Creeden, Pauline - The Clockwork Dragon

by Pauline Creeden

  Rose slid her head above the covers and squared her shoulders. “Stupid ladybug.”

  “Wow. This is some party!” Liv said with an ebbing giggle.

  “No kidding!” Lav squealed.

  Tati settled next to Fern and took her hand. “You okay?”

  Fern glanced at Tati without moving her head. She forced a smile. “Fine as frog hair.”

  The girls laughed. Tati caught the giggle bug and threw herself onto the bed with a laugh.

  “Oh my stars, that was scary!” Lav burst out in another fit of nervous giggles. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she quickly brushed them aside.

  “Well, what are we going to do now?” Rose said, drawing out the words as she hopped from the bed.

  The laughter waned into silence. Liv rocked back and forth, but kept her eyes on the floor. Fern glanced up at the ceiling as if looking for an idea.

  Lav twisted the pillow in her hands. “Maybe we should go to bed. It’s getting late.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a sap sucker.” Rose crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Lav.

  “Well,” Liv ceased her rocking, “we could go swimming.”

  Fern frowned and shook her head.

  Lav’s pale face brightened. “Or we could collect milkweed and—”

  “Are you kidding me?” Rose twirled her locks around her finger, then she paused. A wicked smile crept across her face. “I have an idea.”

  Tati sat up. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. “I think you’ve had your turn at giving out ideas.”

  “Oh, cricket fuzz!” Rose dismissed her with the flick of her wrist. “No, really, I have a great idea.”

  Fern glanced up at Rose and arched her brow. “What?” Dread laced Fern’s voice. The air blurred yellow around her wings.

  Rose met each girl’s eyes, then settled back on Fern’s. “Let’s play…”

  Lav swallowed. Fern twisted her pillow. Liv leaned closer. Tati shook her head and fluttered over to the bentwood chair.

  “Truth or Dare.” Rose bobbed her head as she said each word.

  “Truth or Dare?” Tati glanced at the other girls. She shrugged, and her shoulders eased. Surely this couldn’t be as bad as the last game.

  “Okay, Truth or Dare it is.” Fern said with a smile, hopping out of the bed.

  “Neat-o mosquito! I’ll get a thorn.” Rose sprinted from the room.

  Tati’s eyes met Fern’s. “And what do we need a thorn for?”

  “To spin.” Fern cleared a space in the center of the room. “You know, to choose whose turn it is.”

  “Oh,” Tati said as Rose glided back into the room, thorn in hand.

  Rose alighted on the floor and the girls scooted into a circle around the thorn. Rose leaned over and held the thorn with two fingers and a thumb. “Ready?” She spun the thorn before anyone answered.

  They leaned in. The thorn gyrated. It slowed, wobbled, and came to a stop, pointing at Liv. Rose lifted her head and smiled.

  “Okay, Liv. Truth or dare?”

  Liv’s eyebrows shot up. “Hmm, tru—no. I’m not sure.” A giggle bubbled out of her. “Okay, dare.” She stood and crossed her arms.

  “I dare you to go…” Rose scanned the other faces, “outside and collect enough Moonflower Nectar for all of us to drink.”

  “Oooo,” Lav said. Her eyes widened.

  “Moonflower Nectar?” Liv stepped back. “But—” she glanced at Fern, “but Fern will get into trouble if we drink nectar.”

  “It’s your dare. Do you want to play or what?” Rose said and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Fine!” Liv rose and stomped out of the room.

  Lav giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

  Tati glared at her cousin. Fern stared at the thorn on the floor and wouldn’t look up.

  Rose toyed with the thorn, partially spinning it right, then left.

  Liv returned with an acorn cap filled with yellow nectar. “Shh! Fern’s mom saw me come back in!” She handed the cap to Rose.

  “You hush!” Rose said with a hiss. “You were the one stomping out of here.” She sipped the pungent, sweet liquid and passed it to Fern.

  Fern stared at Rose then gingerly took a sip. She stifled a cough. “Whoa!” Her face flushed, and her eyes watered. Her hand trembled as she handed it to Lav.

  Lav took the cap and swirled the nectar before taking a long drink. She smacked her lips and sighed. She handed it to Liv, who sipped at it delicately, and passed it to Tati.

