by Serena Rose
“Sorry,” I murmured, trying to sound confused but not disoriented. “There was a bit of emergency in one of the halls, they told me you could help me down here. I’m trying to find my friend who was in the same accident as me. Should be listed as a john doe. Over six foot, came in late last night?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not allowed to just give out patient information or locations-”
“That’s okay! I understand. But, if he’s conscious, could you tell him that Mercedes is here and would like to talk to him if he’s willing.”
“Of course. Please, wait right here.”
She disappeared down a hall, looking over her shoulder at me several times. For some reason, I wanted to bolt the moment I was left alone. Maybe it was too long spent with danger looming around every corner. Maybe it was PTSD. Either way, I felt an almost psychedelic high when she appeared again with a smile on her face.
“I spoke to your friend,” She said as soon as she was within range. “He very much wants to see you. Do you need me to fetch you a wheelchair?”
“No, no, it’s fine.” I said. “The doctor said I needed to walk as much as I can.”
“Ah good. I’m glad to see that you’re following along with orders.”
I forced a laugh. “Don’t worry, no needed to bribe me here. I’m one of those A type personalities.”
“That’s great, but make sure you don’t overdo it. We can stop at any time and I’ll fetch you a chair.” She smiled and offered her arm. “But for now, this way.”
We trundled along, her filling the time with idle conversation about the hospital and her shift. It was pleasant, and I definitely appreciated it, but I just didn’t have the spare brainpower for it. All I could think about at every second was Myrik.
What did he think, waking up alone in a world that was so alien from his own that it shouldn’t even be comprehendible? When I ended up in his time, at least I had history and the high fantasy genre to help me through it. He had nothing. It wasn’t like he had sci-fi scrolls in that impressive library of his.
By the time we reached his door, I was tense as a board. Was he going to hate me? Had I irrevocably altered what I had seen in that vision by shoving him into a world where he and anyone like him had never existed?
“Here you are,” The nurse said, opening the door for me. “I’ll be right around the corner if you need anything, my name is Stacy, feel free to give me a little call and I’ll be right down.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I waved her off before hesitantly walking inside.
Despite all my trepidation, I still couldn’t stop the silly smile that spread across my face as I saw Myrik alive and breathing.
“You’re alive.” I murmured, rushing to his side.
“Yes. Apparently.” His voice was still that same low grumble that never failed to make my knees weak. “Although I wondered a bit if this was perhaps the hell so many of my enemies have told me I would end up in.”
“No, not quite.” I murmured, sitting just on the edge of his bed.
I had never seen him so vulnerable than he was now, laying in that hospital gown with tons of monitors hooked up to his body.
“I’m in pain,” He continued in more of a listless statement rather than a complaint. “But its… fuzzy sort. Like I’ve had too much wine.”
My cheeks puffed up in a poorly covered laugh. Myrik was high! I hadn’t thought about the fact that he would possibly be coming off anesthesia as well as all those post-stitch ‘em up feely good opiates. “That’s probably the meds they’re putting in you.”
“I think I prefer ale. I can still think clearly. Right now, everything is not clearly. If that makes sense.”
“I think I can parse out what you mean.”
He sighed, his dark eyes drifting across the room. “So, this is your great secret.” A dry little laugh escaped his chapped lips. “I thought I had some fantastical theories, but this one… this one is…”
“Crazy, I know.”
He laughed again, although it came out as a tiny sort of wheeze. “I was wondering if you were a reincarnated spirit sent to guide us from where we had strayed. Or a goddess that had fallen from the pantheon. But I never could have imagined all… I’m hungry, actually. Do you have any food?”
Goodness, high Myrik was much funnier than he had any right to be. “No, I’m sorry, not right now. But don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of here and go home.”
“But this is your home, is it not?”
“It was. Perhaps it’s not now.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, it’s complicated, but-”
I was interrupted as the door slammed open and a Police Officer strode in. I nearly jumped out of my skin, but she was already closing the door behind her.
“Mercedes?” she asked, all business.
“Oh, um yes. Hello, Officer. May I help you?”
She threw a couple of clear bags at me which I caught with mixed success, before I identified them as my belongings. “What’s going on here?”
“We don’t have a lot of time. Get your fellow up there.”
I felt like I had suddenly been launched into a third act that I hadn’t been prepped for. “Wait, why? This doesn’t seem like procedure.”
“That’s because it’s not,” she said, peeking back out the small window in the door. I instantly tensed, and started looking for different ways I could defend myself. “The name’s Magdala I’m an ex of Guerra.”
“Wait, and ex, what? But my grandmother wasn’t-”
The woman turned back to me with a wink. She was middle aged, with crow’s feet just beginning to show on her pale, almost alabaster skin. Her hair was stuck up under her cap, and she had a light make up on. “There was many things Guerra was, and so few things she was not.” Suddenly she was walking past me and over to Myrik, where she started unhooking all of his bits and bobs and medical doo-dads. “Look, I’d love to stay and have a whole expositional discussion about my times in the Library running missions with Guerra, but there are five top level Shepherds and even a creator searching for you right now.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes and no.” She said with a shrug. “It depends on how much you care about Mr. Pincushion over there. I’m guessing arrow bolts, perhaps medieval era?”
