‘Matt?’ questioned Emma, showing him the picture. ‘Is this you?’
Matt took the photo from her, and then gave an uneasy laugh. ‘No, that’s my grandfather,’ he answered. ‘People say that I look like him.’
‘You do,’ confirmed Emma, taking the picture back from him. ‘And the dragon … it’s so big!’
‘Yeah, she is, isn’t she?’ said Matt. He turned quietly back to his reading.
Emma frowned at his vague explanation, but then put the picture back where she had found it. There were not many other interesting things to look at on the fridge, so she sat down at the table. Her eyes flickered to the window.
It was dark outside … blue-dark. There was something else too, though: a shadowy figure lurking out on the road. Emma pushed the dark curtains back a tiny bit –
‘Stop!’
Emma jumped and let the curtain fall back into place, her gaze flicking over towards Mystic. The cat had his paws over his ears and his eyes shut, while Simon sighed angrily.
‘You never listen to anything I say!’ he criticized.
Emma let out a sigh of her own – a relieved sigh. She turned back to the window, to catch a glimpse of the figure on the road, but the shadow had moved. There was nothing out there now.
‘Hmm,’ she said, and placed her elbows on the table, leaning her chin against her hands.
Mystic suddenly lifted up his head and sniffed. ‘Do you know what I smell?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ murmured Matt, not taking his eyes off his documents. ‘Are my imaginary pancakes burning up?’
Mystic snarled and stood up. ‘You half-wit,’ he growled, his head turning to the window. ‘We have company outside.’
That got Matt’s attention, and Simon’s too, who now dropped his sulky behaviour and moved away from the window. ‘What kind of company?’ he asked.
‘Smells like …’ Mystic inhaled again, and a deep rumble filled his throat, startling Emma, as she had never heard a cat growl like that before, ‘fortress filth.’
Matt flung open a cupboard door above the stove and pulled out a long, black rod that was hiding inside. ‘Dark Riders,’ he said quickly, holding the stick in his left hand like a weapon. ‘How close are they?’
‘Hard to tell,’ muttered Mystic, his voice gruff. He wandered past Emma – who was now sitting as straight and ridged as a board – and to the window. His eyes darkened as he searched the area outside. ‘They’re here … in the Underground, but I don’t think they know where we are.’ He turned quickly to Matt. ‘Hurry! Turn off the lights!’
Matt dashed to the light switch and flicked his hand down across it. Darkness swallowed the room. Only a blue glow from the outside shone in. For some reason, whenever the dark surrounded Emma, it seemed quieter. Right now, only their shaky breathing filled the kitchen, along with the low rumbling sounds coming from Mystic. She could hear that more clearly, as the cat paced close beside her on the table.
‘Trouble-makers,’ he whispered into the dark, ‘fiends and murderers. What do they want now?’
‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’ said Matt softly from across the room. Emma could only see the outline of his face in the blue light. ‘Someone let the cat out of the bag – no puns intended, of course.’
Mystic let out a low growl. ‘Ripley, he snarled. ‘That double-crosser … he claimed to be a protector of dragons, and of this town! When I get my hands on him …’
Emma heard the click of claws against the wood of the table, and she leaned back in her chair, her heart pounding. The sound halted, and there was a gentle thud. Mystic had sat down, but his laboured breathing still filled the air.
‘Calm down,’ she heard matt whisper.
‘I am calm,’ muttered the cat.
A clattering sound echoed from the floor and Emma jumped out of her seat, her heart now in her throat.
‘Sorry,’ murmured Simon, a painful pitch to his voice. ‘I bumped into Matt’s frying pan.’
‘Hey, who feeds you?’ shot Matt.
‘Well, you’re supposed to put away –’
‘Shut up!’ hissed Mystic, and Emma could now clearly see his violet eyes burning in the darkness. ‘Do you want to get caught?’
Quietness took over the argument, and Mystic’s eyes faded back into the dark, once again invisible to Emma and the others. Against her chest, she could feel the coldness of the Sapphire Stone bite at her skin. She instantly pulled it out from under her sweater and held it away from that too. Her eyes widened when she saw the faint glow radiating from it.
