by Helen Bell
Violent weather forced us to stay inside the hut for the next five days, at least according to Kelly’s calculation. While we’d stayed away from the heavy rain and wind, I’d been nursing Buster’s leg and sharing my food with him. Kelly had reproached me for splitting it with him. She also hadn’t liked the idea that he was coming with us back to our dimension, claiming he’d slow us down and become a liability. Her arguments against taking him with us didn’t matter, though; leaving Buster in Ice Prison was out of the question.
When the storms finally ended and Buster’s leg’s condition had improved, we returned to hiking. As we progressed through the forest, I became weaker and sicker. At some point, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to climb a slope, but eventually, I did. I stopped at the top of the hill, my hands trembling as pain racked my body. Sweat trickled along my brow, my damp hair plastered against my face. Something was wrong with me. Very wrong.
“Kelly, I … I …” Everything around me spun into a whirl. I collapsed to the ground, my knees too weak to support my weight. The magic pulling me toward the portal grew stronger, urging me to keep going. Every fiber of my being screamed to move toward the gate. I rose on unsteady legs. They wobbled, then gave way, and I fell again.
Looking worried, Kelly said, “You have to drink to keep yourself hydrated.” She grabbed my bag and unzipped it, pulling out a bottle of water. “Then we’ll continue.”
My brain ordered my hand to take the bottle from her. However, it just wouldn’t respond. Neither would my legs. It was more than exhaustion. “I can’t move. I’m paralyzed from the neck down. What the hell is happening to me?” I panicked.
She knelt beside me. “Calm down, stress will make things worse. You shouldn’t have shared your food with the dog; now you don’t have enough energy. We can’t afford to stop, Sydney. We gotta keep moving. You’re getting sicker. We have to locate the portal—like now, before it’s too late. I’ll carry you, just tell me where to …” Her voice died away as her face twisted with exertion when she tried to sweep me into her arms.
“What in the name of God? I can’t lift you. It’s like you weigh tons.” She gazed down at me, confusion on her face. “Your skin, something’s happening to it.” Her eyes went to my hand. “And the black magic. Look at it.” I moved the only part I could, my head.
Glued to the ground, I stared down. The number on my palm glowed white on and off while spidery black veins started to run under my skin, spreading throughout my body and coloring my arms and legs black.
I shook my head with shock. “Oh my God, what is that thing doing to me?”
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, an air-raid siren pierced the air. Kelly’s face froze in an expression of horror before she frantically tried to pull me up once more but with no success.
On her third attempt, I stopped her. “No, don’t. Leave me here. Run and look for a place to hide. Take Buster with you.”
“Wait, give me a second. There must be a way to pick you up.” Her stare moved around, seeking something that might help.
“You don’t have a second. The sun’s coming up. Take Buster with you and go, hurry.” I raised my voice over the siren. “I’ll be fine. The tattoo will protect me,” I lied. The black magic protected only itself and my left palm. Somehow, I doubted my hand would be the first part of my body that the gargoyles would tear apart.
“You don’t have much time,” I said. Being in a clearing, I had a full view of the sky. It became brighter. If she didn’t rush off, she’d die and so would Buster. Getting to her feet, she hesitated. “Kelly, you gotta go with Buster. Now!”
She stomped her foot. “Dammit! This can’t be happening.” Her stare went to the sky, and then she turned and ran into the trees.
Buster edged over, grabbing my tank top with his teeth and pulling back, attempting to drag me after Kelly had gone.
“No, Buster, I can’t be moved. Go after Kelly.”
The siren stopped, and the sun was in the sky. We were in the center of a large clearing, exposed to the gargoyles.
“It’s an order. Leave!” The sunlight touched us, and loud bloodcurdling howls filled the Jungle. Shit! “Listen to me, you have to hide. Bad creatures are coming here. Please, go,” I pleaded, hoping he understood me. He didn’t move.
My heart hammered against my ribs as the screeching of the gargoyles became louder—closer.