“Yeah, he’s actually a shape shifter.” I don’t know why I said that. “A dragon.”
“Oh, that’s exciting.” She finished freeing him from all the wires. “See, if they find him here, he’ll have to be destroyed. Non-Shepherds can’t know about the system. It’s the first rule of everything.”
The world got a little wobbly as I processed her words. “Destroy, as in murder?”
“They don’t view it that way. They see it as protecting their organization from those that would destroy it so they can go on to save the hundreds of thousands of lives every year. It’s a bum rap, and honestly, I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t overheard your name during our transport over.
“But me and your gram go way back. Sorry I couldn’t make it to her funeral and all, but I’ve been stuck in a world that’s battling a soul-stealing necromancer for about two hundred years their time. So, I figured I owed it to her to make sure her progeny didn’t get arrested and interrogated by our stogey bosses and also save that the fellow you went through the trouble to bring here by dragging him across the divide.
“Which, by the way, is borderline impossible, but I suppose I shouldn’t expect any less from her favorite granddaughter.”
“I was her favorite?” I murmured.
“Not the thing I’d thought you concentrate on, but yes.” She stood there for half a second, looking to me expectantly. “Well, I’ve tipped you off now. Are you going to make your portal so I can get out of here before the higher ups find me?”
“Oh! Right!”
I fumbled through my bags and pulled out my abuela’s journal.
“That looks like it’s seen some damage.”
�
��It’s certainly been on one hell of a journey.”
“I can see that. The dagger lock is so very Guerra though. I knew that was hers the moment I spotted it in the evidence bag.”
I had never thought about that. Finding out that my grandmother was some sort of magical super spy had been a long and interesting path to process. Figuring out what her covert aesthetic was a whole ‘nother level.
Just like the many other times I had opened it, I pulled the thin blade from the mechanism at the side, then readied to stab myself. I could still see the stitches in my arm where last’s night’s puncture had happened, but I steeled myself to the pain.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing there, girl?”
“Um, making the portal?”
She clicked her tongue and quickly strode forward, taking the stylo from my grip. “I see that there are just a couple of gaps in your self-education. Where’d you get the idea that you needed to physically accost yourself to do this?”
“Well it probably had something to do with the dagger moving on its own and stabbing me in the heart the first time this happened.”
She made an understanding sound in the back of her throat and nodded. “Ahhh, resisting the call can cause some very weird shit to go down. But, just so you know, not every portal hop has to be so dramatic. Hands please.” She looked to the two of us as we hesitated. “Or we can just not and the suits can come in to whisk the both of you away? I’ve done my part here.”
“Sorry, force of habit to be a bit leery.”
She shrugged. “No worries. But seriously, hands. Now.”
We both offered our palms and she gave us another look. “Non-dominant hands, please. Unless you want to have a boo-boo on the fingers you use the most.”
We quickly switched, then she pricked each of our index fingers with the tip of the blade. Rifling in the many pockets of her belt, she quickly pulled out a pocket mirror which she flicked open and caught a couple droplets from each of our fingers before setting it on the bed.
“Hold hands now,” she continued while she picked up my bags from the floor. “Make like you’re friends and all.” We did what she said, and when Myrik slid his calloused fingers through mine, I felt much of my anxiety fade. Not all of it, but enough to notice. “Alright, so both of you think about where you’re wanting to go, then you should start to hear a hum. The next part’s all you then, Mercedes. You’re the one who’s going to essentially uh, let go, and then you two should pop right back where you need to be easy peasy!”
“So, no being sucked in?”
“Sucked in? No! What kind of portals have you been making?”
“I dunno. I don’t even think I’m the one who made the first portal.”
“W-what? You know what, never mind. Just close your eyes and do your thing. Don’t forget your bags on the way.”
“Right. Because my bags are what matter in this case.” Despite my smart aleck remark, I listened to what she said and let my eyes close. Surely enough, I could hear a faint sort of hum towards the back of my head, like a very breathy siren song trying to tempt me after it.
Squeezing Myrik’s hand, I thought of his world. I thought of the green fields of Leryk’s village. The high, lofting ceilings of the abandoned dragon capitol, the bubbling water of Myrik’s hot spring bath, the head of the tailor as she bowed over a stunning dress. I let the flavors, the scents, the beauty of it all wash over me.
It was almost as if I was being lifted up by a balloon, but I didn’t fight it. I let it lift me, from my feet, from my body, from everything, and then I drifted forward, pulling Myrik behind me.
I couldn’t tell if we were actually moving, or all in my mind. But the next thing I knew, Magdala let out a whoop and then we were rushing forward.
It was so much different than the last time. There was no pulling, no scrambling of everything that I was across the universe. I had a sense of direction, and a pleasant sort of momentum.
It reminded me of a waterslide. But instead of being in a giant, neon colored tube, I was rushing down a kaleidoscope of colors I had never known existed. It was like I could almost see the energy of life itself, weaving in and out of each other to make the incredibly complex and unique patterns that detailed anything and everything that had been or ever would be.
