Myth Blessed

by Katie Dunn

I blinked in surprise. “Harvey?” Harvey was still in complete black, but his shadows were not as prominent.

  When we were close enough, Harvey stepped forward and lifted my hand, putting a soft kiss on top. “Nice to see you, Serena.”

  My eyes widened and my breath faltered. We stared at each other until a loud snort sounded to our right. I looked toward the sound to see Laneli rolling her eyes at our interaction. She was going with us on this mission? I struggled to hold back an annoyed sigh.

  Mr. Drakari cleared his throat drawing our attention to him. Mr. Drakari wore an olive turtleneck and must have shaven his stubbly beard recently, making him look younger. “Alright, let’s go. I will explain what our mission is on the way.” Drakari looked around to see if we were being watched. “You are not to say anything to anyone about this until it is over, is that clear?”

  His words were directed at everyone, but his eyes seemed to linger on me. I nodded but felt even more confused than before. What was this mission and why was it hush hush?

  Drakari went around the car to the driver’s side while Laneli took the passenger seat. That left Elliot, Harvey and I to take the back. Since I was the smallest of us three, I was positioned in the middle much to my dismay. As Drakari drove the vehicle out of the state park and through town I could see students walking into shops and hanging out making me feel bummed that I couldn’t join Marion.

  Once we passed town and there wasn’t much to look at outside, Drakari told us about the mission. “We have a report about a gorgon blessed turning people to stone. We are going to go help her control her ability then invite her to the school. Our main goal is to isolate her so we can talk. Since she is gorgon blessed and doesn’t know how to use her powers, we may need to enchant her to get her away from any people. That is where Laneli comes in. Serena, you will have a chance to see how Laneli uses her gifts in the correct practice,” he said, emphasizing correct practice and looking pointedly at Laneli.

  I knew why I was invited now. This was Drakari’s ploy to get me to use my gifts again or at least see that there was nothing to be afraid of so that I might use them again. Well, joke is on him because this mission will not change anything.

  Drakari continued, not hearing my silent promise. “Elliot we will need your strength and immunity if it gets out of hand.”

  Immunity? Did that mean Elliot couldn’t be turned to stone? I realized Drakari did not give Harvey a task. “What are you going to do Harvey?” I asked him.

  Harvey glanced at Drakari and Laneli before answering my question. “I’m here to watch over Laneli.”

  “Watch over her?” I asked crinkling my brows.

  “He stalks me,” Laneli threw over her shoulder.

  Harvey’s cheeks reddened. “I’m only doing what I’ve been asked to do,” he told her then turned to me and whispered, “Drakari wants me to make sure she doesn’t enchant people anytime she pleases.”

  I looked at Drakari meeting his eyes in the rear-view mirror. I was glad he followed through and asked someone to watch her. That meant Harvey couldn’t be enchanted. He was either very powerful or his myth had immunity. I didn’t get a chance to ask what myth he was blessed by because Drakari pulled over and announced that we were at our destination.

  I got out of the car after Elliot and looked around at the area around us. It was a tiny town, one that could be driven through in a minute, with farms all around.

  “Where can we find her?” Elliot asked, getting right to business.

  “She was last seen in town, but our contact says she fled the scene,” Drakari answered.

  “What does that mean? What scene did she flee?” I asked. They made her sound like a criminal.

  Drakari hesitated but must have decided there was no use keeping quiet about the situation. “She turned five people to stone in a grocery store.”

  Elliot and I gasped. “Can they be changed back?” I asked.

  Drakari sighed and the look in his eyes suggested he was unsure. “We have never had a gorgon blessed at our school, but we hope the effects are reversable. I think only a gorgon myth or blessed can reverse it, though.”

  He hoped? Well that sounded not at all promising.

  Drakari turned his attention to Harvey. “Do you think you can check the surrounding areas for a scared girl?”

