“She’s having a panic attack,” Braith says in my ear. “Hazy, you need to calm down! I know it’s hard.”
“Hazel, look at me!” Marco cups my face in his hands and forces me to stare into his eyes as my airways start to close and tears run down my cheeks. “I know it sounds stupid, but I need you to do something for me. Name four things that you can see, three things that you can touch, two things that you can hear and one thing that you can smell. Can you do that for me?”
“What’s that gonna do?” Braith wails.
“It’ll get her to focus on something other than panicking,” my boyfriend snaps back. “Can you do that, Haze? Please?”
“I… I can see… You…”
“Yep, three more. What else? Look around.”
Through sharp breaths I take in my surroundings. The ground is sloshy and covered in small pools of mud with small insects and worms taking advantage of the wet environment. Although the landscape is bare in the distance I can see houses, closer than before, in a neat row along a small beach with murky blue water.
“Bugs… The sea… And houses…”
“Okay, now what can you touch? Try to think of something different.”
“Grass.”
“Yeah, what else?”
Braith grabs my hand and squeezes it, flashing me her signature flirtatious grin.
With a chuckle I reply: “Braith.”
“One more.” Marco kisses my forehead softly and smiles.
Holding my hand upwards, I feel my companion’s rough black scales rub on my skin. “Aqueous.”
“You’re calming down, see? What can you hear?” Marco asks.
My chest starts to loosen and I don’t feel the itch to run anymore. My breathing has slowed down slightly and I feel more normal.
“Damayanti and Drea squelching in the mud.”
A snort from Drea gives me an idea of her disapproval, but Marco hushes her.
“I can’t believe it’s actually working,” Braith breathes, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and rocking me back and forth.
“And…” my voice catches at the weird sound. “Something is moving.”
“Of course; the dragons won’t stop stomping around,” Braith snorts, casting a playful gaze to Damayanti.
“No, not them.”
The idea comes into my head as I shoot to my feet, looking in the direction of the dead Wyrms. The one that Bluey killed lies on the ground, its head in several bloody chunks. The other one, however, is slowly dragging itself away from us, towards the trees.
“Get it!” Braith yells.
Damayanti is the first to follow this command, barrelling into the half-dead Wyrm and grasping its neck with her sharp teeth. Drea and Aqueous each grab an end of the Wyrm and pull. The creature screams in agony as its scaly skin rips from its body, until a loud crack causes its head to droop to the ground, lifeless.
“Good work, you lot!” Braith claps and cheers for the dragons. “Without you, we’d be dead by now. I’m glad that we brought Bluey too.”
Bluey ducks his head in embarrassment and swivels his ears towards the forest as if another Wyrm is waiting to ambush us.
“Are you feeling better now, Haze?” Marco asks, rubbing my arm comfortingly.
“Yeah. I don’t know what came over me, sorry.”
Brushing his cheek against mine, he murmurs: “It’s okay.”
“How did you conjure up that shark, Hazy? Not many people can do that!” Braith bounces up and down excitedly. “Heck, I bet even Mr Reedman couldn’t do that!”
“I dunno,” I answer truthfully. “My back started to burn, and then, boom, shark.”
“Maybe that’s the element heightening Draca was talking about,” Braith suggests.
“What are you talking about?”
“Shit, did I not tell you about that?”
“Tell me about what?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. We’d better not stick around here too long, there might be more Wyrms somewhere.”
* * *
“So, you’re telling me that the shark was my element being heightened? Why hasn’t it happened before?”
We’re heading to the coast again, hoping to find Marco’s parents’ house. Marco and Braith had talked about the element heightening a week ago, but forgot to tell me. It still doesn’t explain whether the shark was a part of that element heightening.
Braith shrugs and nudges me playfully before jogging forward a bit to get out of my reach. “Maybe it’s because only the Wyrms can trigger it. But they repel our elements, so I don’t know how it works.”
