Dragons: The Fury

Contents

Chapter One

A Dreadful Night

Chapter Two

The Seventh Year

Chapter Three

The Twelfth Year

Chapter Four

Resentment

Chapter Five

Magically Infused

Chapter Six

Offspring

Chapter Seven

Different

Chapter Eight

The New Girl In Town

Chapter Nine

Plotting Witches

Chapter Ten

The Lure

Chapter Eleven

Werewolves

Chapter Twelve

Friends Forever Not

Chapter Thirteen

Never Alone

Chapter Fourteen

The Bamboo Reed

Chapter Fifteen

Kidnapped

Chapter Sixteen

Joyous Memories

Chapter Seventeen

Fairies

Chapter Eighteen

Trolls & Goblins

Chapter Nineteen

Mook

Chapter Twenty

The Magical Doorway

Chapter Twenty One

Bahahafen

Chapter Twenty Two

Searching

Chapter Twenty Three

Caged

Chapter Twenty Four

Pursuit

Chapter Twenty Five

The Mad Dragon

Chapter Twenty Six

Despair

Chapter Twenty Seven

The Call

Chapter Twenty Eight

News From Afar

Chapter Twenty Nine

The Gathering

Chapter Thirty

Disobedience

Chapter Thirty One

Revelation

Chapter Thirty Two

Resurgence

Chapter Thirty Three

An Ancient Being

Chapter Thirty Four

Broken Seals

Acknowledgements

Embarking on such a laborious and long endeavor as writing this kind of fantasy/adventure novel, a multiple book series, with multiple characters, and multiple storylines developing all at the same time, brings about also multiple challenges. I was ready to take on many of these challenges, but there were those for which my fortitude and skills alone were not enough. It was in those moments that I needed the help of others.

I want to mention here the two persons who have my most heartfelt gratitude for all of their unconditional help throughout this process: Nanci Brillant and Jusnel González Ortiz. Honestly, without their help, this book would have taken me a lot more than the three years and ten months that it took me to finish.

I also want to mention here my lovely mother, Laura E. Nazario, who always supported me while I was developing my talents, while I was writing these books, and then, promoting my work with deep pride.

Te quiero mucho, mami.

Chapter One

A Dreadful Night

"¡Inés, soy yo, Mauricio, abre la puerta!" he identified himself, as he knocked on the unpainted, wooden door of the old and humble house, where he lived with his wife and his just-a-few-months-old daughter.

Inés looked out through the slightly pulled, ragged curtain that covered one of the front windows of her house. In fact, all the windows of the house had been covered with curtains or with any other kind of cloth that would do the trick. She needed to be sure that it was in fact, her husband; no amount of precaution was too excessive, especially when their latest dealings had been with someone who had a reputation as terrible as Simladi Toledo’s. In Cuba, many people went to those who were said to have the supernatural powers to help, like the commonly known santeros or santeras, of which Simladi Toledo was one.

Simladi Toledo was the younger of two sisters who were once very famous in northern Cuba. It was rumored that her older sister had died in the United States, killed by one of her very own apprentices, a fame that was not too favorable for someone who apparently depended on and fed off the fear of people. But no one dared to verify the rumors or, much less, ask about it.

Inés María Montalvo, married to Mauricio Andrés De León, tried many times to get pregnant, but she couldn’t. In her desperation, and having no money to pay for expensive medical procedures to achieve her goal of ever having a child, she recurred to a santera, the only one she knew, the Toledo sister who, after a long absence, was back in Cuba. Mauricio did not agree with the idea at first, his Christian beliefs went against the commonly known Santería of the Cuban people, but he too was desperate, and he wanted to support his wife in such a hard time. Of course, they both knew that it was going to cost them dearly, but they never imagined how much.

Afraid of the terrible debt that they had incurred with such a frightening santera, they had decided to leave. Mauricio, Inés, and their months-old baby would flee, leave Cuba and all the craziness behind them for good, and begin anew in the United States.

"¿Qué pasó?" asked Inés, after letting her husband into the house and closing the door behind him, not before taking a good look around to see if he had been followed. She wanted to know what had happened.

"Nos vamos, Inés, esta noche, nos vamos . . ." Mauricio reassured his wife that they were leaving that night, holding her arms and looking straight into her eyes.

Mauricio had spent the last few weeks looking for someone who would get them out of Cuba. He had found a rafter, a man who had promised to take him and his family out of the island for a very hefty price. A raft was about to leave that same night, with its final destination being the coast of Florida, U.S.A.

After receiving the good news, Inés sighed with relief and went to their baby’s crib and picked her up. Mauricio accompanied her and took a good look at the little girl from behind his wife. There, they stood for a few seconds, enjoying the view, just rejoicing on the fact that they had been able to conceive and give birth, just short of four months ago, to such a beautiful baby girl. To them, it had been a miracle, but one that had been tainted by the intervention of such a dark and scary santera, as Simladi Toledo.

Mauricio could remember clearly the scary ritual that his wife had gone through, under the guidance of the Toledo sister. Even though everyone was dressed in white clothes from top to bottom, the ceremony did not evoke an atmosphere of good and pure things. There was so much blood everywhere, animals had been sacrificed, and the strangest of concoctions had been given to Inés to drink. At one point, he thought that something had gone wrong, when his wife began to convulse suddenly and violently. It took a few of the santera’s assistants to hold her down to the table where she laid, but after about five full minutes of uncontrolled movements, she calmed down and Mauricio was finally able to breathe easy again.

After the ritual, Inés seemed to be alright, but Mauricio was having second thoughts about the whole deal. The santera approached them before leaving and addressed Mauricio directly; reminding him that they now had an ineluctable debt with her that would be collected soon after their baby was born.

