by Carol Oates
An angry resentment stopped the air in my lungs. My toes curled in my sneakers, and my fingers trembled. This wasn’t about me burning breakfast or leaving dirty towels and gym shorts on the bathroom floor. This wasn’t kid stuff.
Triona waited as the air around us grew colder by the second. Abruptly her shoulders shrank and her eyes softened. “You’ve spent your whole life looking out for me. I know protecting others is just what you do. It’s as much a part of you as breathing. You have to see we are safer together.”
Amanda strode up behind Triona her head held high. “We talked about this. You have to trust the people around you. Trust me. I’m not asking your permission.”
The anger inside me subsided only slightly. I snuck a peek at John. He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. I realized quickly that he probably agreed with me but had decided to pick his battles. In the end, we were all right. Obviously I wanted to protect the ones I loved. Just as obviously, Amanda and Emma were as much a part of this as anyone. I couldn’t ask them to go against the very core of their nature and hide.
I grimaced and tightened my grip on the handle of the sword, aware of the weight of the metal and the hard, smooth grooves against my palm.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” I forced out the words, my jaw so strained it ached.
“That’s my boy.” Amanda stood on her toes and ruffled my hair with unsteady fingers.
I supposed Amanda thought I wouldn’t notice or see through her bravado. I sensed her excitement in the scent coming off her. I heard it in her rapid heartbeat. I also caught the darker notes of spice beneath her usual flowery fragrance. I gulped down the thick ball of fear in my throat. I read once that bravery wasn’t the absence of fear, but rather the ability to recognize fear and face challenges head on despite it. I still had a lot to learn from Amanda.
Archú’s rumbling growl put an end to any further discussion. He barked into the air several times, his huge fangs bared, his muzzle dripping with spittle.
“They’re here,” Triona said and dashed after the hound as he leapt from the steps.
I intertwined my fingers with Amanda’s and took off behind the others, not looking back to see if Merlin followed.
The dog didn’t stop outside as I expected but continued with his bizarre gallop around the side of the house toward the lake at the rear. At times the hound looked more like a small horse than a large dog. He stopped near the water, his front paws pushed into the grass and his head lower than his back. Again he bared his teeth to thin air as we gathered around him. Merlin ambled up behind and took the spot right next to his beloved hound.
“Where are they?” Samuel searched the cloud-filled sky as the gray darkened, and the wind whipped waves across the surface of the water beside us.
I leaned my head back as the first droplet of rain fell. Triona’s hands were raised by her sides, a sword dangling from one, calling the weather to bow to her will. Her red hair danced around her face, caught up in the wind like live flames curling from heat and fury. She lowered her hands and met my eyes with steely determination.
“Let’s not make this easy for him,” she shouted over the building din as rain began to lash down at a forty-five-degree angle, already soaking through my T-shirt.
“Look,” Emma screeched, pointing to the skyline over swaying trees in the distance, across the lake where the clouds eddied unnaturally.
A plume of black mist rose up, churning and twisting, scattering birds from branches, sending them squawking in all directions. The sight was every bit as terrifying as I remembered from Tara.
“Stay close to me,” I instructed Amanda.
She nodded and smiled, blinking raindrops from her eyelashes, as the enormous cloud of roiling smoke grew nearer and furious thunder crashed overhead.
Lightening sparked, stabbing through the rain clouds, defining them behind the cloud of smoke for a split second.
“Maybe you should ease up a little,” I roared at Triona against the backdrop of the next boom of thunder.
“We need to show him who he is messing with,” she yelled back, her emerald eyes flashing with hostility.
The cloud came closer, expanding and contracting, sentient. It followed a distinct path across the water as freezing spray washed us from all angles. I extended my left arm, instinctually keeping Amanda back. This time she didn’t argue. We moved with surprising fluid elegance, as though our haphazard group had been waltzing into battle together for a long time.
My heart hammered and icy rivulets ran down my back leaving my clothes sopping and heavy on my shivering skin.
