Slayers

by C. J. Hill

  “We’re not sure,” Dr. B said. “Overdrake has hidden them somewhere safe and will no doubt leave them there until right before he’s ready to attack. They might even still be on St. Helena.” He pronounced the word “He-lean-a.”

  She had never heard of it. “Where?”

  Dr. B walked over and sat down on the nearest boulder, then motioned for her to sit down beside him. He rested his hands on his knees and leaned forward, preparing himself for a long explanation. Jesse and Dirk drifted off to join the others. Across the clearing, Kody hurled flaming balls through the night sky like they were footballs. Each snuffed out, midair.

  “St. Helena is one of the most remote islands in the world. The Overdrake family owns most of it.” Dr. B held up a hand as though rewinding his words. “But that isn’t the right place to start. To understand the Overdrakes, you’ve got to go back to the Middle Ages when the kings promised fortunes to those who could solve the dragon problem. While some alchemists worked on creating the gold elixir, another group developed a different solution. They incorporated dragon DNA into their own bodies. This added DNA gave them the ability to control the dragons through a mind link. Instead of killing the dragons, these dragon lords used their power to influence the beasts to do things like fly away from a certain village or city. It was a skill the nobility were willing to pay quite a bit for. You wanted a dragon lord to live nearby.

  “Later, when the knights came to power and hunted the dragons, some of the dragon lords spirited away eggs to remote spots to protect them. One of the Overdrakes’ forefathers was a dragon lord who brought a pair to the island of St. Helena. Generations of Overdrake dragon lords cared for the dragons until civilization pressed in even on St. Helena. Then the dragon lord used his link to force the female dragon into choosing hibernation for her eggs. The last batch hatched somewhere between forty to forty-five years ago.”

  Tori shivered and pulled Jesse’s jacket tighter around her. “How come no one knows about the dragons, then?”

  “I know about them.”

  “They’re just flying around the island?”

  Dr. B adjusted his goggles, focusing them on Tori. “Overdrake kept them hidden on his plantation and only rarely let them out at night. But I’ve seen them. I grew up on St. Helena.”

  Which explained his accent, Tori realized.

  “My father worked as the cattle boss for the Overdrake family. They own a large spread of land on the far side of the island and a few factories in Jamestown. Langston Overdrake ran the empire back when I lived on the island and he had one rule that he strictly enforced—except for his wife and a few handpicked servants, no women were allowed anywhere on the plantation. He had a fence and a guard posted to send away any vehicles with women in them. Most people just thought he was eccentric. When you’re rich you can get away with all sorts of outrageous behavior.”

  Dr. B paused, apparently remembering that Tori’s family had money. He cleared his throat and continued. “My mother was an accomplished seamstress and Mrs. Overdrake liked to design her own clothes and have them sewn. She used to come out to our house for her fittings. When Mrs. Overdrake was pregnant she felt too ill to make the trip to our home. She had one of her servants sneak my mother onto the plantation so she could have fittings for her maternity clothes.” A note of tension crept into Dr. B’s voice. “I suppose she wouldn’t have done that if she’d known my mother was pregnant at the time.”

  Tori regarded Dr. B. “But I thought you said you weren’t a descendant of a dragon knight?”

  “I’m a descendant, but my mother wasn’t pregnant with me. The dormant genes in my body were never triggered to give me powers.” He said the words with a bit of stiffness, as though he resented this fact, or at least regretted it. “She was carrying my younger brother, Nathan. He was six years younger than me—a surprise.”

  Dr. B remained silent for a moment, staring off into the distance, and Tori could tell this story didn’t have a happy ending. “Sometimes my dad would take Nathan or me to the plantation to help with the cattle. Around the time Nathan turned twelve, he developed powers whenever he went on the plantation—the night vision and extra strength.”

