My Life isn't a Fairytale prt 38, a short story by J.Morgan. Date added: 2012-04-25. Times viewed: 478.
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I went back to my search, trying to ignore Taranis attacking Drake. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but I knew we were dead unless I found it. A growl made me jump back and scream. A draconian beast came at me, “Wegkomen!” It went flying away smashing into another one who was not happy about it. They began to fight with one another. Two more came at me, I stomped my foot and the ground rolled just enough to throw them. One went into the air. I spun around though when I heard Drake’s cry of pain. Taranis had him, his arms wrapped around Drake’s body and wings, he was squeezing. His teeth were sunk into the side of Drake’s neck. “No!”
It was then claws sunk into me. I cried out, hot pain flashed through me, when I was ripped upwards, the ground speeding away, my head spun and I nearly passed out. I struggled, but each movement tore my flesh, the Draconian beast growled angrily but I wasn’t going to make this easy. I screamed looking down, with me being so confused and scared I had inadvertently channel more manna into my voice. The wave hit the ground and blew the debris away. Then there, in the center of the clean ground was the symbol, it was faint, barely glowing, which is why I couldn’t see it. I was almost out of time.
Then, it dropped me.
I suppose I should have expected it. I mean, why had it lifted me to begin with? There was no time to think of anything, except for “Oh crap!” which I was sure I shouted as I fell, trying to reorient myself, flailing my legs and arms. Hitting the ground was like slamming a door. It was so quick it took a moment for my body to register just how much pain I should be in. I landed flat on my back, with one leg bent awkwardly. I wasn’t sure if it was broken, because I couldn’t feel anything, but knowing my luck at this point, I was probably broken in a few places.
Before I realized just how much pain I was in, I knew I had to find the symbol. It couldn’t have been far from me, when the beast dropped me I was directly above it. Thinking of the beast I focused on it, flapping its wings above me, screeching to its buddies. Oh they weren’t finished with me. Crap.
I bit my lip, and forced air through my nose as I lifted my head and moved my upper body. My leg throbbed, my blood pressure dropped, I was going into shock. “Okay, I can do this, I just have to get to the symbol. Ah, there you are.” It was just about a foot away. The circle around it was about three feet in circumference. Meant for me to stand in. Perfect.
Figuring I had to get to it before any of the other beasts tried to play basketball with me, I began to drag myself towards the symbol. Reaching out my hand touched it. The symbol got brighter and I could feel the thrum of power inside of it. I glanced worriedly at Drake, he was still fighting to get out of Taranis’ grip, but I could tell he didn’t have much time. Tears sprung to my eyes, but I couldn’t break down. I had to do this.
Once inside of the circle, I tucked my legs within it, the pain was exploding in my brain, making it hard to concentrate.
“Relax, if you press it, nothing will happen. Think of it as water, flowing down a mountain. You are standing at the bottom with your hands cupped, it’s cold and it envelops you until you grow numb. Then the water slows to a drizzle, over filling your hands and taking the shape that it wishes. Don’t, force it.”
I’m not sure why I remembered his lesson then, maybe because the symbol was all that was left of the old man. Maybe because I couldn’t seem to hold onto my thoughts and I was frightened that I wouldn’t be able to cast the spell. But his voice comforted me. I know it’s weird, but in a way, he had been my mentor, albeit a creepy one. And this time, I listened to him.
I let out a breath and closed my eyes. I had to let go of the world, of the doubts, of the fears. I focused on the task, but I didn’t grip it like a vice, I just held it in my hands as the manna flowed down. The coldness fluttered in my stomach, the pain faded away, I rose to my feet, not fearing the sounds of my enemies. There was a shield protecting me now. My manna was protecting me, I put my faith in it.
Tears streaming down my cheeks I opened my mouth. “Life altered, fate undone, change the winds in time to come, shift the form of heart’s desire, ancient forces restore his power.”
Thunder rattled the sky, wind whipped through the trees, the beast Draconians cowered like animals. A lightning bolt streaked and hit Drake, sending Taranis back, crashing into a thick oak, cracking the trunk and making it fall. I watched, even though the light of manna was so bright it hurt to look at it.
