Chasing Legends

by Pippa Amberwine

  “I don’t want to kill. I don’t think it has to come to that. But I will do whatever I have to in order to survive as my true self.”

  “We are not cattle. We are intelligent, feeling, thinking beings who are little different than you. It would be murder.”

  She looked me in the eye, her own eyes glistening as tears pooled in her lower lids, shining in the evening sun that still lit the market.

  “I know,” she said. “I didn’t know that before, but I know it now.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “YOU NEED TO go back.”

  “Jevyn, please,” Katie said, a note of pleading entering her voice.

  “No,” I said sharply. I hesitated, trying to maintain my control. We were still in the market, and I didn’t want anyone to know that Katie and Nova were vampires from Earth. “You need to go back. Now. You’re proposing to kill or capture one of my people, and I cannot allow that. I should never have brought you here.”

  “No, Jevyn. I’m not going back until I find a way that my people can survive without being implanted or risking hurting innocent people.” She crossed her arms but then let them hang loosely by her side. “I need to find something. Before I got this virus, I used to teach martial arts to children. I loved it. Small scared kids lacking even the most basic self-confidence would come to my classes, and even if they didn’t go through the whole belt system, they would leave me, confident and assertive instead of scared and compliant. That is what I, we, would go back to if we have the implant. I wouldn’t fully be myself anymore, and I’m never going to do that. I don’t want to live my life scared. If you help us find a way through this, you’ll also be saving humans, and maybe even me and my friends.”

  I could hear the passion and determination in her voice and see it in her face as she spoke. Nova stood behind her, and even though he hadn’t spoken, I could see that same passion on his face too.

  This was clearly something they weren’t going to give up on easily. I could understand that. They were trying to do exactly what I was trying to do, but what finally impressed upon me the seriousness of the situation was that they were so desperate that they were prepared to cross dimensions to a place they didn’t know and do whatever it took to succeed.

  These were people I’d want on my side in a fight.

  “Okay,” I said finally. “We find Lynnette and Derek and get you back to your own dimension as we agreed.”

  “And the blood?” I could see hope in Katie’s eyes, and I felt an urge to comfort her. But what I was about to say would not be what she wanted to hear.

  “I don’t know. I’m going to have to think about it. I want you to promise me that while you’re here, you won’t harm any dragon in any way, including taking them back with you.”

  Katie looked at Nova for a few seconds, although no words passed between them.

  “If you don’t guarantee me of that, I’ll have no choice but to send you back now,” I said, making sure they knew it wasn’t a negotiation. It was me laying down the law.

  “You need to understand that we’ll need blood soon, and that’s just a fact of nature,” Katie said. “But okay.”

  “Okay, what?” I tried a small smile to see if I could wipe the look of disappointment from Katie’s face.

  Begrudgingly, she spoke. “Okay, we won’t harm a dragon while we’re here.”

  “You promise?”

  “Yes, I promise.”

  “I’m taking you at your word on this, Katie. If a dragon is harmed, there will have to be consequences.”

  “Look, we’ve wasted a lot time.” Nova stepped in. “Why don’t we go find Lynnette and worry about doing the pinky swears later?”

  I checked them both out. Neither of them appeared to be looking as shady as they were when I confronted them. In the end, I had a choice to send them back right then and risk them trying to rip more holes in the veil for time immemorial or believe them and try and find a way for them to survive that didn’t hurt or threaten my people.

  “Come on,” I said, turning and walking away.

  “Thank you, Jevyn,” I heard Katie say. I raised a hand and waved her thanks away. They could thank me if I ever found a way out of the mess we found ourselves in.

  Two hours later, and after several conversations with stall holders who talked about the black-clad stranger and her odd sidekick, we were no nearer to catching up with them. It seemed as though every time we got a lead to their whereabouts, by the time we got there, they had moved on.

  My mind was fixed on the search, and also on Katie and what depths of desperation she must have dealt with to come up with the hare-brained plan they were pursuing. But I knew I’d do the same for the people I loved.

  Katie might be loud and pushy, but I had to respect her for her tenacity.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Katie

  The Bazaar

  Pathya, Dracos

  “WHAT IS IT, Nova?” I asked. Nova had stopped and was looking off into the distance.

  Another hour had passed, and we still were no closer to finding Lynnette.

  “What’s that area over there?”

  I looked over to where he was pointing.

  “That’s what is known as Darkwaters,” Jevyn said. “It isn’t safe down there for you. It may not even be safe for me. Why do you ask?”

  “Lynnette went that way.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “I can still smell her, even after all this time. Her scent lingers like a winter fog.”

  “What was that!” I burst out, unable to stop myself from laughing. After so much tension, it felt good. “You went all poetic on us there, Nova.”

  Nova blushed and grinned.

  “As well as being able to smell her, I was talking to her earlier, and she said she’d go looking for a place to trade with no questions asked. She said it appealed to her adventurous spirit, and that I should go with her. When she looked at me, she did something with her eyes and the tone of her voice. Maybe some kind of magic. But by the time she stopped talking, I was almost ready to go anywhere with her and do anything for her. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced.” He shook his head at the memory.

