Bleeding Heart

I remember it like it was yesterday. The night of the witches' attack. The moon and stars hid behind the clouds. I could still feel the cold rain coming down on us. David was worried about the tracks we would leave in the mud. I was worried our two-year-old, Avan, would succumb to the elements. Even though I try to avoid doing magic in public, I performed a warming spell on Avan.

“Ava, what are you doing? We may be over the village wall, but we are even more exposed out here in the forest,“ chided David.

“Do you want Avan to get sick? He needs warmth, and besides, we got out of the village in time,” I protested. I truly believed that when I said it.

Gavlin, the village we were fleeing, had executed a young witch a fortnight ago. However, in one last act of defiance, the young witch cursed the town. A red haze surrounded the town for a week after her death, but nobody reported any problems. Then, one day, the haze just disappeared. Next, the cats came. It was just a few black cats at first, but then it felt like everyone had one. I knew the cats were not our friends, but I didn’t want to be there when everyone else found out. I told David, and we prepared to take Avan and flee Gavlin because I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of a war between witches and humans.

However, after I performed my warmth spell on Avan, a cat appeared on top of the Galvin wall behind us. Then, another black cat hopped down from the trees in front of us.

Those beady yellow eyes from the cat, who descended from the trees, stared back at David and me. The black cat licked its paw, and David looked at me. I gave him a serious look, and he immediately took out his sword. I held Avan closer. A few things happened as soon as the cat's paw hit the grass. The cat increased in size. Suddenly, the beady eyes were rabid, the cat was jaguar-sized, its teeth were fangs, and the cat's claws became as sharp as David’s sword. The cat lunged, and David speared the cat right through its open mouth and killed it instantly. I saw another cat lunging at David from the village wall in my peripheral vision. I didn't have time to think. I just acted. “Freeze,” I yelled. I hadn’t had time to whisper a spell. Since I tried to bend the magic to my will without a spell, the magic wasn’t very precise. Or rather, it was too accurate and literal. The cat froze into a block of ice, hit David in the back of the head, and David passed out.

I heard a horrible hiss, and in an instant, dozens of killer cats stared at us from the wall. David was knocked out from the ice. I couldn’t go anywhere with him, but I wasn’t going to leave him. I could hardly fight the cats while holding Avan, so I did the only thing I could.

“Take my will and form my shield, take my will and form a shield,“ I chanted. A pink shield of energy flowed from my back, creating a barrier around us. The shield just seemed to enrage the cats. The cats lunged at it in spurts and were thrown back at the wall. Every time a rabid cat collided with my shield, it took more energy from me to keep it up. I fell to my knees, trying with all my might to hold on. The cats hissed and leaped at the shield over and over again to the point where it felt like I could feel the sharpness of their claws every time they hit the barrier as if they were piercing the skin on my back. Eventually, my body gave up, and I passed out from the onslaught of rabid cats.

I awoke to a horrible sound. It was a pulsing shriek that drowned out every other sound. I put my hand to my ear and saw my ears bleeding. I rolled over in the grass to grab Avan, but he wasn't there. I saw David had stirred, too, and his ears were bleeding. Every movement of my body was labored. My insides felt like they were made of grinding pebbles. I suddenly saw that the black cats were coming straight for us. David and I couldn’t do anything as the cats came toward us, and all I could think was where was Avan? As the cats were inches away, they jumped over David and me. The stampede of cats ignored us and fled the area. I realized the sound must have been coming from Avan. He must be magical like me. He used his cries as a defense mechanism, wild magic, to scare the cats away and save our lives.

Once the cats were gone, it was eerily silent. David and I gathered ourselves to get up and grab Avan, but we didn’t know where he was without his cries. Certainly, the blood from our ears indicated he couldn’t be far. However, as soon as we moved to look, something shifted in the bushes. A lizard popped out, and then the lizard horrifyingly turned into a colossal red dragon. Wings sprung out of nothing and flapped wind against the trees, and when the tail and front claws touched the grass, the impact knocked David and me back to the ground.

In one terrifying instant, the dragon flew by us into the sky with Avan. The dragon held Avan’s blue shirt in its teeth. It didn’t feel real. It felt like we were paralyzed in a terrible nightmare. Avan was so close to us. Then, the next moment, he was carried away into the sky by the teeth of a dragon. The dragon’s massive wings pushed us deeper into the ground as the dragon flapped and made its ascent.

