Dragon Keep Me

Chapter Eleven

Natalie

"Nadaria, are my father and mother still alive?"

"I don’t know, honestly, they would’ve had to hide from Morga, for she would certainly be after them for breaking the deal. I have no idea if they are alive, and if they are, if they’re even in this realm."

"There are other realms?" I asked.

"Yes, all over the world. They could’ve gone to any of them."

I sighed. I would probably never find them, and that was if the dark witch hadn’t already killed them.

"Now," she cooed, rubbing my arm, "let’s get this curse removed before you suffer another headache."

"Wait, Nadaria? When you take this off, that will be it, won’t it? I won’t be able to go back to my life, you know, as a human?"

Nadaria glanced at River. "Well, the only thing stopping you would be your dark elf appearance. Witches live among humans all the time. Life in the realms isn’t for everyone."

"We could teach you a glamor spell," River offered. "You could cast it on yourself to appear human, but it would have to be refreshed every few days."

"So I can go back?"

"Yes. I don't see why not."

It was a relief to return to the comfort of familiarity. Why was there a little bit of nagging disappointment? I thought of Cass, and the dance we had just shared, and I looked at the door he’d stormed out of and frowned.

"Okay, I’m ready," I said to Nadaria.

"Well, since you’re a witch you’re going to have to remove the spell yourself, okay?"

"What? How?"

River said, "We’ll show you. I think we should try the apple twig."

Nadaria nodded, going to one of her jars and removing a twig about the size of my forearm, and handing it to me.

"Okay, now you need to pluck one of your hairs and wrap it around the twig while saying this."

She laid a pink notecard in front of me.

"Seriously?" I asked, reading it quickly in my head. "That’s it?"

River said, "It should work, but you must say it with confidence and conviction."

I pulled a single hair from my head and started wrapping it around the twig, clearing my throat and using the voice I did when I was speaking in a work meeting.

"Whoever it is that curses me,

Should vex themselves by power three.

But since I wish no harm to thee,

I bind the curse to this neutral tree."

The twig grew hot in my hands, and I gasped.

Nadaria stood. "Good, good. Now place the twig back into the mother tree with the hair attached."

She opened a window and I walked the hot twig to it, leaning out and placing it amongst the branches.

As soon as I let it go, it felt like fire seared through my brain, and I fell to my knees with a scream.

"Oh it’s working!" Nadaria exclaimed.

River's voice was next to my ear. "Just breathe, don’t fight it."

Her cool, soothing hands landed on my temples again and some of the pain dissipated. I was so hot, my whole body felt like it was on fire. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I held my head in hands, rocking back and forth and trying to breathe like River had instructed me. The pain evaporated, gone as quickly as it had come.

River patted my shoulder. "There now. It’s over."

I looked up, but yelped again. The light from the window was too bright, it blinded me and I put my head back in my hands again.

"The light, holy s**t," I said, still trying to find my breath.

"She's got dark elf eyes now," River said. "Close the curtain."

Nadaria did as she was told. I could hear her hurrying around and sliding the curtains shut.

"Okay, try again."

I sighed, lifting my head.

"That's wild," I whispered, looking around. I could see perfectly, as if it was bright in the room. I blinked once and stumbled back on my butt. "River…you. I can see your body heat."

"It’s infrared vision," she explained. "Dark elves live in very dark places and have adapted with both night vision and infrared. Focus on switching back and it should go away."

I did as I was told, and when I opened my eyes again, it was gone.

"Wow. I can see in the dark."

"Yes, but your eyes are going to be sensitive to light."

I frowned. That didn’t appeal to me at all.

"They make glasses that can help and I've heard there is one supernatural optometrist back east that makes contacts," Nadaria added.

"Really?"

"Yes! Incredible, isn't it?"

I stood, shaky on jelly legs, and River supported me.

Nadaria lit some low burning candles, which were okay as long as I didn’t look directly at them.

"Now, you might be in for a bit of a shock, dear," she said as she retrieved a mirror from a drawer.

I sighed, unsure how much more shock I could handle. "There's more?"

She handed the mirror to me, biting her lip in anticipation.

I took a deep breath and looked at myself, nearly dropping the mirror. My hair was about the only thing still the same. My skin wasn’t a human color anymore, but instead had taken on a bluish tint. My eyes were bigger, and my irises were much darker than they had been. My ears, of course, were tall and pointed, and my cheekbones seemed more defined. It was unsettling, but I also looked…beautiful. All of the blemishes I’d ever had were gone. No more of those little tiny wrinkles I’d started to notice around my eyes and mouth. My freckles were still there, but faint now.

"Oh, God! I didn’t know it would change so much."

"You grew, too," Nadaria said, giggling.

I looked down at my legs and realized that the leggings that had been touching my ankles were now about two inches above them.

"This is crazy," I whispered.

"Let me see if I can find you some glasses so you can go out," Nadaria said.

There was a flash and she was gone.

I touched my new face in the mirror, asking, "Now what do I do, River? I’m a stranger in a strange land…I have nowhere to go."

"The dragon seems to have taken a liking to you," she said. "Stay with him and no one will harm you, that I can promise."

"The dragon?"

She arched an eyebrow at me. "He didn’t tell you? Cass is a dragon shifter."

"Oh. A dragon? Like a flying, fire-breathing reptile?" She nodded, and I popped my lips, saying, "Yeah...that makes sense. Probably should've figured that out."