The tattoo ceased to glow, and the blackness in my veins faded away until the color of my skin returned. I gave another try at getting up, but I couldn’t. I was still paralyzed. Powerless. We were about to meet our deaths. Never had I experienced such a terrifying moment as this. I was drowning in helplessness, scared for Buster and me.
The wind shook the leaves in the trees. The sound mingled with the eerie animalistic screams approaching us. I turned my head to look at Buster. His head rested between his front legs, his gaze on me. I blinked, and a tear escaped my eye, falling on the ground. He inched closer and put his head on my shoulder as if to comfort me. Then he pulled his gaze up and jumped to his feet. Looking at the sky, he snarled and barked furiously. My attention shifted from him to the ten-foot gargoyle flying in circles high above us. Scary as hell, it had leathery wings and alligator-like skin in an ashy gray color. Its legs were plump and ended in cloven hooves, eyes fixed on us.
“Buster, it’s an order, you hear me? Run! RUN! RUN! NOW!” Screaming from the bottom of my lungs was pointless, he just kept barking at the gargoyle. I tried to force my hand to move and pull out my gun to shoot at the creature. Another useless thing to try to do; like Buster, my body wouldn’t obey.
An icy wave of terror rolled over me as the creature dove toward us. That was when Buster finally listened to me. He turned around and sprinted toward the trees. A mix of relief and fear tangled in my belly until he made a U-turn at the edge of the clearing. Perplexity dominated my emotions. What was he doing? He raced back toward me. His speed picked up, and when he came closer, he leaped over me, and something incredible happened.
In midair, his fur melted away, first from his head then from the rest of his body, which grew longer and into a different shape. His skin became scaly and blue. Wings sprang from his back, several times longer than his body. When his new deadly razor-sharp teeth sunk deep into the gargoyle, whose hand was a second from slashing my chest with its talon, Buster was fully transformed into a magnificent blue dragon—the size of an airplane. His glittering golden eyes peeked down at me from above before he took the screeching creature with him and flew upward. A strong gust of wind from Buster’s wings blasted my hair, air whistling past my body. Far away from me, he threw the beast in the air and breathed a jet of flame, burning the gargoyle alive. Its corpse fell from a height of about three-hundred feet and crashed somewhere in the forest.
While Buster killed another one in the sky, eight gargoyles, having the same appearance as their dead friends, emerged into the clearing. They drew closer and surrounded me. Still paralyzed, I couldn’t run away. Buster quickly dove for me. When he landed next to me, his wings expanded around my body, covering me protectively. He heaved a gut-wrenching roar that made the ground shake, then snorted. A puff of dark smoke rose from his nostrils. He lowered his head to the gargoyles’ eye level and looked at them one by one as if to warn them: come any closer, and you’ll die.
The gargoyles had just lost their title. They were no longer the king of the Jungle. And not being stupid, they acknowledged it too, retreating outside the clearing. Yet Buster was still in full combat mode, maybe waiting to see if they’d return to attack. When it was a safe bet that they wouldn’t, he relaxed and pulled his wings into his sides, and I had a better view of his glory.
The scales were deep blue, including his horns, and gleamed in the sunlight. A line of spikes ran down his spine, from the base of his head to the tip of his coiled tail. The word “terrifying” came to mind as I watched him, feeling like a tiny ant next to him. His long neck curved as he brought his head close to min
e. Heat caressed the skin of my face. Was I dreaming? Was I hallucinating? Was I dead?
I remembered Audrey had told me that dragons were soul rippers.
My brow knitted at the giant beast next to me. “Did I die?” I whispered.
His tail moved to touch my leg. With the connection, the word “no” suddenly materialized in the air, right before my eyes.
“Whoa! You talk, sort of. What’s going on? Why were you in a dog’s body?”
The black letters in front of me dissolved, and others appeared: a human aircraft entered this dimension. It crashed into me while I was flying in my true form. The severity of the impact caused my life energy to leave my body. Without this energy, the dragon’s body cannot exist. It burst into flames in the black sky while the plane plummeted. On the ground, I used the dead body of the canine as a temporary vessel because our life energy must be contained inside a body.
