by Bryan Young
The show continued on for a few minutes while the three teens watched in awe. The small pond had one more secret to share. Suddenly, the water around the dancing light dissipated and revealed a silver dragon blowing multicolored fire into the air. The large beast had a serpentine body with four bird-like legs, a mint-green mane that extended down its body, rear-facing horns, two sets of long winding whiskers, and the muzzle of a wolf that continued spewing the fire as it danced. Then, without warning, its scales turned into an iridescent black and it flew into the sky, gone almost as suddenly as it had arrived.
In the dragon’s absence, the creatures under the lily pads stopped their dance and moved onto dry land, making the dry grasses their home for the night. The water again became still and nothing stirred around the mysterious little pond.
With the spectacle over, Kato jumped up clapping and hooting as Ashley and Tye sat with their mouths agape.
“Kato,” Tye began. “That was dope as hell dude! How’d you find out about this?!”
Kato sat down next to Tye and shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve been coming out here every night. I can cover a lot of ground with my speed and on my first night here, I kinda just stumbled on it. I came back the night after I met everyone and lo and behold, it was still there.”
“What about when you were hurt?” Ashley asked.
“Unfortunately, I missed it that time. But you can bet I was out here the next night! I know I won’t be able to see this again after we leave and it’s been a really special thing so thank you guys for enjoying it with me.”
“No problem, man,” Tye commented. “That was amazing. I get why finding that would be so special to you.”
Kato drew in a breath and put his hands into his pocket, “It’s not just that that though. It’s so much bigger than something cool to look at. To me, it’s what that dragon represents and how when I look at it, I see a piece of me.”
“How so?” Tye asked.
“Because it’s a symbol,” Kato stated with more sincerity in his voice than he had ever shown his friends before. “It’s no secret that the dragon is a powerful symbol in Japanese culture. From mythology to spirituality to entertainment, it’s something that’s appeared in our history for thousands of years. And to see one in real life... To see a freaking dragon in a more astounding form than I could ever dream to see? To me, it’s a reminder of how beautiful and astounding my heritage is.”
“Reminder?” Ashley asked. “Did you not feel that way before?”
Kato sighed and shook his head, looking dismally at the ground. “Definitely not...” he began. “There’s been so many times in my life when I’ve been embarrassed of myself. I didn’t like the way we talked. I didn’t like our culture. I didn’t like the food we ate or the utensils we used. And for so long, I couldn’t block out the people who would look at me as something... foreign. I was mocked relentlessly for it.”
“What’d you do?” Tye asked quietly, noticing Kato fiddling with his fingers.
“Honestly?” Kato started again. “I tried to get away from it. Tried to show people that I was more of an athlete than book smart. I always insisted on eating ‘normal’ American food with ‘normal’ utensils. Which, by the way? You guys literally eat whole chickens squished into odd shapes and milkshakes with bacon in them, so I don’t know how our food is strange. For so long, I avoided everything that had to do with my culture and for what? Because some ignorant assholes thought it was funny to make jokes about something they couldn’t be bothered taking two seconds to understand?”
“So, how’d you reconcile that?” Tye pressed. “What changed for you?”
“I gave myself the chance to take interest in my history. It took a while, but I kinda forced myself to research and ask about Japanese culture. And you know what? I found some really interesting stuff that was completely different from what those ignorant people tried to make it out to be. Look, to this day, I never want to be defined by my culture. I don’t want to just be that Japanese dude. I’m a lot more than the history I was born to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have respect and be extremely proud of where I come from, right? It’ll always be a big piece of me. A beautiful dragon flying high with its rainbow-colored flames, dancing on the water’s edge.”
“That was beautiful, man,” Ashley said slowly. “That speech is good enough to win an award.”
Kato rolled his eyes and stood up to stretch. “Oh, yeah. I know it’s good enough to win an award. Which is why when I get rich and famous and I’m up on a podium for... something, I’m gonna give it again with a little music, maybe some tear action, and then win a friggin’ Nobel Peace Prize.”
Tye raised a finger in objection. “I hate to crush your precious dreams bro, but um, speeches don’t win Nobel Peace Prizes.”
“That’s fine!” Kato shouted in protest. “I’ll settle for a Darwin Award.”
“Kato, that’s not...” Tye started again. “Uh... Never mind. I’m sure one day you’ll do something worth twenty Darwin Awards.”
Kato winked and pointed at Tye. “Thanks, man!” Turning to look at the now silent night, he shivered. “Okay, now let’s get out of here. We should probably get some sleep for tomorrow. Big day and all that.”
Ashley and Tye agreed. They stood up and opted to fly Kato back to the cave to get as much sleep as possible. Once they had arrived, they headed towards the entrance but were stopped by Kato just as they were about to set foot inside. He looked at them awkwardly, trying to find the proper words, but he couldn’t quite verbalize the thoughts. Instead, he opted for a simple “Thank you” and hugged them both before running inside.
Once he had disappeared into the dark cave, Ashley turned to Tye. “That really meant a lot to him, huh?”