Drake’s form was a dark blight, it grew and I heard his cry turn into something else. When the brightness vanished, the shield fell, my manna was gone. I dropped to the ground, pain consuming me. But my eyes were on Drake. Four clawed feet stomped the ground, the sunlight was blotted out by him. The Dragon I saw in the old man’s memories was only half the size of Drake. He was at least four horses high and just as wide, his muscles rippled as he twisted around, his large saucer sized eyes focusing on the draconian beasts. I realized then that I hadn’t thought about how Drake would react to the transformation. He may just end up killing me along with everything else until he got his bearings.
I felt hot breath and turned my head, a beast was staring at me, his sharp teeth gleaming, dripping with saliva. I was too weak to fight him, though I did managed a fairly loud scream. My fear only enticed the monster however and he lunged. So I did what anyone would do. I clenched my eyes shut and waited for the end. But the end didn’t come.
I opened my eyes when the monster cried out in pain, and I immediately saw why. A giant claw had gripped into it, I saw the sharp talon like nails piercing into its skin, bone cracking force crushed it and it crumpled to the ground once released. I wanted to vomit, so I looked away and up, to the muzzle of the creature that just saved my life.
Soft eyes peered at me, even though his nostrils were as large as my hand and the scales around his mouth were smooth compared to the rougher ones around his eyes that had small points above the brows. I reached out my hand, feeling pulled to him, this creature of legend, from the books I read, from my dreams. This creature, who once was the man I loved and perhaps somewhere inside of him, he was still the same man. His head retreated, his neck twisting, flexing as his tail swished against the new wave of attacks. The draconian beasts knew he was going to destroy them, and they wouldn’t go without a fight. Taranis flew high, and came at Drake.
I watched him open his maw. Then he did something I actually never imagined was real. Even after everything I had been through, it was madness to think dragons could do it. A burst of flames came from between his teeth, enveloping Taranis. Like the draconian beasts were flies he batted at them, growling and snapping. This was what I wanted, what I knew would happen. Drake heaved and growled even after the last abomination was dead, his gaze forever searching for a new enemy to kill.
I pushed to my knees, trying to get to my feet, but my leg was definitely broken, I fell back down with a whimper. Well, it was over now, all that was left was to go home. That sudden realization hit me and exhaustion overcame everything else. I just couldn’t fight the darkness, I closed my eyes.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Epilogue
I opened my eyes to a bright light above me. I blinked and turned my head. White tiles lined the floors and halfway up the powder blue walls. My hospital bed was the only one in the room, and the two faces I saw sitting in chairs next to each other, watching me, smiled.
“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?”
He looked great, just like his old self, only, better somehow. “Okay, I guess.” I saw my leg that was hanging in a sling and set in a cast, my body was wrapped up tight as anything. There was an oxygen hose under my nose and I was certain my face was all bruised up. The beeping of my heart monitor was steady. I smiled at Allison, who seemed a bit tired, her hair was loose on her shoulders, she wore a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. I noted a bit of a bulge on her stomach, the fast growth probably from the manna I had given her. “How long was I out?”
“A week,” Sam answered.
I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. “Wow. But it is over, right?” I looked back at him and he smiled nodding. That’s when I saw it, a glimmer of sadness, or uncertainty. “Where’s Drake? Is he waiting somewhere close by? Have you seen him?”
“Sweetie….” He began but then stopped, he seemed to think about something, then glanced at Allison. Tears brimmed in her eyes when she got up to leave the room. “He left.”
“What do you mean he left?”
“He brought you to us in the parking lot. I couldn’t believe my eyes sweetie. At first, I wasn’t sure it was him.” He fell silent again, his gaze avoiding mine. I knew he was hiding something.
“Okay, well then once I get out of here, we’ll just go looking for him.” I pushed the button on my bed to raise the back up.
“He…..told me, not to. He said that I should take care of you, but that I shouldn’t let you search for him.”
I swallowed and took a breath in. “Of course he did,” I said through clenched teeth, “Because he’s a sanctimonious jerk. If he thinks I am going to just sit back…” I hadn’t noticed, but I was crying, my voice cracked and Sam was at my side, holding me before I knew that I wanted him to. He rocked me back and forth, soothing me and calming me as only Sammy could.
After what seemed like an hour, Sam sighed and slid away to look into my eyes. “So, what’s the plan?”
~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: It's not over yet! One more chapter!
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