The Last Pendragon

Chapter 7

SOS GOW. Those simple letters brought memories to Kenji’s mind, flashbacks of terrible fights with an angry father, dark woods surrounding him on all sides, bright headlights as his older brother Matt came to the rescue. More times than Kenji could count, he and Matt had used that code to warn each other if they were in danger and needed help. Each and every time, Matt had had been there.

Kenji’s heart pounded. He couldn’t remember a single time when Matt had needed his help. Not once. Ever. Breathing heavily, Kenji checked the GPS link they both had. Sure enough, Matt’s was on, showing that he was in the mountains in Japan somewhere.

“What is it?” Lyza asked.

Kenji shook his head, l*****g his lips. “My brother’s in trouble.”

Before Lyza had a chance to reply, Kharro flew into the cave. Kenji was too worried about Matt and distracted from his text to even feel awe that dragons were real or that one was standing right in front of him. By the time Kenji looked up from his phone, Kharro was already in human form.

“Good news. I think I have figured out where Merlin’s possibly been hiding.” Kharro grinned, as if he was proud.

Lyza shook her head. “That quick? Shouldn’t Merlin be dead?”

Kharro nodded. “Technically speaking, look, it’s a long—“

“My brother Matt isn’t answering me.”

Kharro and Lyza both looked at him. “What did you mean when you said he was in trouble?” Lyza asked.

Kenji shook his head. “We used this code when we were boys, to warn each other if we were ever in danger. Matt never would have randomly texted it to me. He’s in trouble. I gotta find him.”

Lyza put a hand on his shoulder. For a second, Kenji forgot about his worry for Matt and focused on her light gray eyes, her beautiful, slender features, her bright crimson hair. “I’ll help you. Do you need me to do a tracking spell? I could use your blood…” Her voice trailed off.

Kenji shook his head, wiggling his phone. “No need. GPS.”

Lyza lifted an eyebrow. “GP - What?”

Kenji opened his mouth and then closed it. “Mages don’t have GPS?”

Lyza shook her head, shaking her hair.

“It says Matt’s in the mountains in Japan… Way outside Tokyo. If he’s in Japan, he would be in Tokyo at the dojo. Trouble is, I don’t know how to get there from here and by the time I flew on a plane…”

Lyza looked at Kharro. “Fly us there.”

Kharro laughed. “I’m a dragon! We don’t fly humans anywhere!”

Lyza crossed her arms. “Look, you need to make an exception!”

Kharro shook his head, poking her collarbone. “I got you out of the country and you still haven’t fulfilled your side of the favor by training him. I’m not going to do you another one. That’s it.”

Kenji growled and headed for the entrance of the cave. Whatever trouble Matt was in, it was bad. His entire life, he’d always gotten by, never needing Kenji’s help for anything. After all the times Matt had been there to save or rescue Kenji, he had to do this. No matter how many years they had spent apart, Matt was still his brother.

“Kharro, it’s his brother. What if it was yours?” Lyza murmured.

Kenji paused, keeping his back toward them. His hands shook and his mind reeled, thinking about the endless possibilities. What if Matt was dead? The thought terrified him. Matt couldn’t die. Even if they argued and disagreed about the divorce, it didn’t change anything. Kenji loved his older brother. The thought of losing him made his stomach clench.

There was a loud roar and when Kenji turned around, Kharro was in his massive, bulky, silver dragon form, complete with horns and wings.

Lyza grinned and leapt up, grabbing onto a scale on Kharro’s side. Kenji copied her, but he slid on Kharro’s back before Lyza. “How did you…?” she started, frowning at him.

Kenji grinned, using a hand to help her up. “Years of Taekwondo.”

*****

Lyza desperately tried not to blush as her arms tightly wrapped around Kenji’s waist. He sat in front of her on Kharro’s back as they flew high through the clouds. Wind slammed against them, making Lyza’s ears pop and her hair fly in every direction. Dew made her clothing damp as they flew through the clouds. She never knew flying was this amazing. For the first time since she had gone on the run, she felt free. Being this high up, as she desperately searched for the ground far, far below them, Lyza forgot that she was a Pendragon, that her friends had betrayed her.

