Chapter Four

She was in a dark cave, seated on a metal chair with a single light over her. The dragon was there, his white eyes penetrating the shadows. She could not move, her limbs frozen in place, her ears filled with the sound of the dragon breathing. Suddenly, the eyes shifted and a tongue of white fire zigzagged through the darkness above her. The light extinguished, plunging her into shadow, and she heard something land on the ground with a dull thump. She blinked and was amazed to discover she could see clearly through the blackness. Leaving her metal seat, she leaned forward to see what had tumbled from the heavens. To her shock, she saw the bloodied and broken body of Eli.

Nadia sat up in bed, gasping. Her heart pounded in her chest and a cold sweat covered every inch of her skin. She shivered and realized her hands were shaking as the image of Eli from her dream fastened itself before her eyes. She pressed her palm to her temple and glanced at her bedside clock. It was four o’clock in the morning, and the world outside her bedroom window was still dark. She reached for the phone and hesitated. She couldn’t wake up him in the middle of the night because she had a bad dream, but she felt that it was something more, something she couldn’t put her finger on.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she swung her legs out of bed and went to the bathroom for a glass of water. She could hear snoring coming from one of the other rooms, her housemate Josh. Nadia moved as quietly as she could to avoid waking him up, and turned on the faucet. As the cold water spilled into the sink, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Behind her were the white glowing eyes of the dragon.

She yelped in fear and spun around, knocking the plastic cup to the floor where it landed with a loud clatter. There was nothing behind her, no dragon and no glowing eyes. Nadia blinked rapidly and tried to calm herself. She could not recall the last time a nightmare had made her so agitated.

“Easy, Nadia,” she told her reflection as she splashed water on her face. “You had a strange day. Nothing to get worked up over. Relax and go back to sleep.”

She didn’t feel comforted at all by her own words as she turned the water off and went back to her bedroom. She drew back the covers and cried out again as she saw they were stained with blood, and a body lay where she had been. In an instant, it was gone, and Nadia knelt on the floor. Tears ran down her face and she reached for the phone again. Not wanting to disturb Eli, she called Amy.

*~*~*~*

An hour later she was behind Ray on his blue motorcycle, her arms wrapped around his chest as he drove her to Amy’s house. The dream still hung in her mind and she could do nothing to calm herself enough to go back to sleep. Everywhere she looked, she saw the white eyes of the dragon, the bloodied face of Eli, or the three men in the red hoods reaching out to grab her. She buried her face in Ray’s back and held him tighter. In response, Ray sped up and they reached Amy’s house in a few minutes. She was standing on the porch dressed in a silk lavender housecoat and fuzzy pink slippers, her hair tousled from having been woken up.

Nadia slipped off the motorcycle and handed the helmet to Ray. She hurried up the porch and into Amy’s waiting arms, the tears flowing freely. Ray came awkwardly behind her, unsure of what to do in this situation. Amy smoothed Nadia’s hair as the girl wept, and gestured with her chin for Ray to go inside.

“I’m sorry,” Nadia sobbed as Amy sat her on the couch and went to the kitchen to make some tea. “I didn’t know who else to call. I didn’t think she’d wake you up, Ray.”

The redhead shrugged. “I’m a light sleeper, and I was here anyway.”

Amy returned with three mugs of steaming peppermint tea. She gave one to Nadia, who took it gratefully and held it in both hands. She felt very cold and her hands were shaking, threatening to spill the hot liquid all over herself.

“Tell us about the dream,” Amy said gently.

Nadia related it to them as best she could, her voice shaking. She got to the part when Eli’s body fell before her and the tears began to flow anew. Ray looked helplessly at Amy, who handed the girl a box of tissue.

“It was just a dream,” Amy told her. “You had a stressful day, and it’s only natural that it would show up again in your dreams.”

“But the eyes in the bathroom, the body on my bed,” Nadia stammered.

“Just your subconscious playing a trick on you.”

Amy focused her amber eyes on Ray. “Why don’t you see if you can do anything for her, Ray?”

The man seemed surprised at the suggestion, but put his cup of tea down on the table and moved to sit next to Nadia. He put his hand on her back and she turned into him, her tears wetting his shirt. Ray’s hand began to glow with a faint yellow light as he rocked Nadia gently, and gradually the crying stopped and Nadia fell asleep. Ray lay her out on the couch and covered her with a blanket.

“Now where am I going to sleep?” he asked Amy softly.

She smiled. “You can survive on the floor. What do you make of this?”

He shrugged. “Information overload?”

“I think it may be something more than that.”

They were interrupted by a thump on the outside porch that they both recognized immediately. With a quick glance at the sleeping form of Nadia, Amy hurried to the kitchen and swung the back door open. Gabriel stood outside, two massive white wings sprouting from his back. In his arms was cradled a body, with blood dripping onto the wood of the porch. Amy stared in shock as Gabriel moved into the light, and they could all see the battered form of Eli.

“Bring him inside, quietly,” Amy instructed, moving aside. “Nadia’s here.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrow questioningly as he pushed his way into the house. His large white wings brushed over the counters, knocking various dishes and containers as he moved. Ray winced as a plastic bowl bounced onto the hardwood floor. Amy rolled her eyes and turned to face her friend.

