Donovan and I carefully dropped supplements into the buckets, trying not to be bitten.
“During our class on Friday, we’ll extract the anti-venom they’ll generate from moonlight over the next few days,” our Professor said.
“Anti-venom. Sounds cool.” Would we use the serum in a different class? If so, for what type of beast? All I could think of was the basilisk, a half-bird, half-snake and the next creature we’d study in my Magical Creatures class. Assuming I passed aldakor-riding and could progress to the next lesson, that is. “Whose bite will the anti-venom be used for?”
Professor Grim floated over his desk and, as he passed, he hissed beside my ear. “A dragon’s.”
Chapter 8
After class, Donovan said he had a big test in Poisons soon and had to study. We agreed to meet up later and he took the stairs two at a time from the lobby, heading for his room in Earth Coven.
Patty and Bryce went for a walk through the front gardens.
I—despite my new concern about dragon venom—left the Academy and jogged to the forest. When the slake was hunting students, the forest had been forbidden. Now, while we weren’t encouraged to wander the paths, the Headmistress had lifted the do-not-enter restrictions for the time being.
Alex morphed into his dragonfly self the moment the woods sucked me into its shady embrace.
“There you are,” he said. “Finally.”
“What’s with finally?” I gave him a quick stroke along his back with my fingertip, and he shivered. I swore his buggy lips curled upward.
“Just…finally.”
“You know where to find me.” After all, he spent much of his time dangling as the pendant on my neck.
“You’re wasting time,” he said, zipping backward, taking himself deeper along the path. “A life is at stake.”
“What are you talking about? Who’s in danger?” My breath stopped, and fear rushed through me. I sped up to a jog to keep up with him. “Do you mean the dragon?”
“Renatt.” Spinning, Alex flew down the path like a jet plane, and I scrambled behind him, tripping on roots and snagging my sleeves on raspberry brambles while trying to keep up.
“Is Renatt the dragon’s name?” I chugged out, winded after only a few minutes.
“You guessed it.”
My lips twisted. “I didn’t. You said it.”
Flipping, he faced me, flying backward and upside down. It was a wonder he didn’t clunk into a tree. “Did I?”
I huffed. “Just so you know, I haven’t stocked up on anti-venom from Sparky yet.”
He screeched to a halt, and his tiny face creased with horror. “You don’t have any anti-venom with you?”
“Professor Grim said we’re extracting it next class. You know I don’t have any. You’re always with me.”
“You think I have time to watch everything you’re doing?”
“I certainly hope not.” Especially when I was with Donovan.
“Hurry.” Whirling, he buzzed down the path.
“You said someone was hurt.”
“Everything is not what it seems.”
Grr. I rolled my eyes. “Be honest with me. Please.”
He stopped and zipped in close. Beyond him, the dragon waited in the field where I’d originally found him within days of arriving at the Academy.
“You want honesty?” Alex asked, hovering so close to my ear, his wings brushed my skin.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Alex,” I ground out.
“Haha. Since you’ve asked so politely, and I did say you’d soon discover something wonderful, here it is…”
Holding my breath, I waited for him to reveal something stupendous. Was I finally going to learn—
“It’s time to fly.” And with that, he popped out of the air, returning to his pendant form.
Awesome.
“Time to fly, he says.” I shook my head. “Like that’s anything exciting?” Continuing forward, I stepped into the field.
The dragon lifted his head and rose onto his feet from where he’d been lying in the grass. As if he needed to stretch, his wings extended—gossamer lace in every version of blue and green imaginable, scattered with flecks of gold, about fifteen feet across. At a story-and-a-half tall, he intimidated me. While I no longer worried he might bite off my head, I’d be clueless not to see the danger he could pose if he decided I was a threat.
“How are you?” I asked, moving closer cautiously. As I skirted underneath his wings and approached from his side, he shrugged as if to say he felt okay. I was pleased only a faint scabbed line was left on the leg he’d injured. No inflammation or redness. I’d discovered it the first day I met him and bandaged it to keep it clean.
