by Brandon Mull
The dragons flanking Celebrant flapped their wings and bellowed. Behind them, rank upon rank of airborne dragons came into clearer view.
“The overseers of Titan Valley long ago forgot the might of dragons. We have come to issue a reminder that will never be forgotten. I am Celebrant the Just, and I swear that the Perennial Storm was a feeble precursor to the real tempest. Dragons, attack!”
The gates of Terastios opened, and three armored giants charged out, one bearing a mace, one a sword, and one a flail. After inhaling deeply, the Dragon King breathed out a stream of white energy that blew the helmet off the lead giant and left him on the ground, clutching his face. As the dragons accompanying Celebrant soared into the air, unleashing long columns of fire, searing bolts of lightning, and roiling torrents of acid, Emery closed the window and led Knox and Tess away.
“Are you going to kill us?” Knox asked Emery.
“I remain loyal to the Giant Queen, and I have been tasked with keeping you safe,” Emery said. “Should she fall, I will be released from my vows to her, and I will resume my former life as a dragon. I want to get you to safety before that happens. Nobody who remains in Terastios will survive.”
“Where can we go?” Tess asked.
“You must take the passage to Humburgh,” Emery said. “Humbuggle has his own defenses there, and the wrath of Celebrant is not directed at him. Raza has contacted Rustafet to help you. And Giselle is waking the satyrs.”
“We should have stayed in Humburgh,” Knox complained.
“This was the better place to weather the Perennial Storm,” Emery said. “There was no way to know these dragons were coming.”
“Are you excited to be free?” Tess asked.
Emery gave a modest smile. “I must temper my emotions. I need to remain loyal until I am free, or this choker will strangle me. If despite our best efforts the Giant Queen falls, many of the servants in this fortress will transform and change allegiance. We must be swift.”
Newel and Doren ran up to them, with Raza and Giselle trailing behind.
“How are you kids doing?” Newel asked.
“Good,” Tess said. “Except Celebrant is attacking.”
“We knew a dragon apocalypse was coming,” Doren said. “Turns out it’s today.”
“We’ll be all right,” Newel assured them. “These servants of the Giant Queen will evacuate us.”
“Before they change into monsters who want to eat us,” Doren said.
“Escape will be a challenge,” Raza said, walking briskly and motioning for them to follow. “Terastios will fall fast. The giants are woefully unprepared for a fight. In here, please.” He opened a door into a narrow hall Tess had never seen.
An unfamiliar male servant waited behind the door. Stepping forward, he whispered something to Raza.
Raza glanced back at them. “We should run.”
Tess pumped her arms and legs as fast as she could, trying to keep up with the adults. Raza glanced back at her and slowed his pace a little. Then Newel scooped her into his arms, and the pace increased again. They passed intersections with other cramped, nondescript hallways. As other servants rushed by them from different directions, Tess decided these passages were used primarily by the staff of the fortress.
A female servant ran toward them waving both arms, and Raza paused to speak with her. She leaned close and whispered. Newel was panting from the exertion, along with the rest of the group.
“I can run again,” Tess offered.
“Better trust these goat legs,” the satyr said. “They’ve transported me out of many a jam.”
Raza turned to address the others. “The way I hoped to go is cut off. There is an alternate passage at the rear of the throne room, a secret way known only to a few. We can hope the commotion will be sufficient to distract those who would stop us.”
“Lead on,” Doren said.
Raza doubled back the way they had come, then turned down new passages. If Tess had to retrace her steps, she knew she would get lost. The plain hallways looked so similar, and there were too many intersections.
As they ran, from behind the stone walls of the passage, Tess heard an occasional rumble, along with some muted screaming and shouting. They passed a female servant whose silk kimono was singed and fuming.
At length, Raza led them through a door to the throne room and onto a human-sized walkway along the perimeter of the immense space. The walkway led to bleachers where humans and others of similar stature could observe the royal court.
The Giant Queen stood before the throne, her royal scepter clenched in one hand, a sword in the other, glaring at the main doors. Something beyond the doors was slamming against them, causing them to buckle inward, hinges rattling.
Only three other giants remained in the typically crowded room—two armed guards and a completely bald councilor wearing a sky-blue toga.
“Your majesty,” the councilor implored. “Our defenses are failing. You must flee.”
“I will not give up Terastios to a horde of worms,” the Giant Queen said.
“Your people need you,” the councilor insisted. “Fall back to where we can better defend ourselves. Ideally Humburgh. Or Stratos, at least.”
“If the dragons are going to cut me down, my back will not be facing them,” the Giant Queen said. “I will slay their entire host alone if I must. Find a weapon, Eratad. No true giant would flee to Humburgh.”
The main doors to the throne room burst open and dragons poured through. The space was plenty large enough for them to fly, and most took to the air as the two giant guards, one female, one male, charged forward to oppose them.
“Give me a turn,” Doren whispered to Newel, running by his side, and Tess was passed from one satyr to the other. Burying her face against Doren, Tess hid her eyes from the combat.
