by Sariah Skye
Gabriel briefly turned to notice Daniel was no longer nearby and I could see him struggling between wanting to say something and leaving it be but the choice was made for him when a Shadow dragon reached out to touch him.
I yelped, summoning up my spirit magic from inside; magic of pure light and noblest intent. With a wide gesture, I pushed the magic towards Gabriel as he realized suddenly what was happening. The magic reached him in time as he pulled it in near him and shoved with a large battle yell towards the encroaching form. The Shadow dragon let out an agonizing yelp and, flashed between its red dragon form and its Shadow form before collapsing to the ground.
“I think they can handle it!” Daniel said, as a strong gray dragon was on their side, adding his own stormy magic.
I sighed audibly. Beside me, Daniel reached out his hand. “Come on, Pink. Let's do this.”
I took one quick look around me. My friends were holding their own for now. I caught Maxxus' eye briefly and he gave me a quick, solemn nod before his attention was pulled away by another Shadow dragon reaching towards him.
I placed my hand in his and he pulled me close to his side; his strong arm and grip clutching my forearm tightly to him. With my free hand, I slowly opened my palm and summoned a pure ball of light. I tossed it up lightly and breathed out, and with a circular gesture the ball transformed into a light bubble shield that enveloped us—hopefully against the effect of the Shadows. The Shadows ignored Daniel for whatever reason him, but that didn't mean he was totally immune to their ill effects. The despair of the Shadows didn't discriminate to anyone, so far that I'd seen. Not even Finnian was totally immune to their effects.
We stepped in tandem to the portal; it no longer shimmered like slimy liquid. The initial seal over it was broken when I touched it. What remained reminded me of a lake on a moonless night; the water rippled and chopped but there was no sparkle to it.
Reluctantly, we glanced at each other before taking our first steps inside. We squeezed our palms together tightly and took that step.
Instantly, I felt a slimy, sucking sensation come over me and before I could blink, we were deposited with force onto a damp, foggy surface. Like a swamp... a Shadow swamp. The air was heavy and stifling, but instead of this swamp being full of moisture, it was a heavy blanket of filth and despair. I shuddered, and tried to get to my feet, but I felt a sticky force trying to hold me down. I shuddered, in the blackened purple din seeing a shadow tendril inching over my foot and sliding up my leg.
I didn't see where Daniel had fell but it must have been nearby. Either that or he was some sort of ninja because out of nowhere I heard the telltale metallic song of a sword being unsheathed. I barely saw the shining blade swing from over his head and slice the tendril in half.
It shrieked in terror and fell limp.
And at that noise, something struck me inside. Daniel was up and reaching for me—I think—but I recoiled, feeling a sudden sense of absolute terror.
“No...” I whimpered, glancing around me briefly. I couldn't see much—it was just too dark—but little dim outlines before me. It was like, a dank swamp that no sunlight had ever touched and even though the darkness rose above me farther than I could see, every now and then I saw very dim lightning spark above. Very dim; it barely illuminated the surrounding area.
I cried out again, as Daniel knelt beside me. I noticed somehow that he was seemingly untouched by the Shadow realm’s desperate tendencies. He was rubbing the sides of my arms, whispering calming words to me; although I couldn't hear them. All I could hear was the shrieking and agonized groaning in the distance. Or was it actually that far? Maybe it wasn't far at all; just very weak. It was so hard to tell.
I continued to crumble, feeling the heavy weight of the Shadows encompassing me. It pushed down on my chest and caused me to breathe laboriously. I trembled with fear and terror, imagining the darkness enveloping me fully as I felt my eyes start to roll back into my head; my neck felt listless as I crumpled further to the ground.
I felt a stinging warm sensation as my palm dropped listlessly in Daniel's lap had been pressed with something firm and electric.
I felt a jolt of hot electricity shoot down my spine and back up again; radiating out towards my appendages and zooming back in towards my core. My head snapped up, my eyes opened wide and I lifted my palm to see my dagger—the one Maxxus constructed—thrust into my hand where I now gripped it tightly; as if my life depended on it.
