by Sariah Skye
One more look at Maxxus and I shook my head at him. I couldn’t believe he would do this. He shrugged and just climbed into the back of the car, folding his long legs uncomfortably into the backseat.
Gabriel didn’t appear happy, but he kept his mouth shut as we climbed in and I crept the car carefully forward, with Kiarra in the lead, ready to toss in the vial.
"It’s going to make a loud pop sound, like a firework and you’ll see it change colors. After it turns blue, that’s our cue to drive in as fast as possible!" Kiarra yelled to us, and I came to a stop just before where she was standing.
"Ready?" she asked. I kept my foot heavy on the brake, gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were turning white. I nodded.
"I wonder what this is going to do to my car?" I mused under my breath, as Kiarra tossed the vial into the portal’s opening. She quickly dashed back to the car and climbed in beside Maxxus who’s tall form was crouched uncomfortably in the back, Gabriel looking rather smug at his discomfort.
We heard a loud bang and the portal lit up like a floodlight in the dark, first changing bright yellow, then red and orange before fading and shifting to an easy, calm blue color.
"Go!" Kiarra said, and I slammed my foot onto the gas pedal. I could feel my tires spin a few times before catching grip in the dirt, and it hurled us into the blue portal, Gabriel nervously grabbing at my thigh and looking a bit uneasy as I glanced over at him momentarily as we sped in. I didn’t even think about how a portal shift would affect a human. Hopefully since he was magical, it wouldn’t have too much of an ill effect on him.
I felt a sudden sense of disorientation, like being spun around too many times before the piñata and being stopped suddenly and told to smack a tree. There wasn’t much to see, or time to see it because just as quickly as we were hurled in we were hurled out, into another clearing nearly equal to the one we had just come from. I had to slam on the brakes to prevent from hitting a small tree and we skidded and came to a stop about at a 90-degree angle from how we entered.
We watched the portal we had just come from make a few hissing and popping noises before eventually just fading into a puff of steam and dissipating into the air.
No one spoke or uttered a sound. Finally, I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in the form of a guffaw and said, "That was it?"
Kiarra let out a little giggle from behind me. "Why what were you expecting?"
I shrugged. Gabriel and I shook our heads at each other with a laugh, and I glanced around us. "So this is the safe spot?"
"Well, not here exactly," Kiarra said. "Do you really think it would be a great spot for a portal inside the middle of a town?"
"Town?" Gabriel repeated uncertainly.
"I concur, what kind of place is this, exactly?" For the first time since declaring his allegiance to our…cause as it were, Maxxus appeared just a shade apprehensive.
Kiarra grinned knowingly. "You will love it. You can be whoever you are, whatever you are…no one will bat an eye," she said, specifically towards Gabriel.
"Me?" he placed his hand on his chest, aback.
"It’s a place of magic," Kiarra explained. "Where outcasts and mythological creatures that have nowhere to go for whatever reason, they all belong here, and they all co-exist like a community. Some cook and prepare food, others craft, grow crops, some entertain…it’s a beautiful, peaceful existence." She took her phone out and glanced at it briefly before shoving it in the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt, "it’s nearly 3pm…the marketplace should be beginning soon."
"What’s that?" I inquired.
"Exactly what you think it would be, vendors selling their goods. Jewelry crafted by the finest jewelers...one of them a green dragon, actually," she said with a nod towards Maxxus, who just ran a hand through his wavy hair briefly, nervously smiling. "Crafters selling blankets, flowers, artisan bread…anything you can think of. There is no money here, only bartering for goods and services. You will all enjoy it immensely."
I looked at Gabriel, and then at Maxxus again with anxious glances. Our moment was ruined by the sound of Gabriel’s cell phone chirping from his pocket.
"What the—I get service out here?" he mused under his breath, glancing at the screen. He poked at it, and spoke: "Daniel?"
I mouthed "His brother," to the others who both nodded.
Gabriel’s mouth fell open. "You’re here. Here? What do you mean you’re here? Wait a minute, I’m putting you on speaker." He touched the phone and set it on the middle console. "What do you mean, you’re here, Daniel?"
