Let There Be Dragons (The Children of Ankh Book 3)

by Kim Cormack

  After choosing the direction they’d been driving in when they were forced off the road by Trinity, the exhausted group of immortals began their journey down the deserted stretch of desert road. She’d been tuning out the heat of the sand under her barefeet for quite a while, noting that she could opt to walk on the pavement instead of the sand by the side of the road. She took a step on the pavement and hopped right back into the sand. A light breeze made her senses spring to life. It felt truly amazing until she inhaled an unwelcome mouthful of sand and started to choke on it. Zach started patting her on the back. She noticed the sand caked on her sweaty braless chest as her bits and pieces dangled in front of her and was suddenly self-conscience. Everyone else had clothes on and here she was wandering through the bloody desert in her underwear and the tank top she’d worn to sleep the night before. This was bullshit. She’d have to keep this day in mind the next time she chose her bedtime attire. The breeze tickled her skin again and she got an eye full of sand. Kayn leaned forward and rubbed her eyes as she tried to blink the irritating grains away.

  Zach placed his hand on her back as he consoled, “I know this sucks. Don’t rub them, just keep blinking until it stops.”

  Kayn leaned forward and willed enough moisture to form in her eyes to stop the insanity. It didn’t hurt it was just irritating and she knew that was one of her triggers. Her eyes cleared and Zach was standing in front of her when she looked up. He lifted the corner of his t-shirt and used the underside of it, over one of his fingers to wipe the accumulation of sand out of the corners of her eyes. She smiled at him. Grateful that he had her back in her mini moment of need. She decided to walk on the hot cement versus getting more irritating sand in her eyes. They picked up their pace and caught up the others in no time. After a couple hours of trekking down the deserted stretch of road, barefoot on the sizzling hot pavement with the scorching afternoon sun glaring down on her, she started to shake. Kayn recalled Lexy’s warning just before the climb and knew she’d siphoned too much energy from the others that morning. Lexy had given her a touch of what she needed after the climb but it wasn’t going to cut it anymore. Her chest started to burn and her head began to pound. She looked at her fellow Ankh, knowing none of them had extra energy to give her. They were all barely hanging on in the heat. Kayn knew that she had another day before she’d actually be risking the inconvenience of death by dehydration. That wasn’t what concerned her. Kayn was worried about what she’d do to the others if she lost control of the ability that she knew so little about. After another hour of staggering through the desert in the heat she started to shake uncontrollably. The healing ability fed her a shot of adrenaline just as something shrieked above her. Kayn dove into the sand by the side of the road. She started choking on the cloud she’d created around her. She’d seen an enormous red dragon attempting to snatch her up in its enormous claw like talons as it swooped past. The dust settled and she stayed there watching it soar off into the endless blue sky, until it became a tiny speck in the distance. She noticed the legs of everyone around her. Why had nobody else reacted? The others were standing around her with concerned expressions on their faces. She heard the sound again and when she looked up it was a hawk soaring above her. This was embarrassing, her mind was starting to play tricks on her.

  Zach knelt beside her in the sand and teased, “Seeing things already? We could be walking for many more hours, perhaps even days.” He took her hand in his and whispered, “Take some energy from me. I’ll be okay for a while. We’ll make finding shelter and water our priority.”

  Kayn, afraid she wouldn’t be able to control the urge to take more than Zach had to give. She looked at her Handler and whispered, “I can’t. I don’t want to hurt you. You can’t heal as quickly as some of the others.”

  “It’s my duty as your Handler,” Zach replied as he held out his hand to help her up.

  Kayn was afraid of what she’d do if she took it. For a second she felt guilty. She’d been offended when he hadn’t wanted the job as her Handler. She’d felt like a burden, because she was one. Kayn refused his offer by standing on her own and faking self-control. He’d have given her his last breath long before it had become his duty. That was how close the three of them had been when they’d entered the Testing together. She glanced over at Melody and she smiled back at her the moment their eyes connected. Kayn took shallow breaths, walking a few paces behind the group with Zach by her side. Frost and Grey were so far ahead of the group that they looked like specks. They were searching for a shady place to wait for the arrival of the others. Good luck with that. She just had to buy some time. Once nighttime arrived they’d be granted a reprieve from the sweltering sun that scorched their skin and sucked the moisture from their pores. What time is it? She attempted to look at the sun but couldn’t focus. There were six suns in the sky? She was clearly hallucinating. She staggered again.

