Elliot, page 10
part #3 of Anarock Shifters Series
The company trudged down the canyon much farther than Aria ever ventured before. They passed thousands of chambers all alike, but after several miles, the scenery changed.
The way descended into a deep gorge plunging far away from the light. The slope angled at a gentle incline so Aria barely noticed it at first. The current turned a deeper shade of blue. The transparent walls became shadowy and opaque. She realized she couldn’t see through them.
The dragons swam and marched down, down, down, deeper to where the blue became indistinguishable from black. The solid walls towered on either side and closed off the endless landscape.
Dragons emerged from holes in the walls to join the column. The company swelled to thousands, possibly millions of dragons and still they descended.
Pretty soon, all the light from above faded to nothing. The dragons’ scales gleamed faintly visible in the gloom, but that was all. The water got colder down here and Aria shivered. Where were they going?
In an instant, a swarm of phosphorescent lights blasted out of the walls. They swirled around the dragons and cast their scaly bodies in a greenish glow. Billions of tiny lights eddied in patterned turbulence and illuminated the chasm. In a flash, the place lit up to the heights. Sheer cliffs closed them in beyond sight to the surface high above.
Aria caught her breath. The dragons exploded into activity. They shot upward and streaked through the water flying and swimming and whipping in every direction. They launched zoomed around each other in continuous loops and circles. Even the tiniest babies joined the celebration.
They swam so fast the water hummed off their scales. It rumbled and gurgled and hissed and whistled and sang. So many dragons tumbled and dove and zipped that the sound buzzed to an orchestral harmony ranging through the limit of human hearing.
Aria stood alone on the chasm floor. She gaped at the sight with her mouth open. She must be the only person alive to ever witness this, the dragon’s dance. Elliot whizzed among them flying faster than she could follow. He flickered in and out of view between huge bodies. His presence and his sound melded with all the others to become a symphonic convergence of dragon spirit.
She should have felt lonely and abandoned at not being included in this epic dragon carnival, but she felt only amazed and wonderstruck. She couldn’t think of a single party or celebration back in Anarock that held a candle to this. The New Breed had weddings and funerals and parties and dances—each one exactly mimicking human celebrations.
Never once did the New Breed consider creating ceremonies and rituals that celebrated their true otherness, their alien nature, their existence outside the human context. They wanted to be human. They craved it. They didn’t fully embrace their otherness the way the Blood Kin did.
How unimaginably tragic that was. Why couldn’t the New Breed celebrate themselves for what they were? They avoided shifting at all costs. They kept their mutant strangeness hidden. They kept their monsters locked up behind closed doors so humans would never see them. They did everything possible to avoid confrontation with humans.
The Blood Kin did the opposite. They built a world where they didn’t have to accept outsiders at all or their opinions and tastes. They were dragons, pure and simple. They would never be anything but dragons and they didn’t have to be.
The pitch of energy built to an explosive peak, but it didn’t climax or ebb. It hovered there, singing and crying and harmonizing in the dark. The flashing lights traced their dragon bodies swirling in a maelstrom of energy. Light and sound cascaded together without end. When would it end? Would it never end?
She couldn’t make out Elliot anymore. She couldn’t distinguish one dragon from the next. She didn’t have to. They were one body, one dragon being. That was the whole point of this celebration. She intuited that through the waves.
She withdrew to the wall and leaned against it to watch. Of everyone present, she alone did not belong. She would never belong. That was beyond clear, but that fact didn’t make her sad or scared. It just was. The Blood Kin were what they were and she was what she was.
She relaxed in the glorious dark and admired them enjoying their celebration. She could be happy for them. She didn’t need to make them anything other than what they were and they weren’t trying to make her anything other than what she was. She didn’t fit in here. That wasn’t their fault any more than it was hers.
The party went on and on for hours. Only the tonality of the music shifted. Some of the babies got tired and drifted down to the floor. Older dragons soared higher. The different body arrangement created a new harmonic in the sound. The song evolved through multiple modes and harmonies. Every time a dragon moved to a new position, the music grew into something new and equally beautiful.
Aria appreciated the display. She refused to let herself fall into despair that she couldn’t share it. It really was beautiful and she congratulated the dragons on their power and majesty.
Babies and young dragons rested on the floor around her feet. They ate tiny creatures they found or caught. They rolled on their backs and kicked their legs in the air. They squeaked encouragement to the adults swimming freely overhead. Aria smiled on them, but they didn’t talk to her. Everyone recognized her otherness.
She turned her gaze upward again when a familiar voice surprised her. “Are you hungry? We can find you something to eat.”
She whirled around and discovered a tall, graceful young man at her side. He stood a good six inches taller than she was. Long black hair bobbed around his bare shoulders. She couldn’t see all of him in the dark, but he looked naked—all except for a shadow around his hips that hid his privates.
His chiseled, muscular chest shone in the greenish glow. His arms curved from his shoulders and his bare feet cast up clouds of dust from the floor. Deep black eyes gleamed down at her.
