Kelly Drake and the Tears of the Dragons

Chapter Thirteen - The Midlands

Michael landed face first on the ground, which felt to him like hitting a wall of orthopedic pillows.

"Whoa! Did you have to yank so hard, sis?"

"You almost died back there, Mike. That was a lethal blast."

"I felt so helpless. I mean, I sensed everything that was happening, but I couldn't move."

"Victoria immobilized you, that's why. Then she literally took a bullet for you. Hard to believe, but she saved your life."

"Yeah. Unbelievable. I hope she's okay. It was her brother's spell, so she should be fine, right?"

"Don't pin your hopes on that theory. A kill spell is a kill spell."

"Was that what your mom used on Frances? I saw her drop to the floor."

"I'm not sure. Mother has a lot of things in her arsenal."

"Will everyone be all right, Kelly? That battle was fierce. We know those people, and they were fighting to protect us, to protect me."

"My mom got back just in time. She wouldn't let anything wrong happen to the council. With Samhain over, none of the Southerners could match her one-on-one, not even the Blackhall brothers. Anyhow, let's not dwell on that. Forget about Earth for now, because our task is to reach Valon through this place."

Michael looked around for the first time and realized how outlandish everything was. It seemed to him as if Alice's Wonderland intersected with the Land of Oz and crashed-landed on a fauve Dr. Seuss setting. He half-expected the Big Friendly Giant to appear at any moment. Pixies of equally vibrant hues hovered around them, though they seemed more like dust glitters. Michael tried talking to them, but he received no response, at least as far as he could tell.

"Welcome to the Midlands, where nothing is what it seems," Kelly said. "Don't worry; we have our maps, remember?"

Michael instinctively groped for his map in a childlike, nearly comical manner, sighing in relief when he found it on his first attempt. Yet, once unraveled, the markings did not offer him any comfort, for there was no similarity at all to their alien landscape. Except for a small square that might indicate where they had emerged, and a smaller crossed circle where they should go, he could not identify any of the paths, hills and waterways on the map. What stood before them was a barren wasteland made to appear more enticing with bright colors splashed here and there. Where there ought to be three-dimensional terrain, there were only lines crudely sketched against a cartoonish backdrop. Hesitantly, he sidled up to Kelly, who was struggling with her own chart without betraying her disorientation.

"Where do we go, sis?"

Grimly, Kelly forged ahead, brother in tow. She decided not to consult her map, relying instead on the memories stored by her mother in the ring that seemed to have shrunk to fit her smaller finger. The pixies stayed behind.

"Wait, wait. Something's caught in your pants." Michael removed the stowaway and recognized it. "Victoria's necklace; it must have been thrown into the portal when she was hit by her brother's spell."

Michael handed it over to Kelly, who, upon grasping it, felt a jolt that made her kneel to the ground.

--- 0 ---

"Kelly!" Michael screamed in panic. He had never seen an expression so twisted by pain.

"Stay back, Michael," Kelly commanded. She had accidentally joined her hands and that instantly neutralized the excruciating sensation. For a moment, her right hand glowed green and engulfed the left, which was holding the necklace. A strange notion formed in her head, one where her ring's gem was speaking to the black pendant, telling it to calm down.