“You sure spend a lot of time rescuing his brain,” Darren joked and stopped when I turned my glare on him. My glare would make Dragon’s dragon image look like a pussy cat in comparison.
“The restaurant is on the way back to the boat,” I pressed, turning back to Blade. “Maybe Granny Cho unplugged the tank by accident. We don’t know it was Griffin.”
That was far-fetched, and the others knew it.
Blade rubbed his face, like he was already regretting ever agreeing to all this. Probably wondering why he’d answered the phone this morning, why he hadn’t just rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head. What a long day and it wasn’t finished.
“Fine. We’ll swing by on our way out. But if there’s any hint of impossible odds, any chance you’ll get caught or hurt, and we’re out of there. Got it?”
I nodded eagerly. After all, “impossible odds” was a very broad statement, full of possibilities.
Chapter 16: Myth
As we ran back to the restaurant, I made my plan: grab Dragon and re-establish the tank’s connection to the portable unit. After that, I’d steer us towards the outskirts of the city. Sana Island is a city-island but there’s a broad greenbelt around most of the city. If we could make it into there, we had a chance of making it to Blade’s boat. We’d use a quiet route, sticking to smaller roads to minimise our exposure to sensors.
By the time we reached the block where the restaurant was, I had us all safely on Blade’s boat. At least, in my head. We were speeding across the dark expanse of ocean. All of us. Together. Figuring a way to build a life support pillar for Dragon’s brain. I grinned in anticipation. It had to work out like that. It would.
Dragon can hang out with Blade, I thought, and I’ll go back to Mom. It’ll all be okay. She’ll be mad and relieved and she’ll give me a hell’s fire lecture and we’ll cry and laugh and she’ll forgive me and it’ll be fine.
And it was. Until we reached the restaurant and reality intruded on my little daydream.
Blade’s definition of “impossible odds” turned out to be pretty expansive, I have to admit. Seven security guards, a couple of the former Games Boss’s special armed forces and Griffin.
Griffin alone was enough.
She doesn’t look as pretty as her video clip, I gloated with satisfaction. As if that bit of nasty thought could really make me feel better.
We crouched behind an abandoned car, watching as Dragon’s cart was manoeuvred into a waiting van. A van that worked.
I cursed and hissed and Blade ignored my less-than-choice words.
“Let’s go, princess,” he ordered. “Your safety is unfortunately my priority. There’s no way we’re busting him out.”
“But this is the only chance we’ll get,” I protested.
“Why don’t we wait till they leave, so we can grab some dinner?” Darren suggested.
“Darren, you little snot,” I snapped.
He shrank away from me. “Well, we gotta eat, right? And if we start walking around right now, those guys might see us.”
I slapped my hand onto my forehead.
“You know, the kid makes sense,” Blade mused.
I wanted to slap them both. Even if they were right. Especially if they were. How could they think of food while Dragon was being brain-napped? My stomach grumbled its disagreement with that logic.
“What about Dragon?” I demanded, ignoring my treacherous stomach.
Crouched in the shadows, Blade looked like a gargoyle statue. I don’t meant that in an ugly way, more like in a big, strong and spooky way. He watched as Griffin slammed the back doors of the van.
“Hello?” I waved my hand in front of his face. Yes, I was being an unrealistic brat. I knew it, even then. Didn’t stop me though.
Blade shifted slightly, his face as hard as gargoyle stone. “Sorry, Myth. But Dragon’s on his own now.”
Chapter 17: Griffin
Griffin saw it all. Part of her mind directed the activity before her; another part stayed hooked into the system, scanning through the images the sensors relayed to the online security centre.
Her blotchy, pale lips twitched slightly. Someone watching her wouldn’t be able to tell if she was about to smile, frown or sneer. That’s how it was with her. The Games Boss, the master of cards and deception, had taught her well. She hoped he would know it was her, at the end. That she had destroyed the very structures that had propped up all the rot and corruption. She hoped he suffered.
“They’re here,” she murmured as she focused in on the images from the market.
