How to Stop a Witch (27 page)

Tehrer tried rising above the spireling pillars, but the mysterious fog was forming above as well, preventing escape from the sky. The dragon’s climb leveled off abruptly, like a suddenly stopping elevator, leaving Greg’s stomach floors behind. There Greg got his first close-up view of the topmost spirelings shouting and waving their double-bladed axes.

Hazel commanded her steed forward, and Ruuan matched Tehrer’s path exactly, but while the warriors permitted Tehrer to pass unharmed, they took blurry swings at Ruuan. For the most part the blades kicked off the dragon’s scales to no effect, but Ruuan was clearly annoyed all the same. He aimed a jet of fire at the nearest stack, one that would have surely incinerated the spirelings in an instant, had Mordred’s spell not been protecting them. Instead the flames splattered backward, obstructing Ruuan’s view, and the dragon nearly collided into one of the spireling stacks before he could regain his bearings.

Why even bother to avoid them?
Greg wondered. Surely Ruuan could have sliced off the top of any of those stacks without ruffling a scale, or chomped off a dozen or more warriors with a single snap of his jaws, but Ruuan didn’t even try. Greg had to wonder if the dragon somehow knew Mordred’s spell would protect them.

Below, Greg saw the kingdom soldiers organize into stacks of their own, but each time the pillars grew more than three men tall, they toppled and fell. One of the generals shouted out an order, and as one the soldiers abandoned their efforts and scattered among the lawn, each climbing atop a spireling pillar. Now they could get close enough to the dragon to use their bows effectively, but that just meant Greg had a constant volley of arrows to dodge along with the spireling axes.

The chase may have slowed, but Tehrer was growing more familiar with the course with each pass. He dove and weaved between the stacks of spirelings so quickly and so often, Greg could no longer focus. In the back of his mind he thought how ironic it was that he was here, and the spirelings were out there in their stationary pillars, when it was the spirelings who were so accustomed to moving at these speeds.

Hazel sent a bolt of electricity soaring toward the nearest stack, but her power failed to penetrate the magicians’ spell. As Ruuan flew close to the stack, two uppermost spirelings leapt onto his back. Ruuan, having to concentrate hard on avoiding the dozens of scattered towers, could do nothing to dislodge them.

A simple wave of Hazel’s hand sent them flying backward. But they were not the only ones to try. One after another, spirelings jumped aboard and dropped helplessly to the ground, but still they came, offering their lives as a distraction to keep Hazel from using her power against Greg.

Why don’t they stop?
Greg’s mind screamed.
I’m just going to die anyway.

Because you haven’t saved the kingdom yet
, he reminded himself.

Before long, with so many spirelings sprawled out on the lawn between them, the bases of the stacks became hard to distinguish. As the stacks grew shorter, Mordred adjusted his spell accordingly, and the fog dipped lower, preventing the dragons from escaping above the flailing spireling axes.

“Watch out, Greg!”

With so much screaming and rushing wind, Greg wasn’t even sure he heard the sound, but he could swear it was Nathan’s voice calling out to him. No matter who said it, Greg guessed it was good advice.

He dodged to one side just as a ball of green fire struck Tehrer’s scales. With a shriek, the dragon cut sharply right. Greg tried to see where the warning had come from, but his eyes were watering, and he was moving so fast . . .

As if his wings had been torn from his body, Tehrer suddenly dropped from the sky. He pulled up just feet from the ground and whipped through the crowd, Ruuan hot on his tail.

Greg held his breath as the surrounding spirelings began their swings before he’d even passed, sweeping their axes through arcs that just narrowly missed his head. Pendegrass Castle soared straight at him. Tehrer had to slow and swerve to avoid crashing through the castle gate.

Greg had just enough time to make out the screaming faces of Princess Priscilla and Kristin below. Beside them stood Melvin and Lucky, and any hope Greg had of surviving the next few minutes were dashed as he recalled how Lucky was supposed to be up here by his side, spreading the good fortune that Nathan insisted the boy didn’t have.

It was not until after his friends faded from view that Greg thought about what they’d said. They hadn’t shouted the expected “Watch out!” or the totally unnecessary “Be careful!” or even an encouraging “We’re all pulling for you.” Instead, they were all yelling something about Nathan and using the amulet.