"I mean, I’m here! Castle Danger, Minnesota—where you are. Although…I don’t see anything but a lot of trees and…more trees and…oh look! Another tree!" Daniel’s deep voice closely resembling Gabriel’s but each word was a bit more articulate and almost overly-pronounced sounded surprised and sarcastic at the same time.
"Why are you here?" I asked, awed.
Daniel’s tone turned from surprised to silly. "Well, am I speaking again to the one and only beautiful famed pink dragon?"
I snorted. "Well the jury is out on beautiful," Gabriel shot me a glare to which I stuck out my tongue at him and crossed my eyes, "but yes, that's me."
Daniel let out a little laugh. "Oh! I’m so excited to finally meet you! It would have happened already but the way my brother is—I think he wants you all to himself!"
Gabriel forced a smile and sunk back in his seat, cheeks flushing red. Kiarra chuckled and even Maxxus managed a smirk. "Shut up, asshole," Gabriel warned.
"Oh shove it, bro. You mad?" Daniel’s voice was sing-song in his torment. "Anyways, so I had this vision a few hours ago, and the majority of what I remembered was seeing this green sign and highway numbers…the sign for Castle Danger, and I felt a sense of urgency. The fact I’m able to tell you this means I’m supposed to be here so…the question is why? And where the hell are you?"
My phone chirped then. I pulled it out of my bag.
He magical? It was Kiarra, not wanting to be heard while Daniel was on the other line.
I looked away from the phone and nodded. I replied back simply "Seer." She nodded, that was enough.
"Daniel, my name is Kiarra. I’m a dragon first and foremost, and Loremaster and I have taken both Leorah and your brother and another comrade to the haven of Castle Danger for their safety until we can learn and eliminate the threats against them. If you can give me your relative location, I can come get you through a portal."
Daniel described his location and Kiarra seemed to know where it was even though he described little more than trees and the position of the sun. She said he was nearby, coincidentally and she instructed that he would see a shimmer suddenly about fifty paces to the west of him, and that was his cue to step on through. She exited the car and started running off into the woods.
Maxxus reached out and grasped Gabriel’s shoulder. "You are sure that your brother can be trusted?" He glanced at me as well. I nodded my head. If Gabriel trusted him, so did I. Perhaps that was a naïve stance to take, but my instincts told me it was the right thing to do.
Gabriel gave him a brief nod. "He knows all about dragons—probably more than I—and he’s a Seer. He doesn’t have any magic besides the visions that we know of, but he’s a strong fighter and has had my back every time I have had even the smallest tiff. I know he’d do the same for Leorah. Just because he’s not an official Knight, he’s still obligated to serve them and the dragons however he can."
Maxxus opened his door. "I should see if she needs assistance." He ran off after her into the woods.
"So…" Gabriel reached over and grabbed my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Are you sure you can handle my brother?"
I laughed. "That’s the least of my worries right now," I said. "I’m pretty sure I can handle him. I’m not sure if I can handle…all this. A strange place. New people and…beings." I sighed.
"We’ll be fine." Gabriel said. "It might be interesting to be able to practice magic open
ly, if it is as Kiarra says. I wonder if there will be other sorcerers there," he mused.
I shrugged. "Sure sounded that way."
Gabriel beamed. "That will be nice for a change."
I wanted to share his joy, but inside I was still nervous and frightened. Frightened for my missing friend and nervous for myself at this stage. So much had happened in the past couple weeks.
A yeowl sounded from the floor of the car behind us. I peeked over and discovered Sona, disgruntled but okay had woken from her catnip coma in her little crate. I reached my hand out and rubbed her velvety nose with my finger. "Soon, kitty…. you’ll be able to get out soon."
She snorted and turned around, presenting me with her backside before letting out an angry meow and tried to fall back asleep.
"She sounds unimpressed," Gabriel said, with a laugh.
"Well, all I see is trees so far. We could have hidden in the woods back home if this is all it is," I said, peering out the window again, watching for Kiarra and company to emerge again through the woods.
Before I could speak again, Kiarra emerged with Maxxus and someone on a black motorcycle (the engine was shut off), wearing a leather jacket and a black helmet with red flames adorning the sides. I assumed this was Daniel, taking long strides on either side of the bike in his black leather chaps.
