Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (5 page)

“Thank you very much Taj’.”

“Good luck to you both. And if she gives you trouble, tell her that Taj’ sent you.”

              Taj’ took a joyous leap back into the water, disappearing under its glassy surface.

“Come on Fitz, let’s get going.” I pulled on his hand and walked with him through the busy streets.

“You know,” he said slowing down, “they say if you go to the very top of this building, you can see the moons so clearly that you can even count the craters on their surface.” He stopped to look up at the tall building.

“But we don’t have
time
. We need to find Princess Pearl.”

“We will find her, I promise.” He looked at the building again. “Come, why don’t we go and see?”

“But Minx, my
poor
Minx,” I said pulling him away from the building.

              He tightened his grip on my arm. “You’re right. We should go and get him.”

              If you made it out of the woods in one piece, a worn dirt path cut through the dense greenery heading north. The path, tediously long, exhausting, and occasionally covered in overgrowth, presented us to a pond. It was here where the Frozen Waterfalls existed as a natural monument. The water that seemed frozen in time hid a rock wall. The raging torrents and white, misty froth that licked the edge of the pond ceased to move, captured in space and time as though it was a simple scenic picture.

              Fitzray’s eyes studied the ground while he stood beside me. We stood before the Princess who sat in the center of the pond. She was surrounded by three vampires all who sat by her on her rock, their eyes glassy and irresponsive. Pearls covered her neck and wrists and even a tiara with silver pearls rested on her head. Her delicate pixie-like nose turned up while she rested an icy stare on us. She was dangerously beautiful.

             
She was not a vampire, as I expected, but a mermaid. Her blonde hair hung down into the water, her turquoise eyes refusing to move from us.

“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy,” she snapped.

              Mermaids were selfish, haughty creatures who thought that those who walked on land should pity them. Mermaids, classified by their degree of conceit, made stumbling upon a good-natured mermaid unlikely. In fact, the majority of the species frowned upon it.

“So
you
are the famous Princess Pearl? It’s a pleasure,” I said quietly.

              Her lips remained neutral, though she eyed me suddenly, causing me to shrink back behind Fitzray. 

“Who sent you here?”

“Taj’, he sent us.”

“Is she telling the truth?” She chimed, near mocking, in Fitzray’s direction.

              His head jerked to the side to avoid her glance. “Yes, Taj’ sent us because he said you could
help
, not criticize. Tell us where our dragon is.”

“My, my, isn’t
someone
a little
demanding
?” Her pale pink lips turned up slightly. “But, since you seem so insisting, what’s in it for
me
?”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing you can get me,” she said in defeat, “my powers are not as strong as they used to be. And that means Taj’ will never fall under my spell.”

“Taj’ is a good friend of mine,” Fitzray said. “I’ll put in a few good words about you to him so that way you won’t even need a
spell
.” His mouth twitched as though he suppressed a laugh.

“You would really do that for me?”

              She touched the many pearls that hung from her neck and then her eyes became tearful. “You’re probably lying,” she accused with a scowl.

“Oh no, once I tell Taj’ all about you and how truly
wonderful
you are, he will reconsider.”

              This time Fitzray could not suppress a chuckle from escaping his throat. The Princess eyed him suspiciously, probably suspecting that he was mad.

“You’re making mockery of me!”

              Still amused, Fitzray turned to me. “Come on, she’s not going to help us.”

“But what about my dragon?”

“If she doesn’t trust my word now, then I don’t think she’ll trust us at all.”

“No wait, don’t leave. I will help you.” Desperation filled every word she forcefully uttered.

“Yeah, you help us first. Help us find our dragon.”

              She frowned, looking into the water. “It doesn’t look well for your dragon.”

“How do we know if you’re telling the truth?”

“Your dragon’s name is Minx, right?”

“Yes, that is his name.”

“And how do I know Taj’ really sent you? How can I be sure that you even
know
Taj’?”

“Taj’ is my old friend. I’ve known him for years,” Fitzray said.

“Oh really?” She inquired, leaning forward on her rock. “Then you probably know how old he is.”

“He’s been around since the Bridge was built. I can’t give you an approximate number.”

“Then tell me how you met.”

              Fitzray’s gaze rolled down to meet the water’s icy surface. For a moment, he stared blankly, perhaps stalling time to conjure up his thoughts. He was wasting precious time.

“I was a sailor once. I sailed the seas of Catastrophe for many years with my friend Caspian.” His mouth turned up with recollection. “That was in another life. Anyway, one night a vicious storm crossed our path. Caspian and I, along with our crew, stopped at nothing to fight the wind, though we were hardly successful, as you could imagine. Our crew rebelled against us. One thing led to another and they threw me overboard. Caspian jumped in after me. Even though we were both good swimmers, we did not last very long in the raging waves. I accepted the fact that I would probably meet my death, but somehow Taj’ found us. He saved Caspian and I, brought us to shore, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Your story seems truthful but…it seems you don’t have an Eternal Mate. And if that’s so, then how did you have a
past life
?”

“Well, you’re right about me not having an Eternal Mate, but reincarnation was possible thanks to Caspian. Caspian was a healer then and still is. He always has some herbs with him, herbs that induce reincarnation and herbs that prevent it. He uses them sparingly since he only has a limited amount. He gave me a rare herb after Taj’ pulled us to shore. It somehow enabled me to have another chance at life.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life. Aren’t vampires immortal anyway?”

