging cold freezes my body. They lower me to the ground, shivering violently. The ground is cold and crunchy; snow.

  I’m buried under snow.

  “Oh, Mari,” One person strokes my cheek with thick, furry gloves, leaving a second of warmth on my freezing skin. “You’re okay. I was so worried.”

  “What happened?” Not my words again.

  “Avalanche. You got caught right in the middle of it.”

  “What about the others?” My teeth chatter uncontrollably, making it hard to speak properly.

  The two blurred people look at each other before sighing. “William is dead. We found him higher up the mountain. I’m so sorry.”

  Who?

  I have no idea what’s going on, but warm tears roll down my face. I start sobbing uncontrollably. Someone lifts me up to hug me closer.

  Who is William?

  Why am I so upset about him?

  “Draca attacked us again. William tried to fight back, but he didn’t stand a chance.”

  “What’s the point?” I sniffle. “Why should I go on now?”

  “Shh, don’t say that. He’d want you to continue, and survive, for him. Please don’t give up. We’re so close now, Mari.”

  “Lightning, we’ve gotta go.” The other person speaks for the first time.

  A loud roar sounds in the distance, and everyone freezes and jumps to their feet. I’m lifted onto the back of the first person, who passes something to the other.

  “Let’s go; Draca is coming!” The first person starts clambering up the mountain, kicking up layers of snow behind them.

  As I’m jiggling around on this person’s back I try to figure out who these people are. They sound familiar, but my vision isn’t clearing up. Everything is still blurry, and it doesn’t help that everything around us is white and grey.

  “Run! We have to hide!”

  Another roar, this one closer and angrier. A loud beating sound fills my ears, and a strong wind suddenly picks up, flinging snow and jagged rocks in all directions.

  Before I can contemplate what’s happening, everything goes pitch black.

  * * *

  My eyes fly open from the dream. I sit up in my bed, throwing the duvet off and letting it fall onto the floor with a soft thump.

  What just happened?

  What was that about?

  Where was I? I was nowhere near home, that’s for sure. The people there, they seemed so familiar. Yet... They were too different.

  It rings a bell, but I don’t know where from. It must have been when we were learning about aquariums in school. Despite my half-assed explanation, I know that I’m just making excuses. My heart tells me it’s much bigger than a stupid lesson on aquariums.

  Marine.

  Why is that name in my head? What significance does it have to my life?

  My heart won’t stop thumping wildly, and I scrunch my face up in disgust at how sweaty I am. I must have been more scared than I thought. I want to go back to sleep, but I don’t want that nightmare again. I still feel as if I’m trapped underneath the snow; my chest feels tight and restricted. My head feels as if I’ve just slammed it into a wall.

  With a loud sigh, I swing my legs off the bed and step down the ladder. The wood is cool underneath my warm feet and the air is crisp and fresh. Someone opened the window in the night. The snores of the other kids fill my ears, along with the constant fidgeting of someone up the front. I feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of them sleeping soundly with nice dreams, but I bury that feeling and rub my eyes tiredly. Careful not to wake anyone, I tiptoe to the bathroom and squeeze into my stall.

  I couldn’t open the door too far because Normie and Aqueous are fast asleep against it. Aqueous is now too big to sleep in my bed, and he won’t sleep in the stables. Instead, he sleeps in my stall with Normie, before he gets too big and has to stay in the stables. The cream cat stirs as I step in front of the mirror, cracks an eye open lazily to look at me, then falls back to sleep.

  Marine.

  My head is really hurting now. Allowing the sink to fill up, I splash my face repeatedly with cold water in an effort to calm my nerves. The dream is over, but I still feel as if I’m trapped in that avalanche.

  What was I doing in an avalanche?

  Something about a Draca?

  Marine, look up.

  Shock freezes my body. My hands grip tightly on the sink, my knuckles white.

  I didn’t think that.

  Look up.

  This sounds like a bad horror film. When some idiot wanders around clueless and gets jump-scared by the monster.

  Look. Up. Now.

  Gathering all my courage, I move my head slowly up towards the mirror. At the last second I squeeze my eyes shut.

  I’m such a wimp. Why can’t I be braver? Why can’t Rocky be here?

 
With a deep breath, I count to three and open my eyes.

  Nothing.

  I stare hard into the empty mirror, tilting my head this way and that to try to make my reflection appear. “Oh fuck, I’m a vampire.”

