by Kim Cormack
Zach answered her thoughts, “You’ll always have me.”
Kayn gave him the buttercup she’d tugged out of the ground. She felt the same way. He would always be her Handler. He wasn’t allowed to run away. She smiled.
“Shall we dance?” Zach suggested while gallantly holding out his hand.
“We shall,” Kayn answered as she took it. They began slowly waltzing to the music. She rested her head on Zach’s shoulder and whispered, “You don’t think I actually blew it with Frost, do you?”
Zach was silent for a second before responding, “You two will be just fine. The timing of your relationship isn’t the greatest but he’s a thousand years old. He knew what he was getting into.”
She was in the train wreck stage...those were the words he’d used to describe her and she didn’t disagree. That’s how she felt about the last six months of her life. Kayn proclaimed, “Who wouldn’t be a train wreck after being brutally murdered a thousand times in immortal Testing?”
Zach giggled and whispered, “I’ve done some messed up things myself but I’m not sure I’ve hit full train wreck. Give me time.”
“I’ll be there for you when you go off the rails,” she vowed.
“Unless Frost’s here,” Zach teased.
“Even then,” Kayn promised as they slowly swayed in the damp grass.
“I’m holding you to that,” Zach whispered in her ear. He dipped her as he proposed, “Let’s go kill some teenagers.”
As Kayn’s feet landed back on the sweet scented moist grass, her Handler placed her upright and released her. She was grinning. That sounded like a lovely way to spend the afternoon. She glanced over at Lexy and Grey. They stopped dancing as Zach wandered over to their side and they began making plans. Kayn paused a moment, watching the three giggling as they plotted their diabolical training games. She knew her sketchy allegiance to her Handler was a large part of the reason they kept separating her from the one person that truly made her happy. She wouldn’t be confused if Kevin had ended up her Handler. How was this going to work when she could never give Zach her whole heart? Lexy had surrendered her heart to Grey without question, he’d been her everything. Zach was a platonic friend...Well, except for that one moment during ability experimentation. Kayn joined the trio, thought of a sword and it appeared in her grasp as she piped in, “Shall we get to work then?”
Lexy enthusiastically agreed, “Let’s do this!”
Grey grabbed Zach’s arm, stopping him dead in his tracks as he added, “Let the Dragons out to play for a while. We’ll rein them in when it’s time.”
Kayn looked back. She caught Zach’s nervous expression.
Lexy whispered, “He’ll get used to it. You guys just need some time to grow your bond free of distractions.”
Kayn hesitated, sensing Zach’s nervousness. They had to grow their bond free of distractions. That made sense. Frost was one hell of a distraction. She followed Lexy as they wandered away through the endless feeling meadow. It had stopped raining but with each footstep in the moist grass, she was reminded that her thoughts had caused the storm. Lightning crackled above them as dark ominous clouds rolled in overhead. Thunder rumbled its war cry and she felt her emotions beginning to dull. Kayn didn’t need to speak to Lexy as they reached the tree line because instinct was already guiding her actions. The two Dragons of Ankh sprinted off into the cover of the trees, aware of each others presence yet not dependent on it. There was no need for words as the rain pummeled the trees above them and thinned out as it trickled through the branches. She was reminded of the final moments of her true humanity as she was pursued through the forest behind her childhood home. The rapid pace of her footsteps crunching through the trails gave new life to the trauma she kept shoved down within her soul. Hollowness swallowed the final breath of her emotions as she felt the presence of the new trio of Ankh. Both Dragons altered their direction without the need for verbal communication. They were now instinct driven monsters on the hunt for what was left of the trio’s humanity. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lexy also had a dagger. Kayn’s heart raced with anticipation as she tightened her grasp on the handle of her blade. Divine predatory instinct led them both to soundlessly creep through the woods without even snapping a twig on the recently travelled path to alert their prey. They heard the faint sound of conversation. It was little more than a whisper in the wind that led them to their prey. Getting as close as they could without being seen was part of the thrill. With no warning, they burst through the bushes into the meadow the three were laying in. They ran at the trio and the newbies scrambled to their feet and fled into the bushes. She’d played this game with them once before... They knew the rules. Run away or die. Kayn grinned as instinct chose the weakest link which was rarely the smallest person. She didn’t recall his name. She preferred it that way. Kayn pursued the snapping of twigs ahead of her until she caught up and emotionlessly plunged her blade into his back. As he dropped to his knees and gasped, realization hit her...She was now the man in the dark. She was the footsteps in the trails. She’d become the monster she had always feared as a child. Kayn yanked the bloody blade from his spine and carried on with her little murder spree. She sensed Lexy had taken down the girl. There was only one left. She sprinted through the bushes and into the next open area where she saw the cougar she’d run into on many occasions. This time, instead of running she stood with her sword clutched in her hands as she called, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”
The massive feline raced at her. She let out a war cry as she ran directly at the wild animal. She was a predator too. With a few swift slashes of her sword as it’s brutally powerful jaws savaged her flesh, she took down the mighty feline. When all was said and done, Kayn maneuvered out from under its limp corpse, leapt to her feet and brushed herself off. She felt surprisingly victorious for someone that was critically injured as she noticed her profusely bleeding shoulder. She touched her mauled flesh, feeling slightly inconvenienced. Kayn scowled as she jogged away from the corpse. She needed energy. She could feel the aching desperation in her soul for the one thing she wasn’t certain she could acquire in this heavenly land but she set out to find it anyway. Kayn sprinted through the overgrown brush, taking the path less travelled. She felt the weight of the urgent need within her as she spotted the last Ankh. He was cowering against a tree, attempting to catch his breath. She slowed her roll as she casually strolled towards the out of breath Ankh. Their eyes met and he didn’t run. His surrender was clear as he stepped away from the tree and remained in place, with his eyes trained on her. She cocked her head, quite curious as to what his next move would be.
