Mister Six jumped to another shelf and then another, releasing creature after creature, until finally, the insects and reptiles and winged things were all beginning to come down the walls, toward the sorcerer and Herman.
Alana felt someone tap her on the shoulder and cried out in terror, but James instantly covered her mouth and said, "Be quiet!"
"What are you doing over here?" Alana said.
"Mister Six pointed me this way. I guess he wants us together."
"What do we do now?" Alana said.
James looked up through the window at the slowly, silently advancing army of slithering creatures and said, "My guess is your dragon is too big for Mister Six to get out by himself. That's where we come in."
"How?" Alana said.
James shrugged and said, "We have to go in and get him."
"In there?" Alana asked hoarsely. "With all those…things?"
James looked through the window again, his eyes widening at the sight of the scary-looking Gila monster, but he did his best to keep cool and he said, "You can stay here. I'll go get him."
"No," Alana said. "I'm not leaving him alone. I'm going with you."
"All right. Now we just have to wait for the signal."
Mister Six was sitting on the highest shelf now, watching the scene unfold beneath him. Herman had finally pulled the last of the snakeskin out and managed to get the lid back on, and the sorcerer had finished stirring and sniffing his foul potion. Herman stood triumphantly with the loose skin in his hand, but as he opened his mouth to announce his achievement, he froze in place. All of the black and green and speckled things were nearly on top of them, and about to pounce. "Boss?" Herman squeaked.
"What is it?" the sorcerer grumbled. "Do you have my snakeskin..." the sorcerer's voice vanished just as a large vampire bat extended its wings directly over his head and released a deafening screech. At that sound, all of the creatures leapt from the walls and aimed their fangs, claws, and stingers at Prospero and Herman.
"Now!" James shouted. Both he and Alana forced the cabin's front door open and grabbed Star, rolling and pulling the heavy dragon across the bare wood floor as Herman and the sorcerer ran around screaming in terror. The bat was in the sorcerer's hair, pulling it out in long, white fluffs. The Gila Monster had Herman cornered, snapping its jaws angrily as a dozen black worms crawled down the walls, about to drop down the inside of his shirt.
James and Alana had to use all their strength to heave Star through the door. They immediately began pulling on the cords of the net but it was no use. The net was too strong and wrapped around him too tightly. "We need scissors," James said.
As if by magic, a pair of old rusty scissors came sliding across the floor toward the door, followed by Mister Six. The cat yowled at James to pick them up and he fit them inside the section of net covering Star's mouth. The dragon was looking at them with wide, pleading eyes and James said, "We've got you, buddy. We're not letting anything happen to you. Just stay still." Mister Six quietly pulled the cabin's front door shut, leaving the two men inside with all their squiggly attackers.
Herman was yelling for the sorcerer to help him, whipping his wooden spoon at the Gila monster like a lion tamer, but the sorcerer was too busy trying to yank the bat off of his head and pluck a fat, hairy spider from his shoulder.
"Hurry!" Alana said.
James quickly snipped the net around Star's head and front legs, assisted by the dragon's pushing against the frayed strands to rip them apart. Just as James fit the scissors into the netting binding Star's hind legs, they heard Prospero shout, "Where is my dragon?"
"Here!" James said, putting Alana's hand on the scissors. "Keep cutting until he gets loose." James stood up just as the cabin's front door opened. The sorcerer was glaring down at him.
James was not nearly as tall as Prospero, but he put up his fists anyway and said, "You touch either of them and you'll answer to me."
Alana called out her brother's name in fright but Star nudged her with his nose and said, "Get me loose so I can help."
"Okay," she said nervously. "I'm not very good at cutting, though."
"You'll be fine," Star urged. "Hurry up."
The sorcerer looked up and down at James and his outrage turned to cruel amusement. "You?" he said. "Really? I'll answer to you? Are you kidding me?"
James didn't say anything, he just held his ground, keeping his hands up like a boxer, ready to fight.
"I mean, maybe in a few years, but right now? Wow, that's funny." The sorcerer's face turned dark and he said, "Get out of my way boy, before I decide to add you as an ingredient to my cauldron."
Mister Six sprang forward, landing on the sorcerer's bony ankle beneath his dirty robe and sank his fangs and claws into the exposed skin. Prospero threw his head back and howled in pain as James ran up and kicked him as hard as he could right between the legs. The sorcerer's eyes crossed momentarily as he dropped to his knees like a sack of heavy grain and let out a quiet, high-pitched noise that sounded like, "Eeep."
