Beast Caller

by Brea Alepoú

  Melony turned to look for Lydia. There she stood, still a horrid-looking monster. Melony still wanted to puke just looking at her.

  “Kill her,” Melony ordered.

  Ryu moved faster than Melony would have thought for a creature of his size. With his wings tucked close to him, he charged at the black blob that was Lydia and Isabelle together. His mouth opened, showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. They didn’t have time to react before his jaw closed. A sickening crunch rang throughout the room.

  Melony swallowed back the bile that threaten to come up. She couldn’t believe the dragon actually ate that disgusting looking thing. Even thinking about it made Melony feel ill.

  “Melony,” Nari called out.

  Melony turned just in time to see Nari running toward her with her brother following close behind her.

  “You could’ve told us you have a dragon,” Phillis remarked.

  Melony rolled her eyes. “If I knew I had a dragon this whole time, don’t you think I would have killed them sooner?”

  Melony looked behind them where the others were gathering themselves up. No more people to fight; they had actually won. Melony sighed in relief, but before she was able to enjoy it, she remembered that Itsumi had been hurt.

  She looked over to where she remembered seeing Itsumi last. Gone was the large fox. Itsumi stood unsteadily, naked form leaning heavily on Zola. She had cuts all over her and a nasty bruise that went from the top of her ribs to her hip.

  Melony’s heart ached at the sight, but the relief set in as Itsumi winked at her. Melony smiled as Zola and Itsumi made their way over to her.

  “Dragon,” Zola said.

  Melony looked over to Lemy as she held a woman in her arms. Melony looked around for the saber-tooths tiger but couldn’t find it. “Where’s your tiger?”

  Lemy blinked at her, looked to the woman in her arms, and then focused her blue eyes back on Melony. “Here.” She nudged the women a little higher as if to imply that the naked and unconscious woman in her arms was the tiger Melony had seen before.

  Melony opened her mouth to argue, but she quickly closed it. She wanted to argue about a saber-tooth tiger being some woman she’d never seen but was willing to accept a woman who turned into a fox and another who turned into a unicorn? A roar that made her ears hurt reminded her she also had a dragon. She wondered if he could also turn into a human.

  All eyes turned to Ryu as he roared again.

  “Do they do that all the time?” Melony asked.

  All eyes turned back to Melony.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Phillis asked

  “She does like to joke at random times,” Nari mentioned.

  Melony got up off the floor just as Itsumi and Zola made it over. “No, I’m not joking. I want to know if they’re that loud all the time?”

  “It’s almost like you don’t know anything,” Lemy said.

  Melony reached out to touch Itsumi and Zola, glad they were okay. Banged up but okay as long as they were alive.

  “I don’t,” Melony said. Melony cupped Itsumi’s face, peering into her dark eyes. “You okay?”

  Itsumi rubbed her face into the palm of Melony’s hand. It hurt, but Melony didn’t pull away. She smiled down at Itsumi and turned to look at Zola. There were bruises forming on Zola’s face, and there were a few cuts here and there, but she seemed the most intact.

  “We need to get out of here before reinforcements get here and be—”

  Hacking noises erupted in the room, cutting Lemy off. Melony turned to see Ryu hacking and throwing up globs of black tar. She worried for the dragon. She may have only just met Ryu, but she hadn’t planned on sacrificing him.

  Ryu: Bad.

  Melony stared at the dragon. She was pretty sure no one else had heard him, but to be sure, she asked out loud. “What’s bad?”

  The look Nari gave her answered that question. Again, Ryu said bad and the tar-like substance continued to pour from his mouth.

  Melony: Are you okay?

  There was no reply, and she groaned in frustration. She turned to Zola. “I’ve got a bad feeling. Can you ge—”

  Zola pushed Melony down, her back hitting the ground so hard it knocked the breath out of her. Itsumi and Zola both landed on top of her. Melony wheezed for air, trying to grasp what was happening. Screams erupted, so close to her that she felt them as her own. Melony whipped her head to the side..

