The Eve of the Dragon

by Michael Dunn

  Teresa glanced at John, and her face still red from embarrassment.

  Bernardo brought in the phone.

  “Thank you, Bernardo.” The Count answered the phone, saying, “Pronto? Si, of course. You may join us for dinner. You are most welcomed on this special evening. I expected you to come. My servants will bring you to me. Ciao.”

  The Count ended the call. “Bernardo, escort the new guests here. Please tell the kitchen staff to set up dinner for another four people.”

  Bernardo nodded, and said, “Yes, master.”

  Bernardo left the dining room.

  While the company ate dinner, Bernardo led the Professor, Dr. DuBois, Emilio, and Abraham into the dining room. The three doctors gasped. They placed their hands on their hidden weapons.

  “Relax, gentlemen,” The Professor said, waving his hand. “No need to get up. I am not concerned with your presence any longer. All that has passed. I told you what we had was a business deal and I am a man of my word.”

  Dan told Emilio, “We hoped, I mean, we thought, you were dead.”

  “A bit of theater for my guests,” the Professor said.

  The Professor sat down. He prominently displayed the orb on a golden ring on his left index finger, not unlike a newly engaged woman, who wanted everyone to notice the size of her engagement ring.

  “That is a lovely ring you have,” Teresa said, because it would annoy her husband.

  “Thank you. I recently acquired the orb,” The Professor glanced to Dan and back to his hosts. “Now the orb is inside the ring, it is called…”

  “The Ring of Alhambra,” the Count finished for him, glaring at his rival wizard.

  “What does the Ring of Alhambra do?” Steven asked, glancing toward Sallie DuBois.

  Dan asked rather loudly, “Can somebody please explain why the Professor look likes Ming the Merciless after shopping at Elton John’s garage sale?”

  The Count laughed loudly, and Teresa giggled.

  Teresa answered, “It’s his ceremonial garb. He needs to wear it to perform the ritual.”

  “Seriously? Why?”

  “It is part of the ritual.”

  “Are your Highnesses-es going to dress up too?” Dan asked.

  “Yes,” the Count answered. “After dinner, we will also prepare for the ritual.”

  Sallie DuBois glanced at Steven. She smiled at him and then shyly glanced away. Steven smiled too, and noticed she was blushing.

  “Where is the ritual held?” John asked. “It’s not here in the castle?”

  “No, I am afraid not,” the Count answered. “We have to go to a holy site where it is strong with, um, stronger magical essence. Centuries ago, there was a great wizard’s battle on that site which still lingers with remnants of magical traces in the air. It is the best place in the area to perform a difficult magical ritual.”

  “And where is it located?” John asked.

  The Count sighed and answered, “At the Children’s Museum.”

  “Excuse me?” John asked.

  “The site where the battle took place centuries ago is now a children’s museum. Time passes, and we forget the importance of things that happened in the past. For example, while excavating an English parking lot, they found the remains of Richard III. So, yes, we are going to perform this ancient ritual inside the Children’s Museum.”

  “Did you buy passes for all of us or do we each have to buy our own?” Dan asked. “Also, will there be amusement park rides?”

  “Do not worry about that, my boy,” the Count said. “We will take care of everything.”

  “How important is the emerald to the ritual this evening?” John asked.

  “Oh thank God,” Dan whispered. “More exposition.”

  “Excuse me?” The Professor asked.

  John said, “Well, while you and the Count fought over it, we were caught in the middle. The Professor won because the dead gangster messed with Dan and the Professor is sporting it on a ring now.”

  John wanted to add, ‘And practically showing it off,’ but he kept his mouth shut.

  “Professor Marin,” the Count said. “Would you like to educate our guests about the importance of the emerald you are wearing on your finger?”

  “It would be my honor,” the Professor said and wiped his mouth after eating. “To make a long story short…”

  “Too late,” Dan mumbled, and John stomped on Dan’s foot under the table.