Alana nearly had the last cord cut and it was enough for Star to kick himself free. The dragon slowly got to his feet, his legs wobbling from being tied up for so long. He stumbled around the porch and said, "Thank you. Both of you."
"We have to run!" James shouted.
Mister Six came barreling out of the cabin at full speed, taking off toward the edge of the woods where he stopped and spun in circles to urge the other three to hurry after him. Star stumbled off of the porch and tried to keep up, but when Alana tried to pull him along, he said, "Just keep running. I'll catch up."
Alana looked back and saw both the sorcerer and Herman come out of the cabin, turning to see where they went. Prospero pointed a crooked finger at her and shouted, "There they are! Get them!"
James forced Alana and Star to run as fast as they could, pushing them through the woods to catch up with Mister Six until they came to a clearing with nothing but a few bushes and tall, swaying grass. The moon was bright and full overhead, covering the forest in a kind of silvery, dim blue light. There was nowhere to hide. "Oh, great job, Mister Six," James muttered. "You led us right out into the open."
The cat looked up at James with mild annoyance, but his tail did not move.
Star staggered sideways in the grass and collapsed, unable to keep running. "My legs are too stiff to run and I can't feel my wings," he moaned. "You guys keep going. I'll be fine. Just leave me."
"No way," James said.
Alana bent down over the dragon and covered him with her arms, "We're not letting them get you again, no matter what."
The sorcerer and Herman emerged from the trees and stopped at the sight of the group. They began to walk slowly toward them, with Prospero folding his long fingers together in the center of his long robe as he said, "Well, well. Play time is over now, kiddies. You've all interfered with my plans enough for one evening."
Alana, James, and Mister Six all stood in front of Star, refusing to get out of the way. The sorcerer stopped just a few feet away from them with Herman at his side and said, "Hand the dragon over and I'll let all three of you walk away."
"Actually, I was thinking if the two of you turn around and go back home, the three of us will let you walk away," James said.
Prospero smiled thinly, showing them the full range of his stained, greenish brown teeth. "Do you honestly think a little girl, a muddy cat, a puny dragon, and a scrawny little punk such as yourself have a chance against me, Prospero the Sorcerer?"
His voice was loud and clear in the night, and as if to answer, a cool wind blew against the children's backs, followed by the sound of something large touching down on the grass behind them. "Perhaps," a loud, regal-sounding voice said over their heads, "I might help them even the odds."
Alana turned around and gasped at the sight of Lady Moon, standing tall above them. Her elegant, sparkling blue face was dark with anger as she looked at the sorcerer and Herman. "The two of you have bothered my kind for long enough," she s
aid. She lowered her large head over the children and stared Prospero directly in the face, "From now on, these children are under my protection from you as well. If you ever come near them again, or bother any of my dragons, I will make sure you regret it. Do you understand?"
Prospero and Herman nervously nodded, unable to even move in the face of such a terrifyingly large and angry dragon. Lady Moon nodded slowly and said, "It would be best if you left now, before I can no longer control my temper."
"Yes, your majesty," Prospero said quickly. "Anything you like."
"First of all, thank you," Herman said stupidly. "Uh, thank you for not eating us, or doing anything else bad."
"Go," Lady Moon said. "Now!"
Both the sorcerer and his assistant ran into the woods then, tripping over one another as they crashed through the branches and bushes and tangles of thorns, running until the sound of Prospero yelling at Herman to carry him was nothing but a distant echo.
"Well, all of you stand up and let me look at you," Lady Moon said.
Star pushed up from the ground and stood next to Alana. She put her hand on his neck and stroked his skin, as glad to see him okay as she'd ever been for anything in her entire life. James stood next to his sister, looking up at the huge dragon in amazement. Even Mister Six got in line. The mud was dry and caked onto his fur now and looked very uncomfortable, but the cat still sat up very straight when facing the dragon.
Lady Moon looked curiously at the cat and said, "Sir He-Who-Runs-In-Shadow, it is a pleasure to see you once more."
Mister Six yowled gently and nodded his head at the dragon.
"What did she call him?" Alana whispered.
"What brings you to the aid of the Sky Dragons?" Lady Moon said.
Mister Six yowled and purred several times, talking rapidly in cat-speak and looking up at James and Alana a few times as he did.
"I see," Lady Moon said. "So it was not for Star at all. How interesting."
"What's he saying?" James said.
Lady Moon said, "It seems the two of you are under the protection of the Cat Kingdom. You must be quite special indeed to have been assigned to someone as well-known and respected as Sir He-Who-Runs-In-Shadow."
