Kingdom of Dragons

by Melody Rose

  “She is alive!” someone else shouted. There was a series of whoops and cheers, but I couldn’t focus on them.

  The push and pull of the light and the dark vibrated inside me. It was intoxicating. I relished the feeling and found it to be all-consuming. It captured my focus and manipulated my movements.

  “Eva,” another voice said, a little frightened. “You are glowing.”

  “And also swallowed in shadow?” another voice chirped up, more inquisitive than the other one.

  I chanced a glance at my body, now standing upright. My friends were not lying. My body gleamed with a tie-dye effect of black and white. It melded together like a marble pattern and radiated off my skin. The corner of my mouth rose in a smile.

  “It’s balance,” I announced to the room, finally acknowledging my companions for the first time since arriving back from the white space.

  They were all there, staring at me with a mixture of fearful and dumbfounded expressions. I didn’t mind their confusion. If anything, it amused me because it meant I got to explain my new revelation to them.

  “What are you talking about?” Hannan asked with wide eyes.

  “I wasn’t dying,” I told them, willing them to understand. “My body was trying to balance the darkness and the light. Now, I have both.”

  “Both?” Freja replied with a hitch in her voice.

  I smiled. “Both. See?”

  Even though I had never done this before, I was confident I could call upon the darkness in the same way I called upon the light. I held out my hand towards the jail door that sealed us in this cell. I stared at the series of metal bars, lined up in a row like soldiers. In my mind’s eye, I envisioned them melting until there was a large enough opening for everyone. When I called upon the darkness, it radiated out from my outstretched hands like a spool of black ribbon coming undone.

  Another chorus of gasps and exclamations went up amongst my friends, but I paid it no mind. I focused on the darkness as it stretched from me to the bars. The strands wrapped around the metal and coiled upward as if they were wrapping them like a present. Then, the darkness crushed the metal beneath its grasp, rendering the barrier nonexistent.

  I asked the darkness to come back to me now that it had done its job. A gaping hole now appeared where there had once been a door preventing us from escaping. I gestured out my hand, with neither light nor darkness. Just an ordinary hand showing off my work.

  “The darkness destroys while the light creates,” I explained, my example on display. “The contamination, the darkness, it wasn’t killing me. It was trying to find balance with the light already inside me.”

  A dozen or so eyeballs stared at me. They contained a mixture of horror, surprise, and befuddlement. The only response I could offer was a shrug.

  “We should probably get out of here now,” I suggested.

  “And do what?” Kehn challenged. “We do not have a plan.”

  Admittedly, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. My thoughts were still consumed with the abilities gathering inside me. The one thing I knew now, though, was that I had enough power to do what needed to be done.

  Something must have changed in my expression when this thought occurred to me because Kehn stepped forward with a worried brow and tried to take my hand. I retreated out of his grip.

  “Don’t,” I warned. “I don’t know how much control I have over it.”

  Kehn recoiled but wasn’t afraid. He responded as an act of respect because I had told him, not because he feared me and my glowing skin. “What are you going to do, Eva?”

  “I’m going to save the dragons,” I said, making the decision as I said the words. “Then, I’m going to destroy Reon.”

  “You do not have to do it alone,” Julei piped up from her place in the corner.

  “Julei’s right,” Kehn said. “Let us come with you.”

  “No,” I responded sharply. I took a step away from Kehn and the rest of the group. I made my way closer to the now open door. “I think that’s exactly what I have to do. Be alone.”

  “Eva,” Hannan’s voice came out in a croak, but I ignored his pain and continued on.

  “You should leave,” I warned. “I don’t know how this is going to end, but I couldn’t bear it if anyone else got hurt.”

  Here, I locked eyes with Kehn. I knew he, being a soldier, would understand and listen to my command. He would know it was the best option to keep the most people alive. His rational mind would kick in. I trusted this notion to be true.

  Sure enough, Kehn’s face hardened into one of understanding and determination. He gave me one short nod, and I smiled back.

  “She cannot go out there alone!” Hannan protested. The caretaker rushed forward, but Troylan stopped him. Another soldier, another one who understood what was at stake.

  “Get them out of here,” I told Kehn, speaking only to him. “Keep them safe.”

  “End this,” he responded. He confirmed my command without acknowledging it, but I knew he would do what I asked… and I would follow through on his request.

  I raised my eyebrows with confidence and dashed out of the cell. Echoes of Hannan’s voice calling my name bounced off the walls as I ran down the hallway.

  “Eva!”

  My feet burst out from under me. I raced forward and didn’t waste another thought on the people behind me. I trusted Kehn to listen and get them to safety. My mind honed on the task at hand.

  The mountain kingdom was only lit by the torches that circled up to the top. However, I could see a silver light coming through an opening above my head. It was the evening of the Lunar Eclipse, and if Reon were going to be anywhere, it would be up on the Sky Entrance, preparing the final spread of the contamination.

  I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. My heart pounded, and my muscles pulsed, but I didn’t feel tired. The light and dark within me propelled me forward without sweat, exhaustion, or pain. Energized, I continued onward. Step by step, I climbed the stone staircase to reach the top of the mountain.

