by M. Arcturus
“No, I don’t understand. You can’t die.” She looked frantically around the room at the other phoenixes. “You have to stop the machine! It’s killing her!”
Aros looked at Giséi with sorrow in his eyes. He tried to leave the crystal, but it was as if he had been tied down to it. “We can’t, and even if we could, she would still die. It’s her time. She knew that when she came here.”
Giséi’s body started to glow with more intensity. The pain began to get to her, and she screamed in agony. The Lady of Avalon approached the crystal chair tugging and pulling on it, refusing to let Giséi’s life end this way. Letting out a monstrous scream, the white energy left her body and shot up through the hole in the ceiling. The physical force of the energy leaving Giséi’s body threw the Lady back quite a ways. The other phoenixes were released from their seats as the energy in their crystals died down. Kajaka and Shadow started to run toward Giséi, but Aros intervened.
“Move out of our way!” shouted Shadow.
“I don’t want her to die either,” Aros said. “The white light came from her, but the gust of wind that came with it was not from her body. It came out of the floor from underneath her. Something else was in that blast. It had nothing to do with the machine.”
They turned and stared at her. She had stopped screaming, and she was silently taking the pain. Grayish-brown splotches started to appear all over her body. She barely choked out her last words. “All of you. Get out of here!” Her voice cracked as she coughed trying to clear her throat.
“—but we can’t just leave you here,” spat Kajaka.
“GO!” She commanded.
The unicorn horn around her neck glowed brilliantly. The Lady knew that whatever was happening to her she would be protected from immortal death and the horn would serve her well in the lifetimes to come. The darkness spread rapidly, consuming what was left of her body. Gasping for air, she deteriorated in front of their eyes and turned to dust. The darkness infiltrated the crystal. The whole isle started to shake rapidly. Branching out on the floor where Giséi had stood, it advanced at a fast pace threatening to catch a new victim.
Aros signaled to Hermetrien, Vermilion, and Gepsom. As if hearing words unspoken, they nodded and took their place beside a passenger. Gepsom stood next to Selené, Hermetrien by the Lady of Avalon. Vermilion walked up to Sorbek, sizing him up, wondering if she could even lift him. Coming to her rescue, Kajaka approached them as he wiped tears from his eyes.
“I know this must be hard for you. I can’t even imagine how you feel right now. All I can say is that I’m sorry.”
Kajaka couldn’t even face her. Keeping his eyes down, he tried to think about something else. An argument ignited between Aros and Shadow. Watching the darkness creep toward them, it was all Kajaka could do to keep from fainting. His vision blurred, and then his world faded to black as he heard his own body hit the floor.
“Kajaka!” bellowed Vermilion. Aros and Shadow stopped their argument and turned their attention to Vermilion and then to Kajaka who was now lying on the floor.
“Crap! I’ve got to get him out of here.” Shadow picked him up and swung him over his shoulder. Aros watched the floor where Shadow stood and realized how close they were to the darkness. Aros jumped out of the way right in the nick of time. Shadow had better thank his lucky stars. Kajaka’s faint had just saved his life.
Gepsom didn’t wait for the others. She picked Selené up and took off. Shadow wasn’t far behind. Vermilion gave Aros a helpless look. “I’ll be over there in a moment.” Aros approached the Lady of Avalon. “Are you okay? No brown spots, right?”
“Not that I see. Why?”
“You were pretty close to that energy blast, but you are feeling alright?”
“Yes, why?”
“You’re a little pale.”
“Well considering that my daughter is in this palace somewhere with some sort of death on the loose, I think I’m doing rather well.” The Lady replied calmly. She turned to Hermetrien. “Can we get out of here now before I change my mind? Cause I’m about to run out that door and search this whole mountain for Pandora if I have to.”
“I’m sure she is safe and sound.” Her voice was calm and peaceful, yet the Lady felt Hermetrien question her own certainty in regard to her daughter’s safety. Wrapping her arms around the Lady of Avalon, she followed Gepsom’s path.
