Dragon Sleeping (The Dragon Circle Trilogy Book 1) (32 page)

The thing that had been the neighbor Sayre was using the Captain’s energy quite well. He would be here shortly. He could be very useful. Nunn would have to introduce him to the other neighbors. Jackson had wanted to work for Nunn. He wondered how eager Jackson would be to work with Sayre.

Other things had changed while Nunn slept. He could see the Anno. Mary Lou wasn’t with them. He let the dragon’s eye roam. She was still on the island somewhere. His other abilities could sense her presence. But now she was the one that he couldn’t see.

But the Anno were giving their special greeting to other members of the neighborhood. Two of the boys, two of the first to escape, Todd Jackson and Bobby Furlong. Arrows, stones, spears, twigs, anything the Anno could grab was being thrown at the two running youngsters.

Perhaps it was time to save them. Nunn would particularly like to get these two back and reward them for their initiative. Maybe the boys would like to join their parents. Or not. The young ones held a lot of potential. And a lot of energy.

But he could no longer use Zachs; at least not until he had a chance to make a few adjustments. And his other allies had disappointed him as well. They had died so easily. If the boys were to be fetched, Nunn would have to do it himself.

It couldn’t be helped. He’d have to go and fetch them back. Perhaps, as a reward, he’d eat one along the way.

“Y
ou are very talented, you know.”

Nick looked up from where he sat huddled against a tree. Obar’s voice had broken the silence. But the wizard wasn’t talking to him.

Nick hugged his arms close to his body. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking.

He never thought he’d be this glad to see his mother. She had hugged him; he found himself surrounded by warmth and familiar smells. For a second, he’d felt like he was a teenage boy on Chestnut Circle. For a moment, he’d forgotten all the blood.

He’d sat down against one side of a great tree, and his mother had sat down beside him, just past one of the great roots that jutted from the ground. She had fallen asleep, as had some of the others.

And Nick had begun to shake. There was no way he could sleep. Every time Nick closed his eyes, he saw his sword plunge into the belly of a wolf. The animal struggled, howling with a voice that knew it was already dead, its blood sucked from its veins.

“You don’t wish to talk?” the wolf said with Obar’s voice.

Nick’s eyes opened with a start. Obar stood in the small clearing only a few paces from Mrs. Smith. The old woman stood with her back to the wizard.

“I don’t want to be here,” she said.

Obar laughed. “Do you think that any of us came here by choice? Once we learned there was no going back, we taught ourselves how to survive. You’ll have to learn that, too, if you want to save your neighbors.”

With that, Mrs. Smith turned and looked at him. She did not seem happy.

“Oh, yes,” Obar continued. “You’re the only one with enough power to save them, if you choose to use it. Nunn is much more powerful than I am. I can hinder his actions, but I don’t know if I can stop them. With the two of us working together, well—” He smiled and shrugged.

Mrs. Smith didn’t reply.

“Nunn has two of the dragon eyes, you know,” Obar went on quickly. “And he wants all the rest of them, and all of us too. I think he believes, if he controls all the parts of the dragon, he’ll control the dragon as well.”

“And what will that give him?” Mrs. Smith asked sharply. “Everything, perhaps,” Obar replied. “At the very least, a chance to survive.” He sighed and stared for a moment at the trees beyond his miniature sun. “I’ve been here for a very long time—not that time means much to this place. I was one of the first to arrive, after the last visit of the dragon. I saw the devastation of the islands—cities leveled, forests uprooted, people torn to little pieces. A very few survived. One of them became my tutor.”

The mage laughed again, a much more sour noise than before. “I did not trust my predecessor, even as he taught me so much about the powers that we all consider magic. Never trust a wizard, you know.

“But I believe one thing he told me: If you use the dragon, you will become a part of it. But if you do not, the dragon will destroy you.” He waved at the trees around him. “It’s a little game the dragon plays with humans. This whole world is his board, and the stones we call the eyes are the pieces. If you can find a stone, you can be a player. Maybe, if you find all of them, you can win.”

“Stone?” Mrs. Smith asked. For the first time, she seemed interested rather than angry.

“Seven stones. So my tutor said. I have one. Nunn now possesses two. The other four are somewhere on the seven islands. Should we be able to find them, we should be able to defeat Nunn.”