“What are you doing in Ice Prison?” I asked.
All the words faded away like smoke evaporating into the air, only to be replaced by new ones: to keep the ratio between bad and good on Earth, we sometimes collect black or white souls from other places. Places where the balance of good and bad is not essential. Then, we import them to Earth. Without memory, a tabula rasa, their souls are inserted into fetuses.
“I don’t get it; if all this time you could’ve transformed back into a dragon, why didn’t you do it sooner? Why did you allow the vampires to hurt you?”
Two new paragraphs formed in the air: the black souls attacked my vessel a few moments before my life energy had revived it. Giving life can gravely weaken my kind. It renders us confused for a certain amount of time. Therefore, I was unable to create my true form from the dead canine at that time.
After you healed the vessel, my energy regained its strength, and I could transform back into my real form. However, I did not wish to leave you unprotected in a place full of black souls.
“Thank you for that. I’d have been dead if it wasn’t for you,” I said, then wondered, “Are you fully healed now?”
The words in front of me dissolved into the air, and his answer replaced them: some of my abilities are temporarily gone. I cannot see if a soul is black or white. I can only guess it.
His massive head snapped up to the sky, and he suddenly spread his wings, flying upward. The force from his wings sent out a strong wind and erased his words in front of me.
Lying on my back, unable to move, I squinted against the sun’s glare. Three gargoyles were circling above about to attack. Killing them took the dragon mere minutes, and then he fluttered down to me.
His tail touched my leg again, and the next message in the air was: we have limited time, little human. My brothers have already sensed my life energy because I am in my true form. They are coming for me. I must leave with them and face my punishment for breaking the law.
“What law?” I asked.
The sentences in front of my eyes disappeared before his new words appeared.
My kind’s laws. Two of them, I have broken: I am forbidden to save or reap souls that are not on my list. And I must let my life energy block my emotions. After you eliminated the black souls who attacked my new vessel, I prevented the emotions in my life energy from being blocked. I was grateful to you, and I wanted to protect you.
The words vanished from the air at once, and my stare followed his. In the sky, six dragons came into view. One after the other, about the same size as the dragon next to me, they flew down toward us and hit the floor, filling the large clearing and folding their wings at their sides. There was a series of thuds. The ground vibrated on impact and shuddered like an earthquake. The trees around us swayed and leaves rained down.
Each beautiful scaly beast had a different color: red, gray, gold, purple, black, and white. The red dragon moved to us.
The one who used to be Buster curled a wing protectively over my body. No words materialized in the air. The communication between the two dragons seemed to be telepathic. In the next few minutes, all I heard was the screeches of creatures in the forest. After the silent conversation ended, the red dragon turned, opened its wings, batting them to regain altitude, and flew away. The others followed suit, but not the blue dragon near me. He lifted his wing from me.
“What happened?”
The answer to my question appeared in the air: Garil allowed me to remain with you until the sun disappeared. Then I will face the consequences of my actions.
Garil? So they had names, and Garil belonged to the red dragon. “What’s your name?”
I read the new words that were forming in front of me: I am called Vakan.
“Vakan, I really hope they don’t punish you because of me. It’s not fair; you don’t deserve—” Suddenly, a pins-and-needles sensation crept into my arms. I tried to flex my fingers into fists and succeeded. “Oh my God, I can move my hands again.”
I lifted an arm, then twisted my torso. I tried to move my legs next, but they didn’t work yet.
The air was empty of words until I moved upright with a groan.
The black magic on your palm is the reason behind your temporary paralysis. It was not your sickness. You are unwell because of your soul. It is sick.
I guessed he was right. Despite partly regaining the feeling in my body, the weakness was still there, and the simple act of sitting upright hurt like hell. Was the environment in the Jungle making my soul sick? Unfortunately, Vakan didn’t have an answer for that or for why the tattoo had acted the way it had. Millions of other questions flooded my mind, but a severe headache forced me to stop talking and lay down.
