The Druid
By: Dark Shadow
(© 2006 - 2008 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...


Chapter 17
Oblivion

It took longer to get the house work done than I had expected.  There were several days of laundry and a considerable pile of dishes from our breakfast guests, but I was almost finished when Bry walked in the side door to the kitchen.

The sky had since clouded over and the wind, blowing through the window just above the kitchen sink, raised goose-bumps along my flesh.  Everything seemed to be taking on the grey cast of winter beneath the dense cloud cover.  If it had been colder, I would have guessed there might be snow.  Instead, the chill in the air and the grey sky made me wonder if this was any indication of how our day was going to be.  Even Shadow seemed antsy as she traveled from room to room checking my progress, or whatever it was she was doing.  She was well overdue for her nap and I wondered if it was the prospect of more visitors and food that prompted her vigil.

“Any word from Jack?”  Bry kicked off his shoes and leaned against the doorway as I finished drying the last breakfast plate.

“Nothing yet… but there are so many clans, I’d be surprised if we hear from him before late this afternoon.”  With the last breakfast plate stowed away, I shut the cupboard and hung the dish towel in the handle of the refrigerator door.

“So how did renewing the wards go?”  I poured myself a cup of cold coffee and sat at the kitchen table. 

“Everything went pretty well…”  Bry let out a small sigh and diverted his eyes to the floor.  “Until I couldn’t get back in the yard.”

“What!?”  I didn’t mean to raise my voice, and obviously he was okay, but now I needed to know.

“Well… I thought that it might be good to renew and… well maybe add a little to the wards….”  Bry continued to study his feet and a soft pink flushed his cheeks.  I could sense more frustration than embarrassment coming from him, so I fought the urge to interrupt.

“Anyway… when I was done the first time, I was at the end of the driveway… and when I tried to walk back to the house, I was thrown back over the fence across the street and into the field.”  Bry dug at his heel with the toe of his shoe as he continued.

“It’s okay now, though.  I fixed it.”  Bry lifted his head and looked at me as if waiting for approval.

I was tempted to question him about it and make sure that the wards were properly in place, but I trusted Bry, and it would have been an insult to second guess his Magick.  He had the knowledge but, as I have found in the past… knowing how to do something is not necessarily the same as performing the task.  Tomorrow I would take ward duty and then I wouldn’t have to worry.  Until then, I was going to be a little on edge, but it would have to wait.  Okay… I lied.

“Exactly how did you fix...”  I didn’t get the chance to finish my question. 

A thunderous explosion filled the room and the kitchen walls exploded into shards of fire, wood, and dust.  Just as quickly, the room was silent except for the tinkling of debris settling around me.  I was pinned and couldn’t move.  Smoke and dust choked the air and stung my eyes as I tried to get my bearings.  The air was hot and burned my lungs as I tried to gasp even the slightest of breaths.

It wasn’t until I tried to move that I knew I was in real trouble.  My left shoulder screamed with pain as I shifted.  A wooden plank had splintered in the explosion and was plunged through my shoulder.  The usual body check to make sure everything still worked, did nothing but bring me sharp agony.  I panicked, and struggled to breath beneath the weight of the debris that pinned me to the floor. 

I tried to calm myself, but not being able to breath stole my resolve.  Seconds later I heard Bry’s anguished screams.  Another explosion erupted somewhere above me and I felt the intense heat and weight of it against my chest as the pressure threatened to split me in two.  A sickening crunch flooded my ears and I knew it was my ribs cracking beneath the concussive force of the second explosion. 

“Move you idiot!  You are druid!”  The thought entered my mind and I willed myself to a place just outside of the house.

There was too much damage to my body and too much pain to avoid the attack.  As I turned my head, a heavy scaled crimson claw sped toward me and batted me away as though I were an annoying insect. 

As I soared through the air I saw our attacker.  A mammoth red dragon let loose with a third blast of fiery death, and the remainder of my home exploded into such a spray of destruction I wondered if I was dreaming.  It seemed like there was more to the pile of cascading rubble than what was there when it was whole.

It wasn’t the type of dragon some use as decoration in their homes; the cute menacing kind that is placed here and there to accent an empty corner.  This beast was the height of a bus and nearly twice as long.  Its savage claws were yellowed and resembled ridged ivory hooks that had been long since stained to a more golden hue by age and neglect.  It seemed more a snake with legs than a dragon, but I knew from borrowed memories that this is what it was.

There were no scales to protect its body.  Instead, the skin was a sickening landscape of dingy crimson bulbous knots like an armor of slick red tumors.  From the latest impact against my body, I knew they were as hard as granite and held a razor’s edge like ocean coral.