“And if we don’t find them, we don’t survive?”

Obar nodded. “If Nunn doesn’t destroy us, the dragon will.”

“You don’t paint the most pleasant picture.” Mrs. Smith thrust her hands into the pockets of her housecoat. “I suppose you would like us to work together.”

“Well, I was getting to that,” Obar replied hurriedly, as if the slightest bit annoyed. “I think that if we don’t, we will all die. And, perhaps, if both of us can search, we can find the remaining stones and outwit Nunn at the same time. But we must begin at once. The dragon is close, and there are four of the eyes left.”

Mrs. Smith pulled a hand from her pocket. “Three.”

Nick forgot to shiver. Mrs. Smith held a stone in her hand that shone with brilliant light. Nick glanced away quickly before he could be drawn in again.

“Where did you get that?” Obar demanded.

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Smith admitted. “I reached in my pocket once, and it was there. You don’t mind if I put it away, do you? It’s all a bit melodramatic.”

Nick looked up as the clearing once again dimmed to the light given off by Obar’s tiny sun. The magician was staring openmouthed at the old woman.

“I believe,” Mrs. Smith said after a moment’s silence, “that the dragon gave me this.”

“What are you talking about?” Obar blustered. “The dragon doesn’t hand out gifts!”

“How do you know that?” Mrs. Smith asked.

“I just—that is—everything I’ve learned about the power—” Obar stopped abruptly. “I don’t, obviously. Everything I know is really built on assumptions.” He smiled at Mrs. Smith. “Apparently, our dragon has decided to play favorites.”

Mrs. Smith nodded her head, as if bowing in acknowledgment. “Perhaps the dragon will also guide me to the others.”

“Then you will work with me?” Obar hopped from one foot to another, barely containing his excitement.

She patted her pocket. “How could I ignore this sort of invitation?”

“Many of the others have talents as well, you know,” Obar continued gleefully. “The dragon picked you all very carefully. If we work together”—this time his laugh was full of joy—“Nunn doesn’t have a prayer!”

“Is there something else?”

“I was thinking about the eye.” He looked straight at her with the warmest smile Nick had ever seen. “I don’t suppose you’d give that to me?”

T
odd wouldn’t cry out, no matter how much he hurt.

Something had hit him in the back. Part of it was still sticking out of his shoulder. Todd didn’t have time to look at it. He had to keep running.

“I don’t want to be here!” Bobby was screaming enough for both of them. “Stop throwing things! Get me out of here!” The kid had managed to avoid everything those creeps were throwing at them from the trees. But with every one of Bobby’s shouts, a hundred high- pitched voices taunted them from up above.

And still the missiles fell. Something glanced off the back of Todd’s head.

“Over here!” a deeper voice called. Thomas stepped from behind a tree, an arrow flying from his bow. There was a scream above. Something fell to earth behind Todd. He still didn’t want to look back.

The other Volunteers appeared from cover to fire their missiles in turn.

“God, are we glad to see you!” Bobby enthused. “These things wouldn’t listen to us at all!”

“Not very social, are they?” Wilbert boomed. He, Maggie, and Stanley fired their arrows together. They were greeted by more screams overhead and the crash of small bodies falling through the leaves.

Bobby looked at the bowmen in wonder. “How do you see them up there?”

“Don’t have to see them,” Thomas replied. “Way the Anno crawl all over the branches up there, you almost can’t help but hit ’em.”

“Like fish in the barrel,” Wilbert agreed. “Wish I still had my Winchester. Now, that would make them run!”

Todd realized that the arrows had stopped falling around them. The shrieks of rage from the Anno were becoming less frequent, and farther away.

“Plus, you hit a couple of them, hey?” Stanley surveyed the trees. “Next thing you know, they’ve skedaddled!”

The screams had stopped completely. Stanley looked like he almost might smile.

“What do we do about Mary Lou?” Maggie asked as she slung her bow over her arm.

“Have to find another way to get her,” Thomas answered. “Something’s going on with the Anno. Never knew them to get so skittish, so fast. Usually take their time sizing up newcomers.”

“Don’t want to turn down any potential meals,” Wilbert agreed. Todd heard a moan. It took a second to realize it came from his lips. “The boy’s been hit,” Maggie called.

