Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  “Where are you, shadow? Did you really bring me here to feed me to a couple of dragons?” My blood surged through my veins, and my heart beat faster than I’d thought possible. Yet I couldn’t move. All I could do was yell, “Help!”

  The shadow didn’t come. But neither did another dragon. From inside the rocks, a giant serpent came slithering toward me, flicking its tongue in my direction. There was a reason I avoided rock piles. Snakes loved them. Snakes didn’t, on the other hand, love me. They found me and tortured me everywhere I went. Sneaking up on me in the grass. Sunbathing on my deck. One had even found its way into my house when I was nine and made a home in my bin of stuffed animals. As bad as all my snake experiences had been in the past, even combined, they didn’t compare to this. The serpent’s tongue alone was bigger than any snake I’d ever seen.

  The dragon’s wings flapped outside the mound of rocks. My knees went weak, and I backed up against a boulder to avoid collapsing.

  I had a choice to make—become dinner for a dragon or for a snake.

  3

  The snake’s huge yellow eyes burned into me. The only part of me that wasn’t completely paralyzed with fear was my bottom lip. It had no problem quivering. My hands were gripping the boulder behind my back. I tried to wiggle my fingers, hoping to move at least some part of my body. All I managed was a tiny twitch of my pinky. The snake’s tongue danced closer to me with each passing second. It was moving faster now. Probably because it smelled food. And unfortunately, that food was me. I swallowed hard and forced my eyes shut. I knew I had to stop looking at the giant serpent in order to get out of here, but even with my eyes closed, I could still sense the vile thing. The rocks shook, and the hissing became speech.

  “Breakfast is early today,” the serpent said.

  “No!” I pushed off the boulder and ran out of the rock pile. I didn’t care where the dragon was or if he grabbed me and flew off. I couldn’t stand to be near that snake.

  I scanned the sky. Surprisingly, the dragon wasn’t around. Finally something had gone my way. I sprinted around the flaming tree and headed back to the portal. It wasn’t there anymore, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  The serpent slithered after me. Moving slowly. Toying with me. Like the killer always did in bad horror movies. As if to say, “No need to run. I’ll catch you eventually.” In a way, it felt worse than having the snake on my heels. It made me feel helpless and hopeless. And it delayed the inevitable. I was going to be snake food.

  I stumbled, thanks to my slipper almost falling off my foot, but I caught myself before I went down. Still, I lost my lead, and something wet grazed my arm.

  “Tasty little thing, aren’t you!” the serpent hissed.

  Ugh! It licked me! I shivered as I climbed over the boulders, searching for any sign of the portal. Any sliver of silver among the dirt and rocks. Nothing. Just me and the serpent. I couldn’t outrun it. I couldn’t hide. So I climbed onto the biggest boulder and stood my ground. The serpent laughed as it circled around me. I was getting dizzy watching it twirl its body around the boulder, tightening the circle with every loop.

  “Stop it!” I yelled. “If you’re going to kill me, hurry up and do it already!”

  The serpent stopped and raised its head to me. “If you insist.”

  Me and my big mouth. I had no plan. No way to escape. The serpent brought its head back, getting ready to strike. It was going to swallow me whole! I couldn’t bear the thought of getting eaten alive. I dove off the boulder, hoping the snake would ingest the rock instead of me. I landed face-first in the dirt and lost a slipper in the process. Rocks grated as the serpent lashed forward. I scrambled to my feet, getting ready for another attack, but the serpent cried out in pain.

  “Stupid boy!” the snake yelled.

  “What? You did not just call me a boy!” I whipped my head around to face the snake. Here was the serpent, all ready to kill me, and it didn’t even know I was a girl. I didn’t care how big it was. Nobody called me a boy!

  “I think it was talking to me,” a voice yelled from behind the snake.

