by Laurence Yep
The next moment, a net dropped down on them, pinning them to the floor beneath a mesh of heavy steel wires.
39
Leech
The butterflies clinked against the metal wires as they tried to heave off the net, but it was too heavy.
Fighting down his own panic, Leech suggested, “Let’s try to lift up one side and crawl out.” But strain as they might, they could not raise the net one inch.
“There must be a magical spell to hold it down,” Scirye panted.
Leech felt the cable strands press against him as if the net were pulling them harder against the ground. “Is it my imagination or is the net tightening?”
“I think it is too,” grunted Scirye. “Which means it won’t be long before the mesh begins to cut through the butterflies into our skin.”
“No one’s going to slice me up like a hunk of baloney,” Koko said, and then he said to the butterflies, “Scram, bugs.” When they didn’t leave right away, he hunted for words they would understand. “Hit the road, vamoose.” Exasperated, the badger tried politeness. “Pretty please with sugar on top, go away, butterflies.”
Immediately a cloud of butterflies floated away from the badger and upward through the mesh to float a couple of yards overhead.
It was hard for the badger to move his paws under the net but somehow he managed to make the magical signs of his spell. Finally, his shape began to shimmer, and the next moment hundreds of tiny Koko’s crawled through the interstices between the mesh.
“Ah,” Scirye said appreciatively, “very nice.”
“Yeah,” the tiny Kokos chorused as they stretched. “I’ve never done this many of me or this small.”
“A victim must have to be a certain size for the trap to trigger,” Leech said thoughtfully. “Otherwise it would be trying to catch a passing mosquito.”
“So how do I get you out of the net?” Koko wondered.
“I don’t think the villa was ever intended to be a real prison, so Roland had to improvise some extra magical defenses.” With difficulty, Scirye turned her head to look around. “Over there by the doorway. See the paper with the writing in red ink? Try tearing that up.”
The air began to shimmer again as the Koko’s ran together. “That tickles a lot,” he giggled. Slowly the glowing area expanded until Koko was whole once more. Quickly he went to the doorway and stretched up a hand and grabbed the yellow strip.
As soon as he tore it in half, the net’s strands began to soften and then shrink until they were simply a lace of paper strips.
When Leech sat up, the strands tore and fell away. Flying into the mansion with its narrow spaces filled with furniture was too hazardous, so he said to his own coating of butterflies, “Release me.”
They dispersed, and next to him Scirye freed her own butterflies. Together, the butterflies joined the swarm glowing over their heads.
Kles rose after the butterflies. His fur and feathers were tangled and matted with sweat, but he still managed a dignified bow. “I apologize for any doubts I had for your magic, Koko.”
“Too bad it’s my only trick,” Koko sighed.
“Kles, go on,” Scirye instructed. “Bayang may need your help.”
“As you wish, lady.” With a wave of a forepaw, the griffin shot into the building.
40
Bayang
The vizier had begun pacing back and forth impatiently, checking the corridor every few seconds for his guards to bring him news. But the only one who came was Momo.
“It’s payday, my lord,” the badger said with a bow.
The vizier backhanded the badger across the muzzle and she gave a shrill cry of surprise. “You’re too much of a chatterbox to leave around.” And he drew a stiletto from a sheath on his belt.
“Mama warned me there’d be days like this,” Momo said as she darted toward the doorway.
The vizier tried to block her way, but the badger nimbly dropped to all fours and scooted between his legs as if she were used to eluding taller, bigger humans.
He took a step after her but caught himself and turned back to the cage. “Well, at least I can get rid of you.”
Bayang balanced on the balls of her hind paws when the vizier raised his dagger to shoulder level with the blade parallel to the floor. Time seemed to slow into a series of moments, each heartbeat taking an eternity. When the vizier’s right foot stamped on the marble floor, he lunged. Immediately, Bayang threw herself against one side of the cage and grunted at the shock. The pain was worth it though. The dagger’s point scraped a cage bar as it penetrated the spot where she had been.
