Tiny Dragons 2: The Bear and Scepter

by Bernard Schaffer

  The bear shook its head violently and roared again, its thunderous call drowning out the sound of Mrs. O'Neil shouting for Alana to run. The bear began to slide into the house, squeezing itself through the open patio door, its clawed paw dangerously close to where James's head was lying on the kitchen floor.

  "Get back!" Mrs. O'Neil shouted, swatting the air. "Get back, foul beast! Go back to the darkness!"

  The bear roared once more and shook its head from side to side, pulling back slightly, as if Mrs. O'Neil's words were stinging its face. But it wasn't enough. It forced itself in even more, bending the metal frame of the patio door around its thick waist.

  It reared back and raised a paw in the air over Mrs. O'Neil, its sharp claws aimed for her head, when Alana saw a gray blur come streaking across the backyard. It shot out of the woods and raced for their house, leaping from the bottom steps of the patio deck and tumbling though the air, directly onto bear's back.

  Mister Six landed on the bear's neck, slashing and hissing like a cat possessed. He scrambled up onto the top of the bear's skull and batted it across the face with his tiny claws. The bear threw its head back and gnashed its teeth, trying to catch one of Mister Six's paws in its fangs, but the cat was too fast. He seemed to prance across the bear's shoulders, the sides of his mouth curling up into something that looked almost like a smile, although Alana knew that was impossible. Nearly as impossible as a bear coming into their house and their cat trying to fight it off.

  Mister Six darted under one of the bear's swipes and came up with both his front paws extended and aimed at the monster's face. He leapt forward, stretching his long body as far as he could, the tips of his claws about to strike, when the bear wrenched sideways. At the last moment, the bear used its own snout as a battering ram, and hammered Mister Six in mid-flight. The cat yowled in pain as it was flung backwards toward the wall, hitting a framed picture of the O'Neil family with its head and cracking the glass.

  The bear turned toward Mrs. O'Neil and snarled. It was going to take its time coming in through the door now. Its obsidian eyes were fixed on her, even as she kept her arms held wide and continued to repeat the words, "Get back to the darkness."

  Her voice was failing, though. What had started off like a strong commandment had developed a tremor. Even her hands were shaking.

  The bear opened its mouth wide, baring its fangs, showing them the dark tunnel of its throat and filling the room with its foul breath. Alana was too afraid to move. She tried to speak, to call out for James to get up, or for her mother to hide, but nothing came out except high-pitched squeaks.

  Mister Six shook his head as he forced himself back to his feet and limped around the couch to stand in front of Mrs. O'Neil. He growled in a low voice at the bear, eyeing it with disdain.

  The bear's nose wrinkled at the cat and it lurched forward to grab him, when the bear's head shot up in the air and it roared in anger. It slammed its hips against the patio doorframe, trying desperately to spin itself around in the confined space.

  Alana heard what sounded like ripping, and the bear roared again, its voice tinged with pain. The pain seemed to drive the thing mad. It swung wildly at its own hind quarters, bashing itself with its paws. Then, Alana saw a second cat come racing up the bear's back, darting swiftly over the slashing claws and snapping fangs.

  The second cat, a cinnamon-colored Siamese, ripped at the bear's fur with such fury that clumps of it flew through the living room. The cat was obviously crazy too, screeching and hissing so loudly that the bear seemed momentarily confused by her vicious attack.

  The sound of it spurred Mister Six to action. He forced himself back up and took a running leap at the nearest kitchen counter, landing only long enough to somersault over the bear's swinging arm and stretch out to claw it down the side of its face. The bear roared in anger at being unable to stop the assault, its huge face streaked red from the cat scratches and bites. They'd never be able to defeat the beast, but its rage at their offensive was terrifying.

  Mrs. O'Neil used their distraction to race forward, braving the stamping paws and gnashing teeth of the bear, and grabbed a hold of her son's arm. She latched onto him with both hands and dragged him across the kitchen floor, desperate to get him out of the way. She slid him across the threshold to the hallway and pushed him into the study, trying to bury him in the shadows so the bear wouldn't see him. She turned her head and shouted, "I told you to get upstairs!" to her daughter, but the hallway was empty.

