Shadow Born

by Jamie Sedgwick

  “The tower says the weather’s good,” Reeves said. “A few scattered showers but nothing we can’t handle.”

  “Cool,” said Jodi. “Maybe we can let Gabriel try flying a little, too.”

  “Maybe,” said Reeves. They waited at the edge of the runway for a few minutes and Jodi ran through another checklist with Reeves. “Fuel mix?” she said.

  “Good,” Reeves replied.

  “Manifold pressure?”

  “Check.”

  “Flaps?”

  “Check.”

  She went through a list of about ten things, all of which were apparently satisfactory. It was a foreign language to Gabriel. “Good job,” Reeves said. “You’ve got the whole list memorized.”

  “The tower says we’re cleared. Everybody buckled?” Jodi grabbed the throttle handle on the ceiling and revved up the RPM’s. The engines roared. She released the brakes, and the Albatross rocketed down the runway.

  It didn’t seem possible that a vessel of that size could move so quickly. Gabriel gazed out the window in awe as the landscape flew by. The plane shook and the noise of the engines filled his ears, and then the wheels lifted off the asphalt and it became strangely quiet.

  Reeves called out flight bearings and Jodi practically squealed. “You’re gonna let me fly over the ocean? Can we land on the water?”

  “Not this time,” said Reeves. “Soon, I promise.”

  They made a broad circle over Shadow Falls, and at fifteen thousand feet, Jodi turned to the West. “There’s some rain out there,” Reeves warned, “but nothing serious. It’ll give you a little challenge.”

  “We’re gonna fly through a storm?” said Gabriel. That didn’t sound too safe, especially in the ancient Albatross. Somehow, the thought of flying a large piece of metal through a lightning storm didn’t sound like the best idea.

  “Relax,” said Jodi. “You worry more than my mom!” Gabriel bit his tongue. There was no point arguing with her when she was trying to fly. There was already a good chance she’d crash and kill them all. No sense in making it a certainty.

  As the ocean came into view, Gabriel noticed a heavy wall of fog standing a few miles out. Overhead, the sky had grown dark with clouds. He got a bad feeling in his gut. Reeves and Jodi seemed to be perfectly calm though, so he tried to ignore the feeling. He told himself it was probably just nerves.

  A few minutes later, clouds swallowed the plane and rain began pelting the windshield. “That’s odd,” Reeves said. He reached over and tapped one of the instruments.

  “What’s the matter?” said Gabriel.

  Jodi eyed the gauge and then shook her head. “It’s the compass,” she said. “There seems to be something wrong with it. It’s spinning like crazy.”

  Reeves tapped it again, and the needle settled in the correct position. “There it goes. I’ll have that checked out next week. Why don’t we stay on course for another fifteen minutes and then head back? It looks like this storm is starting to build.”

  “Affirmative,” Jodi said. Gabriel smiled. He had just realized why Jodi was such a scrapper. She was trying to be tough like Reeves. He wondered if Reeves even knew it.

  Gabriel leaned back in his chair, watching the swirling grey mist and the rain pounding at the windows. The drone of the engines and the steady vibration of the airframe were almost hypnotic. It wasn’t long before his eyelids were getting heavy. Gabriel was just about to go to sleep when a thump shook the plane.

  “What was that?” he said, bolting upright.

  “I’ll check it out,” Reeves said. “You two keep your seatbelts on.” He disappeared into the cabin.

  Jodi gave Gabriel a worried glance. “That wasn’t turbulence,” she said. “We hit something. Or something hit us.” At that moment, the rain turned to hail. The plane shook as baseball size chunks began slamming into it. “Crap!” Jodi shouted. “Those things are gonna tear right through us.” She eased back on the throttle and then glanced back towards the cabin. “Reeves, where are you?” There was no answer.

  “I’ll check on him,” Gabriel said. Suddenly an alarm went off and a red light started flashing on one of the control panels.

  “The hatch is open!” Jodi shouted.

