Voices of Dragons (18 page)

“What are we going to do?”

He shuddered slightly—a shrug, almost. She stepped away so he could look at her more easily. “If we can, we should make something of this. Already too many sacrifices. This will make it worse. Before, it was two warriors shaking their claws at each other. Now, there will be armies. Not skirmishes, but battles.”

She could see it, because the
Dracopolis
book had pictures of it: a swarm of dragons filling the sky, a tapestry of wings. Below them, a sea of human beings with siege engines. Now, when the humans had jets and bombs, how much worse would it be?

How did you stop such a thing?
Too many sacrifices
, he'd said.

Artegal looked up, studied the sky, as if he had heard something that she had not. “We should go. Quickly. They'll find us. Catch us. Can't let that happen.”

It seemed inevitable at this point. Why fight it? She wanted to throw a tantrum. Stand up and just scream for them to stop it—why couldn't they all just stop it?

Maybe she ought to try it. What was there to lose? Herself and her mother. A friendship. She undid his harness, helped him pull it off his back, and began coiling it. She had a weird idea.

“Artegal?”

He'd been studying the sky again, but snorted and looked at her. They'd discussed the book. She'd brought translations to share, and he'd told her what he'd been
able to translate. They'd studied the extra sheet of paper tucked in the back and tried to understand what it meant—a treasure map, Kay thought; a lost cave of dragons still in hiding, Artegal thought.
In Greenland?
she wondered. But they hadn't talked about everything in the book, and so she asked.

“The
Dracopolis
book talks about virgin sacrifices. About how, in the old days, villages would give virgins to the dragons to make them stop attacking. Did that actually work?”

He tilted his head—a sign of curiosity. “I think it did. It was a sign of what people were willing to give for peace.”

She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Did the dragons actually eat the girls who were sacrificed?”

“I think it depended on the dragon. Some were kept, like pets. At least that's what our stories say.”

This was grim. She could understand the knights coming after the dragons, willing to fight to stop such a thing. But she could also understand being desperate enough to sacrifice one person to save everyone, to stop a war.

One last question, one that should have occurred to Kay a long time ago. It was the big overriding question of her life, at least according to Tam.

“Why virgins?” she asked Artegal.

He snorted a foggy breath. “I don't know. That was the humans' idea. We can't tell the difference.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth, but that didn't stop the bubble of laughter. It was sharp, too loud in their
quiet clearing. Artegal jerked, startled, raised his head, and stared.

We can't tell the difference.
That made the whole question wonderful, didn't it? It didn't matter. It didn't matter if she was or not.

She shook her head. “I can't explain it. It's just—you're right. It's not important. But here's the thing, Artegal. I am one. And if we could, do you think it would work?”

“A sacrifice?” he breathed.

“I mean, you wouldn't have to eat me. You wouldn't, would you?”

“Silly. No,” he said.

“It wouldn't even have to be a real sacrifice. We pretend that it is. We make a big show of it—” And then what? Go back to the way they were? The whole point of a sacrifice was to change everything, to make sure things didn't stay the same.

“The elders wouldn't believe it. They trusted humans to keep the border. They were betrayed.”

“That's why we don't leave it up to them. Not the elders, not the air force, not anybody. We do it ourselves.”

He thought for a moment—still, unmoving. A great statue of a dragon. “We do this—then what? You can't return home, for it to be true.”

You can't offer yourself as a sacrifice and expect to go back to school the next day. Was she willing to do that, to leave home? She'd never been sure about what she wanted
to do with her life, except have adventures. Well, this was it.

“East,” she said. “We go to the place on the secret map.”

“May be nothing there.”

“But I think there is,” she said.

“Yes. Me too.”

The rhythmic thumping of helicopters sounded nearby. The world intruded. Fallout from the battle was about to sweep over them.

“We must go,” he said, ducking, his neck curving close.

How were they going to plan this thing, if they really were? She wished he had a cell phone. She wished a cell phone existed that was big enough for him to use.

“How will I talk to you?” she said, her heart pounding.

“The other place, where we met to fly. Your people don't know of it. Leave notes. I'll look. Every morning, if I can.”

“Okay, yes.”

