Venom and Earth

by Turnbull, Jessica

  The dragons nod their heads solemnly, some shivering at the memory of what happened to them.

  “That does it; we definitely need to take those fuckers down!” Braith punches the air as if the Wyrms were just going to fall onto her fist.

  “There’s Eryk!” Violet points to a tall boy with long, straggly brown hair. I recognise him from the dream.

  As we approach, Eryk looks up. His eyes are glazed over and bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.

  “Shit. I didn’t think you guys were real.” He draws a cigarette from his mouth, puffing in our direction.

  Scrunching her face in disgust at the foul smell, Braith points to a silver earring in his ear in the shape of a half-moon. “Is that Opaque’s?”

  “Who? I dunno who the fuck that is.” He takes another long draw from the cigarette. It dawns on me that it’s most likely not tobacco.

  The white common dragon lying lazily by his side opens one steely grey eye as Damayanti hesitantly steps forward to sniff the scales where its horns should be.

  “I see your dragon had its horns taken too,” I comment, pointing at his dragon when he looks at me as if I’m not speaking English.

  “Oh shit… Pirate, why didn’t you say anything, man?”

  Pirate rolls around onto his back, flicking his horned tail at his companion, breathing in the trail of smoke Eryk leaves behind.

  “Are you smoking weed?” Rocky swats the smoke away with his hand in disgust.

  “Yeah. So’s he.” He points to the white dragon beside him. “It’s not illegal.”

  “No, but it’s frowned upon,” Wes snorts. “You could get in trouble for that.”

  “Phst. Why do you lot care, anyway?”

  “Because you’re supposed to help us defeat the Wyrms, believe it or not.” Braith darts forward and swats the blunt out of his hand. “And not while high, either.”

  Eryk lurches to his feet, towering over Braith menacingly. “Fuck off. Let us smoke in peace. You aren’t the fucking police.”

  “You can’t ignore your problems by getting high,” she snaps back.

  This makes the stoned boy sway on his feet slightly. “You’re tough. I like you.”

  “Wow, that’s really made my day, ya know that?”

  He smirks and crushes the still lit blunt with his foot. “Fine. I’ll help you guys save the world or whatever. Just give us a time and a place. Oh, are you guys dog friendly? I’ve got a sweet as fuck little dog who absolutely loves-”

  “Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Braith raises a hand up to his face to get him to stop talking. “Yes, we are dog, and cat, friendly. If you wanna bring your dog, bring your dog. But I hope it likes cats.”

  “Oh shit. Yeah, I’m sure she does. Hey, aren’t you the girl who got abducted?”

  “Wow, you’re pretty sharp,” Braith rolls her eyes. “Okay, guys I think we’re done here, thank goodness.”

  “You know where to find me.” Eryk shoots a flirtatious grin at Braith before slumping next to his companion and staring up at the sky in wonder.

  * * *

  “So, the two new additions are weird as fuck,” Marco comments as he takes another bite out of his sandwich, throwing a small piece of tomato to Drea, who catches it in mid-air.

  Braith shivers and sticks her tongue out. “Eryk freaks me out. I think he was flirting with me.”

  “I think he was trying the best he could considering he was stoned out of his mind.”

  “Why did Draca have to pick those two?” My brother slides his half-eaten sandwich across the plate.

  My friend shrugs her shoulders. “I dunno. He’s weird. I don’t understand half the things the big lug goes on about.”

  “Do you know what I think is weird?” Wes mumbles, his eyes darting from left to right sharply.

  “No, what?”

  “The protectors. Where are they?”

  The penny finally drops for everyone. I’d forgotten that we were moving around too freely. Heck, I wouldn’t have been able to spend this much time with Marco if they had been around.

  “I hope they’ve gone for good,” Marco grumbles, wrapping his arm around my waist protectively. “I hate them.”

  “Is that because they keep you away from your girlfriend?” Braith teases, sticking out her bottom lip in mock sympathy.

  “Yes, why else? I love Hazel and they keep me away from her.”

