by S. E. Smith
His lips tightened when he caught sight of the ship offshore. He swerved over the tall trees and down along the treacherous cliffs. Weaving in and out of the towering rocks rising from the sea, he flew closer to the ship. Reaching out, he slowed enough to grasp onto one of the large, black rock towers. He gripped the uneven rock face, clinging to it with his claws, and worked his way to the side until he could see the ship.
Monster! he thought with distaste.
His lip curled as the large ship touched down on the water. Each of the four winged creatures which were carrying it landed on a long perch – two in the front and two in the back. The four beasts were sleek, covered in blue-green feathers, and had long, wispy tails that snapped in the wind. Small bolts of lightning interconnected them, effectively warning any to keep their distance. Each beast had four translucent wings that folded back against their bodies. Drago could see the lines of electricity running through the veins in their wings. Their heads were long and narrow and their beaks filled with razor sharp teeth.
Drago watched as a slender, dark skinned woman climbed up the steps to the bow of the ship. He would have recognized that confident stride and jerk of her head anywhere – Nali. The Empress of the Isle of the Monsters was as beautiful as she was deadly. She was also smart enough and powerful enough to feel the wards he had spun around the Isle and made sure that she kept her ship just far enough out to sea to let him know it was there without becoming entangled in the spell.
He pushed back against the rock. His wings opened and he twisted. Using the wind to give him the lift he needed to rise above the pillars, he soared upward.
Drago kept a healthy distance from the thunderbirds perched on each corner of the ship. High above the vessel, he locked gazes with Nali. She returned his heated gaze with a steady one of her own. The thunderbirds snapped their beaks at him as shafts of white hot energy danced along the veins of their translucent wings. Nali’s chin lifted and her hands shot out in warning to the creatures protecting her.
“Drago! It is true. You have awakened,” Nali called out when she saw him.
“What do you want Empress?” Drago demanded.
“I need your help,” she admitted.
Drago’s eyes narrowed. Unease washed through him at her admission. His first thought was to deny her, but something held him back. How had she known he had awakened?
“Calm your beasts, Empress,” Drago ordered.
“Yetiz!” Nali ordered with a wave of her hands.
The thunderbirds immediately calmed. Drago’s gaze moved to the crew warily watching him. Nali sensed his hesitation. A reluctant smile curved her lips. She raised her right arm and snapped her fingers. Within seconds, the men and women aboard disappeared below deck.
Drago circled the ship once before coming in for a landing. His wings folded and he shifted less than a meter from the ship, landing on the upper deck near the helm. He ignored Nali’s raised eyebrow at this maneuver which placed him above her.
“How did you know I slept?” Drago demanded, folding his arms across his chest and watching Nali walk toward him.
“No dragons have been seen for years – since the Great Battle ended. It was known those who came to trade with the Isle of the Dragon either returned empty handed, unable to find entrance through the mists, or did not return at all,” Nali stated.
“That does not explain how you knew I slept and that I had awakened,” Drago retorted.
Nali’s expression softened. “Your dragons were not the only ones affected by the Sea Witch’s magic. When one of my cyclops’ ships did not return, I sent another and then another. One by one, each ship failed to return. Finally, two of my crew members were rescued. They explained what they had seen to me. I came to see for myself and felt the wards you had spun. I could see beyond the veil and saw the tainted remains of the Sea Witch’s evil. I knew from the spells cast that you lived, but all the Goddess’ Mirror revealed was your slumbering form,” she admitted with a rueful smile.
“You would use the Goddess’ magic to spy on me?” Drago demanded, dropping his arms to his sides and stepping toward Nali.
Nali warily moved from one foot to the other on the bottom step. Drago paused at the top and placed his hands on each side of the railing. His fingers dug into the wood at the violation to the sacred magical agreement between Kingdoms not to use the Goddess’ gift against another kingdom.
“I was desperate, Drago. The Sea Witch’s darkness is threatening my kingdom also. I fought it as long as I could, but even we are not infallible. My powers are weakening, dark threads are creeping up out of the ocean and slowly killing my kingdom. My people are in danger,” Nali fervently explained.
“The Goddess’ Mirror was given to you to protect your people, not to spy on me, Nali. It is against the Laws of the Seven Kingdoms to use a gift from the Goddess on another Kingdom,” Drago argued.
“I did use it in order to protect my people! It does not show me everything, but I saw the strange woman who awakened you, and I am certain she is the key to saving us all. The Goddess gave you the Dragon’s Heart to protect your people, Drago, do not tell me that you would not have used it to save them if you could have,” Nali retorted, suddenly angry. She waved her hands toward his kingdom. “What do you want me to do – let my subjects perish like yours have done?”
Drago paused to contain his fury, then spoke in a measured voice. “You have brought the Goddess’ Mirror out into the open – into the ocean, and it did not occur to you that doing so tempts the Sea Witch to take it from you?” he challenged.
“If she did obtain it, she would see nothing,” Nali insisted in a quiet voice.
Drago shook his head. “You do not know that,” he said.
