Creeden, Pauline - The Clockwork Dragon Read online

  Tears streamed down Tati’s face. “Green Lord,” she whispered.

  He turned slowly. He smiled and called each of them by name. The oppressive darkness lifted from Tati’s heart. She beamed and blinked away tears.

  “It’s time to go, girls,” He said. “This foe has already been defeated.”

  “But how do we get out of here,” Tati asked.

  “You know, for I’ve put it in your heart,” He said. “Follow it.” The illumination filled the space around them.

  Tati closed her eyes and squeezed the two hands she held. She visualized her parents, Fern’s parents. Their love called her home. She felt herself drifting but she did not dare open her eyes. She could smell the forest again. She could feel dry leaves underneath her feet. She peeked through her eyelashes. They stood before the charred stump. The golden dragon lay on its side inside the hollow.

  “Oh, wow!” Rose exclaimed.

  Tati flicked red glittering stars at the stump. A small flame licked the charred wood. Fern flicked her own red stars at the same spot. Liv and Lav did the same. The flame grew. Rose smiled and flicked red stars at the flames. The stump erupted into a blaze. Tati and the girls backed away from the heat.

  Liv held out her hand and closed her eyes. Her energy pressed into the ground and drew up droplets of water. Moisture seeped up, wetting the leaves around the stump. The statue popped and curled as the flames overtook the stump. The most beautiful bonfire Tati had ever seen.

  She would never forget this birthday party.

  A Mermaid’s Desire ~ J. L. Mbewe

  Misu drifted in the murky depths. Her long black hair swirled like seaweed in the currents. She scanned the wreckage of the sunken ship. Schools of silver fish darted through scum encrusted holes and zipped past the ivory remains of humans who dared brave the fury of her world.

  Not a shark or eel in sight. Misu slipped from her hiding place and slid through the cool waters along the length of the wooden leviathan. Green film covered its broken belly and the surrounding rocks. How long the ship had rested in its grave, she couldn’t tell, but from the looks of it, it had to be old. Her grandmother would be excited.

  “Well, it’s about time.” A disembodied voice echoed around her.

  Misu snapped her tail and shot backward. Her heart pounded. She took a big gulp of the water and slowly let it filter through her gills. Her pulse slowed. She glanced around. Where was he hiding?

  Laughter erupted from inside the ship. Raef. She frowned. She propelled herself around the splintered wood, careful not to touch it. She glided into the darkness, and her eyes adjusted to the low light. Tiny glowing specks floated around the vacant ship and hung on the rotten walls. A rush of current brushed against her body, and she spun around.

  Raef’s radiant face smiled back at her. His dark braids were banded together and flowed down his back. He crossed his arms against his sculpted chest and flicked his muscular tail.

  Her pulse jumped, and she tried to hide the smile playing at her lips.

  “What took you so long? I was beginning to worry.” Raef’s voice was like the sea during a storm. Raging above, but safe below. Her fins almost wilted.

  “I was cleaning the barnacles off of Grandmother’s tail.” Misu glanced away. “She’s getting older, you know.”

  He gripped her shoulders. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

  His eyes glimmered in the shadows, and she tingled beneath their intense gaze. He pulled her closer, and she leaned into his embrace. Her mind shot in a hundred places at once.

  She sighed. “Her birthday is tomorrow, and I have yet to find her a suitable gift.”

  He pulled away and ran his fingers through her long hair. “And that is why you choose to come to a rotting vessel of the Outerworld?”

  “You know how she is.” Misu flipped her tail and circled him. She placed a hand on his smooth cheek. “Thank you for coming.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “And why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well, you know, all those other mermaids trying to get their hooks in you. I’m surprised one hasn’t followed you out here.” Misu glanced over his shoulder, just in case she was wrong.

  Raef cocked his head. “No other mermaid in her right mind would come here.”

  “Are you saying I’m not?” Misu placed her hands on her hips.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” He smiled. “But did I say I was looking for one who was in her right mind?”

