The Crime of Protection

by Gloria Martin

  “So this is the plan, Arielle,” said Aadall. “We are taking you back to Ansuul with us. Let the humans think we kidnapped you. We will present you to the king, Zefelli’s father, tomorrow in the palace theatre. He will say he was lured to your voice from a walk in the woods during Twilight, and decided to bring you back on his own. He is the King’s son after all; so I think he can bypass a few rules. Everyone else will hear how powerful your voice is at provoking more emotion than any other human thus far has been able to bring us. Your gift is so strong, you will change hearts. We can then work on a harmonious relationship with humans, once and for all!”

  Arielle felt empowered. Zefelli did too, though he still felt a bit woozy from all the alcohol he had ingested earlier. He felt he needed to offer reassurance to Arielle about the seemingly haphazard plan.

  “Arielle, I know you are brave,” said Zefelli. “And you have to be your bravest right now, and you have to trust us.”

  “I do, with my whole heart,” she responded, fighting back tears. The three hugged before they blindfolded her and strapped her onto Zefelli’s transformed dragon back, preparing for flight from the cave. Aadall soon followed, and they roared their warning in vicious tandem, knocking the hapless humans backwards with the sheer force of their roars. In just the knick of time, the two dragons swooped sideways through a narrow crevice as arrows sailed passed them and shots rang out.

  Soon, all was quiet as they entered the bi-atmosphere between Denbyshire and Ansuul. It was silent and peaceful there, and calmed Arielle’s fears temporarily. She thought about how she was finally entering the city of Ansuul, and expected to give a performance of her lifetime.

  Once safely back in to Zefelli’s castle, which they had to sneak into, Zefelli arranged for Arielle to stay in his guesthouse, letting her know that he and Aadall would take turns watching her sleep.

  She woke up early the next morning, greeted by Zefelli. He climbed into the bed next to her, kissing her forehead sweetly.

  “I’m scared to sing, Zefelli. I’m scared that the humans will become hostile due to my absence. And, I’m scared that I won’t ever really be with you and Aadall.”

  Zefelli set her down gently in his lap and kissed her reassuringly. “Everything will work out fine in the end. It always does,” he said with a wink.

  Aadall brought them breakfast. After that, they showed Arielle a closet full of one of Zefelli’s sister’s designer gowns that she stored in the guesthouse. Arielle put on one of her very own designs from her seamstress job. She’d never imagined that one day she would wearing one of the beautiful dresses she’d made. She herself looked in the mirror at herself. Do I really have the power to change the world? She took a deep breath, as she glanced one last time into the mirror, awaiting her escort to the theatre. Zefelli had gone to his father earlier this morning, feeding him their white lie, but the skeptical king did agree for the human to present herself at a special palace performance later in the day.

  *****

  Arielle had never felt so nervous in her life. Inside the palace was a grand theatre, with marble tiers of lofty seating meant to hold and entertain large audiences. Word had filtered through royal courts, and hundreds of the elite Dragonruu were coming to watch the surprise performance. Once she was introduced to the intimidating mix of beautiful female and male Dragonruu, her nerves somehow disappeared. The lights had dimmed, and everything fell silent.

  Unaccompanied by instruments, she sang a lovely song about freedom. Aadall and Zefelli sat in the front row to root for her, and with a mix of supportive love for her, neither could also get images of last night’s passion-filled encounters out of his head.

  Instead of the crowd’s attention being captivated by the young beauty’s gift, the whole crowd began to shift around uncomfortably, and a hushed murmur circulated the room. Arielle continued to sing, totally unaware; so determined in her bursting heart to elicit a positive response from them all. The King, as well as the entire crowd, began to feel hypnotized. They began to feel weak in their physicality and special powers, as they began to absorb and empathize with the pure human emotion of romantic love. Some of the Dragonruu suddenly fled the theatre in terror, covering their ears. As the crowd became more and more restless, finally, the King spoke, halting Arielle.

