by Jen Pretty
“Ok, let’s do what we came here for, ok? Then we get out of here and back to Armond and Roman and Puck. They love you as much as I do. You don’t need those dragons.”
Daisy quacked and led me to a small pond so that I could rinse my hands. The closer we got to the mountain, the slower the rot was progressing. It had even pushed back in a few places. I hoped this was a sign that Daisy was taking me somewhere that would fix me and hopefully it wouldn’t be too late to save Roman. I had hoped to see Luke overnight, but his absence could only mean that he couldn’t come to me now that I had no magic. My visions were gone, too.
Daisy and I started up the rocky mountain side. The dragons in the sky circled lazily, watching us approach for most of the day. I got good at ignoring them, but Daisy still anxiously looked up at them regularly. The sun had set when we reached a steep cliff edge with an old, weathered nest big enough for Daisy in dragon form, and I wondered if this had been his nest. He seemed comfortable in it. Adjusting the twigs and branches, pushing out the musty leaves and flapping his wings to clear out the dirt that had collected along the edges. Finally, he stopped and looked at me expectantly. We were high in the mountain now, so the deep sided nest was a good idea. I didn’t want to fall off the cliff in my sleep, but it was strange to be sleeping in a bowl.
Climbing in, it was soft on the bottom and solid, made of small sticks but constructed carefully, so it was sturdy. Daisy hopped up on the edge and nestled down beside me. We listened to the dragons scream for a while longer before they finally stopped and the silence of night fell over us. I had a bad feeling about the next day, but I wasn’t sure if it was my magic coming back, of it if was common sense.
✽ ✽ ✽
The scream of a dragon woke me the next morning and Daisy’s panicked quacking got my feet moving. I climbed out of the nest and a massive dragon confronted me with smoke coming out of its nose as it hovered before us. Daisy was crouched down in a crevice, his head tucked under his wing like a scared toddler refusing to look at the thing that scared him.
“Hey!” I yelled at the beast. “You leave him alone!” I picked up a rock and threw it at the dragon. When I missed, I picked up two more rocks and lobbed them at him too. He turned to me and huffed smoke in my direction. I backed towards the nest. He flew in closer. My back pressed against the stick nest now. I had nowhere else to go. His chest puffed as he drew a deep breath. Before he could fry me, a blast of fire knocked him out of the sky. Daisy had shifted, and a giant dragon stood in front of me now. The rest of the dragons who had been circling in the sky started screaming, but the rage in the call of the dragon Daisy burned was a thing of nightmares.
Daisy picked me up gently in his clawed foot and climbed the mountain on three legs in great strides like he was a goat, leaping higher and higher. His talons dug painfully into my side, but I held still, afraid he would drop me down the steep slope. The dragon he had fried was slowly catching up to us. Daisy had blackened his scales, so he was slower now, but he was coming.
At the peak of the mountain, Daisy dropped me into a hot spring. It was nearly hot enough to burn me, and I sputtered and splashed, trying to get out of the scalding water, but the edges were steep and slippery. I was struggling so hard to get out I didn’t notice the rot receding or the light feeling of magic returning to my body.
My mind cleared of the dark fog that had settled over it and I looked up in time to watch as the dragon grabbed Daisy by the neck in his sharp jaws and shook him like a dog with a toy.
“No!” I screamed, as the dragon launched Daisy off the side of the mountain.
My magic shoved me out of the soupy bath and sent the offending dragon across the landscape, crashing into a far peak. I slammed time to a stop, and everything paused except my tattered breath heaving from my body in panicked puffs. Sliding to the edge of the mountain where it was too steep to climb, I peered over the edge, afraid I had been too late. A shuttering breath left my lungs as I saw my magic had Daisy suspended in midair. His useless little wings were trying to stop his catastrophic fall, but they were so small. I screamed in anger at the injustice. If I let him go, he would fall, but I couldn’t get him back up here while he was frozen.
Unless.
