by Mandi Oyster
The menace radiating off Draconian is like a thousand pinpricks on my bare skin. “Kill him,” he orders the black dragon.
As soon as the words leave his mouth, the strength and love that I sense in Cody’s aura sizzles, then fades into nothingness. The light vanishes from his eyes. The flames engulfing me extinguish themselves, and I fall to the ground in a heap. I clutch my chest. My heart shatters. The slivers tear through me, shredding me.
“Oh,” Draconian’s voice is heavy with sarcasm, “I thought you were going to fight me. I thought you were going to kill me.”
“Just kill me—put me out of my misery.” My voice sounds lifeless. All the fight flees from me. “I don’t want to live in a world without Cody.”
“I thought I already made that clear to you.” His voice turns condescending. “I’m not about to kill my newest pet. You will be my apprentice. In time, you will get over the loss of this insignificant boy, and you will learn all I have to offer. You will come to see the allure of power and immortality.”
My mind feels muddled. I know he’s trying to control me, but I no longer have the desire to stop him. Maybe under his control, I won’t feel this pain—maybe under his control, I will be numb. Right now, I feel like my heart has exploded and with it, my will to survive disappeared. How can I live without Cody?
I don’t fight Draconian, but for some reason, he can’t control me. He growls in frustration.
“Take them,” I scream. “Take my memories. Take my pain. You promised.” I curl into a ball, tucking my legs into my chest. I stare at Cody’s body, willing it to move, willing him to breathe.
Draconian reaches for my mind again. When he can’t get in, the pain that overtakes me is fierce and relentless. I’m not paralyzed—I could scream—instead, I lie there silently. Tears stream down my cheeks.
“Fight back.” He kicks me in the stomach, rattling the shards left behind when my heart broke.
I don’t respond, hoping if I make him mad enough, he’ll kill me.
“Would you like your other friends to suffer the same fate as Cody?” His voice is soft, but menace boils under the surface.
What a friend I am—I’d forgotten all about Samantha and Dan. They have to be terrified. “Just let them go. You won. I won’t fight anymore. You didn’t kill me, but you took my life … you took everything I was living for.”
“No, I don’t think I’ll let them go. I would much rather have you fight for them.” An evil smile lights up his face.
I want to give up—to lie there and die—but, how can I with my friends’ lives in danger? Is there some way for them to escape death … for me to escape Draconian?
“Let them go!” I jump to my feet. “I’ll go with you willingly once they are free.”
“Do you really think you are in a position to negotiate?” Rage emanates from him.
“Actually, I do.” My confidence makes him hesitate.
“I will let one of them go,” he responds after a tension-filled pause. “Then, when you are in my dungeon, I’ll release the other.”
“That’s the wrong answer.” My legs shake, but I stand in front of him, holding my ground. “They will be healed by me before I go anywhere with you. Your time is running out. Decide!”
He glances at the dragons carrying my friends. “Release the girl.”
Samantha falls to the ground without making a sound. Her body is limp. I start toward her but stop. I have to stand firm. “What about Dan?” Sparks flicker on my fingertips, lifting my hair. I rise off the ground, hovering above Draconian.
Sweat beads on his forehead, and his eyes dart around the clearing. “Drop him.” He waves his hand toward the dragon. Dan’s body crashes to the ground.
I fly toward them, knowing I’ll only have one chance. If Draconian suspects anything, his dragons will kill my friends. They are far enough apart that I can’t reach both of them at once. I kneel down beside Samantha, grab her hand, and teleport to Dan’s side. Before the dragons realize what’s happening, I have hold of Dan and teleport back to my room.
Fighting to keep my thoughts from wandering, I heal Samantha and Dan. Then, without saying a word to them, I teleport back to the battlefield. Draconian and his dragons are still there.
Cody lies lifeless on the ground. Hoping to go unnoticed, I teleport to him. As soon as I reappear, pain tears through my body. I collapse.
Draconian laughs. “You’re so predictable.” He saunters closer, smirking as fire burns me from the inside. “I knew you couldn’t leave the boy’s body behind.”
Lava burns through my veins, melting me. Sweat beads on my face. I force myself onto my hands and knees. The fire within surges as I crawl to Cody’s side and drop onto the ground next to him.
I wrap my arms around him. His skin already carries the paleness of death. Laying my head on his chest, a sob tears through me, catching in my throat. I squeeze my eyes shut and teleport back to my room.
Samantha and Dan gasp when they see me with his body. “I couldn’t leave him there,” I explain. I sit on the floor cradling Cody in my arms, rocking back and forth as sobs cleave through my body.
Pain slashes my heart. Cody is dead. He’ll never hold me in his arms again, never try to protect me, never open his beautiful blue eyes. Grief devastates me. Every fragment of my broken heart screams in agony. The force takes my breath away.
“Dacia … Dacia.” Samantha wraps her arm around my shoulders, but I won’t let go of Cody.
“Dacia.” How can I be hearing his voice? “Dacia, wake up.”