  That's when she saw it. The green-haired girl who had been fighting alongside Nari was in the black glob’s clutches. Her body was on the floor, but her head was still clutched in the clawed hand. Melony realized it was Nari making the noise. Nari who sat there on her knees, tears streaming down her face and screams ripped from her.

  Melony knew that her throat had to hurt, but the pain was so deep that even the pain from screaming couldn’t compare to the sheer suffering. She had screamed like that herself.

  Melony had made a mistake. She had thought they’d won, that Ryu had killed Lydia. She had been very wrong. The thing that stood mere feet away was very much alive.

  Melony shook Zola, knowing she was their only hope of getting out of there. Zola didn’t budge, and Melony’s heart raced with fear. Itsumi was also out cold, neither of them responding. Melony wanted to scream. How in the hell was she supposed to get everyone out?

  Melony sat up and pushed Itsumi and Zola to the side. She couldn’t lie there and watch them all die. She looked around the room for Ryu. He was on the other side, shaking his head, black stuff still dribbling out of his mouth. Melony wasn't sure about her plan, but anything was better than nothing.

  “Get close to me,” she ordered.

  Lemy didn’t move, too focused on the thing that was her sister. Phillis stood there, his legs shaking so much a gust of wind could have taken him out. Nari was still on her knees, eyes distant as she stared at her dead campanion.

  “Fuck. Now! Before we all fucking die!” Melony shouted.

  As if knocked upside the head, Phillis scrambled to get as close as he could. The girl who had been fighting with him disappeared into his shadow. Lemy scooped back up the girl into her arms and crouched down next to Melony. Mateo grabbed Nari and brought her closer, Mateo moving her as if she was a rag doll. He handled her with care, but she was limp and unresponsive. Melony couldn’t worry about Nari’s mental state in that moment. She felt for her friend’s pain, but they needed to make it out of there first.

  “Ryu, fire,” Melony ordered. She crossed her fingers it worked and that she wasn’t about to kill everyone.

  Even with the black tar still dripping from the dragon’s mouth, his jaws opened wide and fire blasted out, filling the room. Melony closed her eyes and imagined the fire going over them, not touching anyone near her. She concentrated on manipulating the fire to her will. It may not be her fire, but she had the feeling that didn’t matter.

  “Fuck,” Phillis whispered.

  Melony opened her eyes to make sure he wasn’t burning alive. She gasped in surprise as the fire went over them. Looking up, Melony reached her hand out to touch the flames. She could feel the heat, but it didn’t burn her. Phillis reached his hand out to do the same. He didn’t touch it before he yanked his hand back.

  “Everyone okay?” Melony asked. She was sure they were safe from the fire, but from the queen and her evil child-demon was another story. She got nods in response. “We need to get out of here. I have a feeling this fire isn’t going to be enough to kill Lydia.”

  Lemy nodded, confirming Melony’s suspicions. Melony looked down at Zola and Itsumi again. She shook them both and got no response. Melony saw why once she turned Zola over. There was a huge, bloody wound on her side. The clothes around it scorched.

  “Shit,” Melony whispered. Her hand shook as she moved to touch the wound. She stoped short, not wanting to hurt Zola more.

  “How do we get out of here?” Phillis asked, his voice wavering.

  “We all won’t fit on your dragon,” Lemy said.

&
nbsp; Melony looked down at Zola, needing her to wake up. She was their only hope of actually getting out of there.

  She also wanted her awake so she could make sure she was okay.

  “Does anyone have a healing gem or a spell that can heal?”

  Phillis shook his head, but Lemy handed two gems over to her without question. Melony looked at the woman in Lemy’s arms, and she gave one gem back. She knew they were going to have to heal the girl. Without hesitation, she bit her lip until it bled, and then rubbed her blood on the gem. Melony pressed it against Zola and whispered the word to make the gem work. She had no idea how to control how much magic she used.

  The gem got hot in her hand before it exploded. Zola grunted under her before sitting straight up. Her eyes wide, she looked around with surprise on her face. All the cuts and bruises that had been there only moments ago, now gone. Her skin seemed to glow.

