Badass Dragons - Complete Set (17 page)

 
CHAPTER
ELEVEN

When Cheryl opened her eyes again she
was on the floor with a blanket over her, shivering. She sat up. Rain and hail
could be heard coming down outside.

“What
happened?” Cheryl asked.

Reiko and
Hylee were still sitting as they had been.

“You suffered
some shock,” Hylee explained. “It can happen sometimes.”

“Do you
remember what you saw?” Reiko asked.

Cheryl took a
few deep breaths. “We were at Synrith’s castle in the city. Just he and I. He
was attacking me.”

“What was the
question you asked again?”

“‘How do I
bring him to life?’ What does my vision mean?”

“What do you
think it means?” Hylee asked.

“Well, it’s
not straight forward is it. I think … well, at the end we both fell out of the
window together. So we both died together. So … it’s saying he can’t be brought
back to life, or if I do … he’ll try and kill me?”

“That’s one
interpretation,” Hylee said.

“Well, feel
free to share yours, because I’m lost.”

“Perhaps it
means you have to sacrifice yourself to save him,” Reiko suggested.

“But we both
died,” Cheryl countered. “Both of us – out the window.”

“Maybe this
is the false vision,” Reiko said. “What do you think Hylee?”

Hylee seemed
hesitant to answer.

“What is it?”
Reiko asked.

“You’re
asking the ball the wrong questions,” she said finally. “That’s why you’re
getting these metaphorical answers.”

“What
question should I ask?” Cheryl shot back.

Hylee closed
her eyes. “I’m afraid to tell you. Because it could mean your end.”

“Come on,
Hylee,” Reiko urged her. “Just tell us.”

“There will
be no resurrection for Synrith,” she said. “No bringing him back to life. You
must ask it how you can –”

Bang, bang,
bang.

Hylee stood
up. She moved slowly over to the wall where there was a long pipe protruding.
She put her eye-socket to it.

Then whirled
around in alarm.

“Who is it?”
Reiko said, standing up.

“It’s Rafe,”
Hylee said.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Bang, bang, bang.

Hylee wasn’t
going to be able to hold him for long.

As Cheryl and
Reiko hurried up the stairs she said to him, “Do you know why he’s here?”

“Not a clue.
But we’re going to find out.”

The room
above Hylee’s meditation area was storage for her potions, alchemy ingredients
and other contraptions. Reiko sat near the edge of the stairs so he could hear
the conversation. Cheryl sat directly behind him.

The door was
now open and Rafe was lumbering up the stairs.

“In here,
Rafe,” Hylee sang out.

The footsteps
eventually came to a stop.

“Hylee,” he
began.

Then they
could hear the sharp inhale through his nostrils.

“So they’re
still here.”

“Who is still
here?” Hylee said politely.

“You know
who,” Rafe barked. “I guess I’ve lost the element of surprise.”

His attention
turned to the top of the stairs. “If you stay up there, you’ll only make
matters worse.”

Reiko
sullenly got to his feet. He helped Cheryl up as well.

They climbed
down the stairs to face Rafe.

“So we’re all
here,” Rafe declared. “Good.”

“You knew I
was alive?” Reiko asked suspiciously.

“I know a lot
of things,” Rafe said. “And I can see by your being here, you’re not letting
any of this go.”

“Let what
go?” Reiko said in low voice.

“You’re so
stupid,” Rafe said. “The both of you. Instead of focusing on what you’ve lost –
you should be focused on what you have. Which is a lot.”

“You killed
my girlfriend,” Reiko said.

“You killed
my boyfriend,” Cheryl said.

“Both of you
– get over there with Hylee.”

They moved
round where he pointed, as he stood in the path of the stairs.

“First of all
– Jet killed your girlfriend – not me. If you and Cassandra had kept your
bargain and gotten me that dagger as you promised, I would never have had to
deal with the likes of him. I was rooting for you guys, I really was.”

He turned to
Cheryl.

“Synrith was
not
your boyfriend. You might have had your thing – but trust me, I spared you.
Not only from myself, but from what he would have done with you.”

He approached
slowly.

“Look at the
two of you. Crusading against me. Scheming. Trying to get the upper hand. You …
have each other. Why not try to make friends with me? What will it do if you
kill me? Bring anyone back? I don’t think so. And now you’re here asking about
resurrections. Please just stop. Move on. Because you are becoming a great
worry to me.”

“So you want
a truce?” Reiko asked. “You’re not here to kill us?”

“Please,”
Rafe said waving his hand. “I don’t doubt your usefulness. If you return to my
mansion tomorrow night, I will have some work for you.”

“In exchange
for what?”

“Money of
course,” Rafe snorted. “Oh – and what’s the other thing you wanted? Jet? I’ll
help you with that. When the time is right. But behave yourselves you two. Stop
thinking about me as the enemy. Understand?”

Reiko nodded.

Cheryl
followed his cue and nodded also.

“We’ll shake on
it tomorrow night,” Rafe said. “It’s late. Rest here. Hylee will look after
you. But no more fucking around. I’ve got my eye on both of you.”

He gave a
mild shrug and then set off down the stairs again.

Reiko and
Cheryl stared at Hylee in disbelief.

“How did he
know we were here?” Reiko asked.

Hylee stared
back solemnly. “He has help. Eyes in this forest. Eyes that saw you come here.”

The door
closed down behind Rafe.

“So are we
supposed to go along with this?” Reiko demanded. “Is that really what’s for the
best?”

Hylee shook
her head. “Stay here a moment.”

She went
upstairs, doing her best to go as quickly as she could.