I looked down at my hands. They were normal again with no trace of rot. I thought about what Helena had said in that clearing. She said I had to will it. I had to want it so bad that it came from my heart. That wasn’t so hard. I wanted Daisy to soar. I wanted him to spread his wings and fly like he was meant to do.
I wanted that so bad, I could taste it. Taking a deep breath, I centered my thoughts on Daisy and the image of him flying through the sky, cutting across the sun like a golden serpent.
I closed my eyes, sending my will out while still holding time to a stop. Sending my heart to the giant dragon who just wanted to be a duck. A moment passed and then another and I didn’t want to open my eyes, but knew I would have to. I crawled back to the edge of the cliff and looked down to find Daisy had enormous wings. I would have to trust him to be able to use them. I was exhausted from all the magic use at once and started to feel dizzy as I moved back form the edge and closed my eyes. Then I let go of my magic, returning time to normal and sent a prayer to every god that my friend would fly.
I waited. One moment. Then two. I couldn’t look, what if it hadn’t worked and my beautiful, loyal Daisy was flat down on the sharp rocks below.
A gust of wind knocked me over backwards and my eyes flew open to find I was face to face with the most majestic dragon I had ever seen. He opened his giant mouth full of pointed teeth and let out a scream that nearly shattered my eardrums. I slammed my hands over my ears and jumped to my feet as he landed in front of me and danced around like a ridiculous duck, except he wasn’t a duck, he was a dragon with large black and crimson wings spread nearly twenty feet in each direction. His clawed feet hopped and skipped on the rocks as he blew smoke into the air in a celebration like none I had ever seen before. Of course, I had never seen a dragon celebrate, but his joy was infectious and combined with the return of my magic, I was excited too.
Eventually, we calmed down and then both collapsed on the top of the mountain for a short rest.
“We have to get back,” I said cautiously. “Well, I have to. You could stay if you wanted.”
Daisy shifted into a duck and bit my nose before returning to his dragon form to face the group of dragons who had approached us. Their heads were low as they moved closer, like a submissive dog. Even the one who I had tossed across into the mountain came towards Daisy with his head low and body scraping the ground. He had a limp and blood oozed from his side, but he seemed fine otherwise. Dragons were durable.
After Daisy had sniffed the head of each of the dragons before him, he turned and dropped down onto his belly in front of me, his long neck stretched out and his head in my lap. Thankfully he held his head up or it would have crushed me. His scaled snout was coarse and designed for protection only, but I pet him just as I did while he was a duck, because no matter what shape he took, he deserved to be loved.
“I love you, Daisy,” I whispered.
The rest of the dragons watched on as Daisy crawled forward and lay his neck beside me. He sat still, waiting. It was the same look he gave me last time he wanted me to climb on his back. When I didn’t move, he nudged me with his snout and I stood up and dusted myself off before climbing onto his back and taking a deep breath. I wasn’t opposed to speed or heights, but I had never flown outside of an airplane before. He stood abruptly making me squeak and then lowered himself for a brief second before jumping off the cliff and soaring through the sky with his wings held out catching the wind. We soared for a long time before he even needed to flap his wings.
The feeling was incredible. Nearly as good as Roman running at vamp speed. That thought brought me crashing back to reality. Daisy must have sensed the shift in my emotions because he was heading straight for the door on the other side of the world. Dragons screeched, but Dai
sy just bellowed back and carried on. Slowly the dragons from the mountain dropped away until it was only Daisy and me.
It took no time at all to get back and no other dragons harassed us. At the portal, Daisy set down on the ground and dropped to his belly. As soon as I was off, he changed back into a duck and waddled towards the door. I grabbed my sweater and followed right behind him.
Time to save the love of my life.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Armond pulled me up into a bear hug as I came back through the portal. I laughed as he set me back on my feet. The hunters had made their way here and set up a tidy camp. Some of the unicorns, werewolves and elves were also waiting.