  I only slowed when I approached the mouth of the Sky Entrance. The tornado of powers within me steadied my heart and forced me to observe my surroundings before rushing headlong into battle. I flattened my body against the wall around the corner from the Sky Entrance.

  Reon’s voice boomed, loud and clear, as he summoned the dragons forward. “Soon, my dear dragons, the moon and sun will align, and you will spread our disease far and wide until the whole world is consumed in our contamination!”

  He released a cackle worthy of an animated villain. It rippled down my spine, making every hair on my skin stand up. I clenched my fists and forced myself to wait. I held my breath, willing the sun and moon into alignment.

  Something about the moment seemed poetic to me. The idea that I had the exact balance Reon sought from the Lunar Eclipse within me nourished me with a sense of confidence and pride I hadn’t ever previously experienced. It itched on the edge of my fingertips, begging to be released.

  Only a few moments longer, I reassured myself. Right when he is least expecting it.

  I chanced a glance around the corner so I could fully assess the situation. Reon stood at the edge of the platform so that he hovered above the whole kingdom. Hundred of dragons flew in a circular formation around the mountain. They passed by in a rhythmic system. I could see each of my dragons yanked into the rotation, flowing their fellow dragons without any choice in the matter. A wave of sudden anger rose inside me, and I almost jumped the gun as Monte flew past in a blur, but I could recognize those green and blue scales anywhere.

  The dim horizon spread out before the false king, vast and quiet. Little did they know that dragons would soon descend upon them all and destroy the world as they knew it.

  Well, not if I could help it.

  Above us, the full moon shifted into the prime position. It aligned perfectly with the planet’s shadow and began the Lunar Eclipse. Without wasting another breath, I stepped out from my hiding spot and made my p
resence known.

  “Hey, Reon!” I called out. I spoke to the light and the dark, asking them to intensify their glow so there would be no mistaking what kind of power I possessed.

  The false king whipped around, and his eyes burst with surprise. Then his face contorted into one of intense hatred. I relished in his reaction, knowing my appearance had the desired result.

  “You should be dead!” Reon spat, his voice loud against the wind created by the rotating dragons. Their wings pushed a heavy bout of air around Reon that made my hair dance wildly as I approached him.

  “Well, I’m not,” I chuckled.

  “What are you doing here?” Reon snarled, one nostril flaring larger than the other.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” I asked with a sly smile, unable to hide my confidence. “I’m stopping you.”

  “You can’t stop me,” Reon chided. “The eclipse is upon us. The contamination will be released.”

  “Not if I break your connection with the dragons,” I threatened.

  Reon’s eyebrows bounced upward ever so slightly at my statement. Quickly, he righted them and hid his surprise back into a scowl.

  “I destroyed your sword,” Reon said like a taunting bully. “You have no way to break my connection with the dragons.”

  “I don’t need the sword,” I sneered jovially. “I have you to thank for that.”

  “How so?” Reon scoffed, unable to stop himself from asking.

  I took a couple of steps forward, intent on soaking up the effect of the eclipse. The second my body entered the platform of the Sky Entrance, I was bathed in a warm sensation that breathed into every cell. I felt it in my core, seeping right into the bone.

  “When you contaminated me,” I said, daring only a couple of more steps forward. The power from the eclipse consumed me, and I needed to keep my wits as best as I could. “See, you gave me a piece of the darkness, but instead of letting it kill me, I found a balance between the two, the light I already had and the darkness you gave me. Something you were never able to do. And as you know, the light creates while the darkness destroys.”

  Right after this announcement, I called to both the darkness and the light. I asked the pair to illuminate the connections between Reon and the dragons. Under the glow of the eclipse, it was as easy as breathing. One second, the Sky Entrance was clear and void of anything but the pair of us. The next, the air glittered with hundreds of threads of light surrounding Reon. He looked to be in the center of a spiderweb, the strings stretching out to the dragons.

  With one inhale, I asked the darkness to sever all of those threads. It checked in with me briefly, asking me if I was sure. A single nod was all it took before the black ribbons shot from my hands and surrounded Reon in a cloud of darkness.

  A roar escaped from his mouth as the false king crouched against the oncoming darkness. He tried to put up his own defenses, but my blackness burst through, ripping his shield to shreds. Empowered by the eclipse, the darkness swirled around Reon and snipped each of the connections. They fell away and dissolved into a smattering of twinkling fairy dust.

  When the final connection burst into specks, Reon released a harrowing scream. His own wave of darkness consumed him as it tried to catch any of the remaining connections. It was a feeble attempt, with only his hands coming away with any evidence of his bonds with the majestic creatures.

  The dragons stopped spinning and crowded around the edge of the platform. The army of beasts formed behind Reon, trapping him between them and me. It was the worst place for him to be, and I relished in the fear that permeated through his eyes.

  Any remaining darkness I had wrapped around Reon’s body. A satisfaction, fierce and delicious, welled up inside me. I had the false king where I wanted him. After all that he had done, all he had killed and destroyed, he was about to pay for what he had done.

  I sauntered forward and told the darkness to grip him tighter. I cocked my head to the side and discovered a kernel of a feeling deep inside me. It burned like a forgotten ember, and I took a moment to acknowledge it.

