The Magic Shell

by S. E. Smith

  “You should have killed it,” Gem warned, looking at the creature with an expression of disgust.

  “I wanted to see if we could learn anything from it,” Nali replied.

  “How are you going to learn anything from that – thing?” Ross asked with a look of distaste.

  Drago slapped Ashure’s shoulder. “We thought Ashure might be able to help with that,” he said.

  “You and Orion thought it. I voted against it,” Nali retorted.

  “You worry too much, Nali. Of course I will do what I can to help. I’m sure that we can do this safely,” the Pirate King softly reassured her.

  Gem frowned when she heard Ashure’s voice change. There was a rumbling to it that had an oddly dangerous edge. She watched as Ashure adjusted the cuffs of his shirt, which were sticking out from under the sleeves of his jacket. She wasn’t quite sure she understood what Ashure, Nali, and Drago were talking about. Scanning their faces, she couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with Ashure’s ability to see her people when no one else could.

  Ashure pursed his lips and nodded to Nali. “Whatever you do, my darling Empress, please don’t let it go. I would hate for Ladonna’s prediction to come true,” he instructed.

  Nali’s stern expression softened with concern. “I won’t,” she promised.

  Ashure motioned for her to hold her hand up so that he could see the squirming creature better. The black blob stretched as far as Nali and Orion would allow. Nali was forced to shapeshift until her entire body was made of the stone-like material of the Gargoyle so that she could keep a solid grip on the alien when its fight to escape intensified. She gripped it with both hands as she strained to hold it.

  Six-inch-long jagged black tentacles greedily reached for Ashure. Gem was shocked when they stopped less than an inch from Ashure’s face as if they had hit an invisible barrier. Ross leaned closer to her.

  “What’s up with Ashure?” Ross whispered near her ear.

  Gem concentrated on Ashure’s magic as he focused on the creature in front of him, calling for the living thing’s essence to reveal itself… commanding its soul to unveil its secrets. Gem gasped. She had only heard of one being who could do this. “He is the Keeper of Souls! I – I've heard of them but always thought they were a myth,” she replied in a hushed voice.

  “Myth – this whole place is made up of one big myth,” Ross responded.

  Ashure began to speak, and Gem swayed as the seductive sound of Ashure’s voice washed through her. His magic was hypnotic. There was no way she could have resisted him if he had been looking at her.

  “They seek out worlds, take them over, and drain them before moving on to another,” Ashure explained. “This creature searches for the other three who were on the spaceship. Their vessel broke apart when they arrived.”

  “It took the combined power of Magna’s magic, Orion’s, and my powers to destroy the alien on the Isle of Magic. Why is this one weaker? Is it truly weaker – or is this a trap to lure us into a false confidence that it will be easy to defeat?” Drago impatiently demanded.

  Ashure silently stared at the alien fighting desperately to escape Nali. The alien’s desire to reach Ashure grew more frantic, and Gem could see Nali and Orion were struggling to contain it between them. The powerful charges from Orion’s trident seemed to have little effect on the black blob as it became more desperate to reach Ashure. Nali hissed an urgent warning when the alien suddenly broke free – leaping at Ashure. The alien hit the barrier that Ashure had erected and bounced back, but immediately it struck again.

  Rage built inside Gem at the intense evil contained within this species and the harm they had unleashed against so many worlds – including hers. She raised her hands as a surge of power swept through her that she had never felt before. She stepped in front of Ashure, her body glowing with a brilliant white light.

  The power flowed out of her hands, forming a sphere that captured the alien. At the same time, Orion pointed his trident at the creature and released a powerful burst of energy while Drago, who had shifted to his dragon form, released a torrent of dragon fire.

  The sphere glowed as brightly as a star for a fraction of a second before it exploded. Gem felt the shockwave of the blast ripple through her before it faded. She blinked several times to clear her vision and looked around. The blast had thrown the others several feet away.