Once again, I had no time to think and just acted.

“Lightning. Lightning. Lightning.“ I cried out, but the bolts missed. The dragon disappeared into the clouds, and I fell to the ground on my knees. Tears welled up in my eyes and poured down my face, but I didn’t make a sound. I looked up at David like a child looking to a parent for an explanation.

“We will find him,” said David stoically. I couldn’t even process what David was saying. Our son had just died in front of me.

“He's He's He-”

“Is alive, and we will find him, “ screamed David. David had never once in his life raised his voice to me like he did at that moment. His eyes were wild, and his voice boomed over the forest. I can’t explain it, but, at that moment, I believed him. I got up and wiped my eyes. He picked up his spear without saying another word, and we took off deeper into the forest in the direction of the dragon, who had stolen our son.

It's no secret where the dragon lives, but nobody has been crazy enough to travel to its lair. Most people who come across dragons don’t live to tell the tale. Avan. He's just a baby. Maybe the dragon will have some sympathy for a child. After all, Avan is special. Hopefully, his life will be spared. Dragons like treasure, right? Maybe Avan is just a trophy for the dragon. He is our greatest treasure.

David led the way through the forest, and I trailed behind. David had once been in the Galvin army when he was young, and David had experience with supernatural creatures in the forest. Usually, he would have told me a story about some exotic creature he came across in the forest. However, David didn’t talk to me today as we traveled through the forest. He just looked back at me ever so often to make sure that I was still following. David probably blamed me for Avan’s disappearance. If I hadn’t cast that spell, Avan would still be here now. I was too ashamed to speak.

We slept under my barrier that night. David slept away from me, and he kept silent. The next day, my feelings began to change as I watched David. Avan was my son too, and who was David to treat me like this was my fault. I was left to fend for myself because of his frail body. I was the one who provided the barrier when he was unconscious. At night, I was the one who protected us. On the third day, David remained the same. He checked back to see that I was still there, but he remained silent. It infuriated me, and that night when we made camp, I couldn't stay quiet anymore. “Why won’t you talk to me,” I blurted out.

“I just have nothing to say,” responded David indifferently.

“Our son is gone, and you have nothing to say,” I shot back. I knew it wasn't the right thing to say, but I had to say it. I saw his eyes widen and his nostrils flair, but the flash of anger dissipated as soon as it had come.

“We should sleep so we can get to Avan sooner,” said David, turning his back on me.

“Do you blame me, is that what it is?” I asked David. Even if it was negative, we were finally communicating, and I couldn’t let that go.

“Just put up the barrier Ava,” said David assertively.

“No, I’m not your personal genie. You want my protection? You have to actually treat me like a human being,” I said angrily. David shot back up and spun around.

“Except you aren’t human, are you?” yelled David. I couldn’t say anything. I was stung.

“I tried to leave it alone, but you wouldn’t drop it. So you wanna talk about it, let's talk. What's the point of having powers if there is nothing you can do when our son is carried away by a fucking dragon?”

“Fuck you. If my powers are so useless, why don’t you stay up tonight and guard yourself? I’m sure my barrier would be useless to you. I’m sure your human weapons will be so much better than my useless magic.“

“Fine,” said David defiantly.

I was fuming. I laid up next to a tree in the clearing and set up my barrier around myself. I disappeared from David’s sight. However, I could still see him lying up against the tree. David was still looking around like he did during the day. He seemed paranoid, but I guess he had to be since he chose not to have magic. Eventually, I dozed off. When I woke up, David was gone. A million thoughts raced through my mind. Was David okay? Had he taken this opportunity to leave me behind? Had he left me for good? I wanted to call out to him, but who knows what would have answered in the dead of night.

I immediately turned off my barrier and got up to look for him. I had to calm myself and think of the positive. Maybe David was just peeing or something. I crossed over to his tree to see if David had left anything to indicate he was coming back, but there was nothing. The positive thoughts weren’t working, and I felt short of breath. I felt like I would never be calm again. My chest was heavy. I felt like anxious energy was pulsing throughout my body and radiating off me. It was so quiet that I felt trapped by my spiraling thoughts.

