by D K Drake
“No. Well, maybe. A few.”
Micah peered through the window again. A row of three cars separated the Destroyer from a vast space where Silverspike lay on his side, sleeping. Jane picked up a gun that looked big enough to do some serious damage to a dragon. “I think she found one of the dragon-killing guns.”
He reached for the door knob. Kenton put his hand on Micah’s wrist. “Wait.”
“You realize that the Destroyer is about to shoot your sleeping Midnight Stalker, right?”
“Is the door of the safe in the corner open?”
He looked. “No.”
“Okay.” Kenton stood to look in the window as well. “Let’s watch. This should be a good show.”
Confused by Kenton’s nonchalance, Micah watched with building horror as the Destroyer walked past the row of cars and aimed the gun right at Silverspike’s head. Without a second of hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
Chapter 46
Lost
“I
need one of those phones.” Taliya spoke to the rain as she sat in the mud between the bushes and the back of some stranger’s house. If she had a phone, she could call Javan or Luisa or Kenton. As it was, she couldn’t contact anyone.
She hated feeling helpless, and she was done exploring Earth. She needed to get back home. Then she remembered she didn’t have a home to return to.
Home used to mean Keckrick. With Kisa. Even if she did return to Keckrick and rebuild, she wouldn’t have Kisa with her. She would have Azurrior, though. Maybe he would like it there. He might, but would she? Could she ever be satisfied being alone again now that she knew what it was like to have friends and be part of a team?
She hadn’t been a great teammate today. She sent Javan away and missed her pickup from Luisa. How long would Luisa wait for her? What would Javan do if Luisa returned without her? Would he come look for her? He would have to. He needed her to get back to Zandador. Without her, both the dragons would die.
She couldn’t wait here for him, though. He wouldn’t be looking for her here, but the soldiers might.
Through the bushes, she could see the beautiful backdrop of the conical volcano. It rose high in the sky, its cone top obscured by clouds. She smiled. That’s where she had to go. If Javan knew anything about her, that’s where he would go to find her.
◊◊◊
Micah expected Silverspike to flinch and go limp. He didn’t. He even continued sleeping.
The Destroyer pulled the trigger again and again. No bullets came out of the gun. A furious, frustrated yell erupted from the Destroyer’s otherwise silent throat as she threw the gun at Silverspike. It hit the concrete floor and slid to his nose. The noise woke him up.
“That’s our cue.” Kenton opened the door and strode inside. A long, low, menacing growl filled the building as Silverspike bared his oversized sharp teeth. Micah didn’t need Javan there to tell him what the dragon was thinking. He made sure to stay as close to the door and as far away from the angry Midnight Stalker as possible.
“The thing with guns,” Kenton said, picking the gun up off the floor, “is that they need ammunition to make them work. No bullets, no boom.”
The Destroyer set her jaw and jumped into the red car that had no roof. She scooted over the seat and situated herself behind the steering wheel.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Kenton laughed. “To go anywhere in that Mustang, you need a key.”
She dangled a key from her finger, put it in the ignition, and started the car. The engine revved, and she tore through the unopen door in front of her.
“She’s getting away!” Micah dashed to the space between the other two cars. “Which car should we take to chase her?”
“Neither.” Kenton hit a button on the wall, and the large door in front of Silverspike opened. “Silverspike, don’t let her get to the road. And try not to damage the car. Please.”
Silverspike ran out of the building. Kenton and Micah did the same. They got outside in time to see the dragon spread his wings, zoom low over the dirt road, and chase the red car. He reached it as it neared the house and picked it up with his back claw.
He made a show of swinging it back and forth on the return trip and dropped the car beside the broken door of the dragon barn. Its sides were scrunched together.
“Silverspike.” Kenton sounded exasperated. “This was my favorite car. I asked you nicely not to damage it.”