  She watched as they each slowly rose to their feet and stared at her as if they had never seen her before. Lowering her hands, she looked at them in confusion. Drago shifted back to his two-legged form and walked toward her. Ashure had a huge grin on his face. Nali was looking at her with a sudden understanding. Orion briefly bowed his head in a sign of deep respect.

  Out of everyone there, it was Ross’s expression that captured her attention the most. He gazed at her with a mixture of awe and uncertainty. Gem forced her attention back to Ashure when he finally spoke.

  “To kill the alien requires the Gem of Power – a source as powerful and bright as a star,” Ashure calmly explained. “You, Princess Gem, control the gift that the Goddess gave to your people.”

  25

  The small group moved cautiously through the palace grounds. Ross noticed that Nali, Orion, and Drago had formed a semi-circle around Ashure while he and Gem took up the rear. For once the pirate didn’t object. If anything, this was the first time since he’d met Ashure that the pirate appeared to be completely serious and somewhat wary.

  He also didn’t miss the tentative glances and the worried look haunting the depths of Gem’s eyes whenever she looked at him. He looked down at his sword. Deep down he was still trying to process what he’d seen. Over the last few days, he had begun to think that he might actually be able to hold his own in this crazy magical world.

  It wasn’t so much seeing what Gem could do, he already knew she was amazing – it was seeing the others’ reactions to her. Their reverence toward Gem had shaken him, especially since each of them held their own unique positions of power and prominence within this world. He’d been delusional to think that a lowly fisherman from a poor family could ever fit into this realm – much less into the life of a princess.

  “Ross,” she started to say, a slight tremor in her voice.

  He looked at her for a moment before focusing on the others, but he reached out and grasped her hand. It was clear that what happened earlier had shaken her as well.

  “Everything will be alright, Gem,” he reassured her.

  She tightened her grip on his hand. “Thank you. I needed to hear that,” she confessed.

  He saw her lift a hand to her cheek and wipe it. “What’s wrong, love?” he gently asked.

  She released a choked laugh and sniffed. “I don’t know. I think it is because I am back home and seeing everything like it used to be, except now it is empty of people. What if this is all that it will ever be? I don’t know how Drago survived for so long when he lost his people. The silence is overwhelming,” she said in a voice filled with emotion.

  Ross looked at Drago. The man was scanning the grounds with a sharp eye. Even from the back, there was no way to miss the power radiating from him.

  “Your Isle won’t be empty forever. If nothing else, Magna can reverse the spell, just like she did with the dragons, but I bet you’ll be the one to save the day,” he said.

  She sniffed and laughed. “Magna did reverse her spell on the dragons, but it was not Magna who put the spell on my people. It was my parents. If we cannot find them…,” her voice faded.

  “We will. Look how far we’ve come, and now we have a kick-ass Princess with superpowers gifted by a Goddess. How can we not win? We’ve got all the odds in our favor,” he stressed, pulling her close and kissing her brow.

  She tilted her head and looked up at him. “You’re a good man, Ross,” she murmured.

  He chuckled. “Just do me a favor and don’t tell anyone else, I have a reputation of being a badass that I’m trying to maintain,” he told her with a
wink.

  She nodded. “I promise to keep your secret, Ross, always,” she vowed with a small smile.

  “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather trust it with,” he tenderly replied.

  She parted her lips and gave him a look that made him clear his throat and nod in the direction they were traveling. He could see the tall hedges that made up the entrance to the maze. His stomach knotted, and he fervently wished he had a good old-fashioned tank. He would give anything just to be able to plough a path through it.

  It wasn’t that he was afraid of what could be hiding in the thick hedges – okay, maybe there was a little fear there, but it was more for Gem than it was for himself. He loved her, and because of that love, he would do anything to keep her safe – including eventually letting her go for her own good.

  “Gem,” he started to say before his attention was caught by a figure that emerged from the maze.

  Gem turned to follow his gaze. She released a long hissing breath. It was her cousin or what was left of him. Scenes from all the zombie movies that he had ever watched scrolled through his mind. Ross wondered if perhaps some unwary screenwriter or producer had at one time encountered the alien creature that now inhabited Wayman’s body.

