Luke Swan and the Laistrynians: The Flood

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

~Welcome to the bad side~

Worst. Day. Ever.

Well, most interesting day ever suited the day before. Maybe even the first half of today. But definitely not now.

My captor stank like he hadn't taken a bath in one hundred years. I heard ragged breathing and heavy footsteps, but I didn't see anything under my hood. That stank, too. I really didn't want to know whose head was in there before mine, or if it was alive or otherwise.

I was half dragged around the fortress for ten minutes. My arm was starting to lose circulation below where my captor was holding me. I heard a set of doors open. My cloak was removed and I was flung like a rag doll at the floor.

"Ha!" I heard a rough voice shout. "To think our chances of meeting again were-" The voice stopped suddenly.

I looked up. I was at the base of the gilded throne I had seen earlier. Above me was a man in a dark robe with dark hair and eyes.

"Selenos," I said. I had always pictured the god of all evil to be ugly. But this man looked like a Hollywood movie star (and yes, I've seen a few of those around before): tousled black hair, dark eyes, tanned skin. Sure, he pretty much glowed with malice, but there was nothing harsh or brutal about his face.

Then I saw the woman standing beside him: she wore a black pantsuit that seemed to be woven from pure darkness. She had lush, chocolate hair pulled back in a ponytail. And her face... well, think of the villainous female you would see in an action movie: beautiful, but terrifying. Her perfect red lips curled into a sneer when she saw me staring at her.

Oh my God. Evil was hot.

The man wore a look of pure and utter disbelief on his face. It would have been funny if I didn't fear for my life. The look soon turned into anger.

"So," he said, his voice dangerously soft. "I send my forces to capture our greatest foe, and you bring me back a boy?"

He looked at me with pure hatred, but then to my surprise it turned into fear. Wow, this guy had serious mood-changing problems.

"No... It can't be you! You should be dead!" He rose from his throne. "Take him away! Lock him away somewhere, but don't kill him!"

Well, at least my life was spared. But why?

I remembered a police officer coming into school when I was seven and telling us about what we should do if we got kidnapped. Apparently, a lot disappearances had happened in the small town I lived in before moving to Los Angeles. But he never told us what to do if evil immortal beings capture you.

"Look, I have no idea why I'm here," I said. "But I know what you've done to me. You've taken away my only family and dumped me in a whole new world. But why are you afraid of me? I can't even do anything."

"Do anything? You have the one gift we cannot possess, or even take for ourselves! You have it, boy!" The woman glared at me. She pulled a dagger out of no-where and started to walk towards me.

"Leave him, Hyleniss. You have music, child." Selenos snarled.

"But everyone on earth has music! Why am I so special?"

"You are like him! The one with music before you!" Was he talking about Zyra's brother, Swanicaa? He seemed almost as frightened as Zyra had been.

Zyra!

"What have you done to her?" I demanded.

"My minions threw her into the sea, thinking she was you. They will pay harshly for that." He looked behind me. I did, too, and saw why my captors stank: they were half human, half piranha.

None of this was making sense. Why me? Why was I more important than any amazing singer or musician in the normal world? And then something dawned on me: he was scared of music. What would happen if I just...

"I think I'll sing you a song," I announced.

Selenos and the woman froze. The monsters looked confused. Well, I started singing a song from some old musical I had seen when I was a little kid. For some reason, the words just stuck in my head. The euphoria was so amazing, I felt like I was floating on air for the second time that day. Selenos and the woman, Hyleniss, covered their ears and winced. The monsters wailed and disappeared. Really, was I that bad?

As I sang the last note, Selenos as Hyleniss collapsed. I was now alone.

I'm pretty sure I was smiling. My old music teacher always said I had a grin from ear to ear after each of her lessons. I wondered what to do next: I could back through those doors, but I figured there were plenty of baddies out there just waiting to snatch me. I looked at the balcony. Well, Zyra said that everything that travels through the air reaches her eventually. I walked to the railings.

"Zyra, if you can hear me," I said, "I'm alright. Please don't let me die if I do what I'm about to do."

I jumped over the railing.

I tumbled through the air without any control over my fall. One of my shoes fell off. The sea was coming closer, closer...

Zyra's face appeared beside me. The holographic image said, "You're an idiot."

"I know," I said, "but please help me."

She shook her head and held out her arms. They slowed my fall immensely. I landed lightly in the water.

"Thanks," I said breathlessly.

But the image wasn't finished. Before I knew it --whoosh!-- I was pulled under water. BOOM!-- I heard an explosion above me. I opened my eyes and saw a huge fireball above me. I was pulled down farther, my lungs screaming for air, the pressure almost crushing me--

I collapsed on the throne room floor.