  Zach grabbed her by the shoulders and stopped her from falling. He held her against him and whispered, “Do it. You have to.”

  Lexy piped in, “Not you Zach. We’ll start rotating between me and Melody.”

  Melody, appearing to be fine, held out both of her hands to Kayn and declared, “Me first. You probably can’t stop cold turkey after the amount of energy you took this morning.”

  That made sense. Kayn knew she’d broken bones and healed faster than the others after the accident. When she’d fed from all of them so she could break free of the chains, she’d obviously taken some kind of immortal cork out of the bottle. Kayn took Melody’s hands and hers began to heat up, drawing the energy from Melody into her own body. With each second that passed she felt more alert.

  “That’s enough Kayn,” Mel whispered. “I still have to be able to walk.”

  Kayn abruptly let go of Melody’s hands, surprised she’d been coherent enough to follow orders. That felt amazing. She took a moment to gather her scattered thoughts before saying, “Thank you. I needed that.”

  Melody grinned at her and replied, “No problem hun.”

  Their attention was drawn to the road ahead once again as Grey let out a hoot and began sprinting back down the road towards them. He stopped, spun around and pointed at the horizon. There was a building in the distance. Frost took off ahead to get a closer look. At least now there was a possible end to the stroll through this sweltering hell on earth. Everyone’s spirits perked up a touch as the others began to joke around about what the building might be. Kayn’s brain ceased to care about the need for energy. Please, be a motel with running water and a restaurant. Her stomach turned. That was never a good sign. They walked for another hour before it became obvious that it was a motel. They picked up their pace. As they came closer they could see that there was massive industrial looking fence surrounding it. Was it under renovation? There were a few cars parked out front but they were older models with a thick layer of dust and nobody had taken the time to write any rude messages. This place had obviously been deserted for quite some time. It had been her experience that people always wrote messages on dirty cars. The hotel’s large stained double doors swung open with a high-pitched squeal and it startled everyone. Frost was standing there grinning. Her stomach grumbled and twisted into a knot but she didn’t even wince. Her feet had been on fire since that morning.

  Frost announced, “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

  Zach rolled his eyes and sighed, “Always the good news first. Let’s just make that the new rule. We all have the same queasy sensation. I’m pretty sure we can all hazard a guess at what the bad news is.”

  Frost grinned and started his little announcement, “Well, there’s food in the freezer. The kitchen is stocked up, the water is turned on and nobody lives here but I think I know why this place was closed. Saying it’s haunted, would be an understatement. I know you’re all exhausted but we’re going to have to clean house before we can relax. I found a couple of creatively deceased workers. They were probably killed by the entities that are stuck in
here. I also found police tape from a crime scene. So, I’m running under the assumption that the workers were in here cleaning up after something that happened. The main entry is thick with dark matter. Do you three remember the dark entity that was in that house before your Testing? Well, there’s at least a dozen of those demonic entities in there. I know it’s probably been a while since Astrid and Haley have had to deal with these things but you never forget dealing with these assholes. We are going to have to work first so we can play later and by work, I mean take a small scenic stroll through hell.”

  They’d been cramped into a car, forced off a cliff, climbed up a ravine and walked for countless miles through the desert. She needed water before she endeavored to do anything else.

  Frost grinned, looked directly at her and teased, “There’s a case of hot water in the back of that car. Cold water won’t be on the menu until we’ve worked our way inside.”

  Grey started to walk towards the car but Lexy beat him there and smashed the window with a boulder. Grey sparred, “See, this is why we never have nice things. The bloody door is unlocked.” He opened it. Lexy shrugged and climbed into the backseat. She grabbed the water and passed each of them a bottle.

  Grey scrunched up his face and stated, “If bottled water has been in the heat for too long it’s like poison.”

  Lexy wiped the layer of scum off the lid of the water bottle, passed one to him and chuckled, “Suck it up buttercup. It’s liquid and if I have to kill myself in five minutes time. I’m going to need to drink this nasty stuff first.”

