“You want to turn the dragon into a float…” Zetta said, skeptical.
“Why not? It’s perfect. We’re going to have to tell the town about the dragon eventually anyway. Why not after it’s won first place in the festival parade? We can show how much control we have over it, show off all the tricks it knows, too. The mayor will instantly see how useful it’ll be during a raid.”
Zetta shook her head. A sickly chill churned in her stomach. Not this again.
“We have to decide if we trust this dragon enough to protect us or not,” Ashton said with a serious face.
Zetta knew this. Maybe that’s what she was most afraid of. Trusting that something good would come from her biggest mistake. Maybe it was like how two wrongs make a right? Wait, that wasn’t how the saying went. But maybe a big wrong and a big right would cancel each other out somehow. She imagined how great it would feel to come clean to everyone.
“Okay,” Zetta said. “I still think it’s risky, but you’re right. If we’re going to trust the dragon, we need to trust it. And I trust you…so. Let’s do it.”
Ashton pumped his fist in the air and screamed, riling up the few chickens that lingered nearby. “Sorry, Salma! Pardon, Nella,” he said, giving their wattles a tickle. They loved back on him, rubbing their heads against his hand.
“Anyway, this will give me a good excuse to get out of working on the float with Rift and Rayne and their parents.”
“A lot already?” Zetta said, trying to muffle her laugh.
“Do you know how many spikes an elder guardian has?” Ashton asked.
Zetta shook her head.
“Twelve. And they have to be spaced apart just right. And be the exact same size down to a fourth of an inch. And extend and retract all together at the exact same time. And if you’re responsible for extending spikes four, five, six, and seven, and are a second and a half late, then you get a lecture about that time their family float could have gotten first place if one of the spider eyes hadn’t lost its redstone torch halfway through the parade.” Ashton took a deep breath, then sighed. “Sorry. Still a little jittery.”
“No, I get it. So we’re going rogue with our own float. Sweet.”
“I figure we can put some flowers here and there, just to make the dragon look a little more decorative. Then if anyone asks what we’re doing holed up in the barn all the time, we can say we’re just preparing our float. No big deal.”
Zetta groaned. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but she wasn’t excited that her half-truths were rubbing off on her cousin.
Zetta felt like she was carrying the entire Overworld’s fate in her hands. She headed out to the farm and slashed down as much sugarcane as she could carry. When she was back in the barn, she crafted it into paper. Then Ashton dusted the paper with purple concrete powder, a long-standing tradition that the town of Sienna Dunes only observed during the festival. The vibrant purple paper would look great against the dragon’s black scales. Then they folded flowers well into the night, until a knock came at the barn door.
“Who is it?” said Ashton and Zetta in unison.
“Zetta? What’s going on? Why aren’t you at the caves?” came Rayne’s voice.
“And where’s the you-know-what?” Rift added.
Zetta had been so caught up in folding flowers that she totally forgot she needed to tell them that they’d moved their operations to the barn. She hopped up and ran over to the door and unfastened the lock. She peeked outside to make sure no one was watching, then ushered her friends inside. They took one look at the flower-covered dragon, then looked at each other.
“No,” Rayne said. “I can’t do this.”
“Ashton and I already had this conversation,” Zetta said. “You were right. The dragon could help us defend the town. We’ve worked closely with it and we can trust it. And we can show off that trust by having the dragon perform at the festival parade.”
“I mean, yeah, I get that. But I literally can’t do this. If I have to fold another flower, I’m going to be sick.”
“Well, I think it looks great,” said Rift. “There’s only one problem.”
“What’s that?” Ashton asked, concern on his face.
“You’re totally going to get first place, and then Rayne and I are going to have to spend the rest of the year hearing about how our parents were robbed of victory again. But it’ll be worth it. The town needs to see how much work we’ve put into the dragon. They’ll be thanking us soon enough.”
“You all right, Rayne?” Zetta asked her friend, who was looking legitimately queasy.
“Yeah,” they said, backing up toward the door. “I’m just going to go get some fresh air. For a minute. Or several.”
Then Rayne was gone.
Rift sighed, annoyed and maybe a little embarrassed by his twin, but Zetta understood. Festival time could be intense for everyone; the holidays could be draining. In a close-knit community like Sienna Dunes, there was always someone underfoot, always a cousin or friend or aunty or uncle in need of help, or someone looking to spread some gossip along with their holiday cheer.
It could be a lot. It made Zetta miss her aunt even more, now that she knew exactly who she was missing. Zetta hoped her father would want to see his sister too someday. They’d drawn a line in the sand a long time ago, and both of them were too stubborn to cross it right now, but maybe that wouldn’t always be the case.
“Rayne will help out when they’re ready,” Zetta said. She hoped Rift and Rayne would never drift apart like her father and aunt had.
“Question,” Rift said, examining the flower-covered dragon from all angles. “The floats are normally made of paper and bamboo scaffolding…light enough for a few people to carry. How do you expect to carry this dragon through the streets? It must weigh a few tons.”