If Alex hadn’t meant Renatt, then who needed my help?
As I approached his head to pat his face, Renatt dropped down again and extended his front leg my way. The look in his eyes…he wanted something.
Wait. Alex had said…
Time to fly.
Chills zipped through me. Oh, my.
Fly, as in on the dragon?
“You, um, want me to climb onto your back?” I asked.
He dipped his head and, holding back my gulp of excitement mixed with panic, I peered up.
Scales. His body was covered with oval scales that appeared sharp on the edges. Knobby, leathery skin hugging the sharp angles of his neck, shoulders, and legs peeked from beneath the scales. Didn’t expect it, but no handles.
What if he took off as fast as he had when he chased the slake? Falling off aldakors had hurt my dignity. A fall from the dragon could break bones.
Renatt nudged me closer to his shoulder.
“Okay.” I swallowed my reservations, though they went down my throat like barbed wire. First, climb onto his leg. Take it one step at a time.
I stood on tiptoes to lessen the impact of my shoes. By the fae, I was no skinny chick. But pizza and nachos were a lot more fun than a slim waistline.
“Not hurting you, am I?” I asked.
The snort Renatt released had to be a snicker.
“So, um, I assume I just…” Do it, Fleur! Where were stairs or a ladder when you needed them?
I scrambled up onto the section where his wing connected to his body, hoping this route was the best. The narrow bridge seemed to hold my weight. After that, I was able to leap up and cling to the spikes on his back which, fortunately, didn’t slice through my fingers.
My aldakor riding skills paid off. Despite repeated butt-landings, I’d built a bit of muscle mass in new areas. I swung my right leg up and over Renatt’s back and then lifted myself upright to settle between two of the larger spikes at the base of his neck.
Kinda cool up here. I gazed around, taking in the altered view. A breeze skipped across the tops of the grass, making the tan seedpods quiver. Yellow flowers swayed and danced like dandybucklions, and in the woods nearby, leaves turning all the colors of a sunset fluttered.
I could get used to—
Renatt leaped into the air.
Oh, crap! I shrieked as he flung himself down a wide, wooded path, his wings flapping, his body sinew in poetic motion. He reached a split in the trail and darted upward, weaving through thick branches. I clung to his neck while tears of excitement smeared along my temples, and gasped when I barely avoided being impaled on the upper branches.
Renatt burst from the forest like an arrow from a crossbow, out into the late-day sunshine. Gathering himself, he leveled off, his wings flapping in a steady rhythm. I released my white-knuckle grip on his back spikes, grateful I hadn’t fallen and plunged to my death. So far.
My heart fluttered faster than a hummingbird’s wings, and sweat trickled down my spine. I was too scared to move. My legs spasmed from locking myself in place against his sides.
Swooping slowly, he flew west, away from the Academy. I resisted the urge to close my eyes and scream because, while this was the scariest thing I’d done in my life, it was a
lso the most thrilling.
Below, the forest resembled a lush green field, a rolling mass of swaying treetops and rippling leaves. It whispered in a voice I knew would reveal secrets if only I could understand.
Birds flew by on missions, springing sideways when they saw us. A dusting of clouds overhead restrained the sunshine. The cool breeze felt fantastic and cooled me down fast.
Renatt slowly curved to the right, heading north as if he had a purpose.
“You’re taking me somewhere,” I said, and he nodded.
“Did Alex arrange this?”
His head shook as if to say, no, but then he nodded again. Did this mean maybe?
“Where are we going?” I asked.
No reply. I wanted to smack my forehead but didn’t dare pry my fingers off his spine.
Yes and no questions only, Fleur. He could understand but couldn’t reply.
“You don’t want anyone at the Academy seeing you, right?”
A nod.