“You haven’t talked about your brother much!” Lyza yelled in Kenji’s ear, over the sound of the rushing wind.

“Our parents divorced and he stayed with my dad in Japan. I took my mom’s side and moved back to America with her. We haven’t really talked since then.” Kenji’s voice deepened as he shouted back at her, looking over his shoulder at her.

Her hands rested on the muscles of his abs and heat crept into her cheeks. She wanted to lean against the back of his shoulder blades, despite the wind blowing his shaggy black hair around.

“You still care about him, don’t you?” Lyza shook her head as her crimson hair flew into her eyes. A strand of it pelted her mouth and she coughed.

Kenji nodded. “Yeah, of course. He’s still my brother. It’s just… I was so frustrated because he was overseas in war when it happened, so it didn’t affect him like it did me. Not to mention when I didn’t join the military when I graduated, it made Dad disappointed in me.”

“Because he wanted you to?” Lyza asked.

“Yeah. I didn’t and he hated that.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I saw how it tore my parents apart. How my father ran our household like he ran the army. He was a commander, not a father. Every second of my life was spent following orders, not having a choice in anything I said or did. Matt didn’t mind, but I hate that. It’s why I went into martial arts—I enjoy the discipline, but not having your choices taken from you,” Kenji explained over the wind.

Kharro angled downward and they slid forward. Lyza yelped, pressing into Kenji’s chest. He pulled a hand away from the spike on Kharro’s back he held onto to wrap around Lyza. “You okay?”

“Yeah!” Lyza nodded against his back, taking a deep breath. He smelled of cologne and air and she closed her eyes, trying to capture the moment.

The angle sharpened so much that terror clenched Lyza’s chest, keeping her from breathing. She thought for sure that they would fall. Kenji kept his arm around her the entire time as she kept herself pressed against his back with her arms grasping him as tight as possible.

Suddenly, Kharro landed on the ground, making them both jolt. Kenji leapt off and reached up as Lyza shifted one of her legs to Kharro’s right side. As she jumped down, her legs felt like jelly so they collapsed from under her.

Kenji caught her in his arms, his black eyes meeting hers with a half-smile. “You okay?”

Lyza nodded with a groan and he helped her stand. When she looked at Kharro, he was back in his human form.

Kenji grabbed his phone and gestured to a stone structure on the hill below them. They were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains and hills on every side. The foggy air made it chilly and kept her clothes from drying out. “He’s in that base.”

Kharro sniffed the air. “There’s at least a dozen Mages in there. We can’t just waltz inside.”

Kenji looked at Lyza.

“I can teleport inside, grab Matt, and teleport back out. You guys are going to need to distract the Mages, though,” she said. “How do I know which one Matt is?”

Kenji opened his phone and showed her a picture. When she was certain she had it memorized, she closed her eyes and wrapped magical energy around her body, channeling it from her concern for Kenji and the urgency to help his brother. She imagined herself disappearing and then imagined Matt’s face as hard as she could. Suddenly, the world around her disappeared and her stomach lurched. When her vision fully returned to her, she was standing inside a stone cell that had water dripping on the walls. It smelled dank and murky mixed with the coppery scent of blood.

In the center of the room was Matt, hung by his wrists to chains connected to the ceiling. His legs sagged and blood coated every inch of him. There was too much blood to see any specific injuries, but as Lyza walked around to see his face, she shuddered. His right eye was swollen shut and his jaw, cheek, and eye was covered in blackened bruises.

Lyza whispered, “Open,” in runic and aimed the spell toward his chains. Matt’s body fell to the ground, slamming against the stone. She winced as he groaned and his left eye popped open. “Who are you?” he asked, but the words were slurred as blood poured from his mouth.

