Born In Flames
“I think she was,” I admitted. “She was holding her stomach when I saw her.”
“Well, like I said…my mother says she’s dead. It’s one of those things we’ll never know because if Liege Zordon ever found out…he’d kill her himself.”
That’s reassuring, I thought as I shook my head. What kind of world was I heading back to?
“Open the Oraculus, Aurora,” she instructed.
I did as she said. “This is the language of The Fates. There is no interpreter besides the person who the book belongs to and The Fates themselves. It is your entire life mapped out. Well, not yours because obviously it’s not completed, but everyone else’s is.”
“The book of life pages turn yet unwritten. The canvas to your mortal soul, the connection to your immortal enemy,” I repeated out loud. “That’s what the prophecy means. That’s why I’m connected to Zordon,” I said, excited that I was figuring it out.
“So then you can understand it and connect to Zordon?”
“No. I’ve read it, but I don’t understand a word it says. But I think it does have a way of bringing me to Zordon.” I was flipping through all the pages that did have writing, trying my best to translate it.
“About that,” she coughed, “the owner kind of has to be dead in order to understand it. It’s a condition of The Fates in case something like this happens. This meaning when the owner is alive and has the book. You’re not meant to know your fate.”
“Well, that may very well happen.” I broke off thinking about Zordon. “So was Mr. Creepy after me then?”
“Who, Soothe? No, he was the Seer who gave your prophecy,” she answered. “I just wanted to talk to him. He didn’t have to port like that.”
“Wait, his name is Soothe?” I asked, “The same Soothe who set up my bank account?” At least I didn’t have to continue searching for the mysterious Soothe any longer.
“Yes and yes. And he kind of is the reason you are in danger,” she edged.
“Like how much danger are we talking here?” I hedged.
“Like a lot of danger. But don’t worry, Gabe is our insider, and he told my mother before I left that Zordon was onto the fact that you were over here. Gabe is doing everything he can to divert action from being taken.”
“What about Soothe? Why is he here?”
“That’s part of why you’re in danger. You see, he altered the prophecy by keeping a piece to himself. And no one knows what that missing part says. So that left Zordon questioning. In the meantime, Astral sent Soothe over here to hide that pendant, which he apparently failed to do, and to watch over you. Gabe said that Zordon has a Seer working for him called Sayer trying to uncover the missing piece and that he may be able to locate Soothe. This brings us back to the problem. You’re in danger.”
“And what if they find me?” I turned to her, dread growing like a prickly vine.
“That’s why I’m here, Aurora—to protect you should that happen.”
“And what of my parents? Do you know them? Are they safe?”
“Yes, they are safe. Just give it some time for everything to sink in. You can’t expect to understand it all in one night. Remember that I’m here to help. We will get through this, together. I think what you need right now is sleep. It will be easier to talk about this tomorrow with fresh minds.” I agreed. I was beat. I lay in my spot and pulled the covers up to my chin. It didn’t take long for sleepiness to kick in and for my eyes to grow heavy and close.
“Goodnight, Aurora,” was the last thing that I heard.
“Aurora.” I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder in jerky motions. “Aurora, wake up. We need to talk,” said Lexi with worried eyes.
Oh great, what now? I thought to myself. “Okay, just give me a second.” I sat up in bed, knees pulled up to my chin.
“It’s about Soothe.” She sat down next to me on the bed.
“What about him?” I asked, instantly interested.
“He said he’s willing to talk to you about the prophecy.” Her words rushed out in excitement.
“Back up a sec…you talked to him?” I was jealous.
“That’s exactly what I did. After you fell asleep, I went back downstairs and into his room. I had to know what he’s been up to. It’s my duty to protect you and I had to make sure he hadn’t snapped or gone Rogue.” She was so sure of herself.
“Why’d he leave so quickly?” I asked, getting up to get something to drink.
“I used the Repetio spell to trace his port trail. Your Realm doesn’t take to our magic very well. He left because he didn’t want me to confront him about his screw up. His port trail lingered long enough for me to follow it. I found him hiding out in the woods near the cave.”