  His smile warmed her to the tips of her fins. He leaned closer, his nose almost touching hers. “Crazy or not, you are the only one for me.” His lips brushed her forehead. “That is, if you’ll have me.”

  Her heart skipped. “Are you asking me?”

  “Maybe.” He raised his eyebrows. “Of course, I’d have to ask your father first.”

  Misu shivered. Suddenly the water felt cold. “What if he says no?”

  “What if he says yes?”

  He grabbed her around the waist and flipped his tail, propelling them upward. She closed her eyes as the water rushed over her. She leaned against him, and his heart thumped against her skin. Yes. Yes, she would have him.

  As the sea lightened with the approach of the sun, they darted back and forth in a game of tag and hide and seek. The rays of light shifted through the waters and something glittered amidst the green mass of broken wood and iron bars. Misu paused. Raef bumped into her and clasped her around the waist, burying his face into her hair.

  “Did you see that?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. Come on,” she said.

  She swam back and forth until she spotted it again. Half-buried beneath the rotting wood and years of green film, a metal claw gleamed. Raef dug it out and presented her with a statue of a dragon. Slime covered its scaly body, but remained remarkably unscathed from its underwater grave.

  “This will do.” She took the statue from Raef and nearly dropped it. “Oh, this is heavy!”

  Raef shrugged. “Perhaps it’s made of stone.”

  Misu turned the dragon around. Delicate scales covered its body and bore neither wings nor fangs like the dragons she had seen in her grandmother’s art. No, this dragon was different. He had a feathery beard and moustache that curled around his body. Turning the dragon over, she found a metal ring attached to its bottom. She pulled at it, but it didn’t move.

  “I don’t think this is stone.”

  Raef touched her shoulder. “We should go back now.”

  Misu nodded, but couldn’t take her eyes from the dragon. Its own eyes glittered like emeralds and seemed to stare right back. She picked at the filth buried in its gaping mouth. “I shall clean it up and give it to Grandmother tomorrow.”

  *

  Misu and Raef darted through the darkening sea and reached the edge of the metropolis just before the sun’s rays faded completely. Carved out of a mountainside, the city’s massive pillars stretched from the seabed to the ceiling. Spires of stone stuck out among the pillars like long, twisted shark teeth.

  Misu and Raef wove their way through the stone teeth. Beyond the pillars, homes built from large shells, bones and rocks filled crevices in the seabed. A few windows glowed from within, but many remained dark, too poor to afford the glowing urchins.

  Misu glanced up. In the distance, the king’s palace nestled in the throat of their great city, thousands of urchins glowed from its windows and their terraced gardens. The pearly walls shimmered in their colorful spray of light, almost diffusing the shadows overtaking the city.

  Raef nudged Misu, and Misu continued swimming. At the outermost edge of the city, where a pillar rose out of the seabed, her home melded into the mountainside. Small rounded windows glowed warmly, spilling their light into the courtyard below.

  Raef grabbed Misu’s elbow. “Your grandmother is in the garden.”

  Misu froze. Sure enough, grandmother lounged on one of the flat rocks. Her tail flicked slowly as she scratched behind the eyes of a large hermit crab.
r />   “Here.” Misu shoved the dragon statue into Raef’s hands. “Go around the courtyard, where the pillar breaks from the stone and sneak into the third window up. I’ll meet you there.”

  Raef smiled and darted away. Misu took a deep breath and tried not to look conspicuous. She swam toward the arched entryway to her home and paused as if she had just seen her grandmother.

  “Oh, hello, Grandmother,” Misu said. “Are you enjoying the evening?”

  Grandmother nodded and smiled, her mouth void of teeth. Her thin, white hair had been pulled back into a sloppy bun. Misu hugged her and brushed back the wispy curls from her lined face.

  “Where have you been my dear?” Grandmother asked. She glanced up, but her eyes had long since lost their sight.

  Misu smiled and sat next to her. “I’ve been exploring Grandmother.”

