by Kim Cormack
Winnie shook her head at him and stated, “Do try to find her much faster next time.”
Zach replied, “Yes, of course I will.”
The sky altered above them and the swirling pastel colored sunset began to rotate as though someone was stirring paint and the sky above them transformed into various brilliant shades of blue. They were both entranced, as they stared at the sky.
They heard Winnie’s voice say, “Zach can find you in the in-between. This is good.” Before either of them had taken their eyes away from the beauty above them, there was another incapacitating explosion of light. They cowered, shielding their eyes from the glare while barefoot in the sand. When they were finally able to open their eyes, the two of them rose to stand and Winnie was gone…
Zach spun around and said, “Where did she go?”
Kayn replied, “I think she just wanted to see how long it would take you to find me.”
Zach knit his brow and with an annoyed tone, he complained, “I didn’t realize I was being timed. I guess I’m supposed to be a babysitter and a psychic now.”
She’d been feeling much calmer, almost back to normal but every one of Zach’s words had pissed her off even if his frustration hadn’t been directed at her. He’d said he was fine with being her Handler but his mannerisms suggested otherwise. She tried to just let it go but it wasn’t that easy. Not anymore. She felt the energy from that spark of anger as it ignited, turning the simmering embers within her into a raging inferno. She didn’t know how to put it out. Her pulse raced as adrenaline began coursing through her now clearly visible veins. She looked up at the beautiful sky, trying to think happy thoughts but this of course, did not work. With each passing second, rational thought became more difficult. She needed to fight something or someone. She glanced at Zach. He was afraid. She smelled it in the air and this was not helpful. Punching him right in the face would probably make her feel much better, but that definitely wouldn’t help their floundering Dragon Handler relationship. Instinct told her she needed to feel pain. She needed to heal. Kayn knew she could do anything she wanted while they were in the in-between. She needed an adrenaline rush and there were plenty of dangerous situations she could think up and put herself in but she’d have to bring her Handler along. She smiled. Perhaps Zach should start choosing his words more wisely. His insensitivity had put her back into a volatile state. So, it was only fair that he come along for the ride.
Zach started to walk away from her. “Come on Brighton. We need to find the others. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” He stopped walking and spun around to face her when he realized she wasn’t following him. He spoke to her in an exasperated tone, “Come on Brighton! I’ve wasted hours looking for you. I’m sure everyone wants to get the hell out of here and back to reality.”
He wasn’t helping himself. He started to walk away again. She allowed him to get a touch ahead of her while she took some me time to plot her revenge for his insensitive behavior. Kayn stepped on something and glanced down at the normally silky sand. She’d stepped on a seashell. She lifted one leg to look at her foot. There was a thin trail of blood oozing from a cut. She touched it with her finger, stared at the spot of red and licked it off her finger tip. Interesting, blood still tasted like blood even if it was in the in-between. If she picked up that shell, bad things would happen. She needed bad things to happen. She bent down, picked up the shell and tossed it into the air, catching it in the palm of her hand. Kayn glanced towards the horizon. There was already a wall of blue speeding towards them. She couldn’t fight a forty-foot wave, but it would make her feel better to run from it.
She called to Zach, “Hey! We should start running.”
Zach spun around, noticed the shell in her hand and hissed, “Seriously Kayn!”
She winked at him and mouthed the words, “Behind you.”
He turned around, froze for a split second before spinning around and sprinting past her. She caught up to him and they ran side by side. She loved this feeling. The rush of adrenaline and the silky sand between her toes that felt heavier when you tried to run on it. Her hair rippled behind her and she felt as she knew she was meant to…wild and free. Their feet rhythmically pounding the sand in unison. Where was that cliff? As soon as she thought about it. They were there at the end of the sand as the mountain sized wall of water rushed towards them. They both leapt over the edge, knowing this was an excruciatingly painful demise. Fun fact about Dragons, she didn’t care. The water rushed over the edge of the cliff, creating a waterfall that became a tsunami beneath them, smashing through the forest. Demolishing everything in its path. They’d be tossed into the trees by the sheer force of the water, their bones would snap as they pummelled against the trees while submerged in the swiftly moving current below. She opted out, quite satisfied with the surge of adrenaline from outrunning the wave. Think of somewhere else. While lost in the aftermath of adrenaline’s euphoria her mind went to a strange place. She thought of the giant spiders. She hadn’t meant to, they’d just popped into her head. In the time it took to exhale, they were both bobbing around in the water just off of the shore in front of the island that neither of them dared swim to. They endeavored to stay afloat as the waves tried to send them to the shore. They were both doggy paddling as fast as they could in the opposite direction but only managed to stay in one place as the current tried to deliver them to the beach.
Zach sputtered, “Have you lost your frigging mind?”
It was surprisingly difficult to laugh while attempting to swim against the current that was trying to suck them both towards the beach where three enormous spiders the size of trucks had gathered to ingest the spoils of the sea.
Zach managed to make his way towards her and as soon as he was touching her, he sputtered, “Think of somewhere else… Anywhere else.”
She wanted to, but she was laughing inside so hard that her mind wasn’t cooperating.