“Yes, when they have an Eternal Mate.”

              The mermaid shook her head in defeat. “Whatever. All I know is that your dragon is being kept in the tallest building in the City.”

“Thank you,” I groaned with relief.

              She shrugged and turned back to the vampires surrounding her. One of them in particular looked familiar to me.

“
Calvin
?”

              Pearl turned to the vampire I was staring at. “Oh, is he
yours
? You can have him. He is of no service to
me
.” She said, shoving him toward me.

              He looked dazed as a cloud drifted over his orange eyes. “That mermaid promised me that she would help me…and now here you are,” he droned, still in a trance. Calvin studied me and wrapped me in a warm hug. “And you’re ok. I thought something happened, I thought you were lost. I thought that green-eyed murderer took you from me.”

“No Calvin, I’m ok.”

“Minx is being kept in the highest building in the City of Lights, where the moons can be seen perfectly. Too bad the eclipse is ending,” Fitzray cut in, snapping my attention back to more important matters.

“There will be other eclipses.”

              With little interest in the eclipse, I focused on the matter at hand. We had lost more than enough time.

“I am getting hungry, how about you guys?”

As hungry as I was, I could not stop now, so without a word I proceeded on toward the City.

“You go on Calvin. We’ll meet up with you later.”

              He shrugged and made his way toward the City, heading in the direction of the nearest restaurant. Instead, Fitzray and I made our way closer to the tallest building in the City where Minx was.

“So tell me, how does marriage between vampires work? And what was that Eternal Mate stuff you were talking about?”

“
Eternal Mate stuff
,” he exhaled, probably stalling to gather his thoughts. “The vampire that turned you is referred to you as your Eternal Mate. If you had a relationship with someone else there would be a fight and the winner would be your mate for all eternity.”

“So the guy that turned me into a vampire is out there?” 

              My spine quivered as an uncontrollable shudder wracked my bones.

“Yep, he’s probably looking for you right now as we speak.”

              I shivered again and bit my lip. “And what if he wins?”

“You mean, if your Eternal Mate wins? He would be your mate for all eternity. He would basically control you and unfortunately you wouldn’t have a say.”

              He shook his head and I figured he was brushing away his thoughts as I was. “We’re here.” He made a motion toward the building. 

              The building was deserted and quiet, odd for such a popular tourist attraction.

“How will we find Minx?”

“We are not leaving until we find him, so don’t worry.”

              We searched the quiet, abandoned building with no signs of the werewolves that were responsible for my dragon’s kidnapping.

“Pearl said he would be at the top,” I recalled, pointing to the stairs.

              We walked up the stairs since the elevator was not working, to our inconvenience, and found him before we arrived at the very top of the countless stairs.

              The small huddled creature was just within reach. Minx lifted his head with a cry. He tried to hide in the crook of my arm, afraid and cold when I picked him up.

“He’s not hurt and the wolves aren’t even here. It’s too good to be true. It shouldn’t be this easy.” The vampire’s gaze scanned the abandoned floor skeptically.

              I shrugged in response as the little dragon clung to my shirt.

“No, something’s not right here,” he continued.

              There was a loud crack and, an earthquake, it seemed, caused us to fall over. The building shook. Smoke came through the walls and surrounded us. It filled my lungs and made me weak.

“We have to get out of here!” Fitzray grabbed me, nearly dislocating my shoulder in the process.

“What’s going on?”

“The wolves are doing this,” he said as he led me up to the roof. “It’s a trap.”

              He tightened his grip around my waist, leading me to the edge of the rooftop. Creatures that roamed the streets and those who traveled on the backs of dragons stopped for a brief moment to look up at us. There was no chance for me to refuse to jump. Fitzray pulled me down with him.

              As we fell, the black smoke that smelled of volcanic ash broke through the windows and drifted out into the city. I did not hear my screams, or those of the frightened immortals below. Minx had struggled in my hands, his cries drowned out by the bomb-like explosion from behind. The mushroom cloud blew off the top of the building, sending debris and large shards of metal to scrape the wind and flew at the innocent below. The building then fell, causing even more destruction than the explosion itself. I braced myself, awaiting the crushing impact on cobblestone.

              A throbbing in my head jerked my eyes open. I was alive. Something firm moved from under me and I rolled my eyes to see what it was.

“Fitz?” My voice was hoarse.

“Are you all right?” His voice was slurred and barely audible.

              He gasped for air and I turned my face to look at him. I was crushing him. My head throbbed painlessly and my arms bled, but I did not feel anything, nothing at all.

              Somehow we were not molded into the cobblestone and suffering the consequence of shattered bones. Lucky for us, a passing dragon broke our fall.

              The dragon’s head swiveled around and it shook us off. Helpless, we slid off and braced ourselves for the road. However, we did not crash into a road. Water surrounded us, breaking our second impact. I inhaled it and it choked me. The water filled my mouth and blurred my vision instantly. I couldn’t move, and I was sure Fitzray couldn’t either.

              My eyes opened after a long couple of moments and a familiar voice boomed, “Do not fear my friends! I’ve got you!”

* * * * *

              The landscape around me was opaque and dreadful. My ears picked up a voice in the distance. Fitzray called out to me. He smiled once he caught my glance and beckoned me to come. Once I went to reach out to him, my hand smashed into something. A glass wall separated us.               He cocked his head in surprise that I could not get to the other side. Suddenly a tall figure appeared from behind him. A sword swung high above his head.