Handlers of Dragons

by Kim Cormack

  “Which way Brighton?” Zach exclaimed.

  The hairs had risen on every inch of her flesh. Kayn grinned as she wiped the sweat from her brow and proclaimed, “That depends on whether you want to go towards danger or away from it. You already know my choice. Take a whiff.” She flippantly chose the path he’d tempted her to take without waiting for his response.

  Zach sighed, “Of course,” as he followed her down the dimly lit perilous route.

  They knew what they were about to stumble upon, by the foul distinctive scent of decaying flesh but it was about more than that for Kayn. She sensed a dark entities presence and she was famished. It had been a tumultuous couple of days and she hadn’t been feeding the beast that raged beneath her mortal disguise. She picked up her pace as the light from his symbol ceased to strobe.

  He whispered, “Slow down. Give me a second to get us some light.”

  A rush of icy air chilled her to the bone. She wasn’t afraid. She was stoked. The ante had been upped. Whatever this was, she would meet it in it’s layer and kill it in the darkness it embraced. She inhaled the scent of the dead. With each rancid breath, she became increasingly aware. Without sight as a crutch, Kayn crouched and placed both hands on the cave’s floor. It vibrated every couple of seconds. There was movement. Whatever it was... it was coming. She closed her eyes and became one with the dark. In this predatory form, she required no light. She heard a grunt from Zach and knew he’d broken his skin. She could smell his blood. Her senses were lit up like fireworks. The glow of Zach’s symbol strobed, adding a creepy ambiance to the cavern. There was a rabid partially mortal creature standing about twenty feet away. Zach’s symbol flashed again. Make that teen feet. Zach was looking at her with wide eyes.

  “It’s behind me, isn’t it?” Her Handler nervously whispered.

  As the light flashed off, Kayn shoved him out of the way and raced at the beastly creature with a primal cry. As it slashed at her abdomen with its serrated blade like claws, her emotions began to numb. With each flash of light, she dodged out of the way, waiting for her moment, knowing it would come. Kayn leapt on its back and managed to get it in a choke hold. She was squeezing with all her might as it tumbled backwards and knocked the wind out of her. She squeezed its throat with both arms wound as tightly as a python, until the being ceased to struggle. With no weapon, Kayn had to think on her toes. She willed her Conduit ability to the surface and with unbridled rage, she shrieked in an ungodly pitch as she siphoned the life from the depraved being. It became limp in her arms. She released her hold and closed her eyes as the hallucinogenic power of the dark entity coursed through her veins.

  Zach inched his way closer as he asked, “Are you alright?”

  Her brain was tingling as she opened her now catlike iridescent eyes and coldly answered, “This feels amazing.”

  “Your eyes...they’re glowing,” Zach whispered.

  It was no longer dark in the cave. Not for her. She could see Zach’s vibrant heat signature with swirling hues of yellow and orange. This abomination hunted its victim’s in the dark by seeing their body heat and now...she had the ability to do the same. Zach’s symbol continued to strobe at steady intervals as she brushed herself off and announced, “There’s no need to wound yourself again, I’ll take it from here.”

  Zach squatted before their assailant and said, “What do you think it is? It looks like it’s still part mortal facially.”

  There was so much they still didn’t know. So many beings, they’d not yet had the opportunity to come across. They still had so much to learn.

  Zach sat down on the ground, exhaled and touched the partially human looking creature’s pointed tips of it’s ears. “Do you think there’s more of these in here?”

  Kayn knew the answer, “Yes.” She lifted the side of it’s top lip to get a good look at it’s pronounced beast like curved fangs. There’s evidence of a community. Did you get a good look at the carvings on the cave’s wall? It shows dozens of them worshipping something. There’s a rather excessive amount of bones back there. The entrance they use is quite obviously not where we came in. There has to be a way out in this system of underground caverns.”

  “Maybe there’s only one of them left,” Zach suggested as he got back up and held out his hand to her.

  She wasn’t stupid. He was trying to handle the situation. Contact with his skin would undoubtedly take her new ability induced aggressive nature down a peg or two. Kayn took Zach’s hand. She slowly shook her head and revealed, “No...There’s a large group. I can sense it. We’re going to need weapons. I have an idea but there’s no way of knowing if it’ll work.”

