Alive (The Veiled World Book 1) (19 page)

“Sam!” I screamed, and suddenly a flame erupted above me and then it was below me and I screamed again. I must be going to hell. Going to hell to burn for eternity because I let my brother burn to death. This was my punishment. This was the hell and damnation the priest at our local church was always going on about.

But then I landed on something hard. And moving. It wasn’t the earth, it was something alive! I grabbed at anything I could with my hands and felt cold scales beneath my fingers. A ball of flames erupted in front of me so that I could see and it suddenly dawned on me what happened.

I quickly wrapped my arms around the neck of my dragon, squeezing my legs so that I didn’t fall as it soared up and out of the seemingly endless black hole I’d fallen into.

She breathed more fire and I shut my eyes and pressed my face against her smooth green scales, the flame-heated wind whipping my hair away from my face.

It was the most exhilarating feeling, unlike anything I’d experienced before.

Clinging to the dragon’s back, I whooped and screamed as we burst out of the dark hole and into the brightness of daylight.

Chapter 21

After we soared out of the dark pit and into the bright blue sky, the dragon made a circle and then hovered for a moment, its strong wings beating the air.

From up here I could see the others below, standing a couple metres away from edge of the black pit. I wanted to wave at them but didn’t want to let go of the dragon. My head felt dizzy and I felt further disoriented when I saw that the maze had vanished and had been replaced with a fairly rocky landscape, with areas of thick forest and some hills and a long, winding, dark river. The water in the river didn’t seem right. It almost appeared to be red. A river of blood. But right now I didn’t care about that. Right now I was grateful to be alive and so grateful to the dragon for saving my life.

“Thank you, thank you, beautiful dragon,” I said, pressing my cheek to its scales.

The dragon made a low sound in the base of its throat and hovered a few seconds longer before circling downwards, taking me slowly down towards the others, who were all watching us, their mouths open and eyes wide. Claire, Reece, and Reuben ran to crouch beneath a nearby tree as we neared.

I thought the dragon was going to set me down on the open patch of dirt I could see, well away from the black pit, but she surprised me by taking a sudden turn, flying directly towards Axel, who was standing a couple of metres away from the others, and tilting her body so that I slid off and fell into Axel’s arms. Luckily he’d seen me coming as he caught me just in time.

“Amber,” he said, his eyes wide with surprise. He held me against him for a few more seconds before setting me on my feet.

“Thanks,” I said, my head spinning.

My knees buckled when I tried to stand and I fell against him, my cheek pressing on his chest. His heart was racing just as fast as mine. I clutched at his shoulders and held onto him until I felt steady enough to stand.

My body felt like it was still flying. I felt euphoric. On top of the world. I’d just ridden a
dragon.

I took a step and fell forward on my knees.

Wait. Why wasn’t anybody laughing? Surely Reece or Reuben would find me falling amusing. But then I realised they were missing. They weren’t beneath the tree they’d crouched under.

My dragon roared from up high and I watched her spew flames into the sky before she soared away into the distant horizon.

Everyone gathered around me. Bruce helped me to my feet.

“That was amazing, Amber!” said Claire, rushing up to hug me.

I let her. I was glad she was okay and not lost to the
Change
.

Jacob came to stand beside me but said nothing. His presence and the concern in his dark eyes were all I needed to know that he cared.

“What happened?” I asked nobody in particular. “What happened to you all? Where did you all go during the
Change
?”

The black pit rumbled, as though thunder was down there. We all shuffled back.

“What’s that black fog stuff coming out of it?” Kyle asked, his pale blue eyes widening as a black mist drifted out from the pit, spreading towards our feet like claws.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what just happened.” I dared to look at Axel, who was sharpening his knife against a rock. “I was in a maze and Axel was talking to me and…my brother was there and he was calling me, directing me towards that hole. He wanted me down there.”

The others stared at me for what seemed forever then shared awkward glances between themselves. I turned my gaze to the ground. Feeling exposed. Now they all knew that my brother, or version of my brother, had tried to kill me. As though he was avenging his own death.

