“SJ,” I called. “Do you think you could use your silver portable potions to freeze this thing from the inside out like you did with Lucky?”
“Lucky was a tenth the size of this dragon, Crisa,” she replied. “There is no way it would have the same effect.”
“But would it slow the dragon down?”
“Yes . . .” SJ said. She got a distant look in her eyes as she did some calculations in her head. “But it would take at least five potions and you would have to get them inside the dragon’s mouth like you did with Lucky. External shots will likely just annoy it.”
Jason turned to me. “What’s the play, Crisa?”
“With a creature that size and speed, I won’t be able to project my power telepathically. I’ll need to touch the dragon—get on its back somehow. So we’re going to run the same maneuver we did the last time a dragon caused this city trouble.” I pointed to the stairs of the Capitol. “See those guards? We need their ammo. And we need some Pegasi too. Kai—are you a good flyer?”
“Honestly, no,” she replied. “I’ve never ridden a Pegasus. I’m a good shot, though.”
“All right. Jason, you fly with SJ. She said potions could annoy the dragon, and that’s exactly what we need. Distract the beast while the rest of us get into position. Blue, you’re with Kai. You fly; she’ll take the pivotal shot. We need the dragon to open its mouth for a big roar so we can get the ice potions inside. Strike it in the armpit; we know from experience that’s a weak spot for dragons.”
I morphed my wand into a lacrosse sword and handed it to Daniel. “Think you can sink those potions into the creature’s mouth?”
“Definitely.” He turned to Kai. “I’ll circle around the city to give you time, then I’ll come at it head on. When I’m about two hundred feet from the dragon’s face, take your shot.”
Kai nodded in understanding.
“I’ll be following Daniel,” I continued. “So if SJ’s right, and he gets the potions into the dragon’s mouth, the ice should slow it down enough for me to get on its back and weaken it enough to make taking its life easier. That’s our play.”
“And here I thought you were going to ask us to do something difficult,” Blue scoffed. She shook her head and holstered her knife. “Okay, you heard the woman,” she said to the others. “Good hunting, everybody.”
SJ gave Daniel a handful of silver portable potions, which he shoved into his pocket. Kai borrowed a bow and quiver of arrows from one of the incapacitated guards and hopped on the back of a Pegasus with Blue. Jason and SJ mounted another steed and soared into the sky ahead of them, their Pegasus’s neon green wings pumping powerfully.
I had just wrangled a Pegasus of my own when I saw Daniel take off. Riding a white steed with deep purple wings, he headed in the opposite direction of our friends. He planned on taking the long way around the city and coming up on the dragon from its other side.
I swung my leg over my steed and followed him. My Pegasus’s nostrils exuded cobalt and orange smoke. At the speed we were flying, it looked like the runaway exhaust of a candy factory. The creature’s eyes were radiant blue, his coat and mane were silver, and his glistening wings were a vibrant shade of tangerine with streaks of turquoise. As I sped through the city, the bright colors flashed against building windowpanes in quick streaks.
Soon the dragon’s roars changed to angry howls following the sounds of explostions. SJ and her portable potions were doing their duty.
When Daniel and I were on the final leg of our city lap, we had a perfect view of the action. SJ hit the dragon’s neck with a series of three explosion potions. The fire consumed the creature’s clavicle like a flamboyant collar, and the dragon screeched and flapped its enormous wings to propel its body farther into the open sky. The creature flew past SJ and Jason and all the other Pegasi and battle carriages that had been contributing to the assault. It was at this point that I saw Blue and Kai’s Pegasus trailing the dragon—staying so close to its underside that it didn’t detect them.
Daniel and I followed the dragon’s trajectory, but it was difficult. The mighty gusts of wind the dragon’s wing flaps produced pushed us off course. To avoid them, we had to fly in erratic zags. Once we broke the skyline I held my position while Daniel continued on. I gripped the reins of my Pegasus and waited anxiously as I watched his glistening steed speed across the navy sky. The dragon’s belly began to turn a warm orange color. It was almost recharged and was priming to unleash more fireballs.
