Fanning the Flames (Going Down in Flames)

by Chris Cannon

  “Are we doing this in human or dragon form?” Bryn asked.

  “Whatever works best,” Keegan said. “When you have to squeeze through a tunnel, you’re better off in human form. If you have to reach a flag at the top of a pole, you fly.”

  “Deciding which form to use is part of the game?” Bryn asked.

  “Exactly,” Keegan said. “And you play to your Clan’s strengths.”

  Valmont pointed at Keegan. “Reds are the strongest, and besides Bryn, the Blues are the fastest fliers. Black dragons are creative, though I’m not sure how that will help, and I have a sword. I’m not seeing a game plan based on these attributes.”

  Rhianna sighed. “Blues are also supposed to be the most graceful and have the best balance, but due to my limp I no longer fit that description.”

  “You’re still smart, and despite your outwardly proper appearance, I know you’re competitive, so we’ll figure this out,” Bryn said.

  Mrs. Anderson passed out colored belts, which they could wear to identify their team members. Bryn fastened the purple cloth strap that resembled a seat belt around her waist.

  “Okay Purple team, let’s see what we can do.” Keegan led them toward the starting line. When a whistle sounded, they shifted and flew toward the first obstacle: a wall thirty feet high. There was a gap near the top big enough to stand on in human form.

  “Should we fly up and then shift once we can grab the ledge?” Bryn asked.

  “Sounds good,” Ivy said. “But we don’t know what’s on the other side, so be careful.”

  Bryn shifted. Valmont climbed onto her back and settled between her wings. A rush of power flowed through her body from the dragon-knight bond. Pushing off, she flapped her wings and held steady when she reached the gap.

  “Move closer so I can see what’s on the other side,” Valmont said.

  Bryn hovered mid-air while Valmont grabbed the lip of the ledge and leaned through. “There’s a wall on the other side, so you have to shimmy down between the two.”

  “That sounds slightly claustrophobic,” Bryn said.

  Valmont jumped off her back onto the ledge.

  “How am I supposed to shift and join you?” Bryn asked.

  “Good question.” He pointed at Ivy. “Let’s see how she does it.”

  Ivy tucked her wings against her body and came in for a landing sideways. She managed to wedge herself into the opening and then shifted so she was kneeling on the wall in human form. She wobbled a bit but was able to steady herself.

  Bryn followed Ivy’s example. Keegan and Rhianna performed their own awkward maneuvers.

  “That was fun. What now?” Bryn asked.

  Ivy leaned through the opening. “It’s a sheer drop. Rhianna, why don’t you use ice to make steps so we aren’t falling blindly.”

  “I can do that,” Rhianna held her palms out and blasted ice in intervals down the wall.

  “I’ll go first,” Bryn said.

  “I’ll be one step behind you, literally,” Valmont said.

  Bryn placed her weight on the top step. It held. Slowly, she descended. The two walls were sandwiched together and stopped just two feet above the ground. When she reached the ground, Bryn lay down flat and rolled into the open space so she could stand.

  Valmont and the others followed behind her. The next obstacle was a set of stairs encased in ice.

  “Keegan, should we melt the ice so we can climb the steps?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Bryn inhaled, let heat build inside of her for a moment, and then blasted a fireball at the bottom step. Keegan blasted a steady stream of flames at the top step and worked his way down. Once the stairs were clear, they climbed up to the top where there were several flags suspended on poles.

  “Is this a retrieve-the-flag moment, or a destroy-the-target moment?” Ivy asked.

  “I don’t want to carry them,” Keegan said.

  “Destruction it is.” Ivy held her palm up and zapped each flag with bolts of lightning until the fabric burst into flame. When she finished the last flag, the pole fell over, landing on the top of a small concrete pyramid.

  “We cross over there, and then what?” Valmont asked.

  “Only one way to find out.” Rhianna shifted and flew over to the pyramid.

  “I would have walked,” Bryn said, “and that would have been slower.”