  Dr. B didn’t raise his voice. His words were composed, but his tone had a bitter edge. “My father was in Overdrake’s inner circle. He was the one who put the cattle into the enclosure to feed the dragons. He heard Overdrake talk with his son, Brant, about how they could use the dragons as weapons once they raised enough of them.” Dr. B shook his head. “My dad never thought they’d go through with it. After all, the Overdrakes already ran the island, what else did they need? But my father underestimated their greed for power. One little island wouldn’t have been enough for Alexander the Great, Napoleon, or William the Conqueror. It wasn’t enough for any of the nations that colonized North or South America. The men who ran those countries took control because they could, not because they didn’t already have empires of their own.

  “My father never told anyone about the Overdrakes’ plans. You pay a person well enough and it’s amazing what he’ll keep secret.” Dr. B kept shaking his head. “My father knew what was happening to Nathan. Overdrake had warned him about Slayers, about the reason he kept pregnant women away from the plantation. So my father forbade Nathan to ever reveal his abilities or to go near the plantation again, but beyond that …” Dr. B let out a tired-sounding sigh. “My father was afraid that if Nathan knew about the dragons, he would want to kill them—that it would be in his nature because he was a Slayer.”

  Tori mulled that over. Back when she was four years old, she must have wanted to kill her father’s glass dragon collection—she had turned the whole thing into worthless broken shards. And she had certainly killed the two miniature dragons on top of her birthday cake. But real dragons? She was pretty sure it was in her nature to avoid those.

  She didn’t bring up this point, since Dr. B was continuing with his story. “My father thought all he needed to do to protect Nathan was to tell him to keep away from the plantation.” Dr. B rubbed the back of his neck wearily. “He should have known better. How can you keep a boy away once he knows a proximity will give him superpowers? By the time Nathan reached thirteen he’d not only gone back, he’d gone back enough times to realize he had another power besides the night vision and extra energy—the power to throw up shields. He used to tease the bulls, race them across the pasture, and then throw up shields when they got too close. One night Langston Overdrake caught him at it.”

  Dr. B paused for a long time. Tori nearly held her breath waiting for him to continue and wished he didn’t have to. It was clear it pained him to tell the story.

  “Langston Overdrake killed my brother. Oh, it was reported as an accidental drug overdose, but my father knew what really happened. Overdrake hardly made a secret of it. That’s when my father told me everything. The dragons. The powers Nathan had inherited. And Overdrake’s plans.”

  Dr. B’s voice was still calm, but his hands lying against his knees were clenched. “I was so angry, I stole my father’s keys, drove to the plantation, and broke into the dragon enclosure. I photographed both dragons, then turned the pictures over to the St. Helena police. They promptly destroyed everything—my camera, the pictures, our lives.” Dr. B grimaced at the memory. “I should have known that Langston Overdrake ran the police, as well as everything else on the island. If I hadn’t fled from the station, they would have probably thrown me in jail. I went home and told my parents what I had done. We had to leave right then, leave everything, in order to get off the island before Overdrake’s men got a hold of us. My father bribed a ship’s captain to smuggle us to England.

  “We changed our names and got used to looking over our shoulders, checking to make sure Overdrake hadn’t found us. When I finally managed to get a new ID, I went to college and majored in medieval history. I learned everything I could about dragons so that I could help stop them.”

  Tori’s hands trembled in her lap. She looked
at them, at her manicured pink-polished nails. They weren’t the hands of a knight. “I’m sorry about your brother. Really, I am. But if the dragons stay on an island, why can’t we just leave them alone?”

  “Because they won’t stay on the island.” Dr. B leaned toward her, his face intent beneath his goggles. “Langston and his son, Brant, were never interested in protecting the dragons. They wanted power, the more of it, the better. Langston used his mind link to tell the she-dragon to choose the short gestation period for her eggs—fifteen to twenty years.

  “Langston died nearly two decades ago, but Brant is still carrying out his plans. When the new dragons are grown, he’ll use them to try and wrest control of the government. That’s why D.C. is going to be the first target.”

  In the background, Kody and Dirk laughed about something. They looked like they were playing fire Frisbee instead of training to fight monsters.