  Harvey nodded, stepping backward into the shade of the SUV and disappeared. I looked expectantly at the other three wondering what we were going to do while he searched but it looked like the plan was to wait for Harvey to get back. I tapped my fingers impatiently against my leg. What would being turned to stone feel like? Would I still be able to see and hear everything? Would it be like I was being smothered? I shuddered thinking about being trapped in stone, silently screaming but not able to be heard.

  Harvey reappeared in the shadow of the car. “She is on a farm not too far from here.”

  We hopped back in the car and followed Harvey’s directions to a nearby farm on the outskirts of the tiny town. Drakari raced down dirt roads and took turns fast making me slide into Harvey and Elliot. Each time I apologized only to end up crashing into them again. Finally, Harvey called for us to stop and we skidded to a halt in front of a quaint farmhouse.

  “Do not look her in the eyes, spread out. Serena stay back but keep an eye out. I will talk to her but if that doesn’t work Laneli you will be up,” Drakari ordered.

  We nodded, understanding our orders. I followed them to the back where cows, goats, and chickens wandered around behind fences. Harvey pointed silently to a shed indicating she was hiding in there.

  Elliot walked to stand near the shed, Laneli walked to the other side hiding in the shadows with Harvey leaving Drakari in the open facing the door and me a few steps behind.

  “Angela!” Drakari called out.

  I was surprised to hear the girl’s name. I didn’t know he knew it, but it made sense. His contact probably told him. I waited anxiously for the door to the shed to open.

  “We don’t want to hurt you. We are here to help you control your gift. I’m Dominic Drakari, Principal of Myth Blessed Academy!”

  We waited in silence, trying to listen for sounds of movement. The shed door creaked open and Drakari called to us, “Keep your eyes averted.”

  I looked at the ground near the shed door as a girl in red sneakers stepped out. I resisted the urge to look up at her face, instead focusing on her shoes and capri pants.

  “You don’t need to be afraid,” Drakari consoled.

  “Th-th-those p-people,” Angela sniffed.

  I nearly looked up at her, shocked by how young her voice sounded.

  “Yes, we know. But they are going to be fine. Where is your mom and dad? Can you come with us?” Drakari took a step toward the girl.

  “I-I don’t know. My-my sisters.” Angela backed up toward the shed.

  “We know how scary these new gifts can be. Your sisters will be fine, but we need to get you back to the grocery store so you can reverse the effects,” Drakari explained.

  A pressure against my leg made me look down. A baby goat was butting its head up against my leg and staring up at me. I shooed it away and focused back on Angela’s shoes.

  “No, my sisters have to come with us,” Angela argued.

  “Ok, ok, we can bring you all to town.” Drakari reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “Can you put these on?”

  I could tell Angela hesitated before walking over and grabbing the sunglasses. “Ok they’re on.”

  Elliot, Harvey and Laneli approached us. I finally looked up to Angela’s face now that she had the sunglasses on that blocked us from her gaze. Oh, my goodness! She was so young! Probably ten or eleven years old. She had long black hair and freckles. I couldn’t imagine being a normal kid one day then turning people to stone the next. Then again, maybe I could understand.

  “Do you have two more?” Angela asked nervously.

  “Two more?” Elliot asked.

  Angela reached out
a hand and shouted behind us, “No, they want to help!”

  We all turned to see two faces identical to Angela’s, however, unlike Angela’s we could see their yellow eyes. I heard crackling as if something moved along a stone path. I turned to the noise on my right and covered my mouth with my hand to stifle a scream.

  Standing beside me was a stone statue of Drakari. I turned to ask for help but Laneli and Harvey were stone too. The only one left, sporting an identical shocked and panicked look to mine, was Elliot.

  I looked down and patted myself checking for stone, but I was normal. How did Laneli turn to stone but I didn’t? That same pressure on my leg returned and I looked down to find the same baby goat butting up against me. I shooed it away again as Elliot came to stand beside me.

  “Triplets,” Elliot groaned. “We should have guessed.”

  “Why?” I asked, verging on panic.

  “Well, gorgons came in threes. So, triplet gorgon blessed makes sense.” Elliot stared down the two Angela replicas. “We are not the enemy,” he told them slowly.