“I told you that duck would bring her back,” Puck said. He sounded smug, but they both looked a bit ragged. Armond’s hair had grown long enough that it stuck out at the sides like he had been pulling at it and Puck's clothes were all rumpled, his shirt buttons not even done up right.
I looked down at Daisy who was happily chowing down on some bread the guys left sitting on a plate by the fire. They had set up a decent camp here. I hadn’t eaten in two days and was starving, but first I had to see Roman.
When the smile fell off my face, and I looked up at Armond, he just pointed to one of the tents.
I slid inside and moved up towards the top of the tent. Pulling back the blanket, I was shocked by what I saw. Roman’s once-vibrant red eyes hung open and were clouded over. His face had lost all its shape, and his skin draped limply over the bones. I prayed I wasn’t too late. I set my hands on his cold chest.
“Lex, you should eat something before you try and use all that magic,” Armond called from outside.
I was done waiting. I closed my eyes and focused on Roman, letting memories wash over me. Meeting him for the first time, him saving my life and our first kiss. I thought of the nights I was intoxicated and he dragged me back to the castle. I thought of him holding me and willing me to keep trying. I imagined the smell of his skin and the silly lopsided smile. I remembered the feel of the wind as he raced across the worlds with me in his arms, the safety and joy I felt. I remembered the look of sadness on his face when he told me he was dead.
A single tear dropped from my cheek to his, I felt the magic uncurl and flow towards Roman. I held my breath and waited.
Nothing happened.
What the fuck?
“Roman.” I shook him. I didn’t go through all this to lose him anyway.
The magic flared, showing me an image of my clearing in the woods in homeland. The tops of the great trees lining the clearing cut a shadow across half the open space. The flowers on the sunny side were in full bloom and rocked gently in the breeze as though they were a moving carpet, but in the shade, the flowers were closed. It was dull and lifeless, and no breeze touched them. Like they were waiting for the sun.
I came back to the present with a sense of urgency. I had to get back to homeland. The sunlight, the gentle breeze, the flowers – that was what would save Roman. Right now, he was in the shade.
“We have to go!” I yelled as I flew out of the tent.
Puck shifted into a raging unicorn and screamed, then shifted back and gave me a dirty look.
“God, woman get a grip, you made me spill my beer. Where are we going?” Puck asked, angrily wiping his pants with his hand. The whole front of them was stained.
“We have to go to homeland. I can’t bring him back here.”
“How do you know, Lex?” Armond asked, standing up and kicking dirt on the fire to put it out.
“I had a vision. It’s the clearing. I have to take him there. I don’t know, I can’t explain.”
“Alright, let's get packed up and head home. You sit and eat something first.” Armond commanded. He thrust a bowl of stew and a can of beer into my hand.
“Where did this come from?” I asked.
“One of the elves from home came through the portal to get news and brought a six pack.”
“That’s so weird,” I replied and popped the top. It was early morning, but it was probably evening somewhere. After what we had been through, beer was the breakfast of champions.
The hunters packed up with their usual efficiency and we walked the short distance to the doorway back to earth. Puck carried Roman who was wrapped up like a mummy. He was so fragile now that his skin felt like tissue paper. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he disintegrated. Daisy discovered my backpack wasn’t very full anymore and waddled into it before I got it zipped up. I ended up leaving it open, and he napped in there like a small dog in a handbag. At the door, half the hunters went out before us, but as I emerged on the other side, I could hardly believe my eyes.
The usually vacant, rocky landscape was dotted with tents.
The tents quickly emptied when someone yelled “She’s back!” and people began cheering and dropping to a knee. The area looked like a concert. Set up with barbeques and porta potties.
“We have been awaiting your return, Highness,” an elf man said from his kneeling position. “We have cleared your way and thank you for bringing our people back together.”
There was now a dirt road that led from the portal down the rocky mountain. The road had been scraped through the terrain, and there was a Humvee waiting to one side. Now that there were well-established relations with the shifters and Aldridge was back, we could maintain a beneficial relationship with them, and this would allow us to visit more often.
