For Once | Dreaming Trilogy | Book 2

Shyanne | Scared?

As soon as she was moving, I knew she was a threat. The luminescent girl was too fast to not be dangerous. I jumped backwards and into a huge updraft of air, forcing my bow and arrows to appear.

Although Phoenix was closer, the girl still aimed squarely for Kayla. Luckily, Kayla rolled out of the way of the girl's swinging fist, but bright pink goo slid off of the cone and onto Kayla's arm. She screamed.

I nocked an arrow and fired. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken into account that I was firing through an updraft. My arrow disappeared into the sky.

Kayla was up again. She had both daggers bared this time -- she meant business. She lunged at the girl, her right hand sinking into her chest as her left arm wrapped around her. They were on the ground, Kayla on top.

Her arm rose for another strike, but the ice cream girl grabbed her tiny wrist. She turned that ice cream cone around and jammed it into Kayla's forearm. Another ear splitting scream.

Phoenix rushed forward and raised her sword into the air. She slammed it down, and for a moment, I thought it was over. But she'd missed, only hitting the hard ground.

I found a new angle and nocked a new arrow. I gave it an extra boost as I released the bowstring. It whistled through the air and into the girl's shoulder with such force that she was momentarily pinned to the ground.

Kayla took this moment to slam her blade into the girl's wrist. She screamed a terrible cry and pushed her free hand into the ground. She disappeared, and reappeared behind Kayla as she knelt on the ground.

I rushed to a new angle and fired. The arrow whizzed past the girl's head.

The girl gave me a sadistic smile before tilting her ice cream of death over to drip onto Kayla. The first drop made Kayla shriek, but she wasn't ready to go down. She whipped around with her dagger ready, swinging the blade into the back of her knee. The girl fell.

I looked to Phoenix. Usually, this is when she'd swoop in and finish the job.

She was too slow.

I flew to the ground and aimed an arrow at the girl's throat.

She smiled at me. "I feed off of fear, you know."

I smiled back. "I'm not afraid." I fired.

I expected to close my eyes and open them to see the corpse, but when I opened my eyes I saw my arrow stuck in the ground where she had been.

"Where did she go?" I asked, looking around.

"She disappeared..." She was already freezing over the wounds she'd acquired.

"She was filled," Phoenix said grimly. "Let's move before she gets hungry again."

She stormed forward, her sword never leaving her palm. I helped Kayla up and convinced her to follow Phoe.

It was nightfall by the time Phoenix finally stopped. "We'll rest here." With a blink, a pile of wood appeared in front of her. Dreamer magic. She held her hand out and a fire flickered to life. "I'll go find us dinner."

I nodded and sat on the ground. Kayla watched Phoenix go.

"Were you what fed her?" I asked Kayla gently. "It's okay if it was you. I'd understand."

"It wasn't me." Kayla snapped. "It was that thing."

"Phoenix?"

"For the last time, that's not Phoenix." I raised my palms in submission and she continued on her enraged rant. "Whatever it is, it was terrified of that ice cream bitch. She said she wouldn't tell Not-Phoenix's secret, and I think that's what scared her so bad. The knowledge that we now know that there's a secret."

"I think it was just a bluff," I said.

"A bluff? Dude, what the hell? You can't feed off of a bluff. That thing wouldn't have left if it wasn't full."

I sighed. "Kayla, that's Phoenix. She doesn't radiate fear like the rest of us."

She huffed angrily. "You didn't see her."

"I did," I protested, working hard to keep my voice even. Kayla was just a child, afterall. "And she has blue hair and beautiful silver eyes that simply can't be copied."

"Y'know what else can't happen, Shyanne? A glowing girl coming out of the cracked earth to suck our fear out in the form of sustainants," Kayla fumed, stopping her furious pacing to stare me down. "So don't you tell me what's possible when we are functioning in an impossible world."

I sighed.

She looked away, jaw set.

For a moment, there was just silence and the sound of the crackling fire.

Then rumbling.

I looked in the direction of the sound, watching the smooth ground heave and rise in waves.

"I keep my promises," a raspy, ominous voice shook the air around us.

The ground in front of us exploded, dirt and other debris raining down around us. From the gaping hole rose a glowing monster, perhaps twenty feet around. It looked like a snake, but its head was a human female's body -- a female with pink hair and a sadistic grin.

The voice spoke again.

"And I promised to kill you!"

There was no time to react.