Sapphire (36 page)

“Hey,” said Lula. Ava looked up, the fear obviously
showing on her face. “This isn’t good bye.” Lula smiled. “I know
you’ll make it to that arch and you’ll come back through again.
Everything will be okay.”

“Maybe we should.” Ava hadn’t expected to say it but
felt with all her heart that she meant it. “Maybe we should say
good bye.” She couldn’t look at Lula’s stricken expression.

Lula slowly pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Well, I won’t.”

Loud yells, roars, and sounds of fighting echoed
nearby. All three of them saw incredible flashes of white and blue
flame, red crackling lightning, and heard a high-pitched peal of
laugher.

“Sounds like at least that old hag is enjoying
herself,” said Lula, trying to joke, but her voice quivered.

Just then, the first moloch lunged at Sirrush.

All Ava could think about was trying to stay alive,
keep away from those snapping jaws, those empty-shelled people with
glaring red eyes, and watch for everyone else fighting their way to
them. It was worse than a nightmare; It was reality.

Sirrush had easily dispatched the first moloch, and
as their numbers surged forward, he was a blur, keeping them all at
bay. Lula and Ava did their part, a slash of crystal blade, a flash
of gold, but mostly it was Sirrush protecting them all. Lula’s
enchantments were just turning the beast’s or the person’s hair
pink. Every once in awhile her focus was clear and a little pink
bunny or rodent would scamper by.

“Can’t you just kill them?!” yelled Ava as another
cute fluffy thing that resembled a chinchilla hopped by. She swung
her sword with terrified force, slicing at an advancing moloch
which leapt back, snarling.

“I can’t!” Lula yelled. “That’s not how my magic
works.” She turned a soulless person into a pink mouse that blinked
at her, then ran off into the midst of monsters. “My powers only do
nice
things.” She made some pink tulips sprout from a
moloch’s open jaws. It stopped and looked surprised. “Which is why
when I’m
angry
it doesn’t work so well!”

The little chinchilla thing bounded towards Sirrush
who sliced it in half without hesitation. Ava actually felt sorry
for the thing a moment before she remembered it had been a monster.
Her necklace didn’t seem to respond to her frantic demands for its
power. No matter what she thought, or however she tried to grasp at
that power from before, nothing happened. She was getting tired,
her arms were aching, her vision blurring. The only respite they
had was the lessening rain.

A wall of white fire blazed out of nowhere, racing
like a steam engine through their enemies, then spreading and
surrounding the three of them in a circle. Mira, Ava’s parents,
Orin, and Capella ran through the ten foot wall of flame, unscathed
by it. Most of them, however, were covered in mud and cuts, and
Orin collapsed with exhaustion. Ava went to him and he smiled.

“Well,” he said between gasps. “I see you didn’t get
far.”

She tried to grin. His own smile slid away as she
glanced at Sirrush. He was staring back and his eyes were freezing
what little courage she had left.

“What is it?” Orin asked.

She turned back to Orin. The edges of her mouth
tried to smile, but her eyes made him grab her by the arms.

“
What
is it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, truthfully.

She touched his face then pulled away. He let her
go, but shot a glance towards Sirrush and tightened his grip on the
axe handle. They were safe for the moment as long as Mira’s power
held, but she was drenched in foaming sweat.

“Ava,” Warwick said, striding over to her. “Mira
will take you to the mountain.”

She nodded, looking around. “Wait, where’s
Antares?”

A fireball of red and gray, trailing whips of light,
soared into their safe haven. Antares crumpled to the ground, his
sides heaving. Ava ran over and laid a hand on his dark gray fur to
find it softer than she expected while little tingles of static
electricity jumped up her arm.

“Thank you,” she said to him.

He gave a big gruff sigh and raised his head. “Do
you think they survived? Do you think they’re safe?” His whiskers
drooped, his eyes sadder than she could have ever imagined.

“The…villagers,” he said to her silence. “Do you
think they’re safe?”

Her eyes stung. She knew he meant the little girl,
Mia.

