I have an important announcement to make. This announcement is directed to 4Kids and their stinking website:

Ahem…

WHEN THE HECK ARE YOU GOING TO POST THE NEW EPISODES YOU (insert words of choice here) FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO HAVE NO TELEVISION AT HOME!?

Thank you.


The Files of Kazdan Kalinkas

Book Two: After the Storm

Chapter Six: Still Not Completely Me


"Well, I'm your man. I'm the bloody bastard you wanted when you had me spawned. I'm your tool, and what difference does it make if I hate the part of me that you most need?" –from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game


I ran into Peyton in the hall and he helped me down two flights of stairs into what could have been a Creature's version of a dining room. I was aching and sore but glad to see my friends waiting for me.

"Did you guys stay here all night?" I asked, resting my head on the table after pushing aside plates of food.

"No, actually." Sarah said with a pointed look at Tom. Tom glanced away, looking embarrassed, "Tom wanted to but I convinced him otherwise. We wanted to let our real world selves know that you got out okay."

I smiled to myself.

I was lucky to have such loyal companions.

"I cried." I heard Tom say and looked around at him in wonder. His face was red and he was staring at the table top but he was telling the truth, "I was so happy that I cried. My mom heard and came up to see me and when she asked what was wrong I couldn't say, "my best friend escaped the UnderWorld" because…well…you know…" He shrugged helplessly, "So I just told her that I…that I really missed you and that I hated the police for giving up on you." He took a shaky breath and shook his head, "I felt like a total jerk, lying to my mom like that but…" He shrugged, "I did what I thought what was best."

"You're the greatest friend a guy could ask for." I said sincerely and realized that I meant it. I smiled and straightened up in my seat.

"So you are all here again." Najarin. I was starting to hate how the dude just popped up out of nowhere, "How are you feeling, Kaz?"

"I'll feel better when I'm human again." I growled. Najarin gave me a dark look and I sighed, "Look, Najarin, I appreciate that you're going to help me but I…you have to try and understand that I…I'm not supposed to be like this. Chaor's…ruined everything I knew about myself and I—."

"I cannot understand your feelings." The old Muge said calmly, "I have always been a Creature and I have never been forced to kill someone who did not deserve to die. I have never been stolen away from all that I know and love and I have never been betrayed by those whom I have trusted." He stepped closer to me and I drew back a little, stiffening when he lay a hand on my shoulder, "Everyone has their strengths; speed, power, or smarts; but your power is of heart. You withstood Chaor's abuse and eventually escaped him with your life. That is a feat in of itself."

"I only managed to do that because of my friends." I replied, feeling their eyes on me, "If it wasn't for them…I'd have gone crazy."

"You doubt yourself too much." Najarin said with a smile, "Did you eat?"

"I'll eat a victory feast when I'm human again."

"You know that this will hurt."

"I can hold out."

"What about you three?" The OverWorld Muge turned to Tom, Sarah, and Peyton, "What will you do?"

"Anything we can to help." Peyton said.

"And if we can't we'll stay out of your way." Sarah added.

"But we're not leaving." Tom stated, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly, "We'll stay here until we get Kaz home."

"You have loyal friends." Najarin commented.

"I owe them my life." I replied softly, looking down at the tabletop. I could see a shadow of myself on the highly polished top. It didn't look human. I wished it was. It would be soon.

I looked back around at Najarin,

"I don't wanna sound rude but can we get this over with? The sooner I'm human again…the sooner I can go home."

Najarin nodded once and held out his hand, "Come with me."


The room was perfectly square with a low ceiling and no visible door. All of it was made out of the same shiny black stone that was so smooth it was like glass. I could see myself in it and I hated that I could. Najarin stood beside me.

"What is this place?" I expected my voice to echo but it sounded muffled, almost like I was talking into a pillow.

"It is a room with many purposes." Najarin pressed a hand against a wall, "It was built from the stone the we create Mugic with and coated with the melted bark of an ancient tree of Runic Grove. It holds much energy and power."

As he spoke, a crackle of blue lightening flickered from the back of his hand, arced over his shoulders, and snapped me across the back. I snarled and this time it echoed, startling me.

