Embracing the Flames (35 page)

Internally, I gasped as Eralise’s human form began to transform. A loud growl erupted from deep within her belly as her snout swayed back and forth with her tail. She was so regal. For a moment I thought that maybe her dragon magic would overcome Gwen’s taint, but I was wrong.

“Now let’s hurry along. You don’t want to miss your date with death, do you?”

My mother held each of us in her claws, flying us through the labyrinth of tunnels on the way to the Lair. The hidden traps within the Cave had been disarmed by my mother under Gwen’s command. She disgustingly laughed in delight at each one.

“Zordon will be pleased,” she bragged. I wanted to ask how she thought he was going to be able to enter the Lair, but of course I had been prevented from talking. Now more than ever I wished that Astral was near. He would hear me. But he was gone too, maybe even dead.

My mother flew us over the lava that prevented most from crossing and dropped us on the ledge right before the entrance to the Lair of the Stone. “Now for the real fun,” Gwen said, clapping her hands in excitement.

Somehow Gwen’s energy poured into Eralise and out through her mouth, allowing a portal to emerge. My heart thrashed against my chest. Within seconds, Zordon’s smoking hooded form was in front of me, a horrific nightmare coming true.

“You have done well, my wife.” He leaned down to kiss Gwenevere’s forehead. His hand gripped the small of her neck forcefully as he inhaled her golden hair. “It almost makes up for your treachery,” he admonished, shoving her away from him in disgust. She stumbled back but quickly regained her footing, her eyes pleading for his acceptance.

He turned to face me. “Aurora, at last we’ve reached this moment. Too bad it’s under such foreboding circumstances.”

I ran for him, wishing now more than ever that I could speak, but with a swish of Eralise’s tail, I was sent flying backwards into a mass of jagged rocks. Stars exploded behind my eyes as gory warmth spilled down my face. Gwen and Zordon chimed in demonic laughter, but my mother didn’t even look back to see if I was okay. Zordon’s robe swished playfully as he tried to compose himself.

“What’s wrong?” he teased as I swallowed the numbing pain, “can’t take a licking from your mother?”

I felt the heat rise within me. He would pay for this. I peeled myself from the cavern floor, wincing at the sharp pain that sent fire up my spine. Something in my leg was broken, and from the warmth of blood, it seemed to have broken through skin. My legs trembled in agony as I limped forward. I refused to look down.

“Take us through the enchantment, Eralise,” Gwen commanded, ignoring my movement. My heart sunk. Weighted steps shook the cavern floor as my mother neared the enchanted waterfall. She stepped through and the enchantment ended abruptly. Slowly she turned and stared at Gwen. Zordon’s eyes grew greedy.

“It is time,” he deemed, turning back to smile at Gwen, her needy eyes filled with so much love. My heart revolted in hatred.

Two more forms came through the portal Zordon had come in through. I choked back a scream as Gabe’s decrepit body hit the floor with an awkward thud. I collapsed and pulled him into me, ignoring the searing pain that pulsed wildly in my left leg that was slowly but surely healing. His eyes faltered open and then filled with terror when he recognized me.

I scowled up at Gwen.

“Searamin,” Zordon began, addressing the second figure who had arrived, “now you will hold up your end of the bargain.” Searamin nodded as they walked through the enchantment. Gwen turned and used her magic to drag both Gabe and me after her. The Imperials that normally guarded the Lair were gone, probably fighting above us.

“The walkway, Eralise,” Gwen commanded as she followed behind. My mother turned and blindly stepped off the ledge, a stone appearing beneath her foot. She waited as Zordon and Searamin stepped behind her. With every step she took, they were right on her tail, careful not to slip and fall into the pit.

Gwen yanked me up from the ground, and I bit the inside of my cheek at the instant pain in my leg. “Go,” she snarled, pointing to the stones that had disappeared once again. She needed me to get her across. I glanced down at Gabe.

I stood on one leg, defiantly glaring up at her. I wasn’t going to leave him here. “Oh fine,” she said with an annoyed swish of her hand. She over-exaggerated her exhale as she bent over and pulled Gabe to his feet. His pasty face flooded with pity and despair as he looked over at her. I could almost feel his world crashing down around him. “Don’t,” she begged as their eyes met. He turned from her and stood beside me.

