This big galoot was starting to grow on me.
“Boy, in due time. Trust me.” Zalie did his calm impression at this point.
“Yeah, whatever,” I muttered as I walked into the kitchen and went through a door that lead to the back porch. I couldn’t believe all this crap was happening to me. Just a few days ago I was freaking out about what I was going to say to Ziora. All that seemed so long ago and so trivial. Answers… I needed them but was not getting them. I had this man trying to kill me at every turn, and a short little man hiding crap from me. I heard the door creak open, and I turned to see my mother walking towards me.
“Bryce, give them some time. Your father trusted these men. I think it is only fair if you trust them,” my mom said gently.
“Mom, how can you be so calm about all this?” I looked over to the river bank. I definitely knew there were alligators in this damn river, and this porch suddenly felt too low. Didn’t know what was worse being their lunch, or being a BBQ for that guy Zelter.
“Your father knew you were special. He knew you were going to grow up to do great things…”
“Like what? Run his pack of crazy people? I don’t want it. I just want to be a teenager, mom.”
“We don’t even know if that is what he wanted from you. All I know is that he wouldn’t have died or gone through so much trouble to keep you out of harm’s way…” her voice caught. She paused before continuing. “That is why I haven’t gone crazy. He lived his life protecting yours.” My mom put her arms around me. I began to cry. I let it all out. It was too much right now for me to handle. I was overwhelmed. I really had no one that could relate. Maybe my mom, but did she really know what I was going through?
“Let them have their moment!” I heard Zalgon whisper to Zalie through the screen door.
“Fine…” I heard Zalie respond. I paid no mind to them. I just needed to rest.
“Let’s go inside and get some sleep.” My mom said as if she was reading my mind. We went back inside.
“Boy, you must rest. We do not know how long we should keep you here, but right now I think we all need to rest and recover. The last dragonportation took a lot out of me. If we need to run right now I don’t think we’d be able to escpae.”
“Don’t worry, you worry puss. I have enough power to do all that. I remember ways of Dragonlaire though, I’m not supposed to use them freely. How you think I got these fashionable boots?” He put his big foot out and showed us his cheap leather boots. “I dragon port to a crazy place where no one looks twice at me, a big ass store it was.”
“You’re out of the loop aren’t you?”
“Mostly I keep to myself ya know. Me and my buddies in the river.”
“Buddies?” I hoped that he did not have alligators as pets.
“Yeah, the alligators keep me company.” Zalgon smiled.
“You sure the voices in your head don’t keep you company?”
“Aw, shucks, kid, no voices in here except mine.” Zalgon smiled. “But we need to rest now.” The cave nap hadn’t helped and seemed so long ago. Zalgon settled, Zalie, my mom and me on some cots in a small room off the main area of his hut. When I awoke it was to a bright sun glaring in my face.
“Rise and shine, sleepy head.” I heard Zalgon say to me. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes trying to refocus them.
“How long was I out?”
“You slept through the whole day, sweetie,” My mom answered. She sat on her cot but it looked like she hadn’t slept much.
“I was going to wake you, boy. However, your mother stopped me,” Zalie muttered grumpily. “We must find out what your father was up to, and what Zelter wants with you.”
“But where do we start?” Zalgon asked as he handed me what I nearly hoped was a normal egg sandwich.
“I don’t know… I just don’t know,” Zalie replied wearily.
“Well, that is a good start to pointing us in the right direction,” I mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich. We needed to come up with a plan and quick. Our lives were in jeopardy. We sat in silence while trying to come up with a plan, but no one was really helping. I wasn’t really thinking Zalgon was going to come up with one, but I had better expectations Zalie would have.
The sun ebbed away to dusk. The sounds in the swampy marsh we were in had both multiplied and amplified. It was soothing, though, listening to nature. We’d made no progress brainstorming, but we had survived another day. But then I saw it: the red glow that over took the night sky. I had this ominous feeling.
“Come out here. We won’t hurt the kid.”
“Zelter,” Zalgon stated. “Oh boy, I haven’t been in a fight in years. Let’s get this show on the road.” I was starting to freak out, and I saw my mom do the same. I could see in her eyes that she knew that running wasn’t going to help matters any this time.