He spoke again. “You need not stay back here all alone. Some of us plan to go around the corner to fish. Why not come with us?”
She blinked up at him. “Chimo? Is that you?”
He broke into a beautiful smile. She never would have imagined he could be so beautiful. “You’re…. you’re in your human form. I…I never imagined you would look like this.”
He shrugged and glanced up at his dragon people. “We avoid it whenever possible, but I thought it might make you more comfortable. Come with me. This dance can get boring after so long.”
He rotated away and took a few steps. He looked back over his shoulder waiting for her to catch up. Her heart leaped to be included in something with real people, people like herself.
She never dared dream any Blood Kin would shift—certainly not to make her more comfortable. She followed him a few paces down the wall where he turned off into a tunnel she didn’t notice before.
Seven or eight young men hung around waiting for them. Aria didn’t recognize any of them. Chimo hurried forward. “This way. We will go to a pool at the end of this corridor. We can fish there. It is the best fishing spot anywhere on the Coast.”
The others fell in around Aria. A few strode ahead while others brought up the rear. One or two trialed at either side. She spotted another light farther down the tunnel. It glowed reddish-orange, unlike the green fireflies lighting up the dragons’ dance.
Chimo flashed her another brilliant smile. “Not much farther.”
Something like large fish wavered across the light. Could these young people really want to fish with her? Should she try after the dragons warned her not to take her bear form? How else would she fish with them?
A thrill went through her. This could be the first step to forming some meaningful contact with the Blood Kin. Maybe the young ones really wanted to associate with her but the older dragons wouldn’t let them. Maybe she would find some common ground with Chimo and his friends in which she could establish herself.
The group approached the end of the tunnel. The light shone almost as bright as day out there. She couldn’t make out the source, but that didn’t matter. Huge, placid fish undulated past the light. It cast their fins and tails in relief.
Chimo shot Aria one more backward grin. The tunnel opened to a platform overlooking another enormous chasm. Aria couldn’t see the top or sides or bottom. The area extended in a vast black hollow to the ends of the Earth. The light gleamed from an opening somewhere off to the left. From what she could see, it shone through an otherworldly hole in the black fabric of the sea. Where exactly were they?
Aria emerged onto the platform staring at everything around her. The great fish wavered back and forth in front of the light. They didn’t swim away. They circled right in front of the platform as if they were waiting for someone to reach out and grab them.
Chimo rotated around and faced Aria. His lips widened into a broad smile. All of a sudden, that smile didn’t give her a warm, inviting feeling anymore. Her blood ran cold at the sight of him. He jerked his chin over his shoulder. “Let’s go. You can come with us.”
She withdrew in on herself. Her nerves twanged anticipating something she didn’t like at all. “I can’t. The Kin forbade me to swim as a bear.”
Chimo laughed. That sound grated her nerves. It sounded like the opposite of mirth and comradely humor. “Don’t pay any attention to them. They’ll say anything. Come on. You know you want to.”
For some reason not exactly clear to her, she scanned the others. She didn’t realize before that she was expecting them to be closing her in, but they were and that fact didn’t surprise her. They didn’t bring her here to make her feel at home or to help her find something to eat. They certainly didn’t bring her here to fish.
A chill ran up her spine. She wished she was back at the dragons’ dance with hundreds of other Blood Kin around her. She wished she was anywhere but here.
The circle tightened around her. The guys moved in closer—too close. Someone bumped into her. Against her will, she spun around to confront him. Even as she did that, she realized her mistake because she turned her attention away from Chimo.
She cringed at the sight of these strapping young men with their bare arms and chests. Their eyes glittered with pure, unvarnished hatred for her. They planned to kill her. She never doubted that for a second.
She couldn’t recognize any of them except Chimo. She’d never seen any of them as anything but dragons. She wouldn’t have been able to pick them out again if she saw them.
In a heartbeat, she understood. That was the real reason, the only reason they used their human forms. They didn’t just lure her away from the party with promises of fishing and whatever else.
They used their human forms now, of all times, to mask their true identities. She didn’t know their names. She didn’t know anything about them because she’d never seen them like this and would almost certainly never see them like this again. If she lived to get out of here, she wouldn’t be able to tell Elliot or Malfie or anyone else who attacked her—not that anyone cared.
Only Elliot would care and he would never know what happened to her. Malfie and Beslatia and the other Kin wanted to keep Aria around to extract information from her. The young ones obviously didn’t intend to let that happen. They hated Aria and they were going to get rid of her. They would leave her body in this black cavern to rot.
She whirled back around and discovered Chimo standing right in front of her. His shadowy features hovered before her nose. His chest touched her front. His presence sent a sizzle of alarm through her. She had to get the hell out of here now or she was dead meat.
Another body brushed her back. Another one grazed her arm. She didn’t dare take her eyes of Chimo. She didn’t have to. Bodies closed her in. She tensed to fight, but she already knew it was hopeless. These were dragons. The instant she shifted, they would shift. They would tear her to pieces.
Her mind raced. She had to think of some way out of here, but they could outswim her and outfight her. They could overpower her with their strength, not to mention their numbers. Adrenaline scorched her insides.
