What Was Missing

Twenty-One: -Max-

I awaken with Maddy towering above me, shaking me anxiously and whispering my name.

"Max!" she hisses in a hushed undertone, and I blink my eyes confusedly as she heaves me to my feet. "We have to go now!"

I raise my head to face her, and glimpsing what's behind her tensed-up body, I'm roused from my sleep and immediately back a few steps away.

The green dragon's awake.

And she's mad as heck.

Racing off in the other direction with Maddy close behind, I fling through the mist like a bull to a flag. The grass gives softly beneath my feet, and as I trip on something hard, a few things happen in rapid succession. I feel something build within my tired body, a spike piercing my side in my pants pocket. The feeling hardens in my chest, and slowly, I begin to feel like I could fly. I'm becoming lighter, my steps taking me further, and as I approach the gate, I whip my head around, tripping onto the floor as I do. My body bounces against the grass, but raising to my feet, I look at the scene ahead.

Maddy's running as fast as she can, but as the beast lumbers closer and closer, I know she's not going to make it. She's just too slow. Lowering my head to rest against my chest, I fling my fist to my side, stare straight at the beast, and raise my other hand to point something at the dragon. It was the object in my pocket, a double-ended blade with a handle in the middle, and as I depress the small button on the center, I feel something rattle in my spine. It's... changed me. As a faint mist begins to seep from between my lips, I raise my head into the air.

And, as I begin to raise into the fog, legs dangling below me, I scream.

Black tentacles fling out of my body towards the dragon, and upon meeting the scaly hide, sink in, hindering any movement. Maddy's frozen in place, staring in awe at my suspended body, but I tell to her to "Go!" and she continues to run. I feel my resolve fading, my body draining, and when she passes my shadow, I fall to the ground, twist my leg, and limp after her.

I don't know how I did it.

I don't know if I'm going to make it.

But I do know, that in the moment before I rose, I heard a faint roar in the distance.

It sounded a lot like... Lily.