“Aros, get over here!” The twang in her voice was sassy, shrill and graded on his nerves. He turned to give her a piece of his mind when he saw that she and Sorbek were surrounded. He flew over and took Sorbek’s upper body, leaving Vermilion with his legs. They flew out of there just in time. The opening in the ceiling became covered in the death just as they flew out of the room. Being chased up the vent by death was terrifying and quickly became the flight of their lives.
Oberon and Jarrah were exhausted. They had just finished fighting the small band of dragons when they both heard a roar coming up from behind Jarrah. The next noise they heard was not a sound they ever wished upon anyone. The cracking of bone, the tear of ligaments, and blood streaming down from his wound. The scream of pain that would echo for years to come escaped Jarrah’s lips. Jarrah fell limp, giving into the pain, as the tip of the dragon’s tail stayed lodged in his abdomen. The dragon lifted up the impaled body with its tail as it tried to think of a way to remove it.
“We’ll help you with that, you ignorant, overgrown crocodile!” shouted an all-too-familiar voice. In response to her voice, Oberon and the dragon looked up to see Campanula swooping in on her new gryphon friend. With lightning speed and her sword in hand, she flew by and chopped off the last eight feet of the dragon’s tail. The blade sliced through the armor, bone and all. The dragon roared in agony. Her gryphon took to the skies as she jumped down. Just as the dragon was about to pursue the gryphon, she whipped out her hand cannon and fired a clear shot into the dragon’s eye. “Your fight is with me!” she hissed.
The dragon briefly coiled in pain before shaking it off. He turned his one eye on her and charged. The dragon’s brethren quickly surrounded them. Just as the dragons were upon her, she heard a chorus of cheers, and the dragons stopped in midair. The spear running crew had run them through and was hoisting the dragons away. It was a little sad and awkward to see the dragons moving backward without the use of their wings, squirming around on the poles and clawing at the spear that had been rammed through their gut. In a matter of seconds, they were surrounded by elves cheering and jumping for joy.
“What’s going on here?” asked Oberon.
A scout ran up to him, “Sir, permission to speak?”
“Permission granted.”
“The baby dragons were found. Most of the dragons are flying away from the isle. A few are still causing trouble. Those that are injured are being treated by the medics, both elves, and dragon alike. Since we don’t need so much energy in fighting, we can use what we have left for magical healings.”
“Have a crew tend to Jarrah. Any news of Pandora?”
“I’m afraid not, my Lord.” He said in dismay. Even as his eyes fell on Jarrah, the sadness deepened. The scout knelt down to examine Jarrah’s body. There was no point in removing the dragon’s tail from Jarrah’s abdomen, and there was no way a healing would save someone so close to death. “And if we can’t heal him?”
Hot anger washed over Oberon. “Just do it!” Campanula walked up to Oberon. “Just leave me alone.” He stated bitterly.
The scout cleared his throat. Then he politely added, “Sir! He wishes to speak with you. Personally, I’m surprised he’s still alive, but he’s too far along. We can’t save him. If you would like, I can prolong his death for a few moments, so he can share his last words,” Oberon nodded, and the scout showered Jarrah with a wave of magic. “There, that should buy him time and numb most of the pain. It’s the best that we can do. Should I leave you two?” asked the scout.
<
br /> “Yes, please,” replied Oberon.
Oberon knelt beside his friend. Tears fell from his eyes. “You have to get well so we can walk in the Dreamtime.”
Jarrah’s first words were scratchy as he spoke through the gurgling blood at the back of his throat. “Oh no, no more walking for me, old man,” he said with a gleam in his eye and smiled. His face winced in pain, then he added, “I have a gift for you. Knowing that I probably wouldn’t survive the war, I packed a small cloth map in the pouch around my hip.” He coughed up blood before he continued. “Please take it out.”