Zach said, “Let me try. He grabbed her hand and they sunk below the surface of the water.
She knew if this didn’t work they’d be deposited on the beach by the tide, where they’d be meticulously cocooned in sticky silken web and carted off to lord knows where. Before she had an opportunity to get her thoughts straight she was no longer under water. They were lying flat on their backs in the warmth of the sand.
He blurted, “You’re welcome!”
She sighed, “Thanks Zach.”
Zach fanned out in the sand and raked his fingers through it and asked, “Why did you pick up that shell?”
“You were being a little bit insensitive,” she replied while smiling at him.
Zach scowled at her and added, “And the spiders?”
Kayn shifted to face him, perched herself on one elbow and sparred, “Well, that was obviously an accident.”
He started laughing, he glanced at her and sort of attempted to apologize, “I’ll try to be more sensitive if you try not to murder me again for a couple of weeks.”
She heard voices, sat up and scrambled to her feet. “Did you hear that?” In an instant Zach was standing beside her. They could both hear the echoing voice of Melody but they couldn’t see her. They started to walk towards the sound of her voice.
Zach questioned, “How do you think we’re supposed to find our way back to them? I bet it’s something simple.”
Kayn shook her head and shrugged. She had no bloody idea but she felt like she should be walking towards the echo of Melody’s voice.
Zach extended his hand towards her and teased, “Do you have big plans to murder me within the week? Is there a reason you can’t promise me that?”
She took his hand and sighed, “I can probably give you a week.” She winked at him and he started to laugh again as they strolled together through the endless desert of glistening ivory. It probably was something simple. She caught sight of their hands with fingers intertwined. The Ankh symbols on the palms of their hands. It’s probably something to do with their Ankh symbols. She tugged on hi
s hand and he stopped moving. She let go of Zach’s hand and held up her palm branded with her clan’s Ankh cross. Zach grinned, understanding what she meant without words. He held up his hand, they pressed their symbols together and thought of the others. There was an incapacitating flash of light. They both squeezed their eyes shut and when they opened them they were standing with their clan.
Everybody was staring at her. Why were they staring at her like that? Oh, yah. The virgin sacrifice that hadn’t actually happened.
Frost made a beeline towards her, hugged her and whispered in her ear, “Are you okay?” His heart was pounding against her chest. He was seriously traumatized.
Lexy gave her a strange look. It was a mixture of guilt and something else. The pieces of the puzzle began to sort themselves out in her brain. Lexy hadn’t given them any details because Tiberius was one of her accomplices. So was Prince Amadeus and Patrick from Triad. Yes, that would be difficult to explain. She’d kept her promise and saved her dignity by making a deal with the devil and a couple of other extremely unlikely coconspirators. It was clear that most of her clan still thought she’d been defiled by the King. Did Lexy want her to pretend she had been? Zach had obviously known there was a plan to stop it. She started to giggle, quietly at first but soon she was doubled over laughing hysterically, until she couldn’t catch her breath. Kayn looked up when she noticed that she was the only one laughing. Nope, they all thought the King had his way with her. They also now believed she’d lost her marbles. Perhaps she had?
She noticed Lexy whispering in Frost’s ear, followed by his expression of relief. She’d obviously just filled him in.
Markus wandered over, laid his hand gently on her shoulder and said, “I’m so sorry that had to happen. You know we didn’t have a choice.”
She guessed she was supposed to go along with it. Kayn coolly responded, “I’ve been through worse.”
“Let’s go home.” Markus announced to the group. He kept glancing back at her while the group gathered to stand together, to wait for Orin to summon them back. She felt something in her hand, but didn’t look at it. She didn’t have to. She knew what it was, it was her stone. Kayn rolled it around and squeezed it in her palm. As she held it, the smooth rose quartz stone began to heat up. She glanced down to look at it just as it dissolved into her Ankh symbol. She kept looking at the symbol on her palm, was that normal? Who was she kidding? The word normal should no longer be a part of her vocabulary. She’d been waiting for the sensation, there was no way to fully prepare for this kind of spiritual form of travel, as her whole body arched backwards. The scenery flashed with an explosion of light, as the entire group was yanked into oblivion. She travelled upwards at such a speed that at this point in the journey home there was no point in attempting any form of thought. She felt her body stop moving, offering the briefest moment of reprieve before the rapid descent. Her stomach twisted and in an instant, she felt the solid rose quartz tomb around her, even though the strobing blasts of light made it impossible to open her eyes. She could sense Zach’s presence and the fingers from one of her hands splayed out flat against the smooth rose quartz tomb that her body was now encased in. She attempted to reach for him in the milliseconds before the tomb lurched and began its spiralling stomach churning descent into the land of the living. Unable to move a muscle, all she could do was listen to the repetitive warbling sound that grew louder with each rotation of the tomb. They were almost home. When the light stopped strobing and everything became quiet she knew it was safe to open her eyes, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Everything had changed. She’d changed. She had gone into the Testing as one girl and come out another. What would her life look like now?
