by R D Martin
With the children on the other side, Bella breathed a sigh of relief, though she was disappointed Samantha wasn’t among them.
A movement from the corner of her eye caused her to twist just in time to keep the fist flying at her head from knocking her unconscious. As it was, the impact made her legs turn to Jell-O and sent her tumbling to the floor. The children’s guard was back on her feet and, face contorted in a rictus of anger, swooped down toward her head.
A jerk on her thick braid snapped her head forward as she felt herself dragged across the floor. Scrabbling, she tried to find purchase, but was caught in her attacker’s momentum. Passing through the doorway and into the hall, the woman only slowed long enough to kick open another door and drag her in.
“They’re gone,” she screamed over her shoulder, releasing Bella to flop to the floor.
“What? What are you doing here? What are you talking about?” The voice was unmistakable and caused an icy grip to squeeze her heart.
“The children, they’re gone. Escaped.”
“What!” This time the roar was less outrage at the interruption and more uncontrolled anger. “Find them. Bring them back. Now.”
Through her tears, Bella could see the woman nod and sprint out the door, disappearing into the corridor. Through the pain in her head and battered sides, she could still feel herself smile. Karina would never let that woman have them. They were safe, though she couldn’t say the same about herself.
27
Rolling over, Bella pushed herself up and looked around. The soft glow of hundreds of tallow candles lit the room, filling it with dancing shadows. William’s short description of the room hadn’t done it justice. Large enough to hold a hundred or more people, the room felt more like a temple than a dungeon. Fluted columns were carved into the walls on either side of her and painted a pearl white. Between each pair was a bas relief depicting different monsters, though she only recognized the snake-headed Medusa.
The far wall also had columns, but it lacked the reliefs. Instead, an alcove was dug into the center and a statue stood inside. But as bright as the candlelight was, none of the light penetrated the darkness behind the stone figure. Peering into it, she could almost swear there was something moving in the background, but doing so left her stomach twisting as though something deep inside knew it was wrong to look.
A plaintive whimper dragged her attention from the surrounding room to the altar sitting just off its center. Atop the stone structure, dressed in rags and chained down, lay Samantha.
Rage ignited in the pit of Bella’s stomach as she watched the child struggle against the heavy iron chains holding her down. Ignoring everything else, Bella reached out to free the child, but stopped short as something grabbed her from behind. Lifting her from her feet, it tossed her through the air with the ease of a terrier throwing a rat. Skidding to a stop, she scrambled to her feet and turned to face her attacker.
Chryso stood a dozen feet away, a sneer playing across his face, marring what otherwise would have been an artist’s dream.
“You,” he said as he straightened his golden robes. “You have given us a lot of trouble. We did not think you would be such an annoyance, but after all this time we should have known.”
“We? Who else is here?” Bella looked around, though if anyone else was here, they’d have to be invisible.
“There is just us, and we are enough.”
That’s it, she thought as she raised her hands toward the towering man, he’s crazy.
Chryso must have seen the confused look on her face because he tilted his head back and barked out an amused laugh. “Do you not know who we are? You come into our house, steal from us, kill our servant and you still do not know us?”
“I know you’re a kidnapping, murdering psychopath. Is there more I should know?”
“We are Ladon,” Chryso bellowed, all mirth gone from his voice. “We are the hundred-headed one.”
“There’s probably a pill for that. I could recommend a good doctor if you like.”
“We are the child of gods,” he continued, ignoring her interruption. “We are the chosen and we will rule over this world again as we did in time past. You will kneel and worship us, and we shall grind you beneath our feet.”
“I don’t think so,” she shouted, pulling magic into her core and pushing as much energy as she could into a spell. Wind picked up throughout the room, buffeting them both and making Chryso’s golden robes whip around him. The snarl on his face changed, flowing into a look of concentration as his body slid back a few feet. Regardless of the power, though, he remained standing.
