by Sariah Skye
“Little help here, guys!” Daniel called out and on cue Gabriel conjured a pure ball of light and together with my magic we snuffed the form out.
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Nice one,” he said with a grin.
“Behind you!” called a voice and we three spun around to see Kiarra and Finnian, battling their own forms with my brother's fire magic at her side. Another unknown-to-me earth dragon was also assisting which called attention to the fact that Maxxus was nowhere to be found. I had no time to panic about that thought as my attention was pulled elsewhere. Kiarra and Braeden were struggling to take down one form between the four of them and were obviously breathless and exhausted. They paused long enough to see another Shadow dragon jump out of the portal and was flying across the room towards us; a guttural cry called out from deep in what would be its throat.
Daniel was nearest but with no magic; caught off guard, he was surely no match. I leapt up and pulsed my wings to give elevation to my jump and, with my outstretched wingspan managed to block the form from touching Daniel. It bounced over me and landed in front of Gabriel instead, who was breathing heavily, summoning up his magic once again.
I had only a brief moment to determine that he appeared battle weary and exhausted. Dark circles formed under his deep brown eyes and he moved slightly slower than he normally would. If I concentrated I could hear his heart pounding a mile a minute; like he'd been running a marathon.
“Are you okay?” I called out to him, landing on my feet and rousing my own magic and with my wings I beat it towards him. He was nearly a split second too late catching it, but he did and spun it into a strong lightning ball and slammed it into the Shadow dragon, as it cried out, nearly vaporizing from existence.
“Okay? I'm exhausted!” he called back. He slumped his shoulders over and let his tired hands drop in front of him. “We must have fought off hundreds of these things while you two were over there!”
“Hundreds?” I repeated, puzzled. Last we saw the waves of docile Shadows poured out of the portal slowly. It took them nearly five minutes to beat down two them. There was no way in the time we were gone, they'd been able to fight off hundreds.
“Yes! We've been worried sick about you, too! You must have been gone well over an hour,” he said, his tone scolding. But he abandoned it and his expression softened as he tossed himself into me, wrapping his arms around my thick dragon neck.
With a bow of my head, I buried the end of my nose in the crook of his neck and nuzzled his cheek with my own. “I'm sorry, Gabe. It only felt like minutes to us. We had no idea...” I trailed off.
He patted my neck. “It's okay. We were just scared you weren't coming back.”
I smiled, despite the scene around us. Even in my dragon form, my friend was warm and comforting to the beast inside me. I closed my eyes and summoned up my healing magic and willed it into him, hoping it would help him feel stronger.
“Is everyone all right?” Daniel asked, clapping his brother on the shoulder, and offering him a brotherly peck on the cheek which made Gabriel make gagging sounds.
“Gross, dude!” he scolded, but was really laughing. “Yeah I think everyone's all right. Just tired. Real tired. Though...” I heard him swallow nervously as he looked up at me grimly. “I'm not sure what happened to Maxxus. He went charging off after Nicodemus outside of the room somewhere; we haven't seen him in some time.”
I gasped, feeling my heart sink.
“It looks like we're finally making some headway, though,” he said, nodding around him. There was a group of dragons across the room fighting off two forms. Braeden and Kiarra were putting the smack down on another, Kiarra cheering gleefully as with Finnian's help they squelched one to the ground permanently. Besides that, everyone was form-free and standing around, breathing heavily and wiping sweat from their faces. “We've been fighting them off one after another for what seems like forever.” He groaned stretching out his tired muscled in his arms.
“Thankfully.” Daniel agreed, but I was too distracted to share in their triumph; I was scanning the room for any sign of Maxxus. I bit my lip after a time, clearly not seeing any.
I felt a comforting hand on my side. “He's tough, Leo. I'm sure he's okay.”
I nodded, unconvinced. “Sure.”
We heard a cry out as the two remaining Shadow dragons were snuffed out by the group across the room and, the rest of us cheered. “Finally!” one of them called out, breathing fire in the air triumphantly.
