Josephine Marlin and The Alternatives_Book One_A Friend in Need_Feilds of Elysian 1

by Karen Eastland

  That’s when I heard Ann yell. Turning to look at her, she plunged her fists into the ground. The earth shook beneath my feet, and a visible sound wave rippled out from the small crater she’d created, knocking me to the ground. Even the dragon fell backwards from the force of the blast.

  In his surprise he let Deb go.

  ‘I guess he was not expecting that,’ said Brain.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting that Brain.’

  Picking myself up off the ground, I saw Ann do the same. She was preparing to hit the ground again, so I ran to Deb, took her by the hand and dragged her to Kaz behind the tree.

  ‘Stay there both of you,’ I said. ‘I’m going to help Ann.’

  ‘That’s it,’ called a man’s voice from somewhere in the park. ‘I’m goin’ to Reachville’s mission. I’ve had enough of incomers.’

  A few more men grumbled in agreement, and quite a few sleepers nearby, packed up their sleeping bags.

  I made it back to Ann just as the dragon spat out another fireball. Her shield again protected us. This time the flame ricocheted back at him, and Ann continued to punch the ground, knocking everyone over again, and again.

  I was preparing myself for another quake, when the dragon brought his tail around, slammed it into the back of my legs, and knocked me to my knees.

  I don’t know how long I’d been kneeling on the grass before regaining my balance, but looking up, I saw his tail hovering over me. It was about to come down hard on my head when two strong arms reach around my waist from behind. They dragged me out of the way, just as the dragon’s tail hit the ground.

  It hit so hard; a dust plume rose high into the air.

  I looked to see who had me, and it was Pony. I was so happy to see her. We both looked at the dragon when we heard he was building another fireball. I saw Ann wasn’t quite ready and tried to run to her in the hopes of giving her a bit more time.

  Pony pulled me back just as a bolt of lightning shot through the air, missing my head by inches. I sat limply in her arms, and we watched as it pierced the dragon’s chest.

  He let out a roar and as he fell backwards and shot a large flame into the sky. I saw the top of a peppermint gum catch fire, heard the oils crackle and saw the flame sizzle out to a thick white smoke as the sugaar fell to his back.

  Looking around to see where the bolt had come from, the fire, smoke, and dust flying through the air made it impossible to see anything. Pony’s glow helped me find my way back to Ann.

  ‘What can we do?’ I asked.

  ‘You can keep him busy,’ she said. ‘But make sure you get out before he shoots his flame.’

  ‘Alright.’

  ‘C’mon Pony, let’s keep the dragon busy while Ann works her magic.’

  ‘Okay.’

  I watched Pony make her way to the dragon. She was tiny compared to him, but she also looked excited. The sugaar was trying to stand after his ungainly fall backwards, when he saw Pony, he stopped, and looked like he was wondering what she was.

  ‘What are you?’ he demanded.

  ‘Pony.’

  The sugaar looked as if he was checking his database for the definition of pony when she saw his long thick tail lying on the grass behind him. I watched her run to it and jump on. Then Pony began to climb his ridges. She was almost to his neck before he realised she was there.

  He tried to see where she was, but it was like a dog chasing its tail.

  The sugaar lifted his tail, smashing it on the ground a few times, trying to shake her off, but Pony was holding tight. She’d dropped down a couple of ridges to get a better grip; then Pony rode the dragon.

  As the sugaar lifted his tail, pony let out a “wee” sound. I watched her holding tight to a ridge with one hand while waving the other around in the air. She looked like she was riding a rodeo horse. He was trying to shake her off, but she was having such a good time, Pony just held on tighter. I could see he was still wondering what the hell she was, and why he couldn’t shake her off.

  While Pony kept him confused, she got to enjoy her tail ride, giving Ann plenty of time to prepare for a super Annquake. Pony was having so much fun flying through the air on a dragon’s tail, that when I yelled for her to let go, she ignored me.

  ‘Let go. Now Pony!’ I yelled, knowing Ann was about to plunge her fists into the ground, but Pony wasn’t going anywhere.

  I ran to Ann to stop her, but she’d already hit the ground as I reached. The earth shook, and I fell backwards hitting the ground hard. Then watched a visible shock wave moved through the air. Caught up in the wave was another lightning bolt. They both hit the sugaar at the same time.

