I wouldn't go.
Nope.
I could not leave my friend in such peril. Wasn't, going, to, happen!
I would hide from Nidar and Ralph, and wait for Malix to come. I wasn't sure of what exactly I would do but I knew I had to do something!
Everything was prepared for the trip before Ralph stopped in to bring me my passport and tickets and give me the final instructions of being ready to leave at precisely 6:00 AM. Since I had my bags packed (I had much more than my backpack since meeting Nidar of course) I asked if Ralph would help me bring them down to the car. He was impressed. And of course, called the hotel lobby to have my bags removed by carriers. All but my backpack. My "carry-on". That included all of my important items in case of something going awry.
So impressed was Ralph, he actually decided to grab a drink in the hotel lobby bar before taking his post which was to watch me for the night from the car. I thought ahead on this one as well. He usually had at least a couple, and since he was pleased, I knew he wouldn't mind a few more. I had prepaid the bartender for a bottle of Nolet's Dry Gin, the most expensive sort, which was Ralph's favorite as I had found out (he always would say, "I need a sip of gin right now!" when stressed). And my hopes were granted. He loved it. The barkeep was instructed not to tell him it was from me, but a present from his "boss". Ralph thought it was from Nidar. Great thing he was truly gullible!
About 1:00 AM, after the bar had been closed for an hour, I left. I snuck down the stairs and out a side door. Ralph was present. In the lobby. Fast asleep. BINGO!
I bolted and grabbed the first cab I could find and had him take me to the alley from days earlier. "The Alley" as I now call it. The cabby wasn't thrilled about letting me out in that part of town, but his tip was handsome enough to keep his objections minimal. I sunk down in along the wall that I had previous broken to hell, which now had board nailed to it to cover the hole, and waited. I dozed off. The first sleep I had in days.
The voice. That sweet, lovely voice. It was back. This time, I didn't see anything. Nothing but a colored light that pulsated from light to dark, in the same rhythm like a heartbeat. The lady's voice said,
"Druk, you now know what power you have. Yet, you do not the extent of it. Be wary of those giving you advice, for danger is near. And be wary of what you plan to do, for no one has ever done something as daring. Know your limitations. You cannot defeat Malix, especially now while you are so young, and in his homeland. Journey safely, and remember most of all….."
Buzz, buzz, buzz…
The next morning, promptly at 6:00 AM, my phone started buzzing. That mystical woman can never finish her thoughts. Someday, I will get a proper night's rest, and perhaps we can meet well.
It was Ralph calling. I turned it off. I felt sorry for him, as Nidar would not be happy. It had to be done though. Besides, he was the one who caused me to stand up to those thugs that knocked me for a loop!
I was ready. Until Malix returned, if he would, I would wait patiently. No one was around since the battle days earlier. The alley was frighteningly empty and comfortingly empty at the same time. I could actually think.
Exactly fifteen hours from the night before, he came!
I was positioned, and ready.
My eyes glowed as soon as the clock struck the right time. I sensed his arrival.
The portal opened, and flames blew forth wildly!
I leapt inside!
Inside the portal, inside the cave!
Flames engulfed me to no detriment. It was as if I and everything I touched or held were impervious to the fires.
I fell, for what seemed like hours. Perhaps this foolish mission would end more quickly than I had expected.
Before I was smashed on the red-hot rocks below, I suddenly stopped. And was levitating. Then set down gently. The cave was an inferno! Lava pools, flaming walls, and a back room that shimmered with gold! Jacob! He was there! Tied to a giant boulder that was luckily not steaming with the burning of dragon's fire!
"This is most exasperating! You must be after my gold to come here! To MY home! No ONE is welcome in my home but me! Say what you will before I burn you into cinder and scatter your ashes in the lava pools!" A thunderous voice rang out! It was Malix, of course, speaking as he meandered around a corner. Spectacular, I thought!
Thirteen meters high he was, all red, with jewels setting in odd places in covering broken scales. Giant bat-like wings, and a long, long pointed tail that swung from in front of him and to the back in perfect succession. His eyes were coal-black, and the two long horns on his head shimmered in the light with a burgundy and blueish hue sparkling. Magnificent!
"I haven't come for your gold or your life. I'm here to retrieve my friend from your imprisonment. Give him to me! And I shall be off, with no quarrel to you!" Courageousness, or stupidity?
"Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha, Ha! Such humor I have not been a part of for over a millennium! A young fledgling breaks into my stronghold and orders me about? Ridiculous! Die!"
Flames poured from the Malix's mouth as if a dam had just broken inside his throat! I was consumed, completely, and utterly drown by his fire breath. It had no effect. Wait, I take that back. It did have an effect. A positive effect. I felt myself getting stronger the longer I was drenched by the flame of the experienced, and old-aged dragon. He stopped.
My skin had changed. It was pink and blue, and yellow in stripes set on rock-hard scales! And my teeth. I had fangs! Most of all, I felt strength like I had never had before.
"By the powers of the universe! You are much stronger than you should be! You're not? I mean…no! Impossible! If my fires will not burn you, then I shall smash your little body into nothing!" he then roared so the entire cave shook and rocks fell from the ceiling.
His tail swung around at me, yet I dodged it! Jumping over it faster than any person could move for sure! It swung back at me again, and I ducked. The third time it swung at me I grabbed it in a bear hug, threw it to the ground, and stomped it with my foot. Malix let a howl that would curl the blood of the toughest adventurer! I was impervious to it though. I was on a new level!
"Now that was uncalled for, you little rainbow ant! Wait a minute. The next…I mean the new … he's supposed to be of mixed colors. No, this cannot be. You are just a fledgling! Not fully developed. Yet you resist the fires of Malix! And you stomp his tail as if he is a common brigand! Unachievable! Impractical! Unfeasible! Ridiculous..." Malix's look had changed. He was confused and upset. Lost in wonder, continuing to mumble to himself.
"Now, good sir! Malix the Destroyer to be exact. High and exalted one!" I began. Malix then turned his compounded look to me, straightened up, and took his arrogant persona back again. "I do not come here to fight. I am THE ONE you think of, yet cannot admit or speak out clearly. I wish to retrieve my friend. Then, as my promise, I will leave this land, and bother you no more. Do we have an accord?" The words came out of my mouth, and I was almost like a 3rd party, watching myself speak, in awe of my appearance, and enamored by my courage.
"Yes, Druk, and may I give you a moniker? Druk the Determined! Take this little man, and go! I have grown tired of these games. I must rest now, yes, rest, a good nap for a few years sounds good to me. I am glad the future of our kind has arrived. You cannot have my position at the top yet, as a fledgling, but one day soon you will have it. And I will support you! Now GO!" he roared out the last word, letting more rocks fall for effect, then turned, and slowly walked back into his treasure room.
I ran to the boulder where Jacob was being held, easily snapped off the chains with strength I knew nothing of before, and took his passed-out body into my arms. My eyes glowed a bright shade of emerald, and I burst into flames, that is, my own flames surrounded me, and Jacob who I held, and I leapt up, soaring, and could see a portal open to the outside world.
When we shot out of the portal and it closed. My flames were gone. My eyes turned back to their normal shade. Jacob started groaning and holding his ribs. I looked up, and standing before me were the twins in their black suits and black shades. I leapt to my feet and felt a fist pulverize my nose. Before I blacked out, I could see my blood streak before my eyes, exploding from my face!
I was knocked out.