To Keeping Our Shirts On
Kayn heard more than one of them talking and she opened her eyes. Zach, Melody, Haley and Astrid were there. They’d been packed in one tomb as though they were partially immortal sardines in a tin. The sounds of her fellow Ankh’s joy would have normally dragged her out of any slump. Kayn felt like she was merely observing their happiness, not a part of it. She now understood that there was always going to be a way to snap out of this vacant state that she kept falling back into. She was alive. She’d survived. Then came the familiar grinding sound of the tombs stone lid as it opened. Her brain was still quite shaken up from the trip home as Orin’s grinning face appeared above where she lay. Everyone began to climb out. Orin had tears in his eyes as he embraced Melody. The daughter he’d never allowed himself to know. Kayn remained. She lay motionless on the rose quartz and made no attempt to join the others. She inhaled and then allowed the air to slowly escape from between her slightly parted lips. She knew it was only a matter of time before somebody gave her crap and told her to suck it up and get out of the tomb, so she did. There was nobody left in the room. Nothing but the four seemingly solid stone walls around her. She knew she could walk through one of them but which one? They all appeared to be solid. Always trust your instincts. She chose a direction and walked through the wall into another room. She could hear the animated sounds of celebration but didn’t feel like joining in. As powerful as she’d felt when she’d become a Dragon, she understood that this would always be the cost. She kept slipping into this feeling of empty seclusion. She’d find her way out with a moment of laughter and then fall back in to the emotionless abyss. Kayn chose another wall and without second guessing her decision she strolled through the stone into the familiar dark corridor gently lit by the torches flickering on the walls. As she took each step down the long hallway towards the voices of her fellow Ankh, she had this feeling of rebirth. When she stepped out into the open space she realized that everyone had been patiently waiting for her. Her eyes met with Lexy’s and she knew without words that her fellow Dragon was the only one capable of understanding where she was within her mind. She could see the excitement in her friends but in this moment, she couldn’t empathize. Haley and Astrid’s over exuberant reaction to the act of climbing the stairs and stepping out into the lush green forest they’d left behind twenty years ago, left her wishing she could let it back in. There was such overwhelming joy in their eyes. Her throat grew tight and dry so she swallowed. Her heart began to warm up and she panicked. She stopped it by raising a hand to her neck. She allowed her mind to travel back to the sensation of Kevin’s blade sliding against her throat and she shut those flickering emotions down.
Jenna’s voice praised, “That’s good. You’re figuring it out. It will become easier to turn it on and off at will. Shutting it off is always easier in the beginning than the act of turning it back on. I’ve seen you smile. You’re farther along than most. I’m sure you’ve already figured out how to turn it off. Now you just need to figure out what turns your emotions back on and keeps them on.”
Kayn didn’t respond. There wasn’t really a need to. It had been a statement not a question. She continued to observe her fellow Ankh in silence.
Grey kept trying to mess up Lexy’s hair and she kept swatting him away like a bothersome fly. Frost was standing beside Lily. They looked like obscenely sexy cake ornaments. Markus and Arrianna were strolling ahead of the group. Orin was having an animated conversation with his daughter Melody and Zach was talking to Haley. Astrid walked up to stand on the other side of Frost and his cheeks cracked into this sweet and genuine smile. He had his friend back. She felt a flicker of something. She’d played a part in that miracle. She’d had a hand in creating that smile on his face. Perhaps she could observe and live vicariously through them for a while, until she found her way.
Markus announced, “Triad is long gone and I don’t imagine Trinity is going to be in the mood for a fight if they’re still around. I say we pack this campsite up, drive into town and get something to eat.”
Haley cleared her throat and stated, “I would kill for a burger.”
Markus winked at her and teased, “I’m sure murder won’t be necessary, just beef.”
Astrid sighed, “A burger and some onion rings. That so
unds like heaven.”
It was in that moment that Kayn saw things clearly. Why was she complaining after only a short time in the Testing? Haley and Astrid had been stuck in the game for twenty years. She smiled and at first it was a pretend smile but as each one of her clan members returned her smile, she felt the weight on her heart begin to lift. She understood now. Happiness was a decision.
Jenna met her smile with one of her own. She leaned in and whispered, “That’s the spirit.”
As always, Kayn found herself scanning the group in front of her for a glimpse of Frost. She didn’t need to speak to him nor did she require one of those sappy sentimental moments where their eyes would meet. She just wanted to know he was close by. She altered her pace and position in the small crowd to walk directly behind him. She’d been staring at his butt for a while without really thinking about it as she followed the group. He glanced back at her, without missing a step. The timing of it made her wonder if he’d caught her staring at his behind. Did she care? Not really. They strolled peacefully down the trails towards where they’d left the RV. When they arrived Astrid and Haley appeared to be disappointed.
Markus chuckled, “Did you honestly believe we’d be driving the same motorhome twenty years later?”
Haley explained, “Astrid had something hidden. Something important to her.”
Frost’s eyes lit up and he said, “Wait right here.” He disappeared inside the RV and reappeared with something clenched in the palm of his hand. He opened his hand and inside of it was a locket.
Astrid teared up as she took it from him, held it against her chest and whispered, “Thank you. You kept this for twenty years?”
He nodded as he replied, “Of course I did. You were important to me and I knew this was important to you.” He placed an arm over her shoulder and they looked at it together, without opening it.