Koishi

Chapter 17

Ishi’s flame fizzled and stung his tongue. It took energy to make fire. The goblin army had deserted him and a mass of dwarves swirled around his dragon form. He blinked at the sight of his clawed and scaled hands. When had he shifted? The tide of their numbers sucked him into a whirlpool of axes and pikes. He’d stopped feeling pain hours ago.

Blood trickled along his limbs, pooling in the dirt under his feet to make a gruesome mud. His claws were useless to find purchase in the slick mess. Once he went down, he wouldn’t get back up.

The gate would need to find a new keeper to trap in its lonesome embrace.

And Sandra...

She deserved better.

A familiar grip tightened along all his limbs. The gate called. In a flash, he was returned to his den, staring at the magical entrance to his world and a pair of familiar eyes he’d seen since the day of his birth. “Mother?”

She had passed through the gate and unintentionally saved his sorry ass by making him transport back to Inverness. “What are you doing?” Her eyes went wide as she assessed him with a general’s quick look. “You’re dead on your feet.” She shoved a shoulder under his before he hit the floor. “Where is your silly human girl during all this?” A pendant hung from her grip. “I brought her a present.”

Pain ebbed back along his nerves. How many times had a pike found its way under his scales? “I ate her.” Shifting back to human form, he slipped from her hold and lay on the warm stone floor at the foot of the gate. It was a fitting place for a keeper to die.

“Bullshit, I saw that look in your eye. You’re in love with your food and I brought something that’ll even the odds between the two of you.” She glanced around the gateroom. “Where’s the battle?”

He stared at her and blinked. “You’re too late. She’s gone.” The room faded around the edges of his vision as if he’d drunk too many bottles of good sake. He smiled at the memory of his last drink. It had been over dinner with Sandra.

With the last of his strength, he called upon the core of the volcano. No one would cross the gate while he still drew breath. He’d blow the mountain as soon as the dwarves breeched his home, and take his enemies to the grave.

“Ishi?” His mother’s voice sounded faint. “Shit, where’s that useless goblin pet of yours?”

Sandra helped Beth carry the groceries into their apartment. The doctors claimed her recovery was a miracle. Sandra knew better. People of Inverness might not believe in magic, but she had learned hope came in all shapes and sizes. She ran her free hand over the pocket of her shorts.

They seemed empty. She dropped the bag of food in her other arm onto the sidewalk and checked both her pockets.

“Sandra?” Beth halted behind her by the trunk of the car, overflowing grocery bags in her arms. “Did you lose the keys?”

She stuck her hand deeper and felt around. It had to be there. She always carried it with her every day, but her hand came out empty. Without a glance at her sister, she raced to their apartment on the third floor, taking the stairs two at a time. Maybe she’d left it on her dresser?

Fumbling the key in the lock, she finally managed to enter. She could hear Beth’s faint call in the stairwell and hesitated. For years she’d been her sister’s caretaker and she’d just left her on the street alone.

So much had changed over the last few days. Her sister was a different person, almost a stranger. She was cured now and could manage her own life for the first time in years.

Sandra left her calling and went inside to her bedroom, halting at the doorway. There it was. On her bedside table, the saji lay where she’d left it before sleeping last night. Like any old spoon, the metal appeared tarnished and dinged, but magic had once lived inside the saji. That magic had transferred to her sister.

It was her only link to Ishi.

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed before her weak knees gave out. With shaky fingers, she cradled the saji and ran her thumb over the cold metal. What the hell was she doing? It was just a spoon. Ishi wouldn’t magically appear if she rubbed it like a djin’s lamp.

Beth leaned against the doorjamb, out of breath. “Spill it!” She wobbled across the room and knelt in front of her. With a fingertip, she touched the corner of Sandra’s eye and showed her the unshed tear. “You haven’t been yourself since coming back from Japan.”

Sandra stared at the wall behind Beth and bit the inside of her lip. Her sister knew about Ishi and the deal they’d made, but not that she’d shared his bed and lost her heart to him.

She missed him. His silly pranks and his teasing, the way he made her laugh and feel free. She’d always miss him. How could she ever fall for a man after Ishi? Sighing, she set the spoon down. “Nothing happened. I thought I lost this. That’s all.”

“It doesn’t work anymore.” They’d secretly tried it on another patient in the ICU before Beth was transferred out. He didn’t recover. Ishi had said it would only work once in Inverness before needing to be recharged in Outremer.

“I know.”

“Maybe we should send it back to the dragon. He should have an address, right? Maybe a PO Box?”

She frowned and clutched it to her chest. He had his little farm with sheep and dogs on the side of the mountain. “I wouldn’t know how to find the address.”

“Dude.” Beth grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Snap out of it. I’m cured. We should be partying. Hitting the clubs. Maybe go on a vacation. Instead, you’re acting like–like you’re depressed or heart bro–” She let go and leaned onto her heels. “Heart broken. Oh my God.”

Sandra stared at her.

“Oh my God.” She whispered it this time. “You fell in love while in Japan.” She slapped Sandra’s shoulder with enough force to send tingles to her fingertips.

She grimaced and rubbed the spot. “Ow.”

“Who is he?”

Her stomach twisted in knots. “Maybe you should start with what is he.”

She gasped. “No fucking way. The dragon?” She clasped her hands together as if her fairy godmother had just appeared. “Does he love you?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m human. My lifespan is just a blink of an eye for him. I’m more like an amusement.” But he had never treated her like one. She rubbed the sore spot on her arm.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Beth gave a look of disbelief. “And you let him get away?”

Sandra rose so her sister didn’t loom over her. “He didn’t get away. I left and brought the saji home.”

Beth blinked. “I’m cured. You should go back.” Her voice softened. “I’m a big girl and I’ve got lots of catching up to do. You don’t need to care for me anymore.” Opening her arms, she invited her in for a hug.

Leaning against Beth’s thin frame, Sandra closed her eyes. If only the answer were so simple.

“Big sis, if there’s one thing I learned while being sick, it’s that time doesn’t matter.” She squeezed her. “You love him. Go be with him. Lifespan be damned. Hell, he could get struck by lightning tomorrow.”

The knot in Sandra’s heart loosened. Could the answer be that easy? Just love and not worry about the future? She shook her head. “I think we’ve hurt each other too much for encores.” She patted her hand. “Why don’t you make us some coffee while I bring up the rest of the groceries?”

Beth nodded, doubt on her face.

Sandra descended with more grace than when she had climbed. There was only the bag she had dropped on the ground left to carry. She gathered errant cans and a bag of rice before returning to their home.

Beth rested on the island in the kitchen, leaning forward as she listened intently to the news. “Evacuations are still in progress on Izu Oshima Island. The refugees are being taken to the main island of Japan until the state of Mount Mihara can be determined. Many vessels are in use to transport…”

Sandra set the bag on the counter top. The buzzing in her ears drowned out the news reporter as she stared at a familiar volcano. A dark bloom of smoke poured from the caldera.

Ishi controlled that volcano. What was he doing? Had something happened to him? She gasped. What if he’d been hurt in a battle?

She hurried to her bedroom once more and searched her drawers until she pulled out her passport.

“What are you doing?” Beth stood in her path.

“That’s his island. It’s his volcano.” She pointed to the television. “Something’s wrong. I have to see him.”