Author's notes: ChibiDawn, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The thing about short stories is you have to get to the point, as quickly as possible. You can't waste a single word. But one of the things I enjoy about writing long stories like Nyctophobia is that, you have the space for intense action scenes and set pieces ... but you also have the time and space for real emotional intensity, to really get into the heads of the characters and see what they're made of. There's going to be quite a bit more of that, going forward.
Part Two
Chapter Four
Sarah was standing on the Westminster Bridge when I spotted her, staring out over the Thames with her arms draped over the ledge. I made my way through the crowd of pedestrians towards her. London was a world away from the Sunshine Coast, almost literally given how far from home we were. Despite the late hour, the city lights twinkled around us. The streets were still busy, with black cabs weaving through traffic and double-storey red buses crossing the bridge behind us.
I stepped up beside my cousin and rested my arms on the ledge. "Hey," I said. "Enjoying the view?"
"I think London's kind of cool," Sarah said. "I prefer the coast, but I see the appeal. Kim went to buy some souvenirs. I think Trini wanted to get a doll of one of the palace guards. You know, the ones with the furry hats."
A ferry passed under the bridge, and we watched it cruise down the river for a minute. "They're going to be okay," I said. "Jason and Scott checked in on them. They used the cover of getting lost while visiting a sick uncle. But Tristan and Jane are gonna be fine."
"That's good news."
"Meanwhile, we watched you when we came over the hill," I added. "Can I tell you, on the badass scale of one to ten? You were, like, fifteen. That was amazing."
"It didn't feel amazing," Sarah replied. A cool breeze blew off the river, and she brushed a strand of blonde hair back behind her ear. "The whole time Ag'reth was attacking? I was just…" She looked away and sighed. "I was scared."
"Of the monster?"
"Not of the monster," she replied. "C'mon. We eat jerks like that for lunch. No, I couldn't stop thinking, what if I couldn't do it? If the monster had beaten me, then Tristan and Jane would've been helpless. There are too many monsters in the world for us to lose." Sarah turned to meet my gaze. "That witch got in my head. I don't know how, but she did. She tried to throw my worst fears back at me. Remember those two cars in the flood, this week? You've got no idea how close I was to losing them. It freaked me out so much. I'm not used to feeling that helpless."
"Hey," I said softly. "Tristan and Jane are safe thanks to you. Certainly no thanks to the rest of us."
"And they're probably too scared to ever leave the house again," Sarah replied. "I can't imagine the things they saw and felt before we got there."
"You're right," I nodded. "They saw a dragon. You know what else they saw?"
"Too much of the English countryside?"
"They saw a knight slaying that dragon," I said. "A knight in shining purple armour with a big mace." I paused as Sarah laughed. "I know how stories work. Trust me. That's just as important."
Behind us, Big Ben struck nine o'clock. Sarah waited until the clock had finished before replying. "It's easy to say that," she began, "but what if I'm not enough one day? What then?"
"Ag'reth tried to scare you to weaken you," I replied. "But it looked like it made you more determined. I don't think that's a bad thing. Besides, I can promise you that you'll always have family backing you up."
"Yeah, I'm sure I can tell grandma and grandpa about this when they ask how my week was," she said.
I glanced to the footpath behind us. "Do I really need to tell you that family isn't always who you're related to?" I asked. Sarah turned to see Jason, Kim, Trini and Scott walking towards us. Kimberly had a bundle of shopping bags in either hand.
"Nice work," I said, and Kim grinned.
"Are we all good?" Jason asked.
Sarah glanced to me and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I think we are."
"Let's find somewhere to teleport home," said Scott.
"I meant to ask," Trini began, and turned to Jason. "How are the ribs?"
"Good as new," Jason replied. "Actually, it felt nice to give my body a bit of a work-out."
As we turned to leave, Sarah held up her hand. "Wait a second," she began. "There's something I forgot. When I was fighting the monster, she said something like the chains are breaking, and our souls would be devoured. Does that mean anything to anyone?"
"She was probably just trying to scare you," Trini said.
Jason looked thoughtful, and tapped me on the shoulder "Remember last month?" he asked. "Zordon said there had been a massive surge of energy that knocked out the Command Centre. What if they're connected?"
"Either way," Trini began, "we should get home and tell Zordon."
"Yeah, it was probably nothing," Sarah agreed. "You're right, let's go," and we disappeared into the crowd.
To be continued.