Which it probably did.
Feeling a sense of strength, I slowly regained my composure and Daniel helped me to my feet.
His face was still blurry, but I blinked repeatedly and it came into focus. “What happened?” I reached out my empty hand in front of me, feeling for his solid form. He grasped my hand with one of his and clutched it tightly to his chest.
“It's the Shadows; you're still susceptible,” he explained, with a sigh. “Finnian told me the dagger would help compose you. I'm glad he mentioned that, because without my brother here, I'm not sure what good I can be to you.” I wanted to say more but the words wouldn't come; something comforting but right now I sort of agreed with him. I adored Daniel but I would have preferred the comfort and strong magic of his twin brother that matched my own. I silently cursed Finnian and his Loremaster magic for putting Daniel at risk, when something attached to me began to vibrate slightly.
I looked down at the dagger near my side and lifted it up. It glowed like a firefly in the dimness and although I couldn't see much, it was enough to see around us. What I saw was rather horrifying.
Like the scene outside the portal, there were crumbled forms covered with Shadow tendrils all around us. I assumed it was our missing Court. I thrust the dagger outward and it illuminated more light. It appeared the Shadow “swamp” went on a ways before coming to a large, standing form that appeared to be a hut, or shack. Some sort of indiscriminate structure.
I nudged him and pointed. “There. What do you suppose that is?”
Daniel squinted. “I am not sure.”
I heaved a sigh. “I guess we should probably check it out.” I swallowed, noticing in the dark that somehow a form was shaking nearby. I dared to lean over to look closer.
In the dagger's light, I caught a glint of brightness bounce off an opening in the Shadows' cocoon; like light bouncing off a shiny coin or a silver fish.
I let out a horrified gasp. Could it be…?
Quickly, I slammed my eyes shut and attempted to block out the disparaging cry of the Shadows. I clutched the dagger close to me, feeling its warmth like an anchor keeping me stable back in the land of Light and the living and summoned up all the light magic I had inside me, using the dagger to help channel it from inside of me to outside. I felt it hum, as it channeled the magic and with one strong thrust, I tossed the massive ball of light at the squirming form below me.
The entire area around us brightened up if for a moment. Any Shadow form or tendril nearby squealed and hissed in the bright magic and essentially evaporated, exposing a familiar form of a silver dragon below me, in a heap, sobbing on the ground.
My grandfather.
Chapter 20
“Grandfather!” I cried out in a panic and I was down on my knees in an instant reaching for him.
The second I touched him I could see a certain brightness in his pale blue eyes return and he slowly lifted his head up to look at me. Recognition beamed in his expression. “Leorah...” I could see him trying to smile.
“Grandfather!” I tried to embrace him, but I was held back by Daniel's strong arms.
“Leo—be careful. He's still Shadowtouched; you're still at risk,” Daniel said, speaking quietly and sympathetically. He knew how badly I wanted to hug him yet, I knew he was right. When I looked closer at him I could see the spots on his dragon form where the Shadows seemed to “bite” him. He wasn't quite fully formed in Shadow but there were places of him missing and given to the Shadows.
Reluctantly, I swallowed and pulled back. I wa
tched my grandfather try to get to his four haunches but he struggled. Daniel was near him in an instant, pushing at his back to allow him the stability to at least raise to a partial sitting position. My grandfather smiled slightly at him. “You must be the Seer.”
“Daniel O'Donnell, at your service, Milord,” Daniel said, with a slight bow of his head.
“Daniel...” My grandfather showed his dragon fangs in a weary smile, but Daniel did not flinch. “I knew your ancestor. Good man. Good man...” he trailed off, struggling to crane his head towards me.
Tears prickled at my eyes, seeing my grandfather struggle so. Without realizing I was doing it, I set the dagger in its hilt—the light still emanating from it brightly—and I held my hands over his heart and summoned the healing magic inside me.
“No!” With his nose, I felt him push my hands aside, breaking my concentration.
