Elias materialized and jumped out into the commotion. “What’s going on?” he cried as Anthony appeared. As soon as Anthony was through and out of the well, I cut my finger and pressed it to the stone that would turn off the portal.
Michael’s voice cut through the growls coming from Axoular’s throat. “Open it back up, Riley. He has to go back,now!”
“No, Michael. I don’t know what your problem is or why your voice sounds like that, but Axoular isn’t going anywhere.” I glanced over at Axoular and saw his hands were changing. The golden hue of his skin was growing into scales, and his fingers were turning to claws. My eyes flew to his face, surprised, to find his eyes were beginning to glow red with anger. I did a double take, but indeed, his eyes were literally glowing red, as if backlit by fire.
Smoke swirled over Axoular’s head. It was rising from his hair and ears.Could we literally breathe fire? That would be so cool.
“Anthony, do something! Michael freaked out when I brought Axoular back with me and he’s caused Axoular to go into some sort of freakish dragon defense mode!”
“Dragon?”said Elias. “They’rereal?”
“It’s a long story, but I’m a dragon and I’ll live as long as you guys. Stop this mess, please!”
Axoular stopped growling and when he spoke, his voice was gravelly and hoarse. “Riley, what is he? Is he a human?”
“No, Axoular, he’s Supay, like Elias and Anthony here,” I said, pointing to Eli.
“They aren't the same, Riley. The two men behind you are the same, but the angry one is not. He’s different, and he wants to kill me.”
I turned to Michael. “Michael? Care to explain?”
“Askhim, Riley,” said Michael. “He’s the strange creature you’ve brought to Earth to wreak havoc on our world.”
“Michael, he’s not here to hurt anyone.” I tried to be soothing. I sounded more irritated than soothing, mostly because I was beyond irritated. “And Axoular, you know English?”
“When I gave you the knowledge of my language, I absorbed yours.”
“Well. That’s really creepy.” Extreme situations called for extreme measures, I supposed.
Axoular moved his foot an inch toward me, and Michael snapped. He lunged for Axoular, moving much faster than I could've, though not as fast as I’d seen Anthony and Elias move. At the last second, he dropped down and attempted to sweep Axoular’s feet from beneath him. Axoular jumped over Michael's leg as Michael rolled back, out of range of Axoular's claws. I ran between them and put myself in front of Axoular.
"Michael! Stop this at once and explain what he means about you being different! Did those witches do something to you when you were captured? Did they change you somehow?"
"Riley, your Michael is a shapeshifter." We all faced Michael with our backs to the portal. In the commotion none of us noticed the stones glowing, or Boudicca coming through. She pricked her finger with an ancient gold lapel pin. Her hair was the same, but her skin was dark like Axoular, and her face was lined with deep creases. She was plump, but frail. She'd changed clothes and was wearing a nice dress of the sort my grandmother would've worn to church, her Sunday best.
"He's a what?" asked Elias, his voice full of disbelief. "He's a Supay, we grew up with him." Elias crossed his arms and looked at Boudicca like she’d grown an extra appendage. “Who are you?”
"Axoular, please subdue the shapeshifter," said Boudicca.
"Now wait a minute," said Anthony, but I interrupted him.
"Wait, Anthony. Let's see how this plays out. Something isn't right here.” My stomach clenched until it felt like a rock. Boudicca's words rang true in my heart, but I couldn't bear the pain I knew was coming. I could see a storm coming and I knew I was about to be drenched, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Axoular moved and he was a blur to my eyes, faster than a Supay. Before I could process his actions, he subdued Michael by wrapping his arms around him. Michael squirmed and bucked but couldn't break free.
Axoular murmured into Michael's ear, and the fight seemed to fall right out of him. He slumped back against Axoular and nodded his head. Axoular let go, and Michael went and sat in the corner of the room. Axoular stood beside him.
"Now then," said Boudicca. "Let's get to the bottom of this." She walked over to Michael and gracefully sat five feet in front of him. "What’s your name?"
"I've gone by many names over the years. For this life, I'm called Peter Campbell."
His words hit me like a ton of bricks. I moved beside Boudicca and sank to my knees. "Peter Campbell?Peter Campbell?What is going on, Michael?" A scream welled up inside of me. It was a lie. Nine years together, five years of grieving and unspeakable pain, and now the past few weeks of bliss. A sham, a facade. My body was tingling, almost numb.
Michael—Peter—looked from Boudicca to me. His face was expressionless, dead. "My name is Peter Campbell, and I'm not your husband." My breath caught, my shock written on my face.
"H—How?" I asked.
Body heat and comfort enveloped me as Elias and Anthony moved behind me. Elias stood, but Anthony crouched down with one arm around my shoulders. I knew he was attempting to calm me, but I doubted he could in my agitated state.