  “One idea is better than none,” Zach exclaimed as they began to make their way through the intricate tunnel system holding hands. The light from his symbol went out and he was now dependent on her to see. He nervously suggested, “Maybe, we should just go back and kill the sharks? We can just go back out the way we came in.”

  “That’s not an option. The sharks aren’t our biggest problem. The currant us too strong. I can’t swim against it and keep a hold of you. This is the obvious route. Our odds are better if we make our stand on dry land.”

  “Without weapons though? Really?” Zach countered. “This is probably how some of the others were killed and eaten by those cannibalistic things. They dove off the cliff and got caught in this system of tunnels that’s beginning to feel like a web. Lexy and Grey know we’re down here, right?”

  “Hopefully,” Kayn replied. Kevin would know she was still alive. She’d heard his voice. He knew where they were and he wouldn’t just leave her here. That much she was certain of. She had an idea, “We’ll make some weapons and kill everything down here. If we can’t find our way out and starve before they find us, our shells will be salvageable.”

  “You’re so horrible at giving pep talks,” Zach replied. As they started walking again, he yanked on her arm and declared, “We need to double back. I have an idea.”

  Intrigued, Kayn teased, “Well, don’t leave me hanging.”

  “The bones where we entered could be brittle with age. They might even be jagged after we snap them in two. They could be used as weapons... It’s possible.”

  And the award for best plan goes to Zach. He set off his symbol again and light strobed in the cavern. She understood that he needed to feel less dependent so she allowed him to guide her back down the tunnel while fighting the urge to share the thoughts floating through her mind. It felt like they were back in the Testing, with the caves and inescapable demises. His idea made sense. They could use broken bones as weapons. It would give them a half decent shot at not becoming the next course on the cave dwellers menu. They managed to find their way back to the engravings on the cave’s wall where they’d come across the first pile of human bones. They chose to leave the skulls alone out of respect for the dead and they began to snap the larger ones in half. Sure enough, broken femurs turned out to be the perfect weapons. It was irony at its best, to kill these creatures with their victim’s bones. They gathered as many as they could carry and began the journey back towards the scent of the more recently deceased.

  “If Grey was here he’d make a torch with what’s left of my shirt and one of these bones,” Zach commented.

  She might still be able to summon up Grey’s ability. “Let me try,” she offered as Zach wrapped his torn shirt around the end of one of the bones. Kayn stared at it and willed the pyrokinesis to the surface. Nothing. She tried again to light the morbid torch created from human bones. Not a spark. As she touched it, her hands warmed.

  Zach abruptly dropped the unlit torch and said, “Please don’t feed from me. You’ll knock me out and leave me defenceless.”

  She sighed, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing. This isn’t going to work. I don’t know how to bring Grey’s ability up.”

  He was nervous but that idea wasn’t half bad... He didn’t have to fight. She could ingest her Handler’s energy and stash his body somewher
e safe. She’d be strong enough to kill anything that came at her. Kayn looked at her Handler.

  He replied to her thoughts, “Not a chance Brighton. Who would bring you back?”

  He had a point there. “It was just a thought,” She asserted, “Just know, if it comes down to it, I’m going to do whatever I need to do to protect you.” The glow of his Ankh symbol vanished. It was pitch black. She could still see his heat signature. She faced the darkness, knowing the creature she’d taken energy from had to be able to maneuver through these caverns without sight. She decided to run an experiment as she wandered away from Zach. It was incredible... She sensed the wall before she got to it. It was as through she had an instinct driven sightless guidance system. She took Zach’s hand and assured him that she knew the way as she began to guide him through the intricate system of tunnels, using both her sense of smell and a surface sensing guidance system somewhat like the whiskers of a cat. What good was Zach going to be in this fight if he couldn’t see? She felt the tug on her hand as he stopped walking. She saw his outline as he cut into his hand with his weapon. Panic filled her being. The scent of his blood was doing something to her. Her pulse was racing. She’d given the carnivorous being’s ability enough of a hold to react as they would. Oh no. This wasn’t good. Her throat was parched. She could barely swallow. They were much further into the cave system now and their options were limited.

  As his symbol strobed, Zach cockily declared, “Problem solved!”

