Page 10 of Ensnared
I parry his clumsy blow easily and land a sweet hook to his jaw. He’s got a huge head, but he still feels it, I can tell. While he’s reeling from the unexpected blow, I pummel his abdomen, and he turns away. That’s when I kick him, hard, on the side of his head. He sprawls out flat, just like his pal.
The pal is, unfortunately, already back on his feet. He now looks like an angry hornet, practically frothing at the mouth. He’s speaking nonsense, and I want to laugh at him for it, but I figure that would just make it worse. I really can’t place what language he’s trying to use, but it doesn’t matter. Until I either beat them or get knocked out myself, we’re locked into this.
There are some things no amount of talking can fix.
He comes at me again, a little less like a wild boar than before, and he actually manages to land a decent jab to my shoulder, but only on the edge. I spin with it, and leap to the side, where I think I saw a long stick lying on the ground. Pecan trees are plentiful in Houston, and they shed a lot of branches, thankfully.
I get lucky. This one’s actually pretty sharp on one end.
The blonde lunatic’s up and coming at me again, so I need to close with this guy quick. I debate for a split second about how far to take it, but since it has the potential to become a three-on-one fight, I don’t have time for moral dilemmas. I plunge the stick into his body, aiming for his heart. It’s a stick, so I don’t expect it to go very far, but instead of snapping like I worry it might, it slides right into his body.
My stomach turns as blood leaks out around the edges of my makeshift sword. Did I miscalculate? Did I just murder someone? The idiot gasps and blood spatters my face. Even with the world being upside down, this feels very, very bad.
“That’s enough.” Axel’s jogging toward us, and suddenly, I feel it again. The pulling feeling, like I’ve been dipped in tar, and now someone’s yanking on a rope that’s sucking every part of me toward them.
Except this time, instead of stopping abruptly, it doubles down.
I resist of course, but I’m not sure how long I can continue. My world narrows to the tiniest pinpoint, and the only thing I can see is Axel’s almost inhumanly beautiful face. His high cheekbones. His wide, clear, golden eyes. A strong brow, and a straight, long nose. The set of his perfectly curved, full lips. He looks angry, like he wishes he could end me. Is he the one pulling on my soul?
Blessedly, everything goes entirely black.
My last thought is that I hope my siblings made it home. I hope Dad finds them. I hope the dragons leave them alone that long.
But then the world rebounds, like a rubber ball flattened by immense force that’s now expanding again. My vision comes back online, and Axel’s face is still at the center of my line of sight. Only, now he’s also glowing slightly, like a bad special effect meant to mimic an angel’s halo or something. Also, my left shoulder blade’s burning like someone branded it.
I shake my head a bit to try and clear the fog from my brain, and I notice that the hair framing either side of my face has changed. Instead of being black like my mother’s was, it’s now a deep gold, burnished, rich, and totally unfamiliar.
“Whoa, how did you do that?” the ruddy-faced man asks. “I thought earth blessed couldn’t ensnare humans.”
“That, apparently, was not correct information,” Axel says. “Because I just did.”
He doesn’t look very happy about it, either.
4
Earth blessed?
I’m not the smartest person in most rooms, but that phrase, coupled with the same pulling sensation as before. . .
“Who are you?”
There’s still a stick protruding from the chest of one of Axel’s lackeys. There’s blood coming from it, dripping down the front of his weird cosplay tunic, and yet he’s casually standing next to Axel, talking as if there’s not a stick stuck in his body.
These are people, not dragons, and yet. . .
Even though they ignored my first question, continuing to talk about things I don’t understand, I blurt out another. “Are you dragons?” The entire day has been surreal, but asking that still feels insane, and yet, no one laughs. No one mocks.
They’re not paying attention to me at all.
I finally realize that they’re arguing in that strange, guttural language again, only, somehow. . .I understand them now.
“—can’t kill her. No. I heard that killing a human once you’ve ensnared them will incapacitate you for days. Weeks, even.”
Axel rolls his eyes as if that’s the dumbest thing his friend has ever said. “Not me.”
“Probably especially you,” the ruddy-faced one says. “Earth blessed aren’t supposed to be able to ensnare a human. Everyone says our powers are too weak. That’s why we assume this humanoid form.”
“Wait. . .humanoid?” I can’t help spluttering. “Does that mean you’re dragons pretending to be human?”
