“Hey, guys,” Brian says. “False alarm. It’s just my buddy Chris visiting me. No need for the rest of you to come in here.” A door slides shut.
“Hi,” Chris says. “Came to see what Brian was up to.”
We scramble up the metal stairs. McQueen heaves Bronx’s body over his shoulder and climbs the steps. As soon as he’s at the top, Manny takes him while Staten pries the sewer cover off that leads into the walking tunnels.
Flashes of lights bounce off the walls, encouraging us to move faster. Noelle is almost to the top of the stairs. I’m right behind her when a head pokes up the stairwell. Our eyes meet. It’s not someone I recognize.
“Stop!” a guy shouts at us. “How did you guys get down here?”
“Oh, um, we took a wrong turn back there and just found the exit,” I say. “We’re needed up top now.”
All of us hang on the rungs. Staten doesn’t stop lifting the cover off. He climbs the rest of the way out and then reaches back for Bronx. Manny heaves him up and then follows suit.
McQueen waves Noelle to go ahead of him but then blocks Declan. “We need to help Brooklyn,” he says to him. “If they come up here, we need to get her to safety.”
Declan nods as he freezes on the steps.
“Was that our prisoner?” A Level Three guy asks as he looks at us.
“No,” McQueen shouts down. “Just a buddy of ours who twisted his foot not watching where he was going, so we helped him up.”
Glancing my way, the first guy says, “Hey, you look familiar. Do I know you?”
“No, I don’t think so.” I motion for the boys to continue to climb. “Maybe you’ve seen me around campus. I just got here to the school, so I’m still learning my way around the tunnels.”
“Yeah, it does take a bit of time to figure out which way goes where.”
A third head comes into view. This one I recognize. “If they’re needed up top, just let them go,” Brian says. “We need to get back.”
“Yeah, okay. Don’t get lost once you get into the walking tunnels.”
I smile. That was close. Too close. McQueen motions Declan to continue past him and then holds out his hand to me. I gladly accept as he lifts me up the final few feet. We let a communal sigh out. We almost got caught.
But we have Bronx.
Declan is covering the hole with the sewer cover when we hear, “They’re escaping!”
That gets us moving as the grate slams into place. We don’t wait to see if they’re following us up the stairwell. Staten and Declan drag Bronx between them as Manny takes the rear, sandwiching Noelle and myself in the middle of the group. We run as best we can down the walkway tunnel, hoping that we don’t pass by any students. From behind us, the grill scrapes open as a dozen York students climb out of the hole and step into the walking tunnels.
Boroughs.
I know none of the slayers, and Chris and Brian aren’t with them. They either have been captured as traitors or possibly are distracting more of our pursuers. I hope they’re okay. They just helped save our asses. And they’re my friends.
Bronx is leaned against the wall as the boys ready for a fight.
“Don’t kill them,” I shout. “Only injure them enough that they stay down.”
We fan out and form a line, blocking the entire width of the hall. Noelle stays near Bronx, and Declan is right beside her. The pounding of shoes gets louder.
“Get ready,” Staten says.
“Watch for the titanium bullets,” Manny says. He must have seen guns, too.
The students don’t recognize us, or their brainwashed minds override the fact that here before them are instructors from the school. They carry titanium shields. Some pull guns. They’re going to be our priority. As far as I know, we can’t stop a bullet.
“How are we going to defend against them?” I ask.
“The only thing we have is our magic,” Staten says. “It’ll slow the bullets, but we can still die from them. So watch out.”
“We need a plan or something!”
“The only one we have is for you to change into your dragon. While a few bullets won’t kill you, if they all unload on you, it could. But you’ll be stronger in your animal form. All of us won’t fit down there anyway. And they only know you as a dragon, not us.”
Can I do this? They are my pride, my responsibility to keep safe. As humans, they’ll never survive the gunfire. And Bronx is still out of it. Noelle doesn’t have any magic. That seals my choice. I must do this.
