by Kim Cormack
Frost peered over the edge and hollered after her, “Seriously!”
Kayn was laughing as she disappeared into the mist. The wind rippled through her hair, her pulse raced and her heart pounded rapidly during the downward spiral. Usually she could gage the time of her descent but not this time. She didn’t know how far she had to fall but it wouldn’t have mattered. She had no intention of stopping. She wanted the pain that came with the end of this ride. It was more than that, she needed it. Was this what she had become? She was now a creature in search of pain. She felt a tug and Frost had a hold of her sarong. Party pooper. With another yank, he had a good hold on her arm.
He yelled, “I don’t want to lose you when we hit the bottom! I’m guessing you don’t want to stop before we hit?”
She looked up at him with her hair whipping around and gave him nothing in response but a smirk. He cursed as they hit the ground with a surge of excruciatingly magical agony.
The world was humming around her as she came to. That was awesome. She felt the warmth of the sand beneath her fingertips and she smiled. The in-between had given her a clean slate. She raised her head, spit the sand out of her mouth and started to giggle.
Frost was about ten feet from her face down in the sand. He groaned dramatically and mumbled, “You suck.”
She scrambled to her feet and casually wandered over to observe his plight as he fought to operate his death stunted spaghetti limbs. She took pity on him by holding out one of her hands and saying, “Come on princess. I’ll help you up.” He took her hand and she yanked him to his feet. Frost shook his head slowly from side to side as they strolled away barefoot in the silky warm sand towards the ever-changing swirling backdrop of the glorious colors of the sky.
He gave her shoulder a nudge and said, “Give Zach time. He’ll get used to the whole Handler thing.”
She nodded without responding to his casual statement in support of Zach. Frost took her hand again and she glanced at him as the scenery exploded with brilliant blinding light as they were transported back to the rest of their clan. The others noticed their arrival and waved them over. Kayn scooted back down beside her fellow Dragon in the grass.
Lexy gave Frost an ominous look as she teased, “You’d better be nice to her.”
Frost winked as he flirtatiously responded, “Whatever do you mean? I’m always nice.”
Everyone laughed and began throwing fistfuls of grass at Frost. He shielded his face while laughing until they all gave up and laid back down on the grass as a group to watch the crimson hued awe-inspiring sunset, swirling a magical path across the horizon.
Haley randomly piped in, “After 20 years in Astrid’s happy place. I keep expecting there to be clowns.”
Grey rolled over on one elbow, knit his brow and chuckled, “There were clowns?”
Haley grinned as she replied, “There were always clowns.”
“I can vouch for that,” Zach chuckled. “Her happy place was getting a little bit warped.”
Frost’s eyes lit up as he dared, “I say we all go and check out this happy place right now.”
Grey gave an immediate response, “No thank you. I think I’m good.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be a wuss,” Lexy teased as she tossed some grass at Greydon.
Kayn had been quietly watching the exchange. Frost was intentionally pushing Grey’s buttons. She came to his defence by saying, “The last time I was in her happy place. The balloons were really chainsaws and they tickled us when they caught us.”
Grey stood up and stammered, “Like hell!”
Lexy leaned in and kissed Astrid square on the lips. She stood up and chased Grey down, tackled him into the grass and planted a long kiss on his lips against his will but she’d seen his response. Something must have happened between these two while they were attending the Summit. She was dying to ask but knew this wasn’t the time.
Lexy was staggering around, holding her head in the palms of her hands giggling, “This is so messed-up.”
The others became curious. When Lexy says, something is messed-up you just know it’s absolute insanity. When Astrid had worked her way through the group and kissed them all it only took a few moments for her ability to take effect. They were all on the same page as dozens of clowns skipped across the field of floating bubbles towards them to the tinkling music of an ice-cream truck. They were wearing brightly colored outfits and towing bouquets of swaying balloons behind them. Kayn stood calmly beside a grinning Lexy. Everyone else became creeped out by the idea of being tickled by clowns and the group scattered. Kayn and Lexy were laughing hysterically as they joined in on the twisted clown game. There was an explosion of light and the rest of the clan appeared. The group of freaked out Ankh sprinted past the others.
Markus hollered, “What in the hell are you guys doing?”
Kayn was having a blast playing clown tag when she felt her chest tighten. The hallucination instantly disappeared and reality sucked. Her chest was on fire. She dropped to her knees, finding it difficult to breath. What’s happening?
Markus was immediately at her side. He whispered, “It’s going to be okay. The Enlightening... it’s not one moment. Sometimes it’s a process that takes days or even weeks. The Testing was only the beginning.”
His words rang in her ears. The Testing was only the beginning. She was at the beginning once again. She had travelled in a circle and she was standing in the same place. Kayn laughed through her pain as Grey sprinted past her with a terrified expression on his face narrowly escaping the imaginary clowns.
Markus crouched down beside her and whispered, “What are they running from?”
Kayn glanced up and said, “Clowns. They are running away from the clowns.”
Markus chuckled as he held out a hand to help her up. Lexy and Melody were already healed. The two girls casually strolled towards them, laughing as Grey raced past them again.