  They all shifted and flew over to a platform on the pyramid. A few hundred feet away, targets were set up on the ground. Each one was a different color.

  “Red for me,” Keegan said, pointing at the targets. “Blue for Rhianna and black for Ivy. I guess that leaves the white one for Bryn and Valmont.”

  “They could have done purple,” Bryn said.

  Rhianna blasted the blue target with shards of ice until it fell over. “Remember, we are on the clock.”

  Ivy zapped her target with lightning while Keegan and Bryn took out their targets with fire. A whistle sounded, signaling they’d completed the course. Mrs. Anderson wrote their time down on a whiteboard.

  “Eleven minutes and seventeen seconds,” Valmont said. “Is that good or bad?”

  “Anything less than fifteen minutes is respectable,” Ivy said. “So I think we did pretty good.”

  They flew over to the sidelines while the course was reset for the next group. Keegan headed for a group of Reds. Jaxon came over to join Rhianna, and Ivy left to find Clint.

  Bryn joined Valmont on the floor, sitting with her back against the wall. She scooted close so her shoulder rested against his. There were times when she just wanted to touch him or lean over and give him a quick kiss because she was happy, but she couldn’t do that. Not being able to act like boyfriend and girlfriend in public sucked.

  Valmont appeared contemplative.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “You didn’t really need my help out there, so I’m feeling a bit obsolete.”

  Males and their need for ego boosts no matter what their species, human or dragon, was something she’d never understand. “The course was designed for dragons, so they didn’t include any knight-specific challenges. And I will always need you because without you I would face a future alone with Jaxon. And that is enough to give any girl nightmares.”

  …

  That evening after dinner, Bryn remembered to call her grandfather about the strange book Valmont had checked out from the library. Since Valmont sat reading on the couch, he heard every word of her conversation, which was how she wanted it. She didn’t want to keep secrets from him. As she suspected, her grandfather was less than pleased about the book.

  “It wouldn’t do for you to be seen reading anti-Directorate rhetoric in public.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Bryn didn’t want to sound like a suck up, but she did want her grandfather to recognize she understood Blue Clan logic. And now it was time to show Valmont she wasn’t throwing him under the bus. “Valmont is reading the book to search for anything that might lead us to more artifacts. As soon as he’s done, we’ll turn it in to Miss Enid with the message that it should be passed on to you. Does that work?”

  “Yes. It does. Good night.”

  Bryn hung up the phone and sighed. She hated that she was finally beginning to understand how to play this stupid political game.

  “Nicely done,” Valmont commented from the couch where he was stretched out. “Not too suckup-ish but with just the right amount of recognition of authority.”

  “Thank you.” Bryn pantomimed walking a tight rope. “I think I’m beginning to catch my balance in this strange world.”

  “Speaking of strange.” Valmont flipped back several pages in the book. “The vaults under the library are mentioned in this tale. They don’t come right out and name them, but the description matches what we’ve seen of the secret rooms so far. And, it makes it sound like there are doors in other places besides the vaults.”

  Bryn sat next to him on the couch and let that information sink in. “Okay. S
o there may be secret rooms all over campus?”

  “Maybe. The author could have thrown in extra rooms to make the story seem like fiction or to make it harder for people to find the actual rooms.”

  “I understand some dragons would have wanted to hide magical artifacts like my elemental sword, or Ivy’s bracelet, but I can’t imagine there were tons of magical items that needed to be hidden, or my grandfather would have been more aware that at some point these types of things existed.”

  “So far, Miss Enid is the only dragon who’d heard of magic on this level, and she’d thought it was part of a legend, which makes me think it’s not common.”

  “True, but these Days of Knights tales can’t be the only source of information about a time before the Directorate. There have to be other factual accounts of dragon history from back in the day. If for no other reason than the Green dragons’ compulsion to document, study, and understand everything.”