  “Do you think that’s how she controls Derek?” Jevyn asked.

  “I’m not sure she controls him,” I said. “I used to know a kid like him a few years ago. Kept to himself. No friends, socially awkward, all those things. But whenever someone actually got him involved in a project, he was so happy to have been asked that he would work like crazy. I think that’s how Derek is, happy to be involved.”

  “So, he goes along with her lunacy?” Jevyn said.

  “I think it would be best to say he counterbalances her.” I lifted each of my hands in turn, as if I were comparing the weights of a different object in each palm.

  “Mad, the pair of them,” Jevyn said.

  “I want to go down into the Darkwaters. I think there’s a chance we’ll find her down there,” Nova said, turning away to head in that direction.

  I leaned forward to grab him by the elbow. “Out of the question. Too dangerous.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Because it’s a den of thieves, vagabonds, and cutthroats,” Jevyn said.

  “Friends of yours, are they?” I said from behind him.

  He swung around to respond, but when he looked at me, I had my hand over my mouth to hide my snicker at his reaction. I couldn’t help it. Just that tiny drop of dragon blood had lightened my mood.

  “Okay. You got me. No, they are most certainly not friends of mine. I’ve had dealings with one or two of the less unstable characters over the years, but mostly I stay away, and I would suggest you do the same, Nova.” Jevyn had been smiling when he turned, but talking about the Darkwaters seemed to irritate him somehow.

  “Do you want to find Lynnette and send her back where she belongs?” Nova stood, eyebrow raised, looking straight at Jevyn. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s where she went. So we
can wait and hope she backtracks and doesn’t cause a ton of mayhem in the meantime, or we can go in after her.”

  He looked at me. Then he looked at Nova. Then, Jevyn gave in. “Come on, then. You lead the way, Nova.

  When we reached the Darkwaters, Jevyn stood back a little so Nova and I could get a sense of the place. All I got was a distinct impression of filth and corruption, so strong it tasted bitter on my tongue.

  “This place is awesome,” Nova said.

  I shook my head in disbelief. The place was disgusting.

  “Can you still smell her?” I asked.

  All I could smell were the piles of rotting vegetables in the gutters. At least I hoped that was what they were. I could understand why Jevyn didn’t want to go down there, but Nova was still striding onward on Lynnette’s trail, seemingly unaware of the less than welcoming looks from some of the denizens of Darkwaters.

  Nova was eventually halted when he ran into the wide chest of an enormous man.

  “Who the hell is that?” I asked Jevyn. I was ready to go help Nova, but Jevyn held me back.

  “That man-mountain is Truth. I know him. Not well, just enough to know that he has been a constant agitator against my mother’s rule despite seemingly being on good terms with her personally. Their relationship has been a constant puzzle to me,” Jevyn said.

  His mother’s rule? Did that make Jevyn a prince? Had I been mocking a prince all this time?

  At that moment, this Truth fellow was standing like a wall in front of Nova. In comparison, Nova, who was no lightweight, looked like a child.

  “Where are you going?” Truth addressed the question to Jevyn.

  “You can’t prevent me from entering,” Jevyn said with an admirably determined lift of his chin. He seemed unintimidated by Truth. Maybe something to do with Jevyn’s princely status? “Now, take your hand off my friend, please.”

  Truth removed his giant palm from Nova’s chest. I could hear a commotion going on behind me in the distance, but I didn’t turn around. Jevyn clearly felt he had to keep eye contact locked with the brute ahead of me. It appeared that Truth might comply, but I was suddenly uneasy about this dragon.

  “Let’s go back, Jevyn,” I said. “We can find Lynnette another way.” I could sense the danger, though Jevyn seemed unwilling to back down. I was just letting him know he had a way out if he needed one.

  “Why don’t you take your pretty little girl’s advice, Prince Jevyn?”

  Apparently, whatever amicability between Jevyn’s mother and Truth didn’t extend to Jevyn. I was tempted to try a sweep kick and knock Truth’s tree-trunk legs out from under him for that little comment, but it wasn’t exactly a good time to escalate things.

  “Because I seek someone,” Jevyn said. “They came this way, and I am following. This is Pathya. I go where I please.”

  “This may be Pathya, and you and your family might control it, but one day that will change. One day soon. I control these alleys. Even your mother knows this. You don’t pass without my say so.”

  Ah. Truth was making a political statement.

  The commotion behind me was getting louder. I could hear boots marching along the cobbled streets.

  “Looks like Mummy sent some guards to look after you, Jevyn.” The comment drew a laugh from several of Truth’s cohorts who’d gathered behind him, but Jevyn had won. Truth had looked away first, and he knew it. The guards were an excuse.

  I stepped forward, behind Jevyn who had closed in on Truth, until I was as close as I could be and still stand the smell.

  “Is that your way of giving your say so? Go now and save face, Truth. You can convince your criminal friends this was another in your long list of victories, but I will go where I please,” Jevyn said.

  They faced off for a moment while Truth seemed to go through some mental calculations.