Knox leaned against the railing of the walkway, eyes intent on the battle. The guards held up massive shields as dragons rained down fire and lightning from above. When dragons swept in to physically attack, the female guard chopped the head off one with a sword, and the male guard skewered another with his spear.
Several of the attackers cleared the way for a dark gray dragon. The newcomer exhaled vast quantities of silvery mist that enveloped the two guards. The dragons retreated away from the broadening cloud, and a scarred one breathed fire into it. The instant the flames contacted the mist, the entire cloud erupted into a blazing fireball, flaring intensely bright for a few seconds and sending heat washing over the entire room before snuffing out. After the fiery display, dragons mobbed the burned guards, dispatching them viciously.
“Come,” Newel called, and Knox realized the others were running ahead of him along the walkway. For a moment he wished he was small enough to be carried like Tess; then he sprinted after the others, his eyes straying to the fight.
The councilor turned and ran toward the rear of the throne room, behind the dais. The Giant Queen reversed her grip on her sword and flung it like a spear, harpooning the fleeing councilor through the back. Then she drew another sword from a scabbard affixed to her throne and whirled to face the dragons.
Celebrant soared to the front of the group, landing before the dais. Knox had never thought anyone could make the Dragon King look small, but the Giant Queen loomed high above him. He could have been her reptilian pet.
“Come at me, slave master,” Celebrant invited.
The other dragons stayed back, either pacing on the floor or flying in holding patterns above. The Giant Queen stepped down from her dais, sword and scepter ready, still towering over Celebrant.
“How dare you come here?” the Giant Queen exclaimed.
“To illustrate that when authority can be overthrown, it will be,” Celebrant said. “And to remind the world what happens when dragons are crossed.”
“Do you think fire or lightning can harm me?” the Giant Queen challenged. “I am of the old blood. The dragons are about to mourn their king.”
“The race of giants
expires today,” Celebrant answered. “Old blood and new.”
Face contorted with rage, the Giant Queen swung her scepter down with such force that it shattered the throne-room floor where Celebrant had stood. But the Dragon King was no longer there. Moving with the speed of a striking snake, Celebrant sprang up and around the Giant Queen, trying to get behind her. In one fluid motion, she slashed him away with her sword, the edge skating over his scales, failing to draw blood.
Other dragons charged the Giant Queen. Flames billowed and lightning blazed. Her sword severed the head from one dragon, and a stroke of her scepter crumpled another. In the commotion, Celebrant attacked her from behind, clamping his jaws onto the back of her neck and exhaling into her.
The Giant Queen fell heavily to her knees, her face confused. And the dragons swarmed. Her crown rolled away from the frenzy, finally settling to the polished floor like a spun coin.
Knox caught up to the others where they crouched behind the bleachers.
“Is it over?” Giselle asked Raza hopefully.
“Are we free?” Emery asked.
As if responding to the question, the silver collars fell from their necks.
“Come with me,” Raza said, moving out of hiding to the front of the bleachers. The two female servants followed.
Raza swelled into a huge white dragon with narrow red stripes, Emery expanded into a blue dragon bethorned with short quills, and Giselle became a red dragon tattooed with swirling black markings. Roaring exultantly, all three joined in attacking the Giant Queen.
Celebrant was the first to emerge from the ferocious pack. “Our revenge is not yet complete,” the Dragon King asserted. “Many other giants still resist or run free. They must be eradicated.”
He flew away from the colossal corpse, and the other dragons followed.
Except Raza, who glided toward the bleachers.
Giselle and Emery landed between the white dragon and his potential prey.
“Out of my way,” Raza ordered, his voice magnified to match his new size.
“They are children,” Emery said, her voice empowered as well. “And you are no longer in charge of us.”
“You’ve been polluted!” Raza accused. “What do you care for human brats!”
“They were young ones placed in our care,” Giselle said. The largest of the three, her voice carried the most powerfully. “They showed no aggression. What is the harm in their survival?”
“They were affiliated with Dragonwatch,” Raza said.
“Some they traveled with were affiliated,” Giselle corrected.
“At least give me the satyrs,” Raza said.
“The satyrs are minding the young ones,” Emery said. “Perhaps you have been polluted. Of what consequence are satyrs to our kind? You have giants to hunt.”
Gnashing his teeth, Raza turned and flew from the room.
“You’re not going to eat us?” Tess asked.
Emery looked down at her through reptilian eyes. “I could not have known before the transformation, but no, we will not devour you, not here, not like this.” She held up a claw. “Come.”
Emery took hold of Tess and Knox, and Giselle snatched the two satyrs. They flew to a rear corner of the throne room and set them down near a human-sized door.
“Through here,” Giselle instructed. “Take your first right, then your first left, then go through the first door you reach. With luck, you will find Rustafet waiting.”
“You’re on your own now,” Emery said. “Make your way to Humburgh and lie low.”
“Thank you,” Tess said.
“You’re welcome,” Emery replied, her eyes shifting away from Tess. “The rest of you owe your lives to this little girl. Farewell.”
Emery and Giselle took flight and soared out of the throne room.