“Your brother Kenji sent me. Hold on.” As she closed her eyes and thought of Kenji, she pulled magical energy around both her and Matt like a warm blanket. Once again, her stomach lurched and her vision disappeared. Seconds later, it returned.

Kharro was in his dragon form, his tail swinging to knock three Mages off the mountain. Meanwhile, Kenji did a turning kick to a female Mage’s face as he twisted to the left to avoid a lightning strike.

Lyza opened her mouth to warn him about the fireball hurling toward him from behind, but she was too late.

Kenji raised his hand and the fireball slammed against it.

Rather than explode and burn him alive, as Lyza had horrifically expected, the fireball stayed in his hand. Kenji looked at it for half a second, before he threw it back toward the Mage. The man was so shocked, he didn’t dodge it and the fireball exploded, engulfing him in flames.

“Matt!” Kenji called as he leapt up and knife-handed another female mage in the throat.

Lyza expected to have to try to carry Matt to Kharro, but he instantly jumped into the action, as if he wasn’t even injured. She stared at him in awe as he slammed a knee against a Mage’s chin and ducked beneath a wave of water hurling toward him. Kenji put both of his hands out and caught it, sending it back toward the mage. Matt took the chance as the Mage was on the ground to kick his face and then looked around to see that all the Mages were gone. His eyes landed on Kharro and widened.

“Uh, no worries. He’s on our side,” Kenji said.

Matt nodded and his expression was instantly composed again. He threw the Mage to the ground and placed a knee on the man’s chest. “Why did you want to find my brother? Why?”

Kenji stood beside him and Lyza walked up to stand behind them both.

“Not talking,” the Mage said and his body started to disappear.

“With these words, you cannot move!” Lyza shouted in runic, throwing her hands out. The spell slammed against the Mage, paralyzing him.

Matt glanced at her, before turning his attention back to the man. “Tell me why you wanted my brother, or I’ll let the dragon eat you.”

The Mage sputtered. “Okay, okay! We thought he could lead us to her,” he said, nodding toward Lyza.

Lyza’s heart pounded. She had put Kenji and his brother in danger.

“Why?” Matt yelled.

“Because she’s a Pendragon! But then we tested your blood and found out that you and your brother are both special.”

“Special how?” Kenji asked, kneeling down beside Matt.

“You’re both descended from all seven Mage family bloodlines! Including the Pendragons! We changed our plan then and once we had Kenji, we were going to bring you back to Nithal for further testing.”

Matt glanced at Kenji, who looked at Lyza. “Kill him,” she said. “We can’t risk him getting word back to the Bloods.”

Kenji stood up frowning. “Wait, maybe…”

Matt grabbed the man’s throat and then flipped him around. With a grunt, he twisted the man’s neck, breaking it. Breathing heavily, Matt shakily stood to his feet and swayed.

Kenji caught him as he collapsed. “Matt, you’re… You’re hurt bad.”

“I’m fine. We don’t have time for this.” Matt pulled away from Kenji and looked at him. “What kind of trouble are you in this time?”

Kenji looked at Lyza, as if hoping she would explain.

Lyza could only stare at them both in shock. “Look, magic is real.”

Matt stared at her with a look in his eyes as if it was obvious.

Taking a deep breath, Lyza continued. “Long ago, Arthur Pendragon cast a curse so that Mages could no longer cast magic in front of humans. If they did, the humans would try to kill them, so from then on, we hid and separated ourselves from the human world. The only way to break the curse is to kill the entire Pendragon family, so they’ve been hunting them. I recently discovered that I’m Arthur Pendragon’s direct descendant, as in he’s my distant grandfather. Another man—“

Kharro, who Lyza hadn’t even realized had turned back into his human form and had walked over to them, interrupted her. “The man who brought Kenji to me is also a Pendragon, a distant nephew of Arthur’s. He and his son have been on the run for years. He obviously sensed that Kenji was a Pendragon as well, but he never said anything about it.”