  “STOP! Stop at ONCE!” demanded the King. He got off his golden throne, walked down the main aisle of the theatre, and hopped right onto the stage. “You wicked, wretched little siren! How dare you terrorize my people in this way!” He unsheathed a long, glinting blade from beneath his silken robes, ready to slay her, without any further questions. Arielle stood frozen in tremendous fear; her life was flashing right before her eyes as her dreams, too, were about to be sliced in half. More of the others screamed and ran out, not wanting to witness the gory horror.

  Zefelli leapt in front of Arielle to protect her from his own father. “Stay away from her, Father,” he sneered, baring his dragon fangs in both fear and anger.

  “No! This human is a witch! She is cursed, and must be banished from Ansuul – at once!” his father bellowed, with his sword still held in swinging position.

  Aadall now fell to Zefelli and Arielle’s aid. “Your majesty, if only you could understand that Arielle has a special gift, meant to bring harmony to us – not harm. She means to bring us all LOVE!” Aadall pleaded.

  The king gasped in utter shock, with his heavy sword still ready to strike, wondering if Arielle had poisoned the minds of the two, and that they too, needed to be exterminated as well. But, the King hesitated, feeling unnerved and haunted as the three looked up at him, pleadingly. Perhaps Arielle had managed to tap into the King’s inner empathy, at least enough to keep him from murdering the three.

  He quickly threw the sword to the side, where it hit a marble column; and shattered into shards of broken metal. He said, “Then you, my boys, are TRAITORS. Go and frolic with this nasty seductress, and you, too, will be banished from Ansuul. FOREVER.”

  Zefelli actually felt relieved. He said, “Maybe I don’t want to be here anymore, anyway!”

  His father’s face reddened with fury and secret hurt, stopping to stare his son in the eyes. “Then, LEAVE!”

  Zefelli looked back at his father one last time, realizing this was the last time he would ever see his family, and all that he had ever known. But, Zefelli wanted a change. He was not happy. In fact, had he ever been happy in this kingdom of cruelty? Aadall and Zefelli guarded Arielle until the King turned away with no more words to say, but had shaped into his own majestic dragon form in his sheer fit of anger, blasting away bits of the sturdy columns in his path of fury.

  As stone and marble crumbled and began to fall from the monumental structure and fires broke out, Zefelli and Aadall quickly shifted themselves, guarding Arielle beneath their mighty spread wings, before escaping Ansuul. Behind them, the palace theater had erupted into a scene of terror, panicked screams, and fire. The blaze spread to all of Ansuul as the King raged.

  Aadall quickly informed telepathically Zefelli that he had another plan and would be back. Zefelli carried Arielle back to the cave in the Outlands; the one, refuge left between the two breaking worlds. Arielle clung to Zefelli’s shiny, black mane, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself in the silent bi-atmosphere, with only the comforting sound of Zefelli’s swooping wings to be heard. She knew they were both still in shock, and relieved to be away from the terror in Ansuul.

  The woods surrounding the forbidden forest and cliffs were eerily quiet. But, nearby shouting from town echoed in the valleys, letting Zefelli and Arielle know they were still in grave danger. Zefelli assured Arielle that Aadall, always the more logical one and quick thinker, had a plan and promised to return to them as soon as he could. But nonetheless, Arielle had begun to sob, feeling defeated as she sat alone in the darkness at the back of the cave, while Zefelli had been standing near the entrance, on the lookout. Upon hearing her sudden deep and desperate sobs, he immediately went to her, hugging her and
trying to calm her, but she was terribly shaken, as reality began to finally sink in.

  “I am a terrorist, by Ansuul’s standards; the cause of the King’s anger. In Denbyshire, I am considered a missing victim. But, please know this, Zefelli. I could not ever deny my love for you or Aadall. Just take me down to the valley, right now, and I will just run and tell them what has really happened!”

  Zefelli looked at her sadly. “Arielle, no. They won’t believe you or try to understand; they are too angry. Besides, we would never be able to see you again. And it would leave you behind to a life of enslavement from the Dragonruu. I do not even want to think about what they would do to you now for punishment. Too, you would be outcast forever from Denbyshire, and disowned by your own family...You don’t deserve that, and I am never leaving you...” He held her beautiful, pouting face in his strong hands. Her bottom lip wavered, and tear drops continue to spill down her cheeks.