“Are you just going to kill me for no reason?” the boy inquired with a Scottish accent.
She coldly responded, “Not the usual way.”
He whispered, “What do you mean?”
Kayn swiftly closed the space between them, clutched both his arms and her palms warmed as she began ingesting his energy. As he slumped to the ground, the rush of his life force surged through her being. Kayn marched away from his body and into the darkened trails. She was still hungry. With all thoughts of her relationship woes lost to the driving need of her Conduit ability, she scoured the woods for any form of mystical being as she waited for the immortals they’d subdued to rise again.
For weeks, she thought up creatures and devoured their energy until she was no more than a soulless beast void of all humanity. She pursued and killed the newbie Ankh each time they rose with her sister at her side. Grey and Zach gave the newbies happy moments to secure their bond as the two Dragons gave strength and perseverance to their souls. Euphoric from the energy she’d been ingesting, Kayn curled up in the fetal position on the moss at the base of a large tree. She closed her eyes knowing Lexy was sprawled below the next tree.
Chapter 5
Dragon Daddy Issues
SUNBEAMS FILTERED THROUGH the branches warming her skin as she watched trillions of tiny dust particles dancing around in the light.
A twig cracked. She was instantly alert.
Seth stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself while commenting, “Dragons are such glorious creatures.” Their Guardian sire, inched his way closer to Kayn as he baited, “Are you still hungry my child?”
Yes...Yes, she was always hungry. While crouched at the foot of the massive tree, Kayn cocked her head inquisitively as he dared to come even closer. She slowly rose to stand upright until she was staring directly into her father’s eyes.
Seth offered her his hands with his wrists poised up to the sky as a symbolic gesture that he was willing to submit to offer her what she needed. Logic didn’t play into it as Kayn ingested her father’s being until he grew unsteady on his feet. She kept going until Seth’s knees buckled.
He yanked his hands away and scolded, “You should always be aware of what abilities you’re ingesting. Do you even understand what you’ve consumed?”
Kayn felt the bounty of energy coursing through her body as she snapped back to reality long enough to creepily respond, “I want more.”
Seth grinned as he turned and offered his energy to Lexy.
The crimson-haired Dragon turned him down cold as she rose to her feet with her eyes full of rage. Lexy met the Guardian’s curious gaze as she accused, “You left me on that farm.”
“This again,” Seth complained. “For heaven's sake child, it’s because of that depraved place that you’ve survived the unthinkable. Is there no pride in that for you?”
Kayn observed their exchange, quite removed from the emotional content. She was hungry, nothing more. She felt no need for explanations. His energy was intoxicating. She wanted more and in a few seconds, she planned to take it.
“You carnivorous little beast, you’re dying for more, aren’t you?” her absentee father provoked. “Come and get it. I dare you.”
She loved a challenge. Kayn lunged at Seth as she swung her blade.
He stepped out of her way and she narrowly missed him as he teased, “I see you actually have skills.” A sword appeared in his hands with an emerald hilt. He blocked her next swing with a clink of metal. “I wouldn’t start a battle you can’t win.”
With a wave of his hand, she soared through the air and landed with a thud in the dirt.
Oh, now he was in trouble. She may not know how to use them but she’d sampled his abilities. Kayn casually brushed the dirt from her short sarong as she stood up, met his eyes and imitated his movement. With a wave of her hand, her genetic sire went flying through the sky. He collided with the tree behind him with a loud thump.
Seth was chuckling as he got up and countered, “A quick learner, I like that.” He swung his arm again, attempting to repeat the move.
Kayn countered and neither of them budged an inch. They held each other in place with the force of the energy. Seth wielded his sword and she looked at her knife and it elongated into a sword with a rose quartz hilt. The battle of the beasts began. With each maneuver he made, instinct told her how to react until it became clear that she was his equal.
A white flag appeared on the end of the Seth’s sword. He waved it a few times and dropped it into the dirt to show her he’d surrendered. He offered, “You’ve earned it. Take whatever you need from me.”