  I climbed onto a boulder to get a better look, but all I saw was metal. The serpent turned and attacked the armored person, but it moved too slowly. Blood dripped from the snake’s tail. The armored figure was holding a knife that may as well have been a sword it was so big. Bright red blood dripped from the blade. My stomach lurched at the sight, but the serpent wasn’t even fazed. It got ready to strike.

  “That’s right,” the figure mocked. “Come and get a taste of your own blood.”

  I didn’t know who this person was, but he was making the snake angry. I didn’t think that was such a good idea. I mean, the guy’s knife was big, but the serpent was massive. I bent down and grabbed a large rock.

  “Hey! Over here!” I yelled. “Remember me? I’m the one who tastes good.” I trembled at the thought of the serpent’s tongue on my elbow. I was going to have to shower for hours to get that feeling off my skin.

  The snake turned to me and flicked its tongue. That was all the response I needed. I hurled the rock and hit the serpent in the—well, I don’t know what you call the area that would be a throat if it were on a person. I’d meant to hit the snake between the eyes, but I was more than a little nervous. The serpent threw his head back, and the armored figure lunged forward, slashing his knife under the snake’s mouth. The serpent let out a wail and swung its tail around like a whip.

  The armored figure ran to me and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go! Before it recovers!”

  I didn’t argue. I didn’t know who this person was or where he was taking me, but I didn’t care. As long as it was away from the serpent, I was totally okay with it.

  We ran, and I tried to pay attention to my surroundings. I didn’t want to be caught off guard if something else attacked us, and I wanted to get a better idea of where I was. This whole world looked a lot like mine. Trees, grass, dirt. The only difference was the sky. It was blue and all, but I couldn’t get used to the constellations looking at me. Talk about Big Brother is watching.

  Finally, we came to an open field. It looked like it might have been a farm at one time, and the house that stood in the middle had clearly seen better days. It looked like the tiniest breeze would send it crashing to the ground, but the armored guy led me into it anyway. The door came off one hinge as we stepped inside. This place didn’t seem much safer than the open field. Light filtered through the holes in the ceiling, and the walls were mildewed and green.

  I turned around to ask the guy where we were—not just the old farmhouse but this strange world. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t get the words out. The guy put his knife down and reached up to remove his helmet. I was really curious to see who he was. Part of me expected the shadow to be underneath that helmet, and I was going to give him hell for almost getting me eaten twice. He lifted the helmet slowly, shaking his shaggy brown hair in the process. His face was dirty, and he had a cut on his right cheek. His big brown eyes stared back at me, and I thought I would faint.

  “Avery.” I choked on the word. Avery. My Avery. My best friend in the whole world. My shoulders sagged with relief. I’d thought I’d made a horrible mistake following the shadow to this place, but now I knew it was worth it. I threw my arms around his neck, almost knocking him over. His armor was hot from the sun, and it burned my bare arms. But I squeezed him tighter, making sure he was real. After a good minute and a half, Avery pulled me off him.

  He held me by the shoulders, an arm’s length in front of him. “How did you find me, Ella?”

  I shook my head, thinking about all I’d gone through to find him, and before I knew what I was doing, I slapped his face. I couldn’t help it. He’d made me worry. He’d made me come to this strange place and almost get killed. All right, so it wasn’t really his fault he’d been kidnapped, and he had saved me from the serpent, but I was angry, and the shadow wasn’t around to take it out on.

  Avery put his hand to his face and smiled
at me. “That hurt you know.”

  “It was supposed to,” I said. “You put me through hell. What happened to you? Did you follow that stupid shadow too?”

  Avery nodded. “There’s a lot to explain. Time moves differently here. More quickly. So much has happened.”

  “You’ve only been gone for a few hours.”

  “It’s been days here.”

  Days? I didn’t even know how to process that.

  “I have to get you to Melanie. She’ll fill you in. But first we need to make sure the coast is clear. I don’t want to run into any of the constellations.” Avery peeked out the door, which was hanging awkwardly from one hinge.

  “Constellations? You mean like the things in the sky?” Was I losing my mind or was Avery? “And who’s Melanie?”