“They didn’t repel Hazel’s,” Marco points out. “Maybe once it’s activated, the Wyrms can’t repel elements anymore.”
“I dunno. I’ll ask Draca tonight; he’ll know,” Braith replies.
“So, where are we going?” I ask my boyfriend as we trudge closer to the line of houses that is only a few metres away. “Unless we find your house pretty quick we’re gonna get spotted.”
“Number twenty, closest to the beach,” Marco replies, grabbing my hand and swinging it like a child playing. “That’s what my parents told me.”
“How come they told you about it?”
“After I leave Aria it’s my house. They gave me the whereabouts but not the keys. Of course, Mason gets one in the city close to them, but I guess they just want me to go fuck myself.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I squeeze his hand softly.
“Pfft, it doesn’t matter. It’s convenient for us now. They won’t know we’re living there; I highly doubt they’ve maintained it anyway.”
Although Marco tries to act blasé about his parents overlooking him, I know that it hurts him. They’ve always favoured Mason because he can sing, but Marco is great at science, so I’m sure he’ll be accomplished too one day.
He’s great now, even. Especially with everything he’s gone through.
Thinking of Maya and Sadie sends a shiver down my spine, I never knew they were capable of such cruelty. Especially from a girl I thought of as a friend.
Looking at my boyfriend now, I’m glad that he’s turned out okay. And that our relationship has evolved to more than friends. Deep down there was always a part of me that loved him like a partner, but I was always too afraid to say anything.
“Okay, Marky. You lead the way.” Braith points to the street in front of us that’s eerily empty, but Marco shakes his head.
“We can’t just stroll onto the street. There will be people looking out for escapees.” He looks around before gesturing towards a thick line of bushes growing over a garden fence. “We’ll follow that and look out for the house numbers.”
“Those bushes won’t last forever.” I point, grimacing as the bushes thin out the further up the houses they go.
“I’m hoping we’re not too far,” he admits, rubbing the back of his head. “Maybe we can send one of our companions ahead.”
“But won’t they be looking out for our dragons too?” Braith says, wrapping an arm around Damayanti’s neck protectively.
“You’re right,” Marco sighs. “Guess we have to do this the hard way.”
Bluey lands in front of Marco before he can take another step forward, wagging his tail wildly with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
“Maybe we can send Bluey out!” Braith exclaims, jogging over to the red and blue dragon to pat his cheek. “They won’t recognise him!”
Bluey yaps excitedly and nods sharply. He wants to do it.
“Are you sure?” I brush my hand against his neck, and he rubs his cheek against mine in return. I’ll take that as a yes.
“Okay, look out for house number twenty,” Marco crosses his arms and looks at Bluey sternly. “We’ll wait here for you. Please don’t get caught.”
The blue-footed dragon nods sharply before spreading his wings and backflipping into the sky.
“Show-off,” Braith chuckles.
* * *
“There you are!” Braith poi
nts up in the sky as a large shadow flies overhead then lands gracefully next to Damayanti.
Bluey yaps excitedly, pointing forwards with his spiked tail.
“I’m guessing you found it,” Marco chuckles.
Bluey nods and trots ahead, taking the lead. We follow him around the backs of the houses, many filled with families eating dinner. My heart aches at the thought of Rocky. I hope he’s okay. I also hope that Ciara’s baby is his. God knows he’s been through enough without her ruining it.
“Here we are!” Marco announces, grabbing the bars of a gate labelled ‘twenty’.
“How do we get in?” Braith looks the tall gate up and down.
“Our companions can carry us across.”
On cue, Damayanti plucks Braith off the ground and glides over the gate, dropping my friend softly on the other side. Drea does the same with Marco, and the two of them approach the house to explore.
“Are you strong enough to carry me over?” I ask my companion. The black dragon flattens his ears and shifts his feet uncomfortably. I’ll take that as a no. “Maybe there’s another-” Before I can finish my sentence I’m up in the air, dangling from the jaws of Bluey.