The battle carriages had reached the dragon’s altitude again and were doing their best to beset the creature alongside SJ and Jason. Tired of being pelted by arrows, the dragon leveled off and started whipping its mighty tail around to take out enemies. Two carriages were knocked from the sky. Blue and Kai remained directly below the monster’s stomach, working hard to stay close and unseen. Daniel was now inbound and getting closer.
The dragon’s gut was vibrant tangerine. I could almost feel the heat of the flames being generated within it. We had seconds before that firepower was unleashed. I kicked my Pegasus into high gear just as Blue and Kai whizzed under the dragon’s right wing. Like a seagull skimming the ocean for fish, they went in so close that if the dragon deviated and Blue’s reaction time was anything short of perfect, they would’ve been done for.
As Blue and Kai made their move, the dragon spotted Daniel. It seemed to take my friend’s head-on approach as a challenge—or at least a good outlet for aggression. The two flew right at each other, primed for a collision. Part of me wanted to look away in fear that he might get roasted out of the sky. But all of a sudden, the dragon roared powerfully and lurched instead. Kai’s arrow aim had been true. Daniel fired the volley of ice potions. I was too far away to see them enter the dragon’s gullet, but the fact that its underbelly rapidly changed from orange to silver was proof that the strike had been successful. Daniel performed a tight U-turn and swooped low to evade the dragon. Blue and Kai, too, had fallen back, as had SJ and Jason, and the Century City carriages. Everyone was a safe distance from the creature as it started to lose altitude and spiral toward the city.
Ice hardened at the corners of the dragon’s mouth and seemed to seep out of its scales. Still, as suspected, this was not enough to take down the beast completely. Although the potions made the dragon stop spitting fireballs and were weakening it, the monster had a lot of ferocity. It was able to control its plummet and aim for the city center—flapping its wings as ardently as the ice would allow.
As the dragon barreled past me, I planted a forceful kick into my Pegasus’s side and we pursued our target. The closer I got to the beast, the more I could see the frost covering its scales, slowing it down and painting the black with frosty blue. The skyscrapers it rammed into (whether intentional or not) were helping to slow it too, allowing me to finally catch up. As we passed through downtown, my Pegasus and I were flying six feet above the creature’s back. Ridges protruded from the monster’s spine near the neck. It was now or never. I swung my leg over my Pegasus’s head and jumped.
I landed on the dragon’s back roughly and lunged to wrap my arms around one of the ridges—and not a moment too soon. The dragon suddenly turned ninety degrees and started to fly straight up. The grip I had on the spike was all that kept me from being thrown off.
The dragon’s claws and tail scraped against the skyscraper in front of us as it ascended, causing glass to fall violently in our wake. I glanced back at the partially gored building—metal beams and structural framework splaying outward like broken bones.
Levelling out above the city again, the dragon shook its wings to shed some ice. The advantage from SJ’s potions was fading fast. Battle carriages and Pegasi were far away; this assault was all on me.
I dug my boots into the folds of the dragon’s scales for support. In that precarious state of speeding winds and tumultuous flight, I found my courage. I focused on the energy inside the dragon, convincing myself that it was mine for the taking. I had given this creat
ure life, after all. I’d started its heartbeat with nothing more than my own will. So I could reclaim it in the same way. I would reclaim it in the same way.
I channeled my abilities without letting Magic Instinct have free rein. This time I didn’t need it. The Pure Magic inside of me felt strong, pumping with greater earnesty since my last two uses. I harnessed that magic alongside my emotions to the tune of my greatest will and capability. I actively chose to cross the Malice Line with the full extent of my power.
Golden essence exuded from me, lighting up a sky otherwise thrusted in night. There was no question that this task required way more strength than I’d needed with the Giant of Geene or the snake in the Temple of Malbona. And yet, I found that my connection with the dragon was easier to focus on because what was inside of it had once been inside of me. I was drawn to the creature’s life energy like a powerful magnet attracting coins buried in the sand. The link its energy had to me was too ardent to be completely severed.
