Fall of Thor's Hammer (Levi Prince Book 2)

by Amy C. Blake

  Stopping suddenly, Albert raised a hand and whispered, “Don’t move.”

  Though Levi could barely make out the pixie’s face, he could tell it had turned as white as Regin’s. He inched nearer Sara. “What is it?”

  She shook her head.

  “Did you hear that?” Albert whispered.

  “What’s wrong now?” Hunter’s voice was loud and harsh. “Can’t we just keep going so we can get there already?”

  “Yeah, this fog’s doing nothing for my hair.” Suzanne’s voice was equally as loud and twice as shrill as she smoothed her frizzy locks.

  Who cared what her hair looked like? Levi sure didn’t.

  “Hush,” Albert hissed. “Listen.”

  Without Hunter and Suzanne’s yammering, he heard a flapping, rustling sound. “What is it?”

  Albert put a forefinger over his lips. They all stood silent.

  Several loud cracks came from somewhere to the right. Then came what sounded like a giant clearing a wad of phlegm from its throat. Suzanne yelped, Hunter grunted, and Sara grabbed so tightly to Levi’s arm he let out a squeak.

  Albert motioned for them to follow then pressed his finger to his mouth so violently Levi feared he’d bust his lip, but this time the warning was unnecessary. Levi wasn’t about to say a word. He doubted even Hunter and Suzanne would be brainless enough to speak.

  He’d only taken a few cautious steps when panting breaths on his neck nearly made him bolt headlong into Sara. He swiveled his head, half-expecting some hideous monster. Instead he found Suzanne’s panic-stricken face centimeters from his shoulder. Behind her, Hunter’s face—minus its usual sneer—hovered in the thickening fog as if disembodied. Shivering, Levi turned and followed close behind Sara, who tiptoed at Albert’s heels.

  Once they’d slipped up the path a few yards and rounded a boulder, Albert faced them. “Here’s the thing,” he whispered, “we gotta get over this mountain in absolute silence.”

  “What exactly was that thing?” Hunter jerked his chin toward the path they’d climbed.

  Albert cut his eyes toward Suzanne, who stood sniffling beside Hunter, and Levi knew what he was thinking. If Suzanne didn’t already know about Terracaelum, Albert wasn’t permitted to let on that the thing they heard might be . . . not normal.

  “Could be a bear,” he said with an unconvincing shrug.

  Levi rolled his eyes.

  Albert shot him a look that said, Explain it yourself then, ya snot-nosed kid.

  Sara gasped, staring past Levi with her blue-green eyes taking up most of her white face. He wheeled around, as did Suzanne and Hunter.

  A large reptilian head appeared above the boulder at their backs. Its black scales glittered despite the heavy fog suppressing the sunlight. Levi stood frozen. Albert’s “Move!” registered in his brain. But before he could make his feet work, Hunter shoved the paralyzed Suzanne into him, and she and Levi both crashed to the ground.

  He stood and pulled Suzanne to her feet. The creature’s fiery, snake-like, yellow-orange eyes fixed on him. A harsh rattling—much louder than his dad gargling—filled the air. The monster opened its fanged jaws. Suzanne let out a shriek like ice picks in his eardrums.

  He shoved her behind him as a blast of fire erupted from the monster’s mouth.

  19

  Dragon Attack

  A sharp yank to his arm sent Levi reeling left. Suzanne toppled into him. The ground where they’d stood burst into flames. Albert gave his arm another wrench. Levi scrambled to regain his balance, snatched Suzanne’s hand, and took off running.

  After several moments of panic-driven scrambling up the mountainside, Levi doubled over, chest heaving, and massaged his shoulder. Albert had almost pulled it from its socket, but he’d gladly take the pain over being roasted alive.

  Suzanne whimpered. “W-w-what was that thing? What is this place? I wanna go home.”

  Levi might’ve felt sorry for her, except for the memory of how she’d beaten Lizzie with her sword hilt the year before. He turned to Albert, no longer caring what Suzanne did or didn’t know about Terracaelum. “Is that a dragon?”

  Albert’s small face puckered into a frown. “It don’t make no sense, see? That was Middie, and I ain’t never seen her act like that before. All rattly and spitting fire at folks.” He shook his head.