Kenji shook his head. “No, he didn’t. He said if I could see his son glow then I was a Mage too and asked if I wanted to learn magic. He did a simple ice spell to prove it was real so I went with him. I had no idea it was going to lead to all this.”

Lyza nodded and looked at Matt. “That’s when he brought Kenji to Kharro’s and Kharro asked me to train him. We worked for a week, but it didn’t work. What was that you did with that fireball spell, Kenji?”

Everyone looked at him. Kenji shrugged with widened eyes. “I have no idea. I just put my hands up on instinct and somehow, I caught the spell.”

Kharro frowned. “I think it’s because, rather than being descended from one main family line, like Lyza is, you’re both descended from all seven. The Mages are run by the society of Mage Families, by the way.”

Lyza nodded. “There are legends of an ancient prophecy that one day, a hero would come who was descended from all seven families… It was said that he would wield Excalibur again. But I thought that was just a story.”

Kharro grinned. “Simple answer: most stories have a bit of truth to them.”

Matt crossed his arms and winced. “Those Mages are not going to stop, are they? So what now?”

Kharro clicked his tongue. “We stick to the original plan. Find Merlin. I know where he’s at. Get on.”

A silver cloud of smoke surrounded him and when it dispersed, he was in his dragon form.

Kenji grabbed Matt’s limping body as Lyza turned around and leapt on.

“Lyza, can you heal him?” Kenji asked as he helped Matt over to Kharro’s dragon form.

Lyza nodded, glancing back at the two of them. “Yes, but it will take time.”

“We don’t have time,” Matt said.

“Matt, you’re—“

Matt interrupted Kenji. “We don’t have time.”

Lyza finally grabbed a scale on Kharro’s side and grunted as she hoisted herself up. At the top, she had to grab one of his spine spikes to fully pull herself up onto his back, groaning as she straddled Kharro’s large form. Her leg muscles screamed in protest, but she scooted to the front.

As the two brothers reached Kharro, Matt stopped and met Kenji’s gaze. “Kenji… Father, he uh, he didn’t make it.” Matt’s voice cracked.

“Wait, what? Wh - Wha...What do you…?”

“The Mages killed him right in front of me.” Matt’s voice returned to normal, husky and deep but otherwise emotionless.

“No… He can’t be.” Kenji’s voice broke.

“He is.” Matt’s was just a whisper.

“Dad… he… No! He can’t be—dead… He… No!” Kenji cried out in fury and agony, making Lyza’s heart clench.

“Kenji, focus. Put it away. We don’t have time to grieve right now. Put it away. Remember what we were taught.” Matt’s voice lost all hint of the grief it held before.

Kenji shakily inhaled.

More than anything, Lyza wanted to hold him and comfort him.

Matt slipped up behind her with a sharp hiss, but Kenji stayed on the ground, glaring up at him. “Kenji, come on.”

Kenji shook his head. “How can you feel nothing? I mean, you were the one who was with him! How can you not feel anything about his death, Matt?”

Matt’s hands trembled behind her, but Lyza pretended not to notice. “I told you, we don’t have time for grief right now. Those Mages are after us and could be here any second. Let’s go, Kenji.” His voice sounded harsh and firm, but Lyza didn’t miss the way his hands still trembled.

Kenji’s jaw clenched and he glared at Matt with tears in his eyes as he hopped on behind him. Despite his anger, Lyza’s heart warmed when Kenji swallowed his anger enough to help hold his brother upright.

Lyza turned back to the front, watching as Kharro prepared to take off.

Kharro took off the mountainside and flapped his wings. As they flew through the air, Lyza wondered how Matt could put everything away, from his father’s death, to the pain his body was obviously in, and focus on the task at hand. Then again, she supposed that was what human soldiers trained themselves to do.

Lyza felt tears in her eyes and she knew it wasn’t from the wind. Was this her fault? Deep inside, she knew what the answer was. She had led the Bloods right to Matt and Kenji. Because of her, their father was dead and now they were both on the run.