  Tori tried to concentrate on Dr. B’s story and not the flames swishing by her. “But if you left St. Helena so long ago, how do you know that Brant is still planning on attacking D.C.?”

  “Because Brant brought the eggs through the D.C. area seventeen years ago. All of the Slayers who’ve come to camp were born within eight months of each other. All of your mothers lived in the D.C. area when they were pregnant with you. The only reason Brant would have moved the eggs here is that it makes it easier for him to attack D.C.

  “I’m sure he didn’t mean to let the eggs go anywhere near pregnant women. He wouldn’t have wanted to trigger powers in babies who could then grow up to fight his dragons. But through some mistake, piece of luck, or divine providence, it happened.”

  Dr. B. hadn’t asked her if her mother had been living in D.C. when Tori was born, but then that information was easy enough to look up. Her father had become a senator the year before she was born. “If you know Brant Overdrake is in the United States you should tell the authorities, and they could—”

  Dr. B waved away her words. “Brant wouldn’t be so careless as to use his own name. I imagine he’s even altered his appearance. Wherever he is, he has the resources to carry out a well-planned attack. And once the eggs hatch, we’ll have less than a year before the dragons reach full maturity.”

  A noise like glass shattering came from the area where the advanced campers were goofing off. Tori turned in time to see pebbles falling to the ground.

  Dr. B put his hand on Tori’s arm, pulling her attention back to him. “Overdrake knows Slayers have been created. I fear it’s only a matter of time before he finds our camp. In fact, an attack is probably long overdue. You’ll need to be careful from now on. If anyone asks you suspicious questions here or after you go home, get away and alert the others. I have a special phone for you to use. I’ll give it to you after practice.”

  His eyes trained in on her. At least, she thought they did; it was hard to tell through the goggles. “Make sure nobody sees you using your powers. No one can know about what goes on at this part of camp. Not your friends, not your parents. Letting the secret slip will not only risk your life and the other Slayers, but all the lives we won’t be able to save. Do you understand the gravity of this?”

  “Yes.” The conversation she’d had with Cole and David earlier in the evening ran through her mind. She shouldn’t have told him about Jesse or said she thought anything odd was going on, but she couldn’t take it back now.

  Jesse, Dirk, and the others had finished whatever game they’d been playing, and they strolled back toward the ring of boulders, talking and laughing. They were even stronger, more confident up here where they could exercise their powers.

  “How many Slayers are there?” Tori asked.

  “Ten came the first three years the camp opened. You’re the only one to come since then. I know there’s at least one more—somewhere—but his parents won’t let me train him. I hope they’ll change their minds, or that he’ll find us. Beyond that, I doubt there are others. Their obsession with dragons would have led them to the camp. Like yours finally led you here.”

  Her obsession. It wasn’t some deep-seated fear turned into psychosis. She was normal, after all. Well, normal in a really different sort of way.

  Dr. B gestured toward the campers as he spoke. “So far the heirs’ extra skills have come by twos. Two can douse dragon’s fire, quenching it for several minutes. Two can throw up shields to protect themselves and bystanders, and two can send out both fireballs and freezing shocks. Two have the power to heal dragon-inflicted wounds. One can fly, and one can see what the dragon sees.”

  See what the dragon sees? What did that mean? And how did someone quench fire or send out freezing shocks? She wanted to ask him, but he didn’t give her time.

  “My guess is that your extra power will either be flight or sight, since those abilities don’t already have doubles. But who knows? Perhaps our pairing of talents is random coincidence. You might repeat an ability that two slayers already have, or you might have something altogether different.” He stood, then clapped his hands together in anticipation. “Let’s get started. You’ve been in contact with the simulator since you checked in to cabin twenty-seven, and you’re getting a strong dose now.”

  For the first time, Tori turned her attention to the machine sitting near the shed. Wheels attached to its cylindrical body, making it look more like a hot dog cart than a dragon.

  “Along with your night vision, you should have extra strength. In fact, your legs will now allow you to leap better than an Olympic high jumper.” Dr. B raised his voice, calling over to the group. “Who wants to show Tori a leap?”