Her claws shot out to grab the blade, but the vizier was too quick and slid it away.
As the cage started to swing back and forth like a pendulum, Bayang thought to herself, I’ve got to make myself a harder target to hit.
She began to slam against the bars, making the cage rock from side to side violently and ignoring how much it hurt.
“Hold still,” the vizier said petulantly. He reached out to steady the cage.
“You’ll be sorry if you do that,” Bayang said.
“I can suffer anything if I can sit on the throne at the end.” The vizier smiled.
I hope this hurts him more than it hurts me, she thought savagely. As soon as his hand was in contact with the cage, she spun, jabbing her tail hard through the bars to strike the vizier’s hand.
She timed the blow perfectly. The vizier cried out and hopped back, wringing his hand. “You foul creature!” A wicked smile spread across his face when he noticed the fireplace. “You’ll wish I had stabbed you when I roast you alive.”
As the vizier walked toward the fireplace, Bayang said to herself, Maybe I can twist the cage off the chain.
Heedless of the pain, Bayang began to throw herself back and forth and from side to side so that the cage began to spin crazily as it swung. If I could only break a link on the chain.
The vizier carefully took a burning branch from the fire and held it up like a torch. “Let’s see how you like this.” He held the torch up so the cage would swing into it.
Within the cage, the torch looked like a blazing wall. Bayang instinctively began to cringe. Fire licked at the bars, heating the metal so it was red hot, and then, as the cage passed through them, the flames reached for Bayang hungrily.
I’m sorry, Leech, she thought. I meant to do so much more for you.
Suddenly she heard a familiar voice cry, “Tarkär, Tarkär!”
She saw Kles dart through the doorway like a thunderbolt of fur and feathers heading straight for the vizier.
41
Scirye
When she heard the hollering, Scirye dashed forward, not caring if there were any more traps. Dodging around furniture and tripping over rugs, she followed Kles’s furious battle cries and the wailing of a man in terror and in pain. Panting, she paused in the doorway long enough to see Bayang in a tiny cage suspended by a chain from the ceiling. The dragon was no bigger than a parakeet and shouting encouragement in a shrill, high voice to Kles.
The griffin flapped his wings as his claws raked at the vizier’s arms, which the man had thrown up protectively over his face. From the way Kles’s feather and fur had puffed out, battle madness must have taken over the griffin. She knew that, seized by the rage, a griffin would keep attacking until he or she dropped from exhaustion.
Taking out her dagger, she crossed the room until she was only a couple of yards away. “Kles, this is your mistress, Lady Scirye,” she ordered in a loud, firm voice. “Stop.”
It took a moment for her words to register, even more for the griffin to understand them, but he rose shakily into the air.
Free of his attacker, the vizier lowered his arms and snarled. “You! Roland said you were pests.”
“Give up,” Scirye said, raising her dagger threateningly.
“Never,” he growled and, whirling around, he threw himself through the window. The wooden frame and glass panes shattered beneath his wei
ght and then he was sprawled on the lawn.
Kles would have pursued the vizier, but Scirye called again to him. “Kles, stay with me. Bayang is our first concern.”
Kles drew a shaky breath. “Then we’d better do it soon, lady.” Already, they could hear the vizier bawling for his guards as he scrambled away.
“What happened to Momo?” Koko puffed as he stumbled into the room.
“She ran away when the vizier tried to kill me,” Bayang said.
Koko glared. “I ought to knock his block off.”
“You can settle with him later. He got away.” Scirye pointed her dagger at the broken window as she stamped out the fiery torch that the vizier had dropped.
“We have to escape ourselves,” Bayang said. “Roland and Badik are already on their way to the city, but they’re taking equipment that’s so heavy they have to drive to the City of Death in trucks.” The dragon added bitterly, “If only I could fly, we might beat them there.”
“Roland’s heading into a trap. The emperor has sent troops there,” Leech said.