The dragon huffed while Micah reached for the door handle of the car. It fell off when he attempted to open it. He then tried to pull the Destroyer out over the top of the door, but her legs caught under the steering wheel that was wedged in her lap. “Great. I think she’s stuck.”
“Silverspike.” Kenton crossed his arms and nodded toward the car.
Silverspike huffed again. He took one pointy nail from his front claw and ripped the door opposite Micah off the car. He gave the Destroyer a nasty glare and wandered back to his building. Micah walked around the car and slid the Destroyer out across the seat. “Congratulations,” he said. “You don’t get to leave my sight ever again.”
◊◊◊
Where was Taliya? Javan had been foolish to leave her alone without a phone in a foreign country. Foolish, foolish, foolish!
She missed the pickup point hours ago, causing Luisa to scour all the shops in the area. When she couldn’t find Taliya, she returned home, and Javan set out on Varjiek to search from the air. Skylark had come as well to help. When they met over the town square for the third time, Javan said, “Let’s try the side streets again.”
I do not think she is here anymore, young Collector.
“She has to be here, Varjiek.” Javan said the words, but he didn’t believe them. A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach told him she was gone. Taken into custody by the police. Without a way to contact him. And it was his fault. “We have to keep looking.”
Yes. We must keep looking, Skylark said, but perhaps we should look in a different place.
“Where else should we look?” Javan found it odd speaking to the air. He could hear Skylark, but because she wasn’t touching Varjiek, he couldn’t see her. “I left Taliya here, and she has no transportation and no way to hire transportation.”
She has legs and can walk.
“Yes. But she doesn’t know where she is and wouldn’t know where to go.”
I see a familiar place, Varjiek said.
“What are you talking about?” One look ahead at the looming Arenal volcano answered his question. “Of course! The volcano. She did get super excited when she saw that picture in Luisa’s house. She is probably headed back to the tree where Azurrior hatched.”
I remember the way.
Moments later, with the town behind them, Javan spotted a lone figure walking along the road in front of them. “There she is!”
I see her. Varjiek landed in an open field beside the road. Javan slid off him and ran up to her.
“Taliya!”
“You found me.” A smile brightened her tired face, and she gave him a long, tight hug.
He breathed in the scent of her damp hair, and he couldn’t think of any words to say. He was just glad she was safe and in his arms.
“The dragons!” She gasped and pulled back. “How are the babies? Did Azurrior recover? Is Starshade still breathing well?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” He had to take a deep breath to regain his composure. “The dragons are fine. Let’s get back to Luisa’s so you can see them for yourself.”
Sometimes he wished she cared about him half as much as she cared about the dragons.
Chapter 47
Stubborn Starshade
An afternoon of sound sleep revived Taliya. She showered, changed into a t-shirt with a picture of the Arenal Volcano on it that Luisa bought for her, and fed the baby Dusk Stalkers. Then it was time to say good-bye to their hostess.
“Thanks for everything, Luisa.” Taliya hugged her. “Make sure you keep these dragon plants thriving. I plan to
visit a lot in the future.”
“Anytime, dear. I like company, especially company who brings dragons.” Luisa gave Taliya a cloth bag filled with the pointed purple leaves. “Take this in case dragons need.”
“Thanks again.” She stuffed the leaves in the front pocket of her backpack and checked on Azurrior. He lay curled into a blue ball at the bottom of the main section of her pack. Certain he was safe and breathing, she zipped the bag, leaving a slight opening at the top. “Let’s get you to Zandador.”
“You, too, Starshade.” Javan tugged on Starshade’s leash, but she pulled against him and sat beside Taliya.
“She doesn’t look like she wants to go,” Taliya said. “Can you still not read her thoughts?”
“No. Not at all. She knows what I’m saying to her, though. What’s her problem? Why doesn’t she like me?”
“Oh, she likes you.” Taliya hoped she did, anyway. Starshade would be a part of Javan’s collection, and Taliya couldn’t stand the thought of the dragon being miserable her entire life. She also didn’t like hearing the hurt in Javan’s voice. “I’m guessing she wants to ride back with the girls. Is that it, Starshade? You want to ride with me and Skylark?”
