Chapter Three
If there were anymore guards, they must have decided not to gamble their lives. I walked to where the door used to be, now an empty arch, and looked down into the large room below. Jumping over the steps, I landed at the bottom of the stairs. The room consisted of ten prison cells and all but one were vacant.
I knew so without looking. Not only because of my dragon supersense but I could hear a low sobbing coming from the last cell on the left. I walked the rest of the way to the occupied cell and what I saw there would have touched the coldest person in the world, or at least in my world. I'm not too sure about Raksha's though. (It hit me right then that I wasn't Raksha anymore. I was Arri. This was gunna give me a headache...)
A woman, with long silky flame red hair, came into my view first. It was almost exactly like mine, but her's was almost as long as her body and it was straight. Mine was extremely wavy. She was crying into a muscular mans arms. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were... Silver. You could hardly tell because he was crying too.
I knew at once who these people were. My parents. Raksha said inside me. "Zanna. Mason.", I said so quietly that I was suprised they had heard me. Mason looked at me, then smiled. He patted Zanna on the shoulder to get her attention. She looked up, too. Then, like my father, she smiled.
Mason was the first to talk. "Arri, will you please let us out. The keys are over there, sweety.", he said, pointing to a nail on the wall with a ring and ten keys on it. I walked to it, and, sniffing the keys, I knew which one. It had the freshest vampire sent on it. I took it and unlocked my new parents.
They scrambled up and embraced me thankfully. My parent's embrace felt like the softest, most warmest blanket in the world. The moment seemed to last longer than any other I had ever experienced, but still it was gone too soon. My father let go and my mother followed after a few more seconds.
"Oh, Arri, I've missed you so much. I was so worried. We thought the Reds had you."
My Dad just said, "We've missed you so much Baby Girl."
I was overwelmed but found words to say. "My real names Raksha Drache, right?" They nodded. "I like that name better. It fits, but I've missed you guys too. I love you both, but we have really got to get out of here. Come on, and be quick. Do you know any place for us to go?" I asked as my parents and I emerged from the basement and made our way to the front door.
"Yes.", my mother replied. "We can fly to my castle in the Underworld. I'm stronger. Mason will ride on my back. Our family will be happy to see you."
She changed quickly into her Dragon form. My mother looked like an exact replica of me, but Zanna was just a little bigger and her eyes were more emerald like. My father climbed on her back and they were off, leaving me to follow. Mason looked like he had done this a million times before.
Follow me, A voice sounded in her head. I know the way. Stay high, we don't wan't humans to see us. Then my mother's voice was gone. The absense of her loving voice made the Raksha in me feel lonely, but about ten minutes later, when I was just getting the hang of flying and feeling imense joy of it, Zanna's voice came to me.
When I first started flying, it was the best thing in the world. After a while I ran into some other Dragons and they showed me some cool moves. I made some cooler moves up of my own based on theirs. Wan't to try some of them?
I had my answer before the Raksha in me had a choice to say yes or no. Remembering my magical past had created a new mind. The mind seemed to belong to the old me. I had to push Raksha's concious back and I was starting to feel as if there were two souls inside me, and they were both fighting for control. In a way, I kinda felt crazy. Well crazier than when I thought I had a voice. Raksha was my Voice.
I realized, also, that I was using Raksha's Dragon. I felt my own inside. It hadn't been born yet so it's need for freedom hadn't been as great. Raksha and I's Dragon shifts were both different though. I didn't know how, but just like Raksha and I, they were totally the opposite. Definitely! I thought and projected it to my mother, making sure to add the excited feeling going on inside me. Like rockets on the Fourth of July, my mind wouldn't settle.
Okay, but can you remember the basics first. I don't wan't to confuse you.I closed my eyes and thought hard. Memories came back to me of many animals my size with wings on them. I was fighting them in mid-air, all the while making sure to make pain but not killer blows to my teachers. My mother, father, and about twenty other people were watching me, including Uncle Raz.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I got them down. Can you do the moves with Dad on your back? I could practically feel the laughter from my mother.
Are you kidding? Your Father's my partner in crime. We do everything together. Even renting a dungeon and hiring people to beat us up, drug us, block our powers, and lock us in our borrowed dungeon. My mother was joking, of course. My Mom and I both started telepathically laughing and Raksha and I's Dad joined in to the conversation.What move are you going to teach her Zan? Mason asked. I couldn't remember if Raksha had ever called Mason Dad.
You'll see. Mom had taught me, what felt like a million, tricks before. Most involved skills for flying and defending myself, at the same time. In a maneuver where you spin towards your opponent, sticking out your claws, so that when they move aside your claws scrape through their side, then when they hunch over because of pain inflicted by your claws, you could turn around and hit them with your tail, sending them towards the ground with huge stabs in the back from your spikes, my mother sent a telepathic thought saying we were nearing our destination.
Follow me. She had added. Zanna swirved down and started fast towards ground, head first. When Zanna was about ten feet from the ground, she pulled out of the dive and landed lightly on her feet. I thought 'Wow.', but then Raksha's Dragon did it and then I thought, 'Show off.'
I laughed in my mind and looked at Zanna, asking, "Where-?" Then I realized we were in an alley and more importantly there were three others in the alley as well. I knew at once that they were shifters. There were two men and a young lady. The women looked like a snake and the other two looked like twin rabbits.
They turned, took one look at Zanna and went into a deep kneel. They all said something at one time that sounded a lot like, "Welcome back Lady Zanna."
Zanna replied kindly, "Please stop kneeling. Really, you're not my servants."
"As you wish, Lady Zanna." They all said. They came out of their kneels, but still they kept their heads bowed slightly.
Zanna changed into her human form and walked out of the alley, motioning for Mason and I to follow. Everyone who saw her knew who she was, even in human form. They all kneeled and said, loud enough for her to hear but still very respectfully, "Welcome back, Lady Zanna.", or "It's so nice to see you again, Lady Zan.", and they even kneeled but said to there neighbor, "It's her! It's her! It's Lady Zanna!". That attracted tons of attention, causing even more bows.
The people bowing to my mother nodded and smiled very kindly at me, murmuring thank you's or hello's. I had no clue what they were thanking me for, but I smiled and nodded, just like my mother and father. Mason was getting called Sir General Mason. It made the Arri in me think, but Raksha remembered that she called her father General sometimes, too.
Once out of the alley, Mason and I followed Zanna down a street about four blocks, took a left, then after about another ten blocks, Raksha's Mom turned into yet another alley. At the end of the alley there was an old, worn out hut. Zanna walked into the hut, looking as comfortable about it as if it were her own house.