  Truth spoke loud enough for all the hangers-on to hear. “Very well then, Prince, if that is what you and your friends want, I will let you pass, this once. Make sure you come and get my permission next time too, should you ever dare to show your face in the Darkwaters again. Make sure to spend plenty of your family’s money down here.” Truth took three steps back and then turned away to the cheers and backslapping of his admirers who clearly had no idea what those words actually meant.

  “You really are a prince?” I asked, pulling Jevyn around to face me.

  A look of impatience crossed his face, creasing his forehead. “Let’s speak about this later. For now, I have to deal with the guards. Damn my mother for sending them. I am not some small child who needs looking after.” He pulled his arm away from me, and I could see his eyes were bright with anger as he stepped past me.

  So, he was dragon royalty. Seems like we all went into this little escapade with secrets that were only now coming out. I looked across at the floating palace, which was closer. I saw what I thought might be birds flying to and from it, but they definitely weren’t birds. They were actual dragons.

  I had a funny feeling I might soon get the chance to see the palace close up. I turned to follow Jevyn.

  “What do you mean she needs to see me?” he said to one of the guards.

  “She said she knew you were back and that we were to summon you to her. She said nothing else, Prince Jevyn.” The guard was doing a good job of appearing nerveless, but I could see a slight twitch in the hand he was resting on his sword.

  “Very well, wait here for a moment,” Jevyn said. The guard nodded.

  Jevyn turned to me. Nova had stepped back too and was standing at my shoulder.

  “I have to go. What will you two do?”

  Nova spoke up first. “I’ll go and find Lynnette. Now that we have permission to enter, I don’t think it will be too hard to track her down.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “These clowns will have taken a shine to her no doubt, but I feel like Derek might be in danger.”

  Jevyn nodded. “You, Katie?” he asked, turning to me.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps I should go with Nova, but if your mother is the Queen, maybe she can help us find a solution to our . . . problem. And really, Nova can handle himself. I’d better go with you.”

  “Very well. You come with me, but be warned, my mother can be a difficult person to deal with.”

  “Oh, I’m sure like most mothers she would do anything for her little prince,” I said with a sly smile. “I bet you can convince her to help me.”

  “That just goes to prove that you don’t know my mother.” He shook his head wistfully. “Follow me, stick close, and hold tight. This could be quite a ride.”

  I hoped he meant the journey from the ground up to the palace, but I had a sneaking suspicion he meant a hell of a lot more than that.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Katie

  Pathya Palace, Dracos

  “OH MY GOODNESS,” I said.

  “What? Was it?” Jevyn was looking around us, searching for whatever danger he thought I might have seen.

  “No, nothing bad. It’s this place. I’ve never seen anything like it. Look . . .” I pointed as a flock of birds flew high up around the tops of the trees that were growing inside the building. Inside!

  “Yes, they’re a bit of a nuisance, aren’t they? They foul the place up, and it costs us a fortune each year to ship out the guano.”

  I snapped my head around to look at him. “No, there are birds inside here. Trees.” I glanced around to see what else I could see in the grand atrium I had emerged into when I got out of the elevator. “A waterfall, fires burning on every corner and . . . oh . . . wait a minute. This place is based around the elements, isn’t it?”

  “It is indeed. Dragon society is based around the elements, and where better to express that but in the palace of the leader of dragon society?”

  I looked up, seeing the sky through the vaulted glass ceiling, which must have been at least a hundred feet above my head.

  “Your mom, right?”

  “Yes, my mother.”

 
; “So, why is she Queen?”

  “She fought to become Queen when the previous ruler was deemed to be no longer capable. She had to transform into the type of dragon who can rule. But a large part of her continued reign is constantly demonstrating what she can do to improve the lives of dragons. New food sources, new technologies. Once you fail to bring enough new things to the forefront, chances are the end of your reign is near.”

  “Interesting. In our world, it’s who has the most money and shouts the loudest.”

  “Ah, yes. That is cynicism, right. We have our own flavor of power struggles, here, don’t get me wrong, but I get the impression it’s nowhere near as corrupt as yours.”

  I didn’t want to get into a political debate with him, not while I was still trying to wrap my head around the place he had just brought me to, so I didn’t try to defend the political system.

  “That elevator was amazing too, Jevyn. From a distance, I thought the palace was floating in mid-air.”

  He didn’t seem to mind the topic change. “It is. The elevator is there for people who can’t fly. That used to be the only way to get in until the non-flying dragons complained that they were being stopped from petitioning the king or queen.”

  “So, normally you would fly into here, like those other dragons I saw outside.”

  Jevyn nodded.

  “That is something I would love to see,” I said.

  “You won’t be here long enough for that. This is a quick visit to find out what my mother wants from me this time. For both of our sakes, please don’t speak to her unless absolutely necessary.”

  “Okay, okay, I get it. I’m supposed to play the meek little girl from Earth.” I rolled my eyes at that idea. If I got a chance to speak, I was gonna speak.

  Jevyn set off walking, so I followed along, my head on a swivel, taking in the rock face where the birds seemed to rest, looking for all the world like a cliff but with doors and corridors set into it. The whole place was a living breathing thing, right down to the annoying bugs that seemed to be particularly numerous.