  “You have to be quiet,” Kayn whispered, knowing it would make no difference. His blood smelled delicious. The pattering of multiple feet, panting and agonizing cries filled their ears.

  “They’re coming.” Zach whispered.

  There were many more than she’d anticipated. With each strobe of light, the sound of the wailing grew closer. She had to take him out and hide his body. Her mind was screaming at her to do it.

  “Don’t you dare!” her Handler asserted as he stood his ground with a jagged bone in each of his hands. Adrenaline began pulsating through her veins and in the next stream of light from his symbol she saw the colour of her own veins down her arms. She could kill them all with an orb but she had no idea how to choose between the yellow light which sent them back through the hall of souls and the blue. Once it was started, she wouldn’t be able to stop it and it would be out of her hands, quite literally.

  “Have faith in me,” Zach far too loudly declared. “I’m not helpless! I made it through the Testing too!”

  The light from his symbol went out and when it strobed again the herd of deplorable salivating beings were visible. Each time it flashed they were closer, like freeze frames on a camera. They bravely stood their ground. Fifty feet...twenty feet...ten feet. They were upon them, snapping their teeth and slicing them with their claws. They valiantly swung their bone blades as the ravenous creatures sunk their teeth into their flesh and tore out chunks of meat until all that could be felt was the warm spray of blood and glorious agony. She was sinking into the emotionless void as a swarm of heat signatures descended upon her Handler. Zach’s screaming snapped her out of it. She tore the depravities off him in the confusing sensory overload of violence. Her entire body was broiling hot as it fought to heal. Suddenly, a familiar soul shattering pitch brought them all to their knees. Kayn persevered through the piercing noise. She grabbed for one of the creatures and ingested its being as the pitch continued to incapacitate everything in the caverns. She placed both hands on Zach’s stomach and released a shriek loud enough to curl the devil’s toes while expelling enough healing energy to get her Handler back on his feet. She fought to stay on task as the strongest of the monstrosities began chowing down on her leg. Kayn kicked it away as she rose, weakened by the energy she’d expelled.

  Zach breathlessly urged, “Come with me!”