“Come on,” Newel said, holding the door open.
“Just a second,” Knox replied, running back into the throne room. “Get Tess out of here.”
Knox knew the satyrs might try to stop him if he didn’t run at top speed. When he glanced over his shoulder, they looked confused. “Go!” Knox urged. “I’ll catch up.”
Knox kept running. By the time he glanced back again, the satyrs and his sister were gone.
He had not explained his plan for fear they would have stopped him. He had repeatedly heard from Kendra that the crowns of the five monarchs were a big deal. Wearing the crown of the Fairy Queen had allowed her to rescue Seth. Currently, the crown of the Giant Queen rested unattended on the throne-room floor.
Knox knew there were plenty of problems with his plan. The throne room was humongous, so he would be running the distance of a few football fields to reach the crown. If a dragon entered the room while he was exposed, he was toast. And, of course, the crown was much too big for him to carry.
But Kendra had mentioned something about the crowns resizing to fit whoever possessed them. If this worked, everyone would thank him for it. Maybe even praise him for it. If he returned empty-handed, hopefully at least there would be no harm done.
And if he didn’t return at all, everyone would wonder what had been going through his mind. Maybe they would assume he had cracked under the pressure.
As Knox drew nearer to the crown, he felt ridiculous. It wasn’t just too cumbersome to carry—it was the size of a house. But since he had already taken the risk, he finished the run and reached out to touch the crown.
As soon as his fingers touched the silvery metal, the crown began to shrink. Within a moment, it fit neatly in his grasp, sized for his head.
Turning, Knox ran back toward the door the satyrs had used. Panting hard, he wondered if he should try it on. Might it transform him into a giant? Might it increase his strength?
He decided to wait. If it became an emergency, he could give the crown a try.
Gasping for breath, a stitch in his side, Knox reached the door the satyrs had escaped through with his sister. The unremarkable passage beyond led to an intersection. At least the corridor looked too small for giants or dragons. He was supposed to go right? Then left? Then through the first door?
Hoping he remembered correctly, Knox hurried through the turns and found the door. Before opening it, he considered what Rustafet might do if he saw Knox holding the crown, and hid it under his shirt.
Beyond the door, in a huge, bare room, Knox saw Newel waiting in the doorway to a wicker house. Rustafet paced nearby, a lofty presence.
“Get over here,” Newel called. “We were about to leave you!”
Knox mustered one last sprint and entered the wicker house. Newel shut the door, then sat down by Tess and Doren.
“We’re ready!” Doren called.
Rustafet swung the house onto his back and ran through a door. He dashed down an unpolished hall, rounded a corner, and went through another door. Knox held on tight as the movements jounced and jostled him.
“Rustafet?” a stern voice challenged. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to take these passengers to Humburgh,” Rustafet said.
“Nice try,” a second voice scoffed. “The queen gave orders that no giant is to use this passageway under any circumstances.”
“The queen is dead,” Rustafet said.
“This is our darkest day,” the first voice said.
“Are you certain?” the second voice asked.
“We come from the throne room,” Rustafet said. “My passengers witnessed her fall.”
“Then her order counts double,” the first voice insisted, “and can never be redacted.”
“I don’t have to go,” Rustafet said, unshouldering the wicker house. “But you must let the passengers through. These are some of the visitors from Dragonwatch. Wee folk.”
Knox could now see that Rustafet was talking with two enormous, heavily armored guards.
“The way to Humburgh is closed,” the second guard said.
“But these passengers were approved by the queen’s servants,” Rustafet said. “Ra
za arranged the transport. That order must have come from her majesty.”
“Raza arranged this?” the first guard asked.
“Do you think dragons took initiative to rescue a couple of human kids and a pair of satyrs?” Rustafet asked. “Weren’t you just preaching that the orders of the queen must be honored?”
“Fine,” the first guard said. “Send them through.”
Newel led the little group out of the wicker house and past the monumental guards. Knox stayed by Tess and kept both hands on the crown under his shirt.
“You know the way,” Rustafet called after them. “Straight as an arrow until you arrive. You can’t get lost. But the distance may feel a tad long for little ones on foot.”
“Thank you,” Tess called over her shoulder.
“Take care,” Rustafet said. His attention turned to the guards. “Where can I find armaments?”
“We might make it out of here,” Newel whispered.
“Don’t get cocky or a dragon will catch us from behind,” Doren replied.
“Feeling sick, Knox?” Newel asked.
Knox realized that with both hands over his stomach, holding the crown beneath his shirt, it must look like he was clutching his belly. “Something like that,” Knox said. He didn’t want to talk about the crown yet. “Rough morning.”
“You know what I think?” Tess volunteered.
“Tell us,” Doren said.
Tess drew a shuddering breath. “I wish we were back at Fablehaven.”
“Amen!” the satyrs said in unison.
The repository where the dragons stored their treasure was not far beyond the web-strewn den of Velrog. The concoction Tanu whipped up had washed away the web residue, though Kendra’s clothes were damp, and she smelled vaguely of lemons, coconut, and baking soda.