Myth Blessed

by Katie Dunn

  It could all be nothing but worry gnawed at me. I needed to be there with them to help search. I grabbed my purse and shoved my keys inside. Now I just needed to find a way there.

  “Tell Harvey-” My words were cut off by a cloud of purple smoke.

  Relief washed through me at the sight of the smoke and I waited to see the familiar black curls of my friend. Tamara appeared in front of me and I broke out into a relieved grin. I was about to tell Rae the good news but something in Tam’s expression stopped me. Her demeanor was off, and she was standing like a silent statue, yet her eyes pleaded with me. My friend was there in front of me but also missing.

  “Tam? Are you ok? Rae and Harvey have been looking for you,” I said slowly while putting the phone on speaker. Tam was giving off a dangerous vibe and I wanted Rae to hear everything in case her and Harvey needed to assist me right away.

  Tam took a step forward and reached out her hand toward me. Her hand shook and pain flashed in her eyes. She was struggling but I couldn’t tell with what.

  I went to take a step toward her, but Panda jumped in front of my legs and screamed at me in that eerie human-like way. Startled, I jumped back, and Panda butted her head against my shins wanting me to step back further. I glanced from Panda to Tam trying to figure out why my familiar wanted me to stay away.

  “Tamara, what is going on? You’re scaring me,” I said with a raised voice so Rae could hear me clearly.

  Tam took another step forward and reached out to grab me. On instinct, I avoided her grip and took a couple more steps away. I wasn’t going to be a fool and ignore my familiar’s warnings. Plus, Tam was looking at me in a way that sent chills down my spine. The sound of banging on my bedroom door distracted Tam for a moment.

  “Serena! Tam! Let us in!” Rae’s voice sounded through the door.

  Harvey must have transported them to the dorm. I looked around my room and found no shadows big enough for a person to walk through. That was why they didn’t appear in the room. Stupid lights. The hallway must hold the closest shadow big enough for two people. I raced toward the door, hoping to slide past Tam while she was distracted and let Harvey and Rae inside. Maybe they could snap Tam out of whatever trance she seemed to be in.

  With lightning quick movements, Tam whipped around and grabbed my arm in a viselike grip. Her eyes pooled with tears as she held me firmly.

  “Tam, let go!” I was going to have bruises in the shape of a hand if she didn’t let go of me soon.

  Her body was shaking but her grip held strong. Fire danced in my belly wanting to be released but I couldn’t in good conscience barbeque my friend. I thought about using my siren song but even if I was ok with that it wouldn’t work because she was a mythological being. Panda bleated loudly and attempted to head butt Tam, but she was unfazed by the baby goat’s efforts.

  The door burst open with a loud bang and Harvey stood there with shadows gathering along his ankles. Rae stood behind him with a tear streaked face and frightened eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was frightened from transporting for the first time or seeing her friend death gripping her other friend.

  The last thing I saw was Harvey lunging forward to grab Tam before a cloud of purple smoke enveloped me and I was transported away.

  My feet hit something hard a moment later and the smoke disappeared to reveal the mysterious destination, but I still couldn’t see anything. I blinked rapidly to adjust my eyes and a soft light outlined a cement room with dancing blue designs on the walls. The dancing designs reminded me of water reflecting onto a wall from an aquarium.

  “Hello?” I called out.

  Tamara was nowhere to be seen and there were no sounds in the room except for my deep, shaky breaths. My ears were starting to hurt from the intense silence. I hated the dark. Not as much as water, but dark was almost up there with my other irrational fears.

  Well, I was not going to just stand there and wait for someone to appear. I took slow steps, to avoid running into obstacles, in the direction of the soft light hoping that the source would give me answers. When I got closer, the sounds of dripping water came from around the corner. I waited a moment and heard no voices, so I ventured around the corner and saw a large tank of water with some light shining through. I knew the dancing designs on the walls looked like those from an aquarium, but unlike the usual aquariums this tank was empty of life.

