by Katie Cherry
When I open my eyes, I am no longer in the cave, and Tzadkiel is nowhere to be seen. I’m in Patrick’s castle. My lungs immediately seem to seize up and refuse to take in air. “Please…” I gasp. “Please… not here… Tzadkiel… please… take me somewhere else…” But there is no response from the absent archangel.
My vision starts to fade as I begin to slide into a full-on panic attack. I sink to my knees on the cold stone floor. Suddenly, I hear footsteps and a familiar voice. My head shoots up at the sound. Patrick. My vision snaps back into clarity and my lungs take in air once more. Patrick… the cause of all this sorrow and pain. What better way to put an end to it all than to put an end to him? I jump up and seem to fly over to him, pinning him easily against the wall. I am strong, powerful. I can do whatever I want to do.
Patrick’s face is one of complete fear. Sweat shines on his brow. “Crystal Dragon… how nice to see you again.”
“Shut up,” I sneer, holding a sword that had appeared out of nowhere to his throat. “It’s time for you to die. After everything you’ve done… you deserve that much and worse.”
“Ah, but you are too good to kill me. Remember the last time you had that opportunity?”
“I’m a changed girl,” I growl, pressing the blade against his skin. A drop of blood rolls down his neck into his shirt. “You did that when you stole my Gifts. I am not the same person anymore.”
“So you think killing me is justice?” he pants nervously.
I hesitate. Is it justice? Yes. …But is there a better way to bring about the Justice the people deserve? A more… benevolent way?
I back away from Patrick, releasing him from the wall. I’m breathing heavily. “Killing you is Justice. But there is also a better way. I’m taking you to my parents. You will be put on trial before the Village. If you are there condemned for your wrongdoings, so be it. But I will not be the one to end your life in cold blood, even if that’s what you would do if our places were reversed.”
I close my eyes, and when I open them again, I am back in the cave with Tzadkiel standing in front of me. I can see a slight smile on his face where the hood doesn’t completely cover. I’m confused and breathing heavily. “What… was that?” I pant.
His smile widens. “You passed. You passed the test of Justice versus Benevolence. You found a balance between the two, even when confronted with your worst enemy. You have earned the Trident,” he finishes, waving his hand. The Trident materializes by my feet. I glance down at it, then back up at the archangel.
“…Thank you,” I say.
He dips his head to me slightly. “Now go, Crystal Dragon, and return Benevolent Justice to the world. Restore the balance.” I blink, and he’s gone.
I carefully reach down and pick up the heavy Trident. The metal is cool in my hand as I heft it and turn back to the door. I found it at last.
<<
Vlad leads Hunter to an old, abandoned store filled with old boxes covered in dust. He is filled with disbelief and disgust. This stupid ‘advisor’ led him astray, wasting time and giving Crystal a head start to the actual location. He growls in frustration.
“Follow me,” Vlad invites as he opens the door. Hunter stalks past him angrily.
“How can this be where he hid the Trident??” he demands.
“The most likely place for the Dragon Hunter to hide the weapon would be in the vault beneath the store,” he patiently explains as he leads the way to the back of the store. “Watch,” he advises as he sweeps his arm over a section of the floor, which then lifts and slides away, revealing a passage.
“…Are you certain this is where the Trident is?” he asks, peering into the darkness of the hole.
“It is my best guess,” he sighs.
“Very well,” Hunter says, and jumps down into the hole, landing in a crouch. Vlad comes down behind him, closing the door above them.
“This way,” he says, walking in the opposite direction of the only light visible.
Ignoring the crazy old man, Hunter walks towards the light. Vlad calls out behind him, but he takes no notice of him and continues forward. He’s suddenly tackled by something from behind. “Arg!” He cries as he falls. “Vlad, what is wrong with you? Get off me!” A hysterical laugh that sounds nothing like Vlad’s sounds by his ear. “Who are you? Get off me! Leave me alone!”
The voice laughs again. “Oh, but why would I do that?” It’s a higher, more mischievous sounding voice than Hunter expected to hear. “We were just beginning to have a little fun! Oh, what wonderful misfortune you came this way!” The hysterical laughing comes again.