Starshade’s ears perked up.
“Fine.” Javan threw the leash to Taliya but spoke to Starshade as he helped them get on the back of Skylark. “Be a traitor.”
“Why don’t you take Azurrior.” She took a deep breath and handed her pack with Azurrior in it to Javan. For the sake of the Dusk Stalkers, she didn’t want to be responsible for both of the babies on the flight back. “That way he can bond with the guys on the ride home.”
“You good with that, Azurrior?” Azurrior poked his head out of the bag, licked Javan, and retreated to the depths of the bag once more.
“I think that’s a yes,” Taliya said, a twinge of jealousy marking her words. Her dragon had never licked her face before.
“Shall we fly?”
“Of course.” She and Javan hefted Starshade onto Skylark. After Javan helped her up, she leaned forward to whisper into Skylark’s ear. “I know you have the bulkier load with both me and Starshade, but can you still fly faster than the boys? I want to be the first ones back.”
Skylark huffed a puff of smoke in Varjiek’s face and took to the air. Taliya looked down, surveyed the garden below and the volcano in the distance. She hoped she would be back soon. She liked this place on Earth best of all.
◊◊◊
“Eight ball. Corner pocket.” Micah rubbed the top of his pool stick with the chalk. He was one shot away from beating Kenton for the first time all day. He leaned over the green felt table and lined up his shot. He would have to scrape the edge of the black ball with the white ball at just the right angle to make the shot work. Breathe in. Breathe out. Shoot.
The stick hit the white ball. It did exactly as he envisioned, and the black ball went into the hole. “Yes! Victory!”
“Good shot. Now can we quit?”
Micah’s sense of accomplishment suddenly felt empty. They had begun playing after the Silverspike incident that morning and had only taken a short dinner break. Which the Destroyer hadn’t eaten. She sulked in the corner while tied in a chair from shoulders to toes while he and Kenton played pool. “You let me win so we could quit.”
“You played a good game.”
“Did you let me win?”
Kenton shrugged. “I might have missed a shot or two I wouldn’t normally miss.”
“Rack them up.” Micah started taking the balls out from the sides of the tables. “We’re playing again. This time play your best.”
“You asked for it.” Kenton racked the balls. “You want to break?”
“Yep.” Micah prepped for his shot. With this table on top of the pizza and television and clothes, he was liking this world more and more. He never knew how much fun life could be. As he was about to make his opening shot, a rap on the basement door broke his concentration. He hit the top of the ball, and it weakly rolled across the table. The triangle of balls barely broke.
“You’re making this too easy.”
“Just take your shot. I’ll get the door.” Micah stomped to the door. The sight of Javan holding a sleeping dragon signaled a return to reality. Fun was done. Probably for the rest of his long, miserable life. He growled and threw his cue stick against the wall.
And that’s when the startled dragon woke up.
◊◊◊
Starshade squirmed, hissed, and jumped out of Javan’s arms. Before he could say a word to calm her down, she zipped around the room, scrambled over the pool table, and up the stairs. He heard her bumping into chairs and cabinets above them. Seconds later, she leapt down the staircase and into the storage room through a ragged hole in the wall. “Quick,” Javan said, finally regaining his ability to move, “block that hole!”
Kenton made it to the wall first and used his back to cover the hole.
“Wow!” Taliya closed the basement door behind her, cradling the sleeping Azurrior in her arms. “She sure is fast.”
Javan eased the door of the storage room open wide enough to see inside. Starshade ran in confused circles around the small room. Without any way for her to get out, he closed the door and let her run. Then he asked, “Why is there a hole in the wall?”
“Talk to Jane Smith about that one,” Micah said. He waved his arm in the direction of the Destroyer who was tied to a chair. “Near as we can figure, she stole a knife from the diner we went to this morning and used it to cut her way out of that room to kill Silverspike.”