Oberon unrolled the map. The island on the map seemed very foreign to him. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a map to my home. There you will find a powerful shaman by the name of Zimbaja. He is the best teacher for Dreamtime travels. He taught me, and now he will teach you. Just mention my name, and he will know what to do for you.” Jarrah’s voice started to fade with his strength, “May your travels take you beyond your farthest imagination, and maybe I’ll get to see you from the other side.” Jarrah’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and the rattle of his last breath escaped his lungs.
“I shall go and find this Zimbaja. You have given me the best gift ever and have denied me a way to pay you back.” He looked at his troops. Their numbers were few. There would be plenty of ships going to Avalon. Jarrah would not be left behind. An elven burial would be held in his honor, a fitting end for one of the best heroes in existence. Oberon would make the event of his burial so majestic that it would put the burial of King Arthur to shame. As he closed Jarrah’s eyes, he whispered, “You fought bravely, my friend. It was an honor to fight beside you and be here for your last moments of life.”
Jarrah’s death was hard on both Campanula and Oberon. As she was fighting back her own tears, she tried her best to divert Oberon’s attention. “I’m sure Pandora is fine, and whether you believe it or not, things are getting better. Even the sun is coming up!” Campanula stated half excited.
“So soon?” asked Oberon in disappointment. “The isle must be drifting into the east. You had better take cover.” He spoke out of distant logic and thoughtfulness as his heartache softened.
“What for?” asked Campanula.
“Don’t you need to cover up and stay out of the sun?”
“I’m a demon, not the living dead,” she told him. “Just shows how much you know!” It was good hearing her sarcasm. It even made him crack a smile. Then, he suspiciously eyed the sky.
The skies grew indecisive. It rained, it poured, and then it became sunny and quiet. The sun and moon chased after one another, making the days and nights appear to be a strobe light. “That’s not good. We’re no longer floating on top of the fabric of time. We’re becoming a part of it. Once the isle merges, who knows what time we’ll be stranded in.”
“Stranded?” Campanula looked at the sky and then at Oberon in shock. “We can’t be stranded! I have an empire to get home to!” The last time she used the relocation chip in her arm, she knew exactly where she was and where she wanted to go. Without knowing where she currently was, would the chip take her to back home? The more mental clarity, the better the chip worked.
Before Oberon could reply, an angry blast sounded as a large beam of light erupted from the palace, shooting straight up into the heavens. A gust of energy swept over them like an invisible tidal wave knocking everyone off of their feet. Regaining their footing became difficult. When they tried to stand, the ground jolted, and the earth started to move downward to be swallowed up by the ocean.
“What on earth was that?” asked Campanula.
“Oh, you just had to mention how things were getting better, didn’t you?” asked Oberon sarcastically. He smiled, but it faded fast. Grabbing the closest elf by the arm, he gave his next line of orders. “Hurry, get everyone to the boats—the isle is sinking!”
“Whose idea was it to sink Atlantis anyway? What was the war for if we were going to just sink the whole freaking isle?”
Campanula’s question remained unanswered as Oberon started directing the elves on where to go and whom to take. “Take even the wounded. Leave not a single living soul!” He turned in disbelief rubbing his eyes with his hand. “I can’t believe this! There’s going to be humans on Avalon! I hope they do not intend to stay. They would destroy everything!” Realization caught up with him. His sister Queen Mab had been left in charge of Avalon. For all he knew, his power-hungry sister might have already turned Avalon into her own playground. What if they were displaced in a time during or long after her rule? Would they even have a home to go to, or would they be exiled?
“Oberon, I’m talking to you!” He turned to face Campanula. “Why did we spend all of that time and energy into the war when the isle was going to sink anyway?”
Campanula had a point, and she had every right to be ticked. “Remember when I was knocked unconscious?”
“Yes?”
“Well, that was because my lovely wife was trying to contact me when I was helping to secure a dragon inside a box. While I was distracted, the side of the box became loose, flew up and hit my temple, knocking me out. I haven’t been able to tell her that the dragons have abandoned the war. So, she has gone on and followed through with plan ‘B’ because she thought that plan ‘A’ had failed.”