  “I’ll explain everything. I promise. But we need to get to the castle before Draco, Serpens, or Scorpius find us here.”

  Now my mind was spinning out of control. Draco, Serpens, and Scorpius? I recognized the names. They were constellations. “Why would we have to worry about constellations finding us?” I asked. But then something clicked. “The dragon and the snake. They were Draco and Serpens? They’re constellations?”

  “Yes. They fell from the sky, and now they’re destroying everything.” Avery grabbed his knife off the table and held it out in front of him. “Come on. We need to go.” He didn’t give me a chance to protest or ask any more questions. He took my hand and pulled me into the field. We sprinted across it and came to a beach. I suspected Avery was running as fast as he could so I’d be too out of breath to pester him with silly questions like “Where the hell are we?” I lost my other slipper in the sand, but I didn’t really care. It was old and worn out anyway. Plus the other one was somewhere in the boulders where we’d left Serpens. Avery led me to the left toward the mountains. And sure enough, a castle was perched on the hills. A huge castle. Bigger than any Hollywood actor’s mansion.

  We climbed the stone steps up to the massive front door. I was amazed at the size of the place. It was all stone and must have taken years to build. I stood in awe as Avery opened the door. I was never the type to dream about being a princess, but this was amazing.

  I peeked around Avery, trying to get my first look into the castle when I heard the most awful shriek.

  “That’s Draco,” Avery said. “He must be close. Hurry up and get inside.”

  I had no interest in seeing that dragon again, so I ran inside. Not knowing where to go, I turned left and found myself in an enormous room filled with weapons.

  “What is this place?” I asked, staring at the weirdest collection of axes, swords, crossbows, spears, and things that looked so old I didn’t even know what they were.

  “I’ll explain later. First we need to see Melanie.” Avery led me up the stairs to another enormous room. This time a bedroom. The door was open, but we stayed in the hallway. A blonde-haired girl was staring out the window. She looked lost in her thoughts. Avery knocked on the open door and gave a small bow. “Melanie, I’d like to introduce you to Ella Andrews.”

  Avery was usually really polite, sometimes too polite, but the bowing was downright weird.

  Melanie turned to face me with puffy, red eyes. “Thank you, Avery. You’ve done well. I knew you would.” She’d been expecting me. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Melanie sounded older, like an adult, but she couldn’t have been much older than me. She sniffled and looked me in the eyes. “I’m Melanie Pritchard. Welcome to Stellaris.”

  “Welcome? That’s an odd thing to say to someone who was brought here by some strange shadow and then almost killed by constellations.” It sounded crazy saying it aloud. Shadows. A portal to another world. Constellations that weren’t just stars in the sky. I felt like I was in the middle of a lunatic’s dream.

  “You must be very confused,” Melanie said. “Let me try to explain.” She closed her eyes for a moment and said nothing. Either she was really bad at explaining things or she was trying to avoid crying again. Finally, she opened her eyes, and her expression was cold, nothing at all like it had been a minute ago. A real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde moment.

  “The shadow brought you here because Stellaris is in danger. Three constellations have fallen to the ground, and they are working together to take over Stellaris. They’ve already succeeded in wiping out most of the people here. Some have gone into hiding until the war is over. There aren’t many of us left to fight, and we need an army to stop the constellations.” She stopped as if that was the whole story.

  “How did they fall from the sky?” I asked. “And why do they want to take over?”

  “They want revenge for being imprisoned in the sky,” Melanie said quickly, before turning to Avery. “Take her to the bedroom at the end of the hall and have her change into more suitable clothing.”

  “Wait a second.” I squinted at her. “You didn’t answer my question. How did the constellations fall from the sky?”

  “You ask too many questions. We don’t have time to waste. You must join the others in training or you won’t stand a chance in battle.”

  “Battle? You expect me to fight those things?” She couldn’t be serious. I wanted to go home. No way was I staying here to fight a bunch of constellations with some army she’d put together. And that’s when things got frighteningly clear. “You kidnapped those kids! To form an army.”