“I’m all right,” Todd insisted. But he wasn’t. His knees wobbled as he tried to walk the last few feet to the others. The back of his shirt was heavy and damp. Todd hoped it wasn’t blood.

Todd fell to his knees. Except his knees didn’t hit the ground. “Is this any way to treat your guests?” said a voice behind him.

“Nunn!” Maggie shouted as she reached for her bow. The other three were already fitting arrows to theirs. Todd realized that he was drifting away from them, toward the voice to his rear. Bobby was moving, too, his arms and legs flailing wildly three feet above the ground, like some puppet doing a mad dance.

“Nooooo!” Bobby wailed.

“Most assuredly yes,” Nunn’s voice replied lightly. An arrow whizzed past Todd’s ear. There was a soft whoosh behind him.

“You boys were very rude not to accept my earlier invitation,” Nunn continued. Todd realized that he was spinning slowly as he floated toward the wizard. Soon he would be face-to-face with Nunn.

Two more arrows flew past. This time Todd was able to turn his head enough to see them burst into flames and disintegrate before they could reach their target.

“Help us!” Bobby shrieked. His fists had swung forward, like he wanted to pummel Nunn. Todd twisted his head a bit further to get his first glimpse of the wizard. Nunn was tall, with a long, thin face, his skin a bloodless white against his black robes. His eyes were jet-black as well, all darkness save for tiny flecks of white, as if his eyes held part of the night sky.

The wizard pointed a finger, and another arrow burst into flame.

Nunn reached out for the two of them. “I believe we will be going now.”

“No!” Bobby lashed out, striking Nunn’s shoulder.

Todd wished he had the strength to fight back. His shoulder throbbed with a heat that seemed to drain all the energy from his body.

Somehow, through his frantic movement, Bobby managed to twist away from the wizard. Nunn turned with the boy, grabbing him before he could float any farther.

An arrow struck the wizard’s shoulder.

Nunn spun back around to stare at the archers, the darkness of his eyes turned to a molten red. “I will be back for you!” One of Nunn’s hands grabbed Todd’s shirtfront. The light flared out from the wizard’s arms, enveloping his face, then rushing across his shoulders and arms until it encompassed Bobby and Todd as well.

Todd felt a great pain, starting in his back, and then exploding out to include the world.

N
unn was annoyed. That was not done well at all. Rushing to grab the children, confronting the Volunteers! He had been too sure of himself, and impatient to be done with his work.

He reached back and touched the arrow that protruded from his shoulder. It crumbled to dust. Nothing more than a minor aggravation, really. Except that the pitiful Volunteers had managed to get one of their tiny weapons past his defenses. They knew that he could be reached. That was unfortunate. The more Nunn looked all-powerful to those around him, the easier it would be to become truly all-powerful. Now he would have to find some more-inventive ways to reignite the humans’ fear.

First, though, it was time to bring some fear to those close to him. He snapped on a light above his head, a ghostly moon, as cold as a light could be. Despite his anger, he had to admit it was a nice effect.

It was time to discuss how his two newest guests might be useful. “Where are we?” the younger one—Bobby—cried out against the sudden light. “You can’t do anything to us!” The tone of Bobby’s voice said that Nunn would be able to do whatever he wanted.

The wizard looked around his study, to see where the other one—the quieter one, Todd—had fallen. Nothing but silence.

Maybe Todd’s wound was more severe than the wizard thought. Nunn should be careful not to let him die. It was such an arduous process to reanimate these people.

He waved a finger to increase the illumination of the moon, driving the shadows from his study.

“Where’s Todd?” Bobby demanded. “What have you done with him?”

For an instant, Nunn couldn’t believe it. Todd was nowhere in the room. The second child had not come with them.

It couldn’t be. Something had taken Todd away, away from the power of Nunn! No one could do that. No one had ever dared.

Nunn was no longer simply annoyed. Nunn was angry.

E
verything was blinding white. Yet Todd felt there was no light anywhere.

Todd couldn’t see a thing. But, in another way, he could see everything. He saw the woods where he had left the Volunteers behind, and the castle where his father slept. In the blink of an eye—but he wasn’t seeing with his eyes—he was in the clearing with Nick. There was Todd’s mother, waking up with the morning light. Somehow she’d gotten away from his father at last.