There was a sudden buzz, and I was grabbed by the shoulders, but it wasn’t David. It was a giant troll-sized creature who looked transparent. There was a vaguely humanoid shape to the creature, but it seemed to be made of night air. The creature had soulless haunting inhuman yellow eyes. As bright as lanterns in the night. I screamed.

The creature started to glide away with me in its incredibly strong grip. For a moment, I considered the irony of me getting carried away while on a mission to save my son who got carried away. Then, my witch instincts kicked in. I knew exactly the right spell. ”We are the same. Let my fire engulf my enemies in flame.” Flames erupted from my body and set the creature on fire. The creature dropped and then dove into the dirt path in the clearing of the forest trees. The flame disappeared, and so did the creature.

I looked all around, but I didn’t see anything. I heard a rustle in the bushes and a buzz, and then the creature appeared in the tree bark. The creature took a swat at me and I returned fire with fire, and I shot fireballs in every direction. The creature was everywhere-underground, in the air, and in the trees and bushes. The creature started switching its camouflage, trying to get a clean shot at me. I was surrounded by a ring of fire, but I couldn’t keep up the blast. This creature was too fast and hard to see. All of a sudden, the creature broke through my defenses, and I tripped. The creature towered over me in the ring of fire, and I just knew this was the moment I was going to die.

However, David came out of nowhere, jumping through the ring of fire on top of me. David held me down and shielded my body with his, and David asked me to trust him. I closed my eyes and held onto David for my life. However, after a few moments of silence, we realized the monster had gone.

“What the hell was that, David?” I asked.

“It's a Lurker.”

“Why did this Lurker attack us?” I said as I put out the fires.

“Lurkers go after the lost and abandoned, “ said David grimly.

“ Does that mean you abandoned me?” I whispered. It's all I could muster. I didn’t meet his eye as I waited for his answer, and I struggled to keep my face unreadable.

“Of course not. I was behind you. I knew you would be safe, but I needed to go to higher ground. I was in a tree just behind you,” he said eagerly.

It felt good to hear him so insistent that he hadn’t abandoned me, but I still had a burning question. “Why was I targeted then?” I questioned.

“I felt like something had been following us, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to alarm you. I’ve never actually come across a Lurker before now. They are extremely rare, but when I was in the army, I heard stories about them. They target the lost and abandoned, and maybe it's not just literal. Maybe you don’t have to be lost or abandoned. Maybe just feeling like it is enough.”

I took his hand and let all the unsaid things about our last couple of days flow off of me and transfer to him in the electricity of our touch. This time he didn’t wait for me to speak. “I didn’t know if it would work, but I threw myself between you and the Lurker to show that you had not been abandoned, and you never will be,” he promised and brought me in close. I put my hands around his neck and kissed him. Sometimes words don’t give enough justice to a feeling. Sometimes feelings need to be felt. That night we grew closer.

In the morning, we woke up determined to find our son. Avan didn’t have time for guilt or shame or doubt. Avan needed us, and we were on our way. That day our travels went off without a hitch. We made good time and seemed to be in lockstep. When we came out of the trees, we could see the mountain where the dragon lived. It was on the other side of a raging river.

David looked over at me confidently, and I smiled and began to work. “Brighten my spirit so I shall never fail, guide my mind, and blaze my trail.” After my spell, a pulsing blue bridge was created over the river. David and I jumped up quickly to get to Avan. However, when we were halfway across the bridge, it disappeared. As we fell into the rushing water, I was drawn to a single drop of rain that fell into the water as we fell.

I expected the cold water to shock my system and the current to carry me away. However, the water was warm and calm, and I stood and saw that David had done the same.

“Now, why would you go casting spells in my river?” said a woman. A woman dressed in black with long black hair and glistening ebony skin stood in front of us now.

“Who are you?” asked David quizzically.

“You are up in my river, and you don’t even know my name. I’m River.”

“Little on the nose,“ said David.

“Isn’t it?” taunted River.

“We really don’t have time for this. We need to get to that mountain,” I said quickly. Then, I went to go past River, and I felt something wrap around my legs. Suddenly, I couldn’t move. I looked at David, and his face said he was experiencing the same thing.

“You have nothing but time. Why would a witch and a human rush off to a dragon’s den?”

“The dragon has our son, and we will get him back. Now let us-”

“Your son is most likely dead, and if you go to that den, you will be too,” River interjected.

