The Terrible Twelve

Chapter 32: The Dragon At Peace

"Ian!" Viridian pushed herself off the ground and caught him as he slid past her. "No, no, Ian please. Please don't die." She begged, rubbing a hand down his face.

            "Too late. At least I got to kill him first." She grinned, blood dripping from her mouth.

            Viridian's eyes changed slowly as she gently laid Ian on the ground. The golden yellow color spread and her whole eye was now consumed with the yellow fire. "You have should run when you had the chance." She raised her hands and they burst into flames.

            Jane's eyes grew wide as she realized the mistake she'd made. She attempted to run when something gripped her ankle and pulled hard, dragging her to the ground. Panicked, she looked back to see a skeleton gripping her ankle. She screamed as the rest of the hand emerged from the earth.

            Jane kicked the hand off and tried to run again. She'd never seen anything like this before and she was not about to die in some cemetery at the hands of a child. She ran through the trees until another skeletal figure blogged her way. This one was not fully decomposed and the skin was slipping off his bones and dropping to the ground with every step. She turned again and three more were behind her. She tried to escape but she was surrounded.

            As Jane Lindy screamed for the last time, Viridian's eyes dulled before they returned to their soft brown. She listened to Jane being ripped apart and then turned towards Ian's lifeless body.

            She bent down as tears doused her cheeks. She pulled him into her arms and held him while she cried. When Rivka stepped into the clearing she lost her breath. She was followed by Sophia who gasped and fell to the ground. The last was Ivan who stood with a solemn look in his eyes.

            Viridian sobbed as she stroked his face. The same face that would never smile at her again gasped.

            Ian shot up gasping for breath and Viridian let loose a blood curdling scream. Ian struggled for breath as he tried to reach the wood that was stuck into his back. Viridian was too shocked to move at first but realized what he wanted and pulled the wood out.

            "Jesus Christ." Ian groaned and turned to the side as he heaved blood. "That hurt."

            "Ian, your alive?" Viridian was still holding the stake as the others breathed sighs of relief and gathered around him.

            "Oh my god, you scared the crap out of us." Rivka yelled. "What gives?"

            Ian coughed a couple more times before answering. "She missed my heart." His voice was raspy and deep. "Caught one of my lungs though." He rubbed the torn spot in his shirt where the skin had already healed. "That's going to hurt."

            "Oh my God." Viridian wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life.

            "I'm going to be ok love." Ian assured her. "What happened to Jane?"

            "We found her ripped to shreds as we came this way. We figured you two took care of her." Rivka answered.

            Ian looked at Viridian, "What did you do?"

            Viridian shook her head slightly, "It's all a little fuzzy and I wasn't really in control of anything," she looked nervously up at them, "I think I raised the dead."

            "What?"

            "That's impossible!"

            "I want to do that!" Oliver yelled and they all rolled their eyes.

            "That's not possible dear." Sophia had knelt down to hug Viridian's shoulders.

            "It is now. Viridian drank the spell. Who knows what she can do now." Ian told them.

            "Whoa." Oliver eyebrows shot up.

            "What does it feel like?" Sophia whispered.

            "It feels," Viridian tried to explain what her body was going through. "It feels like I can feel everything. Not just my body or what I'm touching but I can feel . . . the world turn." She looked up at all of them expecting to see crazy looks. She didn't think they would believe her but all she saw understanding and looks of love.

            "Don't worry, we'll figure it out." Sophia whispered.

            "Yea, we're going to hunt down the witch and the gypsy." Rivka said with a look of determination on her face.

            "She can't have gone far." Ivan turned and followed Rivka into the surrounding forest.

            "In the meantime, let's get you two home." Sophia helped pull Viridian up while Oliver gave a hand to Ian.

            "I finally think that bed of yours is going to come in handy." Ian laughed.

One month later and Viridian was standing in her bedroom trying on a new dress. She liked how it fit her but she thought the pink color was washing her out too much. She crinkled her nose and like rainfall, the pink started to turn a nice dark blue. "Much better."

            Viridian had discovered a new ability almost every day since she'd taken that potion and Ian had assured her that more were sure to come. They were unable to find the gypsy but the witch had lost her life running away from them. She tripped and impaled herself on a broken piece of glass. They had gone through her things but couldn't find a single written explanation or ingredient that was used in the potion. Until then she would have to figure out what she could do by trial and error.

            "Viridian come on, it's time for dinner." Ian knocked on the door and attempted to open it but it was locked. He knocked again and Viridian opened the door with a twitch of her fingers. "Is everything alright? Are you ready to go?"

            She turned towards her smiling vampire, "Yea, everything is perfect."