Andrea Inés De León Montalvo, Mauricio’s and Inés’ baby girl, was born on the twelfth day of July, nineteen sixty five, but it wasn’t until the thirty first of October of that same year, that they found out what their debt consisted of. The santera had sent them a young looking woman with a message that same night, a message that almost broke Inés’ heart. In it, Simladi was claiming baby Andrea’s life and wanted her delivered in four days time. Now that Inés’ capability to bear children had been restored, she could have more children, so, it was expected of her to comply without complain.

Instead of relinquishing their baby girl, Mauricio and Inés decided to rush their efforts to flee the country and save Andrea’s life. After almost four months of raising their beautiful daughter, they didn’t have the heart to turn her in to suffer such a terrible fate. But the dreaded date had arrived, that horrible day when they were expected to make a full payment on their horrendous debt, the very same day when a raft was scheduled to leave Cuba’s shores under the cover of night, headed toward the promise of freedom from the santera and her debt collectors.

Mauricio’s and Inés’ moment of contemplation came to a sudden end when they heard something or someone walking or moving above, on the tin roof of their house. Inés brought the baby closer to her chest and held her tight, as she looked up at the ceiling with fear. Mauricio moved immediately and looked desperately for his machete to go outside and face up to whatever or whoever was out there.

"¡Ay Dios mío! ¡Ten cuidado . . . !" said Inés, with terror in her voice.

Mauricio went over to her, and held her in a tight embrace for a few seconds to help her calm down just a bit. Then, he heeded his wife’s advice to be careful and quietly went outside to take a look at the roof.

Inside, Inés, still holding onto her baby daughter, went to the only bedroom that the small house had. There, she pulled out a small box from under the tall bed. There was a mosquito net covering the bed, held from the four pillars of the bed’s corners. She pulled up the net so she could slip into the bed and sit on it. Then, she placed the box next to her and began to talk to her baby, with a smooth and soft voice that carried a very tender love in its tone.

If we make it out of Cuba tonight, Inés began to say in her native and only language, Spanish, your dad and I will do everything for you. You will live a much better life than ours, and you will never owe anything to anyone. I will never allow for you to lack anything… even if I have to be a slave for the rest of my days…

Inés began to cry. Then, she quickly looked up at the ceiling as she, once again, heard the steps of something or someone walking on the tin roof. She desperately opened the small box that she had pulled out from under the bed and went through its contents. There were a few pieces of old jewelry that she had kept hidden in case of an emergency, something valuable that she could trade. But this time, she was not looking for some sort of currency, she was looking for something that she wanted to inherit to her daughter.

Outside, Mauricio walked very carefully around the small house, trying to stay out of sight from whomever or whatever was standing on the roof. While walking around through the small and somewhat tight spaces left between the houses of the community, he noticed that a bunch of cats had gathered in the area. Many were just lying there, doing nothing, while others were walking around and about. At first, because of his preoccupation with finding out what could have been making the strange noises on the roof, he didn’t make much of the gathering of such a large number of cats, but after having walked all the way around to the back of the house, a sudden realization struck him, terrorizing him instantly.

Quickly, Mauricio climbed on one of the trees in the backyard, a mango tree, and from there, he looked at the roof of the house, only to find what he suspected and feared, a large black cat. The cat was walking around the roof, sniffing, and apparently looking for a way into the house, through the wavy tin panels. Seeing this only added to the panic that he was already feeling, and made him fall to the ground from the tree.

Inés had finally found what she had been looking for in her small jewelry box, a gold chain with a pendant that could be opened to reveal two very small photos. She placed it in one of the two pockets that she had sewn onto her flowery skirt. On the other pocket, she put as many pieces as she could from the jewelry box, earrings, rings, bracelets, chains, and even wristwatches that didn’t work anymore, but that could be traded for the value of their gold parts.

Mauricio was not hurt from his fall, but he seemed to be in panic over the black cat on the roof. He climbed desperately back on the mango tree and tried to reach the roof through one of its branches. This time, he didn’t fall. He got on the roof and went straight for the cat with his machete in hand, menacing to kill it with a strong swing of his sharp instrument. Oddly though, the cat didn’t back up, instead, it raised its back hairs and hissed and grunted at Mauricio. But that didn’t stop Mauricio’s advance, what did stop him was the sudden arrival of about fifteen to twenty other cats from around, that climbed or jumped on to the roof and stood between him and the black cat.

Mauricio knew then that there was nothing he could do, if he chose to attack the black cat, all the others would then attack him. They were just cats, and he was armed with a very sharp and long machete, but he knew that this had to do with the santera he had a debt with, and things were much more dangerous than they looked. He froze in place as the cats kept grunting and hissing at him, showing off their sharp teeth, retracting their ears back, curving and raising the backs of their bodies, and with their hairs standing in a show of hostility. He slowly began to move again, but stepping back carefully, avoiding giving any indication of hostility on his part. He grabbed on to the mango tree branch that he used to climb up, but there were cats all over it as well.

Inés was beginning to worry about her husband’s long absence; she knew that it couldn’t take him that long to check the roof. Plus, she had heard him as he jumped on the roof from the tree branch, but the sudden lack of noises after that, indicated to her that something had had to be wrong.

Outside, things were getting worse for Mauricio. The sunlight was dimming fast as night approached, and the cats were not yielding to Mauricio’s attempt to leave. One of the cats, on the same tree branch that he was holding on to, clawed his hand twice with lightning speed. Once again, Mauricio fell to the ground when he lost his balance from pulling his hand back quickly. The cats, which were now gathering from seemingly everywhere, were suddenly incited by his fall and jumped back and away from him. This gave Mauricio the chance to quickly stand up and run for it, but the cats were not about to give him a chance now. From the roof, at least three cats jumped down onto him, scratching his head, neck and face as they fell and he pushed them away. Then, another one jumped down, but Mauricio had the chance to see this one coming and, in midair, before the cat had the chance to land on him, he swung his machete and cut the animal in two.

