The Dragon Tree (18 page)

             
The boat disappeared from view in a deep trough.

             
Billy let the wind lift him higher.

             
The crippled vessel was trapped in the trough and taking on water. Wave after wave struck the starboard side and pushed it over. One barnacle-riddled side of the ship tore free of the water as the other side of the hull slapped down with a mighty splash. The deck was nearly vertical and everything on board that wasn’t bolted down tumbled into the churning ocean.

             
As Billy swooped closer, he couldn’t see any sign of life on the ship until… a flicker of light inside the wheelhouse! There was a figure moving frantically inside the cabin overlooking the deck, swinging a flashlight wildly.

             
Must be more men below deck. No time to waste.

             
Billy arced wide, slid through the white crest of a wave then barreled down toward the ship. He drew a deep breath into his cavernous lungs then plunged into the water directly under the submerged side of the hull. As cold water littered with the ship’s contents enveloped Billy, he turned his back to the ship and pushed against it with all of his strength. He used the length of his tail to hold the ship in place while he kicked hard with his legs and forced his wings to flap under the water.

             
Like flying in slow motion. With a boulder on my back.

             
The ship groaned against Billy’s powerful body. The metal hull buckled inward. But the weight of the ship was too great. He couldn’t push it upright. The pressure of the ship against his skull forced Billy’s jaws shut like a vise. His triangular teeth scraped against each other as water forced its way between them and trickled down his throat.

             
You can’t do this on your own! Let the ship go or you’ll drown!

***

              Lightning crackled on all sides and rain lashed Hiroki relentlessly.

             
What are you thinking, Billy?!

             
If there were people on the ship and they saw two winged reptiles flying over the ocean, this glorious night of flying would be their last. The world would know that dragons had returned. There would be constant danger for Hiroki and Billy, constant threat of greater exposure and eventually… They would have no choice but to eat the ashy black leaves. They would have no choice but to give up their wings. This amazing adventure had just begun, but it would all be over.

             
No, Billy. I can’t give it up. I
cannot
give it up!

             
But what if there were people on the ship? Actual people. They were human beings, clinging to the last moments of their lives and praying for a miracle. Time was running out for them.

             
You can’t just let them die. Billy’s right. And if Billy’s already there… if they’ve already seen one giant blue dragon…

             
Hiroki swung his head and unleashed a deafening screech. Flame erupted from his throat and lit up the night sky. He bent his long tail and spun, then flexed his wings and flew hard back toward the heart of the storm.

              Hiroki saw that the crippled ship was on its side, trapped under an endless onslaught of waves. By all appearances it should have been sinking. But then a sudden cataclysm of lightning illuminated the scene and Hiroki saw the dark shape of Billy’s body under the water and pressed against the ship.

             
Help him!

             
Hiroki swung down between hulking waves and landed on the railing of the ship. The railing crumpled in his powerful talons but Hiroki would not relinquish his grip. He spread his wings to steady himself as he edged along the railing to the bow of the ship.

             
Then he opened wide his mouth and drove his teeth into the metal hull. He slammed his jaws closed and clamped down. He leaned back and dug his talons into the metal beneath his bite. Fully anchored, he unfurled his wings and pounded the air with all his strength.

              Just as Billy’s breath ran out, he felt the dead weight of the ship move above him. It rolled away from Billy, lifting the submerged side where he was pushing. He followed the ship up and rose out of the water. Coughing up the water he had swallowed, he greedily gulped down cold air. His wings were soaked and exhausted, but he ignored the soreness and pumped them anyway.

             
Moments later, the ship slapped down upright.

             
Billy clawed up the side of the ship and stretched his muscular neck to look over the railing. He saw a slender green dragon perched on the bow, jaws clamped down on the hull and wings still flapping.

             
Hiro! You came back!

             
Hiroki pounded the side of the ship with one wing in answer.

             
We have to drag the ship back to shore! I’ll push from the back and you pull from up here!

             
Hiroki pounded the side of the ship again to show he understood the plan, then leaned to one side and started turning the ship. Billy dropped low and pushed against the hull from the other side, pushing the same direction. The wind fought the two dragons every inch, but they spun the ship until it was pointing directly at the waves.

             
Billy scratched his way to the rear of the ship. He dug into the hull with his front legs and pressed his head against the metal. The rest of his body was horizontal behind the ship, wings thrusting up and down so powerfully they further churned up the water that lapped his body from below.

             
Hiroki adjusted his position at the bow of the ship. He wrapped his tail around the winch crane and dug his rear claws into the hull. He let go with his front legs and allowed the wind to lift him a few feet from the ship, then flapped his wings to match Billy’s pace.

             
I can’t see anything from back here, Hiro! Steer us back to shore!

             
Hiroki unleashed a thunderous screech and dragged the helpless ship due east.

***

              Eva found that her eyes were capable of cutting through the inky black night. She could clearly make out the contours of the coast, and she saw the familiar plateau she had visited more than once with Billy and Hiroki. The wind and rain continued to lash the shore, but the spot was large enough she thought she could pull off a landing.