  Alana was gone.

  Even with all the banging and shouting and hissing and the thunderous roaring of the bear, Alana could hear it. It rattled and shook against the walls of its box, like a toddler throwing a fit. The whispering was so loud it seemed like it was inside her head, and even though she was rooted in place by fear, it was calling for her to come.

  She watched the two cats fight the bear, two impossibly small creatures compared to its might, but they fought anyway. Poor, unconscious James, who'd so bravely gone to the door, and if he were able to, would have been doing everything he could to keep the bear from coming into the house.

  Be…

  The voice in her head was getting clearer, like a radio station being fine-tuned to clear away the static and clarify the signal. If only James would wake up. If only her mother would do something. If only her father were home. If only none of this had happened and everything were normal and there were no such thing as evil creatures.

  Be your own…

  Alana stopped moving. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, trying to listen. She blocked out the fear and the noises and lowered her head, concentrating on what the voice was saying.

  Be your own hero.

  Alana's eyes flew open and she knew what she had to do. She spun toward the staircase and raced up the steps, taking them two at a time, landing in the upstairs hallway only long enough to turn and slam her mother's bedroom door open. She dove for the closet, pushing her mother's shoes and shirts out of her way and she grabbed the edge of the box, trying to force it open.

  It was still locked.

  She read the words, "What Makes You Worthy" aloud and took a deep breath. She put her hands on the lid and it stopped shaking. The wood felt warm under her palms as if the thing inside it were getting hotter. She thought of her mother and James downstairs and the two brave cats, and that she would do anything it took to save them. "What makes me worthy is that I need to save the people I love," she said.

  The lid shifted under the weight of her hands, coming loose easily. Her eyes widened as she opened the box and looked inside to see a golden, glowing scepter. It was as long as her arm and topped with a bright green gemstone the size of a softball. She expected it to be too heavy to lift, but it was light in her hands as she pulled it from the box and sat on the floor, staring at it in amazement.

  Before she could decide what the scepter actually did, it dipped and swayed left toward the door, tugging against her hands as it pulled her that way. Alana squeaked in surprise as its pull grew stronger and stronger, until she was afraid it might fly out of her hands and never come back. She got to her feet and hurried after it, gripping the length of gold metal in both her hands tightly, even as it whipped her around Mother's bedroom door and dragged her toward the staircase.

  A deafening roar erupted from downstairs, so loud and terrifying it froze Alana stiff. She heard one of the cats cry out in pain, then fall silent. The voice whispering in her mind was confused again, a jumble of noise, and Alana forced herself to concentrate. She steadied herself until the words came together as clear as if she'd spoken them herself.

  Be the light in the darkness.

  Alana nodded, and the gemstone at the tip of the scepter began glowing brighter, casting green light on her and the stairs below, lighting her way. She carried it down the steps and turned down the hallway, seeing James slumped against the wall of the office where Mother had lain him. The living room was almost destroyed, the couch had been overturned and the picture
s were smashed from their hooks on the walls. Alana's mother was bent over in the kitchen, holding a large, dented frying pan in her hands like a weapon. Her shirt was torn, and there were several painful-looking scratch marks down her face.

  The floor was a mess of fur and shredded carpet, and both of the cats were thrown into different corners of the room, struggling to get back up, but limping and mewling in pain. And in the center of the living room stood the bear.

  The enormous bear's head brushed against the ceiling as it moved toward Mrs. O'Neil, its black eyes glaring at her, almost glittering with wicked intent. Mrs. O'Neil straightened herself and raised the pan, knowing it was useless, but that there was nothing else to do.

  The scepter in Alana's hands turned itself toward the bear, aiming the light of the gemstone at the creature's face and began to shake.

  Speak the words…

  The bear turned toward Alana and growled at the sight of the scepter, baring its sharp teeth like it meant to gnash at the stone and tear it to pieces.

