Zombie and the Beast

- 12 -

Lara followed Minho towards the kitchen. Keeping up with his pace was harder than before. To distract herself from thinking about the implications of her walking difficulties, she replayed their earlier conversations in her head. She hoped she could find a clue that would help her break the curse. Although she already had some ideas, such as blocking the flow of energy between Minho and everything else or somehow taking apart the gate so she could use the crystals, she didn’t feel like any of them were really going to work. A detail suddenly caught her attention.

“What happened to Cinderella’s ring?” she asked as they reached the stairs that led to the kitchen. “The one you mentioned she gave you. Do you still have it?”

“Yes. It’s here,” said Minho, raising a hand. “I’ve never been able to remove it. I’m not sure if it’s because my hands grew bigger when I turned into a beast or because of the curse.”

“Let me see,” said Lara.

Lara took Minho’s hand in hers,  avoiding his long, sharp claws. The white ring was on his little finger, as it had probably been too small for any of his other fingers even before he’d changed. She remembered seeing it when they’d first met, but she hadn’t realized it was the same ring he’d told her about. She pulled on it carefully, but couldn’t make it move.

“I take it using oil to try removing it didn’t help?”

“Not even a little. Soap neither.”

“It’s really immovable. I need to check something.”

Closing her eyes, Lara focused on the rings’ energy and gasped.

“It’s Dragon-bone,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting that. I thought all the artifacts had long been retrieved by the priestesses.”

“Really?” Minho looked at her with wide eyes. “Dragon-bone? I thought the Magic Thieves mostly used it in powder form, like they did with the scales.”

“Not always. Some of them had figured out that jewellery was a more durable option.”

“That’s crazy,” said Minho. For a few seconds, he stared at the ring. His lip curled in disgust.

Unsettled by the strength she had felt emanating from the ring, Lara pulled Minho’s hand closer to her face and looked at the delicately carved ring. For this, a Dragon had been killed. People had stolen its magic and denied it a traditional burying in the Lava Caves of Heimdrach. Lara felt her throat tighten at the idea. She shook her head. This Dragon’s family was never even given a chance to say goodbye, if it had been spared at all. They had probably been killed in their sleep too, like most of the other Dragons who had been attacked by the Magic Thieves, who seemed to have believed that more blood meant more powers. She rubbed her mouth, wishing the movement was enough to remove the bitter taste that had appeared at the idea.

“Let me try something,” said Lara to Minho. She stepped closer, still holding his hand in hers.

Concentrating her attention on the energy surrounding the ring, she tried to make it slide off of Minho’s finger with Dragon-Magic. It wouldn’t even move one millimetre. She frowned and stared at the ring. Even if it had nothing to do with the curse, she had to remove it. She had to bring it to the Great Priestess, so she could give it a proper burial. Gathering more energy from her surroundings, Lara tried connecting with the ring directly. She felt something and pushed a bit more until it gave way. All of a sudden, she was at the center of a web of energy that was flowing steadily from every direction. She focused on it, feeling its purpose right to her core, even stronger than expected. She gulped as she noticed she had become part of the web.