Nali lifted her chin in defiance. “The mirror is a reflection of the Goddess’ soul, Drago. It reflects the hope inside her and cannot be used for evil – despite what the Sea Witch wishes. The Goddess’ Mirror was only banned because you and the other rulers do not understand it. As an extra precaution, I also ensured that neither she nor anyone else can see what the mirror holds,” she informed him.
Drago’s gaze narrowed on Nali’s face. For a brief second, sorrow glittered in her eyes before it was replaced with a confident mask once again. His gut – and his dragon – told him that he would have done anything to save his people, even if it meant violating their most sacred treaty. These were truly desperate times. He also knew without a doubt that she had told him far more than she wished to about the mirror, and he would learn nothing more about it. Releasing a tense sigh, he shook his head.
“There is nothing I can do to help you, Nali. My people are gone. My only desire now is to find and kill the Sea Witch,” he stated, looking over the bow to his kingdom.
“I know what happened to your people. Many sea monkeys saw your people beneath the waves near the cliffs, their bodies turned to stone,” Nali said, climbing the steps until she stood in front of him. “There may be a way to save them, but not if you kill the Sea Witch. I saw it in the mirror. Something otherworldly controls her. If you and Orion can capture her, you can kill it. Once free, the Sea Witch could reverse her spells.”
Drago looked down at Nali with a hard expression. “Nothing controls the Sea Witch but her own greed for power. I will capture her, but only to end her life. Leave the waters around my kingdom, Empress, there is nothing left here for you or anyone else,” he ordered.
“You are wrong, Drago. If you kill the Sea Witch without killing the creature that has taken over her body, you will condemn all of us,” Nali warned.
Drago shook his head. “There is no creature, Nali. I saw her. I saw what she did. Return to your kingdom. I hope you are more successful at protecting your people than I was at protecting mine.”
“Drago… You obstinate dragon! The creature is not from…,” Nali began to insist before she threw up her hands in exasperation. “Fine! If you will not listen to me, then I will seek Orion’s support to stop you!” she threatened.
Nali stared at him for several long minutes before he saw her turn and snap out a command. Her crew appeared from the companionway and lower hatches, pouring onto the deck. The thunderbirds’ wings spread wide, electricity crackling in the air. The crew harnessed the energy using long, iron rods that channeled the energy to the engines. The beasts rose into the air, lifting the ship by the harnesses attached to them.
Drago watched from his perch as Nali cast him one last, frustrated look before motioning for the ship’s helmsman to turn the craft around. It wasn’t until the ship was a distant smudge on the horizon that Drago turned his attention away. He twisted on the rock and pushed off. He would fly around the isle to ensure he had no more visitors, then he would return to Carly.
Chapter 11
“I’m not lost. I’m not lost. Oh, man, I am so totally lost,” Carly said in exasperation, turning in a tight circle on the dark landing. She glanced up at the narrow stairway leading upward before turning to look over the edge at the never-ending steps leading down. A loud groan escaped her, echoing in the underground cavern and mocking her attempts to find a way back to where she had entered yesterday. “How many frigging levels does this place have? Whoever heard of a building needing this many rooms and doors? I don’t even think Buckingham Palace has this many!”
Okay, well, it might. It wasn’t like Carly had ever been to Buckingham Palace. Heck, she had never been out of the country before! One thing was for sure, finding her way back home was a lot harder than she had thought it was going to be.
Releasing another loud, echoing sigh, Carly adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. She had already been heading down for a long time, there was absolutely no way she was going back up. Her thighs and calves were already killing her.
“Stairmaster, I’ll just think of this as the ultimate, gym training session– one of those iron man super courses that the gym downtown offered last spring,” Carly huffed as she held onto the wall so she wouldn’t get dizzy looking down the long, long drop on the other side. “Handrails… I’m going to recommend handrails and more lighting. Maybe I can convince Drago to install an elevator or escalator, too. Mm, not an escalator, that would be the world’s longest one and I’m not sure they can build one that big. I wonder if they have magical elevators. Now, that would be cool – step in and pop out on the other end.”
Carly decided that focusing on how to get to the top without having to climb all the stairs would be better than thinking about what she was going to do if she got to the bottom only to find out she was in the wrong place and had to crawl out. She had no doubt that crawling was going to be her only recourse if she planned on ever getting out of this miserable labyrinth of stairs.
She began to shiver even more the lower she descended. Soon, she was shivering uncontrollably and her teeth were chattering. She paused and pulled out her jacket and gloves before pulling her backpack back over her left shoulder. The extra clothing wasn’t helping. It felt like she was freezing from the inside out.
“I su… sur… sure… don… don’t… remem… remember… it… being… this… col… col… freezing!” Carly groaned.
She stumbled on the next step, unable to see in the dim light and around the edge of her jacket. She reached out to grip the wall, but it was slick and her hand slipped against the polished stone. A horrified gasp escaped her when she began to fall forward. She stumbled, her hand slipped again, and she fell onto the landing. Her backpack slid off her shoulder. Before she could grab it, the backpack skidded across the smooth stone and over the edge. She found herself frozen to the landing, staring into the bottomless chasm where her bag had disappeared.
