We came to a ladder, and I raised my hand. "We go up here. Might be a trap in the hallway above. Squiggly lines on the map," I said. Rak nodded, holstered his pistol, and pulled a small device out of his pack: a kind of electronic telescope whose lens was on the end of a flexible cable. He stuck it in his front pocket, retrieved his gun, and started up. Grace followed.
I set one hand on the ladder, looked up—
And my human middle ear decided to play "Let's Mess With Vern." I got to feel my stomach do flips that would have rivaled any of Grace's dives; and then had the even less pleasant experience of whacking the wall with my side, reminding me that, oh, yeah, I'd gotten kicked in the ribs a time or two. I clutched the ladder rail so hard it hurt, but at least I didn't crumple to the floor. Above me, Grace and Rak stopped their ascent.
Maybe it was time for some magic. I touched the spot behind my head where they'd inserted the healing medallion. This one, a special creation of Grace's, combining natural and holy magics, should cure me of everything from broken bones to fatigue—and gangrene, I was still a little worried about gangrene.
I felt the ribs knit, the bruises and cuts heal and fade, the fire in my throat calm. Yet when the magic had finished, and the medallion under my skin had cooled, my voice was still hoarse, and my nose still stuffy. You'd think that would have taken nothing to cure. Had I been so injured I'd spent all the magic so quickly? Had I been walking around with internal injuries all this time?
Zoinks! I shuddered. Then fought back a sneeze.
"Vern?" Grace whispered.
I waved her on and set my foot on the ladder.
At the top of the ladder, Rak awkwardly pulled the small surveillance camera out of his pocket and threaded the thin cable through a crack in the trapdoor. We waited. I had to force myself to keep looking down, scanning the hall for any sign of approaching danger. My middle ear was calling complaints my brain kept acknowledging then dumping into the circular file.
Stupid middle ear. Dragons had a greater sense of proprioception; we didn't depend on one organ for balance like humans do. Now if only I could convince my new body of that. Fifteen feet seemed unusually high.
Rak finally signaled the all clear and gently opened the door. Gratefully, I left the ladder for firm ground.
That feeling lasted all of five seconds.
"Shh!" I hissed, though no one had said anything.
Rak paused, his hand still holding the door open in case we had to scurry back down it like frightened mice.
I wasn't a mouse. I was a dragon.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on all my senses in turn. Beneath the hum of the air conditioning, I could hear water moving through pipes, even the singing of a lost and lonely cricket doomed to bachelorhood. No threat.
I opened my eyes and searched the room. It was dark except for the light coming from under the door. I made myself scan the corners before the light interfered with my night vision.
Dust bunnies, a forgotten pen under a chair. A desk with some equipment: walkie-talkies, a computer, papers. Grace's apprehensive face. But no threat.
Magic, then? I mouthed the word to Grace. She nodded to show she understood and whispered a silent prayer. After a moment, she shook her head and shrugged.
There was something wrong; I knew it!
I again closed my eyes, picturing the map in my mind. Unless we went back down and hiked outside for half a mile in the rain, this was the only way to the reactor. Whoever had designed this place had not followed the cliché of making the air ducts large enough to crawl through. The best way was down the hall before us.
Despite the fact that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I shrugged to show I suspected something, but didn’t know what, and jerked my head in the direction of the hallway. I helped Rak put the trapdoor back in place as quietly as possible.
The noise still seemed incredibly loud to my ears.
Grace, meanwhile, spent a little magic doing a second check of the hall. She shrugged.
She'd found nothing.
I fought a sneeze as Rak eased open the door.
The hall beyond was bright, cool, and empty. From here, the corridors were divided every two hundred meters by doors with locks. We had five to traverse. Luckily, the locks were Common Access Card readers, and Rak had lifted the card off the guard at the jail.
We had about one hundred-fifty meters to our door. I whispered, "Run."
Halfway across, however, I skidded to a stop. Something was there! I could feel it!