  The sight of a metal door off to the side of the tank filled me with hope and I ran for it. I yanked at the doorknob, but the door didn’t budge. Letting out a cry of frustration and despair, I pulled and pulled but the door still did not move. I didn’t realize I was crying until strands of hair stuck to my face and my nose started running from the emotions flooding out. I banged on the door with all my might until my energy was spent. I slid along the door to the ground and closed my eyes, trying to reign in the tears and terror. I leaned forward to hug my knees and rested my head on my arms. Eventually I fell asleep, which I didn’t think was possible in that situation. I didn’t know how long I was out until I heard a noise from the other side.

  The door unlocking from the other side had me bolting up and facing the newcomer in a defensive stance. I urged my chimera blessed fire energy to build within my belly. Embarrassingly, my belly growled in hunger, but I ignored it and built up the fire. I would blast whoever was on the other side and make a run for it. The metal door creaked open and light burst into the dim room making me squint until my eyes adjusted. The fire died down when I saw who was on the other side.

  “Nurse Lydia?” I asked incredulously.

  Her smile turned into disgust. “Don’t call me that,” she scolded disdainfully.

  I jumped back from her tone and without thinking I breathed fire at her. The flames traveling up my throat and out of my mouth didn’t feel weird anymore. In this moment it felt right and all I wanted to do was escape.

  Nurse Lydia screeched and swatted at her smoking shirt. I took the opportunity to run by her and down the hall. I heard screeches and moans from nearby rooms, but I didn’t stop to discover the sources. That place was going to give me nightmares later.

  Purple smoke appeared in front of me and relief swept through me. Tamara would get me out of there. Tamara appeared and held out her hands toward me. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the same blank look as before and choked on a sob.

  This was not my friend.

  Tam jumped forward and wrapped one hand around my mouth and one over my upper arm. She cut off any way for me to use my gifts or escape. I could probably still breathe fire but that meant burning the hand off my best friend and even though she wasn’t herself at the moment, I was not going to hurt her.

  An annoying laughter sounded behind us and Tam strong-armed me into turning around to face it. I groaned under Tam’s hand. I should have known Laneli would have some part in this whole messed up situation.

  Laneli walked up to us until she was inches from my face. She sneered at me and glanced at Tam with a gleam in her eye. “You know, it took me a while to figure out what happened that day.”

  I wanted to spit fire at her or sing to her and make her walk for miles until she was on the other side of the world, but Tam’s hand prevented me from doing it.

  “Once I figured out your little friend here was a djinn, I just needed to track her down and chant the ancient words,” Laneli explained with a smug smile.

  My eyes widened in horror. Oh, not they did not! My Tamara was a djinn slave now? Tam once told me the difference between djinns and genies was that djinns had to grant unlimited requests and orders if they were enslaved. My heart broke for her. She had spent eighteen years hiding from the world so this would not happen. Guilt weighed me down because Tam would not be there if I didn’t call her to the alley that day.

  Lydia walked up behind her daughter and shouldered her out of the way, so she was the one facing me. “Actually, it was me who tracked her down and spoke the words. Either way, she is ours now.”

  Laneli scowled at her mother
but didn’t say anything. Lydia crooked her finger at us and walked away, leaving Tam to bring me along. We headed back to the concrete room I had appeared in and I tried to go limp or dig in my feet to make it harder to bring me along, but Tam was magically strong. Within a minute I was back in the dim room with dancing water designs reflecting on the walls from the large tank.

  Tam released my mouth and I wasted no time in using it. “Why am I here?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “How long have I been here?”

  Lydia’s eyes lit up in excitement and she faced the tank. “Only a few hours. I run an operation here that tests mythological beings and their capabilities and eventually I convince them to bless my people.” Lydia pinched Laneli’s cheek. “That’s how my little siren got her blessing.”

  My mouth fell open in shock. Laneli’s blessing was forced. How could Lydia even ‘convince’ a myth to bless someone? Memories of the attempted naiad abduction at Myth Blessed Academy came to mind.

  “Are you a Hunter?” I tried to step away from the dangerous woman, but Tam held me in place.