“I have to!” I tried again, but Daniel reached over and put a hand over mine. “He's right. Save it.”
“You'll come back for me. Right now you need to save the queen,” he explained weakly.
“The queen!” I gasped. “She's all right?”
He nodded slightly. “For now. I used all the magic I had in me to put her in a protective bubble until you arrived, but I'm not sure how much longer it will last.”
“Until I arrived...” I was puzzled. “How did you know—”
“I've always known.”
“I do have something you can have, I think,” Daniel reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a vial. “Direct from Finnian. It might help regain your strength, he said.”
“The Loremaster?” my grandfather questioned, and Daniel nodded.
My grandfather gave a nod and opened his mouth slightly, allowing Daniel to uncap it and pour the liquid onto his awaiting tongue.
I was surprised momentarily that Daniel didn't even flinch at his open mouth, the rows of fangs somewhat resembled a cross between a wolf and vampire. They were menacing. I would imagine most humans would be terrified, but not Daniel; not the O'Donnell brothers.
My grandfather swallowed and thanked Daniel weakly. Daniel tossed the empty vial to the ground and this time he flinched as it was sucked up by the Shadowed ground; like dark quicksand.
I watched as some of the life came back into my esteemed grandfather. A slight sparkle returned to his eye and he had enough strength to shift back into his human form, restoring even more energy; his silver robes appearing to cover his familiar human form. Feeling better, he turned solemn. “Oh, Leorah.” He sobbed slightly.
My lower lip trembled watching my normally wise and composed grandparent lose his cool momentarily. “Oh it was awful. It is awful.”
“The Shadows?” I asked.
“That and...” he heaved a heavy sigh. “Oh, I don't have much time I don't think, but I'm so, so sorry.
“For what?” I demanded in concern.
“It's my fault. All my fault.”
“What?” I questioned impatiently when a pained shriek interrupted him.
He wanted to say something, but he struggled it down. “Later... right now you must save the queen so you can do what you need to do.”
“And what is that, grandfather?” I asked, my voice shaking as my grandfather struggled to speak.
“You... you.” He flinched, as his human form flashed between a choppy Shadow form and his normal self. “Just save her. All you need to do is touch her—like the portal-and you'll instantly be transported back into the throne room. She is in suspension until you arrive. Go quickly now!” My grandfather insisted impatiently, flashing repeatedly between forms.
I cried out for him as the Shadow form refused to release him and he once again crumbled to the ground with an agonized sob. I will never forget that horrible noise in my life.
“Grandfather!” I cried, but Daniel pulled me away. He had to literally turn my face away from him as I watched the tendrils further envelop him again. He forced me to look into his blue eyes that appeared so much like Gabriel’s somehow—even with the difference in color. “Leo... we will come back for him. We'll bring Finnian and all the Loremasters; we will help him. But... he's right. It's imperative we get to the queen. For reasons I can't say right now, but it's the way it's fated to be. You need to help her.” Daniel let out a sigh and motioned around us to the dragons spread out around us on the ground. “They sacrificed themselves to help her; don't let it be in vain.”
“They—how—” I clipped my words off, realizing Daniel had probably seen all this before. I took in a deep breath, and reaching for the dagger I allowed Daniel to guide me to the unspecified structure in the 'room'. If that's what you wanted to call it.
The Shadows parted for us as we walked; the Shadow forms crumbling to the ground, whimpering as we neared but, everything left us alone in the time it took to cross the thicket of Shadows as we reached the structure.
It had a sheen over it, like the portal had and I realized it must be the same magic. I peered in, squinting and I could barely see the suspended form of Queen Valessia's human self, her blue robes wrapped around her tightly, dark eyes open wide in a look of surprise and terror. It almost appeared she was floating somehow, though there was no water.
I reached out to touch the layer of magic and instantly felt an explosion and we were shot backward.
We all hollered out as we skidded and rolled and finally came to a stop. As I composed myself, I noticed we were once again in the throne room, but it was a very different scene then when we left.
