Tears of a Dragon (7 page)

Edmund tried to open the lower half of the door, but the rushing air pinned it closed. “We’ll have to climb over it,” he shouted.

“No problem,” Bonnie said, tying her hood in place. “You ready?”

Edmund took a deep breath. “Let’s go!”

Bonnie pulled her wings in tightly as they lifted their legs over the lower door. Once they were both seated on the top edge, she wrapped her arms around Sir Edmund’s waist and pressed her chest against his back. She held her breath as they tipped over the side and fell into the empty gray air.

Billy handed Arlo his cell phone, but paused, squinting at him. “How do I know you’re not possessed by a Watcher again?”

“A What-cher?”

Billy waved toward the valley. “When you were hunting down there, did you see a bright, angel-like creature just before the storm hit?”

“Shore did. I thought it was a ET of some kine. Nearly spooked the bones right outta me. But I don’t ’member nuthin’ after that,”—he nodded toward a clump of trees—“until I found myself layin’ in the mud over thar.”

Billy felt no danger, but he raised his pendant and cast its light on Arlo’s face. No change.

Arlo smiled a gap-toothed grin. “Is that a ruby?”

Billy tucked the pendant under his shirt. “Close. A rubellite.” He reached down to help Walter up. “C’mon, lazybones, let’s see if you can walk. I couldn’t get anyone on the phone, so we have to get going.”

Walter grasped Billy’s wrist, pain contorting his face. His grip slid away, and he clutched his chest. “Something’s wrong,” Walter said, his eyes barely visible through his grimace. “I can’t move my legs, and my heart’s doing jumping jacks.”

Billy dropped to his knees. “Okay! Just relax! We’ll think of something.” He looked up at Arlo and shouted louder than he intended. “Any ideas?”

Arlo squatted at Walter’s side. “That heart jumpin’ happened to me when lightnin’ struck me right in the noggin. Purt near killed me and addled my brain. I was nuttier ’n squirrel scat for a week.” He grabbed Walter’s wrists and pulled. “Help me hoist ’im over my shoulder. The sooner we get some help, the better.”

Billy helped raise Walter to his feet. “Hear that, Walter? We’re going to get you to a doctor.”

No answer. Walter’s eyes had closed, and his limbs hung loose. Billy gulped through a tightening throat, steadying his best friend’s body while Arlo pushed his shoulder under Walter’s waist.

The old hillbilly lifted Walter as easily as he would a burlap bag of peanuts. “You ready to go?”

“I’ll catch up with you.” Billy glanced around frantically, shivering hard. “I just have to find my sword.”

“Suits me.” Arlo set out across the mud-slicked hill, Hambone sniffing the trail ahead of him.

Billy hustled toward the cave, his eyes darting back and forth. Excalibur had to be around somewhere. As his own heart raced, Billy thought about Walter and his collision with the force field. Bonnie had done the same thing back in the circles, and her heart went kind of crazy. Then she died.

Billy swiped dripping water from his eyes with the back of his hand. He had to find the sword, and fast. He dashed into the cave and saw a glimmer at the base of their refuge ledge. Ah! There it was! He snatched it up and thrust it into his back scabbard, taking off at a trot. Fortunately, with such a heavy burden, Arlo was only a hundred yards or so down the slope.

Billy shielded his face while searching the skies. The gray canopy seemed forbidding, almost unearthly. Even the raindrops felt funny, tickling his cheeks, as though his inner danger sensation had crawled out onto his skin. Maybe it was like acid rain, just enough impurities in the water to produce a miniscule chemical reaction.

A streak of light flashed overhead and vanished. What could that have been? A weird kind of lightning? He lowered his head and picked up his pace. It was time to really get moving!

Hurricane-like winds seized Bonnie’s wings and threw her body against the rear fuselage. Her head banged against the tail section. Sharp pain jolted her spine, and Edmund nearly slipped through her arms. Darkness flooded her eyes as she plummeted through the whipping storm. Fighting gale and gravity and battling to stay conscious, she redoubled her grip on Edmund. Through bleary vision and blinding rain, she spotted a dragon diving to meet her. The huge creature glided underneath, and Bonnie plopped Edmund just behind one of her protruding spines. A gust blasted Bonnie to the side, but the job was done. Now she could take her time gliding downward while keeping watch on the action up above.