“Gabby,” she hissed, “do you mind?”

Gabriel sighed and shifted Eli’s weight in his arms. He closed his eyes and concentrated, shrinking his wings until they were nothing but two tattoos on his back. Amy picked a white feather off her counter and flicked it over her shoulder, turning her back as it floated gently to the floor. Eli moaned, and Amy was off again, leading the way out of the kitchen and up the small flight of stairs to her bedroom.

Gabriel lay Eli down and Ray put a hand on the unconscious man’s chest. His hand glowed for a moment and his brow furrowed in concentration. The cuts and bruises on Eli’s body began to fade, and after a few minute Ray shook his head and sat back on his heels. The glow vanished, plunging the room back into pre-dawn blackness.

“I don’t know what happened to him,” Ray sighed, “but my powers can’t do anything more for him. That’s as far as they’ll reach.”

“He’s cloaked in shadow,” Gabriel said.

Amy shot him an annoyed look. “Could you be more cryptic? What happened?”

“I found him near his home,” Gabriel replied. “I took to the sky and saw a black car driving quickly away, but I returned to Eli rather than pursue them.”

“It’s not like they could kill him,” Amy snapped. “Now we’ll never know who they were!”

“They could,” Ray said quietly.

Amy turned to the redheaded man, who still knelt on the floor gazing at Eli’s sleeping face. Ray’s expression was full of sorrow.

“They could kill us all,” he continued. “They killed the others, didn’t they? Kaos and all the traitor-gods will knock us down the first chance they get.”

“Then why spare Eli?” Amy asked.

“A warning,” Gabriel said. “They know who were are, and they know who Nadia is. None of us are safe.”

Amy shook her head. “We’re still okay for now. Kaos himself hasn’t been alerted, just the lesser gods. They’ll try to get us first, to get on Kaos’ good side.”

Ray grinned. “Great. I’ve been waiting for centuries to knock some sense into our former companions.”

Amy sighed and brushed some hair off Eli’s face. “I guess we should try to salvage some sleep.”

“I’ll stay with Nadia,” Gabriel said, moving to the door.

Amy looked at Ray expectantly, her arms crossed over her chest and one foot tapping impatiently on the floor. Ray stared up at her in confusion.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re in my room,” Amy replied sweetly, “and I want to sleep.”

“You think I’m going to leave you and Eli alone together?”

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. He rose sheepishly to his feet and moved to the door. Amy closed it firmly behind him.

“Fine. I’ll go sleep on the floor or something,” he muttered to himself.

*~*~*~*

Nadia woke up feeling remarkably refreshed, if not somewhat sore after a few motionless hours on Amy’s couch. She took a deep breath and smiled, watching the sunlight streaming across the ceiling. She guessed it was already late in the morning, but after the previous night’s adventures, she was grateful for the opportunity to sleep in. Today would be a better day, she thought. No more wild stories of dead gods, no more hooded priests, and no more white eyed dragons.

She sat up and immediately noticed Gabriel seated on the wingback chair across from her, sound asleep. His arms hung loosely on the arm rests and his chin lolled on his chest, his breathing deep and even. She smiled and silently got to her feet. Hearing a rustle from the kitchen, and thinking Amy was awake and making breakfast, she headed off to greet her friend.

Nadia pushed open the door and saw Ray, snoring as he slept sprawled on the kitchen table. She blinked in surprise and noticed a plastic bowl that had fallen to the ground. As she bent to pick it up, she saw a white feather lying next to it. She reached for the feather, wondering how it could have arrived over night in Amy’s kitchen, and saw a droplet of blood that stained the hardwood floor. Rising slowly to her feet, with the feather pinched between two fingers, she followed the trail of blood with her eyes out of the kitchen.

Gabriel was waiting for her on the other side of the door. His steady gaze me her wild eyes as she waited for him to speak and offer some explanation to the mess in the kitchen. She still held the white feather in her hand.

“Nadia,” he said in an infuriatingly calm voice.

“What happened last night?” Nadia demanded. “Whose blood is that on the floor?”

Gabriel kept quiet, but stepped to one side, giving Nadia a free path to the stairs. Nadia only hesitated for a moment before brushing past Gabriel and hurrying to the second floor. There was a strangled cry from Amy’s bedroom, followed by the soft sound of sobs. A crash sounded from the kitchen as if something had fallen, and Ray dashed through the doors, looking around.

“What? What happened? What’s going on?” Ray stammered.

Gabriel gestured to the stairs, where Amy’s soothing voice could be heard mingling with Nadia’s cries. Ray relaxed slightly and glared at Gabriel.

“You let her go up there? Alone?” Ray accused.

“She had to know,” the black haired man replied.

“You could’ve prepared her. Softened the blow?”

Gabriel said nothing. Ray grumbled under his breath and shoved the other man aside, marching purposefully up the stairs. Alone, Gabriel moved to sit in the chair where he had spend the night. He looked down at his hands, the palms still stained with Eli’s blood. He had seen the men who had beat Eli, had fought them off when he realized who they were and what they were doing. Had he not followed Eli and Nadia last night, Eli would certainly be gone. A tear slid down his expressionless face and landed on his palm. He would have his revenge, for Noctis, for Eli, and for Raphael.