Calling my magic to me, I change my body into the dragon, transforming in a matter of seconds. It’s the fastest I’ve ever done it. This is an emergency, not some training exercise. It’s my boys’ lives at stake. My friends’ lives.
“Get behind me,” I say. “I’ll try to take out as many of the students carrying the guns as possible.”
Thankfully, the ceilings in the walking tunnels are so high that I think I’ll fit and still be able to move around.
The slayers come around the corner and skid to a stop after seeing a twenty-foot green dragon standing in front of them, black smoke billowing from my nostrils.
I still have a good few feet until the top of my head touches the ceiling, and have a bit of room to maneuver on the sides. I lumber forward and knock a few of them with my head. Others I take out with my tail all the while the Level Threes are firing their weapons. A few hit my body as most bounce off my scales.
My boys are right behind me. I can feel their presence. The students I’ve pushed to the ground fight against my boys. I don’t take the time to watch over them. They can take care of themselves.
Continuing forward, I disarm as many of the slayers as possible. More are filing up from the manhole. I need to stop any more coming up. I shuffle toward the hole and blow dark smoke. It fills the halls of the lower levels. Then I spot Chris and Brian. I watch as their eyes dart at me and then move behind me. They look at each other, then back at me again.
I think they’ve made the connection as to why Allister wanted me so badly, and why Bronx was the bait. Secrets are being spilled out. I can only hope they side with me.
Brian raises his harpoon. Instead of throwing it into the fray, he dismantles the rope. He hits the nearest kid over the head and watches as he falls to the ground.
Chris glances at him for a split second and then runs into the fight. We pick the slayers off one by one. The students don’t know whom to trust. Chris takes his weapon and decks the nearest fighter. She goes down.
I blow a fire stream high above their heads. Everyone flattens onto their stomachs. Screams fill the tunnel, along with more smoke.
The pop from gunfire rings. More are hitting me, breaking through the scales. I’ll have some bruises on my chest and on my back where the wings sprout from.
I don’t stop, still using my tail as my primary weapon against the slayers. Between Brian and Chris, they’ve managed to disarm half a dozen students. Brian ties them up with his rope. I don’t know how we’ll restrain the rest of them, though.
A few more students get past me. My boys will take care of them. They are the second line of defense.
All around I can hear guns, swords, and grunts, and it’s all echoing off the walls, leaving me a bit disoriented. With my enhanced hearing, I can’t really tell where the sounds are coming from.
The haze prohibits some of my vision, so I don’t notice until it’s too late a gang of slayers approaching me. They all have guns out and pointed in my direction. They’re too close for me to use my tail. I could head butt them, but then my face will be in their line of fire. Staten said I could take a few bullets. I hope that means a dozen or so.
I brace myself for the pain. Shots fire. The first few I don’t even notice. But then a sharp twinge on my lower throat and just under my wings sends searing pain rippling through me. I can’t let them take me. I won’t go down without a fight. If that means I have to kill them, then ... no, I’ll think about that if and when it comes to that.
&
nbsp; “Brooklyn!” Manny says. “Stay focused and push through the pain. We can feel what you feel.”
For now, all I can do is keep standing and dodging their shots. With me being a huge target, the barrage continues. I hold my head higher to shield my eyes, leaving my chest exposed and vulnerable.
“How are you doing, Brooklyn?” Staten’s voice faintly passes in my mind.
“I’m holding my own for now, but I don’t think I’ll be able to fend them off much longer.”
“You don’t have to,” McQueen says. “There are only a few left, thanks to your friends Chris and Brian.”
The ringing subsides, and I flap my wings to clear the smoke around us. I can finally see the damage. Most of the slayers are tied up or are lying on the ground, guarded by my boys. Manny and Declan are each favoring a leg, and Staten is caressing him arm. And Noelle is still standing near Bronx, protecting him as if her life depends on it. I owe her for keeping him safe. She does have a nasty cut across her face that will need to be looked at.
Chris holds his side, blood oozing between his fingers, and Brian’s head has a large gash in it, along with a black eye. They both approach me.