Someone grabbed her arms from behind. Powerful fingers clenched her biceps and locked her arms to her sides. The sensation erupted through her and set off a chain reaction. She exploded out of herself. She yanked up her arms and jerked them forward. Sheer terror gave her superhuman strength and she ripped the person’s hands away.
In the same movement, she slammed both her palms against Chimo’s chest and shoved. She pitched him off the platform’s precipitous edge and wheeled around to attack. She didn’t realize until that moment how much the water slowed her down. Now, when she really needed her speed more than anything, it thwarted her efforts.
She twirled on her heel and flung an elbow at the man directly behind her. She smashed the bone into his face and threw a punch at someone else. She didn’t bother to check who it was. She didn’t care. She wanted them dead—all of them.
Her knuckles made contact with her target’s jaw. She savored the delicious sensation of his head snapping away, but she didn’t stand around to enjoy it. She rotated back the other way and shifted in the blink of an eye.
Monstrous rage shattered her being. Her skin split and black fur sprouted out of her pores. She cracked her jaws wide and fangs stabbed from her gums. She bellowed her homicidal roar to anyone who would listen.
Out of the dark, a sleek dragon shape rocketed at her head. She danced to her right. Without looking, she slashed her eye tooth down the dragon’s neck. Chimo reared back screeching and blood gushed into the water.
Ten dragons materialized out of nowhere where the men once stood. They shifted so fast Aria didn’t see the moment when they ceased to be men. They were never men. That was the bald truth. They were always monsters and they hated her. They wanted her dead. Well, come on and get some.
She backed away slavering her black lips off her teeth. She rotated one way and then the other trying to keep them all in sight. The dragons stood up on their hind legs and beat their wings. They shrieked and sprayed fire into the night.
Now that Aria faced them with the gloves off, she saw the odds against her. Chimo landed on the platform and joined his friends. She struck something solid and felt the stone wall behind her. She couldn’t back up anymore, but that was just as well. It meant they could get behind her.
She flattened her hind end against that rock and faced down her enemies. They wanted her dead and she wanted their blood. She would go down fighting. At least she didn’t have to pretend to like them or get along with them. They could all express their mutual hostility out in the open.
She snarled her rage and frustration at one and all watching them move in for the kill. They dropped onto all fours and lowered their wicked heads close to the ground. They wavered their gleaming red eyes back and forth and hissed at her. They arched their wings ready to strike.
The ridge of fur stood up on her back. She stretched her neck and thundered. She wanted to engage with them. She wanted to feel her teeth penetrating their hide. She wanted to rip and shred and crush bone. She wanted to fight even if it meant death. She craved it.
In the volcanic cavern of her own rage, time stood still. She saw these creatures surrounding her, eyeing her, intent on destroying her. She measured them one by one. They were young, brash, headstrong. They lived in a world where their every need came to them easily. Maybe they didn’t have much experience fighting at all. She could only hope.
She checked them one after the other trying to determine which would strike first. One reddish-brown monster inched closer than the others. He was bigger than his friends. Maybe he thought that would make him the perfect candidate to throw the first punch.
The others crawled a step nearer, but they followed their big friend’s lead. Yes, he would be the one to ignite the powder keg if anyone did.
She pretended to ignore him. She twisted her neck to keep all of them in sight even as she braced herself to close. Once the fighting started, it wouldn’t matter anymore who came first. They would all pile in at once and it would all be on.
Chimo recovered from his wound and sidled to her right. His blood floated in the current. He added his screeches and cries to the growing din of angry voices.
Aria gathered herself into a compact dynamo all wound up to spring. The big dragon curved his neck to one side and retracted it to lunge. She saw it all in the blink of an eye. His muscles uncoiled and his head streaked through the water.
She unleashed her tension. His neck unwound and he bared his fangs rushing at her to bite. She flung herself sideways and rolled on her shoulder. The other dragons launched at the same instant. His head rocketed past her and she rotated onto her feet. She contorted her powerful neck and sliced her teeth down his throat. She ripped out his jugular and left him flailing.
She wheeled one more time and hurled herself backward against the rock. She smashed her body there ready to meet the next assault. Her victim screamed and thrashed and his blood muddied the water.
Aria glared through the murk for the next assailant, but at that moment, another reptilian shadow shot past her nose. A careening shape smacked two young dragons in the head and barreled headlong into Chimo.
Confusion reigned for a moment, but Aria’s deadly rage knew no bounds. She bellowed at anyone who would listen. Three young dragons looked back and forth between her and the intruder who grappled and tumbled with Chimo at the cliff edge.
Aria took advantage of the chaos to pounce on her nearest enemy. She snatched him off the ground by the neck and cracked him like a whip. He gave a scream and choked. His body flopped against her shoulder and she pitched him over the precipice into the dark.
The newcomer whipped his coils around Chimo and flailed him in the dust. The other dragons. They watched in stunned shock as Elliot lashed his tail around his former friend and hurled him outward toward the distant light.
