Badass Dragons - Complete Set (16 page)

CHAPTER SIX

The woman’s body was left in the
middle of the road as if she was nothing. They’d taken Synrith, covered him in
a sheet and put him in the trunk of the car. But for the woman there was no
extra care. No chance of hope. No chance for resurrection. While Cheryl came to
terms with the sheer brutality of it, she also reasoned that she shouldn’t have
expected anything else. Yet, one who hadn’t walked inside the shoes of a
vampire, might not be so prone to judge. Cheryl had been in those shoes. She
didn’t believe this state of being had any bearing on her moral compass.

Outside the
car, the roads washed with a distant quiet. Midnight came and went, as did the
moon behind the clouds. Thunder stirred within them, the beginnings of a vast
and bitter storm. While the roads were still dry and the air was still clear,
Reiko ventured them away from the city and suburbs, and towards the wilderness.

“Cassandra
was always fond of witchcraft,” Reiko said. “She learnt some and was even in
the process of teaching Sophie some spells and tricks.”

“I don’t find
that hard to believe,” Cheryl murmured.

“You seem to
have some preconceived ideas about magic and our paranormal existence,” Reiko
responded. “You’re still caught up in viewing your living state as the
benchmark of all things. But that’s only one state of being. One floor of the
house you’re looking out from. There are many floors. It’s all connected. Even
those who have never seen a vampire in front of them, don’t question their
possibility. Because even in your fixed reality, the rules are always bent and
broken. Anything is possible…”

“Start
talking about the resurrection,” Cheryl said.

“I’m getting
to it. It’s just important for you to recognize this isn’t an unnatural thing.
It’s something that’s been done for centuries.”

“Well… You’re
using some kind of energy to reverse the natural order of things. So unnatural
might be its strictest definition.”

“Jesus was
resurrected, wasn’t he? No one acts as though that was witchcraft. That was a
miracle of God.”

“I’m not
about to get into a theological debate with you. Just give me some of the
facts. Then we’ll just … think it through…”

Reiko nodded.
“It’s good that you’re keeping an open mind about it at least. And we shouldn’t
rush into it. Where we’re going to now is a place where we’ll be able to sit
down with a few people wiser than us to figure this all out. Resurrection is
only one option. They may have a completely different outlook on this than
we’ve come up with so far.”

“These wise
people … are they vampires like us?” Cheryl asked.

“Is that what
we’ve been talking about? Vampires?”

“Well, what
are they then?”

“Fortune
tellers. Druids. Mages. Spellcasters. Who do you think they are?”

Cheryl looked
outside the window on her side of the car. The leaves on the trees had turn
from green to red to black.

They were
getting deeper into the forest.

“You mean
witches?” she asked.

“Bingo.”

CHAPTER
SEVEN

Cheryl looked behind her out the back
window of the car. She couldn’t see the road anymore. The trees had become so
thick that there was nowhere else to go. Reiko glided the car round gently into
the corner of the clearing and then parked and shut off the engine. There was a
chilling breeze outside. Cheryl could feel it creeping in towards her.

“You
shouldn’t have too much trouble finding your way,” Reiko said quietly. “But
stay close to me anyway. Just in case.”

Cheryl
blinked. “Got it.”

Reiko leaned
out the back, checking the window also, and then peered out his side of the
car.

“What are you
looking for?” Cheryl asked.

“Nothing,” he
muttered. “I don’t know. These are strange parts.”

He opened the
driver’s door. “Let’s go.”

Cheryl opened
her door and followed him outside.

Once on her
feet again, she felt oddly rejuvenated. The weight of the wind bore into her,
but instead of making her shiver, it seemed to give her an adrenalin rush.

When she made
it round the side of the car, Reiko turned to her, and she saw his eyes were
glowing red.

“This way,”
he said, pointing to the forest behind him.

“Well, duh,”
Cheryl said joining him.

Reiko didn’t
reply.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

As they ventured deeper into the
forest the appearance of green and blue lights began to take place. Distant
thunder rumbled, and as Cheryl looked up to the sky she saw the lights were
coming from the tops of the trees.

“What are –?”
Cheryl began.

“Sssh,” Reiko
hissed.

They came to
a stop.

Just ahead of
them a woman was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a clearing between the several
of the artificially lit trees. Her head was bowed beneath her, and she was
covered in a quilt of purple and black feathers.

Reiko’s stern
eyes were on Cheryl. It seemed important not to let the woman know of their
presence.

They
continued their journey around the edges of the clearing. The woman did not
look up or make a sound. After a few minutes, Cheryl felt it was safe to talk
again.