"Chaps? Really?" I didn’t realize I said this out loud, narrowing one eye. Gabriel snorted and guffawed.
"Yes, that’s my brother." We both shook our heads and enjoyed a brief laugh before climbing out of the car from our respective sides.
As we emerged, Daniel paused for a moment before taking of his helmet, and kicking the kickstand down to prop up the heavy black bike. He tossed the helmet aside (which Maxxus politely picked up and hung by its strap on one of the handlebars) and came bounding over to us like an excited puppy.
"Oh my God!" he exclaimed, giddy. "It’s you, it’s really you!" He said to me as I outstretched my hand.
"It’s you?" I retorted, not sure how to react to the sudden adoration.
He pushed my hand aside and wrapped his extremely thick arms around me—I almost felt like I was in a vice—and he lifted me up and spun me around, grinning from ear to ear. It was nearly like being next to Gabriel except Daniel was a couple of inches taller, with the same strong jawline, dark shadow of facial hair, very broad muscular shoulders and carefully coifed, manicured wavy black hair that was slicked back with closely-shaven sides.
"You have blue eyes," I observed, surprised. Not sure why I was, really…all Gabriel ever mentioned about his brother was that he was cut, being that he was a personal trainer and I could see that. There was a resemblance but they each had different smiles. Gabriel’s was sly, more hesitant and playful. And of course, the different eyes. Daniel, when he grinned it was a confident smile from ear to ear.
He set me down and brushed the rumpled sleeve of my sweatshirt. "Yes! We’re not identical twins, as you can see…surprised my silly brother here forgot to mention that," he said, seeming to over pronounce each word. He shot his brother a mock scowl who in reply just flipped him the bird.
He looked back and me and grinned. "You know, you’re just as beautiful as I saw you were—even more so in person."
"You saw me? Where?" Did Gabriel take some secret photo of me I wasn’t aware of. I shot daggers at him but Daniel quickly dismissed that idea.
"No, no…nothing like that. I had visions of you. I didn’t know you were the dragon but I knew you were special somehow. Recently I figured out who you must be, I had a vision of you before my brother left for Pineville. Now I really just thought at the time he was meeting his Princess Charming but this is so much better!" Daniel reached out and brushed a tendril of my strawberry hair back over my shoulder, while peering at my exposed neck.
I instinctively started to raise my hand to cover my dragon’s clan mark but just let it fall. Clearly Daniel had seen it already if he knew where to look. "Just what I thought it would be. Beautiful." He brushed my hair gently back over my neck. "This really is quite an honor."
I heard Gabriel chortle behind us. "Don’t weird her out anymore then she already is, Dan…okay?"
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I supposed we should get this show on the road here, eh?" He did turn towards Maxxus briefly, giving him an approving once-over. It wasn’t unusual in the dragon kingdom for the same gender to be attracted to one another, so Maxxus took it in stride. "How exactly do you fit in with this rag-tag group here, if you don’t mind my asking?"
"He guarded the portal where I went between realms," I explained. "He’s one of the Court guardians."
"Was," Maxxus said, with a wry laugh. He held out his hand for Daniel who took it firmly and shook. "Maxxus."
"Daniel O’Donnell…Seer at your service," Daniel said, with a little bow.
I gave Maxxus a pitiful smile but he waved me off. "Don’t worry, I’m here because I want to be. It’s the right thing to do."
Daniel nodded in approval. "Good. We’ll need all the help we can get."
I raised my brows expectantly at Daniel who just bit his lip. "Sorry, can’t say anymore."
I sighed.
"So, what now?" I asked to Kiarra, as Gabriel and Daniel exchanged the official "man" hug where they grasp each other’s forearms and lean in briefly while patting each other about three times on the back with the free hand. Humans. Pffft.
"Well, the town is in a little way, about a mile. We can drive in most of the way but there’s a little carport with a handful of cars parked there and then we walk in the rest of the way," Kiarra explained. "We can shift while Gabriel and Daniel park the vehicles."
"Shift?" I asked, the taste sour on my tongue. "We have to shift? Why?"