  Angela rushed to her sisters. “Annie, Amber! They are from Myth Blessed. They were trying to help us.”

  I was afraid to look at their faces but if I was not already turned to stone then I was probably fine. I risked a glance and saw their creepy yellow eyes again, but I held their gaze. “She’s right. We think we have a way for you to reverse it then we can take you to the school to learn how to control your ability,” I explained.

  Annie and Amber looked guiltily at the statues of my colleagues. “How?” they asked in unison.

  “Well…” I looked up at Elliot, hoping he would know what to do.

  I had never seen him look so helpless. Usually he carried a confident air around him, and I could tell he was trying but he truly did not know what to do. Maybe I could walk them through accessing their gifts like I was taught to do.

  “What element are gorgons?” I whispered to Elliot.

  Elliot looked at me like I was an idiot. Good to know he can still sport that look no problem. “Earth.”

  Right, I had that look coming. Stone equals earth. “Girls, I want to try something. Close your eyes.” I couldn’t tell if Angela did it but the other two did. “Now feel the earth beneath you.”

  “What?” Annie asked bewildered. “What does that have to do with turning your friends back to human?”

  “Just trust me.” I waited for them to settle down. “Feel the earth beneath you. Let your minds relax and open up to its solidness and rumbling.” I looked at Elliot and shrugged. I didn’t know what else to say. Water was easy, it flowed and trickled and crashed against the shore. What did earth do?

  Amber stomped her foot and opened her eyes, piercing us with her gorgon eyes. “I can’t do it!”

  “Sing to them,” Elliot suggested.

  My head shook with force. I was not doing that.

  “You have to, it’s the only way right now.” Elliot laid a hand on my arm. “You are not Laneli. You can use your song to help.”

  I glanced at the statues then the frightened girls. “Only with their permission and only this once.”

  Elliot gave me an appraising look then a slow approving smile formed. Goodness, if I was not preoccupied with this situation, I would review that smile over and over in my mind. His smile was just as good as Harvey’s, making him look super attractive and making my heart flutter. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. This was no time for admiring smiles.

  I walked over to the girls and knelt. “My name is Serena and I am siren blessed. Do you know what that means?” They shook their heads. “It means that when I sing, I can enchant someone, almost like hypnotize them.” Their eyes widened and they looked almost frightened. I didn’t blame them. I was the one who was siren blessed and I was still scared. I took a deep breath and continued. “I was wondering if I could sing to you and help you turn them back to regular people.”

  I waited anxiously for their response. They huddled together, whispering then turned back to me. “We are okay with it. Anything to help them,” Annie answered, holding her sister’s hands.

  I nodded and closed my eyes. It was easy to tap into the water energy inside of me since Marion had been helping. Now I just had to use it to sing, something I had been avoiding all week. This was a crazy twist of fate. I had never really been good at singing, yet now my singing enchanted people.

  I opened my mouth and let the melody flow out. The song almost had a mind of its own, already knowing what to do as I knelt there without any idea. I felt the song wrap around the three girl’s minds and surprisingly one other mind. When I knew I had hold of them I stopped singing and opened my eyes.

  The girls stared blankly ahead. I waved my hand in front of their faces but got no reaction. I turned to Elliot to tell him it worked but froze. He had the same blank look on his face. How was that possible? I thought he was immune. I would have time to worry about it later.

  I faced the girls and cracked my knuckles. Here goes nothing. “Can you change them back please?” The girls continued staring straight ahead. I remembered back at the lake when I enchanted Laneli and told her to walk away from Ian. Maybe I had to make it an order. Straightening my back, I ordered, “Change them back to human.”

  Suddenly the girls’ eyes glowed a bright yellow and they stared intently at the statues. Stone slowly cracked and crumbled from the bodies until it was a pile at their feet. Dust coated their clothes but otherwise they were back to normal. I quickly turned to the girls again and ordered them to close their eyes. They did as I told.