Suddenly, Inés was startled when she heard a knock on the door. She rushed to the door and took a look through the partially pulled back curtain of one of the front windows. Standing in front of the door was an old man, an old friend, a neighbor that was loved and appreciated by everyone in the neighborhood, it was Don Manolo Concepción. But he wasn’t alone, never alone, his long time companion was right at his side everyday, all the time, a very protective of his master and yet friendly mutt, Ramiro.

The old man’s dog was barking insistently toward the side of the house, but his master kept him at bay, pulling on his leash. At the very same moment that Inés opened the door, Don Manolo got distracted and lost his grip on Ramiro’s leash. Mauricio appeared suddenly, running desperately from the side of the house, and the dog jumped fiercely onto the closest of the pursuing cats, which were now in the fifties or sixties.

The cat fell right into the jaws of the seemingly angered Ramiro, who looked like a rabid beast as he vigorously shook his head and killed the screaming cat in his mouth. Somewhere around ten other cats jumped on to Ramiro’s body and attacked him. But he did not yield, he continued moving around, desperately trying to grab in his bite, some of the cats that had perched their claws onto his skin.

Mauricio had pulled the shocked and surprised Don Manolo into the house with him, as he ran through the door. Inés, still holding her baby in her arms, looked at Mauricio’s scratches with concern, while Don Manolo, not quite understanding what was happening, went back to the front window to take a look at his faithful dog and companion, Ramiro.

"¡Don Manolo, por favor, sujéteme a la niña!" Inés asked their visiting neighbor to hold the baby for her, so she could attend to her husband’s injuries.

"¡Ay! ¡Jesús, María y José! ¿Qué está pasando aquí?" Don Manolo was desperately asking, feeling extremely confused and shocked, wanting to know what was happening.

Mauricio had run into the bedroom to gather as many clothes as he could fit into a small suitcase. Leaving the baby with Don Manolo, Inés went after her husband to help him and ask about the strange noises on the roof and the myriad of cats.

Don Manolo could not bear the noises coming from just outside the front door, the screaming cats as they were torn in Ramiro’s mouth, and the screams coming also from his dog. What the old man saw through the window, almost made his heart stop with the fear of losing his friend. The fight between the outnumbered canine and the cats was extremely loud, bloody and violent. Ramiro was falling to the ground repeatedly, continually getting back up to fight back, but only to be taken down again and again by the sheer power and dominance of the cats’ numbers.

Then, in his desperation, while still holding the baby in his arms, Don Manolo went to the door and opened it to call on his friend to come inside. This proved to be a big mistake. Ramiro was screaming in pain from the multiple bites he was receiving from the felines and all the clawing that had torn his skin open. Even though he would have loved nothing more than to go back to his master’s side, by then, he couldn’t.

As soon as Inés heard the noise from outside getting a lot louder as the front door was opened, she turned her attention to the old man to whom she had trusted her baby.

"¡No! ¡No abra la puerta . . . !" she screamed, obviously too late, asking the old man not to open the door.

Cats quickly came into the house and jumped all over the man, clawing their way up to his neck and head. Inés grabbed her husband’s machete and ran toward the overwhelmed and overpowered man, to get her baby back and try to save him if possible. She swung the machete left and right, cutting and killing cats as they met its sharp blade. But the door was still open and more cats kept coming into the house. The baby, which Don Manolo had placed on the floor next to him, once he fell, was not being attacked, and when Inés tried to reach her, about five cats jumped and attacked the concerned and terrified mother to keep her away.

Mauricio had left what he was doing to come to the small living room and help his wife, but he too was faced with a bunch of attacking felines that seemed to be trying to keep him away from the baby as well. Suddenly, all the cats stopped. They remained on the floor, the dinning table, the chairs, the window sills, meowing, grunting, hissing, and doing all sorts of menacing sounds and noises. They had cornered Mauricio and Inés into the back of the room, unable to reach their baby girl, who was still lying on the floor, crying inconsolably, next to an already dying old man, who was bleeding to death, unable to say a word or make a sound from the injuries he had suffered on his now cut-opened throat.

The room was quickly getting very dark, with almost no light outside, and all the windows covered with curtains and hanging cloths. Inés was still holding her husband’s machete in her hand, but she didn’t dare to move a muscle for fear of what the cats could do to her defenseless baby on the floor. There were no more fighting screams or noises coming from the front of the house, Ramiro had fallen to the overwhelming number of cats that had overpowered and killed him.

Then, a new sound was heard, a sound that had never felt so familiar, so reassuring, and so timely before. It was the sound of a bunch of dogs barking and growling as they quickly ran and approached the cat-surrounded house. Some of the cats that had invaded the living room of the house raised their ears as if trying to identify the source and direction of the barking noise. A large number of them left to join the rest of the group of cats, poised outside the house, ready to face up to the incoming band of canines.

Mauricio tried to get his wife’s attention to let her know that they were going to try and run for it as soon as the dogs arrived, but Inés had her eyes stuck on her daughter. She was terrified and motionless, but not frozen in place with fear. She was observing the situation intently, hoping to get a chance to run toward her baby and hold her once again in her arms.

"¡Inés! he whispered, still trying to get his wife’s attention. Cuando te diga, corre para el cuarto y prepárate para cerrar la puerta tan pronto yo traiga a la nena."

Finally, after hearing her husband’s plan, which made sense to her, Inés decided to do as he proposed. As soon as he gave her a signal, she would have to run toward the bedroom and be ready to close the door quickly as soon as he came back with their baby girl. She nodded in approval, showed the machete to her husband, letting him know that she would pass it on to him, and waited for the dogs to begin the carnage outside, this would be the distraction they would use to spring into action with their plan.