While in the vicinity, Ruuan took the opportunity to shoot a jet of fire at Pendegrass Castle. Nathan’s protective spell did its job. The flames bounced off the stone and shot across the lawn, scattering Melvin and Lucky and what looked like Brandon Alexander in three different directions, and then Ruuan was off again, chasing Tehrer toward the woods to the west.

Tehrer turned at the edge of the grounds and unleashed a jet of fire at Ruuan, who dodged out of reflex, even though the flames probably couldn’t hurt him. The motion sent Hazel reeling. She dropped a fireball by her own feet and then screamed and hopped about frantically until Ruuan banked, and the fireball rolled clear. Then Ruuan was charging at Greg again, and Tehrer was once more winding between the pillars of spirelings.

Greg watched Ruuan’s gaping cavern of a mouth swoop up from behind and slam shut around Tehrer’s tail with a boom. Tehrer shrieked like nothing on Earth—not all that surprising, since everything he did was like nothing on Earth—but somehow pulled free.

Why is he always fleeing?
Greg’s mind screamed out.
Why doesn’t Tehrer turn and fight?

But Greg already knew the answer. Even before his injury, Tehrer was the weaker of the two dragons. Maybe that was still stronger than anything else Greg could imagine, but Nathan was right. Age had caught up with Tehrer.

But where Nathan had also thought Tehrer would stand a chance if he fought of his own free will rather than struggle against the power of the amulet, he’d underestimated Hazel’s ability to control Ruuan. Greg might delay the inevitable, but in the end the prophecy would win out. If only Nathan had fought this battle like they’d planned.

As if in answer to his thoughts, Greg heard Nathan’s voice again.

Here, Greg.

By the time Greg turned toward the sound it was gone. He could see nothing but thousands of spirelings shouting and waving their axes.

The amulet!

Finally Greg realized what he must do. Ever since they returned to the castle, he’d left Tehrer to his own free will, but he still held the Amulet of Ruuan. He was in control, even if what he wanted more than anything was to hand over that control to someone else.

“Tehrer,” he shouted into the wind, stretching the amulet out before him. “Can you see Nathan?”

“LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW.”

“This is important.”

Tehrer jerked hard to one side, separating from Ruuan for an instant of flight without the constant threat of Ruuan’s jaws clamping on his tail.

“THE SORCERER IS BEHIND US TO THE EAST, ATOP ONE OF THE TOWERS OF CANARAZAS.”

“Can you get to him?” Greg shouted. His arm drooped under the weight of the amulet, and he fought hard to lift it up again. “I mean,
go find him
!”

Tehrer jerked suddenly downward, and whether he was dodging Ruuan or avoiding spirelings or actually following Greg’s order, Greg couldn’t tell. The dragon wound through the spirelings and headed east again as Ruuan slipped in behind him and gained, his jaws opening wide.

From over Greg’s head, a brilliant blue flame soared through the air and struck Ruuan in the ridge above one eye. Ruuan cringed and veered so abruptly Hazel would have surely been thrown to the center of the Enchanted Forest if not for her own magic.

Ruuan was dissuaded for only a second. Already he was banking back around when Tehrer glided to a sudden stop.

“GOOD SHOT. HERE HE IS,” the dragon announced, “YOUR HUMAN FRIEND.”

Greg searched the closest tower of spirelings, and there, amidst all the tangled Canaraza warriors, was Nathan, waving his arms and screaming right along with the rest of them.

“Closer, Greg. Bring him closer.”

Comprehension finally struck. Greg again thrust out the amulet. “Move closer!”

Tehrer did as he was ordered. In fact, the dragon moved so close, its tail swept over the top of the tower, forcing the uppermost spirelings to dive off or be sliced in two. Nathan took the opportunity to leap aboard. He was still scrambling between the spikes running along Tehrer’s spine when Tehrer took off again, narrowly avoiding a charge by Ruuan.

“The amulet, Greg,” Nathan cried. “Give me the amulet.” He reached out as he climbed, and a ball of green fire soared by so close, it nearly severed his fingers.

Greg slipped the chain over his head and reached out toward Nathan. With a jerk, Tehrer dodged aside, and Greg felt the amulet slip.

No!

But Nathan had looped the chain with one finger. He tugged it from Greg’s grasp. No sooner was the amulet in his grip before the magician shouted to Tehrer.

“To the ground. Now!”

Tehrer dropped as if his wings had been clipped. Once again Greg felt his stomach rise as he watched the ground soar up to meet him.