  “Maybe we should speak to Garret and convince him to take on a knight,” Valmont said. “If there is a secret room created by a Green, it could be full of information and data which other Clan members might have wanted to destroy.”

  “That would be a good pitch to sell the idea to him,” Bryn said. “I don’t think a Green can resist the idea of a treasure trove of information.”

  “Did you ever figure out what a Red dragon might hide away?”

  “No,” Bryn said. “And it’s making me feel disloyal to my father’s memory.”

  “What does the Red Clan value above all other things?”

  “Reds are like normal, middle class people. They have a good work ethic. They take pride in their accomplishments but they aren’t egomaniacs. Family is important to them.”

  “With Keegan’s help,” Valmont said, “maybe we can find the answer to this mystery.”

  Bryn snatched the book from his hands and tossed it on the coffee table. “Serious time is over.”

  “It is?” Valmont asked. “Then what time is it?”

  “I’ll give you a hint.” Bryn leaned close like she was going to whisper something in his ear but kissed him on the neck instead.

  “I like the way you think.” He turned so his lips lined up with hers and gave her a look that made her heart beat faster. “And I have a few thoughts of my own.”

  “I’d love to hear them.”

  He closed the distance between them, pressing his mouth against hers in a slow, languid kiss that started a low burn inside of her. When he moved his mouth to a spot on her neck right above her collarbone, she growled deep in her chest.

  Valmont chuckled.

  “What?”

  “That’s how I know I hit the right spot, but it still catches me off guard every time.”

  She grinned. “Think of it as a helpful road map.”

  “I don’t need a map.” He nipped at her earlobe and then did something to her ear that made her melt in his arms.

  …

  The next day, in Elemental Science, Keegan sat in a desk next to Bryn. “Any news on the whole knight-experiment thing?” he asked.

  This probably wasn’t the best place to have this conversation. “Not yet. Why?”

  “There’s something about it that doesn’t feel right.”

  “You don’t have to do it,” Bryn said. “But Valmont and I could answer any questions you have, if that would make you feel better.”

  “I do have some concerns.” Keegan said. “Can the three of us meet at the library tonight around six near the second floor study cubicles?”

  “Sure.”

  Before meeting with Keegan, Bryn had a stop to make. She needed to deliver the book with the stories about the tyrant crowns to Miss Enid.

  “Done with the book already?” Miss Enid asked, as Bryn set it on the front desk of the library.

  “Yes, and it’s a bit controversial,” Bryn said. “So, rather than reshelving it, my grandfather would prefer you send it to him.”

  Miss Enid opened the book and ran her finger down the page of contents. “Maybe I’ll make a copy before I send it to him, in case the book goes missing.”

  “Does that happen a lot?” Valmont asked.

  “More than I’d like.”

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. Now we’re going to meet a friend,” Bryn said. “And as my grandmother would say, we don’t want to be late.”

  Keegan was waiting for them when they arrived at the study cubicles. “I put my bag on a table over there.”

  They followed him to an isolated table in the back corner. Once they were seated, he leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice. “Have you ever heard the term throwback?”

  “Is that a sports thing?” Bryn asked.

  “No,” Keegan said. “It’s what we call something from previous generations that shows up in families today.”

  “Like a family of blonds having one kid with black hair?” Valmont asked.

  “Yes. Or like a family of Reds having a kid with two different colored eyes.” He reached into his book bag and pulled out a package holding green disposable contact lenses. “My left eye is green like it’s supposed to be, but my right eye is brown.”

  He said this like he was sharing an important secret with them. “That’s unusual, but is it a problem for your family?” Bryn asked.

  “It’s not something we advertise, because it means a long time ago there was a hybrid in our family tree.”

  “Before the Directorate decreed all dragons had to marry within their Clans, didn’t everyone have hybrids in their gene pool somewhere?” Valmont asked.

