Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
Sweet Miki-Leopard, who was so scared after seeing her lifeless form and Elli-Dragon turning dark, who trembled in fear when we heard the simulated voice of Zowen, stopped hiding the minute she knew her friend, Shadow, was on the way.
As usual, she shifted us so fast I only had a split-second warning before we were much lower to the ground and our senses much keener.
I had no idea how Shadow found us when we were inside a classroom, in a simulation that wasn’t even real, but somehow she appeared out of the shadows to brush against Miki-Leopard’s side.
A moment later, the two of them together tore into the shadows like all our lives depended on vanquishing them.
I couldn’t really do anything but sit back and watch.
I did remind Miki-Leopard multiple times that this was just a simulation and she didn’t need to be afraid or to fight so hard because it was all just a test.
Then she said something that turned my blood to ice.
She said, Shadows say he coming. We fight.
Shadow said that?
Not Shadow. Shadows.
A chill ran down my spine as I remembered those whispers from my dream. In that moment, I thought I heard them too. He’s coming. Hide. He’s coming. Hide. He’s coming. Hide.
Miki-Leopard, what does Shadow say?
Shadow say he almost here.
Who’s almost here, Miki?
Mad-Dragon.
The whispers got louder. He’s coming. Hide. He’s coming. Hide. Become the shadows. Hide. Become the shadows. Hide.
Oh shit. Was this part of the simulation or was it real ?
Miki-Leopard, ask Shadow to call Kasi.
She try. Kasi no answer.
It had to still be the simulation then. Kasi would never not answer Shadow. In fact, Shadow might even be part of the simulation.
The entire time we were racing around the room, bursting through shadows and swiping at them, the fake Zowen just stood there, like a statue, watching. He didn’t attack or say anything, which frankly, was freaking me out.
It was almost as if the simulation believed I feared the sight of the man more than anything he might do, which was weird to say the least.
Even as I had this thought, Fake Zowen disappeared, blown apart in long streaming shadows another Zowen stepped through, his wings bigger and darker and much more menacing than the ones on the previous Zowen.
He’s here, he’s here, the voices whispered, then fell silent.
Mad-Dragon, Miki-Leopard hissed as she backed us away from this Zowen.
Shadow exploded from the shadows to the left of us and came to stand at our side, hissing at him.
Great.
This was still the simulation, right?
Zowen smiled and frankly, it was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. This Zowen seemed much more physically here than the other one had, if that made any sense. His wings were still a writhing mess of shadows, but the rest of his form was more solid .
Shadows erupted from him and he barreled toward us.
Shadow let out a yowl of fury and dove forward so the two collided in a mass of shadows that writhed and tore at each other.
A split second later, Miki-Leopard flung us into the fray. He hurt Shadow.
What followed was nothing but instinct and terror and pain.
Somehow Miki-Leopard went from flesh and bone to shadows, then back again, over and over again.
We slashed and kicked with our physical form, then exploded into shadows and poured through the enemy’s.
Every time we returned to our physical form, the shadows attacked, attempting to penetrate our skin.
I remembered this.
Memory exploded in my consciousness, of that moment when I’d been dragged into the Shadow Realm, of being pinned upright, shadows writhing around me, pouring their darkness into me until my entire being had teemed with shadows, until the light within me, the flames I’d been born with that were the essence of my power, had begun to die.
From those dying flames, there’d come a surge of life and my leopard had ripped free, a being filled with darkness and fury, who’d fought alongside Shadow until Kasi had arrived and yanked us out of the Shadow Realm, back into the real world, setting us free. Trapped in darkness, but free.
I’d spent the following two months in a coma, and now, that leopard who’d been born in darkness, but came from light, from the flames of my power, somehow shielded us and kept the shadows from penetrating our skin.
Not liking how scared and frantic Miki-Leopard felt, and angry that a simulation for class would be so scary and real, I reached for my power, that seething cauldron of flames with ice cracking along the edges, and I pulled it outward.