Around us, my friends and the dragons—including my brother—had been in furious combat with aggressive forms that hissed and snarled; these were not the passive waves that had emerged before. These were aggressive, like angry ninjas. Dark forms that appeared as shadows, twisted and gnarled dragons were snarling and breathing dark fire out at anything around them that pushed. I was too groggy from the teleport to make them out.
“Leo?” Daniels' voice was beside me, bringing me back into the moment. I reached out my arm to touch him and noticed begrudgingly, in the transport I had shifted into my dragon form and was actually reaching my front leg out to him.
“Damn,” I swore with a groan, but ignored it. I shook the daze off me and brought myself to my feet. Daniel was nearby and with my nose I helped my dizzy friend to his feet. He thanked me, and reached down to pick up his sword that had fallen out of his favor in the transport.
Nearby we heard a small voice call my name. The queen was in a withered heap on the ground and I rushed to her side, somewhat reluctant because I wanted to see what the fate of my friends was but I had no time to waste. For whatever reason my grandfather insisted I help her so, that's what I needed to do. Quickly.
She moaned lightly as I bowed my head down and closed my eyes, calling for my healing magic inside me to encompass her. It was different calling for the magic in my dragon form, but with a strong exhalation and a stretch of my wings I was able to envelop her in my healing magic. After a few moments of concentration, I saw the brightness return to her face.
“Leorah e’na Miradoste,” she spoke aloud, her voice hushed but serious. “I thank you for coming to my aid.”
“I—what?” I winced, surprised at her praise. I'd never even received so much as an acknowledgment from anyone on the Court, let alone praise from the queen.
“Tell me... what of the fate of my husband?” she questioned, attempting to unsuccessfully hide her frantic tone.
“I—” I spoke, but swallowed hard, not sure how to tell someone that their beloved spouse was now dead and had passed tragically. I tried to look into her tearful eyes, but couldn't and I turned away.
“No,” she said in a small voice. I heard her breath shake briefly before she composed herself. She raised her head high. “There will be time for mourning later. Right now, let's rid my room here of these disgusting creatures.”
I gave her a little smirk as she shot me a half wink. I was surprised by her actions—specifically, her speak
ing to me—but I went with it for the time being.
“Gabriel!” I heard Daniel call out and I watched him dash across the room, sword drawn as a gnarled Shadow in human form—faceless with empty slots where the eyes would be let out a cackle and dove for his brother, who was distracted by two others in front of him. He was summoning and throwing plasma balls left and right and the Shadows just kept on coming right back; dodging, kicking and punching.
Gabriel yelped as Daniel deftly sliced at the form that had snuck up behind his brother and was now engaging it in battle.
“Oh my god!” I called out, hot on Daniel's heels in my dragon form. Inhaling as I stormed the room, breathing my magic out at the two forms Gabriel was facing. One was tossing its own mix of Shadow and elemental magic at him—balls of Shadow and arcane—and the other was trained in some sort of martial art. Whereas he had no weapon, his shadowed limbs were weapon enough as they had no true form, Gabriel was barely making a dent.
Gabriel noticed my presence and smiled at me ever so briefly in relief. “Gods be damned I'm glad to see you!” he said, pulling my magic towards him and twisting it into his own, creating a brand of strong dragon-sorcerer conjured magic. With a motion of my head, feeling the magic leaving my body Gabriel and I tossed the mass of magic towards the forms. With the direct impact, both forms screamed out in pain and collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
We glanced at each other in a moment of triumph, allowing the other a brief smile before recognizing the battle grunts of his brother from nearby that had saved his skin. Agile with physical prowess, he held his own against the Shadow form before him, but he was not making headway.
I summoned up my spirit magic and pushed it at him with my breath, instilling him with strength and confidence. His demeanor grew taller as he spun with his sword over his head and sliced it into the form before him.
The Shadow form called out in pain as it separated briefly and made an eerie sucking sound as it was spliced back together; it stood taller now as it bolstered its form.