  Speak the words…

  Alana heard the voice in her head over the bear's roar, and even her mother's cry of surprise, and she raised the scepter high over her head and spoke the words as they came into her mind, saying,

  "Creature of darkness

  creature of night

  vessel for the wicked one's

  fiendish delight

  I place the Scepter of Katta-Ru

  now in your sight

  and drag you forth from the shadows

  and into

  the light!"

  The gemstone burst into light, brighter than the sun, and Alana was forced to look away and shield her eyes. She could barely stand to look, but the bear was thrown backwards against the wall of the living room, thrown like it had been struck by a massive invisible fist. It wobbled to its feet and shook its head, thrusting its mouth open to roar. Instead of a roar, Alana heard the muted, strangled cry of a man. The man's voice screeched in anger at the scepter, and the bear coughed and spat up what looked like a mouthful of black string. The strings moved, and wiggled out of its mouth, twisting and turning as they were drawn forth by the scepter and came stretching out across the living room toward the gemstone.

  The bear coughed up more and more of this smoky black goo, heading for bright burning surface of the gemstone, where they were burned away to nothingness. Alana waved the scepter through the air, destroying every last remaining bit of the black cloud. With every touch of the green stone, the black strings sizzled and gave a high-pitched cry in the same man's voices, but as more of it was dissolved, the weaker and fainter his voice became. Finally, the bear spat out the last of it and sat back on its hind quarters, staring at Alana and her mother in confusion.

  The scepter's green gemstone grew dim once more, and Alana let it down, feeling the suddenly heavy weight of the golden wand in her hands. Mrs. O'Neil seemed too stunned to move as she looked at the bear, seeing that its eyes were now soft and brown and heavy-lidded, as if it might fall asleep.

  Mister Six staggered to his feet at the far end of the room and sniffed at the large bear, rousing it enough to make it lumber up and find its way through the broken patio door. He waited for the creature to leave and limped over to where the other cat was lying, using his nose to prod her gently and calling to her in his strange, cat tongue. The Siamese cat's eyes opened slowly and she slowly rolled over and pushed herself against the wall to get to her feet.

  Alana watched the bear vanish into the darkness of the woods, then looked around their shattered living room in disbelief. The scepter dropped to the floor with a dull thud, much too heavy to hold any longer. She knew she needed to say something, anything, to try and make sense of what had happened, but no words came. She looked at Mother, and was about to speak when Mrs. O'Neil's arms came around her, holding her so tightly, that suddenly nothing else mattered.

  When James next opened his eyes, it was daytime and the sun was shining through his window blinds. They were drawn, but somehow the sunlight managed to find every crack and edge of each plastic slat, hitting him right in the face. He raised his hand and looked around the room, seeing two people sitting next to his bed, watching him.

  Mrs. O'Neil jumped forward in her seat, reaching for her son, but her hand was stayed by an old man, who touched her wrist and said, "Let us be sure first, my dear."

  Master Chi-Sao came around the side of the bed, his long red robes whispering against the thick blankets on James's bed, and he pressed his hand against the boy's forehead. "Tell me, son of the Nastikan, what is the last thing you remember?"

  James blinked as he looked at the old man, trying to remember. "There…there was a bear," he said slowly, not sure if it sounded as strange to them to hear as it did to him to say it. "And it was trying to get inside the house." He doubted his own words as he spoke them, unsure if he was telling them something from a dream.

  Mrs. O'Neil made a small, coughing noise, and Chi-Sao said, "Go on, child."

  "The bear was at the door, and it hit me. It was going to come in the house and get Alana and my mom. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong," he said. He looked at his mother and felt a hot tear stream down the side of his face. "Are you both all right? Please tell me she's all right too."

  "I'm fine!" a tiny voice cried out from beyond his bedroom door, followed by quick footsteps as Alana came running in and dove past Master Chi-Sao, climbing up onto James's bed. She grabbed her brother in a tight hug and said, "I'm so glad you woke up! You were asleep forever!"

  He looked at his mother and said, "How long was I out for?"

  She nodded toward the old man and said, "Just long enough for Master Chi-Sao to make sure you were okay." She looked nervous then and said, "Is he okay?"