Three Watchers and nine dragons flew all around
Merlin II
. The Watchers zipped from place to place, like shining dragonflies—speedy and miraculously agile. The dragons, slower and more methodical, created a ring around the plane. Two of the dragons now carried humans, Sir Edmund on one dragon’s back, and Sir Newman dangling from another’s teeth. The second dragon stretched her long neck and placed Newman securely between two spines on her back.

The two mounted dragons took places near each airplane wing. Two other dragons flew in front, two behind, and three seemed to be flying shotgun, aiming flaming missiles at any Watcher that dared draw near. Every few seconds a demon launched a black lightning bolt that streaked like a jagged stream of darkness toward a dragon. The dragons parried with fire, scorching any bolts that came near, evaporating them instantly.

Bonnie strained her eyes, trying to pierce the sheets of rain, but as much as she wanted to watch, she knew she had to keep her promise. She turned downward, looking for the airstrip or any open field to make a safe landing. Finding a small patch of grass, she glided toward it, her back and legs tingling as she neared the ground. She yanked down her hood and rubbed the back of her head. That bump against the plane must have given her a real jolt. Landing on the run, she splashed through a waterlogged meadow, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop. She found a gentle slope with extra thick grass and lay on her back, spreading her wings behind her. As she watched the drama high above, she shielded her eyes to block the incessant downpour.

The airplane had flown away from the battle theatre, its propeller buzz barely audible as it descended toward the landing strip somewhere to Bonnie’s right. Straight above, the dragons had created a line of defense, flying in a column of tight circles, coordinated so that two dragons would always be facing the Watchers and shooting an inferno blast. It seemed that the dragons always knew exactly where the demons were, guided undoubtedly by their sense of danger and the help of two experienced knights. Each volley of fire was a colorful laser shot that sent a winged villain diving to one side or the other.

Finally, Thigocia nailed a Watcher with a jet of blue sizzling flame. The demon was trapped in midair as slithering sapphire tongues wrapped around its body. Sir Newman’s dragon joined in, shooting an orange flame so bright it looked like a geyser straight from the sun. The Watcher expanded to twice its size, as though absorbing the radiant energy until it seemed ready to burst with brilliance. Thigocia and the other dragon, virtually hovering, their wings beating madly in the driving rain, kept the rivers of fire trained on the demon. Now it had tripled in size. Beams of light shot from its eyes. Its whole body shuddered like a man being riddled with a million volts of electricity.

Seconds later, the Watcher exploded, shooting a halo of shimmering flames all around and splattering black liquid in a wide arc. The dragons curled their wings and dropped straight down, Sir Edmund clutching Thigocia’s neck and Sir Newman gripping a spine on his dragon. The ring of fire passed over their heads and dissipated in the drenching rain, sending a circular plume of gray smoke into the clouds above.

One of the two remaining Watchers zoomed away toward the horizon, while the other descended out of sight. Bonnie jumped to her feet, trying to catch sight of where the second demon had fled, but he vanished into the forest. Eight dragons followed
Merlin II
, while Sir Newman’s dragon skimmed the treetops, apparently in search of the missing Watcher.

Bonnie pulled the computer from her waistband and spoke into it. “Hi, Larry. Can you hear me?”

“Greetings. Your voiceprint reveals that you are Bonnie Silver. How may I help you?”

Bonnie rested a hand on her hip, slowly turning as she spoke. “I don’t want to risk flying in this storm, especially with Watchers around, so I have to go on foot. Would you please guide me to the West Virginia airstrip coordinates?”

“With pleasure. Your security clearance grants you full access to my geo-guidance applications. A digital compass should appear on the screen. Proceed at a heading of ninety-four point five degrees, and I will correct your angle along the way.”

Bonnie wiped the computer’s display with her sleeve, but since her sweatshirt was sopping wet and the rain continued to pour, it didn’t help much. She squinted at the digits and turned her body until the screen displayed ninety-four point five, then marched forward, heading for the forest edge. “How far is it, Larry?”

“Four point one kilometers. At your current rate, you will be there in forty-two minutes. Unfortunately, my maps indicate that you will be traversing more difficult topography soon, so I expect that you will slow down considerably.”

“Well, try to keep me on high ground. The creeks are probably raging rivers by now.”

“Will do.”

Larry began singing in a Scottish accent.

