She got dressed and checked for the key card again. Then she rustled Max.
“Another drill? I hate you,” said Max.
“No, we're going to Landborne. Remember?”
“Oh yeah. I still hate you.”
They met Jordan on their way up to Landborne level. He was carrying a full duffle bag.
“Seriously, this is the earliest I've been up in years,” said Jordan.
“Another reason why it's the perfect time,” said Morgan. “Remember that you can only wait a minute or two before starting part two of the plan. I don't want to be alone with Norcross any longer than I have to.”
“Don't worry, we've got this.” He shook his bag. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to use these all year.”
“Yeah. We’ll give you as much time as we can to find the sword,” said Max. They bumped fists and Morgan approached the entrance to Landborne. The double-doorway opened and she stepped through.
You're sure about this? I could still do the flaming dragon thing.
I thought we were supposed to be the good guys.
Sure. We're just good guys with a bad cough. And we just happen to be coughing fire at Landborne level.
Morgan resisted laughing. If this level was the same as Airborne, then the room for Norcross would be the tenth door down the walkway. It was now or never.
Just like their previous attempt at a prank, she ran down the walkway, pounding several times on each door as she passed it. When she reached door number ten, she stopped and pounded until it was opened by a very angry Miss Norcross.
Morgan stepped back to let the teacher out, and they both looked down the walkway. More than 50 students were looking in their direction, and more were coming out the doors. All of them looked just as angry as Morgan had expected. Morgan heard a growl, but it wasn’t the panther. It was coming from Norcross.
“Rossi, get into my office. Now.” Morgan obeyed. The easy part was over. Now it was up to Max and Jordan, and of course, finding the sword. She looked over the railing toward the bottom of the cavern and felt a shiver as she entered the office door.
Morgan sat down in a leather chair on one side of the desk and Miss Norcross sat down on the other side. She hadn't thought about what she was going to say, she had just planned to wing it. Norcross still looked angry.
“Why is it that you've managed to cause more disruption in your first day at the school than all the other students this year combined?”
“I'm not very good at making new friends. I guess I just want to fit in.”
“Fit in with who? Are you talking about that girl from Airborne? Miss Livingston? She's another trouble maker.”
"As I said, I'm not good at making new friends." She was beginning to wish that she had told Max and Jordan to start part two after counting to thirty. Her eyes scanned the room for any place the sword could be hiding. There were a lot of file drawers and bookcases but no swords.
"We've been tolerant of your trouble so far, but considering your questionable first day here, this is going to call for more than just detention." Morgan stopped looking around the room.
“What do you mean?”
“I think that it would be a good idea to make you my own assistant for a while. That way I can keep a personal eye on you.” Miss Norcross scowled and Morgan began to wonder if she had made a very big mistake. Was Norcross trying to scare her? Or did she have another reason to keep an eye on her? She looked around, afraid that the black jaguar was spying on her, but it was just her and Norcross. Then something caught the corner of her eye.
To the right was a coat rack with a long jacket and a couple of umbrellas. Sitting next to the umbrellas was her mother’s sword with the familiar ring of golden leaves on the scabbard. Just as she realized that she couldn’t hold back her smile, there was a loud bang from outside the door. Part two of the plan had begun. Another growl came from Miss Norcross.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said as she got up and slammed the door shut behind her. She knew that the fireworks would give her a minute at the most, but now she only needed seconds.
She jumped up and grabbed her sword. She expected to open the door to a chaotic mess that she could run through to the double-doorway to freedom. What she found was a door that not only locked from the inside, but also from the outside. She couldn’t get out. Before she could curse, Loric asked a question.
Is it time for the flaming dragon?
Yes! I’m stuck!
Stand back from the door.
Morgan stepped back to the far wall, which wasn’t very far.
There isn’t much room in here.
Three seconds later, the door had been forced ajar by a gray dragon snout. Morgan yanked the door open the rest of the way and ran out. There was still a chaotic mess of students but they were ignoring the fireworks and staring at the dragon hovering in the center of the cavern.
“Stop right there!” said Miss Norcross as she turned to look at Morgan.
Jump, I’ll catch you.
Are you serious?
Unless you would rather try that angry mob.
That was enough to convince Morgan. She held tightly to her sword as she ran for the railing and jumped. Loric had already dropped into a dive and was aligning himself with her. She fell for two more seconds before she reached the new saddle and pulled herself onto it. Loric gracefully came out of the dive and began to slow into a controlled drop toward the bottom of the cavern. She shoved her sword scabbard into a leather sheath built into the saddle and grabbed onto a couple of reigns. She knew nothing about riding.
There’s a harness system to keep you from falling off. We can stop at the bottom so you can figure it out.
They reached the cavern bottom and Morgan’s eyes were drawn to an impressive concrete dome with a tall steel door facing them. It looked like a huge bank vault. Loric sighed.
What’s this?
It’s a prison cell.
For who?
For me.
What do you mean?
I spent sixteen years in there, guarding a nasty witch. They built that dome there to protect me.
Why?
Because your mother told me to.
So does that mean my mother was there also?
Yes, before the dome. Your mother said her last words to me down here. ‘Guard the White Witch.' Then after 16 years, I had to let the witch go. I hope to never see her again.
Why did you let her go?
Because you needed me.
She felt her adrenaline rush crash. It had all happened down here. She hadn’t expected her new home to be the place where her mother had nearly been killed. She also didn’t expect to find out that she herself had been the reason why the witch had escaped.
Next to the huge door was a smaller door to the side. She wasn’t ready to go in there and it would seem that neither was Loric.
Ready for a ride?
Morgan slipped her legs into the straps and pulled two more around her shoulders.
Let’s get out of here.