  “Wayman,” Gem breathed out in a scornful tone, confirming his assumption.

  “Ashure, get behind Gem and Ross,” Nali ordered.

  Wayman’s insane laugh stopped Ashure in his tracks. Ross gripped Gem’s arm and moved closer to Nali and the others. He and Gem turned when they saw dark shadows rising up out of the ground behind them.

  “Behind you,” Ross warned the others.

  “Gem, we knew that you would eventually return,” Wayman chuckled.

  “Gem, don’t—” Ross protested.

  He reached for her arm but she shrugged off his hand and pushed through the group. A frustrated curse slipped from his lips when he saw the others move aside for her to step to the front. So much for him – or the others – protecting her! He could almost feel the waves of anger rolling off her as she confronted her cousin.

  “I don’t want to speak to you, Wayman. I don’t even want to speak to the alien that was stupid enough to inhabit your weak and feeble body,” Gem stated.

  “Then what do you want, Princess?” Wayman sneered.

  “To kill you,” Gem coldly replied.

  “Well, that was real subtle,” Ross muttered.

  “I’m impressed, no yap-yap-yapping,” Ashure mumbled with an approving nod of his head.

  Ross shot a glare at the pirate. Nali signaled Ashure to move back to the center of the group. Ross moved next to him.

  “The alien will want Ashure. With his voice, he could ensnare an entire world,” she murmured.

  Ross looked at Ashure. The man was now rubbing his hands together as if he anticipated picking out a new toy. The guy was enjoying this far more than Ross thought he should.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked under his breath.

  Nali nodded at Ashure. “About using Ashure as bait? Most definitely, about destroying the alien – we can only wait and see,” she murmured.

  Gem flexed her fingers and pushed all distractions aside. Drago and Orion stepped away from the group. Drago shifted into his dragon form and blew a stream of blue fire in a semi-circle around them while Orion closed the circle by releasing a steady current of bluish-white electrical charges from his trident.

  Her focus was on the shell of the man that used to be her cousin. Today would be the end of the terror that had begun three years before. She ignored the screech of the dark shadows. They quickly retreated from the combination of Dragon and Mer magic.

  This alien was not as large or as strong as the one that had taken over Magna. The shadows merged back into Wayman. His body jerked with a sickening motion, and Gem’s stomach roiled when she thought she heard the sound of shifting and snapping bones.

  She knew she hadn’t imagined the sound when Wayman’s body contorted and began to change. His knees snapped before popping backward like the knees of an insect or bird. His chest swelled as the alien moved through his body.

  Disgust filled her when his hands rose, and his fingers twisted and split. The knuckles grew larger while the tips of his fingers became long and claw-like. It was his face, though, that horrified her the most. In that instant, Gem knew that her cousin was dead. He had probably died shortly after the alien took over his body.

  Wayman’s skull expanded and became more sphere-shaped. His jaw protruded outward, and his mouth widened, stretching the gray paper-thin texture of his skin until parts of it cracked. His eyes were solid black and sunken into their sockets.

  “Where are the others of my kind?” the alien demanded in a hissing voice.

  Gem lifted her chin. “Dead, just as you shall be,” she replied.

  The alien leaned forward and roared in rage. Gem stood her ground. The alien took a step forward. Gem curled her fingers to keep from reacting too early.

  “You lie. Your species is weak. I have been inside them. I can give you power,” the alien said.

  “Ashure,” Gem called in a low voice.

  Ashure stepped up next to Gem. “I have seen your power and what it does to the worlds you take over. We do not need your power here. We have our own that is much stronger,” he said in a soothing voice.

  “You are strong,” the alien almost singsong purred.

  Gem stepped to the side, putting a small amount of space between herself and Ashure. The pirate was using a hypnotic voice to draw the alien close enough so that she could capture it. A fear that she might not be able to do it again surged inside her. What if she was only able to create that sphere once? What if the others were wrong, and she wasn’t the Gem of Power? Surely her parents would have told her if she was.

