by Miki
“Have you seen Kendra?”
“The Queen.” It’s a question and statement all at once. “These guys in all black sprayed something in her face when she got up. It knocked her right out. They took her out that way, where the balcony used to be.”
“Thank you. Did you recognize the men?”
“No, they weren’t from the party. They had on masks.”
“Thank you again. If you feel okay, do you mind helping with the injured? I need someone to help take the doctor to the people who are the worst off. He’s the one right over there.”
“No problem. I’ll start right now. Good luck finding the Queen. You know, I think this was all just to get to her,” he yelled to me as I left.
I lean out of the hole in the castle wall, where I find two ropes dangling into the garden below. The ballroom is only on the second floor, so the drop is only about ten feet or so.
Mica finds me, and I tell him what the guy I just spoke with had said.
“Jared, do you want me to take you to the garden?”
“Yes. As fast as we can.”
He grabs me and flies out of the window, to the garden at the base of the ropes. “You go that way, I’ll go this way.”
I take his lead, and we both take off in different directions. I head to the parking lot, Mica heads toward the road. He’s the only one who finds anything, and all he finds are footprints leading to the street. I gather some of the guards and start organizing them into a search party.
Eventually, we all meet up with him. He gets the rest of the ground search under control. He’s flying—maybe he can locate things from the air. Amber, Mason, and Spar join him in the air, searching for any clues. Out of my depth and knowing the search is well in-hand, I head back into the castle to help with the wounded.
Arden seems to have the triage well under control too. I let him know the ambulances are within sight. “Jared, when they get here, help the EMTs as much as possible.”
“No sweat!” I see Jolie helping and I stop to check on her.
“Hello, beautiful. How are you feeling?” My sister’s missing. The most prominent female I’ve ever had in my life, next to my mother, and the only thing I want to know is… Where is Jolie and is she okay? I’ve become addicted to her!
“Hey there, handsome. Any luck on finding Kendra?”
“Not yet. We’re pretty sure she’s been kidnapped. Mica has the goyles up and flying, looking for any clues. There’s also a ground search party. Right now, I’m waiting for more information. Hey, come check on Kino with me.”
I find him in the same place I’d left him. He’s still groggy, but sitting up now and wondering what the hell happened. I sit beside him to break the news. “Kino, Kendra’s been taken. We have search parties already hunting for her, but she’s gone. We’re pretty sure she was alive when she was taken.”
Mica finds us and sits with us. He says, “We didn’t find anything regarding Kendra. Also the prisoners are gone from the cells.”
Arden joins us and fills us in on the wounded. “The injured have been transported to local hospitals. Kino, you appear to be the most seriously injured gargoyle.”
“I will be fine after I rest this coming day. Jared, you said you are pretty sure she is alive. Why?”
“Well, for one, I haven’t felt anything else, bad or odd. Also, I found a man who told me he saw men in black ski-masks grab her, spray something in her face, then carry her off.”
Mica takes over again. “I found the container that they used to spray Kendra. It’s in an evidence bag. Jared, will you to get with TASS? I need the can examined for prints, and see if they can figure out what was inside it. I need any video that will show the grounds around this room and the interior of this room for thirty minutes before the bombing and for five-minutes after.”
“Arden, are you leaving or planning to stay?”
“I’m staying. I came here to see Kendra. I’m not leaving until I do,” Arden answered.
“That’s good. I need you to go to the hospital and find out what kind of injuries there were. Next, see if any of the injured are from the people who took Kendra. Finally, while you’re there, examine the stuff in the can of spray, too. Maybe you can find out what it is faster than TASS.”
“I can do that. Hey, Jared, let’s trade numbers too, just in case.”
Mica continues, almost unabated, “Kino, I need you to spell the grounds. Keep any clues from being destroyed while we search. Then, go get Jericho. I’m going to keep the others searching and report to Mega. We’ll meet back in Kendra’s suit in two hours. See you in a while.”
I speak before anyone can leave, “Mica, I think you should get to bed. You’re the only gargoyle who can be out during the day. You need to let Mega or another investigator work at night and you handle the day shift.”