“This thing. We should try.” The ridges over his eyes were arced, giving him a fierce look. His eyes shone. It may have been her imagination, but the colors of his scales seemed to shimmer, taking on blacks and reds.

“We'll think of something. Hey, I need to hide the harness somewhere. It almost got me in trouble this time. They're watching me. They'll take it from me if they catch me. Can you hide it? Would you be able to take it?” She pulled off her own climbing harness and clipped it to the ropes, to keep all the gear together.

To answer, he stretched forward a hind foot and closed
the claws around the coils of rope. They looked like a tangle of thread in his grip.

“Kay,” he said. “Take care.”

“You too.” She reached out her hand, and he nudged it with his nose. He turned and launched, and the trees around the clearing swayed and rustled at the sudden burst of wind his wings made.

She went south, toward the river.

Kay was able to run faster and farther without carrying all the gear.

She was now west of Silver River and a good ten miles from where her mother had parked. Ten miles from where she had left Jon behind with the army, wondering what had happened. They must have seen the smoke from the crash, if not the entire battle. Not to mention all the showing off beforehand.

Digging in her backpack, she found her cell phone and gave it a try. She didn't care if the military was listening in—she figured they'd find her sooner or later at this point. But she had to know if people were okay. She got reception, barely. She called Jon, but he didn't answer. He'd probably
been arrested, and it was her fault. But she'd warned him, she'd told him to stay away. But she wouldn't blame him if he never spoke to her again. She left a message begging him to call back.

She called her mother. The phone rang and rang—

Her mother must have been talking as soon as she the saw the caller ID, before she even clicked talk.

“Oh my God! Kay, where are you? Are you all right? Kay!” The voice was scratchy, coming in and out of range.

“I'm okay, Mom. I'm fine. I'm heading south, I'm trying to figure out where I am.” She wasn't sure she was getting through. She couldn't hear a response. “Mom—”

The connection cut out. Her mom must be hysterical. Kay quickly texted a follow-up message:
IMOK
.

She hiked another mile, maybe two, exhausted but still moving quickly, determined to get across the creek. She could hear running water. Just a little farther.

Her phone rang—she must have been back in range. Looking, she expected it to be her mother, but it wasn't. It was Tam.

Her friend didn't even say hello. “Kay, what's going on? What have you been doing? Was that even you? The news is saying it was you, but that couldn't possibly have been you. Could it?”

For a moment, Kay debated about what tell her, how little she could get away with saying. Then she realized that Tam would know she was holding back, and Kay
didn't want to lie anymore.

“It was me,” she said, and felt a flush of relief to be talking with her friend again.

“Oh my God, you're
crazy
. Are you out of your
mind
?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kay said with a sigh. “I tried talking to my mom, but the phone cut out, and I can't get ahold of Jon. What's been happening? What are people saying?”

“The army's everywhere. I mean everywhere. And the cops and the newspeople. The pictures of you and that thing are all over the TV, the internet—”

Artegal
, Kay wanted to tell her.
That thing's name is Artegal
.

“—someone told somebody I'm your best friend, and they've been camping out on
my
lawn!”

“I'm sorry,” Kay murmured.

“Kay, how long has this been going on? I saw the video—you've obviously been doing this a while. How long?” Kay didn't answer, but Tam barely gave her time to. “Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me what was going on?”

“I was scared,” she said.

“Did you think you couldn't trust me?”

If they'd been face-to-face, they both would have been crying. But right now, Tam sounded too angry for it, and Kay was too tired. Her shoulders and arms ached, the blisters on her hands had come back, and she still had a long way to hike.

“That's not it,” Kay said with a sigh. “I just didn't know how to tell you.”

“Where are you now?” Tam said. “Do you need a ride? I'll come get you.”

“I can't really say, I'm afraid they're listening to my calls.”

“Oh my
God
!” Tam said, outraged.

“Hey, I think I figured out where I am. You know that picnic area where we had my birthday party a couple of years ago?” Maybe that was cryptic enough to confuse any eavesdroppers. “Can you meet me there? Tam, they may try to follow you.”

“What is this, some kind of spy movie?”

“Never mind, I don't want to get you in trouble. You should stay out of it.”