I spun, ready to defend with claws and teeth I no longer had.
Nothing.
But I could feel it! It was there!
"Vern?" Grace had returned to my side. Stupid mortal!
"Run! Hide!" I hissed at her. I was breathing heavily, despite my stuffed nose. It was everywhere! Help me find it! God, help me fight it!
"There's nothing here." Grace intruded my thoughts.
"Near, then," I rasped. That was it. We'd stumbled onto its territory. If it wanted a fight, I'd give it one. I ran human nails down the side of the wall.
"Vern! What is it? What are you doing?"
"Me?" I spun again, reaching until my limited senses screamed. Where was it? I tried to let out a howl of challenge, but my sore and human throat couldn't manage it. I coughed instead.
"Calm down!" Grace hissed.
"Run! I won't let them take what's mine!"
I couldn't defend anyone in this weak, puny form.
I tapped out the counterspell.
"Vern, no!"
This time, I wanted my own form back. I didn't need to repeat the sequence. As I melted into something worthy of a Dali painting, I could only think, "Faster! Faster!" Dimly, I heard Grace running back toward Rak, saying something about a gas mask.
I solidified into my dragon state—my fabulous, awe-inspiring, strong dragon state—
roaring and breathing fire down the hallway behind us.
Come on! I'm not afraid of you!
The fire cleared my sinuses like cobwebs burning away. I stared down the scorched hallway, reveling in my heightened senses, reaching with magic and feeling and vision and hearing. The fire alarms were wailing, and the sprinklers sent a heavy mist over my scales.
Unlike the rain earlier, this felt glorious. I was back!
Still the coward lurked just beyond my reach.
Grace was saying, "No, only the filters! I need the filters! Now hold the door!"
I roared my challenge again and turned when I heard steps behind me, my body moving into a crouch, my teeth bared, my game on!
Grace stood before me, carrying a black round object in each hand, looking at me with a face full of terror.
That's right, fear the dragon! I threw my head back and roared again. Do you hear me?
Fear the dragon!
She sang, "Be still!"
Two words! Just two words froze me in place. What was she thinking? I tried to move, to thrash against the invisible bonds of her spell, but all I could do was roll my eyes at her as she grabbed me by the snout.
Thwock! Thwock!
She jammed a filter in each of my nostrils!
The spell broke. I tossed my head and pawed at my nose like a dog fighting a muzzle. I tried to roar, but it came out whiny and asthmatic. The whole time, Grace was trying to calm me, saying things like, "It's a scent. It's pheromones. There's nothing here."
Nothing there? Couldn't she—?
My head cleared, and I felt as stupid as I probably looked.
I checked around me, more slowly this time. With only the scent of rubber and charcoal to fill my nostrils, the rest of my senses could confirm what she said.
Almost.
"We got company!"
Grace didn't bother to argue, just ran with me to the door. Her feet slipped on the wet tile, and I scooped her up with my tail. Never mind the circumstances; I was so glad to see my tail again, I almost whooped with glee. We cleared the threshold right as t
he door on the other end opened, and some henchman shouted, "Hey!"
Hey. Now see? I could have used that line in the cellblock.
Rak shut the door, and we heard the lock click. I noted with relief it was dry on this side.
Grace said, "They're sure to have cards. The door won't hold for long."
"Oh, yeah?" I swiped the card reader with my claws. It came away with a sheering of metal and a shower of sparks.
The door clicked and opened.
"What the—?" Rak yelled.
"That's not fair!" I shouted.
Grace pulled at us both. "Run!"
Rak had the CAC card in his hand. I snagged it with my tail, bounded ahead and skid, twisting so I headed tail first to the CAC reader. I had the card slid through and the door open before I'd even come to a stop. The others ran through while I provided cover fire—literally. My flames didn't engulf anyone, but they jumped and ran. It felt good to be packing heat again. I love being a dragon!