  Some were still fighting against the noise, crawling towards them. Kayn called out, “I’ll hold them off! Get out of here! Hide!” His dull heat signature staggered away. She grabbed the closest of her carnivorous assailants and ingested the creature’s energy, shivering as the dark being’s essence granted her healing ability the juice to soldier on through the impossible. She continued to block the path to Zach, booting aside any that persevered against the incapacitating noise. As the unbearable sound raised a couple of octaves, even the most durable ceased to have the will to battle against it. Kayn dropped to her knees, momentarily taken down by the excruciating migraine it caused. She refused to submit. Quitting wasn’t one of her choices. She needed enough energy to counteract it. Kayn moved from one dark creature to the next, devouring their energy and slashing their throats until all sense of reason slipped away. The sound abruptly ceased. Kayn rose with energy coursing through her being. She stood in the silence, coldly observing a creature crawling away from the massacre. The glow was flush with the ground. It assumed it would be invisible. This of course, was not the case. She left it alive planning to follow it back to the nest. While lost in this close to emotionally void state it made the most sense to eliminate the threat. She would look for her Handler after she’d dispersed the evil things that dwelled in the dark. Instinct told her Zach was deceased so there was no need to hurry. Death would conceal his location and nothing touches a dead human’s meat with a ten-foot pole. Kayn unsympathetically stepped over the bodies while stalking the wounded creature. It got up and staggered away. As she trailed the injured creature through the caves, she took note of the increasingly foul scent of decomposing flesh. Perhaps, it was the blood they were after and not the meat? They’d assumed they were cannibals by the clean state of the bones they’d found but passage of time may have been the culprit. With each predatory step through the darkness the instinct of the creature’s energy she’d consumed sunk deeper into her being. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot...She was now struggling to keep her emotions from disappearing. If she became lost in the void there was no one to bring her back. She had to be with it enough to find and heal her Handler after she’d finished off the cave dwelling depravities that resided in this underground tomb. She observed the crimson glow ahead as it dulled. It was almost gone. This was a little bit annoying. From the darkness ahead, she heard a series of wild chaotic shrieks, followed by the rapid pattering of feet as the last of the cave dwelling monstrosities raced to the aid of their fallen. These suckers were fast. This was going to be fun. A hit of adrenaline rushed through Kayn as she raced into the madness with a bloody bone weapon clutched in each hand. The Dragon within her didn’t care how many there were. Numbers had ceased to be of any concern. Kayn swung the jagged weapons at the whirling heat signatures of the beasts as they launched themselves at her, tearing at her flesh with their fangs and claws. Small ones kept coming at her legs. Children? She couldn’t think about it. They’d kill her as easily as the adults would. They’d swarmed her from all sides. Shit. There was too many. Kayn released a primal scream trying to bring an ability to the surface, anything to give her the upper hand. Nothing happened. Healing was taking all she had. She cursed her ego, while frantically tearing them off and launching them away. She wasn’t winning. A raging fire engulfed her stomach along with a tugging sensation. Shit! Come on! She’d felt this before. One of these assholes was tugging out her intestines. She was relieved she didn’t have the visual. With each wound they inflicted, her ability for rational thought slipped further away. In the end, she was the only one left standing. The coppery scent of her blood was so potent it was burning her nostrils each time she inhaled. She was bleeding out. She instinctively touched her sopping warm partially missing shirt and got a hand full of squishy entrails. No. She wasn’t going to be able to bring herself to shove these back inside. Critically injured and nearly lost in the emotionless void, a familiar voice in her head prompted, ‘Find your Handler.’ Kayn turned around a few times. Her thought process wasn’t working. Her hair was still wet. She touched her head. It was mushy. Oh crap. She was in trouble. The voice in her mind prompted, ‘turn left.’ She paused. Oh
no. Which way was left? Her stomach felt heavy. The voice in her head commented, ‘You’re dragging your intestines around. Shove them back in.’ Kayn pulled up her big girl panties as she tore off what was left of her shirt and shoved her intestines back into her stomach. Well, that just happened. She kept them in by stretching the material around her waist and tying it. The temperature had become intolerable. She felt lightheaded and confused as she stumbled over the massive pile of bodies and fell. She’d reached her destination. This was where they parted ways. She was sweating and bleeding profusely. She needed to close her eyes for a second.

  ‘Get up Brighton!’ Kevin’s voice directed. She opened her eyes. Where was she? Zach. She was looking for her Handler. Her thoughts were scattered fragments. She touched the still sketchy feeling blood crusted material covering her stomach. How much time had passed since they parted ways? Kayn felt her head wound. Her hair was crusty but she was healing. She must be healing by order of importance. She got up, feeling much stronger and continued making her way through the darkness with no need for sight as nothingness pumped through her veins. All she had was the instinct to find her Handler. She’d been scouring the intricate underground maze in search of Zach for what felt like hours when she lost the ability to maneuver her way through the darkness without sight or touch. Inconvenienced, Kayn took her blade made of bone and sliced her palm. The light from her Ankh symbol flashed twice before she healed. This wasn’t going to work. She’d gotten a look at the cave ahead. She walked for a while before slicing her palm again. On the first flash she spun around, scanning the tunnel in either direction...Nothing. Where was he? On the second, she stroked her symbol and thought of Zach. Images flickered through her mind like an old black and white movie. She was onto something. Kayn felt her way around for a little while longer. She needed to recharge her Conduit battery with another one of those carnivorous cave dwelling things. Usually, calling out for someone in the dark was a horrible idea but in this case, she’d be killing two birds with one stone. If any of those creatures were still wandering around down here this was the fastest way to summon them. She couldn’t see them coming anymore and would prefer to get it out of the way while coherent enough to kick some asses. Kayn loudly called out her Handler’s name, “Zach!” She counted to five and sliced into her hand. Her symbol flashed twice as she surveyed her surroundings. It felt like the caves had been cleared. How long had those creatures been down here hidden from the world feeding on the forgotten and the lost? Kayn cautiously continued her journey into the unknown with one hand against the stone. Was the temperature rising? Maybe it was just her? It felt like something was off. She wiped the excess perspiration from her brow and sliced into her palm bringing light to the darkness. The cave split into two tunnels up ahead. She made a choice, uncoordinatedly staggered into the cavern and lost consciousness.