"The Cat Kingdom?" Alana whispered.
James leaned down next to her and mumbled, "We need to stop complaining when Mom asks us to clean out his litter box, that's for sure."
Lady Moon nodded at Star, "Can you fly?"
"I think so," he said, stretching out his wings and shaking them.
"Good. We are leaving." The dragon turned to Alana and James, "The two of you have done the Sky Dragons a great service this day. It is something I never thought to see from any of humankind. This tale will be told around our sacred fire for many, many years." Lady Moon leaned back on her rear legs and bowed her head low to the children.
Alana and James both bowed in return, and even Mister Six did a little wave of his paw and lowered his head.
Just before they left, Star nudged Alana on the cheek with his snout and said, "I have to go now."
"Will I see you again?" Alana said.
A tear trickled down the little girl's cheek and Star wiped it away with the side of his face. "Of course. You're my best friend, and besides, who else would I call if I needed to be rescued?"
Alana laughed and wrapped her arms around the tiny dragon, hugging him as tightly as she could. Star stepped back and flapped his wings, several times, just enough to get himself up in the air. Lady Moon leapt up from the ground with a tremendous thrust and flapped once, sending herself immediately over the tops of the trees and heading straight up into the night sky.
"Goodbye for now," Star said.
Alana held up her hand and waved to him, watching her friend turn in the air and flap his wings, racing to catch up to the other dragon and go home.
James scratched his head as he watched the dragons disappear. He looked down at Mister Six, who looked back at him, and scratched it even more. "Wow," James said. "What a weird day this was."
"That's for sure," Alana said.
"It is so late. Mom is gonna have a fit."
"Yep," Alana said. She sighed and said, "I'll tell her it was all my fault so you don't get in trouble."
James reached down and took his little sister by the hand and said, "Don't worry, kid. I've got your back. We'll think of something together."
For Julia Rose and Brandon, my dragons
A Special Note for Parents by the Author
This story started on one of the many visits to the bookstore that I take my kids on. In the old days, my time in bookstores would be spent sipping coffee in the café, reading expensive foreign magazines, thumbing through a big stack of books that I might want to buy. Now, they primarily consist of sitting on uncomfortable wooden benches in the kids' section, reading my daughter one of a dozen picture and chapter books for hours on end while my son runs off to peruse the humor section. I'm sure you can relate.
One day I was dredging through one of the latest installments of some infernal series about fairies that my daughter likes, and I finally closed it and said, "I can't take this anymore. This is the most poorly written dreck I've ever seen. This is not how books are supposed to be written, my love."
"Well," she said, "You're a writer. Why don't you write one?"
Oh, children, with their naïve little ideas. "Because, darling, daddy is an author of books for adults. I don't write for children."
"So? You could try."
"But I don't have time."
"Okay," she said, her large brown eyes looking up at me, blinking in that sad puppy dog fashion that genetically predisposes me to play dress up and have tea parties and watch endless episodes of cartoons about ponies.
And thus, Tiny Dragons.
My reason for writing to you, the parents, and probably also to you, the curious child who read this section anyway, despite it clearly being labeled as being not for you (I was a curious child once too, you see) is that I want to urge you, implore you, beg you even, not to buy any of my other books.
At least, not for the kiddies.
I am not a children's author, per se, in that this is the first book I've ever written that is appropriate for them to read. My son often asks me when he'll be old enough to read some of my other books and my patent answer is, "When you are forty-five, married, have traveled once to Australia and twice to Europe, when you can disassemble and reassemble a small combustion engine blindfolded in a dark room, and hold at least one degree in the sciences from any accredited university. Also, when pigs fly."
In short, I mean this quite seriously, please do not ignore my warnings.
If the little ones ask, tell them the Tiny Dragons will return, so just be patient.
And also tell them that broccoli, despite what I wrote, is actually quite good.
About Bernard Schaffer
Bernard Schaffer is the author of multiple books that span a wide variety of genres, including modern American literature, police procedurals, and science fiction westerns. He has worked on several projects with famous authors such as Harlan Ellison, Alan Dean Foster, and Bill Thompson (the editor who discovered Stephen King and John Grisham). In 2011, Schaffer founded KAS, a select group of independent authors that donates proceeds to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Recently, he collaborated with J.A. Konrath on two books that feature Konrath's best-selling Lt. Jack Daniels characters, and ones from Schaffer's own Superbia series.
Aside from writing, Schaffer is a lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area and the proud father of two children. He is a decorated police detective and expert in narcotics distribution.
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Tiny Dragons 1: The Sky Dragons Page 5