  “What happened? Harvey asked, groaning. “My body feels stiff.”

  “Triplets. I should have known,” Drakari said, mimicking Elliot’s earlier words. He looked around, bending his back to pop it. “What happened to Elliot?” Drakari waved his hand in front of his face then looked at me with awe. “Did you do this?”

  I looked at the ground, my cheeks heating in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I was only trying to sing to the girls to help you. I don’t know how he got that way. Isn’t he supposed to be immune?” I babbled. A pressure at my leg made me look down and I was annoyed to see the same baby goat from before. Didn’t it know when there was danger nearby? “I thought I told you to go away, you stupid goat.”

  Baa it bleated at me.

  Drakari looked from me to the goat to Elliot, and back at me. “Serena Carter, I think there is more to you than meets the eye,” he said intrigued, studying me.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, suspicious of his ominous words.

  He only shook his head and smiled, “I guess we will find out. Now let’s get these girls to the town. Until they undo their work there, we are going to have to leave them and Elliot enchanted.”

  I finally looked at Laneli, wondering what she thought of my using the siren gift. Her mouth was agape, and she looked at me warily. What was she thinking? Was she mad I used my gift instead of her or was she impressed that I enchanted her enemy? She didn’t give me any hint. She walked by and hopped into the car, looking down at her dusty clothes annoyed.

  “Harvey can you transport them to town, we will be right there,” Drakari asked, turning to the dark clothed man, though it sounded more like an order.

  Harvey nodded and rested a hand on one of the girl’s shoulders then disappeared in the shade of a tree. I started to follow Laneli to the car but Drakari stopped me. “You are going to have to call him over.” Drakari pointed to Elliot.

  Right, I should have known that. “Um, get in the car,” I called out to Elliot.

  Elliot walked robotically to the car and hopped in, continuing to stare straight ahead. I started to follow him, but a loud baa stopped me. I looked behind me at the black and white baby goat that was following me to the car.

  “Shoo, go away, you can’t come with us” I waved my hands at it, wishing it would leave me alone.

  Baa it ran up to me and stood by my side.

  “Hmm, very interesting,” Drakari said, watch
ing my interaction with the baby goat and rubbing his chin.

  “What is so interesting about this?” I asked annoyed with his cryptic words. “Let’s just go.” I ran to the car and jumped in, closing the door so the goat couldn’t follow. Drakari gave the goat one last look before getting into the driver’s seat and taking us to town.

  Chapter 7

  Goat Trouble

  We arrived in town shortly after leaving the farm and parked in front of the grocery store that had yellow caution tape preventing anyone from entering. We left Elliot in the car and I made sure that some windows were rolled down for him. I wondered if he would be upset about being enchanted. We approached the store with Drakari taking the lead, but an officer held out a hand to stop us from going any further.

  Mr. Drakari held up a badge. “They’re with me,” he told the cop and pointed to us.

  The officer waved us through after examining the badge. Being the principal of Myth Blessed Academy must have its perks. The inside of the store was eerily quiet. There were officers standing guard in the corners of the store but otherwise it was only four statues standing in line to check out and a statue clerk at the register.

  “We’re here,” Harvey said from the shadows.

  I jumped and spun around. Annie, Amber, and Angela, their eyes still closed, walked out from the shadows with Harvey. Harvey smirked at my reaction and came to stand by me and Laneli.

  “Ok, Serena, do your thing,” Drakari encouraged, waving his hand toward the statues.

  I faced the gorgon blessed triplets. “Turn these people back to human.”

  The girls opened their eyes and turned their blank stares on the statues. Their eyes flared yellow and a stone cracking noise sounded from the statues. Like before, stone crumbled around them and dust coated their clothes and hair.

  “Ok close your eyes.” The girls did as I told them once the people were human again.

  Drakari walked over to a stand of sunglasses, grabbing two at random and bringing them over to the triplets. He placed a pair over Annie and Amber’s eyes then turned to me. “I will pay for those before we leave, but now you can snap them out of the trance.”