“Hell no, I'm coming to get you.”

“Tam—”

“No arguing. I'm walking out of the house right now.”

“Okay. Thank you, Tam. Just—thanks.”

“You sound awful, Kay.”

“I'll be okay. Have you heard from Jon?”

“No. But the news says the military has a ‘person of interest' in custody. That couldn't be him, could it?”

“Probably. Crap.”

“Hang in there. I'm on my way, okay?”

“Okay. Tam—thanks.”

“Just be careful, Kay.”

They clicked off, and Kay kept hiking.

She finally reached the stream—it was wider here, farther downstream than where she usually crossed. Without a bridge or even stepping stones within sight, she plunged into the freezing water and waded across, slogging against the current, gritting her teeth as her hiking boots soaked through and her legs grew cold. She just wanted to get to safety. Once she got to the main road, she could follow it the picnic area where she'd told Tam to meet her. She guessed it was just a mile or so away, and hoped she was right.

Her feet and legs were numb, and she was shivering, but she kept moving and it wasn't so bad. She'd stay warm if she kept moving. Helicopters—news and military—passed overhead, but she pressed herself to a tree for cover, stayed still, and they didn't see her.

She hoped Artegal was okay.

Kay heard sirens in the distance, coming closer.

She stayed in the trees, away from the road and trails, as she slogged on, as fast as she could. She was cold, wet, shivering; the faster she moved, the warmer she'd be, and that kept her going. The sooner she met Tam, the better.

After the sirens faded, the voices started. Men, shouting at one another in the woods. “This way…. She's been here…. We're getting close….” The voices seemed to surround her.

In a panic, she almost sat down and gave up. But no,
if she were quick, if she kept to the trees, they wouldn't find her. She'd been running around these woods her whole life, climbing, hiking, kayaking on the river, camping in all kinds of weather. But these guys were trained military. They probably had guns—and she couldn't trust anymore that they wouldn't shoot at anything that moved.

Now she knew what it felt like to be hunted.

She tried to remember the rules of climbing: She had to keep breathing. She had to breathe, slow and steady, because that would keep her from getting even more scared. So she concentrated on breathing and on where she was putting her feet. One foot in front of the other, quick and careful. She kept an eye on the forest floor ahead of her, all the protruding branches, stones, and detritus waiting to trip her up, every place she could slip.

The cops or army guys or whoever they were made a lot of noise. They crashed through the trees, skidded on the ground, their heavy boots pounding, shouting at one another. Maybe there were just a lot of them.

They seemed to be moving along the river, downstream. They figured she had to cross somewhere, so that was where they concentrated their search. She never caught a glimpse of them, which she figured was a good thing—if she never saw them, maybe they never saw her. When the noises came close, she crouched low, close to a tree trunk, and didn't move until they'd faded again. She wasn't camouflaged, wearing jeans and her black parka.
But she wasn't brightly colored, and if she stayed still, she blended into shadows.

That was how she got past them.

She waited until the forest around her was quiet. Not even a breeze rattled the trees, although she could hear aircraft in the distance. For a long moment, she didn't believe she was really safe—they were waiting to pounce as soon as she started moving again. But no one was there.

Carefully, she moved from the trees to an open meadow. She still had to work to keep from breathing in panicked gasps. Looking around, she recognized landmarks—the big hill that the highway curved around, a rocky crag that looked kind of like a hunched bear. The picnic area was a half mile south. Her parents had a pocket GPS tracker—it usually lived in the glove box of her mother's car. She mostly used it for work, but sometimes they used it hiking. Kay wished she had it now—she'd have to think about taking it for next time. She felt a twinge at that—was there even going to be a next time?

Fifteen minutes later, she stumbled into the clearing of the picturesque picnic area, a few tables arranged around an iron fire pit half buried in the ground.

The gravel parking lot beyond the tables was empty.

Kay leaned against a tree and slid to the ground. Tam wasn't there, but on the plus side the cops and military weren't there, either. But she worried that Tam had been caught. She pulled out her phone again, willing to risk another call—and
jumped at the sound of tires crunching on gravel as a car pulled up. Kay was ready to run back to the woods. Then she recognized Tam's blue hatchback.