  “I had no choice. Like I said, there aren’t many Stellarians left, and I couldn’t let my world be destroyed. I’m in charge now that my parents…” she trailed off, turning back to the window.

  “Draco took her parents,” Avery whispered. “They ruled Stellaris. We have no idea where they are or if they’re even still alive.”

  So Melanie was like a princess or something. Typical. It explained her I-can-do-whatever-I-want attitude.

  “Okay, look. I’m sorry about your mom and dad, but you can’t do this. Those are innocent kids.” Melanie stared out the window, ignoring me. I walked over to her and grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at me. “Why did you take kids anyway? Why not adults?”

  Melanie glared at me and shrugged her arm free. “I wouldn’t advise doing that again.”

  “Answer my questions and I won’t have to.” We locked eyes, neither one of us willing to back down. It was pretty obvious we weren’t going to get along.

  “Melanie, please,” Avery said. “She needs some answers. I know Ella. She won’t go along with anything without knowing what’s going on.”

  Melanie tore her eyes away from mine and nodded at Avery. “People from your world fade into shadows in Stellaris. But kids tend to last longer than adults.”

  “Tend to last longer? So we’re all going to fade into—what? That shadow thing that brought me here?” She couldn’t force us to be here, knowing that we would, well, that we would just stop existing. I swallowed hard and clenched my hands into fists. “Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t do this!”

  “Ella, please calm down.” Avery wrapped one arm around me in a half hug. His armor had cooled off, and now it felt cold and hard. It reminded me of Melanie. I pushed him away and rushed out of the room.

  “Take her to training right away,” I heard Melanie say. “She certainly seems like a fighter.”

  I looked around the hallway for something to throw. Something to destroy. A pedestal with a vase of flowers sat between two doors. That would do. I grabbed the vase and threw it at a picture frame hanging on the wall. Glass shattered everywhere, and the frame fell to the ground.

  “Ella! Stop it!” Avery yelled, running over to pick up the picture.

  “Why? Because Melanie is upset?” I scowled. “Good. I hope she is. She should be for thinking she has any right to kidnap a bunch of kids and make them fight those horrible constellations. All those kids are going to die. Including us if we don’t get out of here.”

  Avery held out the picture frame.

  I crossed my arms. “I don’t want it. And if you think I’m goin
g to hang it back up, you’re crazy.”

  “Look at it,” Avery demanded, pushing it into my arms.

  It was Melanie and her parents. At least I guessed it was her parents. “So?”

  “So, can’t you understand how desperate she is to get them back? How hard it is for her to rule an entire world at sixteen?”

  This was just like Avery. He could sympathize with a mosquito. Only he could find something good in a vile, bloodsucking insect. And Melanie wasn’t much different than a mosquito. “She brought us here knowing that Stellaris would suck the life right out of us. And she doesn’t even care. She’s using us to help herself. How can you care about a person who would do that?”

  Avery shook his head and hung the picture back on the wall. He stared at it, without saying a word. The horror of the situation hit me hard. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it sooner. “You like her. You like Melanie.” My stomach lurched. “Unbelievable. You know you hear stories about people being kidnapped and falling for the person who kidnapped them, but come on, Avery. You can’t be that stupid.”

  Anyone else would have yelled right back at me. But not Avery.

  “Will you at least come to the training and see for yourself? Then maybe you’ll understand why we have to help.” I started to protest but Avery said, “Please, Ell. For me.”

  That wasn’t fair. He knew I’d do anything for him. “Fine. I’ll check it out. But then I’m out of here.”

  Avery smirked and pointed downstairs. “It’s this way.”

  We went to the basement, which was one ginormous room that must have been the size of the entire castle. Over twenty armored kids were swinging weapons around. Officer Bobson had been right about the other disappearances. Still, I couldn’t believe Melanie had kidnapped this many people.