  “You’ve never seen . . .” Suzanne’s face went chalk-white.

  Sara touched Albert’s arm. “You recognized her?”

  “Sure, didn’t you?” Albert looked from her to Levi.

  He shook his head.

  “She was in the rules play we put on for you back in June. Mr. Drake was ridin’ her.”

  “Oh.” Levi frowned. “She seemed so . . . tame then.” He shook his head at the absurdity of his own words. “Or at least, under control. Sort of.”

  “Why is that thing loose,” Hunter demanded. “You people should put down monsters like that. Suzanne almost got killed.”

  She socked Hunter in the gut. “Because you shoved me.”

  He grunted. “It was an accident.” But he didn’t meet her eyes. “Levi tripped me.”

  “I did not!”

  “Enough.” Albert held up both hands. “We gotta stop bickering and start figuring how to get out of here safely. Whatever’s eatin’ Middie, she ain’t to be trusted. I gotta fetch Mr. Drake. He’ll know how to handle her.”

  “But why didn’t she fly after us?” Sara asked in a tiny voice.

  Albert cocked his head. “You’re right. She didn’t. Maybe she’s got an injured wing or somethin’. That’d make her awful cranky.”

  A strange, almost calculating look crossed Hunter’s face, but crashing and screams from their left pulled Levi’s attention from the bully. Sara grabbed Levi’s hand as he squinted into the swirling mist. He couldn’t see what caused the sounds, nor would he admit how glad he was for the comfort of her hand in his.

  When the screams and crashing died out, Albert said in a shaky voice, “That’s that then.” He gave each of them a stern look. “You gotta go on without me. Just stay on this path and—”

  Suzanne’s eyes bugged out. “But—”

  “You’ll be fine. It’s just that I gotta go help them people.” He pointed into the forest. “I know a shortcut that you folks are too big to walk. I can’t leave ’em to their sufferin’.”

  Levi didn’t want Albert to leave them either, but he said, “Go ahead, Albert. We’ll see you at the bottom of the mountain.” He squeezed Sara’s hand. She met his eyes in silent agreement, released his hand, and started along the trail. He followed close behind.

  Yet as Albert disappeared over an outcropping, his stomach writhed. What if they met up with another cranky dragon?

  When they reached the summit without incident, Levi’s stomach unclenched slightly. Now all they had to do was get down the mountain in one piece. Easy. Yeah, right. The fog had thickened, and a misty rain fell, making the trail slick and his skin prickle.

  Several painstaking moments later, he paused in the midst of crossing a particularly slippery ledge. Had he heard something? He looked back at the path they’d traversed.

  Hunter glared at him. “Get moving or let me by.”

  “Shhh.”

  “Don’t shush me. Albert didn’t make you boss.”

  Levi bit back the harsh words he wanted to spew all over Hunter. “Would you shut up a second? Please. I’m trying to hear.”

  Hunter’s eyes widened. He glanced back. Suzanne skittered around behind Levi, up next to the mountainside. He hoped she didn’t get nervous and start flailing around, or she’d send him off the cliff.

  There it was again. Definitely a rattling sound. Levi dropped to a squat. He glanced over his shoulder and called softly, “Sara.”

  She’d reached the other side of the ledge. “What’s wrong?”

  “Dragon’s back.”

  Her round eyes told him she understood. They had to figure out what to do—find a place to hide, run like mad, som
ething. Before he could decide what was best, he got shoved in the back.

  Suzanne screamed. Levi slid down the rock toward empty air. His fingers scraped over the rocks until they wedged on an indentation. His body flew over the edge, and he clung by his fingertips. He couldn’t hold on much longer.

  “Help!” The joints of his fingers and wrists strained and popped. He shot a glance downward, hoping for a nearby ledge, but he couldn’t see anything in the fog. Not even a scraggly tree to grab. His fingers slipped toward the edge in the damp earthy rock.

  Soft hands grabbed his wrists. The pale faces of Sara and Suzanne appeared above him. With each girl holding him by an arm, they hoisted him upward until he was able to scramble onto the outcropping. The three of them collapsed in a panting pile.

  “Thanks,” he wheezed, and the girls nodded, breathless.