“What are you??” Hunter grunts in frustration as he tries to stand. “And why do you sound like a monkey when you laugh?”
The laughter stops abruptly. “Monkey, did you call me?” The creature leaps off his back and lands in front of him, lifting his face with its hands until his face is mere inches from the creature’s. “Do I look like a monkey to you?”
Truthfully, it did look very similar to a monkey. Only instead of hair, it had rough, leathery grey skin and bronze eyes with no pupils. As the monkey-like creature skitteres back a little, Hunter sits up and peers closely at it. It had a long tail like a monkey, and four limbs that were like both arms and legs. It wore bronze cuffs on its ‘wrists,’ and its hands had only three fingers. There were strange, dark markings on its body, which seemed to swirl like smoke.
“What… what are you?” Hunter gasps, standing.
The creature laughs again. “I am Abonsam. I am the spirit of trouble and misfortune. And you, Hunter Dragon, are full of misfortune and seem to cause unfathomable amounts of trouble, for both yourself and others.”
“Excuse me?” Hunter rages.
The Abonsam scrambles around him. “Yes… poor boy, kidnapped by the one you now most admire… yet seem to know not much about, somehow… you embrace evil without even knowing that it is indeed evil which you perform…”
“Shut up, you stupid little beast!” Hunter cries, pulling his sword from its sheath. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Tsk tsk,” the Abonsam continues, perching on his head. “And even now, the misfortune of failing in your task to keep Crystal from the Trident.”
Hunter freezes. “What? What do you know about that?”
The spirit chitters and flies into the air, hovering in front of Hunter’s face, his legs folded like he’s meditating. “Crystal is just down the hall- where Vladimir was leading you- retrieving the Trident as we speak. She is amazing, that one.” Hunter scowls. “Whereas you… ah, the trouble you go through trying to prove yourself. How unfortunate,” it cries in hysteria as it cartwheels through the air. “Such delicious agony,” it crows as it settles to the ground before him once more.
“I don’t have time for this,” Hunter growls, turning to go back the way he came. He only takes a few steps before he runs into an invisible barrier. “What the heck?...”
The Abonsam laughs once more, hands on its stomach. “Oh, silly Dragon Hunter Prince,” it chortles. “You cannot leave without giving me something in return.”
“Why, you stupid little imp! I’ll cut you to ribbons if you DON’T let me go!” He cries, swinging his sword threateningly.
“Ooh! Ooh hoo! Stupid boy! This is not my rule! It’s the rule of this room- of my prison! It is not my choice!” Hunter growls and swings his sword. It passes harmlessly through the Abonsam’s arm. It just sits there and smiles. “Done trying to harm a spirit now, boy?”
Hunter rages. “What do you want?? I have gold, I have magic spells, I have Gifts that I can use to give you whatever you want! So tell me, creature, what do I have to do to get out of here?”
“Hmm,” The Abonsam murmurs, scampering over his body before sitting back. “I don’t want anything that you have.”
“Then how am I supposed to get out of here?” he cries in agony.
“There is still a way!” The spirit laughs. “There is always a way. Even for me
, there is a way for me to escape my prison… although it takes another…”
“So you want me to help you get out? Done. What do I have to do?”
“Do? You do nothing. Do nothing!” It laughs as it suddenly rushes him and hits his chest with an icy cold blast of spirit air. Hunter gasps and collapses to the ground as he feels like his heart freezes. He hears the spirit inside his head. “Now hurry, dumb boy! Run! Get out of this room before we both die! Run!!!”
Hunter staggers to his feet and forces his way through the invisible barrier, which feels more like Jell-O than the wall it had felt like before. Just as he decided he was probably going to suffocate, he finally pushes through and collapses back to the ground. A grey mist oozes out of his pores and condenses into the Abonsam, which leaps around in joy. “Free! Free! Free at last! Now to go join Abonsam brothers! ‘Tis not good to be alone! Bye, dumb boy!” It crows with joy before jumping up and disappearing through the ceiling.