  The alien must have sensed her uncertainty because it suddenly stopped and turned its attention to her. Gem could see her image reflected in the solid black eyes staring at her. Her head began to shake back and forth even as she took a step forward, drawn to the creature like a bug to a light.

  “Gem, stop,” Ashure warned.

  She felt Ashure’s hand on her arm. With a flick of her hand, Ashure was thrown away from her. He landed on the ground near Orion’s feet.

  “Gem, you must resist whatever the creature is doing to you,” Nali anxiously said, reaching out to grab Gem’s upper arms from behind. Nali fell forward when she went through Gem’s now transparent body as there was nothing for her to hold on to.

  Deep in the creature’s eyes, Gem could see another being trapped there. A long, golden arm reached for her, begging for her help. That is what drew her forward.

  “Goddess,” she murmured.

  She lifted her hand in response. Someone’s fingers wrapped around her wrist and slowly pushed her hand down. A face appeared before her, blocking her view and breaking the hypnotic image in the alien’s eyes.

  “I can’t let you do this, Gem,” Ross said, standing in front of her.

  “Ross?” she breathed, blinking to clear her vision.

  “It’s time to finish this, love. It’s time to find your parents,” he murmured.

  “My parents – I have to find my parents. I have to save my people,” she replied, coming to her senses.

  “That’s right. It’s time to kick some ass, warrior Princess,” he added.

  “I – Ross!” Gem cried out when Ross suddenly stiffened in shock.

  He stumbled back several feet. Gem cried out again and reached for Ross’s hand when he lifted it. His face contorted with agony when he was lifted off the ground. A long, black shaft pierced him from behind and exited his chest.

  “Kill – it,” he brokenly ordered.

  “Ross! No! No!”

  “I – love – you, Princess,” he gasped. “You – have – to – kill – it, Gem. Now.”

  Her screams shattered the air. Grief unlike anything she had ever felt before rose up inside her. She began to shake uncontrollably as the alien hoisted R
oss higher in the air. Ross cried out in agony. He arched backward on the long spear of blackness.

  “You will come to me,” the alien demand.

  This time when Gem looked into the creature’s eyes, all she saw was death. Agony welled inside her. She saw all the countless worlds that had died because of these aliens. She saw her mother and father. The frantic pleas of her people for help. She saw Ross holding her as they made love.

  A cry of unimaginable agony was torn from her throat, and she began to glow. The brightness expanded outward. She was vaguely aware of Orion helping Ashure to his feet and pulling him back. She saw Nali stumble over to Drago out of her peripheral vision, but the sphere of light did not touch them. The light was for the alien – and for Ross. Tears blinded her as she tried to focus on Ross’s beloved face. The light in his eyes was fading. She shook her head in denial even as she released the full power of her gift.

  “I love you,” she whispered as a wave of blinding light sent a shockwave that rolled over the Isle.

  The seconds ticked by into minutes. Gem remained still long after the light had faded. Orion lowered his glowing trident. It was no longer needed to protect himself and Ashure. Drago raised his still steaming wing and lifted his head while Nali rose from where she had been sheltering next to Drago.

  There was nothing left of the alien. The power of her love and grief had been strong enough to kill the alien without the help of Orion and Drago. Ross had been right; they could have done it without the help of the others.

  Her shoulders began to shake as she cried for Ross. He was gone. The sound of her wounded soul was torn from her throat. Nali grabbed her around the waist when her legs gave out. Her shattering heart was too much to contain.

  “No! Ross, no! Oh, Goddess, please – no, please,” she sobbed.

  “Gem, I’m so sorry,” Nali murmured, turning Gem around and holding her close. “Oh, love, I’m so sorry. ”

  Nali calling her ‘love’ only enflamed the pain inside her. Ross had called her that. He had told her he loved her. He loved her – and he was gone.