I still wasn’t convinced that earth would offer anything positive to the shifters. Their way of life might have been simple, but it was a good life where people worked together and shared common goals; in tune with the natural world.
We started to walk to the Humvee, but I stopped and turned back. I didn’t have time to fly back. Roman didn’t have time.
“What’s the matter, Lex?” Puck asked, Roman still in his arms.
“I need to get home now. I’m going to make a portal.” I walked a little further from the camp. I needed a quiet place. The urgency to get home was overwhelming. I wanted it more than anything.
I focused on a bare patch of dirt beside a rock that looked like a good place. I wanted to go to the cottage in the woods. I could walk from there to the clearing. I didn’t want the portal to ruin my clearing. There was a magic in that clearing. I had felt it. It was my true home.
I focused and let my magic slide out towards the small patch of dirt. It started to take shape from the ground up like it was growing from the earth itself. The stark white door formed in sharp contrast to the wilderness. It only took a moment to become a full portal, and when it was complete, I turned back to Puck.
“Let’s go.”
“You are getting pretty handy with those powers,” Puck said as he walked past me towards the door. As he turned to go through, he was thrown backwards, dropping Roman to the ground in a heap. Puck was laid out on the ground, not moving.
“Oh, shit, Is he dead?” I asked as I moved toward where Roman was crumpled.
“No, he’s still alive, Lex,” Armond called. “We are not smart people, Lex. Puck can’t go through a portal. Neither can Roman unless ... I hope you don’t have to throw him through as Evan did,” Armond said as Pucks eyes opened and he groaned.
I wrapped Roman as best I could and tried to pick him up. He was heavy. I called my magic to help me and finally got him lifted. My magic was never intended for this kind of work, but it helped just enough to get him into my arms.
“I’ve got him. I’m going,” I said as I walked through the portal with the love of my life in my arms.
“Holy crap,” Marick said in her tiny innocent voice.
“Watch your language,” Margot whispered. “Welcome back, Lex.”
“Hey, guys. I’d love to chat, but I need to go to the clearing, and he is heavy.”
“I’ll help you, Lex,” Marick said. Suddenly Roman weighed almost nothing.
“Thanks,” I said as I turned and started walking down the path I knew like the back of my hand. I st
epped over familiar roots and past the tree that Luke got stuck in. I stepped out into the clearing, and it was exactly like my vision. The sun cut the space in half. I didn’t have instructions, and I wasn’t sure what to do now, so I stopped thinking so hard about it and stepped into the sunshine. I laid Roman down on the bed of flowers and unwrapped him from the blanket.
I almost started crying when I saw his beautiful face. He must have fallen face first when he bounced off the portal. The skin had torn. There was no blood left in his body, so the skin looked like gossamer, fluttering over the bone of his cheek. His lips had shrivelled to the point they no longer covered his teeth, leaving the sharp points exposed.
I reverently moved his arms to cross them over his chest; they were thin and boney with no muscle left. I laid his feet together, so he looked like he was sleeping if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. I pressed my hands to his chest and turned my thoughts inward. I needed all my will to bring him back. I needed Roman in my life. He was my true north and we were out of time. It was now or never.
I focused my thoughts back to Roman, as I had in the tent. I remembered his smiling face and beautiful eyes. His vampire features made him more beautiful in my mind. Erasing the old memories that tried to keep me from loving him, I felt magic fill me until I thought I would burst and then it spilled out through my hands to completely engulf Roman in a silk mist. I had never seen my magic before, but this was so beautiful and pure, I knew it was magic. It moved like waves lapping at the shore, breathing life into Roman as I watched, face wet with the emotion of the moment.
His chest rose with the rasp of his breath for the first time, pulling the beautiful mist in through his open mouth. Sobs of relief wracked my body. Each inhale dragged more magic out of the air around him until his breaths came easily and settled into a quiet rhythm.
I curled up beside him with my head on his chest as the heat returned to his skin. I let the tears stream down my face until I fell into a peaceful sleep. Roman was alive.