  Gabriel yanked off his belt and lumbered through the doorway. The plane shook and shuddered wildly as he moved, and it was all he could do stay on his feet. A rush of wind went sucking past him, drawing with it a stack of papers -and anything else that wasn’t tightly secured. The debris went spiraling back towards the open hatch and then vanished into the stormy sky.

  Reeves was nowhere in sight.

  Gabriel made his way cautiously down the aisle, keeping a tight grip on each seat until he could reach the next one. He knew that if he lost his footing, the wind might suck him right out of the hatch. Step by step, he moved forward, keeping his center of gravity low and clinging to each of the seats as he passed. As he neared the tail section Gabriel noticed a rope on the floor. One end was secured to a seat in the last row. The other end was dangling out the open hatch.

  “Reeves!”

  Gabriel eased over to the opening and stuck his head out. The wind blew past him with a furious sucking motion. He grasped the doorframe desperately, knowing that one slip would mean certain death. He craned his neck around and saw the rope trailing up the side of the plane. And then he saw Reeves on the roof, near the stabilizer wings. He had the rope knotted around his waist in case he fell. In theory, the rope might save him, but it would probably hurt. At the speed they were going, Gabriel knew the impact might even paralyze Reeves. That, or the rope could break. Or, the chair it was tied to might break. Either would result in certain death. Gabriel shook his head. Whatever Reeves was doing, he must be stark raving mad.

  Reeves settled down on one knee, facing the tail of the plane. He lifted something to his shoulder… something that looked curiously like a rocket launcher. He paused, making an adjustment or two.

  “WHAT THE?” Gabriel glanced behind the plane to see what the older man was aiming at, and gasped. The Albatross was no small plane, but the dragon trailing through the clouds in their wake was twice its size.

  The creature looked just like the ones from the movies, with a scaly hide and long, leathery wings. It was a sickly yellow-bronze color. The dragon’s tail lashed back and forth as it fought the buffeting winds and hail, and trickles of flame exhausted from its nostrils.

  “Reeves, what are you doing?” Gabriel shouted. At that instant, Reeves pulled the trigger and the rocket flared across the sky. It was a dead-perfect shot, aimed right at the center of the dragon’s chest, but a crosswind suddenly caught the rocket -mere inches from its target-and threw it off course.

  The missile glanced across the scales on the dragon’s neck, and exploded in the sky behind him. The dragon roared, flames billowing forth from its mouth. It pulled back and vanished in the clouds beneath them.

  “The lavatory!” Reeves shouted. “There’s another rocket in the lavatory!”

  “The what?” Gabriel shouted back. Laboratory? What was Reeves talking about?

  “The lavatory… THE BATHROOM! At the back of the cabin!”

  “Oh.” Gabriel ducked back inside. He yanked the lavatory door open and scanned the tiny room. The rocket was wedged in between the toilet and the far wall. He reached for it, but the thing was stuck. Gabriel jerked it back and forth, and shook it with all his might, but still it barely moved. He pushed, pulled, and even kicked it, all to no avail. Of course, after kicking the rocket he realized that it was the stupidest thing he’d done in his entire life. He was lucky he didn’t blow the whole plane up right there.

  Frustrated, Gabriel scanned the cabin for something he could use to pry the thing out. He needed something long, something that he could wedge in there and…

  The plane shook again as the dragon smashed into it. The Albatross shuddered and went into a spin. The plane stalled, dropping through sky like a rock. Gabriel braced himself against the narrow walls and clos
ed his eyes, whispering a quick prayer.

  So, he thought. This is how I’m going to die.

  Chapter 20

  The g-forces slammed Gabriel up against the wall, knocking the breath out of him. His head swam and his stomach churned. Spots swam before his eyes. He closed his eyes and fought the vertigo as he tried to force air back into his lungs. He threw his arms out against the walls to steady himself. He took a slow deliberate breath, sucking air in through his nostrils. His chest hurt with the effort. His heart pounded in his ears.

  Gabriel’s mind reeled. He saw flashes of the inevitable news headlines: PLANE LOST AT SEA! MYSTERY BOY’S BAD LUCK STREAK CONTINUES!