“Chet?” Vlad’s voice reaches the nearly unconscious Hunter’s ears.
“Vlad…” he groans before passing out.
<<
“You got the Trident!” Nora and Thaddeus exclaim at the same time.
I grin. “I got it,” I confirm, holding it tightly. “Now let’s get out of here.”
As Thaddeus leads the way, I share my memories with Nora since it’s faster than telling the story. ”Wow! That’s impressive! I knew you had that in you! After all, how could the Dragongirl not be benevolent and also bring about Justice? That’s practically your calling! It’s part of what makes you the Dragongirl!”
“Wait, what?”
“Oh, um… we Familiars had kind of a prophecy, although nowhere near as clear as the Dragon’s prophecy of you. Ours is old, but it says that when Benevolent Justice is the most needed, the Dragongirl will come, and she will bring back the peace.”
“…And you waited until now to tell me this?”
“Well… honestly, I thought it was more of a tall-tale,” she sheepishly confides. “I didn’t recall it until now.”
Thaddeus turns to me as we emerge from a tunnel leading out of the underground room I was just in. “I assume you are going to go return that to the Mermaids now?”
“Um…”
“Don’t even try to lie to me,” he says, his stormy grey eyes twinkling. “You’re wearing waterproof clothing, plus I know you. You want to hurry off and go save the world while your parents are gone and can’t put in a word edgewise.”
“I’ll be safe,” I promise. “They won’t hurt me. …In fact, they might even help me.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Help you? How?”
“…Gale the Gold has a theory that the Trident might be able to help me… regain my Gifts.” Thaddeus’s jaw drops in surprise. I press on. “And if it works on me, then it might also work on everyone who’s lost their Gifts,” I add, hoping to convince him to let me go- although I’m going no matter what he says.
“Why that’s… amazing…” He looks at me seriously. “Go. I cannot guarantee that I won’t tell your parents what you’re up to, but I will do what I can to stall and get you some time before they try and follow. I’ll see if I can get Chet to help me stall them as well,” he adds with a wink.
“Thank you so much,” I say gratefully as I turn to Nora. “Um… are you sure you can come with me underwater?”
“Unfortunately, my magical abilities have not progressed that far yet. I will remain with Thaddeus until you return and also aid in stalling your parents. …Good luck, Princess.”
“Thank you, Nora,” I say in appreciation. “The fastest way to get to them and back is probably by using the Trident,” I murmur.
“Do you know how to use it?” Thaddeus asks incredulously.
“Yes… I just need a minute to remember the password,” I say. “You start on stalling my parents. I’ll be fine.”
“Very well. Good luck, Crystal,” he says, giving me a quick hug before hurrying off with Nora following.
I turn to the Trident. What was the password again? I think the Mermaid King said that it was the name of the one who made it… I think it started with a D? “Demeter,” I suddenly remember. At the mention of the name, the Trident warms in my hand and develops a green glow about it once more. A warm buzz of energy flows from it into my fingers, which then travels throughout my body until I feel like I’m vibrating with excess power.
“Take me to the Mermaid King,” I command it, tapping the ground. Everything around me swirls and changes. I’m underwater once more.
“Crystal Dragon. Long time no see,” says a familiar voice.
I turn and see the Mermaid King. “Oh, good!” I gasp. “You’re alive.”
“Yes… it appears that I am,” he smiles, swimming closer to me, his rainbow-like scales shimmering in the underwater light. “As are you… yet you appear concerned. What is it, child? Come, tell me everything over lunch. You are always welcome at my table, you know.”
I smile and follow him to the large table where I met him the first time, hope filling my heart for the first time in a while. My plan might actually work. Maybe I’ll actually be able to do this.
<<
Hunter wakes up in the Dragons’ palace. He groans and rolls off the bed he’s lying on, but falls to the floor. He’s astounded by his weakness. A spirit residing in my body shouldn’t have this kind of toll on me. Of course… I had also used the Eye just previous to that, so apparently, the two combined are extremely taxing.