In the dim, white light, she saw Mystic turn towards her, the pupils of his eyes large and not catlike at all. ‘Put that away,’ he ordered quietly.
‘It burns my skin,’ said Emma softly.
‘Then put it in your pocket,’ he said instead. ‘Just keep it out of sight.’
She did as she was told, letting the stone and chain slip into the pocket of her jeans. It was still cold, but it could not touch her skin there. She wondered why the stone reacted like that, and now, of all times.
‘There’s something else out there, too,’ murmured Mystic, surprise filling his voice. There was a long pause. ‘It smells like … a dragon.’
‘They’re riding on dragons, aren’t they?’ retorted Matt.
Mystic snarled. ‘Do you think I’d mix up the scent of their half-breeds with the scent of a child of G’zardac?’ he snapped. ‘No … this dragon is powerful.’ He took another long pause. ‘We need to leave this place. Now.’
‘It’s that simple, is it?’ questioned Simon. ‘With Dark Riders out there waiting for us, and this other unknown dragon … what chance would we really have?’
‘Would you rather stay here for the night and risk them knocking on your door?’ suggested Mystic. There was no reply from Simon, so the cat added, ‘I certainly don’t want to wake up with one of them standing above me.’
‘Matt, you aren’t seriously going to risk heading out there?’ said Simon quietly to his brother. ‘What if it’s –’
‘We will leave,’ interjected Matt, ‘as soon as they’re far enough away.’
For the next ten minutes or so, both Wheeler brothers were rushing about the house in the dark, not making much noise except for their footsteps. Emma discerned that they were packing. Mystic had not ordered or suggested it, but they were intent on doing it themselves.
When the deed was done, they all waited silent and still in the darkness. The three humans relied on the sharp senses of Mystic for safe passage through the Underground, but he gave no signal to leave. The Dark Riders were still nearby.
Every sound that echoed outside the walls of the house sent shivers running down Emma’s spine, and even the silence was hard to bear. She could almost imagine the horrid black dragons and their shadow-riders. The figure that had stood outside her door had not looked human. She would hate standing face-to-face with one of them … or even worse … being taken prisoner and carried back to their base.
‘Now,’ hissed Mystic, and Emma heard a thud as his feet hit the floor.
Either Simon or Matt swung open the front door of the house. Emma was not sure which one it was. In the blue darkness of the kitchen, everything looked like it was muddled together.
The next thing she knew, Emma was running down the gloomy streets of the Underground. She felt Simon’s hand wrap around her own, and heard the clicking sound of Mystic’s claws against the ground. Her sharp breathing seemed to break the silence that occupied Downtown Dwenin, but not far away, she thought she could also hear the ragged breath of dragons.
‘Faster!’ instructed Mystic at the front. ‘They’ve turned around!’
Simon suddenly turned right into an alleyway, pulling Emma along with him. They darted through a mess of fallen rubble and broken pipes, and then climbed through a hole in a wall. The knapsack on Simon’s back jittered with random noises of objects clinking together.
‘Get down!’ he hissed, crouching just below the opening in
the wall.
Emma sat beside him, her heart hammering in her ears. She tried to see through the darkness, tried to pick out the other two, but there was no sign of Matt or Mystic. Behind her, past the dark, stone wall, she could hear harsh breathing fill the silence. She pressed her back up against the wall as hard as she could and held her breath.
‘Simon?’ It was Matt’s voice. He sounded close.
A roar sounded behind Emma and Simon – piercing and horrid – and then heavy running followed. The shadow of a dragon crossed over both their heads through the hole in the wall, its tail licking around the corner of the narrow alleyway of rubble. Pieces of stone flicked out towards them, landing close to their feet as the black beast disappeared from view.
Emma moved her hands away from her face – flinging them up was an automatic instinct when in danger – and let out her shaking breath. Simon, on the other hand, was already on his feet, and he was trying to pull her up with him.
‘Hurry, I think it heard Matt,’ whispered Simon anxiously.