"It also reveals truth." Najarin said, "That your threat echoed means it is not what you truly mean. The Virus has done more than affect your body, it has also begun to corrupt your mind."

"Then what're we waiting for!?"

"Hush…" The old Muge placed his hands on either side of my head and I felt the power burning at his fingertips. It was like hot sparks against my scales, "This room will help me undo what has been done but if I cannot understand The Virus then I cannot help you. Now calm down…"

I watched Najarin close his eyes. Understand The Virus? What was to understand!? It was ruining me! It was tearing me apart! It was taking my life away!

"Calm yourself, Kazdan. If I cannot understand how Ulmar created this Virus, how it works, then I cannot stop it or extract it from you. Now relax…"

Fingers of power twisted under my skin and I writhed under Najarin's touch. Hot and cold at the same time, burying themselves into me, exploring. I wanted it to stop but at the same time I knew that it couldn't. I was willing to do almost anything in order to turn human again.

There was something like a snap and Najarin pulled back. I stumbled forward and fell to my knees on the floor, gasping with the shock of the Muge's sudden withdraw of power.

"It is more deeply rooted than I thought." A look of distress must have showed up on my face because he added, "But I can get it out. It will hurt."

"You said that already and I don't care."

"There is something else."

"What?"

"The Virus has integrated itself deeply into your being. I may not be able to remove every single trace of it…there may be side effects, so to speak."

"But I'll be human?"

"Yes."

"What kind of side effects are we talking about?"

"I am not sure. Perhaps you will be stronger, perhaps your speed will be increased, I cannot say for sure but I don't think it will be anything drastic."

I nodded slowly. Stronger? That couldn't be so bad. Faster? That wouldn't be so bad either.

"Are you ready?"

"Been ready." I said solidly.

Najarin reached down and the last thing I remembered was a flurry of blue sparks blinding me.

Then an excruciating amount of agony.

Then nothing.


I was sick and tired of hurting every time I woke up.

Well, this time it wasn't so much of a hurt as it was a tingle. Like the pins and needles when your foot falls asleep.

I opened my eyes and saw the cerulean fabric that was the top of the curtain that surrounded the four-poster. The silken sheet over my felt cool, and smooth, and wonderful against my skin—.

Skin…

Skin?

Skin!

I sat up quickly and stared at my hands. My fingers—my human fingers—wrapped in the metal of the Instant Regeneration Armor, wiggled up at me happily. I pressed my palms against the smooth skin on my cheeks, grinning, and dragged my fingers down my face, let them trail down my neck, and hugged myself.

Human…

I was human again!

I jumped out of the bed in an explosion of fabric, got tangled in the sheets, and slammed into the floor.

It hurt.

I liked it.

The floor. I rubbed my hands over it, grinning. No claws, no scales, to tail, no burning desire to kill.

It was gone.

But it wasn't over.

I still needed to get this stupid Instant Regeneration Armor off and find a way home.

Home…

It seemed so much closer now that The Virus was gone.

I got slowly to my feet and ran a hand through my hair. It was still long and getting longer; it hung a little past the base of my neck now. I put out a hand and ran it along the wall, feeling the smooth paint beneath my fingers, and walked along the room until I got to the door. I pushed it open and stepped out into the hall. I looked left and then right and, seeing no one, I took a huge breath and shouted at the top of my voice,

"HEY GUYS! I'M HUMAN AGAIN!"

They came running.

I heard the thunder of their footsteps first and then Tom rounded a corner and plowed into me. I lost my balance and fell over, my best friend in the whole world on top of me. We were laughing. Sarah jumped onto both of us and then Peyton hauled us all upright into a huge group hug.

It was like the time they'd shown up in the UnderWorld all over again.

A happiness that exploded like fireworks inside me, lighting up my world in a circle of rainbow lights and falling stars. I closed my eyes, relishing in the relief, the pure joy, the ecstasy of being alive, of being human, of being with my friends.

We pulled apart.

I looked at them all, smiling like an idiot, feeling tears prick my vision and forcing them back. I was so happy.

