“Is something wrong with your man, Mr. Carter?” Reynolds asked.
Carter sighed. “Damn. I thought we had this under control.”
“Had what under control?” I peered up at him, trying to hide the alarm on my face.
“Maisy is terrified of dragons.”
“Then why is she here?”
“Err, therapy?”
Maisy shrieked. Her shrill cry echoed around the cavern, and at last, the she-dragon raised her head and turned to face the group huddled over by the wall. Her snout was covered in blood.
And then we saw it. Nestled in its mother’s frame was a young dragon. The baby had a huge gash in its hind leg, and I realized the mother had been licking the wound.
As the great beast stretched its wings, Maisy screamed in terror. Surprised, the dragon pulled back, its expression turning from surprise to fury in a second. Its eyes trained on Maisy, and my heart stopped. Pike was standing right next to her, frozen.
I felt Carter’s hand on my arm. “Don’t panic––look.”
The dragon lunged forward, only to be pulled back violently by the chain that held it.
The she-dragon looked down, and with an angry roar, she let loose a ball of flame that scoured the ceiling of the cavern but didn’t have the range to reach us.
Her fire spent, she tugged again at her foot, but the chain wouldn’t give. There was a spark of malevolence in her eyes that made my skin crawl. Shrewdly, she glared at the chain, and after inhaling deeply, she let loose a blast of flame so hot it would melt anything in its path. When the flame died, she tugged desperately at the glowing metal. There was an awful chink as the weakest link broke, and with one more tug, the angry mother was free.
“Oh, shit,” said a voice full of terror. It was mine.
Chapter 10
The She-Dragon
Maisy screamed again, and most of the students fled back toward the tunnel, crushing and pushing each other in a mad panic as they tried to flee from the dragon. Harrison went with them, pushing Evelyn, Crystal, and the others ahead of him to safety. Crystal pushed him aside and tried to turn back.
“Piiiiike!” Crystal shouted, fighting against the flow of bodies running the other way as she tried to reach her friend.
“Come on,” Evelyn cried. “You can make it!”
The two girls fought desperately to get back to Pike, where she still stood frozen next to Maisy. But Harrison was determined, and positioning himself in front of his daughter and Crystal, he urged them both back to the safety of the tunnel.
Maisy was petrified, her hands held to her face as she continued to cry and scream.
“Don’t move,” Pike urged her as quietly as she could. “She can track you better when you move.”
But Maisy was beyond reasoning, and trembling, she backed into the granite wall of the cave.
Wand in hand, Björn tried his best to calm her, but in her frenzy, Maisy managed to knock it from his hand, leaving them both defenseless against the dragon as she circled them.
I gasped. What had happened to Maisy’s beautiful face? The entire left side was badly scarred, her eyes and lips drooped, and the side of her head was bald. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed, but there was no time to ponder what it meant.
The dragon crouched down on her hind legs; she was close enough to pounce or let loose her fire on the trapped witches. I pushed past the students, trying to get a better position for a disabling spell. I whipped out my wand, but in their haste, one of the students knocked my arm and the highly polished wood slipped through my fingers. I watched in abject horror as it rolled into the center of the cavern.
Carter had his wand focused on the dragon, but whatever he had in mind, he wasn’t quick enough—my daughter beat him to it.
“Tempus suspensus!” Pike shouted, just as the dragon leapt into the air, talons extended. A jet of green light flashed through the cave, hitting the dragon bang on the snout. The dragon froze, mid-flight, then dropped to the cavern floor like a sack of potatoes. The crash was deafening.
“Quick,” I cried, remembering how MacGuffin had only remained frozen for a few seconds. “Get the hell out!”
I leapt over the railing and made a dash for my wand, which was mere inches from where the dragon had fallen. Stupid, maybe, but I wasn’t going to leave it behind.