“We are going to get our son back or die trying, and there's nothing you or anybody else can do to stop us,” I fired back angrily. David took out his sword and swiped at River. She waved her hand and had the current carry away his sword. Now, River had a raging river on both sides of us. The square of water we were standing on was the only square of the river that was utterly calm.

“You know there are worse fates than death. Most people that enter the dragon’s den don't come out, and those are the lucky ones,” said River ominously. David glanced at me, and I knew what to do.

"Freeze," I yelled. River was engulfed in a block of ice. David pushed her into the raging water, and she sank as the current pushed her away.

“That wasn’t very nice.” We turned, and there was River back to normal. She waved her hand, and we were spun in a whirlpool back to where we had started. Again she stood in between us and the mountain. “This is my river. You aren’t going anywhere unless I allow you to. If your spell had actually succeeded, the current would have consumed you and pushed you down the river banging you against every rock along the way,” she said, slowly enunciating every word.

“Why do you give a damn if we live or die?” yelled David.

“Because I've been where you are. I went into the dragon's den, and now I’m trapped here forever protecting it. You can still go back. It was foolish of you to even come here, but you still haven’t made the ultimate mistake,” River shot back. There was a spark in her eyes, and for the first time, she seemed serious.

“We are going no matter what. There's nothing you can say that will make us give up on our son. If we die, then we die. If we end up right here with you, then so be it,“ I said resolutely.

“I will only let you through if you are strong enough to defeat the dragon. If not, death would be kinder. So show me your strength or get,” she said. With a wave of her hand, the water spouted up and launched David and I back to the shore we had come from. We gathered ourselves and talked over our plan of attack.

“I don’t think she can be killed because she is tethered to this river. It sounds like her fate is tied to the dragon,” I told David.

“If she can’t be defeated, then we must give her a reason to let us through. Is there a way we could free her?” asked David optimistically.

“I don’t think we could override whatever this dragon has done to tether her, but we could work around it.”

“So, what will it be?” asked River.

“We are going to free you,” said David flatly.

“Impossible, It's not that simple, or else I would have freed myself,” scoffed River.

“The dragon trapped you here. His tethering was meant to stop you. Not me. “What tethers you here?” I asked confidently.

“My heart. If I stray too far from the river, my heart begins to fail,” said River pessimistically.

“Well, it sounds like all you need is a new heart,” I said cheerfully. River still looked unconvinced.

“Oh great, I guess you are right. All I need is a new heart. What are you going to do? Give me yours,” snorted River.

“Yes,” I said evenly. David and River looked shocked. I put a hand out to David and told him to trust me. Then, I turned back to River. “I will promise you that if we fail to defeat the dragon, you may have my heart. It's a win-win. Either we defeat the dragon, and you are freed. Or we fail, and you are freed,“ I said resolutely. River’s eyes flickered, and she stuck her hands out, inviting me to make the promise. I looked at David.

“We are gonna slay it,” said David. Then, we waded in the water towards River. I took her hands, and we began to chant. Purple energy sprouted from my back, and blue energy sprouted from hers, and they converged and retracted into our backs. The promise was made. The deal was done. There was no going back. We would have to slay the dragon. River stepped aside, and the water parted for us.

“Go slay,” encouraged River.

We walked away, leaving River behind. When we arrived at the cave mouth, it was dark, so I produced a fireball. After walking in the dark cave for a while, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. We went towards it. When we walked through its opening, we saw it. In the middle of the cave room lit by wall-side torches, a colossal red dragon was sleeping in a ball on a bed of treasure. It was hard to see what it was, but one thing that stood out was the gold pile surrounding it. However, in front of the sleeping dragon was a cave opening. It was horrifying. All around the arch opening were pikes of heads stuck into the cave wall. Outside of the opening on the cave walls, there were cave drawings all drawn in blood.

I grabbed David’s head and turned us invisible. He led the way as we entered the archway and climbed up the pile of gold.

However, the gold was too clunky. It was impossible not to make noise, and the dragon shot up. We were behind the dragon, and we backed up to the cave wall in the opening, getting as much distance as possible. Surprisingly, the dragon could speak. “Where are you?” bellowed the dragon. The dragon had a deep husky voice. He looked all around and then turned, looking directly at us. David and I didn’t move an inch. “I may not be able to see you yet, but I can still smell you.“ I quickly whispered a spell to get rid of our scent, but it was too late. The dragon swiped its thick spiked tail at us. David told me to drop. There was no time for hesitation. We dropped, and the tail swooped over us, colliding with the wall instead.