“Yes, but the troops are the vizier’s own guards,” Bayang said. “They’re probably under orders to cooperate with Roland.”
Koko let out a whistle. “That’s like sending chickens to stop a fox.”
Scirye studied the cage intently. “First things first, let’s get you out of there.”
“Don’t touch the cage or you’ll get a shock,” Bayang warned. “And the more force you use, the greater the pain.”
The dragon was standing in the same pose that Scirye had seen originally, standing erect on her hind legs, hunched forward slightly to keep her head from brushing the top, her forelegs dangling in front of her, tail coiled around her stomach.
The position looked uncomfortable, and from the way the dragon’s body trembled, it didn’t seem like she could keep it up for much longer. This was one more score to settle with Roland and Badik as well as the vizier.
“How do we get Bayang out?” Leech wondered.
“Could you shrink some more?” Kles asked the dragon.
The dragon was shaking with fatigue now. “There’s a second spell on this cage that keeps me from working magic. They must have shrunk me to this size while I was out and then put me in here.”
Koko closed the door and braced a chair underneath the doorknob. “Well, you better come up with something fast.”
Scirye bent over so she could peer up at the underside of the cage. The bars arched from a ring at the top down to a wider ring at the bottom. The cage’s floor was screwed on to the lower ring. “I bet we can loosen the base.”
“No, don’t touch the cage,” Bayang said, worried.
“We’ve come too far and done too much just to leave you here.” When Scirye set the tip of the dagger against the first screw, she felt a shock. Bayang put up with a lot worse, she told herself, and trying to ignore the pain, began to turn the screw counterclockwise.
Her hands were aching by the time the first screw dropped out. “Let me do the next one,” Leech said, taking out his dagger.
There were four screws in all, and Scirye spelled Leech with the third one. Though it was slower, she used her left hand this time.
When the third screw fell away from the cage, there was a slight gap between its base and the bottom ring. Scirye began to massage her hands, feeling the ache leave quickly.
Licking his lips, Leech began to work on the last screw, but he had no more given it several turns when Koko called softly from the doorway. “Someone’s coming.” From the hallway, they could hear the guards’ booted feet thudding on the floor.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Leech said. Sheathing his knife, he grabbed the cage with one hand and the base with the other. He cried out with shock and began to shake.
“Are you mad?” Kles asked anxiously. “Let go.”
“Yes, get away while you can,” Bayang urged.
“Not without you,” Leech said. Gritting his teeth, he pulled at the base. Crying out as metal screeched and the gap widened.
“That’ll do,” Bayang said. Letting go of the perch, she thumped against the bottom of the cage, writhing in agony at the contact. And yet her claws didn’t stop scrabbling toward the gap until she slithered through.
Scirye was ready with outstretched hands, catching the dragon neatly. Gently, she cradled her pain-wracked friend against her stomach.
Bayang looked over at Leech and then up at her. The dragon was more concerned by her friends’ injuries than her own. “Are … are you all right?” she asked.
“My hands are just a little sore,” Scirye said.
Leech was flexing his fingers. “Same here.”
“Then set me down on the floor,” Bayang said as she sat up on Scirye’s palms.
“But you’re hurt,” Scirye protested.
The dragon flinched when she tried to shrug. “What’s a few more aches and pains if it can keep my friends alive?”
When Scirye had obeyed Bayang, the dragon began to move her paws in the magical gestures, but it was without her usual grace and speed. And she was panting by the time she began to shimmer at the finish of the spell. The iridescent cloud swelled.
“Out of the way,” Koko said as he backed up hastily. Running to Leech, Scirye helped him get on all fours so he could scramble away in a half-run, half-crawl.
The next moment, the cloud solidified into about ten feet of very solid dragon. “Ah, that’s better,” she declared as she knocked tables and chairs over with loud crashes. “Koko, get the axes.”
The badger fetched the sacred weapons, and after everyone had climbed onto her back, they all crouched low as the dragon slithered through a hole she had made in the wall.