Kraken’s squid-like avatar appeared in the online room. “Should I call the guards?” he asked, his grey limbs twitching about him.
Griffin snorted. He was scared. He really wasn’t cut out for this, but she had to work with the tools at hand, as limited as they were. “No. They pose no threat to us. We have what we need, and what they need. They’ll be leaving soon, one way or another.”
Kraken hesitated, as if he would dare question her. But instead, he waved his limbs and vanished.
She watched a few minutes more, almost laughing at the futile hope the girl clung onto. How they kept trying with no idea what they were up against.
“It’s too late,” she whispered and turned her attention towards the van.
The men were just exiting the restaurant with their precious cargo. They all kept their eyes averted. Few people were comfortable looking at her, at her red eyes that glowed with unleashed ambition. At her colourless skin and hair. But mostly the eyes disturbed people, the unnaturalness of them.
She no longer cared.
There was a time she did, but not anymore. She kept her thoughts clear of those memories though, just in case. She didn’t want to stir up any of them; they were too distracting, too painful.
The van doors clicked shut. Turning around and waving at the people she knew were watching, to stare into Myth’s eyes, knowing the despair the girl would be feeling tempted Griffin. Or better yet, to smile knowingly at Blade, letting him know she hadn’t forgotten who he was and who he used to work for.
She zoomed a sensor onto their faces and saw the defeat there. It was enough.
Too late, little girl, she thought. And for a moment, before she stepped into the van, before she could shut it up, a little voice asked her if she was talking to Myth or to herself.
Chapter 18: Dragon
It keeps repeating. I want to escape it, to stop it, but the dream keeps cycling back, trapping me inside. I search for a way out of the dream; there is none. I look for the safety of the void, but it too is gone. All that now exists for me is the pain of a memory repeating itself.
I’m sitting in a boat carved out of golden-brown wood. The bow of the boat is carved into the neck and head of a dragon. The head looms up in front, painted red and gold—fierce, noble, determined.
A drummer beats out a rhythm. Boom. Boom. The team’s paddles dip and swoop in time to the beat.
The tempo of the drum picks up. I feel it echoing in my chest, filling my very being. The beat of the drum becomes my heartbeat. The paddles, the bones in my red and golden body. The team’s arms, my muscles, swooping and dipping until I am gliding over the water. The tips of my claws skim the water.
Before I can summon magical wings to take me away, a roaring fills my ears. I look up, frozen to my seat, paddle raised. Something huge bears down on the boat. The moment freezes and I stare up at death and the full knowledge that this is my fault. I’d broken the rules and we were all going to pay.
The fraction of time ends and I hear screaming, wood splintering, bones breaking, and my life smashed into unrecognisable shards. My entire being is immersed in pain beyond description. I know why this is happening and I curse Blade. Something heavy crunches against my head, freeing me.
I’m flying. My dragon magic weaves filmy cobweb wings out of the air. They glitter gold. They are strong enough to carry me away from the terror and turmoil and agony. In three strokes, they take me
away from the noise, the pain, towards the stars. I flit around planets and keep going. I fly towards a space where there is no light or sound, a void that will sooth my nerves and numb my memories.
Someone tries to call me back. I hear the voice begging me to come back, to live. A soft but firm voice interrupts the pleas and echoes around me. “He’s gone. The machine keeps his heart beating, but he’s essentially dead. Do you understand? He’s dead. Are you aware your son signed up as an organ donor?”
There is a final scream, more terrifying than all the others. Space vibrates with the energy of that scream as it reaches out for me with talons of sound. I know I mustn’t let it catch me, for it is unbearable in its desperation. Within its force there thrashes more agony than is humanly possible to withstand.
I keep flying, determined to escape the vortex of misery trying to catch me. My gauzy, golden wings take me away from the noise, the pain, towards unchartered suns and unnamed planets. I keep going.
I search for the black hole where there are no stars. I know I’ll be safe there, swimming in a void, safe from the agony and turmoil. No sound. No sight. No feelings. No memories. No sensation of any kind. Hours, days, years can pass in the flap of a dragon’s wing. It doesn’t matter. In the absolute nothingness, time does not exist.