  He shot another stream of fire at us, surrounding us. As the flame died down, I saw Pony let go of his tail and fly through the air. I don’t know where she landed, but I knew she’d be alright.

  The sugaar kept falling, and his fire streaked into the sky until it fizzled out.

  I saw a ring of white smoke appear behind him on the ground. As he fell, the smoke grew into a large oval shape. Inside the ring, it was pitch-black and had a small white spark at its core. Just as the sugaar hit the ground, that spark created a huge tear in the darkness and, what looked like a giant yawning mouth, opened up and swallowed him whole.

  ‘Did you do that?’ I asked Ann, getting up off the ground while wondering what the hell had just happened.

  ‘Do what?’ Ann asked with a strained voice while picking herself up from the ground. She was holding her left hand over her right arm, and I could tell she was in a lot of pain.

  I was about to see if she was okay when Deb ran to help. Stopping for a moment to marvel at Ann’s powers, I wondered where the lightning bolt had come from, because it wasn’t Ann. I was feeling excited, but also scared shitless when I realised Ann was hurt.

  Ann and Deb were sitting on the bench where Eric’s table used to be. Deb’s look of concerned made my stomach knot again. When I reached them, she was holding Ann in her arms. Ann had beads of sweat on her forehead, and tears in her eyes.

  ‘If only we had a mobile,’ I heard Deb say. She wasn’t trying to be funny, she was serious. ‘I don’t know what to do sis.’

  ‘Are you alright?’ I asked when I reached them. ‘Where are you hurt? Show me!’

  ‘It’s nothing, just a little burn,’ Ann squeezed out as she lifted her hand to show me the wound.

  ‘Oh God,’ I cried when I saw it. ‘We need to get you to the hospital right now.’

  I’d begun to panic, and was wondering how to get Ann to the hospital, when I noticed Deb’s face had large gouges in her right cheek from where the Sugaar had dragged her along the ground. My hands went to my face to check for cuts and bruises, but there were none.

  ‘Do you have a hanky, Deb?’

  ‘I have several, why? A hanky’s not going to do anything to Ann’s arm except make it worse. You can see how deep it is can’t you?’

  ‘I was thinking for your face,’ I said touching her cheek.

  Looking back to Ann’s arm, I felt a sick fear inside me as I ran my hand down along the edge of the burn. It was bad. I could see bone at the deepest point, and the burn ran the entire length of her forearm. She also had peeling black skin rolled up around the edges of it.

  It was so horrific, I thought I might throw up, and being the sensitive that I am, I felt Ann’s pain. There was an unimaginable feeling of despair, as we looked at her arm trying to figure out how to get her to a hospital.

  ‘We could hail down a car,’ I was thinking then realised I hadn’t seen a car since the diner.

  ‘Has anyone seen a public phone?’ I asked knowing if anyone had seen one it would have been me.

  We had no mobile, and I didn’t even really know where we were. We could’ve tried a couple of the rough sleepers to see if any of them have a mobile, but most had left during the fight.

  ‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ Ann said, drawing my attention back to her wound. Suddenly, right before our eyes, the burn began to heal. With
in a few seconds, it was gone.

  ‘What the…’ I heard Kaz say, coming out from behind the tree.

  ‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ I said to Ann. ‘Did that come with your powers? How do you feel?’

  ‘Powers?’ Ann asked. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about? I do feel like I hadn’t been burnt at all though. What the hell’s going on?’

  She sounded genuinely surprised. I wasn’t sure if that was because I saw her use her powers, or if she didn’t believe she had them. Looking around I noticed Deb feeling her face for cuts, but they’d gone too. Everyone looked confused.

  ‘Oh God,’ I said. ‘Where’s Pony?’

  ‘She’s on the bike,’ called Kaz, who’d made her way to it after Ann’s arm healed.

  ‘Okay,’ I said in relief. ‘Is she all right?’

  ‘She’s really happy,’ Kaz called.

  ‘How’d you get burnt?’ I asked, turning back to Ann. ‘Was it from protecting me?’

  ‘I was just unlucky I suppose,’ Ann said, still sounding confused by everything.