“Yeah.” She blinked, choking back her own grief.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Ava,” said Mira, throwing her head up.
“Quickly!”

“But you’re exhausted. You need to rest.”

“I cannot rest, and none of us will, not until this
is done. If we cannot get you to Lesath, then everything we’ve done
has meant nothing.”

It already does mean nothing,
but she kept
her doubts to herself. She walked over and heaved herself onto
Mira’s back.

“Hold on with all your life,” Mira said only to her.
“We’re at the mountain’s base. We’ll be making a run for its peak
where the gateway stands open.”

“And if it’s not?”

“It will be. Now hold
tight
.”

Her mother ran up to her and grabbed her hand. “You
can do this. It will be all right.”

Then her father came up to her. “We have always been
here for you. It seems impossible, but…well, just—I’m so sorry this
had to be. I wish…” She could see his heart breaking in his eyes as
he walked away.

She knew he was hiding tears. Adhara let go of Ava’s
hand. She nodded at Mira and stepped back. Warwick stepped to the
other side while Antares took position in front of them. Sirrush,
much to Ava’s surprise, and Capella stood to defend from behind.
Lula flew over to sit on her favorite perch, Ava’s shoulder. Orin
jumped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“Don’t tell me not to follow you,” he said as she
twisted around to face him. He smiled. “And you can’t do this
alone.”

She looked him up and down, and grinned. “Don’t tell
me I can’t,” but her smile and attempt at light-hearted banter
melted away.

How could she do this after what Sirrush had told
her? What was the point of any of it? They were all just going to
die, for nothing; for a dragon’s lie.

Orin’s grin melted with hers. “Something
is
wrong.”

She glanced at Sirrush who was also looking at her,
then turned away and gripped the mane in her hands till her
knuckles went white.

“Now!” shouted Mira.

Warwick, Adhara, and Antares blasted through the
molochs, razing a long clear path up the mountainside that was
hemmed by walls of flame and red lightning. Antares sprinted away,
continuously keeping the light ahead of them, and Mira galloped
after. Warwick and Adhara raced inhumanly swift not far behind,
throwing defensive spells around them. Sirrush and Capella lagged
behind doing what they could, still protected by the white fire
left in Mira’s wake. Ava’s hands were bleeding again from clutching
the mane, and more than once Orin nearly pulled her off from trying
to keep his own balance. Antares was doing a splendid job of
disintegrating whatever barred their advance. Everything was going
smoothly until they were half way up the mountain.

Suddenly, Antares stopped, his ferocity dead in its
tracks. Mira nearly trampled him.

“Antares! The shield!” She pranced in place, her
ears plastered back.

He didn’t move. He was fixated on the creature with
life-less red eyes coming towards them. It made inhuman screeching
noise, ungainly stumbling along, desire to kill all over its sunken
face. Antares made a growl of intense pain. Hairs prickled up Ava’s
arms.

“Mia,” Lula gasped.

“Kill it!” demanded Mira, stamping a hoof as Antares
backed further away from the little girl.

“Antares! She’s lost. It’s not her. Attack it!”

His wide eyes reflected the once bubbly, happy,
little girl that had curled up between his paws every night. She no
longer recognized her Ant-aewy. His growl turned into a whine, so
pitiful, so wretched that Ava felt her stomach clench. Antares
backed himself against Mira’s legs, all his lightning fizzling to
tiny sparks. Mia’s reaching skeletal fingers were only yards away.
Mira reared, leapt over Antares’ crouched body, and made for the
child creature. He appeared like a strike of lightning between
them, roaring, wild with fury. Mira slid to a halt in astonishment
and before any of them could react, the moloch-child leapt like a
spider onto his back.

“Antares!” Ava shrieked.

He whirled and threw the little girl off, then
swiped his giant paw; the paws she had slept between, guarding her
safely from shadows in the night. The paws that had rolled her
playfully head over heels and folded around her with care. Those
once gentle paws now extended towards her, claws outstretched,
ready to truly take her from the nightmares. His deadly lightning
coiled around her tiny fingers, fingers reaching not to hug, but to
destroy him. The light coiled up her arms, her deformed body, her
wide sightless red eyes, and then she was gone. She burst into ash
and evaporated into the drizzling mist.