Seeing her spell wasn’t doing what she wanted, she changed tactics. Letting the wind die, she clapped her hands together and shouted a word not meant for the human tongue. Electricity, bright and hot, arced between her fingers. Bella threw her hands out as though lobbing a grenade, and the molten lightning flew across the room to slam into Chryso’s chest.
Where the wind spell only pushed him back, the electricity spell lifted him off his feet, knocking him to the floor with a resounding thud. Not wanting to end the momentum, she shouted the spell again and another ball of electricity flew across the room. Its impact bowled Chryso over, rolling him across the floor to stop in a disheveled heap against the wall.
When he didn’t make any move to rise, she nodded and raced over to where Samantha lay chained. Though caked with a layer of dirt and grime, she was unharmed as far as Bella could tell. Breathing a sigh of relief, she yanked at the manacles, heart sinking when they refused to budge. The iron chains were as solid as they looked. There had to be some way to get them open. Twisting them about, she saw a small pin in the cuff near the chain. Tugging on the pin as hard as she could, the small bit of metal slipped out, and the manacle popped open.
Samantha pulled the gag from her mouth as Bella hurried to free the girl’s feet.
“I knew you’d come,” Samantha said, struggling to open the manacle on her other wrist. “I told them you’d come. That you wouldn’t leave me.”
“I know, baby. I know. Now we have to hurry.” The pin for the last manacle holding her leg was stuck, refusing to budge as though rusted in place. Try as she might, she couldn’t pull it free, and frustration welled in her. She was so close, so close to getting out of here, and all she needed to do was pull this stupid pin.
Casting about, looking for something to help her, she saw a knife lying at the head of the alter. Snatching it up, she jammed the sharp edge between the head of the pin and the manacle, twisting as hard as she could. Nothing at first, then a sharp squeal as metal bits slid against each other. The screech ended with a sharp ping as the pin pulled free and flew across the room, disappearing in the distance.
“Okay, honey. We’re getting out of here. Ready to go home?”
The reaction she got was not the one expected. Instead of a nod or enthusiastic yes, the girl’s eyes widened and, stepping away from Bella, she pointed across the room.
Twisting to see what Samantha pointed at, Bella felt every nerve in her body jump with fear as she watched Chryso push himself off the floor.
He was different now, though. Aside from the burned and smoldering edges of his golden robes, he’d changed. As he rose she could see his form shifting, becoming more serpentine. Chryso’s once expensive clothes ripped beneath his muscled arms and growing claws. When the gold material hit the floor, Bella fought to choke back a scream.
A scale pattern formed over his entire body, and his powerful legs had disappeared, replaced by a long, coiled tail. Beneath the skin, muscles shifted and undulated as he changed.
Light glinted off iridescent scales as Chryso’s neck stretched, elongating and thinning. With a wet sucking sound, a seam appeared, running from the bottom of his throat, up his neck, and over his now snakelike face. The seam deepened and pulsed an angry red, vibrant against the green scales, until it cut through, leaving the transformed man with two heads and necks.
Seams appeared on those
as well and the process repeated itself. Again and again until so many heads and necks sprouted from the top of the creature that Bella thought the weight of them should drag it down.
Samantha whimpered behind her and Bella turned around.
“Honey, I need you to listen to me now. I know this is scary, but I need you to be brave for me. Can you do that? Be brave for me?”
Eyes wide, too scared to speak, the child nodded.
“Good girl.” Walking Samantha around the altar, she had the girl scrunch down and tuck herself in beneath it. “Stay here. No matter what you hear, I need you to stay here. Okay?” She didn’t wait for the child’s response before rising and staring at the transforming Chryso, anger burning away her own fear.
Metamorphosis complete, Chryso now stretched over twenty feet from the tip of his coiled tail to the snouts of his many interweaving heads. How many minds would it take to control such a monstrosity? she wondered as she watched them intertwine, sliding around one another as though each head had its own agenda. She’d once heard that dinosaurs needed two brains, one in their head and one in their tail. Stupid idea, but the way the heads of the creature in front of her fought and snapped at each other, she could believe it.