             
If only her strange new body would do what she asked it to do.

             
She hit the ground going much faster than she intended. Her strong legs buckled under her weight and her wings tangled. She tumbled forward end over end, her tail slapping the wet rocks again and again looking for purchase. Her momentum carried her all the way to the edge of the cliff where she slid over the edge.

             
Don’t fall, Eva! Fly!

             
She frantically flapped her wings again and averted her fall, but the powerful wind from the storm slammed her against the vertical face of the cliff. On impact she scratched at the slick rocks until, at last, she dug in her talons painfully and hung on for dear life.

             
Climb, Eva. You can do it.

             
She was only twenty feet below the plateau and her talons gave her the necessary grip to scale the rocks despite their slickness. She vaulted over the lip of the plateau with a final burst of strength and collapsed on the rocks.

             
Her entire body was throbbing with soreness. The transformation itself had been excruciating, but the battering she took when she broke loose of her bedroom and crashed through the neighborhood – and her crash landing only moments ago – had made her pain much worse. She lowered her skull to the rocks and closed her thick eyelids, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep and wake up to find that the whole affair was nothing but a nightmare. She knew it wasn’t so. She knew that everything she had seen and experienced over the past few days was very real. There was no way to undo Hiroki’s camera sliding off the cliff. There was no way to take back Billy climbing down and discovering the tree. There was no way to stop Billy from eating the fruit or to prevent Hiroki from following him down that path. There was no way to push the juice back out of her tongue where it had soaked in and entered her bloodstream, dooming her to this nightmare. There was no way to—

             
Her eyes shot open.

             
The leaves. How could I forget about the leaves?!

             
Eva forgot the weariness of her long yellow body and rose up on four shaky paws. Ignoring the wind and rain that continued to lash the shore, she scrabbled toward the edge of the plateau and stepped out into space.

             
She found new strength in her wings as she lowered herself to the height of the rocky shelf. The curtain of rock blocked her view of the tree, but her nostrils flared and she was sure she could smell the blood coursing through its branches. She tried to maneuver herself around the rocky curtain, but her body was far too large to squeeze through.

             
Eva panicked.

             
She pushed off from the cliff to make space, then pumped her wings to vault herself back into the rocky curtain at speed. The surface cracked and crumbled on impact, but not enough to clear her path to the tree. She pushed off again and flew farther from the rocks, then drove her body forward with more force. A large chunk of rock split off from the curtain and tumbled down to the bay. Now she could see the tips of several black branches. It was working! Pain radiated through her body from the shoulder she used to bash the rock, but she ignored it. She pushed off a third time and flew halfway across the harbor before swinging around, tucking her wings and barreling into the rocky curtain at full speed.

             
Half of the curtain broke away in a single sheet of rock. She used her talons to latch onto what remained and tore off chunk after chunk. The storm was breaking to the west and the moon had crept out from behind dark clouds. It cast a silver glow on the side of the cliffs as more of the tree came into view.

             
Eva threw her body behind what remained of the rocky curtain. She snapped at the branches with her bony jaws. Her mouth was much too clumsy to tear free the clusters of black leaves protruding from the trees branches. She contorted her body and reached inside with her front paws. Her movements were so frantic that she only succeeded in smashing black fruit against the rocks and breaking branches loose. They spun as they fell to the water before disappearing under the surf.

             
Come on… come on!

             
She had too little experience using her reptile body. Her paws and talons were a blunt instrument when she needed surgical precision. The more she struggled to tear loose a single leaf-laden branch, the more she tore the tree apart. If she didn’t stop raking the tree, there would be nothing left.

             
Distraught, Eva clawed her way back up the face of the cliff and onto the plateau. She collapsed again on the rocks and turned her tired eyes toward the ocean. It was a seething expanse of endless gray and black. Even in her enormous dragon body the ocean made her feel very small… and very alone.

             
And then she saw a flicker of green.

              Hiroki’s heart was thundering in his chest. The strain of hauling the ship for miles had worn him down so severely he felt himself getting lightheaded. He flapped his wings less-forcefully and his grip on the hull was loosening.

             
We’re almost there, Hiro! Keep pulling!

             
Hearing Billy’s voice in his head again gave Hiroki a charge of fresh energy. He wrapped his tail more tightly around the crane and redoubled his efforts. His night vision wasn’t as powerful as Billy’s. The shore was dark and difficult to make out until…

             
A burst of bright orange flame appeared on top of the cliffs. The light it cast brought a hulking creature with mustard yellow flesh into view. It stood sentry on the plateau where Billy roughly dropped Hiroki’s Buick a few hours earlier. The creature unleashed another column of fire and Hiroki was certain he had not imagined the sight.

             
It had to be her. It had to be Eva!

             
The yellow dragon leapt off the cliff and flew along the edge of the bay, blasting fire every few seconds. The light from the flames showed Hiroki the entry point into the harbor and he finally understood.

             
She’s lighting our path, like a lighthouse! She’s guiding us in!