by M. Arcturus
“Only for the sake of helping the Atlanteans do we take this form. I’m sure you spoke to our Council about your plans to attack.” Aros said.
“Yes, and they agreed to stay out of it. So I’m wondering what brought you here!”
“We’re not here to fight, and our Council did not send us. We’re here on our own accord.”
“You do realize that once your Council catches wind of this, you may not be welcomed home.”
“That may be true, but we have not disregarded our orders. We will not interfere with your war. As stated before, we’re not here to fight; we are only here to find the eggs.”
The dragon’s eyes went wide. “Only the highest members of the Phoenix Council knew what this was about. You must be held in high regard.”
“Actually, this group standing before you figured it out. They are the ones who informed us.”
“Are these creatures Atlanteans?”
Aros looked around at the bunch. As if delivered on the winds of a blessing, he heard Vermilion’s cry in the distance. With urgent thuds, the remaining phoenixes and their passengers landed on the soft snow behind the dragon. The Lady of Avalon, though covered in splotchy ash, saw her daughter and hugged her with delight.
“You’re like ice to the touch!” the Lady said to Pandora.
Pandora had been shivering for quite some time in her sleeveless leather outfit. “Just look at me. Are you really that surprised?” Pandora eyed her mother’s appearance. Ash was all over her face, and the tips of her hair were singed. “Mom, what happened to you?”
“You haven’t tried flying with phoenixes while dragons are flame happy, have you? We would have been here sooner, but the dragons had other plans for us.” The Lady continued, “Aros, you look uneasy. What is it?”
“Our noble friend here wants to know which of us are Atlantean. I don’t know who is Atlantean and who’s a visitor.” Aros looked at the dragon, “I’m sorry; I don’t know how to answer your question.”
The Lady of Avalon approached the dragon and bowed deeply, “With your permission, I can provide the answers you seek.” The dragon bowed her head in return. “Including me, three of us are from Avalon.” She gestured to Pandora and Sorbek. “We have two human representatives with us, which are only here temporarily.” Anthony bowed his head, and Icarus tried to stand, but Sorbek pulled him back down. “Seth is an Ackrid who was stationed here while his home planet had their nuclear war. They forgot about him, and he lost contact with his command. He has stayed here serving the palace guard for many years.” The dragon tightened her jaw when she looked at him, but the Lady brought her attention to Selené. “The rest are phoenixes except for Selené. She’s an orphan, who Atlantis has kept safe. I’m not sure if you could call any of us true Atlanteans.”
Almost in a disgruntled tone, the dragon muttered, “Hmm—”
Aros stepped forward. “If we find the eggs, do you think the war will cease?”
“I can ask, but I don’t think finding the eggs will stop the war,” the dragon replied. “Our leader seems to be acting on bloodlust.”
“Don’t worry about supplying us with an answer; our time is short. Please, just see if your leader will cease fire given the new information. We’ll start looking.” The dragon flew away abruptly. They turned and started up the stairs. As Shadow and Kajaka reunited themselves with Giséi and the other phoenixes, Aros, Hermetrien, and the Lady advanced toward Anthony, who was further up the stairs. “What’s wrong with Selené?” Anthony loosened his grip on her, so the Lady could see her face, which had been buried in his chest. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. This poor girl has been through too much lately, poisoned, sick and now this.”
“What do you mean poisoned!?!”
“Now is not the time.” She replied as she walked on past him leaving him with more questions than what he had before. Once inside the palace, Seth led the group to the nearest latch, which would open up to the maintenance shafts. “Seth, are you going with them?”
He turned toward the Lady, “I wasn’t planning on it, but with Selené injured, I think it would be best if I joined Pandora in the search.”
“Please try to convince Icarus to go with you. We can’t have him about while we take care of business.”
Seth grimaced, “I don’t think I’m the one to convince him.”
“—but I can try,” said Pandora stepping in.
Shadow approached Icarus and re-calibrated his translator so that Pandora could talk to him. Icarus had no clue what Pandora had said to the Lady and jerked away from Shadow until he understood what Shadow was doing. “I know you have not been able to hear Selené speak to you, but Pandora has something to tell you here in a minute.” Icarus didn’t reply and just scowled at Shadow as he refastened the translator around his throat.
Pandora continued talking to her mother, “Where are you off to?”
“I believe we’re going to the heart of the ship. Temporarily sinking Atlantis might be the only way to save it. We’ll hold off on sinking Atlantis as long as we can, so you can find the eggs.”
“What about Selené?”
“I’ll be taking her with us. Maybe I’ll have time to heal her before we start the incantation to sink Atlantis. Even if you haven’t found the eggs and you feel the earth sinking, go to the northeastern shore. Don’t tell your father, but I feel better knowing that Seth will be with you. And please be safe.” They embraced and parted ways.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, “Anthony, it’s time. I need you to turn her over to me.” He looked up at the Lady as she spoke. “I need you to go with Seth and Pandora. They need all the help they can get.”
“What about Selené? Her eyes, and they think she is deaf—”
“I’ll take care of her, just go,” the Lady assured him. He kissed Selené on the head and unwillingly turned her over to the Lady.
