Alien Sleeping Beauty

by Zara Zenia

  Only time would tell but I didn’t want to face any challenges. It was going to be difficult enough to find the virtual reality chamber that Ariana was in and Nora would keep it safely locked if she was wise.

  “The gate is open here,” the fiery bearded soldier chimed with excitement.

  “Wait,” Yadav advised. “It could be a trap.”

  The soldier stood still, frozen and waiting for someone to give him some guidance on what to do next. The problem was, we didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to ease our way cautiously inside the gates.

  Maybe if we rushed inside then the traps wouldn’t be able to get all of us fast enough. That was still risky because we might lose some soldiers along the way that were vital to the operation.

  I was torn. “What do you think we should do?” I asked Yadav who also seemed to be conflicted as well, judging by the expression on his face.

  “If we race as quickly as we can, then we might lose some of our own to the traps but if we keep going, then hopefully we can charge our way into the castle.”

  “Are you saying you think we should storm our way inside without stopping?”

  “We can always send a medical unit here to fix those who fall wounded along the way,” Yadav said.

  I sighed. I hated to put them at risk like that. However, I wasn’t sure how we were going to get in otherwise.

  “I think we should have a team around you, protecting you so you can get to the front,” Yadav said.

  At once, several soldiers willingly raised their hands to volunteer. I smiled. I didn’t have to worry about these soldiers. They wanted to be on the front line with me. I was eternally grateful for their services in this sting.

  “Let’s go then. We rush in for the ambush and we keep our weapons drawn and our wits about us.”

  A devious smile cracked at the edges of David’s lips. I was fairly certain he had a wild streak in him. I was glad to have him with me for this.

  The soldier in front swung the gate door and it made a foreboding creak in protest.

  Everyone was panting hard in excitement already. All eyes were on me, expectantly.

  “On my count,” I began. “Then we charge the castle.”

  The soldiers nodded, their gazes intense. They had sweat beads trickling on their temples.

  “One…two…three!”

  I rushed ahead. My boots thumped against the grass. I kept my gaze locked on the castle. I couldn’t afford to get distracted by anything else that stood in my way.

  I heard men roaring in pain behind me. The traps were already unleashing. I glanced behind me. Many of my men were becoming incapacitated by a slew of traps.

  Some of them were ensnared in net traps that they had stepped on inadvertently. Some of them had fallen into holes that had been dug and partially filled in as a trick with grass pods.

  Plumes of tranquilizer gas began to knock my men down. Soldier’s dropped like flies, but I kept going. Even the ones who volunteered to form a protective circle around me had become inhibited by the gas. I held my breath and pushed my shirt up over my nose so that I wouldn’t fall prey to the woozy sleeping gas myself.

  I finally made it to the doors of the castle. I tried to burst through them, but they were locked. I expected nothing less. I would have to fire a few rounds of ammunition at them to open them.

  I glanced over my shoulder. There was a dense fog of tranquilizer gas that was thick and heavy in the air, giving the atmosphere a green tint. There were soldier’s coughing sputtering and down on the ground.

  I couldn’t find Yadav anywhere. There were miserably cries of agony piercing through the air.

  “Yadav?” I yelled.

  My communicator began to cackle. I turned it up, ready to receive a message.

  “It’s me,” Yadav said through the speaker. “I’m stuck in an impregnable box and I can’t get out.”

  “Shit,” I groaned in despair.

  I really needed him here. It was the worst possible time for him to get encased in something he couldn’t get out of when I couldn’t find him, but I was going to have to figure out a way.

  “Where are you?” I asked through the voicer on the communicator.

  “I don’t’ know,” he said. His voice was muddled and sounded far away. “I can’t see anything except a sliver of light coming through a couple of holes in the box.” He didn’t sound panicked. “Just go on without me,” he said. “You can always come and find me later. It’s Ariana who needs you the most.”

  “Are you sure?” I yelled through the noise of men shouting and booby traps exploding and going off all around me. I had to duck in order to prevent myself from being impaled by some flying debris.

  “Yes,” David persisted. “I promise I’ll be fine. I’ll try to figure out a way to get out of here or maybe another soldier will stumble upon me. For now, just do what you can to find Ariana.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Do you have any idea where I should start?”

  “Just get inside the castle any way you can manage,” David said. His voice began to crackle again. “She’s probably going to be in there somewhere.”

  I placed the communicator back on my utility belt and fired a couple of rounds at the deadbolt of the door.

  I pushed it open with my foot and it swung completely off the hinges. I stood there huffing for several moments, just waiting for another threat to pop out of the castle at any minute.

  I peered inside, inspecting the area. I didn’t have anyone to help me patrol. I was on my own, but maybe that would work out to my benefit. I could sneak around and hide better flying solo.

  I rushed in the house, pointing my semi-automatic weapon at anyone or anything that dared to jump out at me.

  That’s when I found a door across the room. Call it instinct, call it intuition, but I just knew Ariana was on the other side of that door. My heart fluttered. I broke out in a nervous sweat. I cautiously glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was following me and raced across the room.

  I tried the door.

  Locked.

  Of course. Why would anything be easy?

