Dragon Magic: Book 3: Prophecy of the Dragons (16 page)

A gray fog swirled around Ben, one so thick he couldn't even see his feet. This was death; he knew that as well as he'd ever known anything. Strange how alive he felt, like nothing was wrong. Like he could jump up and take on anyone or anything in his path.

First he needed Andi. He sensed her, same as always, except now, for the first time since he rescued her from the Stronghold, she felt pure. From her emotions, she sensed him, too. She wasn't far, and as he moved towards her, she did the same. Seconds later, they were in each others' arms. Their lips met, and she felt as solid now as she did in life. He had figured it wouldn't, but was glad he now knew for certain death would do nothing to diminish their love.

The kiss lasted an instant, days, years, and forever. Time had no meaning here, so it could have been any or all of those. It meant no less, no more, here than back home. They broke apart far too soon for his taste, but they knew they didn't belong here. This particular realm, this plane of existence, only served to hold them for the time being. Their spirits either needed to return to their mortal coil or move on to the next reality.

"Sorry about how I acted," Andi said. "Deep down I knew I was wrong, but I didn't know how to relay that to my conscious self. Every time I thought I could get it under control, it spiraled further and further away from me. I know Timothy and Sasha were behind it, but I don't know how."

"Don't worry about it. Whatever they did to you was a powerful whammy. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. It wasn't even until earlier today, when we were…well, when we almost…you know. The magic slipped and showed it was Sasha."

She nodded. "Even I felt that, but it was wound so tight inside of me that I brushed it off. I feel stupid now."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Don't. We're supposed to be the most powerful beings around, and we couldn't figure it out together. What chance did either of us have alone?"

"When I was in the Stronghold, they were nice to me, that much was true, but it was all an act. I see that now. When they first cast the spell on me, our powers swirled around and detected something, but they were pleased rather than angry, which was a huge warning sign. Of course, I couldn't act on it because they forced me to forget. There are some blanks I still can't see, but it all adds up to those two being the corrupt force on the Dragon Council."

"We can worry about them when we're alive again."

"Why did you have Felix kill you? Was that something you two worked out beforehand?"

"No, but I knew he'd figure it out. He taught me that death is the great cleanser. Whatever spell they have on you will be obliterated when you die. Now, when we wake up, you won't be under their control."

"I gave Timothy the recording disc."

"Yeah, that was unfortunate. I was playing a chess match in my head to get it back, but I didn't act fast enough before you checkmated me."

"Sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." He took her in his arms, and their lips touched again for an immeasurable amount of time. When they finished, he said, "Part of me wants to forget about going back. We can go discover whatever comes next."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "It sounds nice, but…"

"Yeah. But." He took her hand, and they started walking.

"Where are we going?"

"Actually, I have no idea."

She giggled at that, and they continued in silence for a few minutes, or however long it was. Or wasn't. Maybe there was something to not going back. Even in his carefree young childhood days, he couldn't remember feeling so at peace, so content. Judging by her emotions, Andi felt the same. They pretty much had to this time, but if it ever came up again…

"So how does this resurrection thing work?" she asked.

"Other than I speak the spell? I have no idea. But when the time is right, I'll know."

"You mystical guru, you." They both laughed. Then, as they moved on to nowhere and everywhere, she said, "This might not even work, despite what the master guy said. A dragon has never been resurrected before. Ever."

"You wanted me to resurrect your parents. We were both pretty sure that would work."

"But you didn't. You couldn't. What if that was fate intervening, not allowing the resurrection? Fate made sure all of your energy went to raising the Demon of Dreams so there'd be no more power for Mom and Dad. If it hadn't been the Demon of Dreams, maybe something else would have popped up to keep you from bringing them back."

"You think the universe would go to so much trouble to keep me from casting the spell rather than simply making it not work?"

"It's possible, isn't it? I mean, I know we need to go back, but every instinct is screaming at me to tell you to choose the path to the afterlife. It's not just that it'll be easier or whatever, but it feels like the right choice. It feels that way deep in my bones, in my gut, in my soul."

"I feel it, too, but let me pose it this way. What if that's the nature of resurrection? When we die, that should be it. This goes against nature, so what if this is a test for everyone who resurrects? Only those who have true desire get to go back."

"And do we? Do we really?"

Ben sighed. "Yeah. After what Timothy and Sasha did to you, tried to do to the council, and who knows what to the whole world, I think we owe it to everyone to put a smackdown on them." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Plus, I want to see how awesome we turn out when the prophecy unfolds."

"So I guess we go back and see if we can rewrite the annals of dragon history."

"Yup. I wonder if it'll instantly change every dragon's brain Google, or if there will be a big update for you all to download. Will every dragon need to go to sleep, and then it'll be there when you wake up?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You realize we're not Windows-based machines, right?"