  Frost added, “One more thing. I found the workers in the freezer. I opened the door with no problem. It was just locked. I bet they hid in there from whatever evil shit came after them and were locked inside. They’re dead and frozen solid. So, they don’t smell. That’s always nice. Especially if we could be stuck here for a few days, while we’re waiting for the rest of our clan to show up. After we’re done here, we’ll drag them out of the freezer and burn the place. It would probably be fair to assume that nobody’s come looking for these guys.”

  Lily shimmied past Frost at the door, obviously wanting to sneak a peek inside. She came back out with a solemn expression on her face and didn’t say a word.

  That was never a good sign.

  Grey chimed in, “A situation messed-up enough to render Lily speechless. This, I’ve got to see.” He stepped inside and dashed back out a second later. “How in the hell did that happen?” He laid his hand on the side of the building and said, “Obviously, we’ll need a plan of some kind. There’s no way our usual routine will work for that many.”

  Kayn tried to slip past Frost to get a look at what they were talking about. He blocked her passage and cautioned, “You’ve been in a volatile state ever since you siphoned all of that energy this morning. You should stay out of this one.”

  He was probably right. She was doing a half decent job of controlling her urges right now, but a room full of demons in this state might be to appetizing for her too handle. What would happen if she ingested a demon’s energy? She’d taken it from her own clan but never something dark. You are what you eat. She smiled as she wondered if that old quote applied to this situation. She’d managed to find her way back after the Testing…sort of.

  Frost walked over to the side of the building, grabbed a few bags of salt, tossed one of them to Grey and announced, “I found these in the kitchen. They didn’t attempt to stop me from entering or exiting the building. We can create a circle in the doorway and see if we can disperse them old school demon style. It won’t kill this kind of entity but it might scatter them. It’ll be easier to take them out one at a time.”

  She’d had a dream about demons… she’d taken their energy and made one of those orbs. Frost walked into the building and poured the circle of salt. He stood in the center of it while Lily held the door open and called the rest of them into the building. They all walked inside and dove into the spiritual safety of the circle. Kayn had also entered the building, ignoring Frost’s wishes. He hadn’t noticed her standing there yet. It was incredible. She couldn’t wait. She whispered, “Shit, how is this even possible?”

  Frost glared at her but obviously decided she’d might as well stay because he didn’t order her to leave. The entire ceiling was a snaking web of black intertwined spindly spider legs of energy. They writhed around, moving through each other, entangled limbs reached out towards her, beckoning her closer. Willing her to become a part of the darkly twisted dance of vile entities. The rhythm of the creatures made Kayn’s chest grow heavy. She could feel her skin beginning to heat up. She was so hungry. What was happening to her? She held one of her hands in front of her face, every single vein was darkened and raised from her skin. Her brain began to give her instruction based on instinct. She was hungry. So very hungry.

  They all began to join hands but as Melody reached for hers, Kayn stepped away and pointed out something that should have been obvious after this morning, “Look at me. I’ll take your energy the second you touch me.”

  Lexy dropped her hand from the others as she questioned, “This morning, when you took the energy from everyone else to break those chains, created to immobilize an immortal, how did you know what to do?”

  Kayn replied, “It felt like logic. I knew I could channel someone else’s energy and make myself stronger from the Testing.”

  Melody’s eyes lit up as she explained, “Oh, you should have seen her in the Testing. She created this ball of energy, tossed it at that Kevin’s girlfriend and blew her into a million pieces.”

  “Do you think you can do that again?” Frost asked. “Lexy and Melody can save their energy and disperse them after you’ve scattered them.”

  Kayn nodded as she replied, “I’ll still need to use energy from you guys. I was feeding from the walls of the Testing. I have no idea how many of you it would take. When we destroyed these things the last time, you had to allow it to feed from one Healer and then send a jolt of energy through the other. What if we tried the same thing with one of the Healers and then I sent the jolt of energy? I can send more of it. Maybe, even enough to take them out two or three at a time. Lexy can come in after and heal us. Then, we’ll go back in and deal with the rest.” She sensed something and turned around. Her Handler appeared to be extremely agitated. That was a first. Their connection was becoming stronger.