We had little time to react though, Queen Valessia was cowering on the floor nearby. We'd not even had enough time to pay attention to her, but she had slowly risen to her feet.
“Your highness!” Braeden and Kiarra were at her side instantly, helping her compose herself but she pushed them away lightly. She paused momentarily to offer them a simple smile. “Thank you for your help, but it's Leorah I need to speak with.”
“Me?” I squeaked in my dragon voice which I'm sure was quite disconcerting to anyone around. Gabriel, who was clutching his grasp at the base of my wing urged me forward with a small push.
“You're the one that saved her,” he whispered in my ear.
I swallowed nervously. The King and Queen were the closest thing to celebrity, we had in Anarach besides the human celebrities we watched on the occasion we actually watched human TV.
“Hold your head high, dammit.” Gabriel with two hands urged my dragon nose upward so I could look directly at the queen; I hadn't realized I'd shied away. It was habit whenever I encountered anyone besides my grandfather or brother in the dragon realm to cower away and hide before the insults could start.
“Yes, do.” The queen stepped forward towards me, shifting into her dragon form as she walked. Normally watching a dragon shift was somewhat awkward, but she made it appear graceful and majestic. But then she did something very unexpected.
She bowed her head and closed her eyes momentarily; a sign of respect. My breath caught in my chest and even though dragons couldn't generally cry, I felt like I could if I were in human form. I'd not expected that. I shifted on my front legs awkwardly.
“I'm afraid I have little time for admiration, but I just wanted to tell you just in case I didn't have another chance how thankful I am that—despite how you've been treated—you pushed all that aside to come to my aid. Thank you,” she said solemnly.
“I am just sorry that it wasn't sooner,” I said, hanging my head regrettably nodding towards King Athalos's listless form several feet away on the ground.
She followed my gesture and she gasped. “Oh no...” She dashed over to him and fell to the ground, resting her head on his body. Even though deceased, his form was still encapsulated in a thick layer of listless Shadows; as if they'd passed on when the king did.
Reluctantly, I followed her to his side. I was joined by Kiarra and Braeden, who were tightly grasping hands.
“We did all we could, I promise,” Kiarra spoke. “All he cared about was us getting to you; he didn't care about himself.”
The queen nodded slightly. “I know you did.” She heaved a heavy sigh.
I snorted. “That's not true; I wanted to heal him, but no one would let me. I should have just shifted and bitten someone or something.”
The queen shook her head slightly. “No; when we parted, I could see how he struggled against the Shadows. I knew he was a goner, I just had to see for myself.” She turned to look at me. “There was nothing you could have done.”
“You don't know that! Aren't I supposed to have these insane powers? I can summon thunderstorms and amplify magic!”
“It was simply his time.” She sighed and gave her husband one more saddened look before rising to her feet. “You need to prepare yourselves. It's not over yet. There is a greater force inside, much more deadly and frightening than anything you've faced so far. Athalos faced it before he fell, which is why I know there was nothing you could have done at that time. Perhaps if you were here earlier, but i
t was not the will of the Fates for you to do so. It was Him that took me into the portal, but Elder Aleron was amazing. He used his magic along with all the magic of the dragons' that had yet to fall to not only wrap me in that protective magic, but he used the magic to help seal the portal to keep any more from escaping until you arrived. That's why he attuned the magic to you; only someone with every bit of magic in them could open the portal. He knew you could do it. That's why he was so weak when you saw him... he had expelled most of his energy to preserve us.”
“Grandfather...” I felt another form besides me and I felt a hand pat the side of my neck. From the corner of my eye I could see Braeden's emotional face as he tried to come to terms with what he'd just heard.
“Is he…?” Braeden dared to ask, his voice breaking.
“I don't know. He was still alive last I saw him, but in bad, bad shape.” I hung my head sadly and let out a pathetic, sad growl; almost like a purring sound. I felt my brother's strong arms wrap around my neck and we shared a familial embrace as we mourned the possible loss of our grandfather we both loved so deeply.