In just a matter of seconds, the terrible sounds of cats and dogs screaming in pain and growling and grunting in apparent anger began. Inés threw the machete to her husband, handle first, and ran toward the bedroom. Mauricio yelled at the cats to call their attention and as soon as he grabbed the machete in midair, he began swinging it indiscriminately, left and right, up and down, and in every other direction, cutting, hurting, and killing cats with each stroke.

Outside, about ten to fifteen stray dogs were engaged in an all out brawl against their seemingly natural enemies, the cats. But the cats were not backing up, they had the numbers advantage, and some of them were really large. Still, the dogs’ arrival had been right on cue at the very best moment, had they not arrived, Mauricio would have never been able to retrieve his baby girl from the floor and away from the guarding cats. With his machete in one hand and his daughter on the other, he made his way through the myriad of cats inside the small living room and into the bedroom.

Inés grabbed with her hands a cat that had clenched its claws onto Mauricio’s back and pulled it off him, only to be bitten and scratched by it. But Mauricio’s machete found its target on the cat’s body once it fell on the floor from Inés’ hands.

Taking advantage of the cats’ distraction with the dogs, Mauricio looked outside through the window of the bedroom, and found none in the back of the house anymore. He then helped his wife to step out through it and then handed their baby to her. He grabbed the suitcase, threw it out, and then he followed through as well.

Outside, they still had one more obstacle to face; they were surrounded by their neighbors’ fence, the one dividing their property from the others’. Mauricio wasted no time, he grabbed baby Andrea with one hand and used the other to help his wife to climb up the fence and go over. Then, very carefully, he passed the baby to Inés and, like before, with the window, threw the suitcase over before climbing the fence himself.

Neighbors, who had heard the commotion of the fighting dogs and cats, came over to find out what was going on, but no one dared to intervene; afraid of getting bitten by the rabid animals, they just watched as the fight ensued. Still, some of them couldn’t bear to watch, especially most of the younger ones and some of the women. There was blood everywhere and bodies lying all around, mostly cats, but some dogs had fallen as well.

As more people came to see what was happening, a few of the newly arrived men tried unsuccessfully to stop some of the fights, throwing water at the enraged and engaged-in-combat animals. Others tried using long sticks and thick construction gloves to grab and separate the survivors, but nothing worked, no amount of human intervention could undo the curse that had driven normal house and stray cats into such a bloody rampage. The dogs had not been cursed, they were simply following their nature, but since the cats would not yield, they wouldn’t either.

Once over the fence of their neighbor’s property, Mauricio and his wife walked with haste and left through the front of the house, facing to the other street. They would now head toward the beach, to the spot where the rafter had indicated to Mauricio, the raft to freedom would be at. After about half an hour of fast walking, the sounds of the fighting animals had drowned in the distance. Slowly but gradually, a new sound began to take its place; it was the soothing sound of the ocean waves. The air as well began to change. A smell of saline water dominated the environment, and filled their lungs and distraught hearts with hope.

"¿A qué hora sale la balsa?" asked Inés. She wanted to know at what time the raft would be leaving, Mauricio hadn’t had time to give her the details of their trip.

"A las doce de la medianoche," he replied.

Now, it was a waiting game for them. The raft would not be leaving until twelve midnight, and it was just, somewhere around eight or nine. Still, the feeling of being so much closer to freedom was getting stronger, and their fears were beginning to ease just a little bit. Andrea had been crying through the entire walk toward the beach, but now, with the soft ocean breeze and the soothing voice of a much calmer mother, she was finally able to quiet down. Luckily, Mauricio had put a bottle of milk in the suitcase, in the very few seconds he had, during the bloody event that had taken place in their, now, left-behind house.

Inés was very tired, so much so, that both her and Andrea fell asleep. Mauricio was extremely tired as well, but his fear of being found by the cursed animals of the santera, kept him awake and alert. Sitting next to his wife, who had reclined herself onto his chest and shoulder, he stared at his two most precious treasures in the world, his two ladies, his wife and his daughter. He sighed a few times with both nervousness and relief. He tried to capture and engrave the scene before his eyes, deep into his heart, his mind, and his memory.

The sky was filled with so many stars, and there were barely any clouds. Mauricio felt happy, accomplished, filled with a strong, yet calming sensation of peace, serenity, and love. Time became meaningless during his moment of contemplation. He felt secure, hidden, protected from the evils of the world, wrapped inside this cloud of all the beautiful feelings that the view of his two ladies evoked. These feelings of ease, allowed him to relax enough to fall asleep, and, sitting on the sand, reclined against a palm tree, with his head resting to the side on Inés’, he finally let go.

When Mauricio reopened his eyes, he felt terrible and surprised by his lack of commitment to staying awake and keeping guard for his family. He moved his wife’s body slowly and carefully, to free himself and avoid waking her, or the baby, up. He stood up and tried to find out what time it was by moving his wristwatch around, hoping to catch enough of the very dim light coming from the coastal houses, to see its arms. It was eleven fifty already.

He then desperately but nicely woke Inés up. With just ten minutes left to leave, he began to wonder what was going on, why wasn’t the raft where it should be, and why wasn’t anybody else around.

"Quédate aquí, yo voy a ver qué está pasando," he asked his wife to stay put while he went to find out what was going on. She agreed, but wrapped her baby tightly in her arm, and grabbed the suitcase, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

Mauricio went to the shore and looked around, into the ocean and inland, but there seemed to be no one, not even remotely close by. He began to feel a huge knot in his stomach and an asphyxiating shortness of breath. His nerves stood on end and his muscles began to stiffen once again, as the multiple thoughts of betrayal, deceit, cheating and trickery filled his mind.