  “Oh? Looking for my birthday gift, were you?”

  “You’re a clever one.” Misu grasped Grandmother’s hand and stretched out her tail.

  Grandmother sighed. “You have to be if you want to survive in the Outerworld.”

  Misu glanced up at the third floor. Raef’s silhouette filled the window, but the draw of the Outerworld was greater. The statue could wait a little bit longer.

  “What was it like?” she asked.

  “Oh, I’ve told you a hundred times.” Grandmother patted Misu’s arm, her fingers trembling. The current swirled around them and tiny neon fish darted back and forth. The silence lengthened. Her grandmother sighed. “How I would have liked to see the wondrous trees of the Outerworld one more time. There’s nothing quite like it beneath the sea.”

  “Maybe,” Misu hesitated. She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep. “Maybe we could take a trip. Father and Mother could—”

  “No, no, my dear, my time is near done here.” She squeezed Misu’s hand. “But thank you. So, what is this gift you have for me?”

  Misu straightened. “Oh no. You’ll just have to wait until morning.”

  Her grandmother chuckled and set the hermit crab on the ground. “I’ll think I’ll go see what your mother’s preparing for dinner. And tell Raef he doesn’t have to avoid me.”

  “What?” Misu stared at her. “How did you know?”

  “I could smell him, my dear.”

  Misu shook her head. “How could I think to surprise you, you’re too nosy. He’s helping me with your gift, so you better be on your best behavior.”

  “Of course, my dear.” Her grandmother grinned. “Aren’t I always?”

  Misu laughed and kissed her forehead. “See you at dinnertime.”

  *

  Misu swam through the arched entryway and darted past the large kitchen off the main hallway. Reaching the center of the house, she swam up to the third floor and ducked inside. A small urchin glowed in the window garden, its light drenching the room in blues and purples. Raef lay on the flat rock against the wall and flashed her a smile.

  “I thought I was going to have to come rescue you or something. What took so long?”

  Misu frowned. “It wasn’t like I could just swim right past without her noticing. She knows you’re here. She could smell you.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Do I stink?”

  “Not like that.” She laughed. “Where’s the dragon?”

  “I put it on your desk.”

  Misu’s gaze shifted to the dragon. Its emerald eyes glittered back at her. The tug of the Outerworld grew stronger. How could a race of beings create such delicate marvels, yet destroy their ships with such recklessness?

  *

  Misu scrubbed the dragon statue until all the years of slime and filth were gone. The entire dragon gleamed gold. Its beady eyes glittered red in the urchin’s colorful glow.

  “Cleaned up nice, didn’t it?” Raef folded his arms behind his head and flipped his tail back and forth. “If you like that kind of stuff.”

  “Grandmother will love it.”

  Misu ran her fingers over its scales. They were so expertly carved they appeared real. She tipped it over. What did that ring do? She tugged at it, but it didn’t budge. Then she turned it. A series of clicks resounded inside the dragon. She turned it until it wouldn’t budge, and then she let go.

  The clicks turned into a melody, and soon a beautiful song poured from the little dragon statue. It was lulling and peaceful like the waves against the shore. She smiled. Her grandmother would definitely love this. As the melody continued, the dragon’s scales shimmered, and its eyes sparkled. The gold brightened until it radiated like the sun.

  A shadow passed above her. “Misu?”

  Raef sounded so far away, but Misu stared at the dragon and caressed its shiny scales. It was a he, she determined. She’d give him a name. The body of the dragon grew warm, and the song continued to swirl around her on the currents. Then he blinked.

  No, that couldn’t be right. She held the dragon up, and the eyes followed her. Then he cocked his head. His feathery moustache and beard lifted from his body and floated around him.

  “Misu.” He smiled his toothy smile. “What a lovely name.”

  She jerked back and would’ve dropped the dragon, except she couldn’t open her hands. She shook him, but he grasped her fingers tightly.