“So,” Brian says. “You’re a dragon and that must be why Mr. Astor wants you so badly in exchange for Bronx. Now we get it. You’re the reason the Council is up in arms, and there’s a coup on the rise.” I nod. “Brooklyn? You can understand me, right?”
I lower my head to their level. They take a step back.
“She won’t hurt you,” Noelle says. “It’s still her. She knows who you are but just can’t voice it.” She comes to stand next to me. She’s so short; she doesn’t even come up to my chest. I carefully wrap a claw around her petite body and pull her closer to me. Rumbling starts in my throat. “I know, Brooklyn. I love you, too.”
“She’s a,” Chris stutters. “A dragon? Has she been one all the time?”
“Kinda obviously, Chris. But she only just came into her powers recently, and she showed the Slayers Council. They agreed to live in peace. The Council granted them land. It’s Mr. Astor who backed out on their deal with the dragons.”
“What are we going to do with these guys?” Declan asks. “We can’t leave them here, nor can we bring them with us.”
“There’s a storage closet near here,” Brian says. “We can lock them in there, and later we’ll send someone to get them.”
“Okay,” Staten says. “Let’s get moving before more people show up.”
“You guys go ahead,” I say. “I’ll transform back, so I can walk down the halls better and climb the stairs to get to the ground floor.”
I push Noelle away from me and start the shifting process back into my human body. My magic flows out and blankets the tunnel in a soft green light. My protectors are already walking the prisoners toward the end of the hall, where Brian says there should be a room. I catch a couple of them glimpsing my way since they’re curious about me being a dragon. And this is the first time they’ve witnessed anyone changing.
No one was killed today. A few are badly hurt; we’ll need to find a first aid kit.
Up ahead a door opens, and the York students are shoved inside. We don’t find any medical supplies. As soon as we make it up top, we’ll let someone know where they are.
I’m back in my body, my leather pants and duster jacket firmly in place. I catch up to Noelle and lean against her. I’m exhausted. My legs take two more steps, and then I’m falling face first into the gray cement.
“Brooklyn!” Noelle shouts.
My vision goes black.
I’m on the ground when I wake, staring into five sets of eyes. Something runs down my face. Is that blood I feel?
“Don’t try to move,” Noelle says. “You’ve been shot and took too many bullets.” She presses my shoulders down. “One of the boys will have to carry you until you can get patched up by a doctor. Staten gave you as much magic as he could to stave off you bleeding to death or having the titanium kill you.”
“Thank you.” I reach for his fingers, then send any magic I can muster to heal myself ... which isn’t as much as I’d like.
He nods. “Manny, you take Brooklyn. Declan and McQueen take Bronx. I’ll be in the lead in case we run into anything. Chris and Brian, take the rear, and think of a plausible excuse why you’re with us.”
“You guys are with us, right? I ask. Manny steps to my side, squats, and carefully lifts my frail body into his arms. “After what you just witnessed, are you changing sides?”
“Look, Brooklyn,” Brian says as he touches my shoulder. Manny and the boys stop. “We haven’t really been friends for all that long, but you’re a Level Two. You’re part of our class. Everyone got to know you better as Kill Shot, and the few of us who hung out at your cabin ... well, I’d like to think that we are your friends. I, for one, can’t turn my back on that. You’ve done nothing bad to me. Sure, you turn into a dragon—which, by the way, is super cool—you’re still Brooklyn. The shy, loner girl who I’ve come to like hanging around.”
“Yeah,” Chris chimes in. “Friends don’t let friends die just because you’re a dragon, and Mr. Astor says we should hunt you. He didn’t tell us key information. Granted, we never asked, but still. I think if many of the students know about you and what you are, they’ll side with us, too.”
“How can you go against centuries of knowledge and your upbringing,” I say. “We’ve all been conditioned to kill the dragons. What’s changed?”