Javan had to grip the doorknob tighter to keep from falling. “She killed Silverspike?”
“Had I kept my guns loaded she would have,” Kenton said, “but the big guy is fine. No worries. On to you. I want to know why you didn’t tell me you could teleport and make yourself invisible.”
“I can teleport and make myself invisible.” He smiled. “Pretty cool, right?”
“Not cool. That little stunt of yours has gone viral.”
“You mean I’m famous?”
“Famous is bad. Famous brings attention to the fact that there is a dragon alive in this dimension.”
“Nobody thinks Azurrior is a dragon. Even if they did, it won’t matter. We’ll be heading back to Zandador soon.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know.” The wall vibrated as Starshade thumped into it. Javan resisted the temptation to open the door and check on her. “Tomorrow night? I sure could use a day of just being a teenager before I return to the overwhelming responsibility of becoming king.”
“Speaking of returning,” Micah said, “what exactly is our plan for getting through the portal?”
“Why do we need a plan? Taliya does her open the portal thing, and we fly through on the invisible Varjiek. Nothing to it.”
“Not quite.” Micah shook his head. “Once the portal opens, the soldiers on patrol—and there will be a lot of them—will be expecting someone or something to come through. The standard procedure is to block the portal with a formation of okties and shoot whoever enters Zandador without permission. Varjiek may be invisible, but he’ll still slam into the airborne soldiers. Then we’ll have a fight on our hands while he is carrying four humans and two baby dragons.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Javan slid down the wall and plopped on the floor. Why had he assumed getting back to Zandador would be easier than getting to Earth? And why hadn’t Ravier helped him devise a plan to return?
Because he didn’t need Ravier when he had Kenton.
“Got it!” Javan snapped and stood. “Kenton, you and your dragons will come with us.”
“What? No.” Kenton shook his head. “It’s too risky. I can’t return as long as Omri is still the king.”
“If you don’t return with us, he may remain king. The only way to get through that heavily guarded portal is to hit them with three dragons instead of one.” Javan put his hand on Kenton’s shoulder. “You’ve been hiding long
enough. It’s time to come home.”
Kenton sighed. “Fine. I’ll come. But if this is going to be my last night on Earth, I’m not going to spend it standing in front of a hole in the wall. That’s your dragon in there. You keep her contained.” He slapped Javan on the back and marched up the stairs.
With Kenton gone, Javan peered into the room through the hole and watched Starshade run in circles, occasionally ramming into one wall or another.
If he had trouble keeping up with her when she was this small, how was he ever going to catch her and ride her when she became a full-sized dragon?
Chapter 48
A True Battle
Not true.
Taliya launched herself up in bed, certain she had finally deciphered the words the Destroyer mouthed to her when Javan mentioned that the only way to get through the portal was with three dragons. What did the Destroyer know that the rest of them didn’t?
Azurrior stirred on the pillow beside her. His blue body looked black in Kenton’s darkened bedroom against the white pillowcase, and he looked up at her with tired eyes.
“Sorry to disturb you, pal. I think that evil woman downstairs was trying to tell me something. I’m sure she was staring right at me when she mouthed those two words. The fact that she didn’t speak up when everyone was present means she wants to talk to me alone. Right?”
Azurrior had ceased to care and was once again snoozing.
“I bet everyone else is sleeping, too. This may be my only chance to get the Destroyer to talk.” Taliya slipped out of bed but paused at the door. “What am I doing? I can’t leave you alone in here. No telling what kind of trouble you might get yourself into if you decide to wake up.”
She returned to the bed, picked up the pillow Azurrior slept on, and carried him to Kenton’s office where Javan was sleeping in front of the desk on what Kenton had called an air mattress. Moonlight crept into the room through the blinds on the window. Javan slept in the shadow created by the desk, but an alert Starshade approached her from the corner.