CHAPTER FORTY NINE
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"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING me. Is that a-" Mila cuts herself off, astounded by what the ominous shape in the distance turned out to be.
"A dragon? Yup."
Even with Josie's high octave confirmation, it was still incomprehensible to Mila, who stood frozen in place between the twins, unable to tear her eyes away from the creature swooping down from the sky. Its skin was dark, blending in with the night; if it wasn't for the shine of reflective moonlight and the trail of flames it heaved out, she wouldn't have been aware of its presence. The dragon's forbidding silhouette itself was enough to evoke panic, towering over the treelike like a skyscraper and landing with the same force of a crashed airplane. Trees snapped in half and the earth fractured from its arrival.
Leave it to the Necromancer to be a nuisance even after his entrapment and departure from this realm. They closed the portal in time to vanquish him but not in time to send this thing back to where it came from. They had one more unleashed monster on their hands, and, by all means, this thing was definitely a monster.
"Looks like winter is coming. On my summer vacation, no less." Lizzie's voice held faux cheerfulness, her genuine excitement from their successful mission long gone.
"Well, you've got any ideas on how to handle this, Daenerys?" Mila retorted.
"You're the adult here. Aren't you the one who's supposed to be coming up with the bright ideas?"
"Mythical creatures from medieval times are a bit out of my area of expertise."
"We can cast a perimeter spell so it doesn't go into town and stays in the area," Josie suggested, swallowing her own anxiety.
"This is a literal dragon. It's a gigantic, fire-breathing beast flying around in the sky. That alone would draw attention from the whole population. It's about five seconds away from starting a forest fire and last time I checked there's no Angelina Jolie here to save us," Lizzie chastised, her head turned towards the people beside her.
A sharp breath was inhaled and exhaled through Mila's nose. She understood just how problematic the circumstances had gotten right when they all believed everything had been solved. But this surprise, this unexpected detour on their way to a peaceful and warm celebration with the people they loved, didn't push her into a dark headspace.
Because this wasn't a consequence of happiness. This wasn't what happened when something good was finally in your grasp. This was just life. There's missteps and downfalls and pain but there's also what you become after you've overcome all of the hardships. Someone more wise, appreciative, stronger... someone who understood what's important and what you shouldn't give up on. And this town, these two girls next to her, and her future with Kai would always be things worth fighting for.
Both of her hands rise up to grab the sleeves of Lizzie and Josie's coats. Her head was the only one staring forward and out the doorway of the crypt. "A forest fire is the least of our concerns."
"Why?"
"Because it's coming right towards us. Run!" Mila rushed out, tugging them both forward.
The three of them expel from the building and steer to the right. They distance themselves from the enveloping trees and into a connecting, open field, but the stomps of the dragon's heavy footfalls that shook the land beneath their feet reminded them that they were still being hunted down. Their sprinting only halts once Josie motions for Lizzie and Mila to join her behind a log. The overgrown grass of the area aided in their coverage.
While Mila caught her breath and took a glance over shoulder to see how close the beast was getting to them, the twins interlaced their hands and murmured the perimeter spell Josie had mentioned before. An energy was discharged near the end of their chant, jostling Mila's hair and whipping around the elements of the field, and the result was a force field that boxed them in and glowed before turning invisible to the naked eye.
Sensing a presence and upset to the atmosphere, the dragon roared and ejected enough fire to mark a semi-circle along the center of the moor. It wouldn't be long until the rest of the dry grass caught aflame and for the fire to spread if they kept provoking its temper. The dragon clearly wasn't favorable to their idea of hide and seek.
"There. It should uphold for at least a couple hours. It won't be able to pass through the veil we put up," Josie clarified, dropping her grasp on her sister to fiddle with her hands in her lap.
"This is by far the worst parting gift I've ever received. Ted really is a pain in the ass," Mila muttered, ducking down swiftly when the dragon's eyes and their green tint scanned their section of the field.
"Our seventeenth birthday party was less of a disaster than this," Lizzie added. The cascading light from the burning field gave the crown of her platinum hair a scarlet hue. "And Josie was wearing polyester."
"And I was overtaken by my dark side and nearly killed Hope, remember?"
"Yeah. That, too. But your outfit made you look like a cat burglar. Luckily, I looked cute for the both of us."
"So not the take away from that situation, Lizzie."
The light chuckle Mila let out from the exchange was interrupted by a round of coughing. The smoke emitting from the wildfire had reached them, swirling into the air and blowing over them with each gust of wind. Mila knew by the time they escaped this predicament that her clothes would be wafting the stench of it.