Markus laughed, “I guess we can let Grey do a few more laps before we go.”
Jenna appeared out of thin air and they stood together watching Grey run laps. He was the only one left under the influence.
“What is he running from?” Jenna asked.
Kayn grinned as she replied, “Imaginary clowns.”
Jenna giggled as she watched Grey narrowly escaping his invisible assailants. She commented, “I always miss all the good stuff while I’m at these Oracle things.” Jenna left her side, walked over to Markus and whispered in his ear. He glanced directly at Kayn obviously concerned about something.
Well, that’s never a good sign. What now?
Maybe, she didn’t want to know. Kayn took a deep breath as she turned and addressed Lexy, “What is this banquet?”
Lexy gave her a straight forward reply, “They’re going to bathe and dress you up. There will be some form of entertainment, food and dancing.”
Kayn knit her brow and replied, “Refresh my memory as to why would I allow a stranger to bathe me? I’m not a toddler.”
Lexy grimaced and sparred, “If I had to allow strangers to bathe me, then you do. It’s a respect thing. Trust me; we take any tiny bit of respect that we can get from the third tiers.”
Kayn felt apprehensive as goosebumps rose on her skin. It was a warning of some kind.
“Is everybody ready to go?” Markus bellowed.
No, not really. Kayn didn’t like the way she was feeling. Perhaps it was the lack of choices. She preferred to make her own decisions and this felt forced. They all stood side by side and joined hands. Kayn was awaiting the stomach-churning sensation of the tomb travel but instead, they all began to disintegrate into the air. She held her palm in front of her face as it turned to sand and the delicate grains of her essence floated away on a breeze.
Uncomfortable Situations
They solidified as a group about twenty feet in the air above the deserted coliseum. They all dropped and even though they had no time to stop themselves they all landed on their feet in unison. An explosion of dust ro
se around the group. Kayn noticed for the first time how massive the coliseum was. She’d still been a little bit out of it while the stands had been full to capacity with people. Somebody cleared their throat and she turned. An extremely buffed gorgeous guy was strolling towards the group. He immediately began to shamelessly flirt with Lexy. Kayn glanced at Grey. He looked seriously annoyed.
Kayn nudged Grey and said, “Who is that?”
He answered, “That’s Silas and he’s Ankh. He won the Summit a long time ago and chose to stay. He appears to have a crush on Lexy. She was the star of the show this Summit and Silas has always been a bit of a fame whore.”
“Keep it up and somebody might think you’re jealous,” Kayn teased as they started to follow the others.
Grey winked and said, “She’s my friend. I’m just looking out for her and let’s just say she’s made a few questionable choices as of late.”
Kayn grinned as she hip checked Grey and teased, “Right… just friends.”
He wasn’t expecting it and laughed as he came close to toppling over. Lexy had fought everyone quite recently and all by herself. Yet, as always, she was unaffected by the violence she’d survived. Dragons that knew how to harness their abilities could tuck any traumatic emotion away. They always appeared to be undamaged in the aftermath of a storm. They could bring their feelings back just as easily, to be used as fuel for their inner fire, whenever their clan required it of them. Maybe someday she’d be as controlled as her. The breeze blew Lexy’s scarlet hair around giving it the appearance of fire. Her crimson flames flickered in the wind like a victory flag. The wind blew Kayn’s hair around and her blonde mass of curls ended up in her mouth. She tucked her hair behind her ears, and glanced at her wrist noticing its lack of always present elastic bands. She felt someone’s eyes on her and when she peered up it was Silas grinning at her plight.
Silas spoke, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Kayn. I’ve heard a few impressive things about you.”
Kayn took the immortal’s hand. He gallantly turned it over, kissed her palm and closed it. She felt sick to her stomach. How could he possibly know about that? It was something Kevin used to do? Something out of a children’s book. She was being silly, there’s no possible way he could have known. She was being paranoid. She gave him an uncomfortable smile as she took the hand he’d kissed and held it in the other one. Kevin...She was going to be forced to see him again. She wasn’t prepared for that. What difference did the timing make in the long term? What was done was done. They were done. Her best friend had now taken on a new role as her enemy. He didn’t matter anymore. She just had to keep repeating that to herself. He doesn’t matter anymore. The group followed an overly exuberant Silas from the center of the coliseum through another intricately etched archway of gold. Maybe this bathing thing wouldn’t be that bad? She could use some pampering. She hadn’t had the opportunity to have a nice hot bath in what felt like forever. Kayn smiled as she watched Silas strolling along with one arm around Haley and the other around Astrid as he yammered on about how amazing it was that the two had survived twenty years in the Testing. The group joked around and laughed as though they were old friends. Kayn quietly followed, keeping her distance unable to shake the feeling of impending doom. It felt like she was walking slowly to the end of a plank. She kept trying to meet Frost’s gaze. He appeared to be deep in thought. She felt queasy. She felt like something was off and she knew what that meant. Something was coming. Something was wrong. Did everyone else feel this way? Was she walking into a trap? They strolled through another spectacular gold intricately engraved archway into a white room full of round steaming pools with flower petals floating on the surface of the water. There was an intoxicating scent in the air. On the left side of the enormous room, there was a rich burgundy curtained off area. A change room? Silas gestured the five of them into the curtained area. Behind the curtains there were six small pools of water full of flower petals. Standing around the pools were dozens of scantily clad men and women. Were they servants? This was going to be so uncomfortable. The five newbie Ankh stood together as a confused group until the strangers walked up and skillfully began to remove Zach’s sarong. Kayn glanced at Zach as his only coverage dropped to the marble floor in front of a flock of women. He didn’t appear to be the least bit concerned as he stepped into the water. The women climbed right in and began bathing him. Melody and Haley were next and then Astrid. Kayn took off her sarong by herself but soon there were half a dozen people scurrying around her to help. She crossed one of her arms over her chest and the other over her privates as she stepped into the steaming fragrant pool. This was mortifying. She noticed Zach staring at her and glared at him.