  ‘C’mon,’ I said. ‘You must have powers. You just created massive earthquakes by punching the ground. Show me your knuckles.’

  ‘What?’ Ann asked lifting her hands, more for her own curiosity than mine. There wasn’t a cut, a bruise, or even a grass stain on them. ‘What do you mean earthquakes and punching the ground? The last thing I remember was going to the diner to get something to eat.’

  ‘You just fought a dragon by punching the ground and creating earthquakes,’ I told her. ‘If I’d punched the ground, apart from falling over and having a little cry, I would’ve at least had a grass stain covering the bruises.’

  ‘Where are your bruises,’ I asked, ‘if you don’t have superpowers?’

  ‘Bruises? Superpowers? I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Ann said, still looking at her arm where it’d healed.

  ‘Oh my God! You’re trying to tell me you remember nothing after going into the diner? You created mid-air ripples that knocked the sugaar on his arse. Then there’s your protective shield. If it weren’t for that, we’d both be cooked.’ Ann was looking confused by it all and looked like she was about to deny it all happened again when a strange look came over her.

  ‘I remember it all now. Thank you for your help Josephine.’ Ann said in a pretty creepy voice.

  I felt a deep churning in the pit of my stomach when Ann spoke. I was looking pretty damned confused too. And she used my full name. What’s with that?

  ‘You’re welcome,’ I said trying to get a good look at her. ‘You’re sure you’re alright then Ann?’

  ‘I’m good Jo, why?’ Ann asked, and she seemed to be herself again.

  To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if Ann was in there. I half expected some deep voice to respond to my questions, so you can imagine how relieved I was to hear it was Ann again.

  Suddenly I remembered if it hadn’t been for Pony, I’d have been crushed under the sugaar’s tail. Knowing Ann was okay, with ‘okay’ being a relative term, I ran to the bike to find Pony seated on the rider’s seat. She had a big smile on her face after her dragon ride.

  ‘Thank you Pony,’ I said, taking her hand. ‘You saved my life.’

  I was giving her a big hug when I began to hear the faint clang of cutlery nearing us.

  ‘We’d better get you covered in case Eric sees you,’ I whispered to Pony.

  ‘Okay. More dragin. Wan’ more ride dragin.’

  ‘If there’s one dragon, there’s gotta be more,’ I said quietly, trying to get her on the trailer. ‘We’ll see if we can find a friendlier one later. Then see if they’re willing to let you have a ride.’

  I was attempting to get Pony beneath the tarp and jackets, but wasn’t fast enough. I saw her eyes widen in panic as Eric, who’d apparently missed the mammoth firestorm moments earlier, saw Pony in all her glory. The sounds of his ensemble were clanging a mighty song, as the old fella reached us from the other side of the park.

  He came into view and was pulling a despatulator from his quiver to load his bow. Just as he aimed it at Pony, the lone street light exploded. I looked at the sparks shoot out from the light and again thought, ‘what the…’ when I realised it must be Pony exploding all the lights. She was terrified down in the morgue; she was terrified of the despatulator. So was I! It just made sense.

  Everyone had rushed to stand next to me in front of the trailer, but this time we knew what’d happen if something or someone, other than Ann, didn’t stop him. I wasn’t sure if the inevitable could be stopped. But I knew we couldn’t let Ann do it again, so I stepped forward.

  ‘Stop!’ I called in a panic, raising my hand in a feeble attempt to push him back. ‘This is our friend. She’s not what you think she is.’

  ‘Do you think me a damned fool?’ he asked. ‘I jest saw it wit’ me own eyes. It be ghoul. I don’t know what it did ta that fella, but he ain’t ‘ere now.’

  ‘To be fair that wasn’t a man, it was a dragon,’ I said. ‘It only looked like a man, but believe me, it was a dragon, and it wanted to hurt us. Pony didn’t do anything to it. She only protected us from the creature, by doing your job I might add.’

  ‘Please listen to what I’m saying,’ I said trying to get him to leave. ‘She will do what it takes to protect us, and we will do what it takes to protect her.’

  ‘It be ghoul. I’ve not seen one quite like this, but I’m sure it be ghoul,’ Eric said looking Pony over. ‘There be nowt better way to end this than ta cut off its head before whatever it is, eats ya.’