From nearby I watched as Finnian gathered the brothers and Kiarra and herded over the rest of the dragons—including the queen—and pulled out from his never-ending backpack, slung over his shoulder. He produced vials and sachets and handed them out to the weary, battle-laden bunch.
“After this is over, we will find him,” Braeden said softly into my ear.
I nodded slowly but I wasn't entirely convinced we'd be able to survive another trip into the shadow realm again.
“Your Highness, you said only someone with every bit of magic in them could open the portal,” Gabriel began thoughtfully. “How did you know this was Leorah?”
I turned to her expectantly.
“Your grandfather said this is what we needed to do. He's never steered me wrong, so I listened. But, this is his story to tell, not mine.” She said, and before I could protest anymore, I heard a low rumble from the portal, and the ground under us shook violently like an earthquake.
“This is it, steady yourselves!” The queen called.
“Your highness, you shouldn't be here! You've been through a terrible ordeal, you should go!” Kiarra insisted, coming to the queen's side.
Finnian stepped in. “I got this.” He stood before the queen and offered a slight bow, before reaching out and touching her shoulder and subsequently, disappearing.
I didn't have time to wonder where they went because that was the moment all Hell broke loose.
Chapter 21
A massive dragon in Shadow form came blasting out of the portal looking much like the other Shadow Dragons with ragged edges around his outline and deep, dark holes where the eyes should be. As he took his first thunderous steps into our world, the ground shook violently, knocking us into one another and flat onto the ground.
“What the fuck is that?” I exclaimed loudly, untangling myself from Gabriel, who had fallen into me, as he used my large front leg to steady himself to his feet.
I heard the familiar growl of my brother from nearby, as he shifted and shielded Kiarra with his red dragon form. Pure, red hot fire spewed out from his nose. Kiarra tried to gain her composure but, you could easily see she was rattled.
Daniel scrambled to his feet on the other side of me and was promptly knocked back down when the giant, evil Shadow creature let out a loud, cavernous cackle. Gabriel clutched my wing to prevent himself from falling backward. I nudged the two humans backward and stood boldly forward, stretching out my wings as far as they could go. “What do you want?” I hollered as menacing as I could sound in my dragon's voice.
I couldn't tell before if he was looking at me, but somehow, the Shadows shifted. The black holes in his head seemed to narrow; his mouth opened in a mocking laugh. As he did, he seemed to suck what little light that was left in the room and used it to grow larger somehow, like watching an artist's rendering of a Black Hole already in the vacuum of space ingest every smattering of light in existence. Dark on dark; somehow you could still see the outline and spinning.
That's what this thing reminded me of: a black hole. For all I knew, that's what he was.
Then, he spoke. The second the words escaped his mouth I felt an insane sense of dread and hopelessness. Like I was in the middle of the ocean, no life around for miles and miles with weights attached to my feet. All I could do was close my eyes, hold my breath and hope for a swift, painless death. I fell to my knees and collapsed to the floor. Daniel and Gabriel were right there, attempting to pull me up, but with a snarl and a gesture of his head, the Shadow creature blasted a shock of dark magic at them, pinning them to the ground; rendering them immobile.
They both groaned and struggled. Neither seemed affected by the Shadow creature as I was, and Gabriel was fighting against the dark tethers that nailed him to the ground, trying to get a hand free to summon his own magic.
I remained nearly motionless on the ground, all but my nervous body, shaking with sadness as the Shadow creature stepped forward towards me. He craned his large head down and looked with his void eyes directly into mine. “What I want, little dragon, is you. Join me in the Shadow realm and I will see that all your friends are spared. If not, they will suffer the worst fate possible: limbo in the Shadow realm.” To prove his point, he blasted me once again with his magic, straight into my chest. I let out a piercing shriek as I felt the magic hollow out my core, draining me of my magic, my hope and any reasoning I had. The pain was excruciating and I felt like I was being crushed under the heavy weight of his shadow magic.
“Don't do it, Leorah!” Gabriel commanded defiantly from nearby.
The creature ignored him, pouring more magic in me. I felt my body grow even more listless, my brain even more jumbled as the shadows nearly encapsulated me before he allowed the magic to relent.
