Ch. 16

‘At least they are happy during a time of peace.’ Oh how wrong she was. The next morning Rosemary woke up to the scream of her half-sister. Michael was still snoring, but Rosemary nudged him and left to see what was wrong.

When she got out the door, she knew exactly what.

“Mother, please! Don’t do this! She’s your niece. You should be protecting her, not trying to kill her! Stop it! Medeleck! Bodoleck! Where are you?” Susan asked herself. She was on the floor at the top of the stairs with her mother towering over her.

“The Brothers won’t be here this morning. They got a little . . . tied up. So you and your filthy little half-sister are mine, and then I’ll be able to have a little snack on that human boy,” said Veripema. She looked up and glanced at Rosemary, who had little hope of escaping from the hallway.

Rosemary dashed back into the guest room and lifted Michael off the bed. He was just rubbing his eyes and was about to protest when Rosemary said, “Veripema.” That was all she needed to say. He shut his mouth instantly and didn’t struggle against Rosemary’s strong arms.

Rosemary leapt out of the window just in time. Veripema had spared her daughter and went to get Rosemary and Michael instead. Susan was already outside untying Bodoleck and Medeleck when Rosemary set Michael back on the ground and turned to face Veripema.

“Rosemary, what in the world are you doing?! You know that she’s stronger than ever now that we’re in Romania. She was born here, and so was Everblood! It’s the country where vampires started. And since she was born in Translvania, she’s stronger than you here. You have no hope of defeating her!” said Susan, finishing up with Bodoleck and Medeleck.

Rosemary stood her ground and said, “I have to get revenge for my mother. She killed my mother on the day I was born, and you know it. Now I have to kill her in return. I hope you don’t mind. She is your mother, after all.”

“No. I don’t mind at all. Just let us help. I know more of her weaknesses than you ever will. Don’t worry about us,” said Susan. Michael had crept to stand in-between Medeleck and Bodoleck for protection while they fought. Medeleck was showing a never-before-seen serious side, and Bodoleck had the same expression on his face.

“That all sounds good, but what about Michael? He’ll never be able to get to Prague by himself,” protested Rosemary.

“That’s just it. You have to take him. Face it. We’re all stronger than you, and you know the way almost as good as Bodoleck, but we need his strength. You go. We’ll fight. I’ll get one of her fangs for you,” said Susan, smiling at the face of danger.

Rosemary stared grumpily at her, but then said, “Fine, but take my extra locket. I’ll be able to tell you any spells you don’t know about. I know hundreds. They’ll be of use. Bodoleck knows how to work them, don’t you?”

Bodoleck smiled and nodded his head, looking at Michael, who was still completely clueless because he was just waking up. He knew that they were in mortal danger, he just didn’t know how big it was.

“Michael come here. I need to do something. Give you something. It’s important,” said Rosemary. Michael did as he was told and stepped forward.

Rosemary took out his hand and put a ring with a red jewel on his index finger. He stared at it, trying to figure out what it was for, and then asked, “I give up. What is it?”

“It’s to protect you. Whenever you’re in trouble, the ring I have will tell me where you are and who is threatening you. It’s like the locket, but it works better. We have to go. Now,” said Rosemary. She lifted Michael up and drew out her wings.

Too bad for them Veripema was ready. They had paid no attention to their enemy, and she already had an arrow ready. She fired at one of Rosemary’s wings. A direct hit.

“Aah!” yelled Rosemary. The pain was sharp, and the blood came pouring out of her wound. She set Michael back down and pulled the arrow out, another grunt showing the pain again.

“Lucky for you I know a spell for that,” said Susan. She put her hand over the wound and cried, “Laeh!” The wound was instantly healed, and Rosemary smiled at her half-sister gratefully.

“Now go. I don’t remember the spell to get rid of the pain, and you’re in no shape to cast it by yourself. Remember fly northwest all the way, and you should get there just fine. If you meet any dragons on the way, just make a run of it on the ground. They can’t get you there,” warned Susan, helping Rosemary stand up.

Rosemary lifted Michael again while Susan yelled, “Delish!” A purple force field instantly made a circle around Rosemary and Michael as they flew off into the distance. Susan called to them, “Be careful!”

“How could you? To your own mother? How did I even raise such a child?” Veripema asked Susan.

Susan took out her own weapon and said, “You didn’t. I had to take care of myself, remember? You just beat me to a pulp every day, and there was nothing anyone could ever do about it, because you killed dad after he found out about me. So there.”

And the battle continued.

Meanwhile, Rosemary wasn’t faring too well. Her wing still hurt, and the shield was gone. There was nothing but forest ahead of them. Michael was getting bored and was asking many questions, but Rosemary didn’t answer a single one. She was trying to ignore the pain while remembering the way back to Prague.

After a couple hours, Michael said, “Let’s rest. You look tired. I might be able to help. My mom is an environmentalist. She taught me a few remedies that she created, and I know a few of my own. And we have to stop sometime. I’m only human.”

Rosemary was in a bad mood, but she did want to rest a bit. She flew down into a clearing away from all of the trees. It was by a lake, which made it even better. Michael quickly went to get some water from the crystal clear lake, and Rosemary just sat back on the grass and took it all in.

A few minutes later, Michael came back with his sleeve all wet.

“The wound isn’t completely healed, so I thought it would be good to get it a bit wet. It’ll help. I promise,” said Michael. Rosemary was too tired to argue, but winced when the cold cloth gently touched her wing.

“That does feel a bit better. Thank you,” she told Michael. He just shrugged and sat next to Rosemary. They stared at the clouds together until Rosemary sat up and said, “We have to get going. I want to make it to the next lake by sundown. That one has mermaids in it, and I want to get something from them. My mom dropped it off a year before I was born, but never got a chance to retrieve it.”

“Fine, but I was just starting to get relaxed,” said Michael, standing up as well. He walked over to the lake to get just a little more water, and then came back with some sort of rock.

“What is that?” Rosemary asked him.

Michael smiled and replied, “I want to keep it. To remember what happened on this trip to Romania. I’ll be able to show it to my sister and rub it in her face. She’s always wanted to go to a different country.”

Rosemary rolled her eyes and lifted up. She was just about to take off when they heard a noise. It was a low rumble noise, but it was loud enough to scare away all wildlife that was there.

Dragon.