Stepping away from the altar, putting herself between the monster and Samantha, she felt power and heat radiating off the many-headed creature. This was a thing of power, and staring up at it, she could feel the icy fingers of doubt worming their way through her anger to grasp her spine. How could she fight such a monstrosity? It would devour her as easy as a bird eats a worm.
As though reading her thoughts, one of the nearer heads turned and faced her. A long forked tongue flicked from its mouth, tasting the air. Without taking its slitted yellow eyes off her, the head began waving back and forth as though riding the ripples on a pond. It was joined by a second head, then a third. Soon all the heads followed, moving in sync with the first. If watching the heads fight each other had been unnerving, seeing them move together was horrifying.
Without thinking, Bella slapped her palms together and shouted, summoning magic to aid her. Pouring all her might into the spell, she thrust her hands out and sent a dancing arc of electricity flying across the space between them. Even from where she stood, she could feel the impact as the bright white energy hit it and played across its scales. Sparks flashed and jumped back and forth between the necks, riding up them like a Jacob’s ladder.
A low hum filled the room, rising until it almost became a gale of noise. As it intensified, Bella realized the sound was not a cry of pain or anguish, but a rising tide of laughter coming from each of the monster’s many mouths.
“Ignorant child,” the heads all said at once in a mixed cacophony of voices. “We are Ladon, the hundred headed. We are the dragon of history and fought true heroes. You are nothing to us.” The screeching and popping of its voice tore at her mind as though trying to find its way in. “You are less than nothing. A mote to be ignored. A sack of flesh to be stepped on. We shall crush you and forget your existence.”
“Forget this,” Bella yelled, raising her hands, preparing to shout another spell. Letting the magic fill her like water in a cup, she was about to send it coursing at the monster when the air rushed from her lungs as something heavy struck her from behind.
Bowled over, gasping for breath that didn’t want to come, she rolled to her feet. Mouth gaping like a fish out of water, she realized she’d been paying so much attention to the monster’s head, she’d forgotten it had a tail.
She didn’t have long to think, though, as the tail had knocked her closer to the creature and its many gaping maws. Two heads darted toward her, jaws open and displaying row upon row of sharp teeth.
Diving to avoid the attack, Bella felt wind rush by as the first head missed her. However, the second hit her feet, turning her dive into a spin. Coming to a stop, she jumped up and, with a herculean effort, forced her lungs to take in a great gulp of cool air. Even in the underground confines of the room, the air tasted as fresh and sweet to her burning lungs as water from a mountain spring.
Ignoring the laughter of the heads, she raised her hands and shouted a spell. If electricity didn’t hurt the creature, maybe fire would. A stream of blue-white liquid fire burst from her open palms and engulfed it. The shadows dancing in the candlelight disappeared under the onslaught of the greater flame and a plume of black smoke rose to blanket the ceiling.
So… not a dragon, she thought, jumping away from its thrashing heads and tail.
Almost as fast as it took root, the fire died away. From where she stood, she saw patches of burned scales and pulsing raw flesh beneath, though even as she watched, the flesh stitched itself up and new scales pushed themselves to the surface to replace damaged ones.
Unsure what else to do, she sent another stream of the fire coursing at the monster to consume it again. The screech of pain was deafening, but the results were the same. It healed again almost as fast as she hurt it.
“We will crush you,” the majority of heads shouted in unison as the creature lunged at her.
As large as it was, it should be slower, she thought, leaping out of the way. It was like the world moved in slow motion. The monster struck like a snake, coiling up and thrusting toward her, all of its mouths open to bite and rend. The only thing keeping her from becoming the newest smear on the floor was its heads fighting each other to be the first to get her. Regardless, it still knocked her to the side, tearing a gash in the side of her shirt and the skin beneath. Blood welled to the surface and began a steady warm trickle down her side.