  “Do I frighten you?” His snout trembled, and a chuckle rumbled in his throat. He flicked his forked tongue at her.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “What do I look like?”

  “A dragon.”

  “Then I’m a dragon.” He snapped his muzzle shut and slid his long tail along her arm. Its scales rubbed against her skin. She shivered. “But I am much more than that. I have power, raw power like the raging sea. I can take away life. I can give it too.”

  And she believed him, despite his small frame. A surge of energy burned her palms and rushed through her body. Her heart raced. She trembled head to tail and gasped for the calming waters to cool the heat.

  He drew his talon along her wrist. “I can give you whatever you want. Tell me, what is your deepest desire? For my promises are never broken, my dear.”

  “I-I don’t know.”

  He chuckled again. “You want Raef.”

  Her face burned. Where was Raef? She tried to pull her eyes away, but the dragon’s gaze demanded her full attention.

  “I love him, and he loves me.”

  “Are you sure about that?” The dragon wrapped his tail around her wrist. “What about that time you found him with your sister?”

  “Th—that was a misunderstanding.” Misu tried to jerk her hands away from the dragon, but they were stuck to his scales. She shook her hands again, trying to dislodge him, but he only laughed and tightened his grip. She clenched her teeth. “Leave me alone.”

  “I would if I could, but you see, you doubt your very heart, and I cannot release you from that.”

  The water grew hotter and heavier. The scales bit into her flesh.

  “What about the time you—”

  “Shut up, dragon!”

  He opened his snout, and a rumble of laughter exploded from the depths of his belly. Had he grown? The enormous voice couldn’t possibly have come from such a small creature. Misu blinked. The dragon clung to her hands, his tail wrapped around her wrist and forearm. Ribbons of blood floated on the current. How was she bleeding? She had to stop it before—

  “Oh, the sharks will come,” he said. “But I can save you. All you need to do is give me your heart. I will not break it like Raef did.”

  Misu closed her eyes, steadied her gills, and tried to pull in water. “Let me go!”

  “Can he give you the pearls you so desperately want?”

  Her eyes snapped open, and she glared at him. Was the water red? She blinked. The crimson eyes smoldered, and he smiled again, his little beard floating on the current.

  “He can give you nothing, but I can give you everything. Anything. Name it and it is yours. All I ask is your heart. Promises never broken, my dear.”

  T
he water roared in her ears. Or was it something else? She clenched her jaw. “No.”

  All the noise and movement stilled. He tightened his grip and cocked his head. “And what if your father says no?”

  The pain in her hands and wrist blurred her thoughts. She fought for coherency, but the rocking of the waves began again. The water roared and swirled red. What if the sharks came? What if her father refuses Raef’s request?

  “I can give you Raef.” He bared his teeth.

  She drew in more water and clenched her jaw. “You can’t give me anything I don’t already have. Let go of me.”

  He snarled. “You cannot reject me! I will kill you. I will kill you both. I promise you. My promises are never broken!”

  Voices shouted in her head, and she shuddered. Something hit her hands, and she slammed against a wall of stone. It was cold, so cold.

  “Misu!”

  Raef cradled her in his arms. The roaring stopped, the pain ceased.

  She glanced around. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know, one minute you were cleaning the dragon, and then the next minute you were in a trance and bleeding.” He pulled her close. “How the heck are you bleeding? Did you cut yourself?”

  She held up her hand and sure enough, deep scratches oozed dark red. She straightened. “The dragon, he did it.” She scanned the room for him. “He came alive and spoke to me.”

  Raef raised his eyebrows. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “Trust me.” She glared at him. “He spoke, he knew things, about you, me. He said he was going to kill us.” She stared at Raef, and her whole insides started trembling. “What are we going to do? He’s going to kill us.”

  “Calm down.” Raef pulled her closer and leaned his chin on her head. “It-he can’t harm us. We’ll get rid of him, destroy him or something.”

  She drew in a gulp of water and pushed it through her gills. “Yes, we’ll smash him to pieces.”