But I can’t find it. And the scream whips around me in a hurricane of agony. It sucks me back down to the beginning, back into the dragon boat, seconds before the roaring noise, back to the moment when my one mistake will cost me everything.
The dream repeats.
Chapter 19: Myth
I don’t remember actually running through the unlit streets of Sana. I have a vague impression of a ghost town at night, of following Blade’s dark form dodging around abandoned vehicles. No guards blocked our path. No shop keepers stared at us racing past. No traffic to slow us down. The usual buses, bicycles and pedestrian crowds were gone. There was nothing at all except darkness and silence. All the other details in my memory are blurred with tears of rage. Rage against Lavack for threatening my best friend. Rage against Griffin for taking the one being who could stop her or possibly save her. Rage against Blade for refusing to make an impossible, suicidal rescue attempt. Rage against my own weakness to stop it all.
I know. Not exactly displaying emotional maturity at that point. But rage felt better than despair. At least it kept me moving.
The rattling of rusted iron sheeting broke my angry trance. I stumbled over cracked bits of pavement. Broken glass clinked underfoot. I glanced over at the empty warehouse window near me. It gawked back. Pavement gave way to sand which yielded to water.
Wordlessly, we pushed the boat off the beach and climbed in. I huddled in one corner, as far away from Blade as possible. Without looking at me, he tossed a blanket over my shoulders and revved the engine. I should’ve been grateful, I suppose. The night sea breeze blew cold and he tried to help me, again. I just glared at his back.
Darren squatted near me, his thin shoulders shivering under his blanket. Occasionally, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but words never escaped his lips. Maybe the scowl plastered on my face stopped him.
I have no idea which direction we headed for or how long we took. I might’ve dozed off for a while. Yup. I think I did, because the next thing I remember is us heading straight for tall cliffs. Wherever we were, we were far from Sana Island.
“Nope, not open yet,” Blade muttered and steered us towards a small beach farther down the coast. He pulled the boat up the gravelly sand. “We have to wait for the tide to go down enough so the entrance is clear.” He studied the beach.
I rolled my eyes. Like I cared. Entrance to what?
“What entrance?” Darren asked.
Blade winked. “To the pirate cove. Safest place I know. But we gotta wait for the tide to sink a bit so we can use the entrance. So we might as well get cozy.”
Pirate cove? Against my better judgment, curiosity perked me up a bit. I refused to show it though. “Yeah, it’s sure cozy on this beach.”
“That’s the spirit, cupcake,” he said. “Crunch on these while we search for firewood.” He pulled out granola bars from his pack, handed them around and led us into the trees. After several minutes of foraging and crunching on granola, we headed back.
“So who are you, really?” Darren asked as he clutched pieces of wood to his narrow chest.
“Sure you want to know?” Blade asked, snapping a large branch in half without any sign of exertion.
“Yeah, sure,” I answered, not all that sure. But listening to his story was better than listening to the hateful words swirling in my brain. “And how do you know Dragon?”
“Fine. Dragon and I, we go way back. Used to be in the same line of work.”
“Which was…” I asked, gesturing with my hand for him to spit it out.
“Which was and still is cargo delivery.” He grinned at our blank expressions, his teeth a white explosion against the dark background. “Helping people move their products from one place to another. Very service-oriented business.”
“You’re a smuggler,” I guessed in a bland voice. I wasn’t surprised.
“Well, if you insist on putting it that way,” Blade said amiably as he scooped up another branch almost as big as me. “I prefer the term ‘cargo transportation services.’ And we were good at it.”
I snorted. Darren shifted closer to me, his stack of wood shuddering precariously in his skinny arms.
“Wait. ‘We?’ Dragon was a smuggler as well?” I asked.
“One of the best.” Blade glanced coyly at me. “Bet you didn’t know that about your boyfriend, eh?”
“He’s not…” I began to protest.
“Yuck,” Darren blurted out. “He’s a machine thing with a brain attached.”