Kayn released her weapon and as it hit the dirt a cloud rose around it. She took her genetic sire’s hands and drank from his being, absorbing his energy until he sunk to his knees.
He looked up at her and whispered, “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what you’ve taken?”
Kayn peered down at him as she coolly enquired, “What have I taken?”
“Control,” Seth countered from his subservient position. “Use it with caution.”
Just as she was about to finish him off, he evaporated into the air.
Grey’s voice broke through the silence left behind by the Guardian’s hasty departure, “We should get back.”
Both Dragon’s looked up with blank expressions on their faces.
Grey added, “After we get you back, of course.”
She didn’t know they were here. She didn’t want to come back. Kayn marched away from the three, determined to spend more time getting to know her dark side. She had abilities to master and immortals to kill. She knew where Seth lived and perhaps he’d have some Triad lying around his castle. Kayn felt Zach coming without looking back. He didn’t try to restrain her or attempt to slow her down. He just followed her as she searched for what she needed. They strolled through the woods until they came to an open grassy pasture full of cattle. This was new. Zach’s face lit up and she found herself curious as to why?
He responded to her thoughts, “On the bus ride home from school we always passed herds of cattle. My family rented the house next to a working farm with cornfields and scarecrows but no large livestock.”
She was listening. He’d managed to break through her urgent hunger for energy. He was her Handler. It made sense.
Zach met her curious gaze as he enquired, “Are you still hungry? Are you having a problem? Do you need some of my energy?”
Yes, she did. Kayn moved closer planning to feed from him, her heart clenched in her chest. She didn’t want to hurt him. This was inconvenient. Logic tried to reason with her. She couldn’t hurt him. Nothing that happened here was permanent.
Zach offered her his hand as he confirmed, “It’s alright...you have my permission.”
She tried to take it and was brought to submission by a piercing headache. There was an explosion of light as Ankh’s Guardian Azariah appeared. They both dropped to their knees.
“Children, please rise. There’s no need to cower before me,” the luminescent lady in white assured. As they rose, Azariah addressed Kayn, “We were hoping we’d have the time to grow your attachment with your Handler before your paternity was revealed but my brother jumped the gun on that one, didn’t he?”
When Kayn didn’t respond, Zach agreed, “A little more time would have been nice. I have no idea what I’m doing and her attention is focused elsewhere.”
“We’ve taken care of that now, haven’t we?” Azariah answered as she observed Kayn’s demeanor. The all-knowing Guardian said, “Lexy and Grey’s bond is not the norm but it took time to build.”
“Listen, Lexy and Grey have a romantic attachment. This isn’t the same dynamics,” Zach replied.
Azariah’s golden locks flowed behind her in the light as she pointed out, “There was nothing romantic between Lexy and Grey for many years. For more than a decade, they were no more than close friends.”
Zach looked directly at Kayn as he questioned, “I’ve heard it mentioned that I wasn’t the original choice for this duty, it was supposed to be Kevin.”
“It was...but the afterlife happened and now it’s you,” the angelic woman in white assured. “I have it on good authority that you are fully capable of this job. All you have to do is believe that you can do it and you will.”
Zach slowly shook his head in disbelief as he took in Kayn’s emotionally void expression. He added, “She just fed on Seth and tried to kick his ass, knowing he’s a Guardian.”
“But did she feed on you when you offered yourself to her?” Azariah enquired.
Zach replied, “No... she looked like she was in pain when she tried.”
“Kayn was in agony because she can’t do anything to harm you and right now, she’s unsure of her own strength. This is about so much more than you know,” the lady in the light explained. “I promise this will work. We need you to have faith. You never need to fear her, she won’t allow herself to harm you.”
Kayn cocked her head as she listened to what registered as her Handler’s complaints. He feared her. Her heart tingled. She didn’t want him to be afraid of her. Emotion washed over her and the light came back into her eyes. She whispered his name, “Zach.”
He met her teary eyes as she walked into his embrace and whispered, “I wasn’t sure you were still in there.”
She quietly replied, “I wasn’
t either. Promise me again that you’ll always bring me back.”
Zach kissed her forehead as he vowed, “I won’t second guess it again... I promise.”
He’d promised these things to her many times but as her abilities grew volatile his faith in his own had faltered.
The lady in the light smiled peacefully as she held out her hand. Kayn slowly shook her head as she warned, “I can’t take it while I’m still craving energy like this, I’ll feed on you.”
Ankh’s Guardian assured, “The same rules apply. You won’t be able to feed on me.”
Azariah had never steered her wrong. As Kayn accepted her hand, the urge to feed instantly vanished.
The woman in white lovingly squeezed as she said, “You are so important to our future. Both of you.” Azariah nodded at Zach as she added, “Let each other in completely. No secrets. No lies. Live in only the truth of your bond and young Zachariah will always be able to bring you back. This is the most important duty of a Handler.”
“But, I have been truthful,” Zach replied.
“My child, you haven’t even been truthful with yourself,” Azariah answered with heavenly light glimmering around her.
