Page 20 of Bound By Fire and Magic
No Dragon.
He jumped to his feet, the raw skin on his side stinging where it had scraped across the concrete. The tulpa had knocked Elle down and now leaned toward her, its mouth inches from her head.
“Wooooman.”
She was working up another blue orb. She tried to throw it, but the floor kept her from pulling back enough to get any force behind it. It hit the tulpa’s upper thigh. The tulpa kicked her, sending her rolling across the floor.
That sight, and the sound of her, “Oof!” enraged Kirin as he raced toward them.
The tulpa was reaching for Elle again. One hand could hold her in its grip, kind of like in the King Kong movies.
“Hey! Get your hands off her!”
The tulpa turned, probably pulled by Kirin’s rage. He dove at it. The tulpa batted him aside, and Kirin slammed into the wall and slid down. His body aching, he struggled to his feet as the tulpa went after Elle.
Kirin ran, launching himself at the tulpa’s back as it grabbed for Elle. Except he sank into the tulpa. He grabbed at anything, which turned out to be only handfuls of oily essence. He tore it apart, pulling, kicking. Suddenly he was face to face with…a face. Wide eyes, open mouth trying to speak in garbled words.
It reached for him. No, not it. He. A man, although his features were warped beyond recognition. The man pushed Kirin so hard that he fell out the back side of the tulpa. He heard Elle shriek. Sparks exploded like fireworks. The tulpa flew upward with an ear-splitting squeal as he jumped to his feet.
Elle ran toward him, and together they raced for the front door. He scooped up his clothes, and she smacked into the door, sending it flying open as they dashed outside. Black mist materialized through the corrugated metal wall, passing right through it.
“Get in and put on your seat belt,” he said, jumping behind the wheel.
She was watching the mist as she fumbled with the strap. He jammed on the gas and tore away. The back end of the car fishtailed when they hit the asphalt.
She watched behind them, searching the night sky. “I don’t see it.”
He kept an eye on the rearview mirror, looking for anything unusual. “I’m pretty sure the tulpa went to my pop’s house since there were obvious signs of a struggle, but it doesn’t seem able or willing to leave the factory. It’s come after us outside the building twice now but hasn’t followed us.”
She sat facing forward again as they entered the tangle of highways a few minutes later, heading toward her father’s house. “Maybe it only went to Stein’s…well, because my father told it to go there.”
“It doesn’t seem very bright. Probably it hasn’t thought of coming with us.” Yet. Kirin flicked a glance in the rearview mirror. Still no sign of it. He found where he’d tossed his clothing and laid his jeans over his lap, just to be decent. “It hates me, but it likes you. I don’t know which is worse.”
She shuddered, rubbing her arms. “Yeah, that was creepy.”
“There was something even stranger. When I was inside the tulpa, a man pushed me out.”
Horror filled her expression. “A man in the tulpa.”
“That’s what it looked like. And remember, the first time I went through the tulpa I heard a scream.”
“Nana said the tulpa sucked out that man’s essence until he died. Maybe that’s how it did it, by consuming the man and then spitting out his body.”
They both went silent for a few moments as those words sank in.
Kirin addressed the gruesome images his imagination was supplying. “I have to think it’s my father in there.”
Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh, Kirin, that’s horrible. But…if he’s still alive, can we get him out?”
“That’s what I was wondering, too. But we don’t have much time, according to what Roz said. He’s already been in there a couple of days, which means we have maybe a day. And I’m without my Dragon for the next eighteen hours.” He slammed his hand on the steering wheel, frustration engulfing him.
“If only we could find my father.” She shook her head, her mussed brown hair flowing over her shoulders. “He did a terribly irresponsible thing, but I can’t imagine him just running off and leaving that thing to roam. I hope Nana’s right about him consulting with someone to find a way to undo what he’s done.”
Kirin dug out his phone. “I’m going to try Lyra. I’d like to know what she found.” He dialed her number, but it went to voice mail. “Call me,” he said after the beep. “We may have figured out where Pop is.” He disconnected. “That should get her to call right back.”
Goron clapped as the two Crescents escaped the tulpa’s clutches. “Bravo, bravo! I do so love a good entertainment, even if I have lost the wager.” He looked at the Deuce god sitting in the recliner next to him. “Which means giving you an hour of my Dragon power.”
Sedash pushed to his feet. “You’re reluctant to part with even an hour, and yet, you disdain Dragons.”