I sat down at the table and poured cereal into a bowl. After adding milk, I stirred my chocolaty mass of goodness and watched the milk change color. Drinking it was the best part. The whole time, Lexi sat there watching me in wonder. I tipped my brow towards her, asking if she wanted some, but she shook her head no absentmindedly.
“So Soothe wants to meet and finally help me out. Convenient. You know, this whole time I’ve been trying to get him to help me and he’s been dodging me like the plague,” I said in between mouthfuls. “I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”
She gave me a look of confusion at the crunching noise my cereal made. “Are you sure?” I asked tauntingly, swirling my bowl under her nose. She ignored me.
“So he said to meet him around noon,” she explained.
I sipped the best part of my balanced morning breakfast and quickly rinsed out the bowl, tossing it into the dish drainer.
“Where are we meeting him?” I asked, suddenly remembering all the pictures. I really didn’t want to talk to him in an atmosphere filled with stolen moments of my life.
“Near the cave where I found him last night. He says he feels the most relaxed there ever since the voices stopped.”
“The voices?” I asked.
“Yeah, the voices of The Fates. When Soothe broke the law of prophecies, his power was stripped and the voices stopped.”
“Okay then,” I replied, deciding to let that one go.
A little before noon, I locked the door and we ran down the stairs in a flurry, heading to the “borrowed” car in record time.
“Why don’t we just port there?” I asked, not sure why we had to drive.
“Because, Rory, I told you, using magic in this realm is different. Things could go wrong, like you getting lost in the chasm or something, and I don’t want to take that risk. Besides, we don’t really have a good inconspicuous spot to do magic at the moment. You want your motel door left open?”
“No, sorry, I was just curious,” I replied, getting into the driver’s side of the car. She got in and buckled up, following my lead of safety first while I turned the car on. I was just about to put the car into reverse when she braced my arm.
“Rory, wait,” she said as she pulled my arm from off the gear shifter. “Someone’s here.” She was looking around the car for whomever she thought was present.
“Yeah, there are a lot of people around.” I tried to pretend like I didn’t notice the alarm written all over her face and in her voice, but it was undeniable.
Her nose tipped up as she sniffed the air before saying, “We need to go, NOW!” She quickly unbuckled herself and me and bolted out of the car, yanking me from the driver’s seat. She was a moment too late as a fiery ball of energy whizzed past us, barely missing our heads.
“Go back to your room!” she yelled. Out of nowhere, another energy ball flew at us, smashing into the brick building. Debris instantly showered us, the bits of rock shattering windows. We had both dropped to the ground, blood trickling from our hands and faces. I was shaking from limb to limb, the gravel biting into the palms of my hand as my breath came in rapid torrents. Zordon had found me.
Lexi grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the stairs, not stopping for a moment. Her hands lit up and she chanted, “Protecti
o.”
A bubble surrounded us as another energy bolt flew towards us. It hit the outside of the it and I tensed in horror, waiting for the bubble to break, but the spell was absorbed instead.
“Pulsecto!” Lexi shouted as she threw her energy in the general direction of the attacker.
“Ahh!” I heard a man’s voice cry out.
I scanned the area, trying to find the culprit, but she pulled me inside my room, slamming the door behind us.
“Talk to me, Lexi, what’s going on?” I said between breaths.
She paced back and forth. “He must have followed through my port trail. Damn it! I told my mother to get someone better to do it.” She stopped and looked at me. “Okay, listen carefully. The guy who is here, he is from the other side. He wants to kill you, Rory. He works for Zordon.”
Zordon? I thought. No way, this is not happening.
“Listen to me,” she said as she snapped me from my thoughts. “We don’t have much time. He is here and this is happening. I’m going to have to port us after all, and you aren’t going to feel very well when it happens. You have to hang on to me no matter what, okay?”