  The Master stepped back from his bed, having to tug his long robe out from under Alana's feet and he nodded, "The Evil One was not able to infiltrate the boy. Apparently, the wielder of the scepter removed the stain of his shadow completely."

  Alana pulled on James's shirt to get his attention, "That's me! I'm the wielder of the scepter. It sucked up all the bad spells inside the bear and it went from being all RAWRR! RAWRRRR! to just being all HUH? WHAT AM I DOING HERE? Then it ran out of the house."

  "I'm confused," James said. "What scepter?" James felt paws on his feet and looked down to see that Mister Six had leapt up onto the bed as well. There was another cat with him, a pretty female, and both of them sat at his feet, looking up at him. "And apparently we got a new cat?" James said.

  Mrs. O'Neil came to his side and wiped the hair out of his face, looking relieved. "It's a long story. The only thing that matters is that everyone is okay."

  "For now," Chi-Sao said.

  Mrs. O'Neil looked up at him and said, "We can discuss everything else in private, please."

  The old man shook his head, "Your daughter wields the scepter. Your son has proven himself a great warrior. You are thinking that they are only children, Mrs. O'Neil, but they are the children of the Nastikan, and the sooner they learn what forces pursue them, the better for everyone it will be."

  Alana looked at her mother and said, "Mom? What forces is he talking about?"

  "Nothing," Mrs. O'Neil said defensively.

  Alana was thinking about the dragons on the distant mountain. She was thinking about Prospero the Sorcerer and his bumbling assistant, who they'd fought and overcome. And the bear. And her strange cat that seemed so much more than that. But most of all, she was thinking of Star, the tiny dragon who was her friend that no one could ever know about. She was thinking that if she could handle all of that, she could handle anything her mother might say. Now, the only trick was convincing her. "Mommy," Alana said slowly. "Whatever it is that you don't think I'm old enough to understand, I am telling you I am. So is James. We want to know, right?" She looked back at her brother and he nodded, trying to sit up in his bed. "Who is the Evil One and what does he want with us?"

  Mrs. O'Neil's face stiffened for a moment,
as if she might suddenly get sick. She looked at Master Chi-Sao, who folded his hands inside the lengths of his long robe and nodded encouragingly. "Kids," Mrs. O'Neil struggled to say, searching for the right words. "There are a few things about me and your father that you might have trouble understanding. Before we had you, he…I mean, we…we weren't regular people."

  "Mom, just say it," James moaned.

  "It's okay," Alana said, putting her hand over her mothers.

  "Okay," Mrs. O'Neil said, taking a deep breath. "Here it is. There are things in this world that are real that you might not understand. Things you think are just fairy tales. Myths."

  James and Alana looked at one another. "Things like what?" James said.

  Mrs. O'Neil was struggling for the right words. "Things like…well, if other people thought you believed in them, they'd call you crazy. But some of them are quite real. And the fact is, we may have to go see them very soon."

  "What your mother is trying to tell you," Master Chi-Sao said, stepping in, "Is that the people who claim to know everything about this world are not as smart as they think. There is much, much more to it." He looked at her and said, "Tell them where you are going, Mrs. O'Neil, or I will tell them for you. It can no longer be avoided."

  "We are going…" Mrs. O'Neil said, letting out another long breath. "We are going…to someplace that your father said we should only go in times of extreme emergency. A place where we can find help."

  "Where are we going, Mom?" Alana said.

  Mrs. O'Neil looked at both of her children and took them each by the hand. "I know this is going to sound crazy, and I promise you, I understand if you think I'm losing my mind, but I need to ask you both to just trust me. We are going into the mountains to speak to someone who will help us in our fight. Kids," she said cautiously, "I know it sounds insane, but dragons are real."

  Alana and James both looked at her silently for a moment, and then turned once more to look at one another. James was the first to laugh, letting it out in a short, muted chuckle, but the moment Alana heard it, she began to giggle as well. It was as if all the days and weeks of keeping it a secret had finally come erupting out of her and soon she was clutching her sides and laughing so hard she got the hiccups.