  Tati sat still and stared into the contents of the cap. Did she have to do this? The pungent aroma burned her nose. The other girls stared at her, their faces expectant. What choice did she have?

  “Go on!” Rose gestured with her hands. “Don’t make us dare you!”

  Tati shrugged and sipped a tiny bit of the nectar. It was sweet and thick in her throat. She closed her eyes and resisted the quake threatening to expose the disgust. Warmth grew in her midsection and rose into her chest like the boiling spray at the bottom of the Sacred Falls. With it, a tingly sensation crawled up her spine and rested heavily on her tongue and in her mind. She blinked blurry eyes, but her vision would not clear. Her mind felt soft and distant to her consciousness. Rose said something, but she seemed so far away and muffled. Tati shook her head, but it did not free her from the nectar’s altering influence.

  “Tati!” Rose’s voice broke through the haze.

  Tati startled and focused on the fuzzy vision of Rose. “Uh…what?” she said a little louder than necessary and hiccupped.

  “It’s your turn! Tati, Truth or Dare!” Rose leaned into Tati’s face.

  “Oh,” Tati glanced around through half-veiled eyelids. “Hmm, truth!” She held up one finger as if she were making a point.

  “Okay.” Rose sat back. “Have you kissed a boy? Tell the truth.”

  “Yes.” Tati answered without hesitation. She sat back and smiled. Thane had kissed her once. They had been vying over the telescope, trying to catch a glimpse of a constellation, and the next thing she knew, his lips pressed against hers. She’d relive that moment for the rest of her life.

  “Holy dung beetle,” Fern squealed. “Well? What happened? Who was he?”

  “What?” Tati struggled to pull her mind out of the nectar’s fog. “No way, that’s not part of the game!”

  “Fine!” Fern narrowed her eyes and turned to Rose. “Spin the thorn!”

  Half an hour passed as the girls exposed secrets and faced challenges. They continued sipping the nectar—except Tati. Each time the cup was passed to her hands, she’d pass it along to the next girl. She hated what the one sip did to her, and longed for the dismal effects to subside. Giggles morphed into rolling-on-the-floor fits of laughter.

  “It’s getting late,” Tattie said with a frown. “Maybe we should go to sleep.”

  “Just one more time!” Fern leaned against Lav and sighed.

  Rose nodded and spun the thorn again, before anyone could object. It slowly wobbled to a stop, pointing at Fern. She looked up and smiled. “Truth or Dare.”

  Fern giggled. “D-dare.”

  Rose smiled wider than she had all night. Her eyebrows lowered over her violet eyes. “I dare you to go to the cursed stump and talk to the Bloody Fairy.”

  Giggles dissipated like fog in the scorching sun. Liv sat up straight and blinked. Lav tilted her head like a dog. Tati stiffened. Did she hear right? Was Rose out of her mind?

  Fern swallowed. She stood on wobbly legs. “I’ll do it.”

  “What?” Tati grabbed Fern’s arm. “Fern, no!”

  “No, I’ll do it.” Fern wriggled free of Tati’s grasp.

  “Not without me!” Tati sprang to her feet, feeling a rock in the pit of her stomach.

  Liv and Lav jumped up as well.

  Rose slowly stood. “We’ll all go!”

  *

  “What are you thinking?” Tati whispered as she walked beside Fern. The pine needles crunched beneath their feet and
pushed up an earthy sent. Behind them, the other three girls continued to whisper and giggle.

  “Oh, Tati, you worry too much. That stump was cursed by lightning, sure, but it doesn’t have a magic Bloody Fairy living in it.”

  Tati pursed her lips. Well, duh!

  Of course Fern was right. She had been caught up in the moment of it all. Of course there was no Bloody Fairy. She straightened her shoulders and strode next to Fern toward the forbidden woods.

  Nestled among ancient, towering cotton wood trees, a lone, stark stump sat charred and disfigured by lightning. Its once-massive corpse now reduced to a mere three foot tall stub. Tati and the others inched closer and encircled the stump like a cluster of box-elder bugs. She shivered.

  A breeze rustled the canopy above. Shadows shifted, exposing its gaping maw. Despite their resolute opinion that the Bloody Fairy was a hoax, Tati and Fern clung to each other. She had to remind herself to keep breathing.

  Rose gasped as she peered into the wide split. Yellow sparkles vibrated from Liv’s wings as she hung on to Lav. They all stared.