Then, suddenly, the loud noise of an old truck coming toward the beach broke the solemn calmness of the ocean shore at night. Mauricio ran toward the palm trees and beach vegetation to hide, not knowing who was approaching. He was hoping that they would be the rafters, coming to depart as soon as possible, but he also suspected that it could be the Cuban government authorities, or even worse, the santera’s servants.

From his hiding spot, Mauricio saw how a very old and rusty truck made its way to the sands of the beach. There was something on the back, covered with a blue plastic tarp that was tied to the sides of the truck bed. Three men got off the truck and quickly began to untie the tarp to reveal what Mauricio was hoping for, a raft. He had not noticed him before, but he finally recognized one of the three men, it was the same man that had sold him a spot on that night’s trip. Once he realized that their way out of Cuba was right in front of him, he rushed back to his wife and baby to give them the good news and bring them over.

A somewhat large group of people followed the truck’s arrival to the beach. There were people of all ages in the arriving group, from the very old to the much younger ones, carrying suitcases and bags of clothes wrapped in bed sheets. In all, there were about fifty people, all wanting to leave, and many of them, trying to buy a last minute ticket to freedom. Only about half of them had previously bought a spot in the raft, the others, would have to wait and see if they would be allowed on the shabby, bedraggled, much deteriorated, and almost falling-apart floating device.

After placing the raft on the water, one of the three men proceeded to take out a handgun to maintain order between the desperate would-be-passengers, and keep them from boarding without paying. Mauricio showed the man a piece of paper that he had been given as receipt for his previous payment, and was allowed to board with his family.

The raft was made of old pieces of useless and discarded panels of wood and some boards, all tied together with old, dark ropes that looked like they could be giving out anytime soon. There were car tires and inner tubes surrounding the entire vessel, on the outside, held with ropes and what looked like broken fish nets. The whole contraption didn’t inspire confidence or safety, but for Mauricio’s family, this broken down raft was a lot safer than what lurked back on land.

There were a couple of boxes left on the truck bed, boxes that carried the passengers’ last hope of survival in such an unwelcoming environment, the waters of the Atlantic ocean between Cuba and the United States. These boxes had drinking water and some food, the very same ones that the rafters would need during their voyage under the unforgiving conditions of the open sea. But the three men wanted to fit as many people as possible in the raft, before even thinking about using any of its limited space for the needed supplies boxes.

There wasn’t much light in the area, except for the headlights of the truck, and the lanterns held by the three men that came in it. Suddenly, one of the men waiting to make payment and be allowed in the raft yelled, "¡Quítenmelo! ¡Quítenmelo de encima . . . !"

Everyone was extremely alarmed, the visibility was very poor, and almost no one could see what was it that the man was screaming about, what was it that he wanted so desperately to be taken off him. He fell to the ground in panic as he continued screaming and fiercely trying to get something off his back.

Then, another man, and then a woman, and then a kid, probably no older than ten years of age, also dropped to the ground screaming in pain and in vain for help. In the panic that ensued, people who had not paid tried desperately to climb on the raft to escape whatever was attacking them. But the man with the gun did not want to allow it, and when one of the fear-stricken women tried to go past him, he shot her.

People began screaming everywhere, and ran in every direction. Some of them fell on the sand as they tried to escape, only to be attacked by the unknown creatures. From the area with all the palm trees, came a group of men and women, all dressed in white, carrying torches and old oil lamps. They rushed toward the shore and approached the raft, but were received with shots from the handguns that the three rafters had brought with them.

Suddenly, one of the rafters holding a handgun screamed in pain and fell on the ground, right in front of the truck’s headlights. This allowed the people already on board to see what was attacking the group, it was cats, the very same ones that had attacked Mauricio’s house earlier and had survived the fight against the dogs.

As soon as Mauricio saw and heard the screaming felines, he felt a sudden panic attack. His wife could not stop crying, trembling in fear, and holding onto her baby daughter with all of her strength. But Mauricio could not allow himself to be struck with paralyzing terror, he had to do something, he had to get the raft off the shore. He jumped off of it and, like two other men, began to push it with all of his strength and willpower.

The cats were not jumping in the water, but soon enough the two remaining rafters would run out of bullets and would not be able to keep the santeros and santeras from reaching their goal. Finally, when the santeros closed the gap between them and the rafters, they stabbed the two men with very sharp and long knives. Yet, instead of going after the raft, which was already in the water and a few meters away from the shore, they just stood there, apparently waiting for someone to make his or her presence noticed.

In the raft, there were no supplies, and no oars, everything had been kept on the truck bed, waiting for as much space as possible to be filled up with paying customers before being brought onboard. Mauricio and two other men were still in the water, pushing the raft as hard and as fast as they could, trying to put as much distance between them and the santeros on the shore as possible.

Simladi Toledo, the highly feared santera of the area, finally arrived. Her servants and followers were standing in two rows, holding the lamps and torches that brought light to the dark beach. She walked without haste, as if the distance already put between them and the raft meant nothing.

Simladi stood between her followers, surrounded by a myriad of cats of all sizes and colors, with her eyes widely opened, and an expression of madness on her face. A frightening and sick-looking grin appeared on her otherwise, beautiful face. She had all the features that could be considered as extremely attractive in a Hispanic woman. Long, wavy black hair, with a very soft and nicely tanned skin, voluptuous breasts and nicely rounded, wide hips, separated by a small waist; apart from her extremely dark and evil heart, she was a gorgeous woman.