No one else moved or made a sound except Antares. He
rumbled deep in his chest. It was the most intense heart-breaking
moan Ava had ever heard. His ears were laid back, every tooth
bared, every claw dug into the earth, as if he were trying to keep
the ground from falling away. The others caught up to them and
froze in their tracks to stare at Antares. They were still
encircled in Mira’s high flame while the darkness, so determined to
engulf them, prowled its edges. A moloch, then another, roared
outside their tiny island. Ava could feel Mira trembling beneath
her from the immense effort to help keep them safe.

Antares tensed, roared savagely, then hurled himself
into the waiting jaws of Mia’s nightmares. He disappeared through
the white wall of fire and a shock wave of crimson lightning
erupted. Molochs all around him burst into nothingness, caught by
the lightning bolts of his torment.

“We have to keep going,” Mira said, as Antares
roared again.

“But Antares?” said Ava.

“We can’t help him. He’s lost.”

Without another word, Mira extended the path ahead
of them, pushing back molochs, and galloped on once more, leaving
Antares to his own fate.

We left him!

Ava couldn’t believe what they were doing. It was
happening all over again; a sacrifice for her sake. How could they
just leave him? She tried to see where he was, their guide and
guardian for so long, so devoted to protecting those he cared about
more than she ever realized. He was a tempest to behold, but even
his bravery, or madness, would not be able to hold off so many
monsters. As they climbed further up the mountain, Antares’ light
grew fainter and further away until it disappeared entirely behind
a curtain of dense fog. She had watched the entire time, then
turned her head and shut her eyes, trying to remain numb. She
couldn’t allow herself to feel, not now, if she did—

They were so close to the peak, running through
shrouds of clouds, but all too soon their façade of safety was torn
away. Sirrush, wounded and exhausted, stumbled to his knees. From
beyond the fire where it was just a little weaker, a little lower,
leapt a moloch. Sirrush swung up his blade as Warwick, Adhara, and
Capella turned to help, but the creature smashed into them all. The
fire closed in around Mira, cutting them off.

“No!” screamed Ava.

Lula flew up, and to everyone’s surprise, a great
wall of golden light cut through the molochs, even through Mira’s
fire, and encircled all of them. Ava saw that Sirrush, Capella, and
her parents were unharmed. She smiled until she looked at her
parent’s faces glowing with Lula’s golden light. She had seen that
look in their eyes before; they were letting her go. Her mother
gave a sad smile, and Ava felt her heart constrict. Lula’s light
was starting to flicker as her strength waned, but Mira’s fire was
coming back.

“Go!” Orin shouted to Mira.

“What?” said Ava in disbelief. “No!
No!
”

“They’re staying behind, Ava. They’ve done what they
can.” He pointed up the steep incline where no molochs yet awaited
them. “Our way ahead is clear.”

Lula flew down, exhausted, and almost fell onto
Ava’s head. She climbed onto her shoulder and let her wings droop.
Mira, though on the verge of collapse as well, threw herself
forward with renewed strength, fire igniting around her hooves and
blazing a giant blue-white inferno behind them.

Ava could hear the clash of fighting, then
ear-wrenching shrieks as they galloped away towards the stone arch
above. When she turned around, she saw Broga and the other harpies
had joined the fight. Though they were fierce, Shawna knew they
would be taken by the molochs as well. Sirrush, Capella, her
parents, and Antares were lost—left behind. She wanted to cry,
scream, run back, let herself go mad like Antares, but a strange
energy was calming her and giving her strength. Mira’s powerful
conviction was flowing through her as well. Ava could feel that
Mira believed in their quest, believed it with all her being as she
heaved herself up the mountainside. Her exhalations were like gun
shots while foam flew from her mouth and hide. The distant barrier
of flame behind them started to diminish, it fluttered, then
evaporated. Mira’s strength was gone, but they had breached the
legions of molochs.