by S. E. Smith
All of them cursed when the carts began to move. They turned back and forth as they glided slowly by the small cemetery. A smothered oath escaped Mandra when they passed under a tree hanging over the track filled with dozens of glowing, orange eyes.
“Well, this isn’t so bad,” Vox commented right before the cavern plunged into total darkness.
“Damn, Vox, are you sure your mate isn’t here?” Ha’ven asked in the inky blackness. He fought the urge to create a power ball of light. Sweat broke out over his brow as something flashed by his face, brushing his cheek. “What was that?”
*.*.*
Cara blinked up at the ceiling, she knew immediately that something had woken her up. Inside, she felt her dragon stir… the girls! She threw the covers back and rolled to her feet. A quick glance at the bed caused her brow to crease in alarm.
“Trelon?” Cara called out as she hurried across the bedroom to the connecting door leading to the twin’s bedroom. “Where are they?” She asked desperately as she fingered the symbiot wrapped around her wrist.
The shadowy image of the dungeon filtered through her mind. Jade, still green because she fell asleep before her bath, was riding on Symba while Amber rode behind in a golden wagon.
“They are getting more creative,” Cara chuckled in disbelief. “How on Earth did they get out of here?”
Another image flashed through her mind. This one of not just Trelon, but all the other men as well standing in the lower cavern. Frustration and disappointment filled Cara as she wondered who snitched on their surprise.
Reaching for the shirt she had worn earlier, she pulled it on. She cursed when she felt something small hit her foot. Bending down, she picked up the small device that had fallen off the shirt as she slipped it on.
“You dirty, rotten… Oh, you think you are so sneaky,” Cara muttered under her breath as she realized what the device was and who had placed it on her. “I swear, he is worse than a kid at Christmas.”
The rapid knocking at the door drew Cara’s attention. She grabbed her pants and hopped down the hallway just as the main door opened. A harried looking Riley, followed by Abby, Cara, and Emma carrying Alice, stood in the foyer.
“Where is he?” Riley demanded, resting her hands on her hips. “Roam is gone, too. What are those men up to this time?”
Emma shifted Alice from one hip to the other. “She woke up crying for Ha’ven. Do you know where they are, Cara?” Emma asked in a worried voice.
“Oh, I know exactly where they are,” Cara replied holding out her hand. “Trelon snuck a tracking device on me.”
Abby sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. “If I didn’t know better,” she said with a tired laugh. “I’d think Zoran had been trying to make me so tired I wouldn’t know he was gone. The trouble is, I don’t sleep well when he isn’t next to me.”
“Where are Ariel, Trisha, and Carmen?” Cara asked as she stepped out of her and Trelon’s living quarters and into the hallway.
“They are going after the symbiots and the kids. Goldie, Harvey, Bio, and Precious are with the children. I’m guessing from the look on your face, Symba and the twins are gone too,” Abby said.
“Yep,” Cara replied as she hurried down the corridor.
“Why would they do this?” Emma asked as she struggled to keep up. "Why would Ha’ven come all this way to sneak out of our apartments in the middle of the night?”
“I’ll tell you why,” Riley said. “Because they are big kids when it comes to surprises. Vox is already plotting how he is going to win next year’s Easter egg hunt. He has been working on strategies for the last few months. That was one reason I wasn’t about to tell him ahead of time about Halloween. If he knew there was candy involved, it would be a full-blown war. That man has a huge sweet-tooth.”
Emma giggled. “Ha’ven keeps asking me why Alice and I have been dressing up in funny clothes. I told him she and I were going to be witches for Halloween. He just shook his head when I tried to explain it to him. He doesn’t understand why we would want to go around asking others for treats. He says he can give us all the treats we want. That we didn’t even have to ask. He also said if anyone tried to trick us that he would gut them.”
“He sounds so much like Zoran,” Abby chuckled.
“Well, someone else is about to get tricked if I have any say about it,” Cara said with a rueful grin. “I think it is time to show my mate and his brothers what happens when they blow a perfectly good surprise.”
“What are you going to do?” Riley asked in excitement. “Can I help?”