We hopped up, and David grabbed my hand. We booked it towards the opening we had come in from. The dragon blew fire at us. We dove off the mound of gold and hit the ground hard. From the ground, we could see the flames barreling over our heads just ahead of where we stood, and we could feel the heat.

“Crazy idea, let's get the high ground,” whispered David.

“How?”

“Climb the pikes, and then we will drop onto the dragon on my signal.” We separated, going on opposite sides of the opening. The decapitated heads on pikes made the perfect ladder. When we arrived on the opposite sides of the archway, I could no longer see the dragon, which meant he could no longer see us. David motioned for me to wait. I was worried about how long these pikes would support our weight.

“Where are you now? I don’t smell your charred flesh,” the dragon complained. The dragon’s head and neck were now under the arch as it searched for us. I looked at David, but he signaled for me to wait. Then, the dragon came out farther, and now its back was visible. David jumped off the pikes, and I figured that was the signal. I quickly jumped with him. The jump took an unsettling amount of time. It felt even higher than I realized, and I thought we were pretty high. We crashed down onto the dragon with a thud. The skin was much tougher than I expected, and I grabbed onto the dragon's horned vertebrae, and I could see David doing the same. My shoulders groaned in protest, but I ignored the pain. “Inflict. Constrict. Restrict.” I commanded. A purple rope twisted around the dragon's neck in an X pattern, and David and I raced to grab both ends. We picked it up and pulled.

“Who are you?” the dragon groaned.

I removed our veil of invisibility and kept a tight grip on the dragon.

“We are the parents of the baby you stole, and we want him back,” I said firmly.

“Where is he? Bring him out to us now, or we will choke the life out of you,” said David tugging on the rope a little harder for emphasis.

“That's a good idea. Come Avan,” coughed the dragon.

Just then, a teenage boy jumped out of a hole in the wall and landed on the dragon. The boy had black veins under his eyes, making him look crazed. “This can’t be our son. He's a baby,” said David in disbelief before pulling on the dragon's neck. Avan took the rope, removed it from our hands, and untied it from the dragon's neck at lightning speed. He hung off the dragon's neck and stared at us.

“Hey, mom and dad, did you miss me?” said Avan sarcastically.

“I have many treasures. Not all of them are gold and jewels. I also have things like Vampire Venom. How do you like your immortal child?” taunted the dragon.

“We can cure you. Avan, just come back with us.”

“Why would I go back with the parents who abandoned me?” Avan said coldly.

“We never abandoned you. You have no idea what we have been through to get you back. Why do you think we are here?” protested David.

“The dragon poisoned your mind. You aren't thinking right. Just come back to us,” I begged.

“If you really love me, then prove it. Join me,” said Avan. In a flash, he was at his father's neck. I tried to stop him, but it was too late. By the time I got over there, Avan had already punctured David’s neck and returned to the dragon’s side. David collapsed in my arms, and I teleported us off the dragon’s back. I couldn’t go very far with David bleeding like this. We made it to the edge of the room. Avan chased after us, and in seconds he was standing above us. I had my hand on David’s neck, and his head was in my lap as he held my hand.

“Are you abandoning me again, or are you joining me?” asked Avan.

“Avan, this isn’t you. The dragon has poisoned your mind, and you are just a trophy to him, something to manipulate. We love you, Avan, even now. Just come with us, and we can make this right. We have come so far for you, Avan. We love you,” I cried.

“Avan,” groaned David. It was all he could manage, but I could tell he was backing me up the best he could. I hoped Avan got the message too. The dragon laughed.

“I don't care. I am the embodiment of power. The dragon gave me strength. You just gave me up because you were too weak to protect me. I don’t need anyone’s protection anymore,” raved Avan. I could see that he meant it. There was no reaching him. He was right here, but he was gone.

“I am your mother, and you will always be my responsibility.” I reached out to embrace him as I mumbled a spell. Avan went for my neck, and everything went black.

Ava dropped to the floor next to David. Purple smoke emitted from her and engulfed the mountain. First, River answered the call. Then, a horde of witches stormed the cave-like bats. When the screams were finally silenced, and the smoke cleared, River emerged from the cave soaked in blood.