Icarus was about to get in the way when Pandora approached him. “You know Icarus; it wouldn’t take much to win Selené’s heart if you were to be the hero by finding the eggs first.”
He eyed Pandora suspiciously. She had never encouraged his feelings for Selené before. Shadow saw the disbelief in Icarus’s eyes and decided to step in. “She’s right, you know,” Icarus responded by giving Shadow a death look. “Don’t look at me. Look at Selené!” Shadow led Icarus over to Selené’s side. “Here she is, your beautiful angel. Can’t you picture it? While you’re away, she is healed, the war has ended, and the first piece of news to be heard by her perfectly healed ears is that you were the one to save Atlantis by finding the eggs. She is so happy to see you; she begs to go off in the gardens alone with you.” Anthony rolled his eyes in disgust.
Shadow continued, “As the sun lights up her hair, she whispers sweet Greek nothings in your ear. That is what you’re yearning for, right? She’s been too sick to speak and prove the rest of us wrong about her knowledge of the Greek language, and just think of how healthy she will be! You’ll get to hear her speak morning, noon and night!” Icarus nodded in agreement as he stood in deep thought. In his dreamlike state, his eyes were wide and vacant. It was almost as if he was hypnotized. Out of nowhere, there came a rumble deep within the palace, followed by Mt. Caspen quivering in response.
Nervously, everyone looked around wondering if there was going to be a cave-in. Feeling the urgency to get the egg-searching group well on their way, Shadow added, “You had better hurry and join Pandora in their quest, so you can impress your delightful angel.” Without question, Icarus joined Pandora as the group disappeared down the nearest shaft. Anthony took one last look at Selené in the distance before he closed the latch.
Shadow approached the Lady of Avalon, “What was that rumble? Do you think it’s the dragons, or Mt. Caspen?”
“Neither. Not even my husband could have made that noise.” The rumble happened again. “It almost sounds mec
hanical.” As if lightning struck her, she hopped into action. Directing her comment to the phoenixes, “Please take Selené and go to the heart of the ship. Start the process without me. Sorbek, you’re coming with me.” He looked at her strangely. “Someone is trying to start up the ship’s boosters. We need to stop them!”
Sanity had only been dancing in the far reaches of his dreams. Every recent memory seemed to run into each other like a big jumbled up mess. His train of thought always seemed to end with the vision of a sea creature jamming her long purple hair into his ears. His gag reflex activated while remembering how it felt to have the she-demon’s hair come out of his mouth. Sometimes the vision was accompanied by the feeling of the sea creature forcing her fingers into the sides of his neck. It was scary to admit, but even those memories paled in comparison to the nightmares surrounding the envoy.
The most horrific dreams always started with him looking down off of a cliff into the water below. He wasn’t exactly sure where the cliff was located. All he knew was that he was still on Atlantis. The water below seemed strange to him. If he listened close enough, the crashing of the waves against the shoreline almost sounded like they were calling his name. A deep haunting moan would precede a watery image of the envoy’s face bubbling up from the depths below. As if someone rushed up behind him, he was always pushed off the edge of the cliff, plummeting down into the watery form of the envoy’s mouth. The water would greet him, thick and suffocating. Trying to paddle his way up to the surface, he could recall that his effort was useless, for he wasn’t getting any closer to an escape. Fear would wash over him as he struggled to break free from the invisible force, which held him under. His eyes wide with panic as the ocean water forced its way into his lungs. Like a phantom of the deep, the envoy would approach and strangle him, draining him of his last breath.
There were times when everything would fade to black, and he would wake up to the safety of his palace confinement, but other times, the dream would replay itself. If by chance he remembered to avoid the cliff and turn away from the edge, he would be confronted by a burial mound. In an attempt to walk around, the ground would become soft, making him sink, and once again he would find himself being suffocated. Only this time, it was not water. It was thick, black ooze. Other times, when he fell through the earth, he would discover himself hanging onto tree roots above an open chasm, which housed a big vat of bubbling oil at the bottom.
Now trying to come to grips with himself in the present, Juron laid on his stomach in the middle of his bed, wrapped up in his exquisite red silk sheets staring off into space. In his mind, small drops of clarity dripped into the vast pool of his murky confusion. Starting to blink his eyes, he initiated logic to assess the situation. He sat up in bed looking about his circular bedroom. The room itself was fifty-five feet in diameter and the vaulted ceiling nearly fifty feet in height. His room was decorated like a castle with gray rock walls, wooden floor, long powerful tapestries and a huge fireplace. Where the walls met the smooth white domed ceiling ran white glowing crystals that gave off the radiance of Christmas tree lights.
Juron took a sigh of relief when his treasures and artifacts seemed to be accounted for. He had worked hard hunting for treasure. And as governor, the gifts he had received from traders ranged from priceless golden statues and figurines from King Midas’s court—a collection of armor, which included a coat of plates and mail worn by King Arthur—to the mirror of Pharos.
His favorite item besides the mirror of Pharos was a piece from Midas’s golden treasure. It was a model of a Greek bireme barely fifteen inches in length. Sitting on its pedestal, it gleaned from the light of the fire in the fireplace. There was such fine detail carved in the gold that he would stare at it for hours. It looked so lifelike, if it weren’t for its miniature size, he would have sworn that at one time, the ship had sailed on the open seas.