"It’s tradition, newcomers to Castle appear for the first time in their natural forms, as a gesture of trust and honesty."
I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and sticking out my lower lip. "I don’t wanna."
I heard Maxxus attempt to stifle a laugh—unsuccessfully.
"Oh stop!" I said to him, but couldn’t help smile as well. "My human form is natural. It’s natural to any dragon," I protested.
"Oh come on, Leorah!" Daniel grasped my shoulders and looked me in the eyes, although I tried to avoid his stare. "Do it for me. I’ve never seen a dragon before looking like…a dragon. I’ve waited a long time…please?"
"Fuck. Fine." I relented, still refusing to look into Daniel’s face.
"Oh good!" Daniel clapped his hands together excitedly. "Let’s do this! Lead the way, Kiki!" he said, turning to Kiarra who just blushed.
I handed Gabriel the keys and insisted he drive, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed—again—and my cat was howling from the backseat. I instructed Maxxus take the front passenger seat as I was sure it was fairly uncomfortable for him being so tall cramped in the backseat, even for the short ride we were embarking on. Gabriel behaved himself but kept his lip bit and refused to look anywhere but the forest.
I leaned against the cool glass of the window and closed my eyes momentarily.
"This must be rather hard for you, huh?" Kiarra mused from next to me.
"You could say that," I said, putting my fingers to my temples and rubbing circles.
"Do you think she’ll be safe there?" Gabriel inquired from the driver’s seat.
"From the Court? Definitely. They have no idea it exists," Kiarra replied.
"Well that’s good but from the…evil dream demon things."
"Dream demons?" Kiarra asked, uncertain.
"No…we don’t know what it is." Gabriel said, with a sigh. We were driving at a snail’s pace, Daniel straddling his motorcycle and walking it beside us. The ground was bumpy and overgrown with leaf litter and shrubberies but the landscape around us began to change. Abundant pine trees gave way to willows and birches, Kiarra insisted there was a reason for this; both trees had magical properties that enhanced the magic that surrounded and cloaked the hidden respite of Castle Danger.
<
br /> I explained my dream visions and Gabriel piped in whenever he could and as we finished, Kiarra appeared very alarmed.
"There’s no time to waste, we need to get to the Loremasters. Fast." She said, sounding urgent.
"So you know what it is, then?" I asked.
"No, not for sure. But I know who will…" Kiarra pointed at an overgrown tent off to the right that was covered in ivy and moss and instructed Gabriel to park inside. There was only one other vehicle parked—an old, army-green colored Jeep with no windows or doors. It was dusty and clearly hadn’t been driven in a while.
Gabriel parked and Maxxus and Kiarra emerged from the car and began stripping off their clothes.
"Umm…" I said, as Daniel’s eyes flew open wide when Maxxus lifted his shirt over his head, revealing a very trim but slightly muscular chest. I punched him lightly in the arm. "Don’t stare!" I whispered to him, admonishing, but I had to admit my gaze lingered a bit too long on his lightly defined muscles as well.
"What?" Kiarra piped.
"Well…humans are modest and so am I…so…" I nodded behind the tent.
Maxxus chuckled, seeming embarrassed. "I am sorry; I didn’t even think of it. Ladies first…."
I wrinkled my nose but begrudgingly followed Kiarra behind the tent. Gabriel had grabbed out our backpacks from the trunk and handed them to us.
"Robes really would be easier," Kiarra said, as we ducked behind the tent, tossing our bags on the ground. "This is a pain; don’t you think?"
I shrugged. "I rarely shift anymore."
"You don’t feel like you…need to?" she asked, pushing her pants down and stepping out of them. I spun around so I couldn’t see. "You don’t need to be embarrassed, you know."
"I know, but you remember I’ve been mocked for years for my form so you’ll forgive me if I don’t seem excited to change into it," I said dryly.
"Huh. You know my grandfather had similar aversions," she said. I heard the backpack zip open and shut, and a few moments later heard a growl and felt the energy in the air as she shifted to her dragon form—a rather attractive shade of deep blue with a wide wingspan and light blue eyes. "Ahh…" she sighed, with a smile of her toothy dragon mouth. "That feels better. Next."