“You weren’t in a maze,” said Bruce, his normally ruddy-cheeked face pale.

“You were just walking around, over there, shouting and screaming,” said Noah, his eyes wide and bright, as though he’d just witness the most exciting thing. “Then you stepped into that black hole and fell and we all thought you were going to die, but then your dragon came and…” He paused for breath. “If I die right now I’ll die a happy man for seeing that dragon in action.” He smiled, oblivious to how weird I was feeling.

Everything around me spun and I fell to the ground, making a loud thud as I did.

Axel and Bruce bent over me and I could see Claire from the corner of my eye.

“You okay?” she said.

I nodded. “I think I’m just dizzy from the flying.”

Axel crouched down and slid an arm around my waist. “Let’s get you to your feet.”

My breath caught and our eyes met briefly. This was my moment to thank him, for trying to keep me safe, for warning me against following my brother.

“We have to keep moving,” said Bruce, coming behind me and lifting me up under my arms. Axel’s arm slid away. “Those two dopes have already disappeared.” He was referring to Reuben and Reece, the only ones missing. He paused to stare at the sky, which seemed to have switched from daylight to evening in one minute. He met Axel’s eyes and shook his head. “See how dangerous it gets when we separate? She nearly got killed. Who knows if the other two idiots are still alive or not.”

“They’re not idiots,” said Claire, but there was a slight hesitation in her voice.

Noah sighed. “Let’s face it, Claire, they are. But we have to find them.”

Claire and Noah shared a smile. Kyle laughed and even Jacob’s cheek moved a little. I didn’t know he had dimples.

Axel was standing several metres away. After Bruce had gotten me to my feet, Axel had quickly moved away from me, like I had a disease.

“Did I do or say something wrong?” I asked Bruce, but Bruce was holding on to his wedding ring and rubbing it, deep in thought.

Noah came to my side.

“I’m not much to lean on but if you need it, you can fall on me. I’ll make for nice padding.” He patted his stomach and I smiled.

“What happened while I was in the maze? Or whatever it was?”

Noah gnawed on his bottom lip. “Okay. You want the real deal or the sugar coated one?”

“Real.”

“Okay. You were running around all over the place. Remember, you were only in a maze inside your head. And then you were calling everyone’s name. Then you started calling for Axel. A lot.”

“I thought I saw him, or, at least, I thought I saw his boot.”

Noah gave me a knowing look that said, “Whatever.”

“Then you started calling for Sam and you were saying sorry and a lot of other stuff about…about last year.” Noah’s eyes shifted away from mine. He was embarrassed for me.

“Go on.”

“We all tried to shout at you to stop. You were getting closer and closer to that hole, but you couldn’t hear us or see us, until Axel spoke and you heard him and your face, it went all…like you were so happy to hear him and you were listening to him and then all of a sudden it was like you couldn’t hear him, and you started to walk blindly into that hole and Axel went crazy, he called your name and tried to scream at you, we all did, but he went that extra mile.” Noah whistled and shook his head. “He nearly fell off the edge when you did, but we held him back.”

Noah’s eyes glazed over. “We thought you were dead. But then the dragon came. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen…and then she dropped you into Axel’s arms.” He looked over and nudged my arm with his elbow. “I think she wants you and Axel to become an item.”

I had nothing to say to that, though my pulse started racing at the thought of Axel and me. Together. I’d never had a boyfriend, but I’d had crushes before. I recognised the fluttery feeling at the pit of my belly and the way my heart stuttered whenever I was near him. But I hardly knew the guy.

It started to get dark, and as we walked the trees started to become thicker and soon we were surrounded by a whole forest.

“Did another
Change
just
occur?” Bruce asked Axel.

Axel shook his head. “I’m not sure. Normally everything turns black. Sometimes a
Change
takes hours. I think we just walked into this. But who knows. I’m not certain about anything anymore. I suppose there’s nothing to say that an afterlife can’t just change into another without warning.” He cocked his head to the side and shushed us all. “Listen.”

Rushing water and, ever so faintly, conversation.

“A river.”

“Yep. And I bet your friends are there,” Axel said, not meeting my eyes.