Merlin stood front and center, with Guinevere on his right and Archú snarling on his other side. Triona placed one foot forward for balance. Amanda flicked wet hair from her face and slowly raised her bow vertical, nocking an arrow in place. She showed no scrap of fear.
Finally the mist swirled over land by the lakeshore a short distance away from us and began to take form. It swarmed like a billion tiny bees, melting together into distinct humanoid shapes…lots of them. Colors became distinguishable and their numbers apparent, at least forty of them, and no sign of Caleb.
Chapter 23
Dragon Magic
ZEAL TOOK CENTER POSITION, just as I remembered him. He was dressed in black, a modern shirt and loose linen pants. Rain darkened his pale, golden blond hair and matted it to his angelic face. It wasn’t right for something so evil to appear so benign. There was something almost androgynous about Zeal despite his reputation as physically strongest among Guardians and almost measuring up to me in stature. He had the fine delicate features of a china figurine and to me, seemed almost ageless. I recalled every movement in our last fight and how his cold charcoal eyes stared me down as he ripped the metal from Amanda’s chest. As though he read my mind, he sent a cruel sneer in my direction.
A gnawing started in my belly and worked its way up until a growl trembled in my chest. I wouldn’t allow Triona to take my revenge from me again. The next time I danced with the devil, it would be his last. Amanda’s fingers stroked the length of my spine, and her warm breath prickled across my cold flesh, raising goose bumps on my neck.
“Don’t let him taunt you. I’m here. We’re together.”
I looked down and realized my nails had extended to claws and my feet had moved forward without conscious decision. Amanda turned her attention back to the group ahead of us, but her hand remained at my lower spine, grounding me as only she could.
“Such a warm welcome.” Zeal laughed. A flash of lightning struck the trees nearby, shaking the ground, and cutting a silver glow across the gloom. Those around him chuckled, although those further out seemed less secure. Wind howled through the space making it difficult to hold ground.
“Triona,” I rasped out. “Ease up.”
She closed her eyes and instantly the rain eased to a gentle shower. The wind died somewhat, although bilious clouds continued to churn overhead, threatening to explode again at a moment’s notice.
Zeal strode forward, brazen. His posture relaxed and bleeding confidence. “Is this any way to greet an old friend, Samuel…Eila?”
“Do not mistake acquaintance for friendship, Zeal,” Samuel warned him. “Where is my son?”
“Where is mine?” Zeal bellowed. His body vibrated, and his glare found Joshua, or at least where I approximated Joshua to be.
I couldn’t see him or his reaction, but from what I knew of Joshua he wouldn’t be goaded by Zeal.
“Is that why we’re here, Zeal, a son for a son?” Samuel asked roughly.
Zeal smirked, his rage evaporating. “All in good time.”
Triona’s closed expression was hard to read. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking or what she planned. All I could do was stay ready for whatever came next.
“He doesn’t look so scary,” Emma uttered.
Zeal’s attention whipped to her, his gray eyes marbled chips, cold and hard. Emma drew in a sharp breath, but her stance didn�
�t wavier.
“You’ve seen my mercy and taken it as weakness, Zeal,” Triona said.
“Mercy is weakness,” he replied, attempting to correct her.
Triona laughed, a dark and deep sound I’d never heard from her before, which was dripping in malice. “If you’re so sure, why don’t you come closer and test that theory.”
I tried really hard not to appear shocked, but adrenaline surged through my system, and my heart rang in my ears. Did she just invite a fight? I hoped she was bluffing. No doubt she was using her powers to read Zeal’s true emotions. What had I been thinking anyway? That we could talk our way out of this mess?
Zeal crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, he didn’t appear ready to call her bluff. “So soon? Surely not before introductions. Myrddin Emrys, I believe. I am glad to see you well and still very much with us. It is a great honor. I trust this means my sources are correct and the Philosopher’s Stone is among you?”