Cara giggled. “How do you feel about being a ghost?”
“Trust me, I have tons of experience at being one of those,” Riley replied with a sheepish grin. “What color sheets will I be wearing this time?”
“I don’t know,” Cara replied, biting her lip as she looked around to stare at Riley. “Damn, I should have grabbed some before I left.”
Emma looked at the three women before she looked at Alice. A look of uncertainty flashed over her face before determination filled it. Biting her bottom lip, she gave a shy smile.
“I can help,” she murmured. “What color would you like?”
“Pink!” Riley immediately declared with a bright smile as she held out one hand and snapped her fingers. “Bright, brilliant, dazzling, dripping with rhinestones, pink!”
Emma giggled and nodded before she closed her eyes and concentrated. Cara and Abby’s loud gasps filled the hallway as brilliant colors swirled around Emma’s hand as she placed it against Riley’s opened palm. When the colors stopped, a brilliant, rhinestone coated sheet lay neatly folded in Riley’s hand.
“How?” Cara demanded. “Can I do that or just you? Damn, that is just as cool as being able to turn into a dragon!”
“That is incredible, Emma,” Abby whispered in awe.
Emma giggled again. “Ha’ven has been teaching me how to do it,” she admitted, shyly. “I… He doesn’t want everyone to know. Riley is the only one that has really seen it before.”
Riley hugged her pink ‘ghost’ sheet to her chest. “Alice took one of the Easter eggs from Ha’ven. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I wasn’t sure exactly what you could do, though, until now,” she confessed. “I saw a few other strange things and I asked Vox stuff and put two and two together.”
“I want to be a pirate,” Cara said, placing her hands on her hips. “With a sword and a black powder pistol and a patch. I always wanted to be one.”
Emma nodded and pressed her hand against Cara’s chest. She focused again. It took a lot longer, but she was finally able to pull enough energy together to create the costume. Breathing a sigh of relief, she glanced down at Alice when she giggled and clapped her hands.
“Oh my,” Riley whispered with wide eyes as she saw that Alice was dressed in a black dress with a pointed hat, curled shoes, striped black and white tights, and held a miniature broom in one chubby hand. “Did you do that, Emma?”
“No,” Emma replied in a soft voice as she soothed a strand of Alice’s blond hair back from her cheek. “She is very powerful, like Ha’ven.”
“Abby, what would you like to be?” Emma asked as she turned toward her.
“I just want to be a dragon,” Abby replied with a smile.
“Wow, Emma. Thank you for this!” Cara whispered as she fingered her outfit in awe. “Now you need to get dressed. Can you make one of those things really fly?” Cara asked, nodding to the broom even as she started to turn and head down the stairs to the lower dungeon.
“I don’t know,” Emma admitted as she focused on her own appearance. Within seconds, she was dressed identically to Alice. “I don’t think so, but I can move short distances without being seen.”
“Damn,” Riley sighed as she followed them down the stairs. “Dragons, magic, and I get to be a damn cat.”
“Tiger,” Emma replied as she followed Cara. “That is definitely more impressive than a house cat. Don’t forget, you al
so get nine lives.”
“Tigers are pretty awesome,” Riley admitted with a sigh. “Not to mention sexy as hell. When Vox shows his teeth and flicks his tail, I need a fan. That man is something else. Who needs catnip when he is around?”
Cara’s smothered laugh echoed just loud enough to alert the other women that they were there as she stepped into the control room high above the playground. She grinned as Trisha, Ariel and Carmen looked at her in both surprise and envy.
“How did you get dressed up AND get down here so fast?” Trisha demanded.
“Emma,” Cara replied with a grin. “She has a little secret to share with us. Where are the kids?”
“They are on the playground where the popping skulls are. They love it when they get squirted,” Carmen said, watching the screens Cara had installed to monitor everything. The men are trying to figure out how the roller coaster ride works. We’ve been watching and listening to them for the past ten minutes.”
“Do you think the kids will be alright down there?” Emma asked as she stepped closer to watch the video. She set Alice down onto the chair in front of the monitors when she started wiggling.