Cody wiped the tears from my eyes. “What is it, Dacia? Where are you hurt?”
“I … I’m not. I’m fine now.” I threw my arms around his neck, pulling his mouth down on mine. I planned to never let him go.
Samantha cleared her throat. “Uh, not to interrupt, but would you mind telling us what your dream was about?”
Cody tried to pull away, but I clung to him, not willing to be separated from him.
“Dacia, it’s okay.” He entwined his fingers with mine and lifted them to his mouth.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Cody died. It was so real.” Rubbing my hand along his jaw, a lump formed in my throat. “I thought I would never see you again.”
“I’m sorry, Dacia,” Samantha said. “That had to be terrible.”
“I can’t imagine losing Samantha,” Dan said quietly.
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard, trying to force my emotions down. “I really don’t want to think about it. It hurts even though he’s standing here in my arms.”
“Sleep better.” Samantha crawled back under her covers.
“It’s okay.” Cody brushed his fingers through my hair. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know you don’t plan to, but I’m scared.” My whole body trembled. “I’m not ready to face him, but I’m ready to get this over with. I’m tired of being scared.”
“Next week … it will all be over by this time next week.” He kept running his hands through my hair and along my arms, trying to soothe me. “I’ll be back to sleeping in my room. Then a coupla weeks later, we’ll be back at home for the rest of the summer. It’s almost over.”
“I hope you’re right.” I sighed. “I wish I had your confidence.”
Chapter 36
Kill Or Be Killed
Wednesday … only days remained until I either died or killed my first person—what a choice. No wonder my stomach was a ball of nerves.
I was tempted to skip classes for the rest of the week, but if I was fortunate enough to survive, I’d have way too much to make up. If Draconian killed me, the others would miss enough days of school because of my funeral—if they could find my body and prove I was dead and not a runaway or something. My friends would know the truth, but nobody else would believe them.
“Don’t think about it,” I said to myself, but how could I not think about it? Impending doom … who wouldn’t think about it?
Groaning, I threw my covers off. Astronomy started in a little over an hour. I climbed down from my loft and woke the others.
“How’re you?” Cody stifled a yawn.
“I’m tired.” I rummaged through my closet, looking for something to wear, settling on sage capris and a tan shirt. “I didn’t sleep well. I was afraid I’d dream about you dying again.” Even though I was done in the closet, I kept my back to him. “I couldn’t bear that.”
“You sure you wanna go?”
“She’s already skipped too many classes.” Samantha turned away from the sink, folded her arms over her chest, and tapped her foot.
He walked up behind me, his steps cushioned by the carpet, and lifted me to my feet. “I’ll try to keep you awake then.”
“Thanks.” I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist. “It’d suck to have nightmares in front of the whole class.”
d
I was glad Cody made me that promise. Every time he saw my eyelids droop, he kicked my foot.
I didn’t take notes, didn’t hear Professor Caiman, didn’t even register the other students. I would’ve been better off skipping class. Cody probably would’ve learned more without me there, too.
When we got out in the fresh air, I woke up a little, but I was still dragging when I felt Draconian’s presence. He’s watching us again, I thought to Aurelia. I can’t fight him today.
Pick up the pace a little … but nothing too obvious, she responded. I think he is just doing surveillance.
Relief washed over me when we got back to the dorm and I could let my guard down. I sat down on the couch with Cody and put my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer. “Go to sleep, Dacia,” he whispered as he caressed my arm. He laid his head on mine, and I felt protected. Sleep was inevitable.
“Dacia.” Cody sounded far away. “Dacia.” His voice was closer now. “Dacia, wake up.”
I dragged myself back into reality. My eyes were heavy with sleep. I was still curled up on the couch next to Cody.
“Did you sleep okay?” He smiled down at me.
“Mmm-hmm,” I answered. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost two. We’re skipping class. I hope that’s all right with you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” If we were skipping class, I wondered why he bothered waking me up.
“I didn’t think you’d want to sleep all day—I was afraid that if you did, you wouldn’t be able to sleep again tonight.”
Now, I wondered if he could read my mind. “I probably shouldn’t. I didn’t mean to sleep this long, anyway.”
“I wasn’t sure … but my stomach decided. I’m starving.”
“Okay.” I laughed. “Let’s go feed you.”
We walked to Sedum. After getting our food, we sat at a table looking out at the greenspace. Several students lay on the grass, soaking up the sun or napping. Some played catch, and others had their noses buried in books.
While we ate, I asked, “How did you talk Samantha into letting me sleep … letting me skip class?”
“It wasn’t easy.” He took a long drink of lemonade. “She thought you should go, but you were sleeping so peacefully—you don’t do that very often—so she finally gave up.”
“I’m glad. I feel better now.”
“You need sleep before …” He pushed his food around on his plate, careful not to look at me. “You have to, uh … you have to beat him.”
“I hope so, Cody … but I’m not sure if I can.”
“Well, I can’t live without you. I’m sure of that.”