  A golden statue leaned precariously to one side in the darkness of the stump. Burned sulfur tainted the air as they drew nearer to the opening.

  “What is that?” Tati asked, her voice shaking with fear.

  “I have no idea.” Fern whispered, holding her fingers across her nose and mouth.

  Rose stepped forward, pressing her face closer into the hollowed base. “It looks like a golden dragon, or something.” She reached in and lifted the statue. A circular ring hung from the base. She flipped the statue over and turned the ring.

  Her grin faded as the statue twisted its head and rounded its back. Rose froze inches from its undulating snout. Golden scales fluttered along the length of its body and tinkled like crystal glasses clinking against each other. The dragon’s snout opened wider and wider. Rose screamed. Her body dissolved into a pink mist. The statue hovered in mid-air and inhaled Rose’s mist into its mouth. Rose’s wings crunched as the dragon’s snout closed. Her wings disintegrated into crimson glitter and fell into a pile on the ground.

  Fear squeezed Tati’s throat and stifled her scream. Tati and the others scrambled back. The dragon’s eyes settled on Liv. She disappeared into a blue mist, her wings snapping off. It sucked her essence into its yawning maw. Her wings fell in a heap of blue glitter. A demonic laugh resonated around them.

  Tati pressed her hands over her ears. “Stop!”

  Fern backed into Tati, and the two tumbled into the carpet of dried leaves. Lav tripped over Fern, but she never fell. Lav’s purple mist wisped up toward the dragon’s scaly snout. Tati cringed as Lav’s wings crunched and then shattered into purple glitter that rained down on Fern. Fern kicked out from under the glittery remains. She flipped over and crawled across Tati.

  “No!” Tati screamed as Fern’s green mist hung over her and whisked into the gaping jowls. Green glitter rained down on her. Tati shook it off and crept backward. She gasped for air. The hideous laughter pierced her head and sickened her. She turned to wretch, but nothing came. Her wings vibrated as waves of fear washed over her. She stared at the multi-colored pile of glitter.

  “What are you?” Tati screamed. Spit flew from her mouth, and tears poured from her eyes.

  “I am known by many names,” a repulsive voice said with a hiss. “You, who have studied the Way, know me as Legion.”

  Tati’s eyes widened. “W—what?” She knew the story well. This was no game. This was no Bloody Fairy. This was demons driven out of a man and sent into a herd of pigs. But now they were infused somehow in this abandoned statue of a dragon.

  “You can’t do this!” Tati demanded.

  “Oh, but I have,” said the demons.

  “Let my friends go!” Tati pushed herself up. Her knees were weak, but she forced herself to stand. “You have no dominion over us!”

  “Oh, but I do!” the demons said, hissing. “It was you who summoned me! It was you who gave me dominion.”

  “I didn’t—” Tati’s eyes dropped to the rotting leaves at her feet. “We were playing a game. A stupid game!”

  “Ah, but you summoned the spirit of the Bloody Fairy. You opened the portal, I simply answered the call.”

  Roiling laughter filled Tati’s mind. She stumbled backward and held her head. “No!” She stared at the glittery remains of her cousin and the others. She searched her mind for an answer. This could not be real. Yet it was. What can I do? Demons have no dominion over me! They were placed beneath my feet like snakes and scorpions. Greater is He who is in me than… She slowly raised her gaze.

  The dragon twisted its head and leaned toward her.

  Tati stepped forward. Her eyes darted from the glitter to the dragon. She took another step. “I summoned you.” She took another step.

  “Yes, little one, you did,” the demons said with a chuckle.

  Tati stopped at the pile of glitter. She squatted down. Her wings flapped slowly above her back. She reached out and gingerly touched the pile of glitter, her hands trembling. “You will devour me, like you did my friends?” she asked.

  “Yesss!”

  She shoved her hands deep into the glitter and scooped up two handfuls. “Then devour me now!” She threw herself at the dragon. Instantly she vaporized into silver mist and was sucked into the dragon’s gaping jaw.

  Oppressive darkness smothered Tati. Acrid air burned her lungs with each panting breath. An overwhelming sense of loneliness filled her with fear. How am I going to find the girls? Gathering herself, she called upon the only one she knew could help. “Green Lord, help me.”