Ashton perked up. “I’m glad you asked! I plan to use some leads and sticks tied to the legs and wings to make it look like we’re doing the work of operating it.” Ashton demonstrated, calling the dragon to heel by his side. He stretched a lead around the dragon’s ankle, then tied the other end to a bamboo stick. He gently tugged up and the dragon responded by lifting its leg. “We’ve been practicing a bit,” Ashton explained. “But Zetta and I will need at least two more people to help operate the float.” He looked pleadingly at Rift.
Rift shook his head. “I can’t. It’s one thing if my parents lose to you. It’s a whole ’nother thing to lose to their own kids.”
“There’s no one else we can trust with the dragon,” Ashton pleaded. “It already knows you. It trusts you. Besides, this isn’t about winning. It’s about saving our town.”
“I can’t believe I’m actually considering this,” Rift said, exasperated. He took the stick and lead from Ashton, then gave a little tug. The dragon responded in the same manner as it had with Ashton. “Okay, I’ll do it. But I get to work a wing.”
Ashton smiled. “Awesome. Now we just need to convince Rayne.”
Zetta knew how sensitive a matter this would be, so she went off alone and found Rayne setting old flowerpots on top of fence posts, then shooting them off with arrows. The accuracy of their shot was astounding, even with their frayed nerves. Zetta stood back a ways, out of their line of sight, but close enough that Rayne had to know she was there.
Zetta watched shot after shot land. Then Rayne left to collect the arrows to shoot again.
“Still waiting on those poison-tipped arrows,” they said to Zetta.
Her shoulders slumped. Zetta knew she was close to making tipped arrows. Zetta also knew that Rayne was bringing up the arrows to avoid talking about what was really on their mind. “You okay?” she asked.
Rayne nodded. “Yeah.”
“You can talk to me. We’ve been friends for forever. I’m sorry the flowers freaked you out.”
“It wasn’t that…”
“Is it your parents? I know working with them can be intense,” Zetta offered. “I can try to talk to them. Maybe it would be different if it came from me.”
“No, they’re fine. I mean, yeah, they’re totally obsessed with the float, just like every other year—but that’s just it. They’re acting like this is any other year. Nobody is talking about the raid anymore. It’s almost like it never even happened. People are going on with their lives, planning for this festival, when at any moment those illagers could come back and destroy everything we love. And all my parents are worried about is getting the proportions of a giant paper elder guardian exactly right.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Zetta said. “I’ve been so busy with the dragon and mining and potioning that I haven’t had a chance to really slow down and think about it either.”
“I wish we could go back to how it was before. When our only concerns were running into the odd creeper while we were out on our adventures.” Rayne twanged the string of their bow absentmindedly, then added, “It was easier to be the brave one back then.”
Zetta laid a hand on Rayne’s shoulder. “It’s okay to be afraid. The world has changed in scary ways. But fears can be conquered. You remember how scared you were of Dragon at first?”
“Vaguely,” Rayne teased. “Spending several hours up in a tree does change your perspective. Dragon doesn’t seem so big and scary anymore. Well…you know what I mean.”
Zetta nodded. It was easy to forget how massive and threatening the dragon was when it was constantly begging for belly scritches. “Exactly. And you don’t always have to be the brave one. We’ve all got one another’s backs. If we work together, we can make this town safe. Especially with Dragon on our side.”
“I hope it’s enough,” Rayne said with a sigh. “But I guess your dragon float idea isn’t a bad one.”
“Thanks, but it was Ashton’s idea really.”
“Because he’s always looking for ways to impress you. You’re a great cousin.”
Zetta felt the heat rising in her cheeks. She tried to set a good example for Ashton. She knew what it was like to grow up looking for role models. Looking for someone to be like. She was glad she could be that for Ashton.
“So I’ve got good news and bad news,” Zetta said to Rayne. “What do you want first?”
“Bad news?”
“Bad news is that we need one more person to operate the dragon float. And it has to be you.” Zetta smiled. “You can say no, of course, but then we won’t be able to be in the parade and we won’t get a chance to show off all our good work.”
Rayne grunted. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what’s the good news? Do you have a potion that’ll magically make my parents forgive me for bailing on the float they’ve been working on for months?”
Zetta laughed. “I make potions, not miracles. The good news is that we’ve got destiny by the tail, and if we pull this off, our names will go down in Sienna Dunes history.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Celebration was in the air, and the smell of fresh-cut fruit and roasting meat and boiling stews was making Zetta want to crawl out of her skin. This wasn’t the day to skip breakfast, but her nerves were tight, and her mind was focused on the dragon’s performance. So she blocked out the distractions and took her place next to it. The dragon was more purple paper flowers than scales now, but it looked magnificent. It even seemed proud to be dressed up in such finery.
They’d practiced as much as they could, perfecting their routine. Zetta knew it so well, she had dreams about it. More like nightmares, she had to admit. She was in charge of the left back leg and the ridiculously long tail, and in her dreams, the dragon would get overexcited and start swinging its tail, knocking over vendor carts packed on either side of the street, crashing through storefront windows, and sometimes colliding with people, sending them flying clear to the other side of town.