  Zach met her eyes with his own and firmly stated, “Absolutely not! You don’t know how to control this. Frost was right when he suggested you should sit this one out. Go wait outside. We’ll join up and send a jolt of energy to separate the cluster on the ceiling. We can take them out one at a time after that if we have to.”

  Kayn scowled at him. It was Zach’s job to rein her in. It had taken him a while to stop being angry about it but he appeared to be all in now. The others knew this.

  She watched as Grey squeezed Zach’s shoulder as he stood behind his decision, “He’s her Handler. If Zach feels like this might be too much for her, then it probably is. It’s not worth the risk. How about we stick with the original plan. We can bring her in once we’ve exhausted all other possibilities.”

  Kayn shook her head. It was bullshit having someone else tell you what you should or should not do. She met Lexy’s gaze and read between the lines. Lexy also thought she should go outside and wait. It was going to be difficult to do. Her mind whispered, wait till they’re dead and do what you want. Kayn conceded, “Fine, I’ll wait outside.” She slipped out the door and waited for the show to begin. She knew when they began dispersing them because all she could hear was screaming. All of this for air-conditioning and a soft bed to sleep in. She heard a crashing sound and assumed one of her friends had been launched across the room. Kayn wandered around for a while in the shade of the building. She wasn’t worried because being immortal meant death wasn’t a permanent state. It always took the sentimentality out of the situation. It was torture most of them aspired to avoid. She still heard wails of torment coming from w
ithin the walls of the motel. Once it stopped, she’d be able to go inside. She was looking forward to finding out what she could do. Kayn picked up a rock and pitched it, but it didn’t quite make it over the fence. She personally didn’t care if she avoided the torture part. Pain was also only temporary and she could shut down a lot of it. This was the high point of embracing the abilities of a Dragon. Danger was exciting and pain was quite doable.

  As sunlight hit the car’s window, a vision of the first time she saw Kevin after he’d been taken by Triad flashed through her mind. She’d fallen and he was standing above her with the sun shining behind him. He’d reached out his hand to help her up. She recalled the hope she’d felt in that moment. She’d spent the whole year before the Testing dreaming about it. Hope wasn’t a word that applied to her life after the Testing. She didn’t hope for things anymore. She made them happen. She’d believed in so many things that she didn’t have faith in any more. She had been sure with every inch of her being that their bond was so strong that he would regain his erased memories of her and that he’d never be able to hurt her when it came down to it. She’d believed they could somehow overcome the fact that they were in different clans and find a way to be together but she wasn’t a child anymore and those had been immature fantasies based on lack of life experience. She now understood why he’d haunted her dreams for so long. You dream the most about the things you can’t have. She still dreamt about him sometimes but most of the time it was more like she was watching him move on with his life from afar. Any romantic dreams she’d had of him since she’d come out of the Testing had always ended with something seriously messed-up happening. She found herself smiling, knowing that all future interactions between them would be a gong show. She’d gapped out for a second and snapped back to reality. No sound…total silence. It was time to go inside and see what she was capable of when there was nobody to tame the Dragon. Kayn entered the building and noticed only half of the creepy ceiling dwelling beings. Lexy and Melody were face down on the stairs. The others appeared to be missing. She had to act quickly if she wanted to test out her abilities before the Healers awoke to scold her. She was starving. Kayn climbed the staircase and raised both hands above her head. In a dare to the half dozen black swaying entities above her. They expanded in size as they grew closer. Kayn looked up at the dark masses and spoke to them, “You’d better hurry up.” Her pulse raced as the beings attached to her and raised her body into the air. She resembled some sort of sick version of a marionette. Kayn allowed them to take from her, until her chest began to burn, then instinct took over. She felt her body humming as she drank them down, ingesting the dark beings as though they were nothing more than demonic milkshakes. Kayn felt deliriously giddy as she dropped to the stairs, drunk from the excess of energy swimming through her. It was amazing. She knew she had to get rid of it now. She stood up, touched her fingertips together and slowly separated them until a pastel yellow haze formed between them. What was this? It wasn’t blue…it was yellow. It was just like her dream. When the orb reached a certain circumference, she knew it was ready to use.