“Who was
that?” she asked.

“The Mistress
of Birds, Lady Glowshark. She’s an important person here and not someone to
mess with. But I don’t have a history with her.”

Cheryl
glanced over her shoulder towards the woman again.

She was
surprised to see she had vanished.

“Is she one
of the witches?”

“One of the
more powerful ones,” Reiko said. “It’s best you don’t ask any more questions
about her.”

“Alright. Do
we have much further to go?”

“Just over
the hill there,” Reiko said pointing. A moment later there was a loud boom of
thunder and the sky lit up with lightning. It started to rain.

“Looks like
we’re just in time,” Cheryl gushed.

By the time
they actually reached the tree however, they were both drenched head-to-toe.
Reiko rapped the wooden knocker at the door of the trunk, and they waited
patiently outside for a moment. When the door finally opened, there was no one
behind it.

The inside of
the tree was warm. The light in Reiko’s eyes went out and his face became
fuller, and less pale as they adjusted to the heat. Cheryl wondered if she was
physically transforming in much the same way.

They took off
their shoes and began climbing the winding staircase in front of them. They
passed two levels in the tree – one which contained a study filled with books
and papers, the second being a kitchen. Beyond that the walls of the tree
compressed a bit.

The third
level, the level they found the tree’s occupant, was dimly lit. It was bare
apart from a dark, circular patch of carpet in the centre, with a crystal ball
in the middle of that. Sitting in front of the ball was a woman with blue skin
and silver hair, dressed in a black gown.

“Cheryl
Thames, I’d like you to meet –”

“Hylee
Chandra,” the witch said grinning.

CHAPTER NINE

“Fresh blood?” Hylee mused. “Let’s
take a look at you, girl.”

As Cheryl
went to approach, she brushed by a cold and sticky, invisible curtain. Standing
in front of the witch Cheryl was put off to see the woman had no eyes. The
sockets appeared to be filled with amethyst stones.

“My, my,” the
witch said taking Cheryl’s wrist. “Does Cassandra know you’ve been left alone
with this one?”

“Uh… Not
exactly,” Reiko said approaching. “I’m afraid I have some terrible news on that
front.”

“Don’t tell
me,” Hylee said dropping Cheryl’s hand. “The two of you had an argument and
she’s run away with a more dashing gentlemen.”

“Your powers
of intuition always succeed you,” Reiko muttered sarcastically.

“What’s that
tone?” Hylee replied. “She isn’t …
dead
, is she?”

Reiko sat
down on the mat as Hylee was. He motioned for Cheryl to do the same.

“I’m afraid
I’m all that’s left of the clan,” Reiko said in a bitter voice. “The wolves betrayed
us.”

“Ah…” Hylee
murmured. “And now you’ve come to me for help?”

“Yes.”

“What role
does the girl have to play in this?”

“Well, she is
uh, a vampire as –”

“I can see
that.”

“I was with
the Master Dragon, Synrith,” Cheryl said. “He was murdered by Rafe in front of
me. Reiko said you … or someone else, might be able to help with it…”

“Help with
it?”

“We have his
body,” Reiko added. “It’s in the car.”

“He’s dead?”

“Yes.”

“Then what
can I do?”

Reiko cleared
his throat. “I once heard of you and some of your sisters, partaking in a
resurrection. It was for a fallen dragon master then as well. So, I thought
maybe you might consider guiding us from there…”

Hylee turned
her head to him slightly. “I don’t have such powers by myself. You would have
to speak with Lady Glowshark if you required such a thing.”

“Well, she’s
not going to help us, is she?”

“I will not
answer for her,” Hylee replied. “You know the dangers in that.”

“I would
guess it would be quite dangerous to even ask her this request.”

“Perhaps,”
Hylee said. “But then, I would hope you considered your position carefully
before doing so.”

“What do you
mean by that?”

“Is bringing
Synrith back to life your ultimate goal? Is that what he would have wanted?”

“We need to
restore order,” Reiko said. “We need to –”

“What is
wrong with the order of things? The dragons and wolves have partnered, have
they not? There is no war. And you vampires, are but the scum of the earth as
it is. Any victory for you in this regard, is a victory for evil.”

“Rafe is
evil,” Cheryl put forward. “He gave my sister to Jet and he’s going to force
her to be his against her will.”

“I have a
feeling your sister’s chastity wasn’t standing up before this.”

“What a – how
dare you,” Cheryl cursed. “I don’t care about this good / evil / order of
things rubbish. Synrith was a noble protector who didn’t deserve to die – the
vampires were stabbed in the back – my sister deserves someone to fight for her
even if everyone else is happy for her to be raped.”