Good thing Donovan was in his room, studying. Haunting the roof as he did, he wouldn’t miss a dragon flying above the treetops. Renatt’s scales, while sparkling with every color found in a Caribbean sea, would be visible for miles.
Should I tell him about Renatt? Alex said I shouldn’t tell anyone about the dragon, but I hated keeping secrets.
“I wish you could tell me where we’re going, but I imagine you’ll show me.”
With the Academy roofline barely discernable in the distance behind us, we swooped toward the right. Renatt took us over the eastern forest.
“We’re not supposed to be here,” I said, trepidation lifting my voice. “This is Cerberus territory. Their young are hatching.” During Orientation, we’d been told their young weren’t opposed to nibbling on wizards.
A sharp bark behind me sent my head whirling around. While I clutched Renatt’s spike to keep from falling, a Cerberus baby—pup?—bore down on us, all three heads extended, fangs primed.
Crap. I was pretty much hanging out with a sign on my back, bite me.
I ducked low, hugging Renatt’s neck. “Watch out!”
He dipped downward but didn’t seem concerned about the baby. I was concerned. I liked my arms and sides the way they were, thank you very much.
While my heart galloped ninety miles per hour, the pup, if you could call a baby as big as a small pony a pup, soared past us. As if it didn’t see us, it kept going. Maybe it hadn’t wanted to chomp on me, as I’d been warned. It could be full, after chowing on other wizards.
Two more flew below us, tagging behind the first.
Ahead, cliffs rose all the way to the sky, jagged and unforgiving. The Cerberus babies swooped down and landed at the base of the cliffs, joining three who appeared to be munching on vines.
“Whoa,” I said. Nightlace? “Can we get closer to the pups? I want to see what they’re eating.”
Renatt drifted lower, his wings chopping through the air at a slower rate. As the ground approached, he lifted his upper body and dropped his back legs down onto the surface. His claws scraped grooves in the brown soil.
He tucked his wings in close as I slid off his back.
“I’m going to take a quick look, okay?” I said.
He nodded.
I’d started forward, but turned, a new concern rising inside me. While Renatt didn’t appear eager to sink his teeth into my spine—meaning I wouldn’t need dandybucklion anti-venom yet—I didn’t truly know him. How much could I trust him? It would be a long walk back to the Academy. “You’ll wait here, right?”
Another nod.
Relief lightening my mood, I crept closer to the babies, darting from one bush to another, doing my best not to draw attention.
The pups continued chomping, yanking strands of vegetation from trees and the cliffside, seemingly oblivious to my approach. But it was clear they were eating nightlace vines.
I was returning to Renatt when a baby squawked behind me.
Pivoting, my eyes widened as it dropped out of sight, disappearing into the ground.
Its cry of terror rang from somewhere below.
Chapter 9
The other pups rushed toward where the first had disappeared. Clustered in a circle, they stared downward, their heads bobbing, low cries erupting from their multiple heads.
As I crept up behind them, one arched its neck back and wailed. Others joined in, their huge tears plopping on the ground. A few gnashed their teeth. I stayed away from them.
And the vines…With the pups occupied by their lost sibling, nightlace slithered along the ground, inching toward me. Stalking me.
Behind me, Renatt roared. The Cerberus pups didn’t flinch, but the nightlace vine’s advance slowed as if they understood his warning and took heed. I kept my moonstone blade close. Where was a decent sword when you needed one?
“I, um…guys,” I said in a nonthreatening voice as I approached the pups. “Girls. Cerberus puppies.” Whatever. I wiggled between them, hoping they were full after eating nightlace. “Do you need help?”
A mournful cry echoed from deep below the ground, telling me the baby was in distress. The round, dark circle about two feet across and half covered with vegetation told me the poor baby had fallen into the hole.
As if they could understand my words or sensed I only wanted to help, the pups shifted, creating a gap I could get close to. I stooped down and peered into the hole.
Heavy footsteps told me Renatt came up behind me.