The creatures head seemed added as an after thought.  It was enormous and feline with a mouthful of vicious fangs.  Fiery breath had burned them black, though each was easily two feet in length and obviously deadly.  Crescent shaped eyes glowed with a firefly light as it thrashed about and heaved another decimating breath at the remaining rubble.

Bry’s screams were cut short.  Even before I felt the crush of earth against my body, I tried to sense Shadow and Bry.  Shadow was weak, and my precious Bry… was gone.

A well of emptiness engulfed me as I lay against the cold earth awaiting my death.  A raging river of fire surged through every vein of my body, and my ability to sense emotion seemed like a distant memory.  There was nothing, not even the slightest joy of a sideways smirk or chuckle from a fleeting happy thought.  Everything felt lifeless and intangible as I struggled through the pain to stand.

“Shadow!  Come!”  I slapped my leg twice as though she were in front of me, but I knew she was buried somewhere beneath the rubble.

Much to my surprise my little grey companion appeared at my feet, battered and with a layer of too much blood and dust.  A deep growl vibrated in her chest.

Shadow’s growl became a roar as she charged toward the dragon.  With each step she grew and changed into something I had thought impossible.  It was something even Galen and Doris had only heard of in passing: an albino Lupon.  Her grey curls merged into opalescent flesh as she grew in size.  She was still only half the height and length of the Dragon, but still a good two feet taller than our old truck.  If I could have sensed anything I would have guessed the deafening Dragon’s roar was surprise, and the look in its hideous amber eyes was fear.

I have always looked at Shadow with nothing but love, so I’ve always thought she was beautiful.  As she transformed, I was awestruck.  Her dusty fur became a smooth shimmering mix of colors you find in mother of pearl or abalone, and her eyes were a dazzling pink that glowed like hot coals in the darkness.  Her nubby curled tail lengthened and the bob of hair on the end morphed into a shimmering four razored club that sparkled like stolen rainbows.  She was beauty and strength combined.

There are many kinds of dragons in the world, though most keep themselves in the few places that are still undisturbed by man.  Reptile, Serpent, Feline, and Canine are the main classes.  Each has a vast array of shapes, sizes, strengths and weaknesses.  Shadow was of the canine breed and something I once believed to be merely legend.

A flood of blue liquid erupted from Shadow’s mouth as she leapt into the air.  The dragon was frozen and Shadow crashed through the creature like a pane of glass.  She landed to the side of the shattered remains of our attacker, and I watched as she shook away her Lupon dragon form like she did water when I bathed her.  She was back to normal, the same curly grey furred Shadow I loved and cherished, but I couldn’t help my fear as she trotted back toward me.  She sat down and panted by my side as though she had just been out for a leisurely run through the surrounding cornfields.

“Well that was unfortunate… I didn’t know you possessed such a remarkable…. pet.  Still, one dead is better than nothing.”  I spun around but was only able to catch a glimpse of the creature.

He disappeared but I recognized the nasal voice.  It was Raven.  The one who sent the shade, and the same vile piece of shit that killed Galen.  It seemed that Raven had better timing than the people from Brethren.  They were appearing all around us, but I couldn’t look them in the eyes.

My chest ached.  The loss of Bry crept up and into my mind so quickly that I suddenly wished I had died with him in the attack.  A cold wet nose and the slurp of Shadow’s tongue along my shin pulled me from my dark thoughts.  I wondered if her death was something else I was going to have to endure.  She and these strangers were all I had left, and it was too little in comparison to all I had lost.  My Bry, the uncles, my god father, Galen, Doris, and now my home were gone.  One by one they were being taken from me like some sinister check list that fate held as he whittled away at what mattered most to me in the world.

The strength in my legs left me and I collapsed to the ground.  Shadow transformed again as the strangers from within Brethren approached, but I didn’t have the energy or will to care.  For a brief moment I wanted to hate her for saving me, but even that took more energy than I could muster.

Shadow, now in Lupon form, roared at the onlookers, but it didn’t stop one of them from approaching.

“Are you okay?”  I knew the voice and glanced over long enough to see that it was the gypsy, Kevin, who had balls enough to walk up to Shadow in her current Lupon form.

“No… please kill me.”  My voice sounded as weak and empty as I felt.  I welcomed the darkness of oblivion as it filled my world and I slipped into unconsciousness.

The End...

*********

Thank you all for reading and I hope that the final chapter of The Druid doesn’t disappoint.  Special thanks to my editor Dr. Grant, who without his help this would have been nearly impossible to do.  Yes… there will be another book, but for the time being… this is it!  Take care and if you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to mail me at gaywriter72@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Posted: 05/30/08