He drops me on the sandy path on the other side before darting into the house with the others. Aqueous lands beside me and helps me to my feet, his turquoise eyes filled with guilt.
“Hey, you’ll be able to carry me one day. You just need to get stronger,” I reassure him, brushing my hand over his black scales.
My companion nods in agreement and sighs. I look around. The property is huge. The garden is filled with overgrown weeds and flowers, but it looks beautiful in a messy kind of way, as if there’s a mini forest growing in the garden. The house itself is quite large and painted a mint green with black windowpanes. Ivy covers most of the walls, but it can be chopped back if we wanted to. I approach the large ivory door of the house and step inside, stifling a gasp. The floor is made of a lush oak wood and immediately splits off into two rooms, with a staircase in the middle.
“Hey Marky! I thought you said your parents didn’t like you as much as Mason? This place is massive!” Braith shouts from the top of the stairs, sliding on the stair rail like a small child.
“They don’t,” Marco steps out from the one of the rooms and slowly looks around. “But I guess they must like me on some level.”
“Even if they don’t like you, I do,” I joke.
My boyfriend winks at me and grabs my hand to lead me upstairs. “This place is unfurnished, so we need to see if there’s anything to sleep on or eat on.”
“Or fuck on,” Braith teases, darting into one of the rooms downstairs.
“She’s annoying,” Marco sighs.
“So are you.” I tickle his side playfully, making him jump back.
“Hey! You’re more annoying than me!” He picks me up by my waist and carries me down the hallway.
“Put me down!”
“Not until you admit that you’re the annoying one!”
“Well you’re the one who’s afraid of water,” I counter, creating a little blob of water on my fingertip.
“I’m not afraid of it, I just don’t like it,” he whines, dropping me with a huff.
“So what room do you want?”
Wriggling his eyebrows, he kisses me softly and whispers: “Whatever one you’re in.”
“Be serious!”
“I am. Why not, you know? We shared a room at the Aislados.”
“Yeah, with Braith.”
“So?”
Thinking about it, I guess there would be nothing wrong with it. It would be nice to have someone to sleep next to.
“Okay.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, why not? If you have nightmares I can comfort you and vice versa.”
He shrugs. “I guess so.”
Hopefully we can have a few happy days before being reminded of why we’re out here. I’m sure Draca can give us some more answers soon about the Wyrms. I don’t really want to encounter them again.
22
Chapter Twenty-Two
When I open my eyes I’m immediately buffeted by a cold, harsh wind. With a tired sigh, I realise that Draca has summoned me. Glancing up at the mountain peak, I begin to trudge towards it when Braith collides into my side, grinning.
“Told ya he’d give us some answers, Mari!”
“He hasn’t yet.”
“Then let’s hurry up and go in, you must be freezing.”
As soon as we enter the cave, Draca emerges from the darkness, blinking at us with his warm amber eyes.
“Welcome, Frost, Marine. I know that you have more questions about the Wyrms.”
“That and the element heightening thing.” Braith rubs the back of her head sheepishly.
“Your element is heightened because of your markings. The Wyrms want that power. For example, your powers will appear as animals that represent your element. The Wyrms cannot get that power, but they can use it to evolve. That is how they became what they are today.”
My back burned when I created that shark, and I have no idea how I did it. Let alone twice. But as soon as it left, I was filled with a panic that I couldn’t control. Was that because of the Wyrms?
“I conjured one.” The amber dragon looks surprised as I speak. “But after it left, I panicked. I don’t know what came over me.”
Draca sighs and crouches down to look at us better. “It’s a side effect, I’m afraid. You aren’t supposed to be able to control such power; it’s only because of your markings. You will feel like that every time you use it.”
“So what are we supposed to do now?” Braith strokes Draca’s large scaly cheek. “We’ve escaped the Wyrms, at least for now.”
