Crais (11 page)

He gave me a good
-natured nod.

“So what is my part?”
Fury asked, her brow wrinkled.

About time she started to worry
.

“
Look, I’ll be honest I don’t know a lot, our main focus now is to stop them from being released. If the seven happen to be freed, we half-Walkers are the only ones with the power to contain them. At this stage, my mission is to gather all the halflings just in case, and I think either way there will be some type of battle in the end.”

“Wow, I feel so much bet
ter knowing that you’re on top of this. You have a really detailed plan going on there.”

I sighed. “
Keep in mind, Fury, that Walkers are almost impossible to kill, so I can beat you for a really long time.”

“W
e don’t die?” She stuttered a little. “Does that mean my father is still out there somewhere?”

“
Yes, there’s a chance that you could meet your father.” I raised a hand to smooth the near permanent wrinkle on my forehead. “And back to your previous confidence in our plan. Yes, it’s true that we don’t know everything. In fact, I have only known for a few months that any of these worlds even existed. But we have no choice. Billions of lives are at risk of permanent extinction.” Would that melt the fire queen’s heart? “At the moment we spend our time training and learning our powers, except for me, of course, who has to waste my time trying to convince whiny brats that they need to pull their heads out of their own butts.”

She looked shocked. “
My head is nowhere near there. That’s not even possible.”

I blinked a few times. Right, she would take that comment literally.

“Let us leave now. We need to go to the tribes before everyone disperses back to their territories.” Dune interrupted us.

I stood and handed
him my half-full bowl. “Thanks for the food, it was really good. I just couldn’t fit it all in.” I placed my hands on hips. “So how are we getting back to the tribes?”

“I can lead us
through the caverns, which would take half a sun cycle. Or we could ride Cleo.”

I was just opening my mouth to inform them that I could trace us there in seconds
, but Fury spoke first.

“Who is Cleo?”
she asked.

“My dragoona
,” was his reply.

My jaw clamped shut
as mixed emotions flowed through me. I really wanted to ride one of those dragon creatures. Come on, that was up there with going to the city under the sea, but the last dragoona had tried to rip me limb from limb.

“I cannot go into the sun
,” Fury said quietly, shame crossing her features.

Dune smiled at me. “Abby can shield you two.
Her abilities are amazing.”

Fury took a deep breath.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about super Abby.” She faced me. “Tell me, Abby, with all your amazingness, is there anything you cannot do?”

I paused for a moment
. “No, I don’t think so.”

She closed her eyes briefly before re-opening them and smiling tightly.

“Let’s go then. I’d hate to miss out on the Abby experience.”

I laughed. “That’s what they all say.”

Dune
led us back through the tunnels into a large hall. I had the shield around myself again. We were close to the surface, and the bright suns were shining in through a far opening. Dune was almost at the sunlit entrance when a shadow flooded the door. Fury and I came to a halt as the bulky body of a shimmery green dragon moved into view.

“Come.” Dune stood next to the barbaric beauty of the creature. “She will not harm you.”

“Nervous,” Fury said. “Keep in mind dragoonas often eat people as a snack.”

I smirked
. I wasn’t scared of a big lizard.

Then
, as if Cleo had heard my thoughts, she snorted a large hot breath. It hit me in the face hard, followed by a small flame.

I swallowed
. Okay, maybe she was a little scary. Fury and I stopped next to Dune and I took a moment to really study the majesty of Cleo. She looked pretty darn close to the descriptions of dragons from many stories on Earth. Knowing Walkers, they had probably used the doorways to bring a dragoona to Earth at some point in history. Starting the myth of dragons.

Resting on four powerful and scaled legs, her razor
-sharp talons, which were the size of my forearm, dug into the rock. Her body was massive, round and heavily armored, with wings protruding from either side. And they were not wispy; they looked strong enough to be able to carry a hefty weight, not to mention the sharp protrusions along each of the outer wing spans. Cleo had a long armored tail, which she was whisking back and forth across the ground. It thumped loudly every few sweeps. Finally I focused on her head. Her large eyes were yellow and they shone with intelligence. And she finished with a long snout full of sharp teeth. She was the scariest, most incredible creature I’d ever imagined seeing.

“Is a unicorn going to stroll in next?”
I said, amazement bleeding into my tone.

Cleo snorted.

“Yeah,” I said to her, “that was a pretty stupid thing to say. I mean, you’re a dragon. How crazy to think a unicorn would exist.”

“
She’s a dragoona,” Fury corrected me snidely.

Dun
e stared straight at her. “I don’t like this side of you, Fury. You were always a happy child. Why are you so filled with anger now?”

Her eyes widened as she took a small step back. His disapproval upset her, although she covered her awkward motion quickly.

“I guess I grew up, Dune. Sometimes there isn’t much to be happy about.”

I locked eyes with her then, and for once she didn’t scowl at me. Instead I gave her a nod to acknowledge the pain in her dark eyes.
Then as Cleo snorted again our moment was over.

“Let us leave before Cleo decides we are annoying enough to eat.” Dune h
eld out a hand to Fury.

She hesitated just briefly before
moving forward and allowing Dune to boost her up. She stepped onto the bend of Cleo’s hind leg before leaping onto the broad back space, avoiding the sharp spikes running down the tail. I was next and found the task simple enough. My foot had plenty of space and traction on the leg bend to launch higher.