“This is just a taste of what your friends will face if you do not voluntarily come with me!” He boomed loudly. He stepped backward slightly, taking his magic with him. Gabriel and Daniel were released from their shadowy bonds and were next to me in an instant.
I gasped for air as the magic was relieved. Hyperventilating, Daniel gently pat the length of my wing comfortingly and Gabriel put either hand on each side of my face and looked deeply into my eyes.
“You know you cannot give yourself to him,” he said quietly. “If he gets your magic, think how powerful he will be. None of us will stand a chance. With you here, at least we can try.” He leaned over and placed a small kiss at the end of my nose. The small gesture filled my darkened soul with warmth and I gained my strength back in my limbs.
The large shadow form cackled evilly. “Child, I already own her magic. Or, magic like hers.”
“What do you mean?” I challenged, glowering at him.
He let out a menacing chuckle and, blinked out of existence momentarily. When he reappeared in front of us, we all gasped. But mostly myself and Kiarra.
Before us stood the form of a large, large pink dragon. His color was muddied by Shadow, and like the rest of the forms there seemed to be somewhat of losing congruence of him; like a painting outside of the lines of its drawing. But it was just not a simple pink dragon—like myself—
But it was Cyril, the Mad. Cyril, Kiarra's grandfather, the pink dragon that supposedly was so unstable, he gave all pink dragons a bad name and spurred an entire genocide of his kind. Somehow, he'd gone over to the Shadow realm and turned into... well... a void of shadow?
I turned to see Kiarra in her blue dragon form, collapse to the ground, her face in an expression of shock. As she fell, her dragon shifted involuntarily into her human form as it sometimes happened when we endured moments of extreme duress and trauma. Braeden was by her side in a flash.
I guess learning that your grandfather was actually an evil Shadow demon of sorts, clearly hell bent on destroying the kingdom—oh, and he was alive more or less—was traumatic enough.
“Grandfather!” she called out to him in a small,
saddened voice. “How... how is this possible? How could you…?”
Cyril's face was momentarily surprised as he asked, “Grandchild?” He blinked a couple times, his expression briefly softened before blinking out and, returning into his scary Shadow form. “No matter. I do what has to be done!”
“But—how is this possible? You died years ago, before I was even born!” She protested tearfully, as my brother Braeden sidled near her in his large red form; smoke and sparks escaping from his nose as he glowered threateningly at Cyril, the Shadow form.
Cyril threw his head back and let out a peal of vicious laughter. “Ah, typical of the king and Queen to spread their lies! No, dear child, I wasn't dead. I was banished.”
“Banished?” I repeated, confused at his admission.
“Yes,” he turned, staring me down with his empty eyes. “Banished. To the Shadow realm where they banished anyone that challenged their rule. Well now, I'm back to reclaim what is mine!”
Kiarra let out a whimper from the collapsed heap on the ground she was in. “I cannot believe... my whole...”
“The kingdom is corrupt!! It needs new rule!” Cyril's voice boomed throughout the room, shaking the walls and causing bricks and mortar to crack and break and fall to the ground in piles of sand and grit.
I laughed shortly, defiantly. “Oh, and your rule will be so much better? Give me a fucking break!”
“Do not mock me, weakling!” Cyril's choppy wings, dripping with the ooze of shadow stretched out on either side of him and he roared, releasing a shock of his Shadow fire straight at me. “Join me, and you'll never be powerless again—no matter what they say!”
I gasped, and collapsed, breathlessly at the strangled feeling deep inside my chest. I coughed violently before I felt a warming sensation struggling against the despair of the shadow magic inside me.
“Don't give in, Leo!” Gabriel's voice echoed over the roaring of Cyrils's evil laughter. “You don't need his magic—you have your own! Fight it!”
Gabriel's magic spread over me like a warm breeze on a spring evening. I inhaled and closed my eyes, pulling the spirit magic inside of me. I willed it to surround me, breaking the Shadow's choking hold over me.