Josie pulled her sweatshirt up and over her head, offering it to Mila. "Here. You really shouldn't be inhaling smoke."
"Thanks." Mila showed her appreciation with a quirk of her mouth and reciprocating Josie's knowing look. "Me and your cousin-to-be are grateful for the gesture."
"Cousin-to-be?! Oh my god! Are you pregnant!?!" Lizzie expelled at full volume, which induced immediate shushes from the two people beside her. She opted for whisper-shouting instead, snapping her head to scold Josie. "You knew Mila was carrying Kai's spawn?!"
"I found out accidentally from Dad, okay?" Josie admitted sheepishly.
"And you didn't mention it to me?"
"It wasn't my secret to tell."
"Every secret you acquire you are obligated to tell me. I thought you knew this! We've only been sisters for our whole lives." Lizzie argued, eyes wide and mouth still parted from her offended gasps. If Mila didn't know any better, she would think that Lizzie was more upset about not being in the know than the monster huffing and puffing not too far away.
"Hey, my unborn child doesn't need this negative energy right now. We can talk about how I may be giving birth to the antichrist later. Let's focus on the fact that we're minutes away from being turned into ash." Mila removed the bundled-up shirt from her mouth to speak and nodded behind her.
"There's not exactly a Dragon Slayer course at school, Mila. We have no idea what to do, either," Lizzie reminded, which sent all of them back into their own individual thoughts.
Mila may not have faced the wrath of a dragon before but she did know a lot about being in life-and-death situations. She understood that often they required sacrifice, someone to take the lead and the risks. And after peering over at the twins, both of them breathing through the collars of their shirts and conveying the stress of being cornered by a large, terrifying creature, it all clicked for her. She was no longer the one that stood by in case someone needed an extra hand, the collateral damage of someone else's heroics going wrong. She had to be the one who stepped up.
"Well, maybe I can at least distract it. Get it away from you two so you can go get help." Mila straightened up against the side of the hollowed log. The moss infesting the surface stained the fabric of her top.
"We're not going to leave you," Josie rejected without a second thought.
"You're going to have to," Mila refuted firmly. "Lizzie said it herself. I'm the adult here, and you've risked your lives enough tonight. Go to the school, figure out how to kill it, and come back with your friends, the people who are capable of helping you do it."
"So, what? You're gonna stay here and play a twisted game of dodgeball with this thing's fireballs?" Lizzie fired back, but her attitude was motivated by something different now, something that tugged at her heartstrings and actually gave her soft features some fragility. "No, Mila. I'm with Josie. We're not leaving you."
"I'll sneak away on my own after you two get out. The perimeter spell should last for a few more hours, right? That should give you guys enough time, as long as you do get out safely."
This response was followed by a brief period of silence. Lizzie's lips twitched like she wanted to argue some more but she held herself back from saying words that would have been fumbled and underlyingly harsh. Josie stared back at her with engulfing brown eyes that could swallow anything more effectively than the increasing blaze surrounding them.
"I don't like this," Josie admitted. "It's too dangerous."
"I'll be okay," Mila reassured. She spared a glance down at her abdomen. "We'll be okay. I promise. Just go."
Before anymore concerns could be voiced, she stood. It took only a few paces away from their hiding spot for her to be out in the open, the heat of the fluttering flames encouraging sweat to slicken her skin and for the core temperature of body to rise to the surface. The floating ashes from singed greenery and plant life reminded her of a reverse snowfall, and among the overwhelming scenery was the evident cause of the blooming destruction.
A twitch of its snout and the bend of its elongated neck led to her being the center of attention in his line of vision. Reverberating grunts and the heavy shuffling of its gigantic body were all that Mila could process while she took calculated steps away from the girls, drawing his fixation elsewhere. This monster's footsteps produced craters, each of its pointed teeth were her arm's length, and it would only take one firy exhale to result in her death. Her decision to divert its attention solely to her reasonably came attached with fear, but there were no regrets plaguing her mind. She would make this perilous choice again and again.
"Go!" Mila yelled without removing her stare from the creature who was beginning to make its way towards her. Lizzie and Josie finally act and listen to her request, rounding the field with hunched backs to return to the forest undetected.
Darting across the width of the field, Mila narrowly escapes an attack from the fire-breathing beast. The incandescent stream of fire just about blinded her, causing her to jump out of its path and tumble into the weeds.