I nodded in acknowledgement, but I really felt like everything was happening around me and not to me. “Okay, come over here.” I stepped over to her in a daze as she grabbed my arm and wrapped it around her waist. I winced from the sting of the fresh wounds.
“What do I do?” I asked, not sure where my part came in. She looked at me with sympathetic eyes and said, “For now, just trust me,” and I watched as her eyes went from a honey-kissed brown to a deep mahogany. A light green glow emerged from the palms of her hands, the energy pouring out of her and into thin air.
In front of us a void began to open as the energy swirled and began to form a picture of the other end. I could feel the pull of gravity. Her green energy was shooting from her hands towards the void, powering it as a crazed look overcame her face.
Outside I heard heavy footsteps and a man shouting, “Come out, come out, little dragon.” A second later the doorknob rattled.
“Lexi,” I said, fear swelling up.
“I’m going to count to three,” she whispered. ”When I say three, we’re going to jump into the port. Hold your breath. It will only take a few seconds to get through, but when we get to the other side I want you to count backwards from ten. It will help with the nausea.”
I shook my head in agreement and waited. “One…two…three.”
I didn’t pay any mind to what was around me as I was being sucked through space. I did however feel every molecule of my body being moved and rearranged. Our feet landed with a thud on earthy forest ground. I guess we made it to our destination after all, I thought sarcastically.
“This was where we were heading, right?” I asked, hoping that Soothe was nearby. Then I toppled slightly as the first wave of nausea hit. “Ooh man, ten, nine, eight…” I began to count like she had said while she sat me down on the ground.
“I figured this would be the best place to deal with who’s about to follow us. Soothe should be somewhere around here,” she said as her eyes scanned the forest. “This guy will be following my port trail. We don’t have much time and you need to hide.”
“Wait a minute. Exactly who is it that we are running from?” I asked through blurred vision, my head spinning.
“His name is Zane, he is Zordon’s son.” The look on her face wasn’t a very hopeful one. I knew exactly who she was talking about—the same guy that Zordon had choked in my dream. It was a shame that he had to send his own son to do his dirty work.
Dread suddenly filled my pores. I’d left my Oraculus in my nightstand. What if he found it? I could almost feel the life draining out of me as sweat beaded my forehead. Lexi told me that she had cloaked it in a protection spell, but it didn’t feel like enough. I held onto my necklace for support. It warmed my palm, easing the panic just enough to let me breathe.
“And what are we going to do when he shows up?” I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t ready to fight someone or deal with magic from another realm when I didn’t even have answers to the million questions that constantly pounded through my head.
“We won’t be doing anything,” she said firmly, stressing the plural. “You have no control over your powers which puts you in more danger rather than helping us out. I need you to hide behind that tree while I figure this out.”
She was pacing again, rubbing her temples, panic radiating off her. “You don’t need to worry though. I have formal training, with the Dragon King, I might add,” she reassured shakily.
Somehow I wasn’t relieved. I didn’t know what Zane was truly capable of. What Mages were truly capable of. My visions were the closest thing I had to knowing what was happening and they only showed me snippets of what might happen.
Like lightning, a crackling sound resounded off the trees as Zane popped out of the air and landed on the ground in a fighting stance. He was instantly recognizable. He looked almost exactly like his father.
I shuddered.
“Zane,” spat Lexi as she crouched ready to fight. I looked down at my hands, hoping that this whole heart-racing, mind-pacing thing would be enough to ignite my powers, but I felt nothing.
“Alexis,” he toyed, “I see you’ve grown into quite a beauty.” He walked casually towards us. “It’s amazing that a girl from the market, working for those serpents,” he said disgustedly, “can look as good as you. Though, you’d look better as a wife.”
His smile made me cringe.
“At least some of us know how to make an honest living,” she threw back at him. Then she clasped her hands together, and a green ball of crackling energy began to emerge between them.
A smile ran across Zane’s face as he stalked towards us. There was nothing I could do. The nausea I now felt had nothing to do with porting.