The mirror of Pharos, however, was his pride and joy. It was a massive spherical piece of silver, hammered and smoothed until it became a highly reflective surface with a meniscus curve in the center. It was so big that it almost reached the top of the ceiling. When the mirror was first delivered, they had to use a space distorter to stretch the door tall enough to wheel it in—not to mention; they had to evacuate the palace so that they could distort some of the corridors as they maneuvered the mirror around to his chamber.
The memories recalled as he looked about made reality seem more grounded and stable. There were no sea creatures in his room. The envoy was nowhere to be found. He was still the governor of Atlantis. Selené was his only true friend. These past few days had been nothing more than a bad dream. He couldn’t find the tiny piece of gold the envoy had given him, for all he knew, the cargo from the Orient was not even real. Looking out the window, he noted the sky was getting dark. His logic told him it must have been nearing night. He looked down at his hands. Everything seemed to be fine. His hands, clothes, and body appeared to be intact. There was no noise coming from within the palace. Was his door still guarded? Or was his imprisonment just a dream too?
As he stood up to check his door, there was a scratching sound at his window. There, in the corner of his window, was a massive claw followed by the last beat of wings as the creature settled on the side of Mt. Caspen. The gust of wind caused by the immense wings made his sparse hair fly up and the wooden door of his quarter’s shutter. A dragon had perched on his window. As the dragon’s lungs breathed in and out, the plates of its armor scraped against each other.
It was unusual that a dragon would be perched on his window, especially while wearing its armor. As he cautiously approached the window, Juron saw the dragons flying over spouting out flames toward the earth off in the distance. He heard screams and saw smoke. Atlantis was under attack by the dragons. This shocked him, and he panicked. His thoughts smothered him, why is this happening? There must be a way to leave Atlantis. What about my cargo, is this all real or imaginary? All of his nightmares were centered on the great isle; if only he could escape.
Like an answer to his thoughts, sitting on its pedestal amongst his treasures, the celestial sphere gleaned in the corner of his eye with its blue hypnotic glow. There was no way that relocating the isle would help. The dragons would only end up relocating with it. If only he had woken up and acted sooner, before the war broke out. Trying to not end up like his unlucky fellow Atlanteans, he was hoping that the dragon didn’t see him as he flattened himself up against the nearest wall, which happened to be right next to the window.
He looked up at the window as the dragon tightened its hold on the rock ledge, causing its claws to scratch the stone wall. The noise was so sharp that he had to cover his ears. Placing himself next to the window was obviously not one of his brightest ideas, but he slowly began to turn back to his mental reasoning. The dragon is much larger than the window. Only one claw and part of its hindquarter can be seen. He thought to himself as he sank to the floor. Surely, there’s no way the dragon saw me. Otherwise, the dragon would be ripping its way through the wall trying to get to me. Much to his relief, the dragon flew away, but took some of the window’s edging with it. No, the dragon had not seen him, but now there was a bigger window for him to avoid.
He took a quick glimpse outside and instantly wished he hadn’t. Starting as a small circle of black clouds, the clouds began to swirl around. The dark cloud cluster began to grow, invading the rest of the sky in a matter of seconds. He crawled under his bed and through to the other side. Escape was the only thing on his mind. Staying low, he crept over to the door. Looking almost frantic, he placed an ear to the door. Beads of sweat collected on his brow. Not a single peep was heard on the other side of the door. He slowly reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked.
While jiggling the handle, desperately trying to unlock it, Juron didn’t know that the dragon that had previously perched on his window, had decided to swoop back around. As Juron’s panic turned to anger, he banged on
the door, completely forgetting to stay out of sight. When that didn’t work, with one foot planted firmly on the wall and both hands on the doorknob, he tried to pull with all of his might. Getting frustrated, he decided to use all of his weight to ram the door. Still standing strong, the door did not budge, sending Juron back quite a ways. He landed hard on the floor, butt first. His back was to the window. Shaking off his landing, he eyed the door, and that’s when he heard it. The dragon had come to the window under the cover of night and was growling as it stared at Juron.
Juron was still on the floor but had turned to face the window. The outside world was much darker than his lowly lit room, so he stared at the window trying to see what was there. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the dragon’s metal battle gear. In shock, Juron scurried around trying to stand. When that didn’t work, he rolled out of sight just as the dragon arched its head back letting loose a hot stream of liquid flame.
The rock walls of his chamber and his collection of suits of amour did not catch on fire, but his belongings did. His eyes went wide with terror as Midas’s treasure began to melt, including the gold Greek bireme. He knew the mirror would be next if the dragon kept this up. Instinctively, he started to lunge for his belongings, trying to protect them, but he quickly withdrew knowing that the dragon would take the opportunity to flame him. Doing his best to divert his thoughts, he plotted his escape route. To his dismay, the wooden door leading to his escape had also been set ablaze. The only other way out of his chamber was through the window where the dragon stood, but he knew he had better chances going through the burning door. He thought about using a suit of armor to deflect the flames, but they were much too small for him.