“Da,” Alice exclaimed in excitement, pointing to Ha’ven as he climbed into the second car. “Da, Mama, Da!”
“Yes, sweetheart, that’s Da,” Emma replied with a smile.
“Emma, can you dress the rest of us up?” Abby asked after Cara explained what she had done. “I mean, if it isn’t too much on you.”
“Not at all,” Emma replied. “I actually feel better as the energy surrounds me. Ha’ven has been showing me how to harness it. It isn’t really magic, at least not magic like we think of it. It is harnessing the energy that is everywhere and pulling it to form something new. I don’t understand all the physics of it, but I love creating things.”
“Well, sister, create away,” Ariel replied with a grin. “I want to be a big Grombot. I plan on scaring one big guy.”
“I want to be a zombie biker babe,” Carmen announced. She shrugged when Ariel rolled her eyes. “What? I can make a zombie look good in leather!”
“I want to be an Indian maiden,” Trisha murmured with a blush. “I loved the idea of being Princess Tiger Lily and helping the Lost Boys.”
“Abby, what are you going as?” Carmen asked when she realized that Abby was the only one not dressed in a costume.
“I want to be a dragon,” Abby answered with a smile. “I love being in my dragon form… and so does Zoran.”
Groans filled the room. “If the ride starts to rockin’, don’t go a-knockin’, if Zoran and Abby get on it together,” Cara crowed in delight.
“Okay, here goes,” Emma laughed. “Abby, you’re on your own.”
Within minutes, all the women except Abby, who was going to wait until she was down in the cavern, were dressed up in their costumes. Giggles erupted as Riley slipped on her pink, rhinestone bed sheet and twirled. Emma replaced Riley’s slippers with a pair of matching pink boots. Turning back to Alice, she gave a cry of dismay when she realized her daughter was gone from the chair.
“Alice!” Emma whispered in a frantic voice. “Alice, come to Mommy.”
“Look, there she is!” Carmen said, pointing to the screen.
“Oh Alice,” Emma laughed as she turned toward the door. “She wants her Da.”
The other women watched as Alice scooted down the steps, one at a time, the tiny broom still clutched in her hand. The men didn’t see her because they were seated in the roller coaster.
Cara grinned as she watched Trelon turn around. Pressing the button on the master control, she started the ride. A giggle escaped her as she watched her mate’s face for a moment before she hit the lights.
“Let’s go have some fun,” she said, adjusting the patch over her eye. “Me thinks some men need to walk the plank.”
Chapter 7
Arilla, look! Arosa whispered as she floated above the men. I want to ride on it.
What does it do? Arilla asked as she gazed in excitement at all the colorful displays. There are the Dragonlings. I want to go play with them.
You go to them. I want to ride on the moving transport. I’ve been watching Cara. It looks like so much fun. Especially when it goes up to the ceiling and back down very fast, Arosa replied.
Go have fun on your ride, Arilla said with a wave of her hand. I’m going down to see what the Dragonlings are doing. They are trying to catch something it looks like.
Arosa nodded, turning back to where the men sat trying to get the machine to work. She knew the women were there. She had seen them up in the area where all the controls were for the playground.
Dissolving into a fine mist, she moved swiftly down to the cart as it began to move. Just before she reached it, the cavern was plunged into darkness. She swept past one of the carts, brushing one of the men before she settled in the last one and partially reformed.
*.*.*
Arilla smiled as the babies gathered around her as she settled down on the ground next to them. A soft laugh escaped her when Phoenix crawled into her lap and looked up at her with brilliant dark brown eyes.
“Hello, little one,” Arilla whispered as she gently stroked the soft black feathers covering Phoenix. “What are you and the others doing?”
Phoenix rubbed her snout against Arilla’s gold cheek before she turned and hopped back over to where Symba and the other symbiots’ lit the ground with a soft light. Wiggling her tail, she waited.