Kay ran toward her, and Tam tumbled out of the driver's seat. They crashed into each other for an epic hug.

“Are you okay?” Tam said. “God, I'm so glad to see you!”

“We gotta get out of here.” Tam nodded, and they climbed in the car. She'd left the motor running and peeled out of the parking area way too fast, but Kay didn't complain.

Tam said, “I had to take back roads. People are everywhere. There's a whole traffic jam of people trying to get out of town. That's the only reason they haven't caught me yet.”

“Thank you,” Kay said yet again. “I'm sorry, I didn't want to drag you into this—”

“Stop apologizing. I'll do whatever I have to. But, Kay, are you all right? Really all right?” Her eyes were wide, as if she were in shock, and her face was taut, serious.

Kay nodded quickly. “Yeah, I think I am.” She couldn't wait to see the news, to see what they were saying about her and Artegal, to see if all this had gotten them the publicity she'd hoped for.

Tam crossed the highway and stuck to county roads, mostly narrow dirt trails that had connected neighborhoods and ranches before Silver River was even a real town. Maybe
that would keep them out of sight as they returned to town.

“What are we doing? Where are we going?” Tam said. She looked scared—her white-knuckled hands gripped the wheel, and she chewed her lower lip. But she drove like a pro.

“I don't know,” Kay said, shaking her head. “If they grab me, they'll lock me up and I'll never see the light of day again.”

“We'll go to the store,” Tam said. Tam's mom had a souvenir shop in town, selling T-shirts and stuff to tourists. Tam worked there during the summer. “Maybe no one will be looking there. It hasn't been open since the fire.”

“Okay.”

They'd driven a couple of miles in silence before Tam looked at Kay, anguished. “Oh my God, Kay! What have you been doing? What the hell's going on that you were with—that you were
riding
that thing?” She sounded like she'd been betrayed, and maybe she had. Maybe Kay should have told her about this all along.

She told Tam the whole story, start to finish, from that day she fell in the creek to the book to flying to today. When she got to the part about Branigan and spying, she trailed off, not sure yet how the story was going to end and not knowing what else to say.

They continued a little farther in silence before Tam laughed. The laughter was tense, her jaw clenched like she was trying to stop it. Kay looked at her, questioning.

“It's like
Romeo and Juliet
,” she said. “Like trying to be friends when your families hate each other. Like that, but bigger.”

“I guess it is,” Kay said wonderingly. This was another story of two people running around behind the backs of their families because their families were unreasonable. There were people dying on both sides and everything.

“I mean this dragon, Artegal. You aren't, like, in love with it or anything. Are you?” Tam sounded incredulous.

Kay didn't even know what it meant to be in love. She thought most of what she felt for Artegal was awe. She was glad she'd met him, even if they never saw each other again. But that wasn't love, was it? Wasn't love supposed to be more about feeling safe, wanted, and beautiful? More like what she felt when she was with Jon.

“I think maybe we both thought it was so amazing we could be friends at all that we didn't want to give it up.”

“Get down,” Tam said. She stared intently out the windshield.

“What?”

“Down, out of sight.”

Police cars with flashing lights were parked ahead. Kay unbuckled the seat belt and slid onto the floorboards, curling up as much as she could and keeping her head down, covered. All that was visible was her back, the dark surface of her coat. As the car slowed, she wanted to look. Keeping her head down was almost impossible, she wanted so badly
to see what was going on. But she didn't. She could hear Tam's fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

They drove slowly, but they didn't stop. Then, Tam increased speed, and they were back to driving normally. Another ten minutes passed before Tam said, “I thought maybe it was a roadblock, like they were checking cars, but they just seemed to be watching. I think maybe you should just stay down there until we get to the store, okay?”

“Yeah.” Kay shifted to keep her legs from falling asleep and settled into the pocket under the dash.

When they slowed and started making turns, Kay guessed they'd entered the town. After another minute, the car stopped.

“Can I get up?”

“Wait a minute. Let me get the store unlocked first.”

Tam climbed out of the car and a few minutes later returned to call back to Kay, “Come on. Hurry.”

Grateful to be out of the uncomfortable position, Kay sat up and tumbled out of the car to follow Tam inside.