  It wanted Reon dead. I wanted to see his body, empty and void of the tainted soul that once lived inside. Justice would be served, and he would pay for all that he had ruined, all that he had harmed.

  The darkness encouraged this thought until, before I knew it, the black ribboned slithered up Reon’s throat and lifted the man to his tiptoes. His hands clawed at the tight black bands that held his air and his life hostage.

  I approached the false king and looked directly into his fearful eyes. A wicked laugh bubbled in my throat. It would be so easy to throw him off his mountain. With one breath, I could…

  As I closed the gap between myself and Reon, the world shifted. The little light from the eclipse and my glowing arms dimmed to a lavender color. Reon’s features froze in the tinted coloring, and the sudden stillness shook me out of my vengeful state.

  I stumbled backward and heaved in a couple of heavy breaths. I clutched my own throat with one hand and laid the other on my convulsing chest.

  “I am sorry, Eva, but I could not, in good conscious let you do that,” said a voice behind me.

  I spun around and saw the magnificent form of Zulu walking towards me. Her antlers glowed in the purple light and made a kaleidoscope of shadows appear across her face. I stared in awe at the dragon and couldn’t quite come up with the right words.

  “It is not who you are,” the black and orange dragon said in her melodic tone. “You are not a killer.”

  “I’m not,” I breathed, knowing she was right. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “The darkness,” Zulu said simply. “It has that effect.”

  “Good to know,” I replied, proud I found some semblance of myself again. “What is going on here? How are we in this purple space?”

  “I wish to bond with you,” Zulu recited as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “All of us creatures have our gifts, and mine has to do with time.”

  “You mean…?” My brain scrambled to put the pieces together. “You can stop time?”

  Zulu nodded her giant head of antlers once.

  “All of those times when Chyndron and I met in the purple space,” I stuttered, trying to remember, “that was you?”

  “Yes,” Zulu confirmed. “I was with him throughout everything. It gave you time to consider and think without wasting precious time.”

  “Holy shit,” I said, baffled. “You picked a hell of a time to bond.”

  “I think I picked the perfect time,” the dragon said with a curl of a smile at the corner of her lips. “There was a reason we did not do it before now.”

  “So, great, we bond, I agree and all that,” I said as I waved my hand nonchalantly. “Then what? We still have to deal with Reon somehow.”

  “I would not be so hasty with your decision, Eva,” Zulu warned.

  “What do you mean?” I leaned back, weary of Zulu’s tone.

  “I do not want you to only bond with me,” the dragon said. “I wish for you to bond with all of us.”

  There was a light brush of wind against my neck, and I shivered. Something compelled me to look over my shoulder to see where the cold breeze came from. The assembly of dragons loomed over the edge of the Sky Entrance, while Reon remained frozen. All of them were tainted with the purple light from Zulu’s time freezing, or whatever she called it. Some of them looked elated, others bored. Some smiled brightly with their large and sharp teeth, while others remained stoic and impassive. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes, not one like the other.

  “I don’t understand,” I said slowly, drawing out all the words longer than necessary.

  “I think you do, Eva,” Zulu challenged. “You are Queen of Dragons, yes, but we want you to rule over the kingdom of Rictorus.”

  37

  “Rule over… like, actually rule the kingdom of dragons?” I gaped.

  “You are the only person to find the balance between the light and the dark,” Zul
u said, her voice shifting to one of reverence. “You are a powerful woman with gifts still to hone and use. We believe that you can use those gifts to rebuild our kingdom and bring balance to our world.”

  “That’s a lot of responsibility,” I stalled.

  “Is that a no?” Zulu said with a raised eyebrow.

  I turned back to her. “No, it’s not. Not yet, anyway.”

  I took a minute and closed my eyes. Feelings swirled harder and faster than the light and darkness ever did. It made me sick to my stomach at the overwhelming nature of it all. I needed help, guidance, someone I trusted to talk it through with me. So, I chanced a call down our mental link, testing that it still worked, even after everything.

  “Monte?”

  “I am right here, Eva,” the dragon said.

  He appeared at my side, flying in and slithering under my arm. His snout tucked beneath me, and the weight of him against my body steadied me.

  “What do I do?” I asked him plainly, not wasting a minute.

  “I cannot tell you what to do, Eva,” Monte replied, his voice gentle and caring. “But I can tell you that I will be here with you. I chose you, and I continue to choose you. Whether you take this offer or not, whether you return to Andsdyer or not, I am with you.”

  My heart slowed at that notion. I knew I had the support of my djer forever and always, so I asked him one more question.

  “Do you think I can do it?” I wondered. “Rebuild this kingdom and rule over it?”

  “Do you think you can do it?” Monte countered. “That is the question you need to answer.”

  I paused and thought about the dragon’s question. I reached inside of myself to seek the answer. I pushed past the light and the darkness and called to my inner voice.

  Over my time in this foreign and magical world, I learned so much. I rode dragons, swam with mermaids, saved lives, made friends, created masterpieces, and fell in love. It was a life beyond anything I could have imagined or wished for.