He nodded and put his hands into his hoodie pocket. “Yeah, it did. I’m glad we did that. Kato means well and he deserves being able to share that with someone. Not just for him but for us, I think that was important.” He then gave her a smile and told her he was heading off to bed to get whatever sleep he could.
He settled down and lay there, staring up at nothing in particular. He couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that the moment he’d shared with Ashley and Kato was going to be the last moment of true beauty again in the dome. He knew that it was true they had been afforded the opportunity to leave, but that wasn’t the reason he felt as though something terrible was coming, a great darkness he couldn’t quite place his finger on. He turned to his side in an attempt to drift off to sleep, the feeling still burrowing its way through his mind. His only relief was the hope that his fears wouldn’t be realized the next day.
Chapter 17: Trial 3—Life as We Don’t Know It
It was the middle of the day when the teens all stood together, staring at the object in front of them. They each tried to come up with their own theory about what its origins were, but no one seemed to have a proper answer.
“I’m telling you. It’s a tree,” Dallas asserted.
“How is it a tree, dumbass?” Tye retorted. “Trees are blue and made up of crystals?”
“Dude! We’ve seen a million weird plants here. How do you know it’s not one of those?” Dallas defended, throwing his hands up.
“What kind of tree is shaped like that, man? It’s like... humanoid but without a head. Trees are that shape?!”
Kato interrupted, “Are you guys sure it’s not just a rock that fell from the sky?”
“I think it’s a type of dog, honestly,” Carmelita joked.
“Maybe it’s some type of bug?” Ashley added.
“What?!” Tye shouted in frustration, throwing his hands forward. “You guys are ridiculous. Except for you, Kato. That’s a uh... Is a surprisingly good guess.”
“Well, what do you think it is then?” Carmelita asked.
“I have no idea! But it’s not a tree. It’s not a bug. It’s definitely not a dog. And... you know what? We’re gonna settle this.” Tye stomped forward towards the thing, determined to find out what it was and
prove that his friends’ ridiculous notions wrong. As he walked towards it, he felt a strange energy radiate throughout his body. The feeling grew and reverberated through him with every step he took.
As soon as he was arms-length from it, he could feel his entire body tingle with a strange sensation. It was similar to the buzzing from the hills in the sense that he felt almost as though something was trying to communicate with him. He looked up at the thing that stood a few feet above him.
It appeared to be a golem made completely of bright blue crystals, similar to the ones that hung in their cave. It appeared to have thick canonical legs with cylindrical arms and spikes jutting from its back. Tye reached out to touch it and before he could make contact, a loud whirring sound erupted from the object and tiny yellow dots formed in a circle near the top.
Tye turned back to the other teens to signal for them to get ready, jumping back and getting into a defensive stance, ready for what could be the final battle. The golem’s arms and legs dislodged from its torso, stretching out while a yellow energy began to emanate from the dots. It enveloped it in a faint translucent glow that darkened around where its arms and legs should’ve connected, forming what appeared to be joints. It levitated a few inches off the ground with tiny crystals around the tips of its arms, forming what appeared to be floating fingers.
The teens stood firm, ready to battle the golem. But as they watched it transform, something became very clear. It didn’t seem interested in fighting. It simply stood there and watched them as they watched it. Unlike the giant and horde before, this thing didn’t seem to be hostile or intimidating.
Tye sensed this lack of aggression and relaxed, turning to the others. “Something tells me it doesn’t want to fight us,” he said. “At least... Not here.” He stood firm and then spoke to it. “So? What is it that you want? Did you come here to fight or just to stare at us? Because honestly, we prefer the latter.”
As expected, it gave no response. Instead, it turned and began moving away. Curious about where it was going, Carmelita tried to read its mind to see if she could find anything but was unsuccessful. Ashley then suggested they follow it to see if it was heading anywhere special. The others agreed and with that, the chase began.
Though it moved slow through the brush, it moved with purpose and with a keen sense of direction. It never doubled back, it never stopped to assess where it was, and every turn it made was on a dime. It even seemed to avoid obstacles almost as if it knew the entire layout of the dome by heart, down to the smallest pebble.
The teens kept pace with it, trying to gauge where exactly it was leading them as it took them to parts of the forest they had never seen before. Dallas wondered aloud if it was leading them to some sort of trap and if they were playing to its strength by allowing it to do so. Kato reluctantly agreed, stating that it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to be following it around. However, Tye was confident. Though he was unsure if they’d have to fight it, something inside of him was absolutely certain that it wasn’t leading them to gain any particular advantage and that if this was the final trial, it would be very different from the last two.
After what felt like hours, it stopped at a large lake. The teens kept their distance and watched as a focused beam of energy shot from the middle of the circle on its face and penetrated the surface of the water. As soon as the beam hit the water, a large hole opened up and was held open by a thin rim of energy. They looked on as it casually made its way inside the hole, only turning around once to make sure it was being followed.
Kato sped forward toward the opening and yelled for his friends to come over and inspect it. He peered inside with wide eyes as everyone else walked over and were met with the same unbelievable visual.
Inside the hole appeared to be stairs, leading to a crystalline cavern.
“Who wants to go first?” Tye asked.