  Lydia scowled. “I am nothing like those vile humans. I collect myths and use them like we should have been doing all these years. What is the point in leaving it to chance when I could control who gets blessed and by which myth?” Lydia shrugged as if it all made sense and she wasn’t a crazy lady.

  Lydia had all the perfect opportunities to get information about myth being locations. She conducted questionnaires of students, although I’m starting to think she only questioned me, and she had access to student files. I needed to get out of there and warn Drakari. She could build an army of myth blessed people if she hadn’t already.

  I shook my head, still confused. “I’m not a myth though, so why am I here?” And where was here?

  Lydia and Laneli gave me a wicked grin. I was not going to like what they said.

  “Take her up there and chain her feet,” Laneli ordered Tamara.

  Tamara stiffened but complied. She dragged me over to the tank as I kicked out and shouted at her to let go. My heart raced, and my body tingled with dread. Tamara hauled me up a set of stairs next to the tank and stood me up on a metal platform above the water.

  “We need to study you and your capabilities, ducky,” Lydia called up to me as Tam shackled my ankles with a heavy chain. “You are the only recorded student to be blessed by two myths. If I can figure out how that happened and what it does to you then I can start blessing my people with more than one myth,” She exclaimed, excited by the possibilities.

  “I’m thinking dragon next for me, mom,” Laneli suggested as she smirked at me.

  My thoughts went to Elliot. He was the only known dragon blessed and a powerful one at that. If Laneli became dragon blessed on top of her siren one, then she would be unstoppable. Did they have a dragon in house? That seemed impossible, but so did having tons of myths locked up and getting them to bless people on command.

  Tam finished chaining me and walked away, leaving me on the platform suspended over calm water.

  Lydia produced a clipboard from behind her back and took out a pen that laid behind her ear. “Test one, underwater tolerance.”

  I heard a click, the platform gave way underneath me, and then I was tumbling into the water. I sucked in a lungful of air before I was submerged but it would not last. The chains dragged me down and soon I was sitting at the bottom of the tank staring out at three blurry figures. My chest constricted and a weight seemed to press me from the inside. My hands shook with fright and panic. I struggled to swim upward toward air, but the chains were too heavy. My hope for survival diminished by the second. My lungs burned until I couldn’t hold it any longer. My mouth opened to suck in air, but water flooded in instead.

  This was it. I was going to die.

  Chapter 16

  Escaping the Zoo

  I expected to die right away but I was still waiting. I floated there, my hair waving around in the water, and waited. A face appeared against the glass showcasing an annoying amount of makeup. I gasped at her sudden appearance then gasped again when I realized that I just sucked in water but could still breathe.

  I could breathe underwater!

  Marion would be so happy to hear about this new development. That is, if she ever got to hear about it.

  Lydia smiled at me with satisfaction and marked something on her clipboard. I may not have drowned but there were more ways Lydia and her evil siren blessed offspring could kill me. I took in another breath of water and couldn’t stop the smile when my lungs filled with air instead.

  My chest tightened suddenly, even though I could still breathe, my hands shook with panic reminding me that my chimera side didn’t like the water. I struggled to swim up again, but the chains pulled me down.

  How long were they going to keep me in the tank?

  My answer came an hour later when purple smoke settled around me and I was transported back in front of Lydia. The chain clanged loudly against the cement floor and water fell off me in streams. The chill hit me hard and I wrapped my arms around myself to contain the escaping warmth.

  Even though that led to the discovery of being able to breathe underwater, I was done with the experiments. I had two powerful gifts and it was time I used one of them.

  The water energy was heightened since I had just been surrounded by it. I opened my mouth to sing, not caring at the moment if my siren ability took away their will. They took mine away by submerging me in the water and they took Tam’s away when they enslaved her.

  One beautiful note escaped before Tam’s hand slapped over my mouth and silenced me. I slumped in defeat. There was no way to escape without burning my friend’s hand off. Lydia was going to pay for using my best friend against me.