Rest, little human. Vakan’s words formed in front of me. Then, I closed my eyes and dozed off.
A loud thump interrupted my sleep. The ground shook beneath me as I woke up and saw in the clearing a silver dragon tucking its wings against its back. I sat up and looked at Vakan next to me, then up at the sky. It was night. The gargoyles were back in their caves, and the silver dragon was here to take Vakan with him, but until Kelly emerged from the trees, he wouldn’t take off.
When she stepped into the clearing, he created in the air the words: goodbye, little human. And they both flew away.
I watched Vakan while I got to my feet. My body returned to function. Gazing down, I checked the tattoo. The number had dropped to 620. But at least it was not glowing or painting my veins black.
The burning desire to walk toward the portal rushed back, almost as intense as the pain in my body. Would I manage to reach the gate? I’d better as I had to get out of this nightmarish place.
Chapter 26
“I repeat, those things, those huge things that just took off were Soul Rippers, Sydney. Dragons.” Kelly’s voice was almost a shout, her expression asking, “Why aren’t you shocked like me?”
“I know they’re Soul Rippers.” I was short on words. The need to reach the gate was stronger than the need to talk. Although my body had no energy, I picked up my bag and headed into the trees.
“What were they doing here? And what happened with the tattoo? You were paralyzed, and now you’re not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re okay, but to tell you the truth when the night was back, and I left the tree house I was in, I was certain you didn’t survive.” She paused and swept her eyes around the clearing. “The dog, where is it? Was it eaten?”
“No, Buster was the Soul Ripper. It’s complicated, but long story short, the plane crashed into Vakan, the blue dragon. The dog died, and Vakan entered his dead body. Then, when the gargoyles were out, he had to reveal his true form to me in order to save me,” I answered as I hiked toward the portal.
“The Soul Ripper was in the dog’s body the whole time? And it stayed to keep you safe? The dragon actually communicated with you? How?” she asked, coming after me.
I explained how while we strode through the forest. Every time my body told me to take a break, something inside me forced me to continue.
My legs kept moving until a feminine voice whispered
in my head, “I’m here, human. I can feel you … so close.”
“Whoa, someone just said something in my head.” My words brought a smile and excitement to Kelly’s face—not the reaction I’d expected.
“You heard her. At last! It’s right here!” Kelly’s voice changed. It suddenly had an accent I couldn’t place.
She grabbed my arm, holding me in place.
“Kelly? What the hell? Let me go!” I tried to jerk away, but her grip was an iron shackle.
“My apologies, Sydney, but I have to give you to Serena.” The accent got thicker.
“Serena? What are you talking about?” Alarmed and befuddled, I fought against her hold. Her incredible strength was equivalent to Gideon’s. A Newborn, she was not. What gives?
“Don’t resist. It will only make it more painful for you.”
I stopped twisting in her grip. “What’s going on? Let go of my arm.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? And what’s the deal with the accent?”
“I’m Mayet, daughter of Anen, one of The Original Rulers. His son, Djar, is my brother.”
“Djar? The US Ruler?” I couldn’t contain my shock.
“He is not the real Ruler. I am,” she corrected and explained, “Before females of my kind lost their rights and became slaves, I lived with my brother in the same house where the Tara Stone was stored. One night, young and curious, we sneaked into my father’s chamber and found the stone. It didn’t react to Djar’s touch, but to mine, it came to life, glowing and whispering to me, ‘You were born to rule.’
“My father was behind us when it occurred and was furious that the rock would dare to choose a female to be a Ruler. He couldn’t bear the notion that his son would not succeed him, and out of rage, he ordered vampire females stripped of their rights. Then he sold my mother and me, turning us into slaves. He announced to the other Rulers that the stone glowed at Djar’s touch, and they didn’t even ask to see it happen. Anen had a lot of power, and they believed him.