  “What is it, that brought us three together, Arielle? The yearning for CHANGE. The yearning for ACCEPTANCE, among ALL. The yearning to know how to LOVE. And it was your beautiful voice that brought us all together. It has proven that you are as powerful as the Dragonruu. We three may be the only ones in this messed up universe that are such radical thinkers. But, we are pioneers in this effort for a better world, and damn it – we’re going to go find a better world!”

  Arielle sobbed gratefully with relief into Zefelli’s strong shoulder as he slowly rubbed her back, thinking about how wonderful Arielle truly was, and how he would never regret their dangerous adventure together. The sun was beginning to set, and the two had fallen into a weary sleep, still holding each other.

  All of the sudden, a huge rumbling overhead awoke them with a start. Aadall signaled with a roar that it was him. Aadall quickly flew in, shifting and panting. “I forced the fairies currently in Ansuul to steal a ship for us from Azure Harbor. I threatened to smash and obliterate them into oozing piles of goo they could not ever resurrect from. I simply told them that I would collect them into a container, and release their slime into the pool next to us. Sinking to the bottom, they would emit healing powers from their remains, and finally be at peace. I told them they were traitors to Arielle and all humankind. The wicked and conniving fairies were not phased by my accusation, but only by my threat of putting them to final rest.”

  Aadall finally took in a breath, trying to calm down. “Perhaps we, too, can be seen as traitors to our two cities, but you know what? Then, we do not belong here. So, we must hurry. Rumors and bullets are both flying: The humans are angry at the Dragonruu for allowing Arielle’s unauthorized escape to Ansuul to promote her talent. The Dragonruu are angry at the humans, suspecting them of trying to overthrow the King’s rule with some type of witchcraft from Arielle’s performance. Look, we tried to make a difference for the better, but these two ancient worlds are doomed. Let us go now, in peace.”

  Zefelli felt proud of the new and heroic attitude that Arielle had brought out of Aadall. He and Arielle somberly nodded in agreement that it was indeed time to go.

  The dragons quickly helped swoop her into a large spacecraft that Aadall had docked onto the massive cliff top overhead. It was as large as a cruise ship. Once aboard, Aadall and Zefelli frantically worked the control panels in preparation for final launch. A few minutes later, an explosive takeoff took the ship far out of the atmosphere. Arielle looked back one last time at the two cities, now both far below, where smoke and fires were seen rising from each.

  Once they were at cruising altitude, sailing over planets with new horizons, where beautiful glowing sunsets with shooting stars blazed over peaceful clear skies, and lush, green islands with crystal pink sand shimmered at them welcomingly, Arielle felt her bravery and strength being renewed.

  She began to hum a melody, and the three embraced in relief. She guided her two lovers’ faces against her ample breasts, feeling overwhelming relief and desire be exchanged between the three of them.

  “We are going to be leaders of a free world, and that means we can start a family of our own, that shares traits of both of our races...” she stated calmly, and a bit seductively.

  “Yes...,” Zefelli said with his warm mouth muffled against her chest. “Let’s start right now.”

  Aadall moaned his agreement, as he helped delicately position Arielle over the guardrail in front of him, that gave a lovely view out their balcony of three moons suspended over a shimmering jade and purple sky. Arielle began to receive Aadall and then Zefelli, in turns of sheer, shared bliss, as they all whispered chants of their love for one another through breathy kisses and slow thrusts, as their ship sailed peacefully onwards towards a new destination to land upon, and call their very own.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 21/40

  Taken by the SEALs

  Samantha Fry knew that Jack was returning tomorrow. Jack Plainview was the boy she had known all through her childhood, the boy who had always been picking up sticks and pretending they were guns, the boy with whom she had lost her virginity, the boy with whom she had smoked her first cigarette, the boy with whom she had first stopped being a Good Girl. She didn’t know this because he had contacted her. They had stopped talking about five years ago. They had just drifted apart in that inexorable way that happens between childhood friends who choose different paths. No, she knew because Barkton was a small town and in small towns news traveled fast.