No one made any reaction to his question. Zeal tapped his chin and pressed his lips into a straight line. He hummed thoughtfully and paced a small circle before he stopped dead. “You, I don’t know.” He pointed at Arthur dramatically, “We have the beautiful Guinevere and Merlin—” He cut himself off and laughed, turning his palm up like a presenter announcing an act. “Could this be the legendary King Arthur returned?”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. Zeal raised his fist next to his head to silence them. “So it’s you—”
“I’m the one you want,” John said, silencing him.
Emma jolted, and Amanda immediately hushed her.
Zeal’s lips widened in delight. “Well, isn’t this serendipitous—the young queen’s human pet.” He tapped his chin again. “It must be disappointing, Merlin, to know you don’t have a hand in this after all.”
“My design is but to guide the Stone to where it may service this world,” Merlin stated loudly.
“You’re awfully cocky for a guy who almost peed his pants the last time we met,” Triona mocked Zeal.
He froze and I stiffened. It wouldn’t take much more tension to knock me over the ledge. My muscles strained, and my shoulders were so rigid it caused pain to inch down my arm. Anger sizzled and churned like compressed magma. Deep down I yearned for my chance to finish this monster.
Merlin raised his walking stick, aiming the end toward Zeal in a threatening manner. “You cannot have this one.” His voice was surprisingly resounding and lucid.
Zeal nodded his head slowly, appearing to agree. The crowd behind him grew more restless, jostling for position at the front. I refrained from making eye contact with any of them, preferring not to engage on an individual level. There was movement at the back, and the crowd shifted apart allowing two familiar figures through.
My nerve endings sparked from the static in the air. I wished Triona would stop the infernal rain dripping down on us like a leaky faucet. The ground beneath our feet was gradually turning to a slimy mud consistency, and it drowned out scents.
I recognized the taller figure first, the bald man from the park, the one who was still conscious when he evaporated before my eyes. The hulking figure was dressed in black as before, but it was the man he held up who grabbed my attention.
Amanda’s fingers squeezed the soaking fabric of my T-shirt and dropped away. Triona made a pitiful noise more like a wounded animal than a young woman. A commotion at the other end of our group distracted me from my own shock for no more than an instant. The figure semi-collapsed against his captor resembled Caleb, but the logical part of my brain refused to accept it. Caleb had only been missing days, yet the man before us looked half-dead. His dull, sunken eyes wandered, focusing on nothing specific. He seemed to have no concept of our presence in front of him, much less Triona’s. Filthy smears of black covered his face and bare chest.
I had seen Caleb with his shirt off at the hotel before my wedding, and the guy had been cut. He hadn’t been bulky but long and lean with defined muscles and strong posture. Not now. He lacked the strength to hold himself upright, and his ribs were visible under grayish flesh. Jeans hung from his boney hips. Deep red, angry welts cut across his wrists. Why isn’t he healing? What the hell have they done to him?
I bent my head to catch sight of Merlin feverishly whispering in John’s ear. Archú howled. Triona’s eyes fixed on Zeal and resolved rapidly into cold barbs of pure hatred. Her expression distorted into something ghastly and animalistic as she sank into a crouch ready for attack. The wind whipped up again and lightening crashed into the water, too close for comfort. Triona was losing it.
“This is so not good,” Emma said.
“What’s going on?” Amanda screeched and stumbled into me as another strike hit, this time on the shore, throwing a shower of muck and steam into the air.
Zeal threw his arms out wide and cackled into the storm, welcoming it with open arms. Behind him, most of the group pushed and shoved, baying for action. However, some were now faltering, slipping back, and all of a sudden the reason for Zeal’s mirth became apparent. He wanted Triona to lose control. He didn’t want a fight. Not here and now. He wanted witnesses.
I didn’t doubt he desired the Stone and what that entailed, but that wasn’t enough for him. It wasn’t his end game. I saw through his lies. He wouldn’t care if we attacked and killed every individual with him, as long as he got away. There was more where they came from. It was what Eila said about our own kind being afraid of us. Zeal craved that. He wanted our kind to turn on us, to turn to him as leader.