"Kazzer! You're eyes!" Peyton pointed at me and Sarah slapped his hand.

"What?" I automatically put a hand up to my face in panic, fingers feeling the loose skin under my eyes caused by lack of sleep, "What's wrong with me? Tell me!"

"They're just kind of…weird…Kaz." Tom said slowly, holding up his hands, "You don't need to freak out, it's alright. I…you'd hardly notice. I swear."

"Dude, you've got fangs too." Peyton added and Sarah slapped him across the face, "Ow! Sar-Bear!?"

I shivered and ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth. Sure enough, my canines were dagger sharp. I clamped my mouth shut and hung my head, looking away from my friends. This wasn't happy reunion I had imagined. This wasn't what I wanted. Najarin had said side effects like increased strength and speed. He'd never mentioned the fact that I could turn into a freakshow.

"KAZ!" The cry made me jump a foot in the air. H'earring came flying out of nowhere and slammed into me, wrapping his little arms around my chest as far as they would go. My happiness erupted back into being like someone lighting a match in the darkness of the night.

I hugged him tightly and spun on the spot, laughing and shouting. And then we were all jumping up and down and screaming and yelling and I was sure that all of Perim could hear us and I didn't care.

I was human.

"Come on, let's go to Garv's right now and—!" My stomach protesting loudly cut me off. H'earring sniggered at me and I blushed, "Scratch that, let's eat."

I held H'earring's hand as we walked down the two flights of stairs into the dining room again. He grinned at me. I smiled back. I owed him most of all; he'd taken care of me, looked after me, fed me, given me someplace to live, and betrayed his whole tribe in order to help me.

Out of all of us, he'd sacrificed the most.


Food had never tasted so good.

I hadn't eaten a decent meal in almost a month and a half.

Now I was stuffing my face.

I didn't care what I grabbed as long as it was edible.

Even Peyton stopped eating before I did. After I'd licked off the sugar from my last sweet roll and sat back with a contented sigh, I felt bloated but happy. I rested my hands on my stomach, still smiling, and looked around at my friends.

Sarah was downing the last of her drink and beside her Tom was busy trying to fold the napkin into origami shapes. Peyton was picking at some crumbs on his plate, clearly trying to be the last one to put food in his mouth, and H'earring looked ready for a nap except for the smear of chocolate across the side of his face. I chuckled and tilted my head back, closing my eyes as I did so.

This was going to be one of the happiest moments of my life.

The best moment of my entire existence would come when I got home.

"We should probably head off to Garv's now." Oddly enough, it was Sarah who said it, not Tom as I expected. I looked around at her, "Creature's come to Najarin for help all the time and if one of the OverWorlders finds you here, they wouldn't hesitate to…you know. And beside, you want to get that armor off and go home, don't you?"

"You can bet your life on it!" I said, pushing myself to my feet, "Let's go, H'earring! You guys port to Garv's and H'earring and I'll meet up with you there—."

"No." Tom leapt to his feet and stood in my way, "We're coming with you every step of the way." I opened my mouth to argue but he interrupted me, "We're not leaving you alone, Kaz. Not until I know for sure that you're back at home, in your own room, in your own world, right where you belong!"

I stared at him blankly for a while and then said, "It's gonna be a long trip."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Tom answered with a smile. He held out his hand and I clasped it in my own.

"Road trip! Road trip!" Peyton cried, jumping up from his seat and throwing his hands in the air, "Road trip! Road trip!" He paused, "I'm driving!"

"Oh no you're not!" H'earring shouted in return, standing up on his chair and pointing a claw at Peyton, "I wouldn't trust you behind the wheel of a rock!"

"Duuuuudddeeee…" Peyton whined and Sarah laughed.

I laughed.

We all laughed.

And it felt good.

Right.

Almost normal.


Why does every chapter end with some angsty little sentence fragment?

Ah, well. I believe this chapter has been the best of the past, like, three. Aheh…

Yeah! Kaz is finally human again! Whoo-hoo! (hugs Kaz) Yea, for Kazzey!

Now the remaining question is…can Garv remove that armor and send Kaz home or he doomed to be stuck in Perim for good?