  Nobody would even know about the dragon. The news would say it was just another plane crash, probably caused by an amateur pilot or a freak storm. His family would never even know what happened to him. So much for his destiny, fighting the Shadow and saving the world! Ha! That was a laugh.

  Suddenly the spiraling stopped, and Gabriel’s knees gave out. He dropped to the floor, and fought the urge to vomit into the toilet that was located so conveniently next to him. He felt the plane slowly and steadily rising. Jodi had somehow regained control!

  The rocket spontaneously clattered to the floor and rolled to a stop right next to him. Gabriel laughed aloud. “Finally, a little luck!” He snatched it up and raced back towards the door. “Reeves, I got it!” He hung his head out, waving the rocket proudly, but Reeves was nowhere to be seen. The rocket launcher dangled precariously from a broken antenna. Gabriel glanced back behind the plane and saw the frayed rope trailing behind them. Reeves was gone. The dragon was gone as well.

  “No,” he said quietly.

  Reeves couldn’t be gone! It didn’t seem possible. The man had seemed unbeatable. It just didn’t make sense. Gabriel looked down and saw only grey, but he knew the ocean was down there, probably about ten thousand feet below him. There was no surviving a fall like that. Maybe it was just water, but from that height, it would be just like landing on concrete. Unless the dragon got Reeves first. Gabriel shook his head, trying to force the sickening thought away. Reeves deserved better than that.

  Gabriel reached out to pull the door shut, but he froze as he heard the familiar flapping of leathery wings. The dragon descended from the mist, appearing behind the plane with a look of cold vengeance in its eyes. Gabriel’s fear vanished as anger swelled inside of him. That was the monster that had killed Reeves.

  “So you wanna fight?” He shouted. “Bring it on!”

  He snatched up the rope and used his pocketknife to cut a short length of it. He knotted the rope around the rocket and swung it over his back. He climbed out the hatch and began making his way towards the roof of the plane. Unlike Reeves, Gabriel had no tether, but he didn’t give it a second thought. If he slipped, death was certain. It didn’t matter. If he didn’t stop the dragon, he’d die anyway. Jodi would die too.

  Somehow, Gabriel made it across the slippery, wet aluminum to the rocket launcher. He settled down on his rump and shot a furious glare at the dragon. That creature had killed Reeves. If it had a chance, it was going to kill all of them. He had one chance to stop it. There weren’t any more rockets. If he missed, it was game over.

  Gabriel twisted the rope off the rocket and released it into the wind. He grinned as it hit the dragon in the face. The creature snarled and shook its head side to side until the rope fell off.

  It took Gabriel a second to figure out how to load the missile into the rocket launcher. As he fumbled with it, the dragon drew closer. Gabriel was so distracted that he hardly noticed the beast closing in. It was the unusual heat emanating from its body that caused Gabriel to glance up, just as the jaws came bearing down on him.

  Gabriel twisted sideways as the dragon’s jaws snapped shut. The side of its head grazed his leg and then smashed into the tail section of the plane. The Albatross glanced aside. One of the stabilizers was bent. The plane shook and twisted wildly off to the side. Gabriel let out a scream as the fuselage slid out from underneath him. For one horrifying second, Gabriel saw nothing but clouds below him. He was sure he was dead.

  Then, somehow, the tail section came twisting back towards him. It struck him solidly in the chest. Gabriel grunted. He saw stars, but he managed to throw an arm around the tail. The cold metal edge of the rudder bit into his shoulder as he dangled helplessly, legs trailing in the air. His fingers tingled with numbness.

  The dragon reappeared behind him. It roared, and a fiery gust washed over him. Gabriel turned his face away and held his breath. When the danger had passed, he opened his eyes and saw scorch marks along the fuselage.

  Gabriel could feel himself losing his grip. His weight was working against him, and he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. He still held the rocket launcher in his right hand but it would be nearly impossible to hold it steady enough to get a clear shot.

  Gabriel knew he had a choice to make. He could drop the rocket launcher and climb back into the plane, or he could try to hold on long enough to take his shot, and then probably fall to his death. When he thought about it, there really wasn’t much choice at all.

