“Forget what I said before,” Grandpa yells. “Fire up, son.”
I call fire to my palm and spit a thin stream at the monster. Not even a scorch mark appears. I try several more times with the same results. What the hell is wrong with me that when I need to bring the heat, nothing happens?
Kera throws my sword, tip over hilt, and it lands in the dirt at my feet. I pick it up and it flames to life. I spin free of one of the tongues, whirl around, and sear the tongue off. The creature lets out a mournful scream. I may have hurt it, but I’ve also ticked it off.
Reggie reaches Grandpa and chucks him a huge pump-action shotgun that holds ten rounds and a box of slugs. They each lock their bullets in their chambers, point, and fire. The gunshots split the air, again and again as they circle the monster, trying to find a weak spot, but its armor is too thick.
One of the tongues wraps around Leo’s left arm. He stabs a sturdy kitchen knife into the tough flesh of the tongue and slips free. Yet his skin is red where the tongue had been, like he’s been attacked by a jellyfish, and he doubles over in pain. Reggie is beside his son in an instant. His back is to the monster, a big mistake. I speed their way, and just as a tongue is about to grab him, I slash it clean through. Reggie whips around, his shotgun primed and aimed at me. There’s a flash of indecision, no thanks for saving his life, only wondering if he should end mine. I don’t stay close, and I, refocus on the monster. Another tongue lashes out and lifts Grandpa into the air. He fires his shotgun and shatters the monster’s eye shield.
The multi-tongued glorified worm opens its mouth wide as it brings Grandpa close. Somehow Grandpa reloads and empties his rounds into the monster. “I’m out of ammo,” he yells and tomahawks the gun into the monster’s gaping maw.
Grandma screams and a look of horror clouds her face. She thinks he’ll die, but I won’t let that happen.
A rush of anger starts to burn in my gut. I run and jump, cutting through the base of several tongues, praying one of them holds Grandpa. Another unearthly cry rips the air and Grandpa is quickly slammed to the ground and rolls, cradling his arm as if it’s been broken. Grandma rushes to him and helps him hobble free of the fight.
I whip around and search for Kera. I see Reggie pushing Leo behind him, yelling at his son that he’s too hurt to fight. Grandma has Grandpa, and Kera is…
I finally see her atop the monster’s back, slowly making her way to the monster’s head. “What are you doing?” I yell at her.
She steadies herself as the armored body wriggles beneath her feet. “Blinding it.”
It’s then I see the incordium dagger in her hand. The special blade can cut through any magic, but it looks too small to do much damage. Another tongue lashes toward me and I fight it off, feeling the bite of its sting as I do. When next I look up, the monster bucks, and Kera goes flying. As she falls, she stabs her blade deeply into its head and jerks to a stop. The creature howls and bucks and wriggles in pain while Kera dangles over the open mouth, fighting to pull herself clear.
A tongue lashes up, slaps around one of her legs, and pulls her high into the air, flipping her upside down. Kera gasps against the sting of the tongue on her bare leg, and I see her fight to not scream.
Grandma cries out and turns her head into Grandpa’s shoulder, unable to look. Heat bursts along my skin, and the fire I’d struggled to find suddenly engulfs my hand. Without me even thinking, fire erupts out of me. One fireball after another blasts the monster as I run forward. The creature rumbles with pain, and I feed off that emotion, growing stronger and hotter until I’m on full burn mode.
One moment I’m staring at the monster, the next I’m on my knees, dizzy and gasping for breath. All around me, the earth is burning. I have no idea what just happened. The monster smolders as it sounds a final cry, and Kera is falling. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reggie dash forward and catch Kera. They both fall to the ground and roll away, just in time to avoid being crushed by the burning carcass. As I move toward them, Reggie pulls Kera to the side and points his gun at me. “Stay back!”
Kera peeks over Reggie’s shoulder, her eyes big as saucers. I stop. The anger melts in me, and I’m just Dylan with no burn, no heat… just confused.
Kera tries to come to me, but Reggie holds her back. “Don’t go near him. Did you see what he did? He almost killed you.”
I can’t believe my ears, but he’s right. In trying to save Kera, I nearly killed her. I feel sick inside. “Kera, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
Kera pulls out of Reggie’s hold and comes to me. She touches my chest above my heart. “I’m fine. Really.” She smells of singed hair and skin. I did that to her.
I pull her to me and hug her tightly and say over and over again that I’m sorry.
Grandpa, with Grandma and Leo’s help, hobbles from the forest. Grandma stares at the monster and back at me. “Is everyone all right? I couldn’t look. What happened?”
Reggie storms over to Grandpa, and the look he gives him conveys his disgust. He spears Leo with a hard look and orders him home. Without saying another word, he walks away.
Leo sweeps his thick mop of black hair out of his eyes and glances from me to his dad. “Don’t worry, bro. I got this. He’s freaked out, but he’ll settle down.” And then he trots after his dad.
Kera retrieves her dagger, and while Grandma makes sure Kera’s okay, Grandpa pulls me aside. I nod to his arm. “That doesn’t look good. You okay?”
He glances at where it’s beginning to turn purple from wrist to elbow. “It’s only a bruise. It’ll heal soon enough.”
The man has steel for bones. Seriously, anyone else would be crying like a baby.
He leans closer and lowers his voice so only I can hear. “That thing glommed on to you and only you.” He then gives me a thoughtful look and lifts my sleeve. My brand is normal silver. No glow. No burn. He cocks a heavy eyebrow at me. I know what he’s implying. The council still wants me dead. Did he really think so? After all I’ve done for Teag?
“No,” I whisper to him. “They’re not hunting me. Not anymore.”
“They’d better be, because if they aren’t, we’ve got even bigger trouble. I think your out-of-whack emotions are like a homing device. Tomorrow, we start your training.”
“What kind of training?”
“I’ve got an idea. You’ll see.” He lets go and turns to look at the smoldering monster. “What are we going to do with that? I’m all for barbecue, but the neighbors aren’t going to understand.”
No one’s arguing with him there. I tell everyone to back up, and then I split the ground open underneath the thing and bury it. We all stand there, silent and staring at the mound.
Grandma rubs her arms, as if she’s suddenly cold. “What do you suppose it wanted?”
“I suspect it wanted what every dumb animal wants,” Grandpa says in his gruff, no-nonsense voice. “It got hungry and wandered over.” He throws his arm around Grandma and hugs her close. “I know what you’re thinking. Stop it. Dylan and I will check things out, so no worrying, woman. Let’s go home. I’m suddenly longing for a hot shower and my easy chair.”
Grandma agrees and fusses over Grandpa’s arm, telling him she’ll make him his favorite chocolate cake. He gives her a big kiss on the cheek and throws us a wink. “Getting hurt isn’t so bad when there’s chocolate cake afterward.”
I wish I could agree, but if he’s right, I brought the monster here. It’s just one more thing I have to feel guilty about.
Kera and I lock hands and trudge after them.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
“About me. About all this and how they’re linked, if they’re linked.” I glance at her, “They’re probably linked. Grandpa wants to help me control my emotions. He’s done nothing but help me since I’ve shown up. I’ve got to learn to trust him.”