  “Aww! You two are in love? That’s so cute! Don’t you think that’s cute?” Braith elbows my brother but he says nothing, just shoots her a warning glare. “Although I gotta say I’m incredibly jealous. I thought for sure I’d manage to get Hazy all for myself.”

  “Well, think again.” Marco sticks his tongue out and kisses my forehead.

  “Jeez, would you two stop fighting over me?” I cross my arms childishly, making my friends chuckle slightly.

  “So… the Wyrms?” Wes sighs impatiently.

  “What about ’em?” Braith mumbles through a mouthful of salad.

  The brown-haired boy narrows his eyes at her. “We need to figure out what to do about them. And also tell Ray about everything we’ve found out.”

  “Are you still being butt-fucked by him?” Braith huffs in disbelief.

  A dark expression falls over Wes’ face like a shadow. I’ve never seen him like this before. “He needs to know.”

  “Why?”

  A sharp breeze begins to kick up around our table, making me shiver worriedly.

  “Why? How about because he needs. To. Know.”

  The breeze picks up, turning into a strong wind that starts rattling the plates on the table. My companion rests his head over mine, scowling as Wes slowly stands up, a satisfied smile on his face at our uneasiness.

  “Wes, calm down…” My brother is cut off as the plates fly towards his head. He puts his arms up to cover his face. There was no need, however, as a brown tail knocks the plates to the floor, sending shards up into the air.

  “You idiots may not like it, but he is our leader.” Wes raises one hand and chuckles as the shards are blown off the floor and fly around the table, their sharp edges glinting menacingly in the sunlight. “I am telling him everything. I am also telling him of your disloyalty. He can punish you however he likes for all I care.” As the wind picks up more sharply he slowly starts to rise from the ground.

  The dragons yelp as the shards are thrown at them, bouncing off their thick scales. Asteroid growls and whips her tail around in a circle, causing a cone of wind to form around the base of her tail, creating a small tornado behind her.

  “Wes, please…” Braith whimpers.

  “No! I’m not being nice to you anymore! I am done with all of you!”

  His hand snaps in the air, making the air current surrounding us blow us off our chairs. Asteroid releases her small tornado in Drea’s direction, the small cone of wind tearing through the green grass and leaving a sick, brown dirt trail behind it. The white dragon looks unfazed, however, swishing her tail to keep the other dragons away, and releasing a flaming ball at the tornado, instantly igniting it in amber flames. With one flick of her clubbed tail on the fiery surface, the tornado dissipates, leaving a black scorch mark in its place. Asteroid stares open-mouthed at her enemy, before charging a ball of wind in her mouth and firing it in her direction. Just as effortlessly as before, Drea’s fiery breath causes the ball to ignite and then dissipate at the touch of her claw.

  “Don’t fight wind with fire!” Marco shouts over the howling wind, slowly rising to his feet. “You won’t win!”

  Wes opens his mouth to argue, but before he can do so, my boyfriend fires a hot ball behind him, igniting the wall of wind. With one snap of his fingers, the wall is gone and the wind immediately drops.

  “Woohoo!” Braith whoops, punching the air in excitement. “Marco, that was so cool!”

  Marco helps me to my feet and pushes strands of tangled blonde hair out of my face. “The element wind is flammable, unlike regular wind. It wa
sn’t supposed to be cool, Braith.”

  “Well it was! And it was awesome!”

  My attention turns back to Wes as a guttural animal-like sound rises from his throat. “It doesn’t matter. Ray will punish you all.”

  “Go tell him, then,” Violet surprises me by challenging the older boy. “Do it.”

  “What are you going to do? You can’t even control which element you use!” Wes guffaws.

  “It doesn’t matter when you’re not on guard.”

  “What?” As soon as the word escapes Wes’ mouth, a large ball of solid ice collides with his stomach, making him double over and wheeze in pain.

  “Holy shit!” Braith jumps around Violet excitedly. “That was also awesome!”

  “I meant to use earth, actually,” Violet shrugs. “But I guess ice works too.”

  Wes rises to his feet, still clutching his stomach. “Don’t expect my help anymore.”