He chuckled and disengaged from her. It was time. He spoke the words to the spell, and the fog dissipated. They stood facing two doors. One was open and held the proverbial white light that led to the afterlife. The other was a sturdy brown door, caked with dust, with a huge iron bar locking it in place.

"Guess which one we're supposed to choose," Andi said.

"I know which one I want to go through."

"My parents are there. And my grandparents, the ones I never got to meet."

"And they'll still be there when the time comes. My parents and grandparents are behind that one." He pointed to the barred door. "They don't even know we're dead."

She looked up at him and smiled. "So let's get back to them."

They approached the closed door, and Ben tried to lift the iron bar, but it didn't budge. He then tried the handle and pushed, with the same result. "You could go full dragon and see if you can open it," he suggested.

"Or you could try the magic word."

He frowned. Which word would that be? Certainly nothing Felix had taught him. Every magic word he learned from his master went with a specific spell. They were magic words, of course, but not
the
magic word. "Abracadabra," he tried. Nothing. "Open sesame." Nope. "Open says me?"

Andi snorted out laughter and smacked him in the shoulder. "I know your parents raised you better than that. Well, maybe not during the dark years, but before and after. I saw the after first hand."

Then it dawned on him. No, it couldn't be that simple. Could it? But Andi was so sure. There was no mistaking that in her emotions and her voice, so he followed her advice, and, in a meek voice, said, "Please?"

The iron bar disappeared, and the door swung open. Andi gave him a smirk and said, "There, was that so hard?"

"How did you know that?"

"It didn't seem right that brute force was required here, so why not try being polite? You gave me the idea when we talked to the Disc Master. Your polite, straight-forward question to get the disc didn't work with him, but I found it promising."

He wanted to refute her, tell her how it wouldn't be that simple, that it made no sense, but it worked. That, of all things, he couldn't refute. Instead, he shook his head and kissed her cheek. "I never would have thought to even try that here."

"Which is why you have me."

He chuckled, shook his head, and put an arm around her shoulders. She wrapped one of her own around his waist. Like that, arm in arm, they walked through the now-open portal. Back to their bodies, back to their lives.

The sound of rushing surf or white noise assaulted Ben. He tried to sit up, but couldn't. His eyelids, open a mere slit, wouldn't move. Andi, likewise, went through the same thing. So this was waking from the dead. You did it slowly whether you wanted to or not.

He reached his mind out to see if he could decipher what was going on and how long they'd been dead. As far as he could tell, mere seconds had passed, as everyone stood looking at them in shocked silence.

Sarah was the first to speak. "Felix, what did you do?"

"What Benjamin asked of me. I'd have betrayed him if I didn't strike him down."

"You fool," Timothy hissed. "This is not something they can survive. Benjamin could have, but not Alexandria. Dragons can not resurrect. Do you think Sasha and I haven't scoured the multiverse to find the secret? If the boy returns, he'll last less than a moment before his mate's soul rips him back to the land of the dead."

How had Timothy and Sasha even thought they could resurrect? He figured they had used some sort of magical item, supplied by Rico, or at least someone similar, to get Andi under their control. Maybe it was another trinket he was talking about here, but Ben didn't think so. It seemed to him that either Timothy or Sasha had hidden mystical talents, most likely Sasha since she'd been the one whose power had tainted Andi, and to a lesser extent, Melissa. This was definitely something he, Andi, and Felix needed to discuss.

"Are you willing to wager on it?" Felix asked. Ben imagined he pointed at the disc in Timothy's hands.

"Either way, we're holding onto it," Sasha said. Ben had no trouble picturing her sneer. Anguish bled off Andi, no doubt at the thought of having blindly followed the evil dragon and guard.

Evil did flow from them, so much so that Ben had no clue how he hadn't felt it before. Maybe they'd dropped any mental defenses they'd erected, or maybe Andi, now clear of their taint, allowed for him to be more attuned to their true nature. It wasn't that they pulsed evil like the demons or other monsters they'd fought, but there was enough of a corruption around them that he knew it was true.

"We've already promised not to inform the rest of the council of this grave misdeed," Timothy said, "and we'll keep our word as long as everyone disperses right away. Felix can stay to clean up the mess he created." Ben imagined Timothy waved his hand at his and Andi's bodies.

At that moment, Ben twitched. Everyone gasped, and he tried to smile, but found he didn't yet have control. That came a few seconds later after his limbs trembled. He sat up and held back a laugh at the shocked expressions all around. Except for Felix. His master wore a slight smile which said, "Welcome back," plain as day.

Andi sat up, and Timothy whispered, "How?" while Sasha's eyes went wide. Timothy then said, "We'll finish this later," though Ben wasn't sure if it was directed at him and Andi or the members of the Dragon Council. The two ran back out of the garden and into the Stronghold proper.