As they slipped out into the cold night air, the door crashed open behind them. “Shoot, shoot,” one of the guards shouted.
Bullets spanged the dirt behind them as Bayang began to gallop toward the lake.
42
Scirye
As Bayang limped along a path past the shrubs and toward the lake, Māka and Tute raced toward them across the empty flower beds. Māka’s gaudy robe was torn and muddy and the lynx’s ear was notched by a cut. “So you’re still alive,” Tute called. The lynx seemed genuinely surprised.
“I’m glad I can say the same thing about you,” Scirye said, giving the sorceress a hug. “So your spells worked?”
Māka blushed. “No, but my club did the trick.”
Bayang swung her head around at a loud splash and stared at the roiling surface of the lake. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Nandi,” Scirye said.
The dragon scratched her cheek with a rasping sound of claw on scale. “Who or what is Nandi?”
Suddenly the makara burst out of the lake, wagging its head from side to side, but Nandi was still wrapped around it like a silvery scarf.
“Nandi’s the guy acting like a blindfold,” Koko said.
“He’s Upach’s brother,” Scirye explained. “Prince Tarkhun’s great-aunt, Princess Catisa, sent him and the butterflies to help us. He started fighting the makara so we could rescue you. He must not be strong enough to kill it, but he can confuse it.”
“Princess? Butterflies?” Bayang asked and then raised a paw. “Never mind. You better tell me later. But this is going to be some story.”
Bullets pinged against the path’s flagstones from the mansion. “First, I’ll get you all to safety,” Bayang said. “Then I’ll help this Nandi.” Bayang tried to gallop, but her stiff legs only managed a shambling trot.
Shots sent dirt spurting up from the flower bed next to them. A squad of guardsmen were aiming their rifles at them.
“I’ll distract these pests,” Kles said, wheeling around.
“No, Kles, it’s too dangerous,” Scirye called.
“I can’t let them shoot you,” he said as he flew back toward the guards on the path.
She consoled herself with the fact that though his fur and feathers were ruffled, they weren�
��t puffed out, which meant he wasn’t lost in his battle rage. “Then don’t be a hero. Leave as soon as we’re safe.”
She felt a lump in her throat as her friend dove toward the guards’ heads, disrupting their aim. Was there ever a braver griffin? she wondered to herself. Unable to shoot the griffin when he was right among them, two of the frustrated guards swung their rifles like clubs. Kles dodged their blows as he clawed at faces, bit hands, struck stunning blows with his wings, and created havoc wherever he could.
All she could do now was face forward as Bayang swung her wings over them protectively and surged into the lake.
43
Bayang
The lake was cold, but Bayang was used to the chilly depths of the sea, so the waters seemed like a warm bath that eased some of her aches away. She was free now and back with her hatchlings and she would never lose them again, and that determination refreshed her spirit just as the lake renewed her body.
She thought again of Leech’s face as he tried to rip the bottom from the cage. He had been in such pain that she felt guilty for thinking that Lee No Cha had woken up. Lee would never have sacrificed himself for a dragon that way.
Churning up the lake’s surface, the makara was shaking its head back and forth like a metronome with Nandi’s silvery body wrapped around its head like a thin scarf. From the island, she could see the guards running onto the bridge, followed by the vizier. “Hurry, set up the machine gun,” the vizier ordered shrilly.
Bayang’s heart sank when she saw a pair of guards lift up a long weapon, resting the bipod near the gun muzzle on the bridge balustrade.
“Time to play submarine,” Koko urged.
Before Bayang could submerge, though, the vizier began shouting, “Go way!”
She twisted her head around on her long neck to see him waving his arms frantically at the makara bearing down toward him.
The monster shook its head in frustration, and Bayang saw that Nandi’s misty tendrils were pulling at the makara’s nostrils just as a bull was led by a ring through its nose.
Waves rose higher and higher before the makara’s body like an ocean linger plowing forward relentlessly.