  I banged on it. There was silence on the other side. I noticed a key code on the side of the wall next to the door. I would need Yadav’s help to breach it, but I hoped to find Ariana on the other side. I knew that I would have to face another obstacle once inside because I would have to unlock the virtual reality chamber too, but at least I was one step closer to the finish line.

  Chapter 14

  Ariana

  I was outside in the courtyard of the castle listening to the sound of the crickets chirping in the woods around the perimeter of the gates. I walked back and forth in a circle, unable to keep my restless mind, or body, still.

  It would have been blissfully peaceful if not for the fact that I was stuck in this enchanted type of world with no viable exit in sight.

  I watched the red dragon march back and forth at its post, just waiting for a reason to come after me. I wasn’t going to give the hostile beast the bait to taunt me, but I knew that I needed to brainstorm a way to distract it for long enough to sneak past it without it realizing that I had skirted away.

  The three fairies could only do so much to help me. They could only keep the dragon distracted for a short time period before it would get frustrated and either try to spray them with its green fire or turn away and ignore them altogether.

  I was feeling somewhat hopeless. I was restless and exhausted. I was tired of being in this weird village. I’d had enough and I wanted to get back to reality, wherever that may be. I glanced up at the sky.

  Sunset would come soon. If I was going to break out of here, night time would be my best option. I didn’t know whether dragons had impaired vision in the dark, but I was going to have to find out sooner or later.

  I hated fretting. It wasn’t productive but maybe I just needed to get past that in order to see the light. I stood up and began walking around in a circle just to release some of the bu
ilt-up nervous energy in my body.

  “Where are you, Jinurak?” I whispered into the sky painted with pastel hues under the setting sun.

  The muscles in my shoulders were sore from being tense and on guard for so long. My jaw ached from being tightly clenched with stress. It was time for me to get out of here. I didn’t know how much longer I would last until I succumbed to the madness.

  I heard soft footsteps behind me. I held my breath and froze, thinking that it was Nora trying to sneak up on me. I heard a gruesome grunt and then a snort.

  I turned around and noticed the two trolls were waddling toward me on teetering, wobbly, chubby bodies. Their fat, sausage-like fingers were spread out, arms extended in my direction.

  They opened their mouths into disgusting grins to expose their gnarly, gangly teeth that were yellowing and rotting.

  I cringed and wrapped my arms protectively around my chest. I took a couple of instinctive steps backward. The trolls were repulsive and loved to play tricks on me and try to torment me in any way possible.

  “Go away, you gross beasts,” I snapped.

  At this point I didn’t even care if the dragon heard my voice and came trampling toward me. I didn’t want those trolls anywhere near me. Their pungent smell wafted through the air and floated through my nostrils, making me retch.

  “Get away from me,” I dared to shout.

  Nora was nowhere to be found. I didn’t understand where she went and why she fled. Was she scared that she was going to be captured by Jinurak? Was she afraid of the repercussions of kidnapping me?

  I didn’t want her to get away with her crimes. She deserved to be punished. The fact that she had temporarily gotten away infuriated me and made me feel like my blood was boiling. I needed to figure out a way to use some of that explosive energy to get out of here as quickly as possible.

  I hated feeling trapped. I didn’t want to despair. I couldn’t give up now. Jinurak’s notes told me to keep going no matter how bleak the future looked. It was a grim situation right now, but I knew that Jinurak was out there somewhere looking for me.

  I needed to send him another message. I needed to get some more clues out to him to aid in his search. It would also benefit me because it would help him find me faster.

  I saw tiny twinkling lights in the distance. I cupped my hand over my eyes and squinted, looking to see if it was my trio of fluttering fairy friends coming to give me an update.

  Sure enough, I saw the friendly faces of Rose, Sage and Aine as they swiftly floated up beside me.

  “Go away,” Aine said and began to encircle the heads of the trolls. “Shoo! Get away from her.”

  The trolls grunted aggressively and swatted at Aine, but she was too fast for them. They couldn’t even focus their large black eyes at the fairies as they continued to buzz around their heads.

  I laughed and pointed at the trolls. It was fantastic the way the roles had shifted and now the fairies were doing the tormenting. I was also grateful that my little fluttering friends were willing to distract the trolls to give me some relief even though they were afraid of them.

  The trolls lived in the barns and horse stables. The fairies still wouldn’t go near that area, but when it came to me, they were strangely protective. I appreciated their bravery. I despised the disgusting trolls and used the opportunity to jog to the other end of the castle and out of their sight range.

  I knew that the fairies would catch up to me after they had enjoyed a little bit of fun driving the trolls crazy. They deserved to be annoyed for all the suffering they had made me endure.

  Justice was being served for now and at least I was able to briskly rush away and out of sight. I walked toward side of the castle and hid behind a wall for a few minutes, all the while scoping the perimeter to make sure the dragon wasn’t anywhere nearby.

  A few minutes later, I saw the glowing light of the fairies illuminating the area. I turned my head and watched as they flew toward me.

  “Thank you so much for doing that,” I said.

  “No problem,” Sage said with a gleam in her eyes and a mischievous grin on her face.