Shaken, Carly pushed back from the edge and rolled over until she could sit with her back against the wall. The cold had soaked into her bones until she felt like she would never get warm again. Tears of frustration and defeat glittered in her eyes, but she blinked them away. Crying wouldn’t get her out of this mess.
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her eyes felt heavy and she swore the fog was moving into her brain the way it did over the shoreline in Yachats – thick and seemingly impenetrable. Shaking her head to clear her mind, Carly felt herself slipping again, this time to the side. She protected her head with her arm, folding it up under her head to keep her face away from the icy stone step that she was now using as a pillow.
“I’ll… just… close my eyes… for a… minute,” she murmured, her voice fading as her eyelashes fluttered closed, weighted by a sudden, overwhelming fatigue. “Drago….”
Carly’s softly spoken call echoed upward through the maze of stairs, carried by the magic that had been cast to confuse and trap those unlucky enough to get caught in the endless maze that led nowhere. The magic captured the single name in a bubble that floated and bounced as it rose higher and higher.
Carly was completely unaware of the deadly magic that had closed around her. Tired from her journey and frozen from the plummeting temperature, she fell into a slumber that pulled her deeper and deeper into its greedy clutches until her heart barely beat.
Drago carried the limp body of a fish in one clawed hand and several large pieces of ripe fruit in the other. He had picked the fruit at the last minute from a large bush full of ripe red treedrops. The fish he had caught from a nearby freshwater lake.
Swooping down, he landed on the railing, balancing for a moment before he hopped down. He placed both the fish and the fruit on the balcony before he shifted and looked around. The table was cleared of the morning breakfast several hours before.
Glancing toward the French doors, he saw they were closed as well. Bending, he picked up the fish and the fruit. He would clean the fish after he let Carly know he had returned.
Gingerly opening the door with a wave of his hand, he stepped inside. He caught the door with his foot, preventing it from slamming closed behind him when a gust of wind blew in off the ocean. This was probably why Carly had the doors closed.
Drago frowned at the silence. The room was immaculate. Walking through the living area to the kitchen, he noticed the dishes from earlier were washed and left to dry next to the sink. He walked over and placed the fish in the sink before releasing the two melons. His nose wrinkled when he noticed the smell on his hands and he quickly washed and dried them.
“Carly?” Drago called out before frowning again.
Perhaps she is taking a rest, he thought.
It wouldn’t surprise him if she had returned to bed. She had traveled a fair distance yesterday, and besides the fact that she had to be exhausted from her trip, she had cleaned his living quarters as well. That was a task which normally was a day’s work for three or more of his staff to do in previous years.
Walking down the hallway, the twist in his gut grew, warning him that something was wrong. He picked up his pace, entering the room at almost a run. His gaze swept over the empty bed. He crossed the bedroom, already knowing the answer to his question – the open door and empty bathing chamber confirmed his suspicion – Carly wasn’t in his living quarters.
Drago turned on his heel to retrace his steps. He glanced at the bed once more and paused when he noticed something spread out on top. Shifting his direction, he walked over to the bed. A frown creased his brow when he saw the long row of papers spread across the dark blue bedspread.
He bent and picked up the first paper, staring down at the illustration. A confused expression, part exasperation and part intrigue, crossed his face as he ‘read’ Carly’s message. It took a few tries to finally get her meaning. When he finally understood that she was trying to return to her world, fury poured through him.
“Never!” he snarled, crushing the paper in his fist.<
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He paused, then lifted the paper to his nose and breathed in a deep breath. The fragrance of Carly, mixed with the soap from the kitchen, teased his nostrils. Turning, he followed the faint trail she had left behind. He snorted in displeasure when he realized that she had left his living quarters before he grimaced at his unreasonable irritation. He had just cautioned her to stay in the palace, not his rooms.
He continued down the corridor to the far set of steps. Once again, a sense of urgency gripped him. Pausing on the lower level, he released his grip on the white sheet with the drawings on it.
“Take me to her,” he ordered, casting a Finding spell over the foreign material.
The crumpled ball of paper unfolded and reformed into a small bird that turned to look at him with a somewhat confused expression. A wry smile curved Drago’s lips. Finding spells took on a part of the essence of the person who had left the item. The bird had emulated Carly’s personality perfectly – especially when it wobbled and almost fell to the ground when it turned.
Drago quickly scooped the paper bird into his palm and waited for it to refold one wing. Tiny wisps of dust brushed across his palm when the bird sneezed. He raised an eyebrow at the magical paper creature and impatiently waited while it smoothed out its tail feathers.
“Are you finished yet?” he demanded.
The tiny creature wiggled its tail at him and opened its beak. It must have thought better than to push its luck any further when Drago flexed his fingers in warning. Drago watched the creature turn on his palm and wiggle one more time before fluttering up into the air.
“Find her,” he ordered again.
The paper bird nodded and turned. With much more speed than Drago had anticipated, it took off down the stairwell. Drago darted after it, taking several steps at a time to keep up with the creature ahead of him. It wasn’t until they reached the main floor of the palace and the bird turned to the corridors leading to the lower levels that Drago realized exactly where Carly had gone and the danger she was in.