Looking up at us from what looked like a cave about five feet down, the trapped baby whimpered pitifully. The left head whimpered, that is. The head on the right glared while the middle glanced around with its brow furrowed. As if catching me staring, the Cerberus backed away, ducking into the shadows.
“Can you climb out, little guy?” I asked, hoping it could understand. Their parent spoke English when I’d met the three-headed, dog-like beast during Orientation. But this was a baby.
I turned to the dragon hovering behind me. “Hey, Renatt, can you reach inside and pull him out?”
As he moved closer to the hole, I stepped to the side. But Renatt’s head wouldn’t fit.
The plaintive wail of the trapped pub was echoed by its siblings on the surface, creating eerie harmony. Their clawed paws clung to the edges of the hole and sharp barking whines erupted from their throats as their heads swayed faster in growing dismay.
“I’m going to jump inside and help him,” I said. Assuming he was willing to let me help. For all I knew, he might attack me instead. But I couldn’t leave him trapped in the ground. He’d die.
Gulping back my fear about how I’d get out of the hole, I sat on the edge and dropped my legs inside. Cool air nipped at my calves, and the skin on my ankles crawled as if I’d sunk them into a pit full of spiders. I laughed off my concern. This was a simple hole in the ground, not a trap.
Bad thought, there.
At least the dirt bottom appeared flat. It should cushion my fall.
Rolling over onto my belly, I carefully lowered my feet until I dangled from my arms. I clung to a shrub and lowered myself inside as far as my arms would reach.
Renatt huffed and lightly touched my forehead as if to wish me luck. Or to say goodbye before I disappeared into the bowels of the earth forever.
A glance down told me the dirt cave floor was about a two-foot drop away.
I released the branch and fell backward. My body jarred when my shoes hit, and my teeth snapped together as I tumbled backward, my arms pin-wheeling. My butt smacked on the ground.
I scrambled to my feet and brushed something I’d rather not examine too closely off my backside. Wet. Slimy. Not looking.
It was dark down here. Very dark, with only the stab of oval light from the hole above highlighting the ground beside me. Dust particles skipped through the beam.
I generated my finger glow light and looked around.
A small cave with no obvious exits, the room appeared about fifteen feet across. The sides were mad
e up of stone and soil and vines grew along one of the walls, but I couldn’t make out more than spindly, twisty runners with dark leaves.
The right head of the Cerberus pup poked above the cluster of boulders it hid behind, but it ducked back down the second it caught me watching.
“Hey, little guy,” I cooed. “I’m here to help. Come on out and let’s get you back up to the top, huh?”
The how of the last statement felt beyond me at the moment. The pup was shorter than me but wider, about the size of a trash barrel.
Creeping closer, I made soothing sounds. When I reached the boulders, I stretched my arm up and over the top, hoping I wouldn’t pull back a stump. Three voices whined in harmony and two of them ducked lower. But one sniffed my fingers. The middle head. He licked my palm and I braced myself for the sting of a bite.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
A slithering sound behind me made me pause and blink. Chills rippled up my spine, and I hoped I was mistaken. I’d heard something similar before… The night Drea died.
Alex popped into view in front of my face, his wings awhirl.
I yelped and the pup ducked down.
“Whatcha doin’?” Alex asked.
I pressed my palm against my chest to keep my heart from bolting.
“Alex. Was that you behind me moving around? You scared me to death.”
“Behind, in front, to the side,” he chirped. “Who’s to say—”
“Stop. Please.” I held up my hand. “Can you do something for me?”
He zipped in so close, I went cross-eyed trying to focus on his little buggy face. “You know I’m always happy to jump in and lend a hand, kiddo. Any suggestions for what I can do?”
“I need to talk a Cerberus baby into letting me help him.”
Zipping around in a quick circle, Alex returned to perch on the tip of my nose. “Quite a mess you’re in here, Fleur.”
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 29