  “You might be even scarier than Queen Lydia,” Phillis remarked.

  Melony wasn’t sure how she felt about that little tidbit. “Zola, we need to get out of here. Can you take us all?”

  Zola still looked a little stunned, but she nodded.

  “She probably feels like she can take us around the world with how much magic you just pumped into her,” Phillis said.

  Melony felt nervous for a second before Zola stood and the fire simply moved, avoiding her.

  “Everyone needs to touch me,” Zola instructed.

  Everyone moved. Melony wrapped around Itsumi and made sure she touched Zola.

  “Have you ever done this?” Phillis asked.

  “Does it matter? Either you die here or you take a chance trying to escape.” Melony glared at him, daring him to argue her point.

  He nodded and shut up.

  “Wait,” Melony said before they could leave. She pushed all the fire away and called out, “Ryu!”

  The huge dragon came over to them, and Zola’s face pinched.

  “I won’t be able to take a dragon. It’s too big,” Zola said with reluctance.

  Melony stared at the dragon, the room still burning around them. “Can you fly?”

  There was no reply in her head. Instead, the large dragon changed in front of her eyes. Melony hadn’t expected it to be able to change. Ryu, no longer twenty feet high, was now no more than six inches big… and white. The blues and purples now only on his wings and spikes down his back. Ryu fluttered his small wings and perched himself on Melony’s shoulder like a parrot.

  Distracted by Ryu’s change, they were nearly hit with lightning. The fire that still ran free in the room was being put out by the gooey blackness. It was being overpowered. Melony had hoped that the queen had died from dragon fire, but her luck wasn’t that good.

  “Get us out of here now!” Melony shouted, just as another lightning ball headed toward them. It disappeared before reaching them. Colors and sounds blended together as they teleported.

  Melony closed her eyes as she started to feel sick. They landed on grass and all toppled over. A splash of water and a few curses from Phillis. Melony opened her eyes. They were outside, and the blue sky was a sweet sight to see. Melony couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the real sky, felt the wind from outside.

  There were a few groans, and the others spoke near her, but Melony could only stare up at the sky. A smile spread across her face as a fit of giggles erupted out of her. She was outside! They had escaped!

  “She okay?” Phillis asked.

  She was more than okay; she was fucking free. She didn’t fear being dragged back to the pink room. She knew they weren’t completely safe, but anything was better than being mere inches from the torture room. Zola’s face appeared above, blocking out the view of the sky. Her green eyes were filled with concern.

  Melony smiled up at her. “I’m fine.”

  She lifted her hand to be pulled up. Zola tugged her to her feet with ease. Ryu crawled up her body and went back to sitting on her shoulder. It was a strange sensation to have a dragon on her shoulder, but she figured she could have weirder things on her. She looked down, and Itsumi was still passed out, laying on the ground. Melony watched for a second as Itsumi’s chest rose and fell.

  She looked around, but nothing around her looked remotely familiar. Nari’s eyes were closed, her face pressed against Mateo’s chest. Melony didn’t see any major injuries, but she knew that Nari was hurting—not so much physically, but emotionally. Lemy held onto the woman in her arms. Everyone was somewhat injured but alive. They’d lost one, and Melony felt terrible about it, but she was happy that she hadn’t lost everyone.

  “Where are we?” Melony asked.

  Everyone looked around, but the collective shrugs didn’t help. Even Zola shrugged.

  “Great, so lost,” Melony said. She sighed. “Lemy do you have the other gem? I can go ahead and heal…” Melony tilted her head to the side. She was sure she hadn’t heard the girl’s name. “What’s her name?”

  Lemy looked at her strangely before answering. “Eve,” she said tenderly. Her hands smoothed back the woman’s hair as she held her.

  Melony could see how much Lemy cared for Eve, and she knew the same had to be for Eve. Melony nodded and held her hand out for the gem.