“And, I don’t know if I can die. But … death would probably be better than being tortured, imprisoned, and ending up as his apprentice,” I said in a detached voice.
“Don’t say that, Dacia!” He slammed his fist down on the table for emphasis. “Don’t even think it!” His tone was harsh. Cody never let his temper get out of control. When I looked at him, I realized he wasn’t mad. His face was pale, and fear washed the vibrancy from his eyes.
“I … I …” Reaching across the table, I covered his hand with mine. “I wouldn’t try to die. I would try to free myself—no matter how long it took.”
“I’m sorry, Dacia.” He turned his hand, twining our fingers.
“It’s okay. I know you’re scared. So am I.”
“I wish I could take your place.” He looked out the window, then back at me. “I can’t stand to see you go through this. I hate not keeping you safe.”
“This is my life. We both need to learn to accept it.”
“Sure.”
d
Wednesday and Thursday passed without bringing any new revelations. I longed to have an epiphany, but I was still clueless as to how to defeat Draconian and keep my friends safe.
“Hopefully, they’ll survive this, even if I don’t,” I said aloud. But, in the darkest regions of my mind, I knew all our lives were in danger.
Chapter 37
Hardening My Heart
The wind howls, bolstered by my grief. Lightning tears through the sky, and fat drops pelt the ground.
Draconian stands above me. His robe and long beard cling to his body, but his eyes sparkle with delight.
The lifeless bodies of my friends litter the hillside. Dragons perch beside them, bowing their heads against the storm.
“Why?” I ask through my sobs. “Why … why them? Why like this?”
“You know why.” He waves his hand at the sky, and the rain slows. Looking at me, he crinkles his brow, then turns to the sky again. “You were warned. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
Hatred fills my body … seeping from my pores. My heart hardens. What’s the point of love when everything ends in death? Why should I care about anybody but me? As these thoughts occur to me, I feel myself growing stronger. The storm swirls around us, picking up in intensity until Draconian stumbles back against the wind. I’m not a fragile little girl any longer. Like the tempest, I’m a force to be reckoned with.
The world took everything from me—my future with Cody is gone. In that moment, I understand killing. I understand evil. I’m empty inside. Why shouldn’t everybody feel the same way as me? Why should I have to go through this alone? Death is inevitable for most … why put it off?
“Teach me,” I yell at him. “Teach me everything you know!”
A gold dragon lands beside me. “No!” Her beautiful voice sounds tortured.
I turn toward the beast. Hatred narrows my eyes as I stare into hers. “I control you now. You will do as I say.”
The dragon’s eyes glaze over, and her essence combines with mine. Her strength surges through my veins. My blood feels like liquid fire. I’m powerful and alive.
How Draconian must feel controlling fifteen dragons! I envy him. I want more … I want to feel that power. I want to take them from him.
“Dacia, come to the castle with me.” Draconian reaches his hand out. “I will teach you everything; you will be the most powerful magician ever.”
As I turn to go with him, I see Cody’s face. It’s twisted in fear and pain … the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. My heart tears. He would’ve hated for me to end up like this.
“No!” I scream.
“Dacia, it’s okay. It’s just a dream,” Cody said. He traced his fingers along my cheek, leaving a trail of electricity in their wake.
I sat up and hugged him. “You’re alive.”
Samantha looked at me from her loft. Her lips were pinched together in an imitation of a smile. “It was just a dream.”
“He killed all of you this time. I can’t let it happen.”
“You won’t let that happen.” Dan’s voice came from somewhere below us and was filled with a confidence I didn’t share. “You’ll keep us safe.”
“I’ll try, but unless I figure something out soon, I have no idea how to defeat him.”
After the room had been quiet for a few minutes, I said, “We should get back to sleep.”
“You sure?” Cody asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wouldn’t be going back to sleep. Too many unanswered questions ran through my brain.
Cody cupped my face in his hands and kissed my forehead. “Try to sleep,” he whispered.
Once the others were asleep, I allowed myself to think about my dream. I had to think of it that way … as a dream. It couldn’t have been a premonition—could it? I couldn’t turn out like that no matter what happened. Ending up like Draconian would be a fate worse than death.
I’m going to have to kill him. My stomach reeled at the thought, but I couldn’t see any other way out. As long as my friends lived, I would find a way to deal with the torment.
Chapter 38
Dreams Of The Future
Sitting on the floor by the couch, I contemplated skipping classes. It could be my last day of classes ever, but I decided I wasn’t going. I rested my head by Cody’s, watching him sleep. He looked peaceful. The lines of tension that had marked his face lately smoothed out. His tousled hair made him look boyish.
My touch was gentle, to keep from scaring him, as I caressed his face and ran my fingers through his hair. I wanted to take him and run away from this, but I knew Draconian would find me no matter where I went. There was no escaping my destiny.
“Cody.” My voice was soft so as not to wake the others.
“Mmm, morning, Dacia.” He pulled me up onto the couch with him.