“I will tell you what to do when the time comes.” His amber eyes darken slightly. “Then more of your questions can be answered.”
“Can’t you answer them now?” Braith whines.
The amber dragon shakes his head slowly. “I will talk to you again when the time comes.”
Neither of us is allowed to argue before everything goes black once more.
* * *
The next three days pass uneventfully. With the money we have remaining, Bluey is able to go out and get us food and blankets. I guess the people around here must think that his partner is disabled or something. We have a guard system in place at night now to look out for the Wyrms. Currently it’s my turn.
The night air is crisp and cold against my skin, making me shiver underneath my jacket. If the Wyrms do come, I don’t know what we would do. They disable our elements if they get too close, so if they sneak up on me, I’m doomed.
A twig snapping behind me makes me jump, and I whirl around only to come face to face with my companion. The dark keeps him hidden well; his blue swirl markings can barely be seen. The only thing giving him away are his big turquoise eyes.
“Go to bed, Aqueous; I can handle this by myself.”
My companion cocks his head to one side and lets out a stubborn snort. He nudges me towards the ground and then curls his body around me, his rough scales catching on my clothes.
“Come on, you need sleep.”
The black dragon pretends not to hear me as he licks my cheek rhythmically, breathing contentedly in my ear. While he licks my cheek I lean my head back onto his stomach, listening to the gentle beat of his heart, matching the pace of mine.
I guess it must be because we’re connected.
A large yawn from me makes him growl triumphantly, but as I fight to keep my eyes open, I feel myself relaxing into sleep.
It doesn’t feel as if I’ve been out long when I’m woken up by my companion jumping to his feet, growling at something in the bushes ahead of us. For a few seconds I’m irritated, until I spot the familiar beady red eyes glaring at us from the shadows.
“Shit!” I raise my hands to fire an attack, but my palms are dry. “They’re too close to use our element!”
Aqueous glances at me, pushing me b
ack slightly with his tail. As the Wyrm pokes its lithe grey head out of the undergrowth, my companion drops low to the ground, his spiked tail swishing back and forth in a warning.
“Why don’t you attack her instead?” the vile creature hisses.
Sucking in a deep breath, I wait, frozen in fear as my companion turns around.
“Aqueous… it’s me…” I mutter, moving backwards a few steps with my hands up non-threateningly.
Shooting me a sly grin, his tail collides with the Wyrm’s head, sending it tumbling a few metres away. My companion leaps on it before it can get up, sinking his teeth into its neck and pulling at its slimy scales. The Wyrm screeches in fury and tries to escape by entangling its body around the black dragon, but it is stopped when a foot stomps on its tail, making a loud cracking sound as it collides with bone. The Wyrm doesn’t give up easily, though, as it sinks its needle-thin teeth into my companion’s leg, making him yap in pain.
Movement to my right catches my eye, and I spot another Wyrm sneaking up on my companion. Just as it notices me, I fire a ball of water at it. The water explodes against its cheek on impact, but seems to have little effect. I charge another as the Wyrm approaches, but it falls apart in my hands as the Wyrm closes the distance between the two of us. It’s too close for me to use my element now.
The first Wyrm collides with the second, sending them both sprawling across the garden and crashing through the fence, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. My companion limps in front of me, his usually white teeth stained with blood. The second Wyrm flails underneath its unmoving companion, screeching at the top of its lungs.
It occurs to me that people will wonder what the noise is soon, and if they investigate they’ll find us.
“Aqueous, we need to shut it up!”
My companion nods to me and shoots a bubble of water towards the Wyrm, which envelopes its mouth. The Wyrm’s screams are instantly silenced as it struggles to breathe. It flicks its tail over its mouth over and over, trying to whack the bubble off. The water breaks but quickly reforms when the tail moves. Once this fails, it starts to wriggle violently underneath its dead companion, desperately trying to get up. Slowly its movements slow to a weak thrash, before it slumps on the ground, unmoving.
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