  A horrendous roar rent the air. A dragon with dark blue scales perched only a few feet above them on a ledge. It emitted the same gurgling sound the other one had seconds before blasting fire, a sound like an engine revving, and Levi knew they were in trouble.

  “Help us, Hunter,” Suzanne screamed toward the far side of the ledge, her expression a mixture of disgust and desperation.

  Hunter didn’t answer.

  Levi rose slowly to his feet, positioning himself between the creature and the girls. He made eye contact with the dragon, whose gurgling grew louder, like an angry gorilla rattling its cage. “Go,” he whispered to the girls from the side of his mouth. A rustling sound told him they were moving. He could only hope Hunter would help them get away because he had a bigger problem to deal with at the moment.

  He stared into the dragon’s eyes—the color of blue flames—and fought the panic fogging his brain. God, help. What do I do? The softest imaginable breeze touched his face, like his mom’s fingers when she soothed his feverish forehead. Gentle. Soothing.

  Gentle. Soothing. It was worth a try. “I’m sorry, Dragon.” He kept his voice low and calm.

  The creature’s throat-clearing noises stuttered to a stop. Its eyes looked a little less angry.

  “That’s right,” Levi murmured, “everything’s fine. No need to be upset.”

  The dragon dipped its head until its snout was less than a foot from his face. Intense heat baked his skin, and an eye-stinging, sickly sweet stench coated his nose and throat. He felt like he’d stuck his head in the oven with a batch of burnt cookies. He could feel his eyebrows singe.

  The urge to scream almost overwhelmed him. Instead, he forced out a ragged whisper. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you.” As if they could do any damage to this creature.

  Still, the dragon seemed to like what he’d said because it made a humming sound in its throat. Did dragons purr? He slowly lifted his hand. Should he pet the thing?

  A sharp squeal from Levi’s right brought an abrupt end to the purring. The dragon turned toward the noise, its blue eyes blazing almost white. Suzanne huddled halfway to the edge of the outcropping, cradling her ankle. Beyond her, Hunter snatched Sara’s hand and yelled, “Run for your life!”

  Sara pulled away. “We can’t leave them.”

  Hunter scampered around the bend. The coward. Sara turned anxious eyes on Levi then inched toward Suzanne.

  “No, Sara. Go.” How could he distract the dragon from Suzanne? “Dragon, look at me, I’m—”

  But the dragon burst from its ledge and dropped to the path beside Suzanne with a tooth-rattling thud, effectively blocking the path between her and Sara. The gurgling came again—definitely not purring this time—louder than before. With a gulp, Levi scuttled past the dragon to Suzanne and rose to his full height. She whimpered in his shadow.

  “Stop! Bad dragon!” Though Levi used his firmest voice, the one he used when Cerberus lifted a leg indoors, his knees trembled. Naughty dragons were much more difficult to handle than naughty puppies.

  The dragon stopped and cocked its massive head as though confused.

  Levi held his breath. “That’s right. No fire. Be a good dragon.”

  The creature eyed him another moment. Levi gestured for Suzanne to go back toward the trail they’d just ascended. He heard her moving, but he didn’t look back. He had to keep the dragon’s attention on him.

  “What’s the matter?” He kept his voice quiet and even. “Why are you upset?” This looked like the dragon Mr. Sylvester had ridden in the play. It had to be tame—at least as tame as dragons got.

  The dragon’s wings flapped open until it hovered over him like a lion over a mouse. Levi couldn’t help the terrified squeak that broke from his lips. He stepped back, fully expecting to be flame-broiled. Then he saw it. One of the dragon’s wings had a deep gash. Bluish liquid he guessed was dragon blood trickled down and formed a steaming puddle on the rock.

  “You’re hurt.”

  Eyes full of pain, the dragon dipped its head.

  “What happened to you?” Levi waited a few seconds before realizing how idiotic it was to expect an answer. “I’m sorry you’re hurt.” He took a tiny step forward. “We didn’t hurt you, though, so please don’t be upset with us.”

  A smoky snort greeted his words. He stepped back again.

  “It’s okay.” He held out his hands, palms up. “I don’t know how to fix your wing or I would. But I’ll get Mr. Drake. Or Mr. Sylvester.”