As soon as they were gone, the dragons and guards converged on him and Andi. Everyone talked at once, asking how they felt, what happened, and if Andi was back to herself now. They assured everyone they were fine, that they'd used the resurrection spell, and how death was the one thing that could free Andi from the control of Timothy and Sasha, so she was okay now.

"But as Timothy stated," Angus said, "dragons can't resurrect. Never have in the past. We all know this. How did you know Alexandria could come back?"

"I didn't, really, but both the resurrection master and Felix seemed convinced, so I trusted them. Anyway, if I didn't do something, Timothy and Sasha would have had Andi attack you guys, and I would have been forced to join in."

"I don't know how, but they brainwashed me when I was imprisoned here. I don't think they made me do anything other than hand over the disc, but I have a couple of memory lapses. Both are real short, but I can't be certain what happened. When I got back home, Fillmore delivered a letter from Timothy and Sasha."

"Fillmore?" Reggie said. "The rat!"

"So he works for Timothy and Sasha," Sarah said. "Interesting."

"It seems so," Andi said. "Anyway, the note read that the entire council except for Timothy and Sasha was corrupt. I wasn't to tell anyone, especially Ben, about the note, and it wanted me to check back to it every so often. Before we came here today, I looked at it, and it had a magical addendum at the bottom. It said that Ben and I were now strong enough to take on the council."

Angus grunted. "I wondered what Timothy meant when he asked you if you'd read the addition to your note. It made no sense at the time."

"So their game was to get rid of the Dragon Council," Gretchen said. "But why?"

"It's obvious to me," Angus said. "With us out of the way, they could rule the dragon world as king and queen."

"Close, but not quite," Felix said.

"How do you know?" Sarah asked.

"I don't, not for certain, but you've all seen how my guesses work out."

"So what's your guess?" Angus asked.

"Benjamin?" Felix said. "You try first.

"I figured the same thing as Angus. They wanted to get rid of the council to rule everything on their own."

"Try harder."

Ben had never made a wizard guess, and Felix had never taught him how, but if his master believed in him, he would give it the best try he had. He closed his eyes and let the power of the multiverse pour into him. At first he got nothing, but after a moment or two, answers popped into his brain. Were these truths, or, like Felix said, simply guesses? They felt so right, even if he didn't get everything.

"They do want to rule, but not in the conventional sense. That's why they needed Andi. With Andi, they knew they'd also get me, but I couldn't see much more than that."

"Excellent, Benjamin," Felix said. "We'll make a full-blown master out of you yet."

"So they wanted to use Alexandria and Benjamin as puppets?" Sarah said. "Yes, that makes sense."

"Aye," Angus said. "Those two don't seem to like to get their own hands dirty."

"Indeed," Felix said. "With them controlling Alexandria, and her keeping Benjamin in line, they'd be able to use two of the most powerful beings in the multiverse to do whatever they wanted."

"We'd be evil," Andi said, "like one fork of the prophecy predicted."

Nix spoke up for the first time. Ben had forgotten she and Max were there. "I was thinking the same thing. You dodged it, but that doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet. This prophecy isn't yet done evolving."

"Something to worry about later," Gretchen said. "For now, we need that recording device."

"We can't bring it up to anyone else on the council," Angus said. "Nor can they accuse us of taking it. If that happens, the disc will be viewed, and that's the last thing those two would want."

"They can alter the disc," Ben said. "The keeper guy alluded that it's possible with strong magic. I'm sure they'll try to find someone to do it, unless they hold enough power themselves."

"That's when they'll bring it to the rest of the council," Andi said.

"Yes," Sarah said. "So for now we need to come up with a plan to get it back from them." She turned to Ben and Andi. "You won't mind if we use you two and your powers again in the future?"

"No," they both said.

"Good. Don't worry about it for now. We'll figure something out. Max, will you escort them back to the mortal realm?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry I gave them the disc," Andi said. "None of this would be necessary if I hadn't."

"Alexandria, don't think on it for a second," Angus said. "Two of the most powerful necromancers in existence couldn't figure out how you were possessed. It proves how strong the spell over you was. None of us blame you one bit."

Everyone echoed the sentiment, and Ben could tell they meant it. From her emotions, Andi could, too.

Once Max zapped them back to the edge of the Newport Beach pier, he shook Ben and Felix's hands, gave Andi a hug, and then he was off. The three of them walked down the pier and back to Max and Nix's house to get Ben's truck. On the way, Felix asked, "So what was it like? The Realm of Death. I've never seen it, and no one has ever given me a first-hand account."

"Foggy," Ben said, and then froze. He couldn't remember anything else about it. Andi couldn't either.

Felix sighed. "I always thought those who came back from it were hiding a big secret, but that's not true, is it? It erases itself from your mind."

"Sorry. We'd tell you if we could."

"I suppose I'll find out for myself one day. Too bad mine will be a one-way trip."