Something large grabbed her, piercing her side and shoulder like thick ice picks as it lifted her body into the air before slamming her into one of the carved stone columns. There was a cracking sound behind her, though from the shooting pain of her impact setting every nerve on edge, she wasn’t sure if the sound came from her or the stone. Bright lights burst in her vision and a ringing in her ears drove out every other sound.
Through a haze of tears, she could see she was being held aloft by one long clawed hand. She hadn’t seen those when Chryso transformed, but apparently they still remained.
Struggling against both the creature and blacking out, she raised her left hand and moaned more than shouted a protection spell. The last time she’d used it, she’d been strong enough to knock William a dozen feet from her. Now bruised and battered, her brain blanketed in a haze of pain, she wasn’t even sure the magic would come at all. Desperate, she tried to force the monster back, but only managed to toss a few burning candles at her feet into the air. Some landed on the altar and bounced to the floor, while the rest bypassed the altar entirely and bounced into the dark alcove behind it.
A scream sliced through the ringing in her ears, filling the room as though it were a solid thing, and she found herself dropped to the floor as the monster thrashed about.
Staring in disbelief, she watched it throw itself about as though fighting off an invisible enemy. What was going on? What had she done?
As the fog of pain in her own head cleared, she realized there had to be a connection between whatever hid in the alcove's darkness and the pseudo-dragon. Even as it thrashed, she could see small rips in its scales opening to reveal flesh beneath. Unlike the ones she’d caused, these didn’t heal over.
Pushing herself up, using the wall for support, she took aim at the alcove and shouted. The stream of fire leaping from her hand was as thin as a pencil, but flew like an arrow, and where it touched the statue in the alcove, it burned bright.
The darkness behind pulled back and a scream in the darkness was matched by one from the thrashing beast.
Twisting, she was just in time to see Ladon rush at her, its movement too fast for her to avoid. As the first mouth latched on to her, its teeth puncturing her side, she knew there was no way she would get out of this.
The fetid breath of the monster’s mouths almost gagged her as it dragged her down beneath its weight.
Through the pai
n and fear, she found herself in a place of calm, as though she were standing alone on a grassy field beneath a sky full of stars. The peace seemed to beckon her, encouraging her to give up and stop fighting. She’d done all she could, hadn’t she?
Images of her time with Samantha and William flashed through her mind. Images of her father and even some of her mother did as well, though she’d died before Bella could remember her. Happy smiling faces filled with laughter and joy.
The edges of her vision began to darken, concentrating what she saw down to a few of her most recent memories. Samantha, sitting at her kitchen table, drawing pictures while Cat told her unbelievable tales of his might and prowess. William, leaning in toward her, making her heart beat so loud in her chest she was certain he could hear it.
Give in, the voices in her head urged. Let go.
Just on the edge of her hearing, someone screamed her name. She wanted to ignore it, like a fly buzzing around her head, but it pulled her attention. Opening her eyes, Bella watched as Samantha crawled from behind the Blood Altar and screamed her name again.
Samantha. That was why she’d come here. To rescue the only one left she thought of as family. If she died here, Samantha would too.
No. That couldn’t happen. Not to Samantha. No.
“No,” she heard a voice scream out. It was almost a surprise to learn it was hers. “No.”
Thrusting the pain aside and ignoring everything around her, Bella did the one thing she’d never done, the one thing they had always warned her not to do, and completely opened herself up to the flow of magic. For the first time in her life she let the magic run rampant through her, hiding nothing, and neither guiding nor controlling it as she let it do what it wanted.
Warmth spread though her as the magic swelled, filling every corner of her being, burning away anything in its path. As fast as the warmth spread, it became a dull heat, then a searing that overpowered even the pain of teeth biting into her bone. Every muscle, every nerve and cell was on fire and still she did nothing to control it. As the fire swept through her, it consumed everything she was, burning it away. When it felt as though the fire would turn her to ash, she raised her arms, palms facing both the alcove and the reptilian body of Ladon, and whispered one word, one she'd never known before and couldn't remember after.