Carmelita took a deep breath and volunteered to brave the cavern. Ashley quickly said that she’d be right behind her. Carmelita gave a silent nod and methodically made her way inside, thinking about every step she took with her heart beating so loudly that it rang in her ears.
As her foot hit the first step, she felt a swift cold rush through her body. And then another. Again, she was hit with what felt like ice water rushing through her veins. Again. The lack of heat was immobilizing. She slightly levitated above the stairs and made her way down. As she looked around, she noticed that the ceiling of the place wasn’t water; it was stone. It was almost as if she had been transported to another world entirely, rather than the place simply being hidden beneath the water. She stopped to consider this possibility and Ashley bumped into her from behind.
“Sorry, Carmelita!”
“Oh! Don’t worry about it,” Carmelita responded. “Hey, is it just me or is this place different? It doesn’t look or feel like any other part of the dome.”
“What does it feel like?” Tye asked from behind Ashley.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Colder. More closed off? Almost like...”
“The secret level or Easter egg of a video game that’s way too convoluted and crazy to actually get to without the aid of videos online completely dedicated to theories?” Kato suggested.
“That's really specific, Kato,” Carmelita said with an eyebrow raised. “But also... Really accurate, so... Yeah.” She continued floating down as the other teens pressed on behind her, reflecting on the ominous suggestion.
Once they hit the bottom of the stairwell, they saw it: A straight path leading directly to a large opening where the golem stood solitary, facing them in a manner that made it seem as though it had been waiting for them. This time, the feeling was different. Combat seemed inevitable and everyone was prepared for what they hoped would be the final battle.
Tye took a step forward and looked back at his team, giving them a sly smile. “So,” he said. “I guess this is it. Just one more dude we gotta knock down. And luckily for us...” he turned forward to face it and took on a more jovial tone. “We outnumber it and it’s only a few feet taller. We definitely got this.” His voice deepening, he became serious again. “But let’s not be dumb about this. We’re still gonna need solid strategy.”
Tye then reached his fist out and encouraged everyone to join in one last time. For a moment, everyone paused, unsure of what he was trying to do. And then, like a light, the realization hit them and one by one, they brought their fists together as a symbol of their bond. Tye smiled and then broke away, turning to face the golem. He called out to it, not caring whether or not it understood his speech, and let him know that they accepted its challenge.
It stood still for a few seconds, unresponsive. Then, a bright yellow light shone through its crystal skin from the middle of the circle on its face. The energy that seemed to be holding its body together flared up and small crystals floated around it in a circle, creating a protective barrier of beams that spun around it at blinding speed then settled to floating around it.
In a flash, a powerful beam of energy shot from between the ring on its face and crashed into the ground between the teens, sending them diving for cover. Tye ducked behind a large crystal, peeking out to see that the golem had enough power to completely shoot through the crystalline floor while it maintained its power, unrelenting in its assault.
Tye yelled for Ashley to shoot back with bolts of energy so that the others could attack but then saw that she was cornered as the beam was mere inches from the crystal she was hiding behind. The golem would surely see her move and incinerate her if she tried to attack. He then looked for Carmelita, who had taken cover not too far from Ashley, and asked her to see if she could form a shield using the stalactites.
Carmelita broke off seven of the thickest diamond-like stalactites she could find and arranged them into a shield. She forced them through the beam, causing a massive concussive wave and pushing back everyone in the immediate vicinity. Tye noted that the golem was slightly shaken from the impact and quickly conjured his energy b
lade and rushed at it, hoping to finish the battle. He stopped just short of piercing it when three lasers shot down from the floating crystals, mere inches from his skin. He recoiled and tried to jump away but was once again met with a wall of lasers. “Really? Come on, man,” he muttered under his breath. He raised his palm up to blast them, but despite the impact, they remained perfectly intact.
He cursed at the impressive defense. By this time, the golem had fully recovered and turned towards Carmelita. Without warning, it dashed forward at a speed comparable to Kato’s limits and raised a fist high over her head before bringing it crashing down on her. She managed to catch the impact and stood her ground in an impact crater.
Though it was unable to crush her, she struggled against its immense strength and tried to use her free hand to force it back but couldn’t due to the field of energy surrounding it. She grunted under the enormous pressure and yelled for help. Tye shot towards the golem with both fists before him and pushed it into the rock wall. As he hung on top of it, he raised his arm to plunge his blade deep into its face but suddenly realized that he was being flung backwards. The golem’s arm had detached itself, wrenched itself around his body, and was shooting him into the opposite side of the cave.
As it got up and prepared to vaporize Tye, a large fist crashed into its left side, sending it sliding across the cave floor. The hulking beast that was Dallas continued to strike it, forcing it to defend itself with one arm. It managed to get Dallas into a chokehold and slam him into the ground but was forced to release him when an energy bolt exploded off its side, once again forcing it to defend itself.
Tye struggled to release himself from the arm’s tight grip, looking on as Carmelita used the crystals around them as makeshift projectiles while Ashley provided cover fire. As he watched his friends fighting desperately for their lives and the lives of everyone on earth, a thought occurred to him. “Wait. Where the hell is Kato? And where are those floating rock things that protected the golem? They didn’t stop anyone from hitting it,” he asked himself out loud.
