WILL THE HERO BECOME THE MONSTER? Feisty university sophomore Tonya finds a woman's body on the beach with its stomach ravaged. Missing persons return, impregnated with dragon's eggs. When medicine and magic can't remove the egg , Tonya makes a deal...
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The Old Village of Loon Lake was just beyond the southwestern outskirts of Loon Lake City south west of the cemetery and her aunt's Herbal Healing Shop. Once inside the wall, Tonya looked for familiar landmarks, but the narrow, cobbled streets had been built over with multistory glass and concrete buildings. Where was the log cabin-style ice house? Where were the farmer's barns that had stood for hundreds of years?
Navigating by direction rather than landmark, Tonya found her way to the centre of the Old Village where she expected to find a central plaza. With relief, she noted that it was still there, built around a spring-fed fountain. Unlike European fountains decorated with Dolphins or cherubs, this fountain opened out like a pond. Frogs on lily pads covered it surface, cast in weathered green copper that almost looked real. Tonya leaned over the fountain and scooped icy water into her hands to drink. The icy water filled her mouth and chilled her teeth, like when she was little. On summer days, Tonya used to love stopping for a drink here, surrounded by a silent chorus of frogs.
As if prodded by the cold, pure water, the dragon stirred inside her. At least it didn't hurt this time. Tonya searched the sky for the tallest crane and wove her way through the narrow streets toward it. She knew the right thing to do, if she could overcome her fear of heights. Too bad her only specialty in magic was draining life energy. Right now, the ability to cast a glamour to hide herself would have been helpful. If she got caught, people would come after her and put her whole plan in jeopardy, but there was no time to ask for help or look for a better spot. If she let the dragon inside get any stronger, there would be no hope.
From the base of the crane, she looked up but couldn't see the summit. Something that tall wasn't meant to be scaled on foot. She wished she could lower the crane and mount it, and then have someone else send it up into the air again. With a couple of friends to help, her task wouldn't be hard, except she would never ask them. Drake would lay his life down for her, no question, which was exactly why she told no one where she was going. She was a witch. Surely, she could figure out some way to do it alone.
Normally, the crane operator would sit in a cockpit like the world's most complicated tractor seat. Tonya climbed up the steps to try the cockpit door. Locked.
Tonya remembered how hard it had been when she learned to dive, first from the low board, and then from the high. Heights were her great fear, but overcoming it had saved her life once. When she was trapped in the cave on Loon Lake Island, she had climbed a ladder to freedom with trembling hands. But she had done it.
That climb had been a few storeys tall, but the crane rose taller than the tallest condominium tower that Donna's family had built. Worse, if she got part way up the crane and the dragon figured out what she was up to, well, who knows what it would do. She took a deep breath. Time to go.
Tonya found the ladder, built into the main arm of the crane. It reminded her of the rungs she had seen welded onto the side of roller coasters, to allow workers to get up and service them. She tried not to think about how flimsy they looked as she mounted the first step and her foot hit a damp patch ans slid.
With white knuckles, Tonya climbed until she was as high as the rooftops. She looked up but tried not to look out at the few houses spared by the Ashton clan's bulldozers. Looking down was out of the question.
She ascended until she could see straight across into the windows of the condominium buildings rising around her. Had she been spotted from the street? She didn't dare look down but kept going, certain that if she could just force herself to go high enough, she wouldn't be seen and reported to police. The worst thing would be to draw a crowd.
On she climbed, slower now as the wind made the crane sway ever so slightly. It whistled between the buildings as she took each step, testing every rung, afraid to stop, afraid to look down. She glanced up and the distance above made her dizzy.
A wave of nausea rippled through her. Did the dragon do that to her? Was he awake? Without meaning to, she caught a sideways glimpse of ground and her head started spinning. Tonya gripped onto the rungs until her fingers ached. She was frozen, unable to continue up. She closed her eyes, but the world below started to move in the opposite direction that her head was spinning. Her tongue pasted itself to the roof of her mouth. Tonya wished she could let go and splash into the pure water of the fountain, unhurt, like a cartoon character. She was trapped by her own weakness. Another girl would keep climbing, like a movie hero. Tonya couldn't force her left hand open to reach up. Her feet remained on the rung, stuck like they were welded to it.
Tearing pain ripped through her gut. Her agitation must have awakened the dragon. This was it, this thing was going to send her plummeting. Slowly, Tonya forced her hands and feet to start moving again. Only fifteen storeys to go, piece of cake.
The wind picked up as she got higher. She was above trees and buildings now, if you didn't count the very highest buildings which, rather than blocking the wind, redirected and focussed it in gusts that tried to tear her from her perch. These buildings were packed together like big city skyscrapers. How many people did Donna expect to move here? She tried to hold onto that thought and puzzle out its ramifications as she climbed past window after window. It helped to think of that instead altitude.
"Ow!" The thing inside stabbed her like a knife. Tonya gripped onto the rung so her involuntary reactions wouldn't knock her off the ladder.
"Get out of me!" she shrieked.
I should cut my way out now!
"Why? What have I ever done to you."
It's what you're going to do.
"Can't a girl go for a simple little walk up a ladder without being accused of something?"
There's nothing you can do. I've got you.
The dragon sent another wave of agonizing pain through her. Tonya felt weak, and this time it wasn't just fear of heights. She could literally feel her energy ebbing. She ungripped her left hand from the ladder and lifted up her shirt to look at her stomach. If anything, the bump there was bigger, like a six-month pregnancy. A black bruise spread across her belly, growing by the second. It looked as if someone had spilled a bottle of ink under her skin and now it was spreading downward. Internal bleeding or dragon poison? If she didn't act fast, she'd get so weak she'd lose her grip.
"Wait! If you kill me, you'll kill yourself too!"
Don't be stupid. I can fly.
Tonya gripped the ladder with weakening hands. She wasn't as high off the ground as she would like, but it would have to do. She closed her eyes and zeroed in on the dragon's life energy. Unlike people or plants, who glowed green in the energy map of her mind, this power throbbed with a dark light beyond the spectrum of human senses. If it had a colour it would be ultraviolet, not green. Draw enough out of the dragon and she could kill it, and this far from the ground, she should be able to do it without killing any bystanders. That was the hope, anyway. She latched on to the dragon's dark energy and started drawing it in.
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Update for 2024: This story has been revised and published. You can buy it on the usual platforms or read it for free on Ream. https://reamstories.com/maaja