“Oh, Chet, darling!” The Queen cries, coming up to him as he struggles to sit up on the floor. “Alexander! Come in here and help me with Chet! He fell off the bed!”
At that, the King rushes in. “Oh, poor boy,” he says as he picks him up and puts him back on the bed.
“Um, I’m okay…” he assures them, confused at the love they seem to have for him- well, Chet.
Pearl won’t have any of it. “Matilda! He needs some of your special hot chocolate!”
“Coming right up, my Queen!” the cook calls as she hurries up, holding a tray with a pot and a cup on it. She quickly pours the hot chocolate into the cup and hands it to Hunter. He glances down at the gently steaming liquid.
“Um, what is this for?”
“It will help to warm that icy skin of yours,” she explains, “and help you to regain your strength.” This sounds good to him, so he carefully lifts the cup to his lips and takes a sip, and then a gulp.
His eyelids then begin to feel heavy. “Hey, I don’t want… to sleep…” He protests, yawning.
Alexander gently takes the cup from his hands. “It’s alright, you’ll be better in no time,” he assures Hunter as he drifts back to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Secrets
“Angela?!” The mental probe pierces the empty air as the raindrops slow and eventually cease to fall altogether. “Angela, where are you?!” The source of the cries is a small fairiye, which flits around anxiously, peering into stores and even under bushes.
“…Auna?” A weak sounding voice whispers.
“Angela!” A flood of relief hits the small fairiye as she zooms over to the source of the voice. “Angela, what happened?” Auna asks in concern, placing one small hand on the girl’s cheek. “You were right behind me! At least, I thought you were.”
Angela slowly sits up, leaning against the wall of the store behind her. “I… I don’t know,” she murmurs sleepily. “I was following you when I bumped into someone… the next thing I know, I wake up from lying on the ground.”
“…Anything else?” Auna presses, searching her from top to bottom. She looks fine…
“Um, my brain is kinda fuzzy… it’s a little hard to think,” Angela offers.
“Hmm.”
“Do you know what happened to me?” she asks the fairiye balancing on her knee.
“You had your memories erased,” Auna replies. “That much I’m certain of. It was probably a Dragon Hunter who did it. If I kne
w how he did it, I could find a way to reverse it…”
“Do you think T would know?”
“Possibly,” Auna says, lifting back into the air. “But we can worry about that later. First, we need to get you home.” Angela stands and takes a deep breath. “…Are you alright?” Auna asks.
Angela smiles grimly. “I guess when I signed up for this war, I didn’t really think I’d be in any danger. I’m not in Zilferia on the main front. I thought I would be safe here.” She gives a terse laugh. “I guess it’s time to start acting like a soldier in this war. It’s time to step up and play a bigger role in this.”
“And I’ll be right here to help you!” Auna offers.
Angela smiles. “Good. I can’t do this alone.” She straightens her jacket. “Time to get started.”
<<
Bryce and John crouch on the roof near Angela as she begins walking home, watching her. “I doubt she knows where the boy is,” John warns.
“Yes, but she has his phone number,” Bryce murmurs as he begins creeping down the roof to keep up with Angela. “So once she calls him, you just need to work some magic and follow the signal from her phone to his, leading us right to the boy.”
John lets out his breath in a huff. “That’s easier said than done,” he complains.
Below them, Angela stops. “Before I go home, I should check and make sure Nathan’s okay,” she says to the fairiye accompanying her, pulling out her small blue phone.
“Get ready,” Bryce whispers.
John nods tersely and outstretches his arms toward the girl. He quietly begins chanting. “Langi sehtwo llof… yobeh temwoh shoitan itseds tio tlangiseh twollof… langi sehtwo llof…”
Angela holds the phone up to her ear after dialing the number. It rings, but Nathan doesn’t answer it. “Hey Nathan, it’s Angela again. I was just checking to make sure you were alright… I heard there was a large fight today. I… was just worried, that’s all. Um, call me back when you get this.” She ends the call and sighs.
Bryce turns to John, who stops chanting and lowers his arms. “Did you find it?” He whispers urgently.