I retreated a couple of feet, dragging both Emma and Amanda with me. Neither gave much argument, if they noticed. From here I had a better view of Triona. Archú snarled and barked, his front legs bowed out and his back legs flexed. Like Triona, Annice had lowered into a crouch, and her weapon lay discarded on the grass. Samuel remained standing beside her, although clearly livid and exerting great effort to hold back. Joshua mirrored his father, with Eila’s usual serene face contorted into a sneer. Arthur and Guinevere were the only ones remaining calm and grounded, at least judging by outward appearances. Perhaps their poise came from numerous times facing battle together in the past.
Guinevere wound her long fingers around the hilt of Excalibur and drew it slowly from the scabbard by her side to a chorus of yelps and roars. Both John and Merlin tugged at Triona, in a futile attempt to gain her attention, all the while Zeal inched closer, provoking her into action. Caleb just hung there, limp as a rag doll.
Another flash of lightning struck the earth behind Zeal’s entourage, forcing them closer. Triona wrenched away from John and sprang high into the air.
“Holy shit!” Emma exclaimed, still clutching her bow and arrow in a nocked position, the bowstring stretched and ready for release.
The next moments happened at blinding speed, yet everything around me slowed to a sort of warped slow motion where colors blended and reality twisted. Triona flew forward as graceful as a cat, complete with claws and bared teeth. Rain lashed down and glittered like droplets of glass around her. In the darkness and soaring several feet above the ground, Triona could easily have been mistaken for a creature hardly human at all.
Conflicting instincts swelled up inside me, tearing me in two different directions so fiercely that my entire body shook from it. Blood scorched through my veins and corroded any sense of reason from my mind. Attack, the voice in my head screamed. Just as loudly it screamed, Protect.
Zeal reacted as expected, sinking down to spring into the air, ready to fight my sister again. His arrogance was astounding. She’d put him down once already. His group drew back too, ready to shoot forward, and in the exact instant, so did ours. I had no choice. To run would’ve been to fight my own nature. I had to believe I could do both—attack and protect.
But before I lifted one foot from the ground, a powerful pulse of energy knocked me sideways. Emma and Amanda tumbled into me, and I heard the low ping of Emma’s bowstring accidentally releasing. At first I thought
it was a gust of wind, something brought on by Triona. My hair whipped back and excruciating pain ripped through my ears. The flesh on Emma’s face rippled. Arthur spun around to us placing himself between Guinevere and Emma, and the source of the energy wave. I reached out to grasp Amanda by her arm but caught the sword she held. The blade carved into my palm.
Something gray with patches of bright, iridescent green and purple flapped into the air. At first, I mistook it for sheets of leather and plastic elevated by wind. Even my paranormal brain rushed to catch up with my eyes and ears. The shape was animated and aware of its movements, swishing a scaly tail away from Samuel’s awestruck features. Somewhere I heard panicked screams. Not from our side though. They came from too far away.
The beast was easily the size of a large man. Its stout body swooped into the air. When extended, its wings were twelve feet wide with and reminded me of a webbed claw. They seemed as twin kites picked up by a gust before the creature somersaulted, returning to the ground in a nosedive. Was it an actual dragon? It certainly matched what I had always imagined.
Both Triona and Zeal dropped to the ground like rocks, separated by the creature. It opened its brutal jaw as it leveled out, revealing double rows of sharp, tiny, pearl white teeth and a dark pink tongue under a long snout. Green fire spewed out accompanied by a howling cry and sent plumes of white stream up from the ground in a line breaking us off from those on the enemy side.
John rushed out, sliding across the mud. He threw Triona over his shoulder and hurried back, standing her on the ground beside him. Triona, too startled to fight him, didn’t react at all. No one charged out to assist Zeal. He scuttled backward on his behind, gaping up at the beast flapping its wings and making a noise like a rattling squawk.
When both sides had returned to their position, the dragon called out again and settled itself at the lakeside, right at the beginning of a charred line cutting across the sopping grass. His wings flattened over his back, and his tail curled in. The creature extended his long regal neck, lifting his snout and blinking.