I s
ettled in behind Fury, having to squint my eyes to lessen the glare of her white hair. It was blinding this close and I’d lost my glasses at some point.

Dune needed no assistance, spri
nging up to sit in front of us. Realizing we were about to move, I gathered my energy and extended the shield over Fury.

“Hold on
,” was all Dune said before Cleo began to move.

My stomach dropped as she slowly shuffled backwards.
I reached out and gripped one of her spikes, avoiding the pointy top. She was a little awkward on the ground; it was not a smooth ride. I’d never even been on a horse, and I imagined a creature this size was much rougher.

That was until she took to the sky.

I gave an involuntary shriek as she lifted her wings and in a few powerful thrusts was airborne. I couldn’t open my eyes much to take in the view but the experience was beyond anything I could have imagined. She soared effortlessly once we were higher, gliding through the red expanse of sky. My hands were starting to ache from being clenched so firmly on the spike, and despite my joy at flying I couldn’t find the willpower to loosen my grip.

Within minutes we were starting to descend and I
recognized the huge cliff. I held my breath as Cleo hit the ground hard. The jolt would have knocked me off if my grasp hadn’t been so firm.

Dune vaulted off Cleo,
before reaching up to help Fury first and then me.

“That was amazing,” she breathed. Her face was lit up, eye sparkling. “How did you ever make friends with her?”

Dune reached up and rested his hand against Cleo’s neck. “Let’s just say we have saved each other a few times. Besides you, she is the only other thing I care for in this world.”

I couldn’
t stop from bouncing. I was itching to get below and make sure everyone was okay.

Dune
’s eyes flicked back and forward as he observed my jittering. Brow furrowed, he eventually waved us toward the hidden rock entrance. “I will wait here. You two gather the others and then we can leave.”

“It
’s pretty amazing to stand in the suns like this. I keep waiting for the burning pain.” Fury reached out a hand, as if to touch the edge of my shield.

I extended
the perimeter just before she reached it.

“It
’s not a physical barrier. Your hand will go through and be burnt,” I warned.

She tucked her arm back into h
er side.

“Stick close until we’
re underground.”

We left Dune there in the shadow of his amazing Cleo.

“He isn’t planning on bringing the dragon with us, right?” I tried to picture her sleeping in Josian’s cave home.

Fury cut me a sideways glance. “She could not survive without the
energy from the Crais suns. She will have to stay.”

That was the end of our conversation as we made the long journey to the gathering place.
After a few hours I couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

“How are you going to guarantee that the nomads see us leave? They
’ll just keep hunting the tribes otherwise.”

She didn’t even look back
. She was marching along the stone tunnels.

“I guess you will have to do your amazing, magic
-travel tunnel in front of them all.”

“Yeah, I got that part, but what are you going to do to get them all in the same spot
?”

She laughed. “Use my power
, of course.”

Of course.

When we finally made it into the cavernous hall with the endless water girding one side, it was completely empty.

“Where is everyone?” I didn’t like the eerie emptiness
. Unease settled into the pit of my stomach.

“
Most would have started their journey back to their tribal lands. Any that are left will be in the dining hall,” Fury said, leading the way.

I could hear loud voices befor
e we even got close to the entrance. I hurried my pace. It sounded like a ferocious fight was going on in there. I practically bowled Fury over to burst into the room, pausing as I noticed the scene before me.

The tribes were gathered around a large stone table. And
standing on top, singing at the top of their lungs and shaking their butts, were Lucy and Talina. They were out of their white suits, and Lucy, who had lost her shirt somewhere, was just in a bra and jeans. It looked as if she’d started a striptease and then got distracted.

“What the eff is going on here?” I couldn’t make my feet move any closer. The insanity in that room was unprecedented.

Fury had the briefest of grins on her face. It softened the hard planes of her reddish features. “I would say the final meal included some quince extract.”

“What’s that?”

Lucy had started to high
-kick now and shimmy her hips. Both her and Talina were singing to the same beat but making up their own words.

“
... I don’t need a man to love me. I can kick ass all day long. Girls rock ... Oh, yeah! Girls rock.”

Talina
’s voice chimed in.

“Under the sea, oh
, under the sea, darling, it’s better down where it’s wetter.”

Okay, s
he was channeling her cartoon self – Ariel. She’d loved the little mermaid when we’d watched it on First World. But it had taken her a while to realize it wasn’t a comedy or parody.

Fury laughed again.
“Let’s just say, pure quince has a relaxing effect on the body and mind.”

Great
– they were drunk. Alcohol had been banned on Earth for my lifetime, only accessible in the gangs, but I’d seen movies. I knew what was happening here. The dozen or so tribal members that had been watching the show finally noticed us and hurried over.

“Abbyyy
,” Lucy shrieked, before plunging head-first off the table.

My heart caught for a second
but thankfully Lucas had been standing close by and caught her easily.

“Abbyyy
,” Talina’s shriek followed, although she managed to stumble down without breaking her neck.

“Good luck with that
,” Fury said as she disappeared into the group of her tribal friends.

Lucy
crashed into me first, and it was with the force of a freight train. I barely had time to reinforce my stance before Talina added her weight to our group.

Still holding me tightly
, Lucy started to chatter. “Abby, where the hell have you been? I was so worried I couldn’t breathe or think or eat or sleep.” Her words were so rapid it was almost impossible to distinguish one from the other. “Although I did have a few drinks, I think ... think, drink, I drinked, I thinked.”