“No, Jared, I…”
“Mica, don’t make me pull rank on you.” I add a laugh to make it less of a demand. “I need—better yet, Kendra needs you to run the day shift. We can wake you if we need to at night.”
“Thank you, Jared. I know you’re right. Wake me if anything important happens. Promise me!”
“I promise, big guy,” I say disregarding the fact that I’ll need some sleep sooner or later too.
Two hours later, we gather in the living area of Kendra’s suite. We only have a few hours until sunrise.
Mega begins, “At approximately 12:57 am, a bomb was detonated. We have a witness who saw the Queen lifted from the ground and something sprayed into her face. Arden, have you or TASS identified it yet?”
“Yes, it’s nitrous sulfide. To a normal person, it can kill, depending on how long it’s sprayed in her face. How directly it was sprayed would also have an effect,” Arden says.
Mega answers Arden in his powerful ‘I’m in charge’ voice, “Well, given that she is a Dragon Queen, I believe she will only be disabled by nitrous sulfide. Jericho is on his way to perform his investigation. Similarly, given that the prisoners were taken, I believe it is a strong possibility the Jessup Cartel did this.”
I add, “TASS is currently conducting an extensive search of the property around the castle and in the village, looking for more clues. We have not had any communication from the kidnappers yet.”
Just then Jose Brinker walks in. “Jared, you need to correct your last statement. We have received a note from the cartel.”
“I’ll go wake Mica.”
I return with Mica and find Jericho stepping into the room from an open portal. “Tell me, Mega, what’s happened to our queen?”
Mega gives a rundown of everything we know while everyone listens again. “Jared, you knew of a problem before it happened. You witnessed the explosion and were in the room before anyone else. Will you show Jericho the crime scene?”
Mica, Spar, and Kino join us while I show Jericho where I last saw Kendra. Jericho lifts the largest remnant of the bench with ease and begins mumbling a spell. I see light take form, rising out of the debris of the bench. He asks, “Was Kendra wearing red?”
As one, we answer, “Yes.”
“Mica, may I trouble you to carry me and follow the red light of the sprite?” He asks. Spar looks questioningly at me, as if to say, “Do you want to follow along?”
Without waiting on him to speak, I say, “Damn straight I do.”
The light leads us down a worn path about two miles in length. At its end we find an abandoned grass airstrip. He tells us, “They flew away from this location. The sprite can lead us no further.”
Unable to continue, Jericho and the gargoyles returned to tell Mega what we’d found. I decide to take time to finally call Dana. He is going to blow a gasket.
I have to leave a message for him to call me back. In the meantime, I sit outside the castle, waiting. I don’t have to wait long before my phone rings.
He says, “What in the hell’s going on?”
“Man, I don’t want to have to tell you on the phone,” then I proceed to tell him the wh
ole story on the phone.
I’m sure Dana just threw something, I hear a crash on the other end.
“There is nothing we can do until we get some leads. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.” I can tell he’s as angry and as frustrated as I am when we hang up.
I’ve just lost my sister to some nutcase, and now Dana is pissed at me. He’ll come around when he thinks it through. But for now… “Damn it all to hell. I need to take a walk.”
I take a literal hike, over to the top of a bluff where there are several boulders and rock piles. I stand there, reviewing what happened. Sis gone, brother pissed, and Jolie hurt. “And where the fuck were the guards?” I yell as I tear off my shirt and slam it against the rocks. As I pick up a large rock to smash, I scream, “Don Manuel Jessup, I will find you and I will end you,” grunting the last words out as I smashed the rock to smithereens on one of the big stones.
Grabbing an even larger rock, I pound it repeatedly on a flat rock. I’m hammering it with all my might when I smash my hand between the immovable object and the thirty-pound boulder I’m beating against it.
Roaring with the pain in my hand, I feel a sharp pain in my left – no, both shoulders. It’s growing worse. Great, throw a tantrum and now I’ve torn something in my shoulders! Nice.