They flew up toward the top of the cavern, past Landborne where many students were still watching for the dragon.
Hold on, we’re going to get wet.
Loric dove into the cave entrance to the lake and didn’t stop until he was out into the crisp April morning sky. It was still dark and overcast. She couldn’t feel the cold, the experience was too invigorating. She closed her eyes and wondered how much her mother had experienced this before the coma.
Every day for years.
Morgan opened her eyes when she felt Loric dropping.
What are we doing?
We have some visitors following us.
Birds?
No, a couple of witches.
As they dropped to the ground, Morgan looked back and saw two women in robes flying through the air on brooms. One was older with bright white hair. The other was her old friend, Sadie.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SHE MADE a big mistake coming
here.
They both did.
Morgan was feeling a confidence high. Not only was she amazed by the appearance of Sadie, but also by the witch that had been a part of her mother’s undoing. Loric didn’t have to tell her, she could sense it through their bond.
“Welcome back,” said Morgan. Sadie looked confused. “Not you, you idiot. The other witch.”
“You got lucky when I last saw you,” said Sadie.
“Maybe, but I think it’s the other way around. If you don’t leave now, you’ll regret it.”
The witch with the white hair began to laugh.
“You don’t realize that it doesn’t even matter,” said the White Witch.
“What doesn’t matter?”
“Live or die, it doesn’t matter.” Morgan tried to figure out what she meant as the White Witch began to laugh again.
Watch it, she’s quick!
Morgan drew her sword and The White Witch laughed even louder. There was a loud crack and a lightning bolt struck the ground twenty feet away from them. Morgan felt a static shock as she tumbled off of Loric. She hadn’t tightened her harness at all, and now her ears were ringing as she scrambled to her feet. She felt stupid and she had dropped her sword.
The White Witch kept laughing but her attention was on Sadie’s hands as they began to glow the same way that they had in the cemetery. She got ready to hide behind Loric but was surprised when he took a quick breath and shot fire out at Sadie, beating her to the punch.
We can’t mess around right now.
Morgan expected to see a charcoaled mess but before she had a chance, the ground began to tremble and she was pushed away by one of Loric’s legs. Loric dropped until he was half buried into the ground. He flapped his wings, but more dirt rose from the ground to impede their movement.
Shoot her with fire!
Loric was struggling just to keep from being buried alive. Morgan ran around Loric to face The White Witch but only found Sadie still smoking on the ground. She looked up and saw the witch flying in the air. Not on a broom, but just floating about 15 feet up. Morgan grabbed Sadie’s broom and threw it at the witch. It didn’t even reach her, but the witch turned her attention to Morgan.
Watch out!
The witch’s hands began to glow, and Morgan dove away as a ball of fire dropped down at her. She felt a burning sensation on her bare skin as the fire hit the ground ten feet from her. Thankfully it had been enough of a distraction. Loric climbed out of the hole in the ground and launched into the air.
The witch seemed to have a moment of indecision, looking from Morgan to Loric, but then she chose to follow Loric further into the sky.
The air filled with bursts of light as Loric and the witch dueled. The witch sent fireball after fireball, but they couldn’t stand up to Loric’s constant stream of flame. Then the light in the air went out as Loric took a breath.
The witch looked down at the ground, but not at Morgan. Morgan guessed what she wanted and made a run for the witch’s broom, but didn’t have a chance to see what knocked her down until it was already on her. When she opened her eyes, a black jaguar was staring back at her. Earlier she had been too shocked to do anything but this time would be different.
She swung her sword and slapped the jaguar on the head. It broke their staring contest as the panther tried to figure out what had hit it. Morgan forced herself to roll sideways out from under it and scrambled to her feet.
The jaguar reacted, turning to follow her, but Morgan was ready. As it jumped to knock her down again, it impaled itself on Morgan's sword. It fell to the ground, and then half ran, half crawled away from Morgan.
When she turned to look for the broom again, it was already gone. Loric was still shooting flames but The White Witch was already too far away. She had decided to flee instead of getting caught by the dragon again.
She will be back.
Loric circled down and landed next to Morgan. She tried to ignore her old friend, Sadie, lying on the ground. Loric sensed her sadness.
The White Witch brought her as a distraction, and it almost worked. I’m sorry about your friend.
It’s okay. She stopped being my friend in the cemetery. Were they here for you and me? Or the school?
Neither. The White Witch said that it didn’t matter what happened. I think that they were just a distraction from the real battle.
Then where is the real battle?
See what happens next in book 4, Dragon Spirit, Echo of Chaos.
Get The Dragon vs The Witch, bonus story for free and find out what happens when The White Witch tries to escape from the dragon.
Click HERE to get the story.
DRAGON SPIRIT HUNTRESS HIGH SERIES
Huntress High 1: Cry of Revenge
Huntress High 2: Will to Act
Huntress High 3: Bond of Vengeance
Huntress High 4: Echo of Chaos
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CORY REYNOLDS: I began the Dragon Spirit series with the desire to make a long series with shorter episodes every few weeks, instead of long installments every few months. That way the reader would hopefully remember some of the last book when they read the new one.
I also had the hopes of incorporating some of my quirky personality and martial arts training. Whether in dreams or in real life, I’ve experienced some things that are just too inspiring to keep to myself. Finally some of it comes out in this series.
A big thanks to my in-laws who have probably wondered for years what I’m working on while they watch our kids. Also thanks to the beta readers who have helped and most importantly my wife for being supportive as I write into the night. Thank you my love!
Table of Contents
Dragon Spirit
FREE BONUS STORY
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DRAGON SPIRIT HUNTRESS HIGH SERIES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dragon Spirit- Bond of Vengeance Page 6