“Up!” Nathan shouted, far too late in Greg’s opinion for Tehrer to pull out of his dive.

“What are you do—?” Greg shouted, but that was all he could get out before Nathan unexpectedly grabbed him by his tunic and tossed him overboard.

Tehrer missed the
ground by inches. He was already soaring up and out of sight before Greg rolled to a stop next to a fallen spireling.

“Ow.”

He might have spent more time complaining had he not landed just feet from the one remaining wyvern. The beast surged forward, lashing out with its jaws, and snapped its chains tight, inches from Greg’s leg. Greg scrambled back. He counted his limbs.

A sudden thought struck him. Hadn’t he just ridden the magnificent flying beast into battle and fought the witch? Now Nathan was taking his turn, and as long as he finished up the one little matter of saving the kingdom, the prophecy would be fulfilled—well, all except the part about Greg dying. But that was a small part, really. Hardly worth bothering with, if you stopped to think about it . . .

Now, with Nathan in command, Tehrer became the aggressor. He turned and met Ruuan’s charge head on, and the dragons clashed like two colliding freight trains.

Nathan shouted out orders, extending the amulet with one hand while he used the other to weave his powerful magic. Electricity shot from his fingertips, straight at Hazel, who held out the Amulet of Tehrer and met the threat with a motion of her own. With a zap, the sizzling died away. Hazel yelled something indiscernible, and Ruuan backed off of his attack to swing back toward the castle.

“She’s on the run,” Greg called out, even though the wyvern was the only one close enough to hear.

Hazel didn’t run long. When Ruuan passed over the spot where Mordred and the other magicians were gathered, the witch held out her amulet and ordered the dragon to unleash a jet of fire at the chanting magicians. Fortunately, just as when Ruuan tried to blast the tower of spirelings, the flames bounced harmlessly aside and scattered through the grass, lighting small fires that continued to burn long after he was gone.

The magicians kept chanting, oblivious of the threat from above. The two dragons circled back. They were headed Greg’s way.

Ruuan spun to face his attacker, and the two dragons slammed heads together, their teeth ringing out like clashing swords across all the land. Never had Greg heard such an impact. The dragons’ magic faltered, and Nathan and Hazel were both jolted off their feet.

And then the unthinkable happened. The chain holding the Amulet of Ruuan snapped. Nathan scrambled across Tehrer’s back and slapped a hand over it before it slid to the ground. “Gotcha!”

But then both dragons collided into towers of spirelings on either side of Greg, and just as Greg suspected, the towers remained strong while the dragons were thrown hard to the side. The sudden lurch caused Nathan to lose his grasp on the amulet.

For a moment all sound died away. Greg watched the tiny object slide across Tehrer’s back and fall in slow motion, glittering in the soft morning light, spinning end over end, from the top of the closest tower all the way to its base.

In an instant the noise of the battle returned.

Free of the controlling magic, Tehrer tried to shoot past Ruuan toward the castle, but Ruuan anticipated the move. He lunged out at Tehrer’s soft underbelly and clamped his jaws tight. Tehrer wailed like nothing Greg had ever heard before, nor ever wanted to hear again.

Mortally wounded, the dragon tore free of Ruuan’s grip and made one last desperate attempt to flee. Ruuan lashed out a claw and sent the dying dragon spinning out of control. Greg watched in horror as Tehrer spun straight for the castle.

Ruuan veered sharply to the west, Greg could swear he heard Hazel cackle, and then Tehrer was crashing through the castle wall, scattering boulders the size of men in all directions.

“Nathan!”

“Here, Greg.”

Greg spotted a disturbance in one of the towers of spirelings closest to the castle. There was Nathan, being passed hand-to-hand down to the ground. At the last he’d been able to free himself of the dragon’s protective magic and leap off. Greg could hardly believe his eyes. Nathan was safe. Too bad when he was planning his spell he hadn’t thought to protect the castle from Tehrer as well as from Ruuan.

“Ruuan,” Greg gasped.

Under Hazel’s orders, the dragon banked around and headed back toward the castle, scattering people the way Tehrer had just scattered boulders.

Those who’d thought to hide within the castle were having second thoughts, now that there was an enormous dragon-shaped hole in one of its walls. Greg wondered if Kristin and Priscilla were among them—or Lucky and Melvin. No, what was he thinking? As confident as Lucky was in his talent, he was probably standing atop one of the stacks of spirelings, calling out to Hazel to come back and fight like a man.