While Miki-Leopard slashed and roared and flung us between shadows and leopard-form and back again, I coaxed my flames higher until they filled us to overflowing, until the next time Miki-Leopard went to shadow-form, we were on fire.
We poured through the enemy shadows, streams of flaming, icy ones.
Each enemy shadow we touched, retreated from our icy flames, snapping back into Zowen until he was left in his mostly physical form.
He staggered back a step, a look of shock on his face.
Miki-Leopard and I flung ourselves at him, Shadow at our side, but Zowen burst into shadows once more and hurtled away, his wings yanking him back into darkness, then he was gone.
Our shadows retreated and we landed in our leopard form, Shadow sliding to a stop at our side.
Mad-Dragon coward, Miki-Leopard snarled.
Our heart was pounding and I was reeling emotionally, uncertain whether that had been real or part of the simulation.
It had felt real, but wasn’t that the point?
Still, I felt like I’d learned something very important about my powers and how to combat Zowen in real life, but I needed time to put it all together.
The shadows that had surrounded us the entire time slowly pealed away, revealing the walls of the empty lab.
I expected to see other students milling around, but there weren’t any in here with us. Weird.
Miki-Leopard tired.
Okay, sweetheart. I imagined stepping forward on my human feet and for the first time, I shifted on purpose from leopard to human. You were amazing, Miki-Leopard. I imagined stroking my hand down her back, then scratching between her ears, and received a happy rumble in response. “You were amazing too, Shadow. Thank you for coming to help.”
Shadow twined her way around me, brushing against my legs, and I trailed my hand down her shadowy back, trying not to freak out when it looked as if my hand was turning to shadows everywhere it touched her.
She wrapped around me again, nudging the back of my legs to get me moving.
“All right. I guess it’s time for me to get back to class and you to Kasi.” I walked toward the door we’d entered what seemed a lifetime before, Shadow at my side.
When we entered the outer room, I stumbled to a halt. What the?—
The lights were off and the room was empty.
Were we still in the simulation? Where were the other students? Mrs. Diaz?
I flung open the outer door and immediately registered the lack of noise. The second floor was completely deserted. Shouldn’t classes still be going on?
Shadows exploded from a recess in the wall and contracted into Kasi’s form.
Jahrdran arrived right after her.
Shadow flung herself at Kasi, who somehow caught the shadow-cat in her arms and nuzzled her. Shadow climbed onto Kasi’s shoulder, twined around her neck and settled all along her right arm into tattoo form.
Oooh, Miki-Leopard said sleepily. Miki-Leopard do that?
I don’t know, sweetheart. You can try later if you want. Sleep now.
Miki-Leopard want Elli-Dragon.
Okay. We’ll go find him soon.
“What happened?” Kasi demanded. “Where have you been? Mrs. Diaz said you disappeared from the simulation. Everyone’s been looking for you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. We were in that room the entire time. We just got out.” I glanced around at the deserted hallways. “Is class already over?”
“Class has been over for hours. You missed your tutoring session with Elliot. And the school’s security system said you weren’t anywhere on campus. Everyone’s been completely freaking out. Shadow just disappeared. I couldn’t reach her and Elliot couldn’t reach Miki.”
“He’s pretty upset,” Jahrdran said, pulling out his phone and typing something on it. “I just texted him where we are.”
“Jahrdran and I even searched the Shadow Realm,” Kasi said, “but I couldn’t sense you or Shadow there either.”
“Then where the hell were we? I thought we were just in the simulation. Mrs. Diaz said we’d be confronted by our fears, so when Zowen showed up, I wasn’t even surprised. I figured he’d?—”
Elliot arrived in a burst of movement, flying up and over the railing that surrounded the central staircase, landing on his feet and lunging toward me.
Seeing the stark look on his face, I met him halfway.
He caught me in his arms, lifting me so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He wrapped both arms around me and buried his face in my neck.
Elli-Dragon, Mikaela said sleepily. Love Elli-Dragon.