  “Yeah, but by now it should have been bred out. Everything I’ve read claims it only takes a couple of generations for the throwback traits to disappear. In my family, in every other generation there seems to be someone who needs to wear one green contact. I’m telling you this because I don’t know if it would affect the knight I bonded with. If we found something a Red should be able to open, and my knight and I couldn’t do it, that would raise some questions.”

  “You’re right.” And she didn’t want to land him in trouble, but there wasn’t another Red she trusted as much as him. “Have you talked to Mr. Stanton about this?”

  “No.”

  “I trust him. If you want, we can tell him your concerns.”

  “I’d rather not,” Keegan said. “For my family’s sake, it’s best if we forget the whole thing.”

  Crap. She understood his decision, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “Thanks for considering it. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

  Keegan grinned at her. “I know you won’t.” And then he picked up his bag and walked back the way they had come.

  “I like him,” Valmont said. “He’s a good guy.”

  “He is,” Bryn said.

  “Who is number two on your most trusted Red Dragon list?”

  “I don’t have a number two. Since I’ve been at school, I’ve only hung out with Clint and Ivy, Garret, Rhianna, and Jaxon. My circle of friends isn’t large.”

  Valmont tapped his fingers on the table. “There’s something I don’t understand. If every Clan started out with hybrid ancestors until it became monochromatic, for lack of a better term, then why would there still be throwbacks?”

  “I’m not an expert on genetics,” Bryn said. “But it does make you think a hybrid might have to be more recent in the family tree.”

  “If the Directorate really does test everyone’s blood to see who is compatible for arranged marriages, wouldn’t they see the throwback hybrid’s DNA?”

  “I don’t think the process is that detailed. They have a spell that checks to see if the combination of genes would produce a dragon with undesirable traits, like overwhelming greed, or evil genius smarts with the desire to rule and conquer everyone, but I doubt the spell can tell the actual genetic makeup of the dragons being tested.”

  Valmont looked all around them like he was making sure no one was about to overhear what he was going to say. Leaning
in he whispered, “Shouldn’t Ferrin’s parents have failed that test?”

  Bryn laughed. “Maybe there are degrees of power hungry egomaniacs, and they barely made the cut.”

  Chapter Five

  The next day, when Keegan wasn’t in Elemental Science, Bryn had a bad feeling. When Mr. Stanton waved her up to his desk, her danger sensor went on high alert.

  “I’ll need you to stay after class today,” Mr. Stanton said.

  “Where’s Keegan?” Bryn asked.

  “He’s resting,” Mr. Stanton said. “Now take your seat.”

  What did that mean? He couldn’t give her a cryptic answer and then expect her to go on with her day as usual. “Is he in trouble because of what I asked him to do?”

  “He will be if you don’t sit down and pretend everything is normal.” Mr. Stanton pointed to her seat. “Go.”

  Bryn ground her teeth together as she walked back to her chair. Why was Mr. Stanton acting so strange? How hard was it for him to tell her what was going on? Just a sentence or two, like Keegan isn’t being interrogated or Keegan won’t have a temporary chemical lobotomy like Ferrin gave Clint a few months ago or Keegan hasn’t been eaten by piranhas. Something to let her know he was all right.

  She took notes throughout class, without really paying attention to what she wrote. If they had a quiz on this tomorrow, she was screwed. But she couldn’t concentrate. What did He’s resting mean? Time seemed to stretch out and move more slowly. When class finally ended, it took effort to stay in her seat, rather than run up to Mr. Stanton’s desk and demand answers.

  After the last student left, Mr. Stanton said, “Valmont, close the door.”

  He did as requested while Bryn’s fear for Keegan doubled.

  “You met with Keegan in the library last night to talk about why he didn’t want to have a knight.” Mr. Stanton stated this like he already knew this for a fact, but he was waiting for her to confirm the information.

  “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “The surveillance in the library has been tripled since the Directorate decided to keep offices on the top floor. The table where Keegan revealed his family secret was right below a camera. Your entire conversation was recorded and then observed by Ferrin and your grandfather.”