  Lemy sighed. “We can’t. As much as I want you to heal Eve now, if you release that amount of magic, one, they will know where to find us, and two, I’m not actually sure how you’re even standing right now.”

  Melony shrugged. She wasn’t sure how she did a lot of things. As if reminded she’d used a bunch of magic, her body started to ache once more. A headache she’d been fighting came back anew. It pounded in her head like a hammer against nails. She lifted her hand to her head and tried to stay standing, before wavering and falling.

  They needed to figure out what was next before she let herself go. Her hand fell back to her side as she tried to push the raging headache back.

  “Okay, then we need to find a place where we can lie low and heal. Anyone have any suggestions?” Melony barely held back the groan that threatened to come out. Her head was killing her. Her body’s aches and pain had nothing on her brain.

  “Why did you bring us here if you don’t know where we are?” Phillis shouted at Zola.

  Melony glared at him. She didn’t give a damn if she had the same question, he would not speak to Zola that way.

  “Watch it,” she threatened. She may have felt like shit, but she was sure she could still light a flame.

  Phillis’ hands went up. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  Zola’s head was down, her silver hair covering her face, but Melony felt the guilt as clear as day through the bond they shared.

  “Zola,” she called out.

  Zola’s green eyes lifted to meet Melony’s. Melony could tell she wasn't going to like Zola’s answer whatsoever. She knew Zola wouldn’t betray her, but she’d obviously done something that Melony wasn’t going to be too pleased with.

  Melony sighed. Either her headache was getting worse, or her head was seconds from exploding.

  “The tree elves said if you choose not to head their warning to take you where the water is salty but the sand doesn’t reach.”

  Melony groaned. “What the hell does that even mean? And when did they tell you this?” Melony didn’t remember Zola ever leaving her side.

  “When your cuffs were taken off,” Zola answered.

  Melony hadn’t seen or heard anything. With her hearing, she should have, but as she tried to remember what had happened, her headache worsened. She gave up, too tired to even try to figure out when the elves had time to talk to Zola.

  “Okay, so what the hell are we supposed to do here?” Her tone was harsher than she had planned. But her head was killing her. All she wanted to do was crawl under a rock and sleep for days.

  Zola flinched, and her head went back down, her face covered once more by her silver hair. Melony sighed. She wasn’t sure she was up to it anymore. She hadn’t been sure when Nari had brought the plan up, but now tha
t everything had happened, she was sure they all needed to go their separate ways. Maybe Melony could go back to school and try and forget all the shit she had gone through. Maybe she could convince herself it was all a terrible dream.

  Melony shook her head. No matter how much she thought she could do that, she couldn’t. She couldn’t abandon anyone else. She’d done it once with Denelle, and she wouldn’t do it again.

  Splashing had Melony turning to look at the crystal blue water. Everyone backed away a little as a head popped above the surface. Those who could fight stood and got ready for a battle. Melony was slow on the uptake, still studying the head.

  She knew that head from somewhere.

  As the head rose higher, a neck followed.

  “Trinity,” Melony said in disbelief.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Melony

  Trinity’s full body emerged, her tail gone, and instead, two legs were under her. The colorful scales that had been on her tail now decorated her whole body. From her shoulders, down to her legs. Her hands were still webbed, and her toes were as well when she stepped onto the green grass. Melony’s face heated as she noticed Trinity’s very naked form. She had never seen her fully naked. Sure, they had taken a bath together, but Trinity had had a tail and her breasts had been covered. At least, in Melony’s memory they had been covered.

  Zola stepped in front of Melony, blocking Trinity from getting too close to her. Melony wanted to laugh. What was a naked mermaid going to do to her that hadn’t already been done?

  Trinity smiled, her sharp teeth on display. She was pretty in the I can bite your head off kind of way.

  “Trinity, what are you doing here?”

  “Why am I not surprised you know a mermaid?” Phillis said. He kept his eyes trained on Trinity, so he missed Melony’s pointed glare.

  “I’m here to show you to your home.” Trinity didn’t wait for a response before turning and walking away. She seemed to know they would follow.