Her sputtering cough from the landing was muffled by the crook of her elbow. Red, watery eyes scan her surroundings of scorched nature, and she tries to blink away the sting from being directly exposed to smoke. She reached the assumption that if she stayed low and still, that the dragon would pass right by her.
Soot streaked her face like charcoal on a canvas and even smudged the roots of her hair pulled back into a ponytail. They were just messy contours lining her spent and unmoving body. Despite the obvious details that were an incoming monster and the wildfire fencing her in, Mila somehow still felt the urge to slip away from actuality and give into exhaustion.
The crackle of fire was a lullaby. The gloss of deep purple scales passing by only a few yards away was a nightlight. The mixture of dirt and ash that she dug her fingers into was the seam of a blanket draped over her.
Until, the dragon halted its descent to the other side of the stretch of land, swinging around in a manner that turned its tail into an axe, slicing through the tattered remains of grass. Its wretched, daunting eyes find her, and her daydream is overtaken by the nightmare of reality.
There was no escaping. In front of her, was the dragon. On either side of her, were the raging flames she wouldn't be able to cross through. Behind her, there was a clear path, but there also was no way she could outrun the creature and dodge its advances with how close it was now.
"Besides being one, I don't suppose that you attract miracles, do you? Because we kinda need one right now," she whispers to herself and the fetus developing inside of her. "We need a really big one."
One of the few things keeping her calm during the unnerving stare down with the dragon was the knowledge that Lizzie and Josie must have made it out before the fire had gotten too out of control. They were okay. They were safe. No one else was going to get hurt because of the Necromancer's petty schemes because they were going to find a way to stop this.
Kai was another thought that gave her a peace of mind. Kai, her husband, the love of her life who she hoped was somewhere safe and sound. After everything he's been through, it's the least of what he deserves. Mila has never known someone who has endured so much trauma, deep-rooted manipulation, and blatant rejection. She realized early on in their friendship just how unloved and unappreciated he was his entire life, but now she recognized that because of that, because of that sense of understanding, she had silently promised to love him enough for everyone who should have before. To love him for exactly who he is.
Kai, in all of his difficulty, all of his complexity, had always been beautiful to her.
Mila braced herself for whatever sudden move was coming next from the creature after it lowered its head and unhinged its jaw. The distance between its menacing face and her still form had been redacted to just mere feet. The dragon's foul breath mixed with the fumes of the inferno it orchestrated, leaving Mila repulsed, a feeling she held onto so her apprehension didn't overrule her common sense and force her into a run that would be short-lived.
Just as the dragon puffed its chest and jutted its upper half back, indications it was about to release another wave of hellfire, a shiny motion was perceived by her peripheral vision. It was as if she had spotted a shooting star in the dead of night, a shimmering diamond among rhinestones... the miracle she had asked for to be granted escapism from desolation. It was only when the reflective object sliced through the thick diameter of the monster's neck did she grasp that it was a blade to a sword — a very gallant, intimidating sword that she had definitely seen before.
Mila followed the length of the weapon to its owner, ignoring the yellow bodily fluid (what must've been blood) that gushed out from the dragon's decapitation. Her arms push up from the ground shakily, only succeeding in lifting herself up enough to be on her knees; the intensity of her emotions compelled her to remain anchored and appreciate the astonishing view of her savior.
"Kai Parker: Monster Slayer. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Kai mused, angling his head to the side in that admirable way he does.
"You slayed the dragon," she uttered breathlessly, still distracted by the shocking sight before her.
"And saved the princess," he said. His tone was smug but his expression is soft, heartfelt like his growing smile.
Her head shook, both in disbelief and awe. "You're... you."
Kai tossed the sword to his feet like it was suddenly hot and glowing red like the majority of the field around them. He steps forward to offer a hand to help her up, which Mila doesn't think twice about taking. He hoisted her to her feet with one swift pull, allowing her hands to secure a hold on his biceps as she takes him in because he was doing the same with her, studying every detail about her. So much had happened since their last encounter. So much had changed.
He guided them away, towards the edge of the woods, so they weren't dangerously close to the flames. Mila fell in step with him, taking slow strides while her gaze flickered over him. Smears of dirt marked his clothing, a few trickles of splattered blood mixed into the stains, but other than the occidental shallow cut and bruise, he didn't appear to be hurt. She let herself relax, her tensed muscles unwinding, after she registered that he really was okay.