They slowly crept down the ruined passageway, careful of where to step, not wanting to give away their position by making any disturbance. As they neared the demolished corner of the alley, Simon stopped and peered out into the bluish gloom. Emma glanced around him … and covered her mouth to keep from gasping.
A black dragon stood on the street, its spiked back arched like an angry cat. It was much larger than the glimpse of it Emma had seen just moments ago – larger than the normal dragons that she had seen at the station, too. The white teeth that lay within its mouth were large and sharp enough to shatter steel in a single snap. The look in its eyes was feral.
On top of the sinister dragon sat its rider – a black cloaked figure with a long, rod-like weapon. It had a faint shine to both ends, like sword blades. The rider removed his thick, black boots from the saddle stirrups and swung itself down to the ground, the sound of its cape fluttering in the still wind as it dropped around the rider’s feet. It rose to its full height, twirling the swordstick in its right hand, and then walked towards Matt, who was standing not three metres away from the evil duo.
‘He’ll rip him to pieces!’ whined Simon, clinging onto the ruined side of the wall. ‘He’ll kill him!’
Emma held her breath, silently watching as the Dark Rider approached Matt and stopped just in front of him. Matt tilted his head up a tiny bit, while the Dark Rider did something quite unexpected – it laughed.
‘It’s … human!’ gasped Emma.
‘Of course he’s human,’ muttered Simon, staring painfully at the scene. ‘Dark Riders are slaves of Vanyir. Those who defied him joined him. Then there were the ones who went by freewill, choosing to follow his rule.’
‘Why would anyone want to join him?’ whispered Emma, her eyes locked on Matt. ‘Why would they make that decision?’
‘Fear, maybe?’ suggested Simon. ‘Or maybe some people are as twisted as they look.’
The Dark Rider raised his rod, and Simon made a dart towards his brother. Emma was quick to react, grabbing the younger sibling by the arm and yanking him back into the shadows of the alleyway.
‘Are you trying to get yourself killed?’ she whispered harshly.
Both their eyes flickered back to the scene. The weapon had made contact – but not with Matt. The oldest Wheeler sibling had raised his own black stick, blocking the attack. The Dark Rider jumped away, retreating under the ominous head of his dragon. He laughed again and pointed the stick at Matt, who shook his head and turned around.
‘Coward! Don’t show your back to me!’
Emma recoiled further into the shadows at the sound of the rider’s smug voice. He had yelled the threat, but it still sounded far away. If she had been closer, she could have heard what the two of them were saying, but the exchange of words was a secret.
‘I don’t believe it …’ murmured Simon, trading glances with Emma. ‘That rider there, his name is Rais. He’s a head captain at the Black Fortress. Vanyir leaves him in charge of practically everything.’
‘Vanyir must have sent him here for the Sapphire Stone,’ said Emma quietly.
Simon shook his head. ‘It’s impossible,’ he whispered back. ‘He wouldn’t have had the time to ride from the Black Fortress to here. No … if Ripley betrayed Mystic, he would have told the Dark Riders within town, and Rais isn’t the kind of linger around Dwenin like that. Vanyir must have sent him here on other business. But what …?’
Another black dragon rode up then, shooting straight past the alley where Emma and Simon were hiding. It slowed to a halt near Rais and his dragon, the rider on its back slightly bigger than his companion on the ground. He leaned forward and whispered something down to Rais, who nodded and climbed onto the back of his dragon.
Without another word exchanged, the two of them rode off, leaving Matt standing on the street. Before Emma could react, Simon had darted out of the shadows towards his brother, his footsteps loud on the rugged ground. She chased after him, ignoring the danger that still lurked heavy in the air, and hoped to stop him before those Dark Riders decided to turn around.
‘Matt!’ called Simon, who instantly received a scowl from his older brother. Matt grabbed him by the arm, yanking him back towards Emma, who had stopped and was now waiting and watching. The three of them sunk back into the shadows of the alleyway.
‘Let – go!’ demanded Simon, wrenching his arm free of his brother’s grip. He straightened the arm of his red riding jacket. ‘What was that all about? What did Rais want?’