  “To make a long story short, the emerald can act as a key that opens a portal of great potential power to its user. I have a more significant piece of the orb thanks to your friends and serendipity. However, the Contessa also owns a portion of the sphere as well in her necklace. However, the Ritual of Alhambra requires two keys. It is just as integral was the orb for tonight’s ritual. If the Sabellas returned the orb to the Count, he would have both keys forsaking me from the ritual. However, I’m sitting here tonight because we both have something the other needs.”

  While the Professor spoke, the Orb of Genoa was pulling itself out of the Ring of Alhambra towards Dan. The Professor felt the tugging on his finger. He tried to stop the tugging, but the sphere pushed harder. The dinner guests watched while the Professor wrestled with his ring while trying to be nonchalant and kept lecturing.

  The orb burst from the confines of the ring flying to the hand of Dan Carter. The plastic surgeon opened his fist and caught it. The dinner party gasped and watched in awe, waiting for who would act.

  Dan examined the stone for a moment and returned it to the Professor.

  “This is the second time this magic bean has tried to follow me home,” Dan told Professor Marin. “You need to chain it up better.”

  “Second time?” Teresa asked.

  The Professor placed it back into the ring with trembling hands. The Count and Contessa screamed at Dan in Italian. The Count picked up a knife and gestured to Dan.

  “This meal has been fantastic,” Dan said. “What’s for dessert? Is it cannolis? Please say it is cannolis.”

  Chapter Twenty: At the Children’s Museum

  After a dessert of delectable strawberry sponge cake, cannolis, and coffee, the Count and Contessa left to dress for the evening.

  They were not gone for too long. When they returned, they were dressed in simple robes, unlike the Professor, a medallion dangled from his neck and had an ancient leather book under his arms. Teresa wore her batwing necklace, which contained a piece of the orb.

  Dan whispered to John, “Is it just me or does the Count resemble Johnny Carson’s old Carnac character?”

  “Shh!”

  The Count asked, “Professor Marin, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, I am, your Highness. Thank you for a lovely dinner.”

  “Then let us proceed. I will meet you and your people at the…” The Count paused before continuing. “The Children’s Museum,” he said, and hardly containing his embarrassment.

  “As you wish,” the Professor bowed and led his procession out of the dining room.

  Dr. DuBois gazed at Steven before following her boss out of the room.

  The Count led his entourage followed by Dan, Steven, and John. Teresa pulled the surgeons aside and whispered, “When the time is right, you will know what to do.”

  They nodded.

  They piled into the Count’s large hummer with Bernardo at the wheel. This time the Contessa sat close to her husband, and the American doctors sat nervously on their side of the Hummer.

  *

  The ride was a quiet twenty-five minutes.

  “Yes, the Professor and the Vincenzos are the only ones with the right keys.”

  It was dark and thunder boomed overhead. The Children’s Museum had been closed for over an hour.

  The Count asked, “Professor, would you do the honors?”

  “Gladly.”

  The Professor whispered some words and waved his hand, the security cameras turned off, and the front doors opened.

  The group entere
d. Abraham found the light switches, and the museum became illuminated. Steven asked Sallie, “Are they the only ones performing the ritual tonight?”

  The Children’s Museum was a large, white two-story building designed to resemble a child’s idea of a fairy-tale castle, ripping off Disney World. They painted the interior in bright, primary colors.

  They called the main attraction for the summer at the museum “Dinosaur Park.” A large banner draped from the ceiling rafters written in Italian, which Sallie had translated for the Americans.

  “It says, ‘Welcome to Dinosaur Park,’” Sallie told them.

  “I guess they made it so that it wouldn’t be a copyright infringement for ripping off the estate of Michael Crichton,” Dan said. “I mean, who would do that?”

  Dinosaur displays were everywhere. Dinosaur bones formed a stegosaurus and other smaller dinosaurs. A life-sized, plaster molded tyrannosaurus rex and a triceratops and velociraptors decorated the small, but playful learning center. A gigantic plaster and plastic pterodactyl hung from the ceiling appearing to swoop down toward the visitors. The museum was a place of wonder and learning for children, but also a place of fun. Areas off to the sides contained brightly colored jungle gyms on thick matted floors. It was the type of place parents brought their children on dull, rainy weekends.

