Culmination | A Tinkerbell Fanfiction

Chapter 19: The Other Half

"Well, we're here," Terrence reported, the first through the cave's gaping entranceway. Asha and Tink were close behind, Tink with the map (a gift left behind by Scarab during the group's hasty exit) and Asha twirling her quilled spear as she flanked the both of them. "It seems really quiet though," he added, sticking his head back out to meet them. "Wasn't there supposed to be a dragon guarding this place?"

"Kyto," Asha confirmed, nodding. "Banished by Queen Starlight and sent here to guard the fifth and most powerful of the bracelets. Not a pleasant creature to deal with. I'd say your friend must have been extremely lucky that he wasn't here. Which, of course, begs a more important question--"

"Where is Kyto now?" Tink interrupted. "And what happened to Bobble and Scarab?"

"Well, I can say they were definitely here," Asha went on, side-stepping around the two blonds and swiftly moving toward broken shackles firmly molded into the farthest wall from the light. "All of them. And wherever they went, they took the bracelet with them. What I don't understand is where they would have gone with Kyto."

"Something happened," Terrence called. "Over here," he added, pointing to several scorch marks lining the stone floor all around them. "And here. I think...yeah, Tink, this was definitely Bobble's power. But I don't think he was the only one."

"It's Shade," Asha agreed. "I recognize those burns. They're full of anger and vengeance. Each is distinct. A dragonstouch is a reflection of a Protector's innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires; who they really are inside."

"And you can tell the difference just by looking?"

"Of course," she replied. "My strongest talent is scout. I could spot danger from a mile away. And this, right here," she pointed to the marks, "spells out danger on so many levels."

"And what does that tell you?" Terrence asked. "How does that help us find the others?"

"Because," Asha said with a long sigh, already turning away from them and looking out past the forest to something that neither of the younger fairies could see. "They left the mountain by two different means; magic and dragon-back. This tells me exactly which way they went."

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An unsteady rhythm of rain clunked against the rocks, soaking up the silence and sending it flying back into his ears. It sounded like it was above him, drawing ever-so-closer with each passing moment, ringing through every inch of the cave and rattling through his throbbing headache. 

"Uh, Scarab? He's not waking up, you know. It's been over an hour. Exactly how hard did you hit him?"

Footsteps stormed through his head, dull at first but rapidly growing into a symphony of pain. He grimaced, struggling and wishing the ache away. He couldn't open his eyes, the ringing in his skull was too intense. Blood was rushing to his head and he felt light...too light.

He was upside down. 

There was movement again. Someone was kneeling down in front of him now. Hands cupped his face, deceptively tender, but he could feel the boiling evil underneath the surface. He only wished he had seen it earlier, before he had wound himself up in this whole mess. 

He refused to move, hardly daring to breathe as the moments dragged on. He didn't know what the Protector was searching for. A pulse? A flicker of conscious thought? Something clicked inside his head; an unexplainable sensation he could not begin to describe, and Scarab shifted away in surprise.