Pike and Björn dragged a screaming Maisy toward the tunnel, but in her panic, she dug her heels in the ground, slowing their progress. Carter and I had our wands trained on the dragon, covering their escape. All too soon, the dragon opened her yellow-slitted eyes and shook her head, regaining her bearings. She snorted, and puffs of smoke came out of her nostrils, then she turned, her angry eyes trained on the fleeing witches who hadn’t quite reached the tunnel.
Reeling back again, she opened her jaws, revealing rows of sword-like fangs, and I was close enough to see the white-hot ball of flame kindling inside her. Any second now she would release it, and my daughter, who was pushing Maisy forward from behind, would catch the brunt of the blast.
Carter leapt over the railing, wand extended, as he dashed to my rescue. We were both inches from the dragon, but also right beside her baby, and with a terrified cry, the dragon turned her attention to us.
“Medium circulus!” Carter cried. A protective half-circle formed around us, deflecting the blast of flame that would have burnt us both to a crisp.
Infuriated, the dragon turned, tail lashing, hitting our shield in her fury. While Carter kept his wand trained on our protective circle, I turned to check on the others.
Björn and Pike had pushed Maisy to the tunnel entrance. They were almost out of the dragon’s reach, and she knew it. The great beast sat back, kindling another ball of fire, then unleashed it on the retreating witches. Björn picked Maisy up as if she weighed nothing and tossed her over his brawny shoulder and ran with her, his other hand holding Pike’s.
“Glacies murum!” I cried. A white-and-blue jet shot out from the tip of my wand. It ended in a shimmer of sparkles, and a great sheet of ice formed between the flames, my daughter and the others, protecting them. With a sigh of relief, I watched as at last they all disappeared inside the tunnel, safe from the fire which fizzled in a hiss of steam on my icy wall.
“Run!” I shouted, fearful Pike would return to save me, now that Maisy and Björn were secure inside. “Don’t let her wait for us!”
Ignoring her protests, Björn and Crystal, who had come back for her friend, dragged Pike away.
Gaia bless you both, Björn and Crystal, I thought.
Frustrated and wild with fury, the dragon lunged at our circle, only to ricochet off the protective barrier. Carter had only formed half a circle, so our spells could help the others escape, but now we were vulnerable from the rear, and the dragon was circling.
“Quick, form a second circle,” I cried, but it was too late.
The sleeping baby dragon had woken from its slumber, and confused and stumbling, reeling from side to side, it had taken us by surprise and infiltrated our half-circle. Before we knew what was happening, the baby had crashed into Carter, knocking him head-first into his own protective circle. He staggered, his knees gave way and he pitched forward onto his face, unconscious. The protective circle crashed like a shattered glass mirror.
Shit, shit, shit! I didn’t know where to train my wand: on the angry mother circling around us, or the screeching, washing-machine-sized baby dragon who might kill me or Carter by accident as it stumbled unwittingly around, trying to find its mama.
A great flash of silver light filled the cavern, and both the dragon and I turned to the tunnel. Just inside the entrance was a haze of silver light, which cleared to reveal a great silver-and-blue dragon. It was a little taller than Mama dragon, and had a magnificent, spiked tail that swished from side to side.
Its slitted eyes were a deep purple and its focus was on me––and was that amusement I saw? And then I realized.
Björn!
The great dragon
thumped across the vast cavern like Godzilla, placing himself between me and the angry mother, waving his tail suggestively to distract it.
Seeing my chance, I dashed to Carter who was still out cold on the floor. I tried gently slapping his face and calling his name, but he didn’t respond. Oh, shit!
“Aqua de situla!” I shouted, and a red “FIRE” bucket full of water appeared between us. Grabbing it, I tossed it in Carter’s face.
He woke, spluttering and gasping. “What the––!”
“Get up. No time to explain. Dragons.”
“Oh.”
He got up, collecting his wand from the floor, careful to avoid the injured baby who was still reeling about in pain.
“Need my help?” I asked Carter.
“Nope.”
My attention turned to the baby. I was desperate to help it, but as soon as I pointed my wand at its leg, Carter pulled my hand up.
“Leave it.”