  “Wow, this place is so cool,” Dan said, with a childlike wonder. They ignored him.

  “This is where they are going to call upon a demon?” Steven asked in a ‘you’re-kidding,’ tone.

  “Count, would you do the honors?” The Professor suggested.

  “Gladly,” the Count said.

  He whispered some words and waved his arms. The lights dimmed twice, but then stayed on. The Count momentarily winded after the act. Everyone, including the Professor, noticed.

  “What just happened?” Steven asked in a hushed voice.

  Sallie explained, “The Professor asked the Count to cover the museum in darkness. It is a glamour spell to make everyone outside believe the museum is closed, and nothing unusual is happening,” Sallie whispered back to the American doctors. “And it winded the Count.”

  “Meaning?” Steven asked.

  “Meaning that he is not as strong as he once was. He has become withered and weak, and the Professor saw it.”

  “Is that bad?” John asked.

  Sallie nodded and said, “These wizards, although cooperating now, are hardly friends, and are about as jealous of each other as a snobby, American college sorority.”

  “Oh, my God,” Dan said, shocked. “That was a good joke. I am so stealing it.”

  “You people stay over there,” The Professor commanded. “The three of us need to get to work.”

  The wizards’ entourages sat down while the three wizards cleared a large set in the middle of the first floor of the museum. The Count, Contessa, and the Professor painted a large circle with blood.

  John asked Dan, “I wonder where they got the blood?”

  Dan dropped his head in contrition.

  They drew a pentagram on the floor while chanting softly.

  The American doctors and the Professor’s henchmen ventured around because something had changed in the air. The atmosphere was more oppressive, colder, and was harder to breathe. Dan, Emilio, and Sallie coughed for a few seconds. The air smelled like a thousand matches had burned at once.

  Dan held his nose and asked, “Did a demon fart or something? Because that would explain a lot.”

  Everyone shushed him.

  The three robed magicians stood in their personal section of the pentagram with their arms raised, chanting in Latin. Then, the Professor turned toward the Count. The Professor changed his chanting making it full of fury. He pointed his ring at the Count. The ring fired a green beam blasting the Count in the back, knocking the old man over.

  Teresa gasped and then screamed with murderous rage, “You traitorous bastard!”

  She screamed a spell and fired it at the Professor. The Count stood up and retaliated, sending blasts from his fingers, knocking the Professor back a few steps, but not off his feet and not off the protective pentagram.

  “I knew you would do this, Marin,” The Count shouted. “In fact, I counted on it.”

  Dan laughed and chortled, “He said, ‘I…’”

  “We heard him too!” Sallie yelled. “Run!”

  “Why?” Dan asked. “I want to watch the wizard Smack Down.”

  “Because things are about to get worse from here on out.”

  “How?” John asked.

  Then he heard the plaster, plastic, and dead dinosaurs roar and come to life.

  While the doctors ran, Abraham and Emilio stood awestricken and petrified. The tyrannosaurus rex ate Emilio, ripping him apart in the no longer plaster jaws. The stegosaurus trampled Abraham and kept running. The triceratops fought with the mighty Bernardo, who ran and grabbed a sword in the medieval exhibit of the museum.

  Dan watched with amazement. He asked, “Conan, what is best in life?”

  “Dammit, Dan!” John yelled. “Shut up and run!”

  Dan ran but continued to watch Bernardo fight with the triceratops. Bernardo swung the sword, slicing a horn from the triceratops’s skull. It was a draw until the stegosaurus ran from behind Bernardo and rammed him in the back with the horn in its snout. Both the triceratops and stegosaurus mauled the warrior to death. Dan winced. The tyrannosaurus rex arrived, scared the triceratops and stegosaurus away, and ate the remains of Bernardo.

  Above, the pterodactyl broke free from the wires that suspended it from the ceiling. The prehistoric bird flew around hunting for a target. It spotted Sallie DuBois and dove toward her like a giant dart.