  The dragon’s eyes narrowed to bluish-white slits. Steam spurted from its nostrils.

  Okay, not good. “Or whoever you want, somebody who knows what they’re doing.” He swallowed hard. “You have to let me go or I can’t get you help.”

  The creature glowered at him several long moments before bursting into awkward flight. It landed on the boulder above, bent double, and bobbed its head in a bow. At least it looked like a bow to Levi, so he bowed in return.

  “I’ll get help. I promise.”

  20

  In Charge

  Suzanne refused to speak a word to Hunter, despite his protests that he’d “slipped” on the outcropping. She didn’t even acknowledge his offer to help her hike down the mountain. Instead, she snagged Levi’s arm and clung to it all the way down.

  Now that the danger was past, pain sidled throughout Levi’s body. His bloody fingertips throbbed, various cuts stung on his arms and legs, and what felt like a cracked rib throbbed with his every breath.

  “That was amazing, Levi.” Sara’s eyes were bright with unshed tears as she glanced back at him from her place in the lead. “I thought that dragon was going to kill you.” She sniffled. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t figure out what to do except pray like crazy.”

  “It worked.” His legs trembled and he longed to rest, but they didn’t have time. “We need to get down quick. I promised I’d get help.”

  “You can’t seriously be worried about keeping your word to some beast,” Hunter said from behind him.

  Levi tossed him a sour glance over his shoulder. “Of course I am. You should be too. If I don’t and you find yourself meeting up with that dragon some other time, it’ll blast you without even listening to any promises.”

  “Levi’s right,” Sara said. “My . . . um . . . I mean, I’ve been told you have to keep your promises to all creatures.”

  Levi’s eyebrows surged upward. She’d almost given away who her dad was. Hunter certainly couldn’t be trusted with that information. And Suzanne . . . Just because she was mad at Hunter didn’t mean she’d changed her allegiance.

  At the base of the mountain, Levi spotted a cluster of half-raised tents a short distance away. He hurried over, leaving Suzanne to hobble along with Sara’s help.

  “Is Mr. Drake around? Or Mr. Sylvester?” he asked the few campers piling wood for a campfire.

  “They’re not here yet.” Gabrielle pointed toward a two-person tent. “Mrs. Drake’s in there though.”

  “Thanks.” He jogged to the tent and called her name.

  She came out, a loaf of bread in hand. “What is it? Is something wrong?” She looked beyond him
. “Where’s your leader?”

  He explained about Albert and the dragons. “I promised I’d send Mr. Drake to help.”

  Mrs. Drake’s dark, thin eyebrows drew together on her high forehead. “You say Nithir’s wing was cut?”

  “Who?”

  “The dragon. I’m pretty sure that’s Nithir.” She grasped his wrist. “Think. Did the wound look accidental or intentionally inflicted?”

  “I don’t know.” He pictured the wound in his mind. “It was a straight, deep gash, not jagged or anything, but I have no idea what caused it.”

  The elf woman’s lips tightened. “And Middie? Did she have a wound anywhere?”

  He remembered what Albert said about Middie not flying. “I didn’t see anything, but Albert thought maybe she was hurt.”

  “Okay, then, it can’t be helped.” She thrust the bread into Levi’s hands. “I have to go. You’re in charge until an adult arrives.” She started at a brisk trot toward the mountain.

  “Me?” He stared after her, his jaw hanging wide. As he hugged the bread to his chest, he wished it was a sword.

  First dragons, now this? He didn’t want to be in charge. He was only fourteen, for crying out loud.

  Hunter didn’t appreciate taking orders, especially from Levi, but Levi couldn’t help it. He hadn’t asked for the responsibility of watching over eight other campers, one of whom had an injured ankle and three of whom were new this summer. At least Sara was there to help. Too bad Lizzie hadn’t been in Mrs. Drake’s group. She never took sass from anybody, even bullies like Hunter.

  Even so, Levi managed to organize the others. Within an hour they had the remaining tents pitched, the fire blazing, and supper cooking. Several times, Levi had to slip away when he saw Morgan bearing down on him. He didn’t have time to deal with her right then. As the clouds lowered still more and the drizzle intensified to rain, Levi prayed the others would arrive soon. He didn’t want to be in charge all night.