“I can’t speak for everyone else,” Chris says. “I think part of it was getting the opportunity to kill something. I know I got caught up with the thrill of it. But now that I know you and what you are ... it’s different, somehow. Perhaps both sides have erred and should have started talks a long time ago.”
“That’s Allister’s fault. He never wanted peace. He kept the Academy thriving and getting more students to enroll. We think he’s been lying to the Council about numbers and objectives.”
“So yeah,” Brian says. “Maybe we should have asked questions and not follow blindly. Or raised our hands more during class to question how things are. I for one didn’t think to do that. Like you’ve said, we’ve been conditioned all of our lives to hate the dragons and kill them. But seeing you be one and transform back into your human body ... like Chris said, it’s different now that we know you.” He turns to my boys. “I’m assuming you guys are dragons, too?”
None of them confirm the question. Instead they start walking down the tunnel.
Could that be possible? If we do get the Slayers on our side—my side—could we win this battle without any more bloodshed? Allister wouldn’t have an army to do his bidding. He’d have no warriors on the field. Then my dream I had of us versus them wouldn’t come true.
Staten holds up his arm, stopping everyone. The boys flatten against the walls. “What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“There’s someone up ahead. I can smell him.”
“Should we go back and use a different tunnel?”
“No. Let’s just wait here and see what happens. It could be a college kid.”
McQueen and Declan lean Bronx against the wall, resting their own shoulders. I really wish he’d come to, so we know he’s okay.
“Bronx, please wake up. You just have to be okay. I love you.”
Staten gestures for us to proceed.
We climb the metal stairs leading to the ground level and should come out near Hancock Park. Staten is the first through and surveys the area. He sends a bit of magic up to surround the manhole as we all ascend onto the sidewalk. Chris is the last one up as Brian closes the lid.
“Why, thank you, boys, for delivering the exchange.” Allister stands a few feet away and steps out of the bushes. Is that true? Have they betrayed us? “I didn’t think you would, but here you are, bringing me another dragon and returning our prisoner.”
“How did you know?” I ask, squirming out of Manny’s hold. He gingerly sets me on my feet. I can’t look weak in front of A
llister. Well, any weaker than I already do.
“Ah, you forgot about the school-issued phones.” Allister taps the side of his head. “I heard the distress call that Brian made and then enabled the GPS trackers on all students.”
Boroughs.
“I watched the group of them move fast and thought they were on to something,” Allister continues. “So I waited to figure out where they went. Then they remained in the same area for a while, and I assumed that they ran into something. Eventually, some moved while others didn’t. Guessing it was a fight down there, and they met up with you.”
“You can’t fight us all. There are more of us than you.”
“Is that so?” Allister steps forward. Not enough to close the distance, but to show us that there are people behind him, hiding in the shadows and in the shrubs. “I brought back up.”
Double boroughs.
“Chris and Brian, step away from these traitors and fall into line.”
Neither one of them move. They look at me, then to Mr. Astor.
“No,” Brian finally says. “You lied to us, all of the students. You told us that the dragons were bad, savages, when in fact, they aren’t.”
“And you know that because you met one of them?”
“One is all I need to know,” Chris says. “She’s one of us. A dragon, but nonetheless.”
“So be it. You’ll die with them then.” Allister turns his head to the people behind him. “They’ve made their choice. Try to keep her alive, but it’s not necessary. We already have one, but two would be better since she’s a female, and we could learn a lot from that.”
We are out maneuvered, out gunned, and with two of us out of commission, our odds aren’t great. But I won’t go down without fighting for what I know to be true. And I know my boys will be at my side.
The park floods with magic from both of our sides.
The shrubbery parts as I count dozens of students, staff, and council members.
“Don’t hold back,” Staten says. “They won’t.”
McQueen lays Bronx on the sidewalk. A small moan escapes Bronx’s lips. Is he finally coming to? God, I hope so. Declan comes to my side, Staten on the other. We brandish our weapons and crouch. We will not be the first to strike. I won’t go back on my word. This is on the slayers, not the dragons.
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