  Steven tackled her and rolled her to safety at the last second. The pterodactyl crashed into the far wall and ceased to move after that.

  “Thanks for saving me.”

  “My pleasure,” Steven said.

  After catching their breath, Sallie said, “Let’s hide in the geology exhibit.”

  Steven nodded and Sallie led him through the halls of the museum.

  *

  Dan and John hid in the small arboretum. Aside from the pterodactyl, the rest of the dinosaurs were still active and hungry. Dan still had his gun, but he was not a great shot.

  “Would the gun even work?” Dan asked.

  “Why not?” John asked.

  “Because they were not alive to begin with. They are plaster and plastic simulations of dinosaurs meant for kids who were too old or too smart for Barney. So, how do you kill plaster dinosaurs that are trying to kill you?”

  “If they are constructed it of plaster and bones, can’t you just break it?” John asked.

  They both had the same idea.

  “The Geology Section.”

  John and Dan ran as the museum crumbled around them dinosaurs chased them. In the geology section, they ran to the displays of large rocks in glass showcases.

  “In case of emergency, break glass,” Dan yelled and both he and John pushed over the display. After the display crashed, hitting the ground and John and Dan picked up the rocks and chucked them at the stegosaurus. Every hit chipped away some bone. Sallie and Steven ran to join them.

  “Glad you could join us,” John told Steven and Sallie.

  “We had problems with a pterodactyl,” Sallie said, picking up a piece of granite and hurling it at the stegosaurus’ head. She hit it between the eyes, shattering the bony skull. They saw a spark of light, the size of a pinky fingernail, inside the dinosaur whiz away when the plaster creature fell. They did not have time to talk about what they saw because the velociraptors and the T-rex arrived.

  Dan sang the theme to The Flintstones as they hurled rocks at the dinosaurs. The other doctors would have laughed if they were not fighting for their lives. The museum was falling apart around them as the dinosaurs advanced and the doctors fell back.

  Dan stopped fighting. He stood still and dropped his rock.

  Steven yelled, “Dan,
are you okay?”

  Sallie saw the .45 in Dan’s pants and yelled, “You have a gun and you are not using it? What the fuck?”

  John yelled, “Dan, keep throwing. We need you!”

  His eyes glowed green and a faint green aura encompassed Dan. He drew his gun and handed it handle first to Sallie.

  “Here, take my Chekov’s gun.”

  “What’s a…”

  “I’m not very good with it. Make’em count.”

  Sallie took the gun.

  Steven asked, “Sallie, do you know…”

  Dr. DuBois turned off the safety, cocked the gun, and checked to see if there was a round in the chamber.

  Steven said, “Never mind,” and then hurled a rock at a velociraptor.

  John asked Dan, “What are you doing?”

  Dan, who was focused on the advancing dinosaurs, said, “Something crazy.”

  He ran towards the dinosaurs while his friends protested. The velociraptors bit at him, each bite missing the mad doctor by centimeters. Dan, who was running faster than ever before, dodged and weaved around the velociraptors and slid underneath the T-rex, narrowly missing its large and bloody jaws. Dan arose from the slide with ease and ran again. He made it outside the generously sized geology exhibit room and passed the last velociraptor, which flanked the T-rex. However, the last velociraptor swung its tail and tripped Dan, sending the mad doctor flying and then tumbling to the floor. He tumbled out of the view of his friends. The velociraptor ran toward the rolling Dan. They heard Dan scream and nothing more.

  Steven gasped, and remarked, “He was right. That was crazy.”

  With Dan’s distraction over, the dinosaurs continued their advance. Another stegosaurus joined the collective of dinosaurs trying to eat the doctors.

  “Dammit!” Steven yelled. “We can’t get a break here!”

  Sallie took aim and fired. She hit one velociraptor between the eyes. Its plaster head exploded, and the bullet continued to strike the new stegosaurus. The bullet lodged into its body, but did not destroy it; not even slowing the march toward the doctors.

  Sallie hit two more velociraptors in the head, which were getting closer to point-blank range. She fired again and destroyed the velociraptor close enough to John to bite him.