Hylee smiled.
Her gaze drifted back to her.

“You are
absolutely right, my girl. Never mind me – I’m just an old fool.”

“Reiko said
you were wise.”

“Indeed.”
Hylee reached out to the ball in front of her. It started glowing purple as she
touched it.

After a
moment of silence within the tree, she looked up again.

“It will talk
to you, Cheryl,” Hylee said. “It will answer three of your questions – but only
tell you the truth twice. You’ll have to make your own mind up about which
answer isn’t true.”

Cheryl
blinked. “What questions? Who said I had three questions?”

“You can ask
it anything,” Reiko said. “It will give you visions.”

“Visions?”

“You’re one
of us now,” Hylee said to Cheryl. “The ball wants to help you.”

“Can I just
have a moment a moment to figure out my questions?”

“Take all the
time you need,” Hylee said.

CHAPTER TEN

The ball was placed in front of
Cheryl on the mat. Her hands reached out to it, and before touching, she could
feel a magnetic field rising just above the surface.

“Do I say my
questions out loud? Or do I just think them?” Cheryl asked Hylee.

“Say them out
loud,” Hylee advised. “A vampire’s mind can be quite muddled.”

Cheryl looked
down at the ball. Back to Hylee again. She was nervous.

“What’s going
to happen when I ask them?”

“Just dive
straight in, dear. You’ll be fine.”

Cheryl
nodded. She put her fingers to the ball, and shockwaves flowed from it, inward
and deep.

“Question
one,” Cheryl began. “Is resurrecting Synrith something we should pursue?”

While Reiko
and Hylee continued to stare at her, Cheryl’s gaze dropped to the ball.

The purple
glow it radiated dimmed a touch, and then peeled away all together.

A shiny,
emerald green light. Metal reflecting off the moon. Cheryl could see it. It was
the torso part of a green knight’s armor. As the image became clearer, she
could see it was Synrith.

He was with
her.

Not inside
the ball, nor inside the tree.

They were out
by the cliffs overlooking the beach, in the middle of the night. They were
standing together, watching the headlights of various motorcycles racing across
the beach towards them. But they were still far away.

Synrith took
her hand in his and bent down to whisper something in her ear.

“I love you,
Cheryl…”

Cheryl
jumped. She was still in the tree with Reiko and Hylee.

Her hands
were away from the ball and it was glowing purple.

“What did you
see?” Reiko asked.

“I was … it
was like I was sucked into the image. I mean, was that really happening or –?”

“It’s just a
vision, dear,” Hylee said. “You’ll get two accurate ones, and a false one. What
did you see in this one?”

“I was with
Synrith. He was wearing this … green armor. We were at the beach together –
right where he died. And down on the beach there were the bikers … like we were
there, just before he was killed.” Cheryl opened and closed her eyes a few
times. “What does it mean?”

Hylee looked
at her, considering. “Abstractly, it’s saying you should pursue the
resurrection. I guess … it’s also saying you will.”

“If the
vision was real?” Cheryl said.

“Correct.”

“Well, I
guess I have to ask how we’re supposed to do that.”

“Go on then.”

Cheryl took a
deep breath and placed her fingers on the surface of the ball.

“How do we
bring Synrith back to life?” she asked.

The swirling
purple glow diminished. The ball was complete darkness. It engulfed Reiko and
Hylee. It engulfed the room in the tree. It engulfed everything so that Cheryl
couldn’t even see herself.

But she could
hear her own breathing. Was she trapped somewhere?

Or hiding
from something?

Suddenly
there was bright light. A green sword smashed into the top of the closet Cheryl
was crouching in, and the door was torn to pieces.

As she
crawled out she saw she was at the feet of Synrith, again who was wearing the
green armor.

His eyes were
filled with bloodthirsty rage, and his next swing of the sword was aimed
directly for Cheryl. She rolled out of the way just in time and staggered to
her feet.

“Why?” she
pleaded. “Why are you angry with me?”

As she backed
away from him, her surroundings became clearer. She was inside Synrith’s office
of his skyscraper tower. He advanced, still seething.

“No,” Cheryl
said. “This wasn’t I asked for. You’re supposed to show me how to bring him to
life.”

Synrith
appeared not to hear her. He continued until Cheryl was caught up against the
back of the window.

“Just don’t,”
Cheryl whispered.

Synrith
raised his sword and lunged at her, smashing the window, and sending the both
of them falling into the darkness below.