"Unfortunately, true love's kiss could only do so much. But let's just say someone helped me see the light. I'm sorry it took me so long. Sorry I showed up late, too. Had to swing by Ric's office and borrow Excalibur, here. And had this whole thing with my revived father but I'll get to that later," Kai began his explanation animatedly, but once he met her stare, although showcasing relief, he grew solemn. She can tell his mind flashed back to their last interaction because there was hesitation weaved into the placement of his hands on her shoulders. His thumbs run across the thin material separating them from skin-on-skin contact.
"What I'm trying to say is... that I'm sorry for a lot, actually. I should have been the one to get you out of Malivore. Hell, I should've never let you out of my sight that night. I've done a lot of wrong things. Not only lately but just in my life. The whole sum of my life is mistake after mistake. But I want — I need — you to know that... you are not one of them."
His confession is the exact thing she needed to hear to snap her out of her daze. She sucks in a choked breath, her eyes overflowing from unshed tears, but this surge of emotion wasn't brought on by misery. Her eyebrows didn't pucker and her lips didn't part due to affliction. It was from the consumption of happiness, pure, earth-shattering happiness that made her fling her arms around him like he was the only solid thing in the world.
The eruption of tears is unleashed at the feeling of Kai hugging her back just as tightly, just as desperately. Because Mila was never his enemy. Not really. Even when they were on opposing sides, even when he was deluded and obsessed with revenge, she was the one person he had felt safe with. He was never burdened by paranoia that she would stab him in the back or the worry that she would judge him to the point of exclusion. She had accepted who he was at every point in his life. Loved him for his best and worst. He swore to himself that no spell or obstacle summoned to come between them would ever make him forget that.
"I missed you so much. Life is so much easier when you're the clingy one in our relationship," Mila admitted, her words muffled because of how her head was nuzzled underneath his chin. The stream of her tears created rivers running along the grimy texture of his skin, trailing down his throat to dampen the collar of his shirt.
"I know. Please never stop walking all over me. It's straight up terrifying what happens to me when you don't. I need to be humbled," Kai replied, choked up.
"I agree." Mila sniffled, untucking herself from him. She offered up a heartwarming smile, a twinge of her humor returning and causing her green eyes to sparkle. "Wow, we're renewing our wedding vows already."
Kai grinned back at her, releasing a brief laugh. "I'd say it's very needed."
Mila nodded, and Kai used his leverage on her waist to pull her into an overdue kiss. It was the kind of kiss that moves with your whole body. A tilt of a head is also a twist of your hips, a stroke of a tongue is a caress from a venturing hand, and the enclosing meeting of magnetic lips is what brings you chest-to-chest, heart-to-heart.
She leans back, her content mirrored by him, to murmur, "Well... I would say that you're the best mistake I could ask for, but someone else is competing with you for the title now."
Kai follows to where head signaled downward, frowning, perplexed, before he caught onto the gesture. His entire face lights up, and the palm of his hand soon makes its way to lay flat against her stomach.
"Are you serious?" He heaved out. It doesn't take long for him to drop to his knees, his excitement taking the reins; he lifts up her shirt and sticks his head underneath. "Helloooo. Is anyone home?!"
"Okay, Kai, my uterus is not in outer space. You don't need to talk to it like that." Mila attempts to scold him, but she finds herself giggling at his ridiculous and eccentric reaction to the news.
"You sure about that? I bet the baby looks like a lil alien in there."
"We're not at the alien stage yet. I'm only a few weeks along. Right now it's just a little glob."
Kai ducks out from under her shirt, but not before he pressed a chaste kiss right below her belly button. He stays on the ground, his jaw using her abdomen for support while he peered up at her. She reached down to play with the hairs at nape of his neck, remnants of a soft smile still prominent and perceived by Kai's adoring gaze.
"I bet Levi's the cutest glob ever."
"Levi? Already starting the naming process? What if it's a girl?"
Kai's eyes resembled gemstones as he simply answered with, "I just have a hunch."
a/n: hi bffs. hope you guys are happy and satisfied with this and the upcoming last chapter, which will be more like an epilogue to wrap up loose ends. i don't plan on having an author's note for the next chapter but i will be replying to comments :)
also if you guys are interested in like a discussion chapter where i go more in depth about the story and add a few bonus scenes and stuff like that let me know! i would structure it kind of like a q & a type deal.
oh and if you guys wanna follow me on my instagram and spam my edits i'm @ haertscape. yes, i edit kai, too ✨ anyway, thank you guys for reading <3