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They counted and hauled, then repeated the gesture. Daria and Riva knelt in wait until one particular yank had a pop sounding.
“Now, Daria,” Charlie snapped.
Daria slapped a hand on Sona’s tail, creating another vibration. Then a booming sound had the giant creature flying towards them with Diego in tow. Their crowd dispersed, the two men rushing to cushion Daria’s and Sona’s fall while they cushioned the creature’s. The slow, excruciating process felt like a lifetime, but in reality, it was only seconds of pushing against gravity so that the creature could float down safely.
“Shit,” Oscar blurted out, catching Sona. Charlie held on to Daria, whose body exerted a deep breath before she sat up.
“Sona?”
“Living and breathing,” the woman announced. “You?”
“Same.”
“He is, too,” Riva called out after a while despite Diego’s bleeding legs. There were puncture marks everywhere.
They all lay there while the creature gathered its bearings, too, before eventually nuzzling the closest person there was. Oscar grimaced, then tentatively patted its back. Reading that as encouragement, the creature then began to latch on him and rub everywhere until the male human was wrapped up.
“So, a sea of thorns?” he managed, voice muffled.
“A garden,” Daria whispered. Without warning, she punched a hole beside them until Charlie found himself looking at the writhing, thorny vines below, extending as far as the cloud line.
“It’s the end of the fairy tale,” he mused. “Or near the end.”
“At the highest mountain surrounded by fog lies the end of the journey and the answer,” she recited. “Big Blue thinks he has success in his hands, but little does he know that evil lies underneath, waiting for the moment to strike.”
“Who the hell is Big Blue?” Riva asked.
“No one. It’s a character chasing a myth. A book of fairy tales,” Charlie said.
“Well, it struck,” Sona muttered. “What’s next?”
“Daria?” Charlie prompted.
“He lives in a temple. He’s a monk,” she mumbled. “The key will let me know.”
Except there was no temple and the key wasn’t glowing anymore. She held it up, no longer concerned about hiding it from the group, who studied it with equal parts fascination and nervousness.
“Well, I hope it lets you know soon,” Oscar said. “Fluffy, down.”
“Fluffy?” Charlie echoed.
“It needs a name. I don’t suppose you know where we can take refuge from these crazy vines, Fluffy…?”
No one was more surprised than Oscar when the creature reared its head, peered at them, and began separating from him. Then Fluffy was gently rolling along the clouds, leaving them gaping before they all began to trail after it, with Sona lagging as she drank some water first. Minutes later, it felt like going on a trek again, but with a more whimsical feel than any of the other ones.
Diego lay immobile in Charlie’s arms, paler than ever—and that was saying something for a vampire. For someone light on his feet, the man’s weight was substantial, but Charlie did his best to keep up with Daria’s pace.
“How’s the energy?”
“Zero.”
“And how are the nerves?”
“Like butterflies.”
“I’m surprised they are not like roaring dragons.”
She shot him a look, but it worked to tug a smile out of her lips. He tried not to get distracted by those lips, keeping his gaze forward.