Two of her young servants, most likely teenage girls from their appearance, came rushing to Simladi’s side, carrying what looked like a large cloth bag, a satchel of some sort. Once beside her, they grabbed its ends and opened it, revealing a wide array of objects that looked harmless to the untrained eye, but that in the hands of such a dangerous santera, were highly powerful and lethal. There were many desiccated animal parts, like chicken feet and beaks, all four extremities of cats, bat wings and ears, goat hoofs and ears, dog tails, and many different kinds of teeth. There were also twigs and leaves, tied together with strings, and some figurines made of carved wood or cloth.

Without taking her eyes off the raft, and specifically off Inés and the baby she was carrying in her arms, Simladi reached with her left hand into the bunch of objects lying there on the opened cloth. Between all of them, she grabbed one, just one, but the only one that she really needed, the one that made everything else unnecessary, a small, hand-sized, rustic doll made of white cloth. Its edges had been sewn with cord strings instead of thread. It had five extremities, two longer ones for the legs, two medium ones for the arms, and a small one on the top for the head.

Although the cloth used to make this doll had been originally white, by now, it had a dark stain that covered most of it, as if something dark had spilled over it. In fact, the stain had been produced by the blood Simladi had previously collected from Inés, the night that she performed the ritual that gave back the capacity to bear children to Mauricio’s wife.

With her arms pointed at the raft, and the cloth doll in her left hand, Simladi proceeded to call on someone, repeating the same phrase, over and over, while signaling with her right hand fingers to come over to her, "Ven . . . tráeme a la chiquitica . . ."

There was no change in the raft’s condition, but unexpectedly, someone was heard either falling or jumping in the water from it. It was Inés. She had fallen prey to Simladi’s power. As ordered, she was coming over to the santera, bringing her little one, baby Andrea, with her.

The waves were not too strong, but each time one passed by, they covered Inés completely. She kept raising Andrea’s little body over her head each time this happened. Mauricio had not realized what was happening, until he heard the desperate cries of another woman who raised the alarm about it, calling on Inés to come back. He could not believe his own eyes when he took a look at the mad person who had jumped off the raft, only to find out that it was his own wife who was bringing their daughter over to Simladi’s deathly hands.

"¡Señor! ¡Señor! ¡Ay santa virgen de la Guadalupe! ¡Por favor, señor, haga algo!"

The same woman, who had raised the alarm about Inés’ jump off the raft, was screaming in panic and begging Mauricio to help the cursed woman in the water, Mister! Mister! Oh sacred Virgin of Guadalupe! Please, sir, do something!

Mauricio left the enterprise of pushing the raft away from the shore to go after his cursed wife. Two of Simladi’s men, carrying the same long and sharp knives with which they had killed the rafters, also went into the water to bring Inés, and more specifically, Andrea, out onto the shore. Mauricio grabbed Inés’ waist and tried to pull her back, but she resisted. He insisted forcefully, but she only reacted screaming as if mad. Soon, very soon, the struggle between Mauricio and his wife would have to wait, the two servants of the santera were almost there and menacing to fatally stab him if he insisted on opposing Simladi’s will.

Realizing that he was getting nowhere struggling with his entranced wife, Mauricio decided to place himself between her and the quickly approaching men. One of the two santeros, holding his knife up above his head, jumped forward and tried to stab Mauricio down with it, yet, right before reaching his would-be victim, he grumbled in pain and released his weapon. He had not noticed that under the water level, Mauricio had kept his machete held with his belt, and had taken it out to stab the incoming assailant.

The other man arrived as well and also tried to cut Mauricio from the side, swinging his knife indiscriminately. Mauricio brought his machete up above water level so he could swing it faster. He blocked the santero’s knife attack with his machete and took a swing at the man himself. Inés had continued walking toward the shore, and was about to pass right by the fighting men, when the santero, knowing that Simladi’s interest was primarily the baby, instead of attacking Mauricio, went ahead and stabbed Inés’ belly.

"¡No!" screamed Mauricio in anger and pain.

Inés winced and grumbled in pain, and lowered her arms, releasing the baby onto the hands of the wicked man. Mauricio moved as quickly as the water allowed him and grabbed Inés’ limp body. She was bleeding terribly, and the water became tainted in red with her blood.

In Simladi’s hand, the cloth doll that she had been holding began to bleed through the belly area as well. Now, seeing that she wouldn’t need it anymore, she dropped it on the ground, where its cord strings untied as life left Inés’ body.

"¡Inés . . . ! ¡Inés . . . !" Mauricio cried out her wife’s name a few times, as he noticed her becoming more and more unresponsive in his arms.

Inés’ head finally dropped down, her neck muscles couldn’t keep it up anymore, but only after using her last breath to mutter her baby daughter’s name for the last time, Andrea…

Mauricio broke down in tears, crying inconsolably while holding his dead wife’s body tightly, not wanting to let her fall under the water, as if she could drown.

Suddenly, everyone was startled when a shot from a handgun was heard. The man holding baby Andrea shook his body violently and suddenly, as he felt the sting of a bullet penetrating him through the back. As a precaution, one of the men that had boarded the raft had brought a gun to protect himself and his belongings during such a treacherous trip. He had seen enough of Mauricio’s struggle and decided to help.

Simladi’s facial expression of success changed drastically as she saw the baby fall off the hands of her follower and into the water.

"¡La quiero viva . . . !"

Simladi was quick to yell that she wanted her alive. Two more men from her group rushed into the water to save the baby from drowning, but stopped when they heard a second shot fired, a shot that met its mark, their leader’s body. Simladi fell to the ground as her followers rushed to stand between her and the incoming shots from the raft. Some of them quickly broke off pieces of cloth from their shirts and skirts to cover her wound.