Second verse, same as the first. My nifty trick worked again, and we were through with two locked doors between us and the motley crew.
Naturally, that cued motley crew number two to join in from an intersecting corridor. Rak fired three shots. I heard three thuds and didn't even stop as I bounded over the bodies to my next goal, Rak hard at my heels. I leapt, did my little spin—
And saw Grace kneeling among the injured henchmen, working healing spells while bullets from motley crew number three flew around her, miraculously just missing.
"Rak, squiggles!" I warned and dashed back to Grace. I didn't bother with niceties; I just interposed my body between her and the bullets and let loose with a few hundred Kelvins at the baddies while I swept her onto my back with my tail. I dashed back, Rak gesturing and shouting for me to hurry. Grace, for her part, didn't bother to protest but held tight and finished chanting her healing spell as I carried her across the hall.
We have a beautiful partnership.
We were through the door and had it shut before the floor had cooled enough for the minions to follow.
That's when someone took two ice picks and jammed them into my eardrums. My legs buckled, and I nearly threw Grace off as I put my hands to my ears.
Rak had waited at the door but ran to Grace.
"What do you think you're doing?" he screamed.
"You almost killed one of them!" she screamed back. Grace never screams.
"I don't shoot to hurt, Sister!"
"And I don’t let people die!"
"Hello! Dragon in pain here!" I fought to concentrate enough to figure out what was hurting me as a dentist's drill replaced the ice picks in my skull.
"We have a job to do!" Rak hollered.
We had to get out of there. I had to get out of there. I tried to crawl to the next door.
"You don't have to kill people to do it!"
I glanced at Grace. She'd pressed the heel of her hand against one eye. It was affecting her, too.
"You'd rather innocent people die?"
"I won't let anyone die! Not if I can help it!"
"Be quiet!" I begged. Why was everybody yelling? The noise only made it worse.
Noise?
Noise!
Dragons have an interesting skill: selective hearing. Yeah, I know you think humans have it, too, especially as children or married men, but this is a real, physical ability. I forced my mind to ignore my ears and thought myself deaf.
I could still feel points of agony, like tacks applied to my skull, but at least I could stand.
Rak and Grace were still fighting, I thought; they were in each other's faces and their mouths were moving. Grace, however, had paled and started to sway.
The floor I'd roasted had to be cool enough to walk on by now.
I shoved my snout in between the two of them and yelled, "It's a trap! There's some kind of sound wave—you can't hear it, but it's affecting you!"
They both turned and looked at me, mouthing words I didn't hear. Great time to realize how useful reading lips could be. Grace was starting to look a little green, but at least Rak's flushed face was calming as he did.
"I can't hear you! I'm blocking the noise!" I said. I might have shouted; I didn't know.
Rak scanned the room but nothing identified itself as a speaker. He took hold of Grace, and together we ran to the next lock. No way could I do my little skid-n-spin trick, so I ran straight to the wall and swiped the card.
Suddenly, we were back on the other end of the hall!
"That's not fair!" I roared. With the filters in my nose, I probably sounded whiny instead of fierce.
Grace buckled over and threw up. I was sorely tempted to do the same.
Rak mouthed something I could read, then grabbed the card, ran to the other end, and swiped it again.
Immediately, he was right next to us.
"Shoot the lock!" I yelled. Even though I was more likely to crawl than run, I tried to pull Grace onto my back. She shook her head and staggered toward the door again.
Rak held up an arm and blocked her. He pulled out his pistol and aimed at the CAC
reader. His hands shook slightly—the sound was starting to affect him physically, too—but with the third shot, the reader burst into pieces and sparks.
I couldn't hear if the door clicked open, but we didn't have much choice. The Henchmen Three would be coming down the other hall any minute.
Rak again helped Grace while I made my best time to the door. I got there as he'd kicked it open.
He slammed it shut and leaned against it for a moment, his chest heaving. Grace sank to a sitting position beside him. I let my feet slide out from under me and flopped on the floor.