  The dragon closed in. Gabriel waited, his arm hanging limply at his side, the rocket clutched in his icy fingers. A dozen yards became six. Yards became feet. Gabriel felt the dragon’s hot breath on his face.

  The beast was close enough that Gabriel could see the gold flecks in its irises. Close enough that it could toast him with one great breath, if it wanted to. Gabriel raised the rocket, aimed, and fired.

  He didn’t see what happened next because the flare momentarily blinded him. He blinked and let out a gasp. Behind the plane, what was left of the dragon dissolved into ribbons. The shadowy tendrils fluttered on the wind like tinsel and then dissipated into nothing. A dark mist swirled through the clouds in the wake of the plane and then vanished.

  R9-11, Gabriel realized. That’s what they put into the rocket. The dragon was now back in its own dimension.

  Gabriel dropped the launcher and threw his arm over the fuselage. With a great heave, he managed to pull himself back up. Slowly, cautiously he made his way back towards the hatch. His clothes were soaked from the icy sleet and his teeth chattered as he slid across the wet, slippery surface, scrambling for a handhold. He was frozen to the bone.

  It seemed to take much longer to get back down, but somehow he made it. His fingers were numb with cold as he finally caught the hatch and pulled himself inside. He slammed it shut and dropped into a seat, shivering and on the verge of hypothermia.

  “Hello?” Jodi called from the cockpit. “You guys there?”

  Gabriel reluctantly pushed himself back to his feet. He made his way through the cabin feeling like he was in a dream. What was he was going to tell her? How could he explain that Reeves -Jodi’s hero-had just committed the ultimate sacrifice? Gabriel felt sick to his stomach just thinking about what had happened.

  As it turned out, Gabriel didn’t have to say anything. He crawled into the cockpit and Jodi spun around when she heard him coming. “You’re okay,” she said. Then she saw the look on his face. “Where’s Reeves?”

  Gabriel twisted his head, his eyes downcast. He was at a loss for words. Jodi’s eyes welled up with tears because she already knew the answer. She bit her lip and turned back to the controls. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “He was already gone when I got out there. The dragon must have…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Jodi took a deep breath. “There’s a satellite radio on the console over there,” she said, nodding to where Gabriel had been sitting. “It says ‘Triple Star.’ Turn it on and dial it to four-dot-one seventeen.”

  Gabriel climbed into the navigator’s chair and followed her instructions. “Now what?”

  “Talk into it. If Julia’s in the headquarters she’ll hear you.”

  Gabriel grabbed the mic. “Hello? Is anybody there?”

  “I’m here!” Julia said af
ter a moment. “Gabriel, is that you?” Her voice was static and broken, but he could understand her. He described what had happened. Julia listened quietly. There was a long silence after he finished.

  “Are you still there?” he said, thinking the connection had been lost.

  “I’m here,” Julia responded. Her voice was firm. “Jodi, I want you to get to Crystal Lake. Remember the fishing shack? There’s an ATV there that you can use to get back to the mansion. Avoid the airport and stay off the main roads at all costs. Do you understand?”

  “Affirmative,” Jodi replied.

  “Good. Gabriel, I want you to go to the closet in the back of the plane. There are some supplies in there that you might need. Radio me if anything comes up. I’m going to contact a friend in the Coast Guard and get a search started for Reeves. Please, be careful.” The transmission ended and static poured out of the speakers. Gabriel turned down the volume.

  “What’s happening?” he said. “Why can’t we go back to the airport?”

  Jodi wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “They’ll be looking for us. We’re under attack. D.A.S. is under attack.”

  “But I killed the dragon. Doesn’t that mean we’re okay?”

  “No. Think about it Gabriel. Don’t you think it’s strange that we hit this crazy storm today, when the weather station was reporting only light rain? And then the dragon just happened to know right where to find us?”

  “I guess. I just thought it was a freak weather thing.”

  “Its not,” Jodi said. “This is the work of the Shadowlords, all of it. They sent the storm and the dragon, too. It takes a storm like this to block out the sun, so that the Shadowkind can attack us during the day. Believe me, this is just the beginning.”