Mauricio, seeing that his baby was about to drown, unless he did something about it, reluctantly let go of his dead wife’s body to rush toward the shore. Andrea was still on the surface of the water barely, but her clothes and the little blanket that she was rolled in, once wet, became heavy and were pulling her down. He grabbed her and pulled her out of the water, just in the nick of time. Andrea came out crying and coughing, but still alive.

The raft was now even farther away from the shore than when Mauricio had stopped pushing it to go after his wife, but he had to make it to it, otherwise, only death would release him from this nightmarish experience. He had no options; he either made it to the raft, or die at the hands of the group of mad santeros on the shore.

The other two men that had pushed the raft into the water with Mauricio, had already climbed in, they could no longer reach the bottom floor and keep their heads above water. Seeing that Mauricio was desperately trying to catch up to them, but knowing that he no longer could, was heartbreaking to some of the people aboard the raft. They felt powerless and unable to do anything about it. They wanted to help Mauricio, but doing so would mean bringing themselves back, closer to Simladi and her followers, something that they were not looking forward to.

After impotently watching, for about a whole minute, the agonizing scene of a desperate and terrified father, pointlessly battling the waves of the ocean, holding his baby above his head in a futile attempt to reach a raft that was now too far, the people in the raft gave up hope. A feeling of powerlessness and helplessness grew and seated itself deeply into the hearts of the astonished, dumbfounded and aghast passengers of the raft. They could hear the baby’s loud cries and Mauricio’s coughs as he tried over and over to bring his head above water and gasp for air. It was a terribly disheartening scene, one that some couldn’t bear to watch anymore, turning their heads away to avoid the heartache it gave them.

Then, suddenly, the same woman that had raised the alarm earlier about Inés’ jump off the raft, yelled excitedly as she came up with an idea to help Mauricio. She called on the men to undo one of the ropes that held the tires and inner tubes around the raft, so they could untie one of those floating devices. A few of the men sprung into action right away, and in a matter of about a minute, they had released an inner tube from the edges of the raft. It had an old fishing net entangled around it, something that would come in handy for the struggling man to be able to hold on to it easier. Not everyone was happy about it, some people thought that the floating capacity of the raft was being compromised by removing the inner tube, but luckily for Mauricio, the man with the gun was in favor of the woman’s idea.

One of the men in the raft tried throwing the inner tube to Mauricio, but it didn’t get far enough to reach him. They pulled the tube back with the rope it was tied to, and tried again. This time around, another man, a stronger one, tried reaching the struggling father with the tube; he didn’t, but came close enough for a wave to push the tube toward Mauricio the rest of the way.

Mauricio was almost ready to give up. His arms, extremely tired from holding his baby above his head, responded clumsily to his commands. Hadn’t it been for the net wrapped around the inner tube, he would have lost his grip. With the strength summoned by his determined will, he was able to place Andrea on top of the net across the center hole of the inner tube, so he could use his now, free hands to hold on to it.

After being pulled out of the water and into the raft, Mauricio felt very strong and conflicting emotions. He felt both, the ecstatic happiness of having made it into the raft that would save his baby’s life from the terrifying Simladi Toledo, but also the agonizing pain and grief from his wife’s death. He would not be able to recuperate her body to give her a proper burial, and there would be no tomb to visit and bring flowers to. He never had the chance to say goodbye, or to tell her how much he loved her. She would never get to see her own daughter grow, learn, talk, and just live. With his daughter tightly wrapped in his arms, Mauricio couldn’t help it, but to break down and cry inconsolably.

On the beach, Simladi had not been fatally wounded, but extremely and dangerously angered. She ordered Inés’ body to be retrieved from the water and taken with them.

Since there were no oars to propel the raft with, some of the people decided to lean over its edges to use their arms and hands as paddles. Slowly but gradually, the northern shore of Cuba disappeared in the distance, as they drifted away from the beach, the place where Mauricio and his fellow rafters had lived through such deathly events, on such a dreadful night.

Chapter Two

The Seventh Year

Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… . Happy birthday, dear Andrea… Happy birthday to you… everyone sang, Mauricio, Marjani, and even Liu Cheng, all except one of the present, Krom.

Now, make a wish and blow the candles, said Marjani.

Andrea Inés De León Montalvo was turning seven that day, July twelve of nineteen seventy two. Early that morning, prompted by Marjani Jackson, the granddaughter of the late Ebele Jackson, Andrea had walked with her to their beach shack. There, the little girl had been surprised by her father, Mauricio Andrés De León, and their long time Chinese friend, Liu Cheng, with a birthday cake and wrapped up presents, mostly toys.

Although Andrea was only seven years old, she had grown accustomed to the presence of a dragon among them. Krom had been there, accompanying his essential partner, Liu Cheng, and making sure that Andrea was safe and well protected from anyone of the magical community. He had made a solemn promise to his twin sister, the water dragon, Nell, who had agreed to leave Andrea’s side until she would turn seven.

Mauricio was happy celebrating his daughter’s birthday, but there was also a feeling of sadness, remembrance, and uneasiness in his heart. Every year, Andrea’s birthday would remind him of that dreadful night, when his beloved wife died and he barely escaped with his baby daughter from Cuba. But today, was especially troublesome to him, more so than any other of his daughter’s previous birthdays. This was her seventh and a very special one, the one when she would be introduced to her essential partner, Krom’s twin sister, Nell.

Having experienced such a terrible nightmare with the world of the weird and uncommon, Mauricio had always felt very uncomfortable about Krom’s presence near and around his little girl, Andrea. But there was nothing he could do about it, except maybe complain and whine about the whole thing without any effect. Krom was never going to leave Andrea’s side until his sister arrived, so, that made it impossible for Mauricio to try and move out of Marjani’s house in the swamp lands of the Everglades. If he moved further inland and away from the coastal area, it would make it so much harder for Krom to keep an eye on Andrea’s safety, something that he was not willing to allow.