I hadn’t realized it, but I’d closed my eyes at some point. When I opened them again, my golden glow had completely encased the dragon. Energy flooded in and out of me so intensely that I wondered if I would sooner burn up rather than magically Burn Out. I gripped the dragon’s spine ridge tighter as we plummeted toward the city. The creature began to disintegrate around me. Black scales turned to black dust, mixing with the glowing aura of my magic like the world’s trippiest fog.
In that dangerous moment, I suddenly appreciated how meteorites felt as they plunged to the world—with every passing second they were closer to crumbling from the rush of their own might.
The dragon was about a third disintegrated when we fell past the skyline. Its continuous roars now sounded painful and frightened, not full of rage like before. My glow enveloping the monster was not pure gold anymore either. As it did whenever I crossed the Malice Line, the energy I produced had become a swirl of gold and gray like a magical frozen yogurt combo. The gray was more noticeable this time though. This was darker magic than I’d ever used, and I was using it unapologetically.
What remained of the dragon thrashed aggressively as we careened forward. I think it could sense me on top of it and was trying to buck me off. Admirable, but pointless. It could struggle all it wanted; I refused to let go until the job was finished. Even as the dragon thwacked into buildings and zigzagged over the streets of terrified people, I did not yield. I was almost there. It was dying. I could feel it. With every passing second, I could sense its heartbeat slow as mine sped up. My magic burned inside of me in the most satisfying way.
The Capitol Building and its roundabout came into view. It was clear from our speed and incline that we were going to crash. Holes of disintegration tore across the dragon’s wings—starting small and then spreading like fire through gossamer curtains. Most of the dragon’s torso was a blur of ash-like dust now. Its head was trapped in a gold and gray cocoon of energy that was searing it into nonexistence.
Then—unmistakably—the dragon died. I felt it in my bones. I knew there was no life left inside of it for me to drain. The thing I was riding was nothing more than an out-of-control carcass. My glow returned to me as the monster and I tumbled toward the Capitol.
I hung onto the dragon’s neck ridge, but then it magically decomposed as well and I flew backward into the air. I freaked for an instant, expecting to smash into a building or just flail and fall until I eventually splattered onto the pavement. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I did flail a bit, but a rescue came soon enough. In hindsight, maybe I was stupid to ever think that it wouldn’t. With friends like mine, there was always someone to catch you when you fell.
“Knight!”
A flash of purple came straight at me. Daniel reached out and I grabbed his outstretched hand. His Pegasus careened from the sudden added weight, and Daniel’s body jerked down, but he didn’t drop me. I didn’t suspect that he would.
“Thanks!” I called to him.
“Hang on!”
What was left of the dragon plowed into the center of the roundabout, finishing its journey in the exact place where it had begun. Daniel let go of my hand when I was a few feet above the steps of the Capitol Building and landed his Pegasus nearer to the top of the stairs.
I stood up straighter and turned to look over the wreckage. Smoke rose from buildings across the skyline. Stillness had replaced the screaming as the city eased away from its state of shock. People started coming out of their hiding places. Century City guards on Pegasi descended, but many carriages continued to fly overhead, likely searching for injured or trapped people.
Kai and Blue, as well as Jason and SJ, landed on the street in front of the Capitol.
“You okay?” Blue called as she dismounted, carrying my lacrosse sword. Daniel must’ve passed it to her when he had come after me. She headed over to the staircase and tossed it to my waiting hand. I transformed the wand back to pin form and tucked it away.
“Yeah. Are you guys okay?” I asked.
“A little traumatized, but we’ll live,” Jason responded.
“What about your magic, Crisa?” SJ asked gently. “What you did, it was . . .” She swallowed hard and glanced at the remains of the dragon. The thing was still magically disintegrating—gold and gray energy swirled into the air away from it like steam.