He winked and mouthed the words, “Try to relax. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
She giggled out of sheer nervousness. He’d probably seen her nude on many occasions. He’d walked in on her while she was changing countless times. The three of them had shared a room as though they were partially immortal siblings. Why was she stressing out about people she’d probably never see again? Her train of thought was interrupted. She was passed a large goblet of red wine and instead of declining it, she took it. If there was ever a time to take a glass of wine without a second thought, it was right now. She downed the entire glass without coming up for air and when she lowered the goblet from her lips the pool was full of grinning faces. They were here to wash her. Awkward. Strangers hands began soaping her down. It felt like she should at least be attempting to carry on a conversation with the people submerged in the pool soaping her down. She felt like shrinking under the surface where nobody could touch her unless they were willing to dive under to do it. It felt like an invasion of her privacy. She wasn’t accustomed to having anyone’s hands on her body so it went without saying that multiple ones would make her super uncomfortable. What do you say? Were you supposed to talk? How were you supposed to react? Was this supposed to be pleasurable, because it certainly wasn’t? She had backed into the corner of the pool and squeezed her eyes closed. Happy place…happy place. She felt like a cat being forcibly washed against its will. Kayn was trying hard to look like she wasn’t absolutely mortified by the experience. She didn’t want to offend anyone. When she opened her eyes, the male servants had disappeared. She had no idea what to do next so she kept silent as she took a deep breath and tried to relax in the absence of strange male hands. The wine started to work its magic as leaves were placed over her eyes and mud was plastered on her face. She could smell something minty, she laid her head back and attempted to enjoy the pampering. She thought she’d been left alone to soak in the bath with a strange mint scented concoction on her face when someone began washing her feet without warning. It tickled to the point that she couldn’t help it, she started squirming around and giggling. Her face was washed off and when she was finally able to open her eyes, she realized she had an audience. Two men that appeared to be royalty were standing above her. She crossed her arms over her chest.
The younger man seemed entertained by her attempt to conceal her body. He spoke with an accent she couldn’t quite place, “You are the Conduit?”
Kayn cleared her throat and responded quietly, “My name’s Kayn.” The man disapprovingly shook his head from side to side. He hadn’t asked her for her name. He had asked if she was the Conduit. He was waiting for her to answer his question correctly. She felt as though he was not clarifying what he wanted on purpose to make her feel uncomfortable. After a goblet of wine, she was in a moderately unfiltered state. Kayn would have to choose the words she spoke aloud wisely.
She smiled pleasantly and even thought she was irritated she answered, “Yes, I guess I am.”
He smirked at her and replied, “You guess you are... What?”
She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Kayn raised her eyebrows while reigning in her sarcastic wit, sensing it would be completely lost in this situation.
She responded, “I am.”
He gave her a frustrat
ed look as he questioned, “You are what?”
She gave her very best fake Chloe pageant smile and replied, “I am the Conduit.” This guy was an anal-retentive douche. What a pompous ass.
He glared at her and said, “I understand what pompous ass means but what do you mean by anal-retentive douche?”
Zach began clearing his throat loudly.
Her thoughts were not private. Whoops. She’d have to rein them in too.
Kayn harnessed her inner Chloe and coolly responded, “It means you are overly concerned with small details.”
Intrigued by her candor, he teased, “Yes, I guess I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you Conduit.”
He was purposely toying with her. The man extended his hand towards her limply and sideways. What did he want her to do? Was she supposed to shake it? Was she supposed to kiss his ring? He was openly grinning at her now. She knew he could read her mind. He could help her out here.
The arrogant stranger clarified, “I’m an Oracle. I need to touch your forehead.”
Kayn inched her way closer and knit her brow as he placed his hand on her head and smiled. She noticed the symbol of Trinity on his hand as he pulled it away.
“An unbroken Dragon after the Testing,” he emotionlessly announced. “Thank you. That was all I needed to know.”
Yes, I’m unbroken. Was he checking to see if she was still sane? That would depend on what level of sanity you were looking for and who you spoke to. Am I going to wear you as a skin coat? Well, probably not. She only made skin coats out of people on Tuesday. Kayn smiled at her own off kilter humor. She could entertain herself for hours with her own wacky thoughts. She submerged herself except for her eyes the under water and watched him walk away. Why hadn’t he stopped to talk to anyone else?