I hobbled over to the ledge and stepped off, reassured by the hard surface of stone. Gwen and Gabe followed behind me until we reached the column’s ledge. Zordon and Searamin were gazing down at the blue blaze of fire that surrounded the Stone, their mouths salivating in hunger. My mother stood to the side, staring vacantly past me.

“Now what?” Searamin asked, his widened eyes swallowing the Stone.

“Now we begin the creation spell,” Zordon answered quickly, his voice lighting up with crazed joy. His hand disappeared beneath his robe and brought out the vial that he had filled with blood and the shimmering leaf he took from the Pool of Virtue.

I had to find a way to stop this. As if she knew what I was thinking, Gwen kicked the back of my bad knee, and a silent scream formed behind my sealed lips. Spots lit up my vision, threatening a loss of consciousness. With a flick of her wrist, Gabe was hog tied and hunched over in defeat. My head burned as she tugged on a fist full of my hair, dragging me along the rutted ground, far away from Zordon. She threw my head forward, and my face smacked the dirt, causing a whirlwind of dust to surround my broken body. I dug my nails into the ground, trying to find enough strength to lift me up to a sitting position.

Searamin’s hands lit up and something began to form near the altar. It was a cauldron. Zordon tipped the vial into it, and then the leaf. It disappeared into a wisp of smoke. Then he pulled out the Stella, encased in a bubble of water, innocently fluttering about. Without regard, he let it go and it landed with a sickening splash, vanishing inside the depth of the cauldron.

The cauldron began to glow as the kindled heat grew from the inside out. The final ingredient–dragon’s blood. His eyes shot to mine, and mockery rimmed his smile.

Gwen’s fingers bit into the tender skin of my shoulder, ensuring that I didn’t try anything as my mother walked over to the cauldron. Zordon pulled out a dagger, and slid it into her side. My mind screamed out to her. Blood pooled underneath her as he pulled out a vial and  placed it on her side to collect some of her blood. When he had enough, he turned back to the cauldron.

“Wait!” Searamin shouted just before the first drop could spill over the edge of the vial. “My payment first!” he demanded, his sheer, smoky hand held out in expectance.

“Ah, yes,” Zordon agreed. He pulled out a torn and tattered page from the inside of his robe. The missing page from the book in the Biblium. “This is the ritual that will restore your soul once and for all.” He unfolded it with care and then read off the necessary step. “You must take the soul of an innocent. Easy enough.” He shoved Gabe towards Searamin. “Have your fill of the traitor’s soul, and then be sure to send him to the depths of hell.” Searamin’s magic picked Gabe’s tied form up into the air, his body floating towards the inevitability of death.

Failure permanently settled itself into my chest. I forced my eyes to follow his form, to watch as my last ounce of hope was squashed into oblivion. Agony filled Gwen’s green eyes. She quickly looked away, busying herself with shoving me back down into the ground.

Searamin’s mouth opened wide, and for the second time, I paid witness to his cruelly sharpened teeth. The air seemed to rush towards him as he inhaled the very life out of the room, as he inhaled Gabe’s soul.

As I watched Gabe’s life fade away, something triggered inside of me, causing my amulet to warm against my skin. My dragon form was begging to break free, but Gwen’s magic and defeat weighed me down.

Zordon paused, looked at me with anticipation, and then he let the drop of blood fall. The inside of the cauldron lit up with an explosion of sparks and colors. He chanted something I couldn’t understand, and then threw his head back in laughter as the cauldron broke into shards of death from whatever growth was forming inside it. Searamin remained clueless as he continued pulling the soul from Gabe.

Zordon turned from the growth and brought his hand before the fire that protected the Stone. The fire that couldn’t be touched by anyone but a Fate. He hesitated. Then he plunged it into the flames. Nothing harmful happened.

His laughter echoed all around us, reminding us all that he lived.

“Gwenevere,” Zordon called out, maddening success enhancing the features of his face. She stared in a daze as Gabe brutally slipped away.

“Gwenevere!” he called a little more firmly, his lip slightly twitching in anger. She forcefully jerked her head towards Zordon, her piercing eyes full of rage. The hand behind her back gripped her dagger perilously. “It is time. Come.”