“How do you feel?” SJ managed.
I wanted to say that I felt weak, or tired, or disconcerted. But the truth was that absorbing the life from that dragon had left me feeling stronger than I ever thought possible.
“Powerful,” I replied, much to the surprise of SJ and the others.
“Good,” Daniel said as he came down the steps. “We’re going to need it.”
He pointed up at the silver clock beneath the cracked cupola. One tick, two ticks, three ticks and . . . The clock struck 7:30 p.m.
I felt a surge of palpable energy wash over the city. My friends sensed it too, and as one, we looked up. Color crept across the ceiling of the world. Shades of green and pink and purple drifted in like tides. It was radiant and graceful but had an unmistakable essence of strength.
I thought I’d felt powerful before, but as the Vicennalia Aurora began, the magic inside of me might as well have been electric. It prickled under my skin, just dying to be released again.
“We have to get to Oz,” I said.
“How?” Blue asked. “All the Portalscape doors are blocked with Shadows.”
I activated my Hole Tracker. As I’d suspected, a huge array of portals appeared over the holographic display. There were dozens of them. Orange, red, silver, even a couple black holes were showing up (which I hadn’t seen in a long time and still didn’t fully understand). According to the coordinates, the closest hole was an orange one about a quarter mile away.
Book was seven realms from Oz in both the counterclockwise and clockwise direction of the Wonderland sequence. With the frequency that the wormholes were appearing, we could still get to our destination in time by portal-hopping. It was our only chance.
“Come on,” I said. “We’re going clockwise. Grab the Pegasi.”
Jason, Blue, SJ, and Daniel made for our steeds, which had scampered up the stairs. I took one more view of the city. The destruction was colossal. It would take a long while to rebuild. And even after that, I knew things would never be the same. There was a scar on this city. The horror of this memory would be as firmly indented in the people as it was in the sidewalk.
“You made a mistake.”
I turned around to find Kai standing on the step behind me. She had not said a word since we’d landed. Her arms were crossed and her gaze was fixed vacantly on the streets. The glow of the Aurora highlighted the shadows on her face and the severity in her eyes.
“Kai . . .”
“Forget it,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You saved me, Crisa, and I’m grateful. But I didn’t ask for it. This city didn’t ask for it.”
She shook her head and met my gaze. Then she said t
he very thing I was afraid was true.
“You made the wrong choice. You should have let me die.”
hile the others corralled the Pegasi for our next move, I decided to call for backup with SJ’s Mark Two.
“Merlin.”
I didn’t even know if the wizard had a compact, but I had to try. After a moment, he answered.
“Crisa, how are you doing?” he asked.
“Fine, not dead, saved the others,” I summarized. “Has your Pure Magic recuperated yet?”
“Fairly so,” he replied. “The Vicennalia Aurora is helping to speed up my recovery tremendously.”
“Good. We need your help. Get to Oz. Borrow the Hole Tracker Peter took off Rampart. Do you know how to use one?”
“Crisa, please,” he huffed, insulted.
“All right, terrific. Just don’t use a Portalscape Portal. Most of the doorways are blocked with Shadows. You’ll have to portal-hop through the Wonderland sequence. Meet us at the base of the North Mountains of Oz. We’re going to need you to make us invisible so we can get past Glinda. Arian had those magic hunters kill you so they could take your magic for that reason.”
“Hm. Not a bad plan.”
“Merlin.”
“Right, North Mountains. Got it. I’ll meet you there.”
I hung up the Mark Two and shoved it in my boot as my friends returned with three Pegasi. Kai had begun collecting arrows after bestowing her judgment on me—she was filling a quiver with them so she could continue to use her bow in addition to her sheathed sword. Once done, she ran over to Daniel and mounted his steed with him. I avoided her gaze. We needed space from each other, but since that wasn’t an option right now, evading the issue directly seemed like the next best thing.
Crisanta Knight: The Lost King Page 20