“Oh! ye’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road, and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye; But me and my true love will never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.” Larry let out a robotic laugh. “Did you like that one? Bonnie, bonnie, banks for Bonnie Silver. Oh, I’m so funny, I think I’m going to pop a chip!”

Bonnie laughed, and Larry sang on, correcting her direction from time to time as she negotiated the hilly, forested terrain. Slick leaves and mud slowed her progress, but there were plenty of bare, skinny trees to grab as she sludged up and down slopes, both gentle and steep.

After she scaled a rise, the forest opened to a treeless expanse, flat and covered with water, more like a shallow, grassy swamp than a mountain field. It reminded Bonnie of the moat around Morgan’s island back in one of the circles of seven, a marsh with dangerous serpents lurking in the dark waters. She took three steps into the field, then hesitated in ankle-deep water, letting the cool wetness seep in between her toes. It would be safe to fly now, wouldn’t it? The higher ground on the other side couldn’t be more than a hundred yards away, and there might be holes or ditches hiding under the rain-rippled surface.

Larry ended his song.

“You stopped. Is there trouble?”

“No. I’m just getting ready to fly across this flooded field.”

“Very well. If you wish to continue flying, bear eight degrees to the left. Walking in that direction would have been impossible because of a deep trench, so I had charted a safer land route. With flying, however, the improved angle and velocity will get you to the airstrip in less than five minutes.”

“Only five minutes!” Bonnie shivered in the cold, wet wind. Her chilled body begged for something dry and warm to replace her saturated clothes. With a quick shake, her wings threw off thousands of droplets, then beat the air, lifting her off the ground. “I’m going for it, Larry!” She began zipping across the field as fast as she could, but the gale pummeled her body, beating her closer to the ground. With every desperate flap, she elevated four or five feet, only to be thrown down six by hammer-like gusts. Finally, she splashed back to the field, sliding for a moment on her chest before coming to a stop in about a foot of water.

Bonnie slapped her hand against the surface, splashing angrily as she rose to her knees, then to her feet. “Stupid decision!” she grumbled as she trudged forward. She raised the dripping computer to her lips. “Larry, I’m on the ground again. Give me a heading.”

The computer remained silent. Only the swoosh of wind and rain passed into her ears.

“Larry?”

Still no answer.

Bonnie rolled her eyes.
Brilliant move!
Now she had to hoof it alone.

She pushed the computer behind her belt, then set her hands on her hips, scanning the forest ahead, quite a bit closer now. A new swoosh sounded from below. She tilted her head down. A black stream of buzzing particles streamed into the ground around her feet, instantly warming the water, thickening it into a sticky goo.

Bonnie tried to jump away, but like a serpent striking its prey, the black stuff caught her feet and began wrapping her up as though she were a mummy in need of bandages, first her ankles, then her legs, winding at a furious rate. She wrestled with the bands, trying to push them down her hips like overly tight pants, but they just wound around her waist, arms and all, binding her hands and wrists to her sides.

Seconds later, the black slime coiled around her chest, paralyzing her wings against her back. It then snaked its way up to her face, shrouding the world in darkness. The icky stuff oozed along her skin wherever it touched, as though the bands had been saturated with hot, runny axle grease. She kept her lips pressed tightly together, hoping the goo wouldn’t seep into her mouth, nose, or ears.

A voice whispered, as if blended with the relentless wind, stretched out and wispy and lingering over the hissing words with a snakelike slither. “You are mine now, sssweet princesssss. Alone and unprotected, yesssss. You were an eassssy catch, an eassssy catch. Do not sssscream or cry. We will fill the world with our offssssspring. The Nephilim will sssssoon live again.” His slinking song continued, becoming peppered with suggestive, even obscene language.

As strong arms lifted Bonnie off the ground, she squirmed with all her might, but the gooey bands tightened with every move, crushing her lungs, squeezing her like a python would a doomed rabbit. She tried to stay calm, relax her muscles, shorten her breaths, but how could she? His disgusting words made her brain scream for escape.

Trying not to cry, she prayed for help, for God to send Billy or a dragon to blast this demon with fire and blow him to smithereens, but could any savior come in time? How could anyone possibly get her out of this mess? With the computer broken, Larry wouldn’t be able to find her.
Merlin II
had probably landed long ago. Billy had no idea where she was or even that she was in trouble.