  “Then don’t expect ours!” Rocky fires back.

  The boy’s eyes cloud over with hatred before he turns away from us. “Asteroid, come on. Leave them.”

  The orange-footed dragon casts one last look back at us, spits on the floor in disgust and then follows her companion.

  “What happened?” Braith mutters.

  I sigh sadly before answering her. “I think we just lost Squall.”

  12

  Chapter Twelve

  My eyes snap open as wet snowflakes melt on my cold body. Glancing around, I realise I’m in Draca’s memories once again. The landscape is clearer than before, with golden brown trees stretching out into the horizon. It’s beautiful up here.

  “Marine.”

  My attention is pulled away as Draca calls me from his cave. I trudge through the snow as quickly as I can, unsure as to how I can breathe so well when I’m this far up a mountain. The peak stretches far above me; we’re nowhere near the top. As it is hidden by cloudy sky, I’m unable to see whether something, or anything, lies at the top.

  “What am I doing here?” I step out of the thick snow and onto the cool surface of the cave floor. Glancing down, I notice I’m still in my pinstriped blue pyjamas with no shoes on. That’s right; I was asleep before I came here.

  “I need to speak to you urgently about Squall,” the large dragon says.

  “How can I breathe up here?”

  Draca reaches towards me with a foot, a small fire appearing in between his claws. I don’t realise how badly I was shivering until that heat source begins to warm my frozen toes.

  “I control all the elements. Wind can create air. I know human lungs need more oxygen than I do.”

  Sighing contently as I slowly begin to warm up, I glance up at the huge dragon, his yellow eyes warm and friendly.

  “Marine?”

  “Sorry, what do you want to know about Squall?” Not being able to use our real names still leaves a weird taste in my mouth.

  His mouth opens in a sharp, disappointed sigh, his teeth probably the size of my entire body. “I suspected when I brought you all here for the first time that he was lost… Now I know for certain when he attacked you.”

  “Lost?”

  “Yes. He is under the Wyrms’ control now. The battle hasn’t even begun and we’ve already lost an element.”

  Looking back on the way he ruthlessly attacked us earlier, it makes sense that the Wyrms would have got to him. He is just too attached to Ray.

  “What do I do?”

  Appreciation flickers in his eyes as he shakes his head sadly. “Nothing. You cannot bring him back to your side now. He’s blinded by his affection for his leader.”

  “You mean Ray?”

  “Indeed. I’m very sorry, Marine. There are many battles you will all have to face before defeating the Wyrms.”

  “Like what?”

  An amused smile spreads on his lips. “That would be telling.”

  “But I don’t understand what any of us have to do.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “I think you do,” I mutter as the fire vanishes from his claws, making me shiver in the harsh cold once more. “Why have you brought me here? Why not Frost?”

  “Because you are the closest to Squall in the group. And you deserve to know that he no longer thinks of you as a friend, but as an enemy. It is no longer safe to stay with him, so I want you to separate yourselves from the Cindaraans’ regime.”

  Separating from the Cindaraans sounds like a suicide mission. Ray won’t let us go without a fight.

  “There is another who will help you. Go to where the leaves are greenest.”

  “Can you not just tell me where I have to go?”

  “You’re smart, Marine. You’ll figure it out.”

  Draca seems to have a lot of faith in me, a sixteen-year-old child who is still in school.

  “Why did you pick teenagers?”

  My question seems to catch him by surprise. “I’m sorry?”

  “Teenagers. You could have picked adults but you picked teenagers. Why?”

  “Because you are still growing, still learning. The Wyrms can prevent you from using your element because they can predict what you can do. Adults have been taught basic moves that are universally known. Children are unpredictable; you can create new techniques that even the Wyrms can’t predict.”

  That doesn’t really make sense. How can we create new techniques?

  “How-”

  “You must wake now. The others have a message for you.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  He smiles knowingly. “Frost.”

  * * *

  “Hazy, get up! Group meeting!” Braith screams in my ear, rocking me back and forth to wake me up.