  “I know that the trolls make you uncomfortable,” I said with a smile that I hoped they would read as grateful.

  “It’s okay,” Rose sighed. “We didn’t want them to bother you. You have already been through so much already.”

  “You guys are the best,” I said, suddenly overcome with emotion. “I don’t know what I would do without you. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to get any messages past the dragon to Jinurak.”

  The three fairies blushed and gave me humbled nods. “It’s our pleasure to comfort you and bring you as much solace as we can.”

  Sage appeared grim. “Unfortunately, there is not much we can do to sneak you past the dragon.”

  She had a guilty expression her beautiful, doll-like face.

  “I know.” I gave her a kind grin. “You’ve already done more than I could have ever expected.”

  Rose glanced over her shoulder, her tiny wings flapping assertively. “The trolls seem to be losing interest in sniffing you out again.”

  I craned my neck and saw one of them stupidly leaning over and picking up fistfuls of grass and shoving them into his mouth, chomping with a wide-open jaw.

  “Gross.” I scrunched up my nose.

  “Let’s forget about them as long as they aren’t around,” Aine said.

  “Good idea,” I nodded.

  “I’m sure that Jinurak is on his way,” Rose said in a consoling voice.

  “I hope you are right.” I gave her a friendly smile.

  “I wish there was more we could do to help though.” Sage sounded as frustrated as I felt.

  “Maybe we could just wait for him?” Rose suggested.

  “I don’t know…” I trailed off. I had to take action. I trusted Jinurak, but I needed to do something rebellious against the dragon.

  Nora was obviously missing in action and didn’t care about what happened to her beloved pet. Maybe it was angry about that, but I didn’t want to stick around and find out. I didn’t want to put myself in its crosshairs without thoroughly brainstorming a reasonable plan that would leave a great impact on the rest of my future.

  I leaned back against the cool stone mortar of the castle. It felt smooth and refreshing against my skin. I peered up at the wonderous sky. I had missed seeing sunsets in the summer. Everything was gray and white and covered in ice back home in upstate New York.

  I was definitely nowhere near my home, or, for that matter, anywhere I had originated before boarding the plane. There was vibrant color everywhere here and I didn’t even need a light jacket outside.

  “I can’t possibly get past that dragon,” I said with a resigned sigh.

  The three fairies gave me an empathetic look. I knew they felt sorry for me and were as powerless as I was to do anything about it.

  They could sneak past it, but not me. It was a very helpless feeling. I felt stranded in this desolate world, but for whatever unknown reason, the dragon didn’t seem to be focused on the whereabouts of the fairies.

  I didn’t want my frustrations to get the better of me. I also didn’t want to take it out on the fairies, but I was worried about becoming brazen and short tempered as the minutes ticked into hours and then days. The days seemed to stretch on forever and it sure felt like I had been here for an eternity.

  I let out a groan and continued to watch the skies. The dragon flew overhead in the distance, but it wasn’t so far away that it couldn’t come racing back if necessary. It was probably trying to hover in the skies to flag me down and get a decent aerial view of the ground below.

  I pointed at the sky. “There it is.”

  “Dominating the atmosphere,” Rose stated somberly.

  “But the minute I try to make a break for it, it’s going to come surging back down to the ground breathing that obscene green fire out of its mouth,” I said.

  “I know.” Aine looked like she wanted
to hug me if she could.

  “Maybe I should just go to sleep and wait to see what tomorrow brings,” I said, knowing full well that it would just be more of the same.

  “No.” Sage shook her head vigorously. “We are getting you out of here, tonight.” Her tiny features were etched in determination.

  “I appreciate your motivation,” I smiled, “I wish that I had the same ambition, but unfortunately I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “Maybe you should try stepping out into the main part of the grass to see if the dragon notices you,” Rose said.

  I frowned. “It seems a little risky.”

  “You can always run back under the protective bit of the awning,” Sage said.

  “Besides,” Aine reminded all of us. “The dragon’s orders aren’t to kill you, only to keep you under lock and key. She is trained to do her job of keeping you inside the castle walls and to not let you escape under any circumstances.”

  “But if I try,” I argued, “then is she trained to kill me?”

  My question was met with silence as the three fairies exchanged a pondering glance as if they had no idea what the answer to that question was either.

  “Great.” I huffed and leaned back up against the wall. “Square one again.”

  Sage’s face brightened as if she was suddenly experiencing a revelation. “The dragon’s vision is significantly impaired in the darkness.”

  I had wondered that myself from the beginning. I sat up straight. My receptors were out there, feeling for loopholes. “Really?”

  Now that Sage had confirmed it, maybe I had a decent shot to flee after all.

  I was almost at my wits end. Adrenaline soared through my veins. I felt a rush of confidence. I set my jaw and squared my shoulders. I balled my fists and took a few steps out from behind the castle and the protective awning.

  I stood there on the lawn. At first, nothing happened. I glanced over my shoulder. Aine, Rose and Sage were all giving me skeptical glances, but they didn’t attempt to stop me.

  I took another guarded step forward. The row of prickly hedges at the gate line were still at least fifty yards away, but maybe this method of traipsing in that direction might just work after all.