A snarl came from the pit of her as Lexi threw the green tinted energy again. Instantly, an invisible shield sprung up around Zane, causing the spell to deflect and hurl towards me. I wasn’t quick enough. The energy caught the ball of my heel, a scream ripped from my throat. I was on fire. I had never been burned in my life, yet whatever had just hit me, had ignited my skin, the pain so white-hot I felt on the verge of fainting. My chest heaved rapidly as I tried to see through the pain. But I couldn’t think of anything but the never-ending burn. It wouldn’t stop.
Lexi looked pissed when she looked back at me. She said something I couldn’t comprehend as her energy connected with my heel, the pain instantly relieved. I scurried backwards like a crab, not really knowing what to do. “I’m okay,” I said quickly, pointing to the approaching Zane.
“I see this will have to be done the old-fashioned way.” She sprinted towards him faster than I’d ever seen anyone run before. He began to run as well, and they came together with a colorful thud.
After that, it was hard to make out everything that was happening. I heard shouts of pain and fighting as various trees fell from the dodged energy. My hair stood on end as tree limbs cracked and sizzled.
She shouted, “Occidium!” which caused Zane to lose balance and then followed up with a move that made him slam into a tree. When his back hit, he slid down, the breath knocked out of him.
He didn’t look too pleased as he stood up and quickly shouted, “Afflictum,” hurling a red ball of energy back at her.
She tried to dodge with her own invisible shield, but her magic wasn’t strong enough, and after only a second of the magic pushing against her barrier, it broke through and caught her leg. Her gut-wrenching scream echoed my earlier agony.
I jumped up from the ground at the sound of her scream, panic rising. It seemed Zane had forgotten about me up until that point. I cursed myself for interfering.
“The fight is not with her, you coward. Finish what you started!” Lexi barely stammered out from behind him, stopping him in his tracks as he headed towards me. She was lying on the forest ground in a heap, blood pooling around her leg against the
rotted leaves. Fear of what was happening clouded my judgment.
“All right then,” he said in a menacing tone that I didn’t trust one bit. As fast as I could blink he was at her throat, holding her up against a tree. “Slither back to your cold-blooded reptiles, you traitor,” he seethed. Her eyes went wide with shock.
She was scrambling helplessly, trying to get out of his grip like an animal in a trap. “Such a shame though. You truly are a beauty. Too bad things couldn’t be different.”
Then I felt it. I felt the power building up inside of me like a volcano ready to erupt. It was scary at first, but then that crazed delicious feeling returned. Something stirred deep within me. The dragon wanted to break free.
I glanced down and sure enough the blue energy was pulsing around my hands, red scales prickling up my arms. An evil smile crossed my lips.
I didn’t know any spells, but I certainly had my instincts. I noticed a small log lying at my feet. I knew this would be my only real chance to rectify this situation. I focused on the log and saw the energy pouring from me and around the log. I focused on levitating it and watched as it floated higher and higher, my hands rising as it rose, and still I didn’t feel weak. It was like picking up a feather.
“Not this time, shithead,” I declared, catching Zane’s attention. For a millisecond his eyes went wide before I sent the log flying towards his head. I thought I would have cringed on impact, but it felt good to watch him slink unconsciously to the ground. Whatever was inside of me liked it as well. I felt the stir of energy coursing through and wrapping me in a warm hug of approval.
Lexi slowly sunk down against the tree, trying to catch her breath as she grabbed at her throat. There were red welts where Zane’s hands had squeezed.
I knelt down with her, whispering that she was okay, trying to help her focus. Although the energy surge had subsided, I couldn’t help but be satisfied that I had finally done something to help. I had finally taken control of my power.
“Thanks,” she muttered with a halfhearted smile. “Pretty amazing stuff you pulled back there.” She coughed, her voice hoarse. “You really shouldn’t even be able to,” she coughed again, “be able to do that. But cool nonetheless. You saved me.” Her eyes met mine and I could see the thankfulness.