  She had been in the store buying some milk and eggs when Miss Hag (her real name was Miss Hobson, but Samantha thought Hag worked better) sidled up to Samantha with a witch-like grimace and shoved a pointy stick-thin finger in her face. “That boy is coming home from the war tomorrow,” she barked. “That Jack Plainview what went off to the war some three years ago? He’s coming back. I remember you two as little kiddies, thick as thieves. You’ll be giving him quite the welcome?” The Hag licked her lips in a sickening caricature of feminine lust. “I bet you will.”

  Samantha had restrained the surprisingly strong urge to punch the Miss Hag in the nose. Now, home from her exciting, exhilarating, and massively fulfilling job of waiting tables at The Spatula, she lay on her bed in her one-bedroom apartment and looked up at the ceiling. She found herself wishing her parents were here. Her father had died four years ago, when she was twenty-four, and her mother had died a year after that. That her mother had died of cancer and her father in a car crash so soon afterward was a cruel punishment which Samantha didn’t feel deserving of. But it had happened and there was no point bemoaning it.

  She traced the pattern on her ceiling lazily with her eyes, wondering how changed Jack would be. She didn’t know why they had stopped talking. It had just sort of happened. He had gone off to the SEALs and she had never bothered to contact him and he had never bothered to contact her. And now most of her friends had moved out of Barkton to bigger and better things, and were so changed by their new lives that Samantha barely recognized them. The cities had taken them and warped them into pretentious cocktail-drinkers.

  Only Fiona had remained, her high-school friend with big bazooka breasts. Samantha thought about calling her up and going out for a drink but she didn’t have the energy, nor the inclination. She wanted, she realized, to see Jack. It was an urge within her that she barely comprehended. She had been fine, all this time, without seeing him. She had barely thought about him, unless in passing when someone at work had mentioned him. She hadn’t even seen a picture of him since he joined the SEALs.

  But he had always been strong. She remembered when, as a silly girl with dreams of being a mermaid, she had waded into the river that bordered the west side of the town. The current had been furious with her, and had whipped around her in an effort to dislodge her. She had screamed and cried and been as incapable as any eight-year-old girl caught in the grips of a natural disaster. But Jack, just as young, just as scared, had jumped into the water and, with amazing strength waded through the strong current, grabbed her, and tugged her to the shore.

  She
remembered looking up at his young, excited face, framed by the sun. “Sammy,” he’d said. “Are you okay, Sammy?”

  She must’ve been intoxicated with excitement. She’d reached up and touched his cheek. “Thank you,” she said, and he’d blushed so fiercely she’d laughed.

  As she poured herself a small glass of wine, she wondered if he ever thought of these childhood memories. She took a sip, and then she realized how selfish her thought was. He’d been at war. He’d had more important things to worry about. She sighed heavily and then tipped her head back and drained the last of her wine. Head a tad dizzy, steps a tad tipsy, she returned to bed and climbed beneath the sheets. Outside, snow fell in tiny crystals.

  Samantha watched the night turn white and glittery until she fell asleep.

  *

  Samantha’s first thought, upon awaking to the sound of her apartment buzzer screeching through the place, was that her boss had decided to interrupt her day off. He sometimes did this, despite the fact that she always refused and had only worked a day off once, and only then for triple pay. She wasn’t overly happy with her job but the fact was she was a good waitress, one of the only ones who had stuck around, and was able to demand more than the average employee.

  She was preparing a firm refusal in her mind. Mr. Adams would just have to find somebody else. Mr. Adams would just have to wait the tables himself. Mr. Adams must be more organized than this. Yes, she would say all that and more. She felt a bit mean, like when she and Jack had pushed that big fat bully Ryan Grate into the ant’s nest. Then they had watched him squirm and scream as half the school looked on. He hadn’t been such a bully the next day.

  She shook her head. Why was the past so ghost-like lately? Then she pressed the apartment buzzer. Oh, how she would give it to Mr. Adams! He wouldn’t know what hit him! He would wish he had never left The Spatula to come here and try and ruin her small time of peace.