“Are you
really considering being his friend again?” Cheryl asked.

Reiko shook
his head. “I don’t know. I … He was right about one thing.”

“What was
that?”

“About us.
Having each other.”

Their eyes
met.

Cheryl looked
away. “Don’t…” she whispered.

“Don’t what?”

She moved
towards the stairs.

Hylee was
coming back down.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Hylee made a gesture with her hand as
if she was throwing something Cheryl’s way. As she couldn’t see anything coming
towards her, Cheryl made no move to catch the invisible object. It bounced off
her chest, giving her a fright.

“Put that
on,” Hylee said.

“Put what
on?” Cheryl babbled.

“That’s an
invisibility cloak,” Hylee said joining her at the level’s edge. She picked it
up from the floor and handed it to Cheryl.

“Oh,” Cheryl
murmured. She could see her hands right through the cloak, but still feel it as
though it was there. “Wow, this is so cool.”

“No time for
gawking,” Hylee hissed at her. “Put it on.”

“Okay. Uh …
how?”

Hylee took
the cloak from her and helped Cheryl’s arms inside of it. When satisfied it was
on properly, Hylee stepped back.

“Okay,” she
said. “If you want to save Synrith you have one last chance.”

“What is it?”

“I have no
time to explain,” Hylee continued. “But you must follow Rafe and see where he
goes.”

“Quickly.”
She pushed Cheryl. “Go.”

Cheryl
stumbled back and then found herself moving towards the stairs once more. She
looked back.

While Reiko
was looking extremely confused, he wasn’t making any argument against it.

“Hold up,”
Hylee said. She rushed across to the mat and picked up her ball. She went to
the stairs with it. “Where are you?”

“I’m here,”
Cheryl said.

Hylee threw
the ball into her lap. Cheryl caught it.

“You still
have one more question,” Hylee said.

“But this
belongs to you. How will I –?”

“It doesn’t
matter!” Hylee cried. “There’s no more time! Just go!”

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

Cheryl could see Rafe’s figure in the
far distance for a moment before he dropped out of sight. At least he appeared
to be walking, and not running.

Cheryl went
after him.

While the
invisibility cloak may have kept her hidden from the eyes of suspecting witches
in the trees, it did not protect her from the harshness of the storm that was
now upon her. The ground had become wet with mud, so she had to be careful of
slipping up.

After a
breathless minute or two, she came to the space where she had last seen Rafe.
There was still no sign of him.

She turned
and saw that the tree she had just run past had its front door ajar a little.

She looked
back to the forest worried he might still have ventured that way, and this tree
could be a fatal detour for her.

Cheryl
clutched Hylee’s ball in her hand. Should she ask the ball about this?

What if it
lied?

Suddenly a
woman in a blue mask appeared in the window of the tree. She was a few levels
up, looking at the ground below. From what she was wearing, Cheryl realized
this was likely to be Lady Glowshark, which she had seen earlier.

She decided
to enter the house to ask the witch if she had seen Rafe come this way.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Upon entering the house, it became
apparent that Cheryl was correct to come here.

Rafe was
arguing loudly with Lady Glowshark upstairs.

“No, I will
not leave!” Rafe yelled. “Not until you tell me what’s going on!”

Cheryl began
to creep silently up the stairs.

“It’s all
part of the plan,” Lady Glowshark’s voice droned. “If you mistrust my judgment
after all I have done for you, then clearly our partnership should be
concluded.”

“Partnership?
Concluded? Is that what we’re calling it?”

“Rafe, my
sweet Rafe. You cannot doubt what I have to say. If I was working against you
on this, why would I have called you here at all? I did it because I need your
trust. You can go back there, kill all three of them – there’s nothing I can do
to stop you. But listen to me when I say you need them. The vampires will prove
crucial to your victory in the coming future.”

Cheryl peered
over the level’s edge.

Rafe let out
a deep sigh and fell into an armchair.

The Lady was
still standing by the window.

“I suppose
you’re right,” Rafe said. “I do still trust you. Of course. It’s just … what’s
to stop them from performing this resurrection? Hylee has the power, does she
not?”

“Not by
herself,” the Lady said. “She would need my help.”

“And you
wouldn’t help her, would you?”

“Synrith has
no place here. Not anymore.”

Rafe put his
hands together. “Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t have taken your word to
begin with. Perhaps I would have been happier as a vampire. Life would have run
its natural course.”

“There is no
such thing as a natural world,” Lady Glowshark said. “Not in the sense that
people govern their own actions.”

“Well, I’m
just saying. Maybe I made the wrong choice.”

Lady
Glowshark walked towards him. She put her legs around his knees and sat on his
lap.

“Are you in
the mood for it?” Rafe asked her. “Why don’t you take off your mask? There’s no
one else here.”

Cheryl
swallowed.

“No,” the
Lady said. “You must go now. I’ll set things right here with the vampires. I
will make sure they will not disobey you. And we will all meet tomorrow. To
discuss how we’re going to run this city.”

“Okay,” Rafe
said. “Get off then.”

Lady
Glowshark got off him and moved to one side.

Rafe stood.

“You know if
you don’t want to do any of this,” she said, “if you really believe you made
the wrong choice –”

“I know –”
Rafe said.

“Then make it
again.”

He smiled at
her.

“Sometimes I
feel like I don’t know you at all,” he said.

“That’s
because you don’t.”

Rafe frowned.
Then turned his back to her. “Goodnight.”

He then
started moving towards the stairs.

Cheryl
quickly backed away but after a moment realized he was going up, not down.

She continued
to follow him up the stairs.