passed from Dragon to Dragon for centuries! Its darkness has always been contained. But this time is different.””
“Yes, rumors and legends are one thing. It’s dangerous. That can no longer be denied. And Rafe’s life depends on it. It must be destroyed.”
“Yes, but we must free Rafe first. We cannot risk trapping him in the void. What if without it’s power he cannot be freed?”
Aurora stepped up, as did another woman wearing a tall gray pointed hat. Keira assumed the second woman was a witch. “We have the power,” Aurora said. “Once we have him, Fairy magic mixed with that of Shel's fire magic should work. We could even ask Red to help, too. Troll magic hits like a wooden club when working to break something.”
Red nodded his approval to the plan. “But we free Rafe first.” he answered with the children still hanging onto him.
“Right, we must lure the thing out somehow,” Alec interjected, “distract it, and then grab Rafe. As soon as we have him, we shatter that ugly thing.” Draya gave him a withering look. “I mean it is a beautiful heirloom necklace, but it is evil…ugly evil!” She seemed to accept the adjustment.
“I can do that,” Keira said. Did I really just volunteer myself? Well, here goes nothing. Too late to turn back now. But she knew she had to do it. She didn’t want to turn back. All eyes turned to her in surprise. “It wants me. I didn't fall prey to its temptations, so I'm hard to get. Therefore, it will revel in the conquest. I mean haven’t any of you ever dated before?” That seemed to prompt a brief moment of introspection among the small group. “Anyhow, it may be willing to make an exchange. Once it gives up Rafe, do what you have to do.”
“But you could die,” said Alec. “Why would you sacrifice yourself?”
“Well, I mean, let’s not get too dramatic. I trust all of you to NOT let that happen.” Keira looked at the children, at Red, and then at everyone gathered around her. “Besides, I'm the only one here without a special power to stop this thing. And I love Rafe, and I love the children. I just think it’s really the only way I can help.” Feeling a little surprised at herself she added, “They are the closest I've ever come to having a family of my own.” She ran over and hugged the kids who held her tightly until she extracted herself gently from their little hands. “And even if it is over, the time I have spent with Rafe has been the happiest of my life.” This prompted some interesting looks from those gathered, but everyone seemed to feel the sincerity of her words.
Alec looked as if her were about to protest, but then seemed to reconsider.” “I wish there were another way, but I agree. I certainly don’t have a better plan.”
With no time to lose she asserted herself, “Well, let’s get to saving Rafe. I, for one, am ready.” The three women, with Red, Alec, and Draylor, finally opened and passed through the massive oak doors in this the outermost wall around the Void. Keira could hear Samantha's voice barking out orders to the shifters on the team. Those who were neither shifter nor magical carried enchanted weapons. Those who were shifters took on their animal forms; Draya was a large, purple dragon with silver hair, and Draylor was a huge, reddish-blue dragon.
Keira expected fire or at least heat closer to the void; she'd imagined a fiery Hell pit. Instead, the air turned her breath into vapor; the closer they got, the colder it grew. She froze in her light-weight long-sleeved shirt and jeans. They quickly reached a second wall and a second door. Including the wall around the faire they had now passed through three doors. These guys aren’t messing around. Alec opened it with a large skeleton key. The temperature now drastically changed from cold to hot – not fiery hot, but humid and sticky. The smell of rotten flesh intensified in the heat. Keira covered her nose as she walked the ground covered with bones in different stages of decay.
“The magical petting zoo,” said Alec, stepping over the bones of what looked like a cow. A few other skeletons looked human. Keira had to look away on more than one occasion so as not to get sick in front of her new companions.
The fourth and final door lay ahead of them.