‘Nothing,’ muttered Matt, gripping onto his weapon more tightly. ‘Let’s just say that he’s not looking for the Sapphire Stone.’
‘Then what was he looking for?’
They all turned sharply – Matt raising his stick – and then relaxed when they saw a pair of violet eyes shining in the dark shadows of the alleyway. Mystic slowly emerged, treading softly on the fallen rubble and loose ground. For a second, Emma thought she had seen the shoulder bones of the cat rise and fall back into his skin. She shuddered and doused the idea from her mind.
‘Where were you?’ snapped Matt, taking a step towards the tabby. ‘Hiding away in the shadows like a cat, no doubt.’
Mystic hissed and darted through Matt’s legs. The older boy spun around, almost tripping on the cat’s tail. He snarled and glared down at the small creature on the ground.
‘Come on, then,’ retorted Mystic, his eyes growing dark. ‘Let’s get you humans to the surface – where you belong.’
Emma followed him anxiously, always allowing her eyes to drift back over to Matt, who held his weapon so tightly in his hands that she feared he would either break it in half or release it down upon Mystic’s head at any second. She wondered then what had brought these three together, and what sort of bond they all shared to allow fate to keep them together.
As she stood at the bottom of the steep ramp leading up to the world above, Emma could faintly hear the bonging of the town square clock.
It was now six o’clock.
~ Chapter Eight ~
One Dragon’s Death
The town above gave them much more difficultly trying to hide. Without the cover of darkness and shadows, the light was always at their backs, along with every other rider and townsperson wandering around. Sounds were muddled. There was no way of telling if a Dark Rider could be just out of sight.
After a while of ducking into abandoned alleyways and trespassing through backyards, Mystic suggested that they would blend into the crowd. It was better to at least seem normal than act as though they were being chased. Matt agreed to that idea, and so the four of them slipped innocently into the crowd that now gathered around the town square. Evenings, said Simon, were much busier than mornings in Dwenin.
‘Let’s just get to the Compound,’ whispered Matt to Simon and Emma.
They turned their path left, sifting through the crowd of people. The stone road ended and the four of them dashed down a dirt trail towards the wide, ste
el doors of the Compound. The building was underground, but the roof was so high that it stretched far above ground level. Two young men in silver uniforms stood at each side of the opening, headsets on and grey rods in their hands, which – according to Simon – were called “stalfels”.
The four slipped past these guards without detection. So far, they were just ordinary riders heading into the Compound to visit their dragons.
The area inside was much larger than it appeared outside. It was as long and as wide as a football field, and filled with metal stalls similar to what horses were kept in, only three times as big. Dragons occupied these compartments, though, and not the creatures Emma was used to seeing in a barnlike place.
Some dragons were restless, pacing around in their corral and snorting every few minutes. Others were sleeping or falling asleep, their heads tucked into their overly large paws and their tails wrapped around their massive bodies. A brown dragon with one white eye and one black eye growled at the passerby, and then bent its head down to take a mouthful of water from its trough attached to the wall inside the stall.
Emma turned away from the usual dragon and saw that she was lagging far behind the others. She took a few fast steps to catch up with them – after pushing through a group of three young riders in blue – and then held onto Simon’s arm to prevent from being separated again.
‘A lot of people have dragons,’ she whispered to him.
‘They do,’ he murmured back, ‘and most shouldn’t have them.’ He glanced into the stall of a red dragon with a long slash across its snout. ‘Times have changed since Lucian’s day.’
They stopped near a stall almost at the back of the Compound, where two dragons lay on the floor of their pen. The green one – the bigger of the two – had its head resting on top of the red one’s back – which Emma recognized as Redfyre. The green dragon lifted its head when it saw them approach and let out a quiet rumble, slowly rising to its feet. Redfyre opened his eyes at the noise and scampered up to the stall’s door like an excited dog upon seeing Simon, who laughed and reached his hand over the gate to pet his dragon on the neck.
The Secret World of Dragons Page 8