However, the sound waves had only affected that corridor. The immediate pain had gone, and the rest had "faded" into one katzenjammer of a headache.
"Now I know how migraines feel," Grace whispered.
"I'm sorry I yelled, Sister," Rak said, his voice breathy. "The sound must have been affecting my mood. But I told you someone might die. I'd rather it be them, not us."
"I'll not—"
"We're not arguing this now!" I snarled, making us all wince. "Rak, try not to kill anyone.
Grace, if he 'misses,' do just enough to keep them alive. Got it? Now, can you move? Good."
I bullied my legs back under me and pushed myself up. Reaching out with my senses, I found the source of the next trap. "Spell on the next lock—"
"Why didn't you find the spell on the previous lock?" Rak snapped.
"I was a little distracted by pain!" I snapped back and immediately regretted it. Ouch, ouch. I handed him the card and told him to get Grace to the door while I took care of this one.
Grace, however, shrugged off his assistance. She must have decided to heal herself so she'd have a clear head for handling the bespelled lock. I watched them go then turned back to the door.
Unlike the dragons in the Mundane legends and movies, Faerie dragons have the ability to control their fire. I can light a cigarette as skillfully as I can set a town ablaze. In this case, I concentrated a long, superhot stream of flame at the crack in the door, welding it shut. Then I made sure to do it on the other side, too. No sense putting in so much effort just to have them remove the hinges, after all. I even did it without setting off the fire alarms. I'm good.
I was also in a lot of pain. Breathing fire usually cleared my head, but I guess sonic hangovers are not like chemical ones. Plus my nose was starting to ache from the filters, and more and more, I needed to breathe through my mouth. I moved, slowly in deference to my head, to where Rak was waiting impatiently a few feet back from the door. We watched Grace for a moment before he spoke.
"Grace said to stay here in case there was a backlash. There's something really wrong with this whole set-up. There are only two other ways into the reactor—the main entrance and the heavily guarded employee entrance. Why all the traps and spells here? And why is this card opening doors but setting off the traps? The first makes you freak;
the second sandwiches us between two guard stations. The third was irritating as—" He shrugged, unwilling to finish the pun.
I had no such inhibitions. "Hel? I've been thinking about that. Seriously. Dragon brains can multi-task. The first hallway, Grace was scared, and not of me. How about you?"
Rak mashed his lips together, but he nodded. "All right. I was...apprehensive...beyond the norm for a mission."
"I don’t think the guard who so generously loaned you his card has clearance to be here.
I'm also guessing that the partial access makes for a nice little test of obedience. I'll bet the hallway is coated with some kind of predator pheromone. Humans would feel scared and hopefully decide not to go any farther. You freak; you leave. Of course, I took it as a challenge.
We should thank God my nose was stuffed, too, or Grace might not have had time to figure it out.
"If you make it through there, you go through one hallway to give the guards a chance to react. Then you go to the next where they can apprehend or shoot you as the case may be. Next trap is probably just supposed to drive you nuts with frustration, but Grace and I have hearing beyond the human norm."
Rak nodded. "And this one?"
"At best, the card won't work at all. At worst, it sets off a spell and fries us."
Rak sighed, "And I'd wager we have a small army waiting for us on the other side.
Suggestions?"
"Shield spells. We crack the lock. I go in and flame whatever I have to. You may have to hold Grace back." In eleven years of solving cases, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd actually charged into the fray with the full intention of hurting someone—less than half of those when Grace was in a position to stop me.
A loud thump caused us to turn our heads toward the other door. I snorted. "They can hit it with their rifle butts all they want; they'll need a blowtorch to bust that seal."
"Or plastic explosives. Hope they don't carry any C4 with them." He pulled out a small package.
I thought about the bulges in the vest pockets of the henchmen. "Um, maybe we should hurry Grace along?"
Grace shook her head as we approached. "I need at least ten minutes. I can unravel the spell, but it's delicate."
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