Then, with a crack of lightning and a gust of air, my feet set down on thick grass.
I stood there a moment, not fighting the sudden perspective shift. It was amazing how much more quickly I adapted to my surroundings when I wasn’t violently crash landing in a battered heap.
A felt a slight tug at my hand as Myrik materialized, and I quickly supported him. “Where are we?” He asked, still sounded both dazed and confused. “That was a strange way to fly. I don’t think I liked it.”
“We’re home.” I said with a broad, almost giddy smile. “This is one of the fields to Leryk’s village.”
“Leryk?”
“Large bearded fellow. You razed his village to find new mates and that’s how we met.”
“Oh. I don’t think he’d like to see me then.”
“Probably not, but it will help to stay with an ally while I find us a way home. Dragons have to go into their hibernation thing to heal, right?”
“What’s a habering?”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got you.”
“Mercedes!” A cry pulled my gaze towards the edge of the field, where I was surprised to see a familiar dark-haired woman standing next to a fire. “Son of a goat it is you! Lady Mercedes! Wait right there!”
She grabbed something from beside her then banged on it several times. It took me a moment to figure out it was a shield, but by then she was already bounding towards me, her buxom chest bouncing wildly in her men’s clothing.
“Carva?” I cried right back, carefully stepping towards her with Myrik still leaning against me. “How did you know to find me here!?”
“We didn’t!” She called back until we finally reached the two of us. Her face was red, but her smile was dazzling. “We just guessed since one of the human lads told us this is where you arrived. We spread out to a bunch of different locations, but it was my job to stay here since, you know, this is human territory and I am, well, human.”
I laughed and pulled her into a cumbersome hug. “Oh Carva! I’m so glad to see you! I had hoped you all would be able to get the jump on the archers, but of course I couldn’t be sure of it. I am so relieved that you are whole.”
“Ay! Wish you could a’ seen that too. The moment you lot popped out of existence, BAM!” She clapped her hands. “I’ve never seen a dragon just burst from its two-legged form like that! Gael set them all ablaze like kindling!” She laughed heartily and moved to the other side of Myrik. “You all seem quite a bit beat up still. I trust your adventure was grand wherever it was?”
“We were only gone for about half a day, love. How much did you expect us to put ourselves together?”
“Less than a day?” She repeated. “It’s been near a full moon since ye vanished with that cod.”
“A moon?” I gasped, completely disbelieving.
Before she could answer, rushes of wind buffeted us, and the sound of flapping wings filled the air. I looked up to see sunlight reflecting off of glittering gold, and a few beats later, Gael landed.
There wasn’t enough words to describe how happy and relieved I was to see him, and I wanted to throw myself into his arms as a pale mist erupted from his serpentine body. However, I had Myrik to take care of, and withheld myself just this once.
“Mercedes,” He murmured as he stepped out of the cloud his transformation produced. “I knew you would return.”
“I have.” I said, grinning like and utter idiot and I couldn’t care less. “We need to get Myrik to Dwyllverys.”
“Of course,” he answered, coming forward to gently stroke my face. “I have so much to tell you.”
I leaned my face into his palm. “And I can’t wait to hear it.”
He
pressed a delicate kiss to my forehead, then gently patted Myrik’s slumped shoulder, before stepping back. Like a work of art, he morphed into the great, winged beast that I knew so well.
Looking at the light glinting off of his impeccably polished scales, I felt a calm settled over me that I hadn’t known in months.
I was safe now, and it was time to create the family I was always meant to.
THE FINAL
CHAPTER
Gael had not been exaggerating when he said I had much to catch up on. The first thing was after we took to the air, we set towards the abandoned capitol rather than the new stronghold. I couldn’t question the prince from where I was being held in his golden claw, but I was sure it was a mix up.
It wasn’t.
In my absence, it seemed that the dragons had taken back their impressive home. My jaw was permanently dropped from the moment we entered the re-constructed entrance. It was beautiful.
There were some obvious signs of damage, but otherwise they had beautified and reclaimed their home quite beautifully.
The surprises didn’t stop there either. Apparently, only a few hours after I left -- which I surmised was right about when Perin succumbed to his very fiery end -- something had changed in the land. Magic had flooded back to everything. Angrassa and Mischa found themselves able to perform spells that no one had been able to do in ages. The dragons were suddenly inexplicably stronger, and able to fly farther. Even the humans were claiming that they were seeing nymphs and dryads flitting in and out of woods and streams.
But most importantly of all was the eggs.
In wave of crackling, dozens upon dozens of clutches that had previously been ruled dead, had suddenly sprung to life. Suddenly the dragon population was doubled, leaving the city more bustling than I had ever seen in my entire time there.
After these initial, mind boggling revelations, I focused on making sure Myrik was fulling settled into Dwyllverys’ care before continuing to question what had happened. Specifically, how they had managed to beat back the humans.
It seemed that even Julian and his shoulders knew that something had changed. There was a sort of thrumming to the wind and the earth, and I was sure they could feel it. Apparently, it had only taken five dragons, full of fire and their newfound vitality, to set upon the men guarding the remains of the capitol and chase them off.