  “That was a successful test,” Lydia exclaimed. “Now let’s go test fire.”

  Laneli chuckled nearby which reminded me of Disney villains and their evil laughs. Lydia bent down and unlocked my chains. I was tempted to kick her in the face but that would probably backfire somehow, so I refrained. Lydia opened the door and led us down the same hall we came from earlier. Water left a path behind me as I trudged down the hall and my sneakers squeaked loudly in the emptiness.

  Moans and scrapes against metal sounded as we passed by closed doors further down the hall. Eventually the locked doors turned into cages and I could see all sorts of mythological beings trapped behind bars. Each cage had a name plate on the outside explaining the name and origin of the beings. It was as if we were in a zoo. I started with horror when I realized I was one of the zoo animals.

  A satyr peered out at me through the bars of one cage and his goat legs reminded me of Panda causing a pang of loneliness to pierce my heart. As we continued, I saw strange and gross looking mythological beings that I had never heard of before such as a frightening worm from Mongolia called a Mongolian death worm and a grotesque animal called a bunyip from Australia. Then there were those that I did recognize from stories or myth history class such as a gargoyle, a kelpie, and an Egyptian ammit.

  I stumbled to a stop when I locked eyes with a siren floating in a tank of water. Her blonde hair drifted around her like a halo and her piercing blue eyes seemed to draw me closer. I could imagine how enchanting her songs must be, but I knew from experience that those songs could be dangerous. I wondered if that was the siren that blessed Laneli.

  Tamara propelled me forward again, breaking my eye contact with the siren. Soon, we came up to another door at the end of the hall and Lydia keyed in a code before leading us in. A bed of coals laid in the middle of the floor, spanning five feet by five feet. Lydia flipped a switch nearby and fire sprang up from the coals high into the air. I jumped back as a blast of heat hit my face. I shrunk away from the flames wanting to be far away from whatever test was next. The same aching in my chest that I had in the water returned with a vengeance and my hands shook in fear. This time it was my siren side that recoiled.

  “We have a room for each of the elements to test beings
and blessed humans,” Lydia explained.

  I forced my wide eyes to focus on Lydia instead of the giant fire in the room. “Why are you torturing those myths?” I finally asked.

  Lydia frowned. “I am a scientist. I am doing what the government should have done years ago.” Lydia looked at Tam over my shoulder. “Now, throw her into the fire.”

  I knew the fire wouldn’t hurt me, but I still struggled and pleaded with them. My efforts were useless because Tam was forced to follow orders and Lydia and Laneli didn’t care about their test subject’s feelings. Flames engulfed me and heat filled every pore. Sweat immediately beaded on my skin and the flames licked at my clothes. Just like the water, I was able to breathe normally, and the fire didn’t hurt. It felt like warm feathers tickling my skin.

  Even though it didn’t hurt, I did not want to stick around to find out how long I would be kept there or how many more tests I would be subjected to. Since I was not chained down that time, and the bed of coals had open sides, I was able to stand and jump out of the fire. I knew I would not have long to act so I called on my heightened fire energy and let loose the pressure building in my belly. Fire roared out of my mouth and shrieks came from the direction of Lydia and Laneli. I was sickeningly hoping they got turned to ash.

  I used the distraction to race to the door and flung it open. I knew as soon as Lydia was able to speak, Tam would be on my tail in less than a second. Which meant escape was impossible.

  Changing my plan, I ran to each cage and melted the locks with my fire breath. Once the locks were gone the mythological beings burst from their cages, causing chaos. I had to flatten myself against walls to avoid hooves and talons, but I managed to release over ten beings.

  Purple smoke appeared in front of me and I knew my time was up. Tamara appeared with a group of tall, beefy men behind her. They reminded me of the men that tried to kidnap the naiad at the Academy. I mentally facepalmed. I should have figured it out sooner. Those men weren’t traditional Hunters, they were Lydia’s collection Hunters. That is why the men at the lake were abducting not killing. I wondered if the SMP knew about the two Hunter factions.