  “Braith-”

  “Sorry, I know you were with Draca, but this is important.”

  As my eyes adjust to my surroundings my memory starts to come back. After the fight with Wes we all agreed to go to our respective cabins and pack our stuff before Ray could find us. We then met up at the hotel and booked rooms to stay in for a few days. I’m roomed with Braith and Violet while Rocky and Marco are down the hall, hopefully not fighting.

  Throwing the stiff duvet off as she jumps up to wake Violet, I’m surprised to see my sheets covered in water. I pat the wet spot, which is icy cold to the touch. Snow from the mountain. Of course I can bring back fucking snow with me.

  “Braith, wha-” Violet begins, only to get cut off when Braith presses a finger against her lips.

  “Group meeting. We have visitors.”

  Before Violet and I can say anything, Braith skips towards the door and flings it open, darting outside.

  With a sigh, I grab a jacket in case we get dragged outside: “Come on, let’s see what she wants.”

  Timidly, Violet walks side by side with me as Braith charges down the hall. I try to walk as quickly as possible, knowing she’s probably woken someone up in the compact hotel. The hallway isn’t that wide, and is covered in classic paintings of dragons breathing fire and soaring through the air.

  “This way!” Braith calls as she darts around the corner, heading towards the dining room.

  “Where are we going, Hazel?” Violet looks up at me with her wide, grey eyes.

  “I don’t know. We’ll see what happens when we get there, okay?”

  The ginger girl glances over her shoulder continuously. “I’ve got a bad feeling.”

  “A bad feeling?”

  “I feel like we’re being watched.”

  Before I can probe her further, Braith throws open the large white door to the dining room. On one of the large tables sits Eryk and Mason, who look up in fear as we walk in.

  “What’s going on?” I ask as Braith pulls a chair up next to Eryk.

  “You’ll see. We need to wait for Rocky and Marco. Where did Melia go?”

  “Bathroom,” Mason replies, rubbing the nape of his neck. “Sadie isn’t coming.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugs. “She doesn’t want any part of this.”<
br />
  “Well, she’s already involved.”

  “I know, but… She isn’t interested in this.”

  “Bitch.”

  “I know.”

  Mason’s reply surprises me, but I don’t have time to dwell on it as Marco and Rocky enter the room, rubbing sleep from their eyes.

  “Jeez, what took you two so long? I got you up ages ago!” Braith scoffs.

  The two boys don’t answer, just pull up a chair and try to stay awake. I elbow my boyfriend playfully, but he just grunts at me.

  Melia finally enters the room, looking the most presentable of all of us with her brushed hair and full face of make-up.

  “Okay, that’s everyone.” Braith taps the table with her finger to get everyone’s attention. “Well, except for Wes and Sadie.”

  “I’m sure we can live without ’em,” Melia giggles, sitting in the only free seat next to Mason.

  “So, what is this about?” My brother rubs his eyes once more, fighting hard to keep them open.

  Glancing outside, I can see that the sky is still pitch black; it must be pretty late.

  “Well, seeing as Wes attacked us, I think we can assume that Ray will be on the warpath.” Everyone nods in agreement as my friend whips out a small notebook and a pen. “We can’t stay in this place forever, so we need a place to go.”

  “But we can’t leave Camp,” Mason protests.

  Squishing the pen lid between her thumbs, Braith rolls her eyes. “We’re not leaving camp. We need a place to stay. We’ve still got school an’ shit, so it’s not like we can just waltz out.”

  “So why am I here?” Melia snaps. “I wasn’t that guy’s friend; I can still stay in my cabin.”

  “No, you can’t. Wes will have told Ray about you lot, so you’ll be safer with us. Especially as Mason is a Krystalan.”

  “So am I.” Eryk shows off his silver necklace with the leaf pendant.

  “Then there we go. You can either come with us, or get beaten by Ray until you do his bidding. So, any ideas?”

  “There are loads of abandoned buildings around here. Maybe we could stay in one of them?” Rocky suggests.

  “Good idea.” Braith scribbles something down on her notepad.

  Go to where the leaves are greenest.