  The multi-hued glitter in her hands warmed, drawing her attention. She leaned closer. The rainbow essence glowed, the only light in the vast sea of darkness. Tears seeped from her eyes as she smiled. She took a step back and threw the glitter above her head. Her eyes followed the sparkling colors as they separated and gathered to their own, hovering before her.

  “Find them!”

  Four twinkling clouds darted away from her. Their radiance diminished in size, but remained visible, nevertheless. Once again, an ominous sense of loneliness threatened her mind. Her limbs trembled. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. “Greater is He who is in me—”

  “Tati?” Fern said.

  Tati opened her eyes. Fern stood before her. To her left sat Lav with her head on her knees. Liv walked up out of the darkness to Fern’s right.

  “Where’s Rose?” Tati asked. The girls looked between themselves. Fern shrugged as tears fell from her eyes.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Liv stomped her foot.

  “Not without Rose.” Tati searched the darkness. “She will come.”

  Lav lifted her face. Raw cheeks glistened in the girl’s uniquely hued illumination. “Rose got us into this!” she said. “She deserves to stay.”

  “NO! You’re wrong,” Tati cried. “No one, not anybody, belongs here.”

  Fern reached for Tati’s hand. “You’re right. We’ll wait.”

  A hiccup escaped Tati’s throat. She pulled away from Fern and shoved away new tears.

  “Wait!” Tati faced the girls. “Did you hear that?”

  “What?” Liv squinted, staring into the darkness behind them.

  Fern and Lav followed her gaze to a small pink glow in the distance. A soft whimper floated across the abyss.

  “Is—Is that Rose?” Fern asked.

  Tati nodded.

  Go to her, a kind voice said in Tati’s mind.

  “We have to go to her,” Tati stated.

  “Why?” Lav asked.

  “Because we have to. She’s too weak on her own.”

  Liv held out her hands to Fern and Tati. “Then we’ll all go to her.”

  Tati and Fern grasped Liv’s hand. Tati reached down and pulled Lav up to her feet. The four friends made their way through the darkness to the pink glow.

  Rose lay curled up in a ball, her arms wrapped around her knees. She cri
ed softly.

  Tati reached out and touched her shoulder. “Rose.”

  Rose didn’t respond. Her tears spilled over her knees.

  Tati knelt down. “We’re here, Rose,” she whispered close to her ear.

  Rose slowly turned. “Tati?” she said with a small, strained voice. Her eyes were dark and hollow. Her body appeared emaciated, drained of life.

  Tati wrapped her arms around Rose. Their foreheads pressed together. “We’re here, Rose. We’re here for you.”

  Lav, Liv and Fern fell to their knees and joined Tati’s embrace with Rose. “We can’t leave without you, Rose.”

  “Go,” Rose whispered. “Get out of here if you can.”

  “Not without you!” Tati said.

  “No, I deserve this. It’s my fault.” Rose’s tear-soaked eyes met Tati’s. She sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand.

  “What’s your fault?” Tati asked.

  “This!” Rose gestured to the darkness. “I’ve sinned so much. I lied, I treated you like—I’m so sorry, Tati!”

  “Rose, none of that matters. We all sin. But we all can be forgiven, too. Come with me, I’ll show you.” Tati pulled Rose to her feet.

  “Well, sure, but…”

  “No buts about it, we’ll call on the Green Lord, and He will help us go home.” Tati smiled.

  The girls continued to speak loving words of encouragement. Rose closed her eyes. Her essence reflected their love and restored her body. She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes.

  A smile lit up her tear-moistened face. “Thank you,” she whispered. Their individual hues mixed across her face, giving her a rainbow-colored illumination.

  “What do we do now?” Rose bit her lip.

  “We get out of here.” Tati smiled through her tears.

  Rose sniffed. “How?”

  “It’s simple.” Tati extended her hand to the girls. Each of them took hold of the other’s hand and formed a circle. “Now, we call upon the Green Lord.”

  “Green Lord,” Tati said.

  The other girls looked at each other. “Green Lord.”

  “Green Lord,” they said together.

  In the distance, a white ball of light glowed and became larger as it moved nearer to the girls. They stood still as it floated into the middle of their circle. The soft illumination condensed into the Green Lord. Pristine white silk wrapped his throat and chest beneath a flowing emerald green robe. A gold braid edged the seams and hem. A gold-leafed crown donned his dark curly hair. His smile warmed Tati through and through.