“But it’s hurting!” I cried.
“I know, but you don’t know a thing about dragons. We’ve gotta go. We can see to it later!”
“But…”
Carter took my hand and pulled me reluctantly away. Together we began to back away from the two dragons.
The she-dragon was clearly confused, walking from side to side, her head submissively down in front of the male-dragon, who I suspected was offloading as much male scent as he could manage. All the while, she was eyeing her baby who was alone and defenseless, and somehow watching us at the same time as we inched our way back to the tunnel entrance, making good on our escape.
Björn was marvelous––every time the she-dragon looked like she would make a run for us, he would block her path and tickle her chin with the tip of his exuberant tail. In a flash, her lovelorn-slitted eyes would flutter and she would yield. She-dragons!
I glanced over my shoulder, and seeing how close we were to the tunnel, I turned on my heels and ran like hell, with Carter a half-step behind me.
Chapter 11
Like Father, Like Son
In the dim light ahead, I could see most of the students and teachers had reconvened in the first cavern. They were gathered around Maisy, who I could faintly hear sobbing apologetically in the center of them all. At the end of the tunnel we found Bo, anxiously waiting for news of his dad.
I stopped as soon as I reached him and gave him a big hug. “Oh, Gaia, Bo,” I said glancing back over my shoulder. “Your dad totally saved us!” My voice sounded high on adrenaline.
“Is he okay?” Bo asked, looking fretfully down the tunnel.
“Yes, he will be. He––” I remembered that Björn’s shifting was a secret.
“Did he become a dragon?” Bo peered up at me in question.
I glared at him in surprise. “You know?”
“I suspected.”
“Well, then,” I said. “You should have seen him; he makes a magnificent dragon. He was amazing.”
Anxious, Bo looked back along the tunnel.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure he won’t be long.”
The young man nodded.
Reassured, I turned to Carter who stood quietly beside me, appearing a little dazed, not to mention soaked down to his waist.
“It had to be a bucket of water, right?” he said. “Excoquatur me!” He dried off at once.
I grinned. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Are you okay?”
His head was red where he’d crashed into his own protective circle, and I guessed he was gonna have one hell of a bruise there.
“Yes.” He lifted his hand to his forehead. “Nothing that won’t heal.”
“Thank God.” I looked back along the tunnel and prayed to Gaia Björn was still doing okay.
“Should we go and rescue him?” I suggested.
Carter shook his head. “As long as he shifts back quickly, he should be okay. He becomes weaker the longer he stays in that form.”
Next, I looked for Pike. She was standing with the others, holding Maisy’s hand as they all tried to calm the distressed woman down. Evelyn and Crystal were both by her side, and I could tell they were both in awe of what Pike had done, as was I.
As we ran over to the others, my daughter’s voice carried through the cavern. “She’s still shaken, but she’ll be all right in a bit, I think. Just give her a little space.”
Pike removed her scarf and wound it around Maisy’s half-bald head at an angle. She let the end flop down, so it helped conceal her horribly damaged face.
Maisy stood dazed and confused, horrified that her dreadful secret was out at last. The other children just stood staring, their mouths open, and I could almost read their thoughts––what is wrong with her face?
“It’s okay,” Pike whispered. She took hold of Maisy’s hand, then rearranged the scarf a little so Maisy could see better. “We’ll get you back to the cabin and my mom will take care of you. She’s a clever witch, she’ll think of something I’m sure.”
It was my turn to burst with pride. It felt better than amazing knowing I’d spawned a young witch who could more than handle herself. And had a sensitive side, too. Oliver would have been so proud.
“You okay?” I asked, forcing my way through and checking her all over for cuts and bruises.
“Mom!” she said, pulling away and blushing. “I’m good, really.” Her attention returned to the school governor. “But I think Miss Beauchamp here could use your help.”
Maisy was shaking, her fear genuine, her distress pitiful. I took in her altered appearance and hated myself for every jealous thought I’d ever had of her. She’d clearly been through some crap, and Carter had obviously been helping her. Sometimes I could be such a jerk.