I glared at him. He shut up. Blade continued. “Believe what you want. Dragon and I worked together for a number of years for the same boss. One job, we messed up. The Coast Guard was breathing down our necks. The rest of the gang wanted to dump me with some of the loot. Let me take the fall. Distract the Guard while everyone else got away. The lead guy, our boss’s lieutenant, agreed but Dragon wouldn’t let them. He broke the rule. Put everyone at risk. Stupid. Not sure if I’d have been so noble in his situation.”
That’s my Dragon, I thought, a warmth filling me.
Blade paused, stopped moving, and stared out at the ocean. I could tell he wasn’t seeing the same stretch of water I was seeing. He was somewhere else, fighting for his life.
He sighed and continued walking. “We lost a boat and one of our hideouts as a result. We thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. We were young. Stupid. The boss wasn’t too happy. So Dragon paid for that. He and some of his dragon boat team members. The big boss proving a point, you know?”
Blade dumped his wood and began setting up a fire. “I tried to get out, go legit, but it’s hard. I have a reputation on all sides of the law. I can’t exactly start giving boat tours, now, can I? Smuggling’s all I know.”
“So you’re a…” Darren gulped as he squatted down and shrank against a large piece of driftwood. “A pirate?” his voice squeaked out.
Blade grinned. He looked… What’s the word I’m looking for? I had some vague, childhood recollection of a visit to a zoo on the mainland. There was a beast there, allusive, watchful, waiting, and intelligent, preparing itself for violent action. Wolf. The word popped in my mind. That’s what it was. He was wolfish. Even his teeth and hair somehow echoed that animal. Why hadn’t I noticed before?
Maybe because you’re always running for your life, I thought.
“So why didn’t Dragon leave you behind?” I pressed. He shrugged his shoulders. I tried another tact. “Why did the others try to set you up?”
“They didn’t”—the pirate paused, just a breath of a moment—“like me.”
“Can’t imagine why not,” Darren muttered, but very softly. He was squirming, probably wondering how the heck he’d landed in trouble, aga
in.
Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you hang out with me and the “machine thing with a brain attached.”
“What were you really going to say?” I asked, keeping my voice smooth and level. There was something hidden in that pause, I could feel it.
His eyes glowed with a fierce energy as he shifted slightly to face me. He smiled, but his dark eyes didn’t. “Just that, cookie.”
“I’m not edible,” I stated, aiming to make my voice as cold as the night breeze.
I stood up and stalked towards the shoreline. The logical, mature part of me started lecturing. There’s no need to get so upset over a few nicknames. You’re just encouraging him by reacting so strongly. It’s not a big deal. He’s a good guy, trying to help you.
The angry, scared part of me told the first voice to shut up.
Crouching down near the reach of the residing waves, I glanced back, caught Blade’s eye and scowled.
He chuckled and glanced over at Darren, who squirmed uncomfortably.
“Ah,” Darren stuttered. His back was to me and I could see the pirate pretending to sneer at him. Darren didn’t pick up on the “pretend” part. “Myth, you still with us?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Better come back,” Blade suggested with a chuckle. “It’s a cold night and it’s not going to get better.”
He was right. I shivered as the ocean wind buffeted me around. I scrambled up and trotted over to the warm flames. Blade rolled over, wrapped a blanket around himself, and dozed off. Ignoring him and his irritating ability to sleep anywhere, I gazed into the fire. The adrenaline-fueled rage subsided into the warmth. I smiled. The last time I’d sat around a campfire was when Mom and I…
I stopped smiling. She must be so worried. I shook my head. No point dwelling on that. I couldn’t afford to get all soppy now. I shifted my attention to Darren.
Slouched down by the fire, he looked smaller and younger than usual, which was weird, because I’m pretty sure he’d sprouted a head taller over the past month. He was going through that awkward phase boys go through. You know, when they suddenly shoot up so they’re as tall as a grown man. But they kind of leave all the muscles and meat behind. So they’re all tall and gawky with muscle-free limbs flying in all directions. Trying to be a man, but still a boy inside.
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