Zetta tightened her grip on the bamboo pole—the one with the lead tied to the dragon’s tail—knowing good and well that one halfhearted yank by the dragon would rip it right out of her hands.
“Don’t be nervous,” Ashton said to her, peeking under the dragon’s belly. Did the uneasiness show that much on her face? “You get nervous, Dragon gets nervous.”
Zetta nodded and swallowed her fears. She heard cheering in the distance for the floats that had gone before. The dragon float was at the very end of the line since it was a last-minute addition to the parade. Finally, the two floats in front of them started to move. There was the giant ghast two floats ahead. Zetta could only see the back of it, but it was impressive. She could hardly believe that somewhere in the nether right now, Aunt Meryl was fighting the real thing.
Four operators stood below the paper version of the ghast, dressed in all-black outfits, looking like shadows as the long bamboo poles they held twisted and turned, high up in the sky. The ghast turned in kind, and the audience lined up on either side of the street screamed and laughed when the ghast spat out giant wads of orange and red paper, imitating fireballs. Some of the younger kids cried until they figured out what was going on. Zetta smiled, remembering fondly how terrified she’d been her first festival, and how she’d grown to love that little bit of fear once a year.
Rayne muttered something.
“You okay over there?” Zetta asked, the smile falling off her face. Things were different now. That once-a-year safe sort of fear had been replaced with something else. Rayne had to be feeling that, too.
“Yeah,” Rayne said. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The float directly in front of the dragon started about a minute later, a wither skeleton. Zetta could make out a music player mounted inside its rib cage, filling the street with the sound of bones rattling. The people of Sienna Dunes appreciated little touches like that. One of the operators swung the skeleton’s sword in front of it, coming so close to the crowd that the people in the front row had to jump back.
Some years things did get a little dangerous, but those who chose to watch the parade from close up got bragging rights for the rest of the year. Since the paper flower props were so light, usually the bruises they received were minor. But if this dragon decided to—
Zetta stopped her train of thought. Everything would be fine. The dragon would perform perfectly.
Finally, it was Zetta and her friends’ turn to go. Zetta put on her best smile and started forward, clutching the bamboo sticks close and raising and lowering the leg pole as the dragon stepped, while simultaneously swinging the pole for the tail back and forth. Pretending to operate the dragon took a lot more effort than she’d initially thought. Coordination was everything.
The oohs and aahs came almost instantly. There were several kids in the crowd who had dressed up like ender dragons as well, and they seemed particularly excited. The dragon float was a spectacle, even for the most spectacular festival of Sienna Dunes.
Ashton led the way up front, turning the dragon’s head left and right, up and down. Or at least that’s what he appeared to be doing. In reality, the dragon was doing all the work, watching Ashton for cues. It kept heeling perfectly.
“Whoa!” Rift said from in front of Zetta. She looked up and saw that his grip on the wing pole had come loose. Now the dragon appeared to be flapping on its own, so hard that the wings started generating lift and the dragon’s front paws came off the ground.
The crowd’s cheering intensified, however. Rift jumped up and grabbed the pole and Ashton whispered a command to the dragon for it to calm down. Chanting began soon after: Ender Dragon! Ender Dragon! Ender Dragon!
The crowd favorite was already chosen. But the award for best float would be decided by Mayor Maxine. At last, they reached the town square, all sixteen floats taking their spots around the grand stairway of the town hall, which had been set up to serve as a stage. A lectern had been converted into a podium, and potted ca
cti were arranged on either side as decoration. In front of the lectern sat a single, random sandstone block.
“Zetta! Zetta!” came her father’s voice.
Once the dragon was settled and in its place, Zetta turned around, and smiled as she saw her father running through the crowd to get to her. “That was amazing,” he said, nearly out of breath. “Why didn’t you tell me this was what you were being so secretive about?”
Zetta shrugged. “You know, I guess I just wanted it to be a surprise.”
Her father beamed. “I get that, but I was really worried. I really thought you were keeping something important from me…I’m glad to know this was all it was. Amazing job.”
Zetta nodded. Tears punched at the corners of her eyes, but she somehow kept them from breaking through. There was more she was hiding from him. So much more, but it would all come out soon enough.
The mayor stood on the stage, beaming at Zetta as well. Zetta didn’t think she’d ever seen Mayor Maxine look at her with anything other than a scowl. Maybe a stern grimace. “I think the winner of this year’s festival will come as a surprise to no one,” the mayor said. “But first, we must talk about why this festival is so important in this time of uncertainty. It was hard for some of us to find reason to celebrate in the face of adversity and fear. Some even called for us to cancel the celebration this year. But adversity is exactly the reason we needed to continue this long-standing tradition. Illagers may come. They may smash our buildings, take our valuables. But they will never smash our spirit.”
Applause erupted from the crowd. Zetta looked over and saw that Rayne was clapping too. Maybe those were the exact words they needed to hear. Zetta felt the words, too. Sienna Dunes would persevere.
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