  Eric seemed determined to kill Pony, although he was curious about what she was. I was frightened for Eric. After meeting Bob, I knew things were going to get much worse very fast.

  Eric, from what I could tell, was not the type to back down from a fight.

  ‘At least Bob tried to run away,’ said Brain.

  ‘Yeah, and look where that got him,’ I said.

  I knew we were not leaving the park without having to deal with Eric first. I didn’t want Eric to die, I didn’t want Ann to kill him, and I certainly never wanted to watch Pony eat an entire man again.

  ‘You do not always get what you want. You should know that by now Josephine,’ said Brain.

  ‘I know Brain. I know!’

  Eric

  Eric kept moving in closer but was thankfully more curious about what Pony was, than in killing her. I was trying to diffuse the situation before Ann decided she’d need to step in. None of us wanted that!

  ‘Please Eric,’ I begged, without trying to seem too desperate. ‘Just leave, we’ll take Pony away, she won’t cause anyone any trouble. We promise.’

  I didn’t want him to cause Pony distress and was more worried about him than her. I also tried to warn him about other dangers in the park, such as Ann, without mentioning any names. But Eric refused to listen to reason and kept closing in.

  While I was pleading with him, Deb and Ann stepped in front of me. As Ann passed, I saw she had an awful look in her eyes. It was as if something had been sleeping deep within, and now it’d been woken, I didn’t think she was able to put it back to sleep.

  ‘Please Ann,’ I begged. ‘Remember the belch.’

  ‘Stop,’ she said, in a commanding voice. ‘Stand with the others; I’ll deal with this.’

  ‘Oh God!’ I muttered while hanging my head in defeat, and walked back to the others thinking, ‘here we go again.’

  ‘Do you need help sis?’ Deb asked.

  ‘What the hell?’ I asked, looking up in disbelief more than anything else. ‘Not you too? I don’t know how much more of this I can take.’

  ‘Thanks, Deb, but I can handle him,’ said Ann, who was looking like an Amazonian warrior.

  ‘Come stand with us,’ I called to Deb.

  Ann moved in on Eric. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. I knew what was coming, and in watching it unfold, was hoping it wouldn’t get to Bob proportions.

  ‘Is that por
tions?’ Brain laughed.

  ‘Please Eric,’ I pleaded. ‘Can’t you leave this ghoul alone? We’ll make sure she doesn’t eat anyone, and what you saw then, well, that wasn’t human it was a dragon! She didn’t even eat it; it just disappeared into a big black hole.’

  I knew the more I tried to talk Eric down, the more intense it all sounded. Brain was telling me to shut up, but when I’m on a roll… I just can’t stop.’

  ‘I cain’t let this ghoul go,’ Eric said. ‘If I let this one go, then they’ll all be wantin’ ta be set free. I don’t know what happened, but I jest seen somethin’.’

  ‘It was a dragon you old fool,’ I yelled in exasperation. ‘When was the last time you saw a human with a tail?’

  ‘Ya jest try’n to put me off me game,’ Bob retorted. ‘Give me tha ghoul an’ we can all go home.’

  ‘I guess being an eradicator doesn’t require a lot of brainpower,’ I said to the others, as we leant up against the tree ready to watch it unfold.

  ‘Step back old man. I’ll cut ya,’ Ann said while digging around in her bag. When I saw her pull something out of it, I didn’t think it would be that.

  ‘Give me a reason, just one,’ she said, then lunged at him with a despatulator.

  ‘Where the hell did she get that?’ I shrieked, turning to look at the girls standing behind me. I knew my voice had hit an unusually high-pitched panic, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  ‘I think Pony had it hooked on her lace-ups after Bob,’ said Kaz so nonchalantly, I wanted to poke her in the eye. She was in the right position for me to do it too, peering around from the other side of the tree like she was.

  ‘You couldn’t have told me this earlier?’

  I was left shaking my head. I couldn’t believe what’d been happening, and Kaz could’ve prevented what was happening now just by telling someone, me, that Ann had Bob’s despatulator. For a moment, I thought a blood vessel had popped inside my head, and I was about to pass out. There was an insistent ringing in my ears and my hearing began to fade.

  ‘Oh good,’ I thought, as Ann’s voice broke through my imminent deafness.