  Kody stepped forward. He bent his knees and swung his arms upward, launching into the air. It happened so fast, she didn’t track where he went.

  Tori scanned the clearing, trying to see where he landed. “Where did he go?”

  Her question made everyone laugh. She searched even harder, but couldn’t find him. Finally Kody called to her from a tree branch about eight feet up in the air. He waved and jumped down, landing on the ground as gracefully as a gymnast. He strutted back to the others, grinning.

  Dr. B leaned toward her, and in an air of confidentiality said, “He makes it look easy, but I assure you, it took all of them several tries before they could land on the branches.”

  Several tries? She’d done leaps for years in ice skating and couldn’t even imagine jumping straight up that high.

  She remembered the blur of colors she’d seen earlier in the forest. Now it made sense. She’d seen Dirk jumping up into a tree. Had he been spying on her or simply practicing?

  Dr. B headed toward the shed. “We’ll have the other Slayers give you demonstrations of their powers and then see what you can do.”

  Tori took a deep breath, and then took another. Dragons. One of her ancestors had been a knight. With powers. Maybe flight. She tried to remember everything Dr. B had said, but the words slipped over the edges of her mind, like water over a glass filled too full. Two people could douse fire and two people could send out freezing shocks. What were the other powers?

  She shook her head, trying to clear it. This sort of thing just didn’t happen—dragons hatching and villains trying to take over the country. Yet Jesse had flown her up here. That had been real enough. And she could see in the dark. Was it possible that all along her genes had been forming her into some sort of a superhero and she had never known it?

  CHAPTER 11

  Dr. B took something out of the shed. At first she thought it was a fire extinguisher, but the nozzle wasn’t right. He fiddled with it, and foot-long flames seared out of the opening. “If Bess or Leo were here,” he said, gesturing with the blowtorch as though it had been a piece of chalk in one of his lessons, “we could demonstrate throwing up a shield. But as they’re both gone, I’ll simply tell you that if you have the power of shielding, you can put up an invisible forcefield that’s about …” He turned toward Dirk, and the torch flame arced in that direction.

  Tori winced. Really, was it a g
ood idea to wave a blowtorch around so much kindling?

  “How big would you say the forcefield is?” Dr. B asked Dirk.

  Dirk hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “About five yards by five yards.”

  Dr. B turned back to Tori, pointing the flame in her direction again. “It’s a good size. If you throw it in front of yourself or anyone the dragon is trying to bake, you can save quite a few people.” He held the blowtorch closer, and the heat from the flame shimmered near her face. “Do you have an urge to throw a forcefield up?”

  Tori leaned away from the flame. “Mostly I have the urge to kick the blowtorch out of your hands, but I’m being polite.”

  Dr. B nodded, as though noting her reaction on a mental checklist, then he addressed Lilly and Shang. “Which one of you wants to show Tori how to douse fire?”

  Lilly stepped forward, one hand smugly on her hip. She obviously liked doing something Tori couldn’t. Without moving any closer to Dr. B, Lilly flicked her hand and the flame from the blowtorch blinked out.

  “Well done!” Dr. B smiled at her proudly. “It’s a handy skill to have around here, as cabin twenty-six tends to get rather rambunctious during cookouts. This way I don’t have to worry about anyone accidentally burning down the camp.”

  Dr. B waved Kody over, then told Tori, “Watch.”

  Dr. B picked up a palm-size rock and threw it toward the trees. Before it could hit anything, Kody pushed his hand through the air in one quick motion. The rock made a sound like dropped china and splintered into pieces. They rained down on the ground with tiny thuds.

  “Well done,” Dr. B said approvingly. Then he told Tori, “Kody and Danielle can send freezing shocks great distances.”

  Kody put his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “It won’t kill a dragon, but it’ll tick him off real bad.”

  “What does kill a dragon, then?” Tori asked.

  Neither Dr. B nor Kody answered her question. Dr. B picked up a broken branch from the ground and held it up. “Here’s another part of Kody’s talent.”