Hundreds of times, Marjani had sat down with Mauricio to try and explain to him how his daughter’s essential tie to such a wonderful and powerful dragon as Nell was a blessing, not a curse. She would talk to him about the many wonderful and amazing adventures that her grandmother had shared with her, adventures that she had lived next to her essential partner, a water dragon. Sadly, Mauricio would pay attention mostly to the part of the story where the dragon had died at the hands of two young sisters, a couple of witches that were said to be completely mad. He was always worried that, the next time, instead of her dragon, it could be his daughter who ended up dead in a confrontation of that kind, a confrontation that could be avoided if only, Nell would stay away from Andrea.

Many times, Marjani had to correct Mauricio about the very clear and cut distinction between Magic and Nature, and advised him never to mix that word in with others when talking either about, or to Krom. To a dragon, the word Magic was detestable and abominable for all that it stood. Dragons had been fighting, for as long as there had been magic in the world, not against humans, but against the practitioners of this abomination, this unnatural and capricious use of the energy of the Universe. But to Mauricio, dragons were still just magical beings of myth and legend, so, not wanting to have anything to do with Magic or Santeria, he didn’t like the idea of having these creatures around his daughter.

Marjani had continued running her grandmother’s airboat rides business in the swampy lands of the Everglades, and had hired Mauricio to work with her. She had taken him to apply for political asylum with the American government, and the paperwork had run smoothly and swiftly. What Mauricio didn’t know about this was that Ebele’s very nice and calm demeanor had gained her the favor of many people over the years. Plus, she was not the only person in the area who knew about dragons, not every single person who followed or helped these amazing creatures needed to share an essential tie with one of them to be in their favor. With these people on their side, Marjani was able to have Mauricio’s papers processed faster than usual.

Liu Cheng, on the other hand, was not applying for residence or citizenship, he limited himself to just helping around in the house, giving maintenance to and fixing the boats, and babysitting, watching over Andrea while Marjani and Mauricio were riding the airboats at work.

Krom had it the easiest; he did not have to do anything except fishing. He was there just to make sure that no Magic would come near Andrea, protect her, and stay out of sight from any other humans. But he tried to do a bit more than that; he tried to teach a thing or two about dragons and Nature to Andrea every time he had a chance. This, of course, backfired a few times, actually, more than just a few, more like almost always. Krom’s highly volatile and short-fused temper was always put to the test whenever Andrea’s lack of attention or childish behaviors would stand between them.

In the small and very familiar party, held in the beach shack, everyone was wearing the traditional cone-like birthday hats and eating a slice of cake, when they heard Krom, out on the sandy beach shore, producing a long, extended and deep rumbling sound. Marjani took a quick look outside through one of the windows and saw Krom standing on the sand, with his long neck extended all the way up, staring out at the ocean, and seemingly frozen in place.

Liu, come take a look, said the intrigued Marjani, what’s Krom doing?

Liu Cheng did not stand up from his chair at the small table of the shack, he continued enjoying his slice of cake, and without even looking Marjani’s way, he replied, It’s Nell, she’s near and… He stopped for a few seconds to swallow a mouthful of the seemingly delicious cake, and then continued, . . . we feel her presence. Well, he feels her presence.

We, you said? asked Marjani, intrigued by Liu Cheng’s first choice of words.

Liu Cheng just nodded while still enjoying his piece of cake and used his arm to point out to the window, shaking his hand slightly, trying to indicate with the gesture, that he meant Krom, not him.

Mauricio was sitting on the floor with Andrea, opening the few gifts that the three adults had gotten her. She was excited to find out what had been wrapped under all that colorful paper that was just standing between her and her presents. After ripping off the wrapping paper of her first gift, she looked at her new doll with awe and interest, she was obviously very happy with the gift. She began to open the doll’s box when, she stopped, turned her head around to look out the door, and placed the half opened box on the floor to stand up and walk away from it.

Andrea, called her father, where you’re going? His English was still rough and had a very strong Hispanic accent, but it was clear and understandable.

Andrea didn’t respond. Marjani, standing by the front window, next to the door, noticed what was going on. Mauricio stood up and was about to grab Andrea to bring her back to the opening of presents, when Marjani signaled him not to. Liu Cheng had not been paying attention; he was too focused on the rich flavors of his slice of cake. But another loud rumbling sound from Krom finally got his attention and he replied, Yes, I’m coming.

Marjani and Mauricio looked at Liu Cheng with intrigue in their facial expressions; they had not talked to him.

Are you talking to Krom? asked Marjani.

Liu Cheng did not answer the question. He stood up after swallowing his last big mouthful of cake and walked right past Marjani and Mauricio by the door, saying, I wish he would learn to be just a bit more patient.

Andrea was already ahead of Liu Cheng, on her way toward Krom’s side on the beach.

What’s happening? asked Mauricio, a bit concerned about his daughter’s strange behavior.

I think she’s here, Marjani replied while looking out the window.

Who? asked Mauricio, already suspecting he knew the answer to his question, an answer he really didn’t want to confirm, Nell?

Marjani didn’t say a word; she just nodded while keeping her eyes on the beach. The moment that Mauricio had feared and hoped would never come, was already here. In just a moment, his daughter would be introduced to and reunited with the dragon that she shared an essential tie with, and the very same dragon that had almost cost her life as a baby. This was not something Mauricio had been looking forward to, like Marjani and Liu Cheng, but it was something he had no control or power over to change or avoid.

Although it was just normal Florida weather, Mauricio saw in the almost sudden gathering of grey clouds an ominous sign. Summer days were known to start in the Everglades, with shiny, sunny mornings, and turn into grey and dark afternoons with thunderstorms popping here, there, and everywhere. But today, an early morning storm, in lieu