  Well, I think it’s time for bed. Definitely time for bed.

  I never want to look at a mirror ever again.

  I think I’ve just scared myself into sleeping.

  Wiping my face with shivering hands, I turn towards the door when my hand collides with something. Someone, rather.

  It’s me.

  Same dirty blonde hair, same hazel eyes, same pale face, same everything. Even the scar is the same, but the usually pink line looks red and angrier than normal. Is that what mine looks like right now? The only thing that is different is her age; she looks a lot older than I am, without the acne and greasy hair.

  Her eyes are wide open, and dark blue swirly markings curl on her neck, creeping up to her face. They look like worms writhing around in the dirt. She reaches out to me, her mouth wide open but no sound coming out.

  I’m dead.

  I’m actually dead.

  I want to scream, but my throat closes. I’m defenceless against her.

  My companion opens his eyes and looks up at me groggily. His eyes widen at the scene, his gaze flickering between us, unsure what to do.

  “End it.” The girl, the other me, finally speaks. Her voice is dry and raspy, like she hasn’t so much as seen water for months.

  Aqueous stands up, growling and baring his teeth at her. She ignores him, her gaze unmoving from me.

  “End it,” she repeats.

  “End what?” I’m thankful that my voice finally works again, even if it does come out as a whisper. I ask.

  “End it. Please.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Save us.” Her body starts to dissolve from the feet up, making her look more distressed.

  “Wait, I don’t know what you mean!” I plead, watching her disappear before my eyes.

  “Marine, please. End it.”

  When she utters the final word, she’s gone. Where she once stood lies a silver bracelet.

  I sink to the floor, cradling my legs in terror. Aqueous nuzzles my face, looking distressed.

  What should I do?

  What did she mean?

  Why did she look so terrified?

  18

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” Rocky presses, squeezing my hand softly.

  “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve got the bracelet.” I point underneath the sink.

  The bracelet is shiny silver, surrounded by charms in various shades of blue in the shape of rain drops. Every time I touch it, it glows and shakes.

  I stayed in a foetal position all night, only moving when I heard people mulling about in the bathroom. I’d kicked the bracelet under the sink in case the girl reappeared. I told Wes to get Rocky after quickly telling him what happened. He’d sped off, returning with my brother minutes later.

  My brother hooks the bracelet with his finger, inspecting it thoroughly. “She just...left it?”

  “When she disappeared, yes. But, I feel like I’ve seen it before even though I haven’t. It’s so familiar, yet not familiar at all.”

  He rolls the strange bracelet around in his palm. “Do you want to wear it? To keep it safe?”

  Ever since she left I’ve felt the urge to wear it. My wrist has been itching uncontrollably all morning; it feels as if ants are crawling under my skin. It has some effect on me, and I don’t like it.

  “Haze?” he presses.

  “I don’t know.” My wrist burns as he brings it closer to me. “I feel like I need to, you know?”

  “Put it on then. It’s not as if it will bite or anything.”

  “You don’t know that. It could be carnivorous.”

  He rolls his eyes and pushes the bracelet into my hand. “If it starts eating you, I’m here to snap it in half.”

  “You’re not even strong enough to lift Aqueous.” I nudge his arm playfully, watching him pout in mock hurt.

  “Fine, I’ll let you get eaten then.”

  I snatch the bracelet from him and slip it slowly onto my hand. As soon as it touches my wrist, the charms glow and it clamps onto my skin.

  I try to pull the bracelet off to no avail. “Rocky!”

  My brother tries to wriggle the glowing thing off my wrist, yanking and pulling in all directions. It may as well be cement; it melds with the flesh on my arm. The bracelet returns to its normal state, and in all of Rocky’s panicked pulling, two charms fall off. Time seems to slow for me as the two charms clang as they hit the floor. They glow brightly and clatter on the floor, spiralling in different directions.

  Normie starts batting at one as it falls into his paws, fascinated by the tiny blue charm. Aqueous chases the other, picking it up in his mouth and placing it at my feet.

  “It’s stuck!” My brother cries.

  “I knew this would happen!”

  I don’t understand; does this mean the girl will come back?

  “It’s okay; we’ll sort this out.” I don’t believe what he’s saying, and I know from his distress that he’s just trying to reassure himself.

  “Are you two okay? All we can hear is your squawking.” Marco pops his head around the door, amused.