It gets worse. Now my whole body is on fire. I roar. My growl becomes louder and deeper, more feral. Suddenly, Jericho is beside me. What the hell? I didn’t even see a portal.
The pain is astonishing. It feels as if my whole body’s on fire!
Jericho speaks to me—do I hear him, or is he in my thoughts? “Jared, the pain is your dragon-self. It’s okay. Let it overtake you. Let it become who you are. Become the dragon. The pain will end.”
I’m doing my best to listen and do what he says. I feel his hand on my chest and visualize myself as a dragon. I don’t know why but I push. Don’t ask me what I push, I just do. I push, and the pain eases. I push more and keep pushing. When I gazed at Jericho’s hand on my chest, I see that my skin is bluish now, more muscled.
Jericho is saying, “That’s correct, Jared. Now, unfurl your wings. You must use them. If you do not, they will stunt, and you will not fly.
I do as he says and relax those muscles. Wow, I have wings! I feel like I knew this was going to happen one day. I don’t know why, but I’m not surprised.
Jericho tells me, “Jared, you have chosen very well.”
“Look at my wings – they're massive! And strong.”
“You must try to move them, fly.”
I begin moving them and feel the mass of air move around me. I struggle to stay on my feet as they try to lift me.
Jericho points to a small cliff and yells, “Jump! I will ensure your safety.”
I run straight at the edge of the cliff and leap into the black. My wings catch the wind and I fly. Easily, I fly. Raising myself into the air, I roar at Kendra’s abductors, “I’m coming for her and I will utterly destroy you!”
Wait, problem. I need to land so I can call Dana. Now!
I make a not very graceful landing. I’ll do better next time, I think. Now that I have it figured out.
“Jericho, I have to call Dana. I think I can carry you if you want to fly with me.” Without a pause, he raises his arms to me. Grabbing him, I take off toward the castle.
This time I set down easily on the patio outside of Kendra’s suite. I pick up my phone off the table where I’d left it and call Dana.
“Arghhh!!! What’s going on, Jared?”
“Okay, Dana be calm and don’t fight it. Go with it. You have dragon blood, remember? It’s who you are. Hurry and get outside. You need to relax and push it out. It quits hurting so much when you push it out.”
“I am outside! I was looking for rocks to smash!”
“Okay, can you feel wings?”
“Yes, and they hurt!”
“Relax, Dana, help them uncurl.”
“Whew, that is better.”
“Dana, you have to fly now!”
“What?”
“I’m not kidding. It just happened to me.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back in a minute.”
I wait, excitement bubbling around me like a baby in a bathtub. In a few minutes, Dana calls be back. “Did you fly?” I ask him.
“Yes, it’s great. My skin is a little aqua colored. Not full on like a crayon just a shade.”
“Well, mine’s blue. But, like you, just a shade. I think me being so mad at whoever took Kendra and not being able to do anything forced it out.”
“Ok, Jared, I have to go. Love you.”
“Love you too, little brother.”
I’ve never felt better, I feel great. Give me five minutes, and I’m sure I’ll feel the crash. I’ll be exhausted and need a nap. Probably not a bad idea, anyway. I need to be awake when TASS is ready to give us the information we’re waiting on.
Twenty-Five
Battle
Kendra
When I wake, the only light I can see is that which comes with each heartbeat pounding into my headache. The fear resulting from not knowing where I am is compounded by my nerves waking and realizing the pain thundering through each joint in my body.
I put my fingers to my eyes, checking to see if I’m blindfolded, or maybe worse. I touch knots of swollen flesh around my face and head as well as many areas where my hair is matted to my scalp and face. I assume it’s blood that’s dried. My eyelids are moving, blinking. With my eyes open and not feeling a blindfold, have I been blinded? I have a vague recollection of having something sprayed into my face, before the blackness.
Claustrophobia is setting deep into my gut. I can’t see. Risking I’m not sure what, I try a soft, “Hello.” What comes out is a cross between the sound of a saw cutting wood and the moan of a ghost. The sickness in my gut grows more intense; I imagine the latter may be close to a reality.