“What?! I can’t believe this is happening!”
Not knowing what else to say to her, Oberon turned away and looked about the isle, seeing nothing but destruction and death. A few dragons were still exacting their revenge on Atlantis. “Just looking around, even though plan ‘A’ for the most part worked, there’s just not enough of Atlantis to save.”
Campanula followed Oberon’s lead and looked around. The war had a huge impact on the isle. The time it would take to rebuild would linger for decades. Screams suddenly came flooding from the city. Campanula flinched out of instinct. “What the hell?” She looked at Oberon who just stared intently at the tree line. “What, they just got the memo that their home was going to be a part of an underwater theme park?”
“I don’t think that’s it.” Just as Oberon mumbled his thought, humans burst through the brush like a wild stampede.
“Humans, they just don’t know how to remain calm in a crisis do they?”
Oberon ignored her comment and instead witnessed the trees in the distance turn brown and die. This baffled him and sent chills down his spine. How could a tree, in a matter of seconds, go from being healthy to instant death and then quickly fall over as if the decaying process had started? As they fell, he could see clouds of black dust flying up. He was curious. Was that the dirt on the ground flying up due to the impact of a fallen tree, or was that the dusty remains of the tree? Whatever was killing the trees startled the birds, which took immediately to flight. This plague of death was moving fast, but it was going to take a while before it reached the shore. “Forget all of the wounded! Just take those that you can carry and get your asses into the boats!”
“What’s going on? What’s happening to the trees?”
“I’m not sure. Get your men to the Kinnowwa. Follow us to Avalon. Once we’re safe, I’ll see what I can do to transport you to your home and your time period. All we can do now is pray that this death stays here on Atlantis.”
“What about your family?”
“I believe that their strength will get them to safety. That’s all I can do for now.”
Chapter Ten
Nemesis, the Time of Reckoning
It had only been a few seconds since the beam of light had stopped erupting from the heart of Mt. Caspen, but to Oberon, it was an eternity. The massive storm clouds, which had hovered periodically over Atlantis, were now thinning out to reveal a vibrant, stable sun setting low near the horizon. Looking up in the sky, the weather dragons were among the final wave of the opposition to leave the isle. With their departing flight, the last shower of li
ght snowflakes was falling as the boats were being loaded up rather quickly and orderly despite the turmoil surrounding them. Most of the humans he had worried about were dead. They had not outrun the death creeping its way from Mt. Caspen headed to the shore. Among the few surviving humans standing on Oberon’s boats were Dr. Jekyll and Nostradamus. They kept their eyes locked on him as if searching for answers as to what they should do next. Not wanting to donate energy to their cause, he turned from their stares.
Though breathing easier, knowing that not many humans would need the shelter of Avalon, he still paced the shoreline, wondering and worrying about his family. Would he never see his love again? And what about the beautiful, capable, young woman who used to be his little girl? The thought of losing them pained him. Death was fast approaching the white snowy sands of the beach. He had to start coming to grips with himself and embrace the reality that they were probably not going to make it to shore.
His elven generals had taken the reigns, for Oberon had become too distant in his thoughts to lead. Their shouts and the splashing of the water as they loaded the boats were reduced to muffled echoes in his ears. Even though the Kinnowwa had docked waiting for her passengers, Campanula’s pirate crew banded together, working side by side with the elves, trying to aid in any way they could. Small skirmishes, remnants of the war, still raged on for there were quite a few dragon hatchlings that were unaccounted for. Even as one of the last war-raging dragons approached Oberon, he lingered in the vast canyon of his thoughts. She slithered up to him, raised her head and arched her neck, ready to fire. The stream of fire, hotter than magma, shot at him with deadly accuracy.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Campanula shouted as she sprinted toward the conflict. The displaced sand shot up with force as she dug her knee in the beach for support. Aiming the hand cannon steadily with both hands, she fired a warning shot across the dragon’s nose.