  “It’s stuck!” I wave my arm around wildly, trying to yank the thing off my wrist.

  Wes also comes in, with one eyebrow raised. Braith squeezes through the small crowd, wincing at my predicament.

  “Why did you bring everyone?” I glare at Wes, who holds his hands up innocently.

  “They followed us when I got Rocky.” He smiles sheepishly.

  Braith presses against my side, staring at the bracelet enviously. “It’s so pretty! Can I have it?”

  “It’s stuck!” I cry. “This isn’t the time for trading!”

  She pouts and crosses her arms sulkily. “Fine, be like that.”

  “Okay, how about we all pull on three, okay?” Rocky grabs one part of the bracelet, with the others grabbing different parts. “One... Two... Three!”

  Everyone prepares to pull, but the bracelet just goes limp on my wrist, allowing them to slip it off easily. They all go flying in different directions, crashing into the walls and the floor because of the unnecessary force they used.

  “It’s off!” Marco twirls it on his finger triumphantly.

  “Thank fuck!” I hold my hand out to Braith, who gladly takes it, but doesn’t let go when she’s up.

  The two charms that fell off dissolve into the floor, before magically reforming on the bracelet itself. This is just getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

  “Let’s take this-” Rocky snatches the bracelet from Marco “-and put it in a safe place.”

  “Agreed,” Wes nods enthusiastically. “I’ll hide it in my suitcase.”

  The bracelet is gladly passed over, but Wes gives the mysterious thing a wide berth, holding it in front of him as if it’s a bottle of poison. There’s more room as he leaves, which makes me feel less claustrophobic.

  “Now what?” Marco bites his lip and sighs.

  “Let’s get the full story from Hazy.” Braith squeezes my hand gently, smiling slightly in reassurance. “I couldn’t understand a word Wes was saying.”

  * * *

  Braith hands me a glass of water, bouncing excitedly next to me on Wes’ messy bed. “First time we’ve shared a bed, Hazy.” She pouts her lips like a fish.

  With an eye roll, I reply with: “And the last.”

  Her lip quivers in mock sadness.

  Rocky scuffs his feet on the floor impatiently, annoyed that Braith is so close to me. “Well, what happened in your dream, then?”

  I tell my friends everything. I pause each time the few people left in the cabin stir, and keep my voice hushed in case someone is awake and overhears. I tell them everything from the dream, to the blurred faces and the girl; the
older me. Wes interrupts a few times, but after annoyed hisses from Marco and Braith he stays quiet for the majority of the story. Braith is bouncing excitedly at the end of the story, seemingly armed with explanations.

  “Go ahead.” I motion for Braith to talk, making her grin proudly.

  “Marine is the name of the original water Elemental,” she explains. “She must have visited you, but appeared as you because no-one knows what she actually looks like! The Primordial Dragon must be close to being created!”

  “So, our situation is getting worse?”

  “Must be. I’ve got a book on the lives of the Original Elementals. It describes the aftermath of the death of the last Primordial Dragon in it; that may help us!”

  Before I can open my mouth, she’s off. The crazy girl runs outside. Peering out the window I spot Damayanti sprinting down the street. Braith is sat on her back with her arms up in the air. Wes isn’t sure what to say after Braith’s surprising exit, but Marco sits in her spot and lets me rest my head on his shoulder.

  Rocky crosses his arms and clears his throat. “So, you saw one of the Original Elementals?”

  “She told me to ‘end it’ and ‘save us’. I don’t know what she meant.”

  My brother nods slowly, his lips pursed. “It’s not good, whatever it is.”

  Loud scratching at the window catches everyone’s attention. Cerberus is trying to stick her head through the bars on the window, growling and pawing at the air.

  “Can we go outside?” My brother moves towards the window, reaching out to touch his companion’s nose. “She’s getting anxious.”

  Asteroid happily takes the lead in showing us where the door is. The weather outside isn’t too nice: grey sky and bitterly cold wind. I’m happy I remembered to grab my thick blue coat before going outside. It’s freezing. It’s uncomfortably similar to my dream, which worries me. My companion jumps around wildly as it starts to drizzle, darkening the mood even more. Despite my element, Rocky puts my coat hood over my head, stroking my hair behind my ear softly.

  “The weather is crap.” Marco crosses his arms and closes his eyes as another blast of sharp wind buffets our faces; and I only just realize that we’re all in our pyjamas outside.