I risk exploring the rest of my body and gingerly rise to a seated position. Chains clink and a heavy weight pulls at my waist. My fingertips are my eyes. Using them, I find a thick, wide, hard rubber piece of something which feels like the steel-belted tread of a tire. The chain on my stomach has four bolts coming through, from my stomach, outward. These hold the tire together, along with a thick metal shackle. A heavy chain is attached to the shackle. The entire device is so tight around my waist, it’s staving off my attempts at breathing deeply. This doesn’t bother me, because the pain in my ribs keeps me from breathing deeply anyway.
I follow the chain until I reach another shackle, secured to a type of stone or concrete wall. Checking my arms and legs, I find that one arm and both legs are cuffed to chains attached through different holes in the wall.
Astonished at the turn of events in my life, I slide to the floor. It feels like only minutes ago, I was being escorted by my three handsome consorts, wearing a dress that was given to me specifically for my pleasure. Now, I sit on the dirt floor of a building, being held by any number of foes who want me dead—not for anything I’ve intentionally done, but more because of who I am, who I represent.
My eyes burn as the tears fall. Angrily, I wipe them away. I have no shame for these tears. I don’t see them as a sign of weakness. They represent my growing anger, anger that’s squeezing out the claustrophobic fear that had taken hold. Tears mean I’m mad. Someone targeted me, hurting my friends and my lovers in the process. I’ll get my revenge.
And when I do, it’ll be a worse day for them than they ever thought possible.
“Okay, Kendra, calm your ass down. Anger won’t help right now.” Making a resolution to find an opportunity to escape, I call out in a slightly stronger voice than before. “Hey, is anybody out there? Hello, Hey,” I try to get someone’s attention a few more times. A shaft of light bursts through an opening in my cell. The light punishes my optic nerves and fortifies the pounding headache I’ve been fighting dropping me to my knees.
Holding my hands to shade my eyes, I say through gritted teeth, “I can a
t least think now.” There’s a bell, a church bell maybe, ringing in the distance. My senses are beginning to stir, noticing things that I’d been missing. There’s a definite heat radiating through the daylight. The room smells of dirt and rot. I hear a man say, “Conseguir el jefe.”
Then the light, my shaft of hope, slams shut. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know I’m not in Scotland. A jungle? Central America, maybe?
A short time later, the door opens. More light, more air—closer to freedom. A short stout Hispanic man enters. I stand, shaking, to face him. At once, I know the face: Don Manuel Jessup.
My brain’s still foggy. It isn’t so bad that I can’t keep looking for my one opportunity. He walks around me, sniffs. “So, you are the maldita puta that made so much trouble for me. You don’t look like much. My men said you are someone special. A queen maybe? You cost me a lot of money. I want it back and interest. Then, maybe, I’ll let you go. Yes?”
I answered with the weakest voice I could find, hoping for any mercy, “I have no money. I’m a no one. No one’ll pay.”
“Oh, come now, Kendra Macbard, sister to the famous playboy Jared Macbard. Your brother Dana has a nice fat wallet too. Queen of the Ceorfan tribe. Who are the Ceorfan anyway, bitch? Where are they from? A poor native tribe? It doesn’t matter. I sent your ransom note to TASS. Someone will pay, even if it’s for your dead body. Which was my intention when my men took you. They sprayed enough nitrous sulfide in your face that you should be dead. We were so convinced you were dead, we took pictures of you laying on the ground. I sent them with the ransom note. Then something interesting happened. You lived. You slept for more than a day, but here you are. How? The stories must be true you are superhuman.”
Through all the questions and other comments, I remain quiet. Better to seem completely ignorant of what he was speaking about than to give him something to hurt me with.
Don Manuel Jessup comes closer to me. He studies my face and scrutinizes my eyes.
I ready myself to use my gift to convince him to let me go. “Mr. Jess…”
His slap is fast and hard. Blackness highlights a single tunnel of light, the extent of my vision. I’m not sure if his slap is as hard as he can hit, but it’s hard, as if he had a metal plate inside his hand.