“Harrison,” I said, “Why don’t you and Evelyn take Miss Beauchamp and the others back to the cabins? Principal Carter, Mr. Reynolds, and I will wait for Mr. Van Asker. Bo can stay with us. I don’t think he wants to leave his dad.”
“Can I stay with you, Mom?” Pike asked.
“No, stay with Miss Beauchamp. She needs someone to look after her.”
“Okay, Mom.” She nodded, her back straightening with resolve.
Harrison rallied the group forward, and a moment later, they were all back at the stairs on their way out of the caverns. Relieved to see them go, I turned to the others.
“Mr. Reynolds,” I said. “The baby dragon––is there anything that can be done? That gash looked nasty.”
“Sure, if we can get close enough to her. But I doubt even a frisky dragon will tolerate human interference for long. Especially when they’re all riled up like that one is now.”
“I think I may be able to help.”
It was Bo. My jaw fell open with surprise, and I turned to the young teenager. “Oh?”
“Err, we never talk about it. I didn’t realize it was a family thing, I thought it was just me. I thought he’d be––ashamed of me.”
“Why would he? Wait! What––oh?” The penny dropped. Bo was a shifter, too.
“I can help you get close to it, while Dad keeps the other one, um, distracted.”
“Oh, no, you’re not,” Carter said. “You’re a student in my care. I’m not letting you go in there again with a fire-breathing dragon on the loose.”
“With respect, sir,” Bo said, “I’m not sure you’d be able to stop me. And anyway, that’s my dad. I’m not leaving him alone with a pissed-off she-dragon––um, sorry, sir––I mean, an angry dragon.”
“The answer is still no.” Carter wasn’t backing down.
Bo’s eyes narrowed, and I could see his resolve. “Look, you’re the one who took us in there in the first place. All I’m saying is, someone needs to go in again and help get him out. He can’t stay in that form for much longer. The most I’ve ever managed is five minutes.”
I agreed with Carter; it was madness letting Bo go back to face a crazy dragon, but the young man had a point. His determination reminded me a bit of my Pike.
“Look,” I sai
d. “Are we sure he even needs help? I vote I go take a peek first. He might have calmed her down with his um,” I stole a glance at Bo, “err––snu snu.”
“They’re still circling each other,” said Reynolds, who was peeking into the large cavern. “He’s not going near the little one, so she’s not biting him, but she’s still mad as hell.”
“All right,” Carter conceded, a little chastened, “but that doesn’t mean it has to be you.”
“Look,” said Bo, “I’m not worried. My dad will protect me. In any case, when I shift, I’m fireproof. You’re not.”
Carter remained dubious. He turned to me and I shrugged. “Maybe we ought to let him do this?” For all I knew this might be a Viking rite-of-passage thing and far be it from me to interfere.
Carter scowled at me and turned to Mr. Reynolds, hoping for support. “What do you think?”
“I think we have to at least try. Something’s hurt one of my babies, and I have to do whatever I can to help it.”
Carter’s shoulders slumped, defeated. “Do you know how to treat him if we do go back inside?”
“You bet,” Mr. Reynolds answered. “I’ve been watching over these little ones for most of my life. I just need to summon my dragon kit. Hold on. Laturus auxilium!”
At first, we heard nothing, then a chorus of honks heralded the return of Reggie, the ivory-billed woodpecker. Its elegant wings shot into the cavern, and it soared overhead, clutching a black leather bag, the kind doctors used to carry in its talons. The bird dropped the bag directly into Mr. Reynolds’s outstretched hands, then flew back out of the cavern.
“Your familiar is fantastic,” I said.
“He’s not my familiar, and that’s a pity,” Mr. Reynolds replied. “Reggie’s attached to no one, totally wild and free.” He unzipped his case and poked about inside. “All good. We’d better get a move on before your friend shifts back, and we can’t get to that baby.”
We all turned to Bo.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Queens of Wings & Storms Page 24