She stalked towards me, unveiling the dagger, the sharpened blade gleaming a warning. I desperately reached out for Gabe’s hand, hoping to save him if it was the last thing I did.
I am half-mortal. I can kill Searamin
, I thought to myself.

I focused on Searamin and the last little bit of strength I had from the amulet, and I let fire pour from my hands. The finger-like flames hugged Searamin as tightly as my balled-up fist, squeezing the life from him. He fell with a jarring force as I twisted my hand, my flames sticking to him like tar. The more he struggled, the stronger I grew, until I was back on my feet.

His tortured screams tugged on my humanity. I looked away.

Gabe’s body fell lifelessly, hitting the ground with a hard thud. Searamin’s screams blended with Zordon’s amused laughter, the two sounds so disjointed it was hard to process. He hadn’t tried to stop me from killing Searamin. Why?

“You’ve done it, you stupid girl. You broke the spell by killing him. You, my arch enemy, were what I needed to complete this spell.” His maddened laughter filled the cavern while his body started to transform. He threw the paper at me. “Searamin was foolish enough to leave the details of the spell to me. I never mentioned that the only way to undo being a Dark Saar is by taking the life of the one who took your soul. This must happen before the light of the first full moon. His chance had come and gone, but he believed me like an idiot. Hope does that to you. And now he’s dead.”

He laughed harder, the sound rattling my insides. I looked up. The smoke that had once surrounded Zordon slowly faded away. His transparent body became solid. His soul was returned.

“Up until you decided to come after me, I wasn’t sure about how I would pull this off. My only plan was to get here by excessive force. But by following the trail I left for you, you made this so much easier for me. You are the best enemy one could ever hope for.” He looked over at Gwenevere and smirked cruelly. “You practically handed Gwenevere over to me. The minute I saw her, I knew exactly how I would obtain this Stone.”

He tapped his finger on his chin, continuing his rant while I tried to hide my shock. How could I have caused this?

“The only problem left for me to work out was the fact that a Dark Saar can only be killed by man. I wasn’t a man, but a Saar and it could only be by my hands.” He looked over at Searamin. “He can be quite scary when angered, so that is where my plan grew tricky. Until Gabe became a traitor, I didn’t have the slightest clue on how I would pull it off. For that I thank Gabe because you became my only way out of it. I knew Gabe would be a great bargaining tool. You would save him by killing Searamin for me. We are one in the same, aren’t we. Your hands are just as good as mine.”

I tried to shake Gabe awake, my throat burning with fear.

“I am a Mage once again, and I can cross over to the Hall of Knowledge and take what is mine! I can take back my right to be a god amongst men.”

He walked over to the Stone, eyeing it in delight. “My silly father thinks I will give this to him,” he said, looking at the Stone, “but he will soon see. It was never my intention to help him gain Gidius’ power, but to take it for myself and be rid of The Fates. I will be the only Fate.”

Astral had mentioned before that there was a traitor in the Hall — Zordon’s father. Now the realms will suffer because of greed...because The Fates couldn’t follow their own rules. The sad part was, I’ve done nothing to prevent it. This was all my fault.

I pressed my face to Gabe’s chest and heard a faint heartbeat. Relief exhaled from my lips. Zordon’s foot dug into Searamin’s charred side and, with little effort, he nudged him off the ledge and into the pit. “A pity that you so foolishly trusted me.”

The imprisoned, crazed men below closed in on their fresh prey. I turned just as they began to tear apart what was left of Searamin’s body. “I am no longer bound to the Dark Saar. I have evaded death and I will take what is my birth right,” he said, triumph dripping off his every word. “I will be the God of the New Dawn, and my creation shall aid me.”

I had forgotten about that. The mutated growth was beginning to take shape into the form of an infant dragon. Zordon stepped before it, his arms opening wide with welcome.
What was he doing?
“We will merge, and then none shall stop me, not even you, hybrid Progeny,” he spat at me. “With the power of the dragon and the blood of a Fate, I will be unstoppable.”

That was enough for me. The amulet seared against my chest and helped me break Gwen’s hold on my magic. I jumped up in my shifted form, the dragon charging me with fresh strength. Zordon was already chanting dark magic, letting his black energy slither around the dragon like a snake. The energy reared its head back and sank its fangs into the dragon, injecting it with poison. Zordon’s eyes rolled in the back of his head as he stepped into the darkening growth.