“You two stay here,” Zalie commanded.
“Ya heard the man. You guys do not come out there. There is a back door as you know. Wait a few minutes then go down the steps. There’s a boat docked at the bottom. Go east.”
I couldn’t keep myself from saying, “I think I’m better off with that guy out there than the alligators.” This was not a good situation. Either alligator food or being a BBQ. I guess my only option really was to cruise with the gators. I saw the two men go outside. I heard mumbling, but I couldn’t hear complete sentences. As I tried to clear my head a random thought came to me: how did this guy know where I was? By the way Zalie spoke about my dad, he was very careful that I wasn’t going to be found at these hideouts. Then I heard Zalgon say, “Yow, that’s gonna leave a mark!”
“Bryce, let’s go see if we can help.” My mom said.
“Mom, I think it is to dangerous out there.”
“Bryce, are you willing to let those two die for you?” my mom said harshly.
“Well…”
“If your father was still alive…” She continued. I couldn’t believe that she was brining my dad into this conversation, especially during a time like this. “It is only a matter of time before he comes in here. Might as well try to help the situation… like I did.”
“What?” I looked up at her, she was standing, and I was still sitting on the ground.
“Oh, dear, how do you think he found you?” her face twisted into a sinister grin. “I have been feeding him our location.”
“Mom…please say this is some sort of weird reaction to the grief.”
“Oh, I’ve waited for this day to come. Get up! Move your ass outside that Zelter can take you away.” She grabbed me and yanked me up. She was a lot stronger than I thought. She started to pull me out the door. Once outside there wasn’t fresh air like the night before, but instead there was fire dancing all around us. Zelter must have lit everything on fire. Then I started scanning for everyone. I could see Zalgon sprawled on the river bank. I hope he wasn’t dead. Zalie was battling away with Zelter.
“Ah, there she is! My favorite girl…” Zelter practically cooed. Zalie stopped for a second which was just enough time for Zelter to hit Zalie with a fire ball. Zalie enforced a mini force field to attempt to block it, which, I think, saved his life. However it still did enough damage to send him flying towards Zalgon. Zalie quickly got up. I guess the fire ball wasn’t as strong as I thought it was.
“You! You are the one that has been leading him to the boy.”
“Oh, Zalie, don’t act so surprised,” My mom exclaimed all the while dragging me towards Zelter. The fire continued to dance all around us. There really wasn’t any other place to go but inside the house. “Zelter approached me a while ago and has enlightened me on all the things your father had kept from me. Your father was content to keep his power all for himself. I thought when we married I’d be queen in a realm beyond imagination. But no! He stuck us in a suburb! Your race has all the great things in life. Your life expectancy is at least three times more than any human being. Your p
owers will bring respect. I want that, and Zelter is the only one willing to help me become one of you.”
“You fool!” Zalie uttered, clearly shocked. Zelter cackled and flung a fire ball towards Zalie. He fell to the ground trying to avoid it. Zalgon was still prone on the river bank.
“You can’t wield our power. It is too great. He is lying to you. No human being has ever been able to contain these powers,” Zalie warned.
“Well, I’ll be the first,” my mom boasted. I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. Tears started to form in my eyes. How could my own mother do this to me? I really had no parents.
“Why, mom?” I heard myself ask as I sunk to my knees.
“Oh, Bryce, honey,” She soothed softly, “ I wanted to be one of you. If you give Zelter what he wants then we can live in harmony.” She gently touched my face. My life, my world, was stuck in a whirlwind. I had no idea what was going on. This only happened in the movies. This had to be a bad dream. This couldn’t be real. Any moment my alarm clock would sound.
“Bryce! Let’s go.” My mom was attempting to rouse me from my stupor.
“He ain’t going nowhere, darling,” Zalgon’s deep voice declared. He whistled and fear washed over me as I watched three alligators come into view. They were snapping their jaws and hissing at my mom and Zelter. “I told ya they are great company, and they can whoop ass too!”
“Aww, how cute. You brought your pets to play,” Zelter snickered.