“Mikaela.” His voice was raw with residual terror and pain.
“I know. I’m here. I’m here.”
For a long moment, we just stood there, wrapped around each other, both of us trembling. Me, from what I’d seen on his face and the realization of what I’d unknowingly put everyone through and him because of all the fears he must have faced those long hours that I was missing .
Miki-Leopard, on the other hand, was rumbling happily, making that quasi-purring sound she made, and crooning to us between purr-growls.
My Elli-Dragon.
Long moments passed, then someone cleared their throat.
Elli-Draaaagon.
Pulling back from Elliot, I kissed his cheek, then his lips, happy to see them quirking in amusement at Miki’s rambling. I raised my eyes to look over his shoulder.
My Elli-Elli-Dragon.
Mrs. Diaz, Headmistress Blackthorn and Professor Dunlop were all standing there, waiting.
Miki-Leopard love Elli-Dragon.
“I was still in the simulation room,” I said quickly, so they’d know that I hadn’t done this on purpose. “We never left it. Shadow came to us to help because Zowen showed up. I thought it was the simulation, though.”
Elliot trembled against me or maybe it was me trembling at the realization that if it wasn’t the simulation, the second Zowen was probably the very real Lydrel Zowen from my nightmares.
I dragged in a deep breath. Leaning back to look into Elliot’s eyes, I said to him and to everyone else who needed to hear it, “We drove him back, Shadow, Miki-Leopard and me. You hear me, Elliot? We won. ”
His arms tightened compulsively around me and he nodded. “No wounds this time?”
I smiled. “None at all.”
“Why would you ask that, Mr. Markham?” Headmistress Blackthorn said. “Last time, she came back to us in a coma, but with no visible wounds.”
“We think that Lydrel Zowen’s somehow gotten access to dream-walker powers,” I said. “We’re not sure how strong they are yet, but he’s definitely been walking in my dreams.” I glanced down at my left arm, then held it out. “When Miki-Leopard went into the shadows, they healed us a little, but you can still see the scars.” They were actually pretty damn cool-looking if you asked me. Five marks down my forearm, labeling us a badass.
“You should have reported this immediately, Ms. Mitchell,” Headmistress Blackthorn said, a worried look on her face.
“We only figured it out last night.” Elliot said, finally letting my legs drop to the ground so that I was standing beside him, rather than wrapped around him. Of course, he kept one arm around me, holding me close. “Until then, everyone thought Mikaela was just having regular nightmares, but when she came back with these wounds last night, or rather early this morning, that’s when we knew.”
That none of the professors commented on the fact that Elliot had clearly been with me when I woke from my nightmare, in clear violation of Blackthorn Academy rules about not visiting other residential levels and not sleeping in other rooms, was a clear indication of how serious they found these events.
“All right, we need to discuss this. I’m guessing you’d all probably like to eat something, and dinner’s about to start,” Blackthorn said, “so let’s plan to meet in the library, all of us, around eight p.m.”
We indicated our agreement and the three professors left.
“Where’s Jasmine?” I suddenly realized she wasn’t with them.
“I’m here, I’m here.” Jasmine came racing up the steps, barreling past the professors, and practically threw herself at me.
We probably both would have gone down if Elliot hadn’t been there to brace me.
Jasmine burst into tears the minute I wrapped my arms around her. “We couldn’t find you anywhere,” she wailed as she hugged me tight. “When they told us you weren’t even on campus, I went to Wellspring to search there. When Jahrdran texted that you were back, I couldn’t get here fast enough.” She pulled away and glared at me. “That’s twice now you almost broke my heart. Don’t do it again.” She hit my arm hard, then hugged me again.
“I’m so sorry, but I’m fine now.” I patted her on the back. “I promise. I’m fine.”
“Miki-Leopard?”
“She’s fine too. She’s sleeping right now. She got quite a workout. Let’s get to dinner because we have a meeting afterward. I’ll explain everything on the way.”