Arilla laughed as Phoenix and Spring and the other Dragonlings, plus Roam, tried to pounce on the heads popping up out of the ground. Whenever they were successful, a stream of warm water would spray them. Arilla shimmered for a moment before she changed into a small golden dragon that resembled Phoenix, only she was covered in gold feathers. With a giggle, she joined in the fun.
*.*.*
“I’m telling you, something touched me,” Ha’ven snapped as he strained to move the bar. He was about to make it dissolve when thousands of twinkling lights lit the cavern. “What the…”
“That is the same thing Trelon said earlier,” Vox commented in a distracted voice as he looked up at the ceiling with a frown. “Are those stars?”
“It looks like it, but that is impossible,” Zoran said from the front. “What is that?”
Mandra shuddered as dozens of glowing orange eyes appeared. “I don’t know,” he replied in a gruff voice. “It looks like something Ariel would bring home, though.”
“They’re moving closer,” Ha’ven said. “Either that, or we are.”
“I’m pretty sure, it’s both,” Mandra replied, trying to shrink down in the seat as the large bodies of the spiders suddenly started to glow and their mouths opened and closed as they crawled down the web spread out across the tracks. “Don’t kill them,” he added in a rough voice.
“Why not?” Trelon asked desperately as he felt for the knife he usually carried.
“Because they are probably Ariel’s new pets,” Mandra groaned and closed his eyes as he slid sideways against Kelan as they passed underneath the chomping creatures.
“You can sit up now,” Kelan informed Mandra once they were clear. “Just sit in the cart. I want to see what happens.”
“You have been around Trisha and Paul too long,” Creon muttered as the carts turned in a curve to the left. “What is that, Trelon?”
“I don’t know!” Trelon said in exasperation as he realized that he had left his knife back in his living quarters.
“I think Ariel must have left half her pets here,” Zoran muttered under his breath as more eyes started to appear as they entered a thick forest. “What is that sound? Why are they asking us ‘Who?’”
“You are as bad as the twins!” Trelon retorted. “I don’t know what type of creatures they are or why they are asking us who. Maybe they want to know our names.”
“I am Zoran Reykill,” Zoran called out. He waited a few seconds, but the creatures just kept saying the same thing over and over. “Tell
them your names, as well.”
“I am Trelon Reykill,” Trelon called out. “They just keep saying the same thing.”
“Well, maybe they need to know that Vox d’Rojah, King of the Sarafin, is here,” Vox said loudly. A snicker behind him had him glancing over his shoulder at Kelan. “What is so funny?”
“I didn’t laugh,” Kelan replied, raising his hands off the bar.
“Don’t look at me,” Mandra said with a shake of his head. “I already know who you are.”
Vox’s head whipped round when a low snarl and glowing, yellow eyes sounded from the woods next to him. A loud hiss escaped him when five beasts covered in dark gray hair that stood up on the backs of their necks stepped out from between several of the trees. He shifted before he was aware of what he was doing.
“Bloody Sarafin,” Ha’ven cursed as he suddenly found himself plastered between the side of the cart and a pile of hissing fur. “Vox! Shift back before you crush me!”
Vox’s eyes were frozen on the ghostly shape of the four-legged creatures. He swiped his massive paw at one when it came close enough, but it went right through the creature. The one furthest to the left suddenly stopped and a loud howl filled the cavern.
Vox didn’t change back until he felt a sharp tug on his tail. He turned and glared at Ha’ven who was glaring back at him. Settling in the seat, he glanced back over his shoulder as a shudder ran through his body.
“What was that?” Ha’ven asked Vox in an aggravated voice. “You usually don’t just shift like that, do you?”
“No, not since I was a young cub,” Vox muttered in a rough voice. “There was something about those creatures that pulled my cat out.”
“Well, next time it happens, get out of the cart first,” Ha’ven snapped. “You almost crushed me and I didn’t like having your ass in my face.”
“It looks like we are coming out of the forest,” Creon interrupted, pointing between Kelan and Mandra. "Look, the tracks are moving up.”
“Mandra, your mate needs some serious help with picking her pets,” Vox called out over his shoulder. “I don’t like those last ones. I think you should kill those beasts. At least you could use their fur.”