“They’re not my friends,” I mumbled.

“Reece! Reuben!” Claire called as she stumbled forward towards the sound of rushing water.

Bruce chased after her, scolding her for going forward without checking if it was safe first.

Axel and Kyle rushed ahead and Noah and I walked slowly behind everyone.

“The water looks red,” said Jacob, coming to the edge when we reached the riverbed.

It was rushing over pale rocks so even in the dim light of the evening you could see the colour, like wine, as the water splashed over the rocks and continued to flow.

“Yeah, it is red,” I said. “That’s weird.”

“Maybe it’s wine…or blood,” said Noah.

“I’ll take the wine, thanks,” I said, grimacing at the idea of blood.

We followed the riverbed along with the others until we found Reece and Reuben. Claire had already found them and had wound her arms around Reece’s waist. Reece looked like he was tolerating it, but seemed annoyed. Whether he was annoyed at Claire or annoyed at us for finding them, I couldn’t be sure.

“Can we drink this shit or not?” Reece asked Axel. “It’s red, like wine. But doesn’t smell like anything.”

Axel’s face changed slightly and his expression softened. “My mother used to tell me about a story about a River of Truth, the water being wine and making people tell the truth.” He shrugged.

“I don’t give a shit about bedtime stories, I just wanna know if I can drink it and if we can get pissed on it.”

Bruce leaned down and cupped the red liquid into his hands while Kyle started a fire with Reuben.

He tasted it. “Tastes like fresh water. I don’t know where the colour comes from. Perhaps it’s just a version of heaven. Perhaps this person wanted a river of wine in their heaven.”

“But it tastes like water…weird,” said Noah, who’d scooped up a mouthful.

“I wouldn’t drink it,” said Axel, taking a swig from his water bottle. “You can all have a sip from this if you’ve lost yours. I filled mine with snow.”

“Good for you,” said Reece. “But were not all Indiana Joneses like you.”

Axel raised a brow but said nothing and shrugged before screwing the lid back on his canteen. I noticed that he didn’t offer me a drink directly. Hopefully I hadn’t weirded him out forever by falling against him like I had earlier.

“It tastes fine,” said Bruce after slurping down more of the red river water.

Reece and Claire were already bent over the edges, bringing cupped handfuls to their lips, and soon Kyle and Reuben joined them. Noah, having had only one mouthful, stood watching me and Jacob with raised brows.

Jacob shook his head and moved off to the side to sit against a tree and stare at the fire Reece and Reuben had managed to get going only minutes ago. Noah stood there looking at me for a moment before he shrugged and said, “One more mouthful won’t hurt.”

He bent to scoop the red liquid up in his hands and a flash of silver burst out of the water. As the fish flopped against his face, Noah slid off the rocks, found his feet on the river floor, and somehow caught the fish with his bare hands.

He stared at it and turned to face us, the whites of his eyes glowing against the firelight.

“Dinner! I just caught us dinner!” he shouted with glee. The others cheered and laughed.

I clapped my hands together. “Good one, Noah.”

I took off my boots before getting in beside him. He’d already passed his fish over to Axel, who was now gutting it with his grandfather’s knife and tossing the innards near our feet so that several fish began hopping in and out of the water in a mad feeding frenzy.

I shrieked as a fish landed right in my hands. I tossed it aside where Jacob caught it and smiled at me in shock. We both laughed at the same time and I was surprised to find my stomach fluttering at the sound of his laugh. This was crazy. I couldn’t have feelings for two guys at once, could I? Or had flying on the back of the dragon done something to my head? No. No way. Jacob was just an extremely good-looking, very hot, muscled friend. Any girl would have to be crazy not to react to the sound of his laugh. Especially seeing as it was rare to see him laugh, if not smile, at all.

In the space of half an hour, Noah, Jacob, and I ended up catching a fish for everyone in the group. Axel cleaned them, speared them with sticks, and with Kyle and Reece’s help, cooked them on the fire.

Claire and Reuben found large glossy leaves to use as plates. We were all working together and it felt good to be a part of a team for once. Only Bruce was missing.