Fire Born Dragon (Rule 9 Academy Book 1)

by Elizabeth Rain

  We pushed back from the table and moved for the door. “Nick’s been keeping me up to speed.” I admitted as he closed and locked the door behind us. A sound down the hall made us both freeze and listen. Several seconds passed and the furnace in the boiler room chose that moment to rumble and kick on. It must have been the relay switch flipping over.

  “Do you trust Professor Shamon? I asked.

  He turned speculative eyes in my direction. “I did when I hired her.”

  But what about now? I wondered.

  JERRY WAVERLY’S HAIR stood up like he’d been sticking his fingers in a light socket for sport, bloodshot eyes and heavy stress evidence of a lack of sleep and worry. He didn’t smile as he thrust the small bag of ‘cherry bombs’ into our hands.

  “I managed four of them.”

  One for each of us, I thought.

  He took one out and showed us the small switch wired into the side that had to be turned clockwise and recessed into the bomb to set the five second timer. It would have to be leaving our hands by the count of three.

  “Will they do anything to us?” Sirris asked.

  He looked at his daughter and shook his head. “No, of course not.” But he didn’t sound as convinced as his words. “The mist won’t hurt you. But the percussion from the explosion is nothing to be within shouting distance of. Be well back, at least ten to twelve feet when it hits to be safe, okay? Try to aim for the largest crowd of them you can for maximum impact. It should kill the Macu pretty much on impact. I’m not sure what effect it will have on the Demon wolves. At a guess, it’ll make them sick at least.” He straightened away from the lab table, in front of where they all stood in a circle.

  Sirris stared at her father with concern, nibbling at her bottom lip. “Daddy, are you okay? Taking your vitamins, eating at least twice a day. You are remembering meals and sleep, aren't you?”

  He smiled in her direction and reached out a hand to brush a cheek. “Of course, baby girl. Just like you told me.”

  But we all knew he was lying.

  “I need to know you’re all safe. That’s my number one priority.” But his eyes never left his daughter’s face as he spoke, and we knew the truth.

  I had to look away from the look they shared. Instead, my eyes moved to meet Thomas’, stark and haunted, missing his brother.

  Sirris moved forward and wrapped her arms around her father, and he grabbed her back.

  “I have to do this daddy. I have to do my part. You know that,” she whispered.

  “I know. It’s what I hate about you most. Stay safe, baby girl. You’re my world,” he choked.

  We moved towards the stairs to give them a moment, and so I didn’t start blubbering too.

  FOR ONCE THE SUN WAS absent and heavy cloud cover concealed our movements as we traveled the east trail towards the ledge. We needed the element of surprise for this to work. By now we figured they’d have guards watching the entrance if they were smart. Everyone’s eyes were peeled just in case. All four of us had a bomb except Sirris.

  Five of us made the journey. The mayor had argued against them coming alone, but I had argued that less was easier to hide. Marcus Tannon, who had the fourth bomb, had joined. The main guard had taken the night off. Five was still more of us than made me comfortable.

  We paused as a unit in the trees, making sure we were alone. An odd feeling crept between my shoulder blades as we waited for a signal from Thomas.

  “I don’t like this.” I murmured to Sirris who was in front of me.

  She reached back and grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Makes two of us chick.”

  We moved forward. My hands were itching like mad, the palms on fire where I gripped my crossbow, keeping it angled close to my body and within easy reach as we moved down and out onto the ledge. No turning back now.

  Our bombs were nestled within small pouches attached to our waists within easy reach. We moved along the ledge as quick as possible, heavy mists from the waterfall dampening our faces. The ledge itself was slick and muddy. A slippery fall from here was not an option.

  I was in the middle, Marcus Tannon brought up the end. His hissed whisper made everyone tense. “Faster, we need to move faster!” Then we heard it, rocks skittering and slithering off the ledge into the space behind him. The panting snuffle of excitement told us what we dreaded most. We weren’t alone on the ledge.

  We picked up our pace to a trot, depending on the heavy vines for handholds as we scrambled, our feet sliding on the muddy trail of the ledge as we stepped off and hid behind the large boulder that took up center state of the opening. We froze to listen.

  The movement and sound had been at our backs. But as I listened in horror, I was suddenly positive it was in front of us now too. Without being told, we fanned out and drew our weapons.

  A trap. It had been a trap, and we were right in the middle.

  I moved left, my bow drawn and ready with a bolt set. We rounded the boulder and came face to face with at least eight Demon wolves. Their yellow eyes feral with excitement, but no surprise. They’d just accepted the invitation to the buffet. Dotted amongst them were the Macu, eager to enter the bridge. Their dinner was further down the mountain, and we stood in their way. I didn’t turn to see what had stepped off the bridge at our backs. I didn’t have to. We were out-manned and surrounded on three sides.

  I wasn’t going down without a fight though. I readied to fire on my first target, my heart galloping in my chest and fear trying its best to shut me down.

  They didn’t play with their food this time. The scream of rage from the tallest as he moved was almost immediate. So was my aim as I pulled the trigger, dropping a large Demon wolf in its tracks as it scrambled in my direction. He stayed down, for now. They were too close for me to load another bolt and with a scream of my own I pulled my knife as the battle raged. My hands on the grip of the knife felt like they were on fire and I knew that magic was humming along my veins, waiting for me to let it out. I came in low on the Demon charging my way, thrusting up and disabling him in one move before he could swing those wicked claws in my direction. He was out of commission.

  I moved in, removing the bomb from my pouch, finger on the switch as I looked for the largest crowd of Macu. I flicked the switch and counted. “One... two... three... four...” and I flung it forward in time to watch it explode in a purple mist over the heads of five stampeding Macu. The effect was almost instantaneous as their orange eyes rolled to white and they began chomping at the air around them like they were trying to bite it. Their skin mottled to a chalky gray as the poison rolled through them on the first inhale. They were convulsing before they hit the ground. In seconds they were still. I whirled and slid sideways past the Demon wolf coming up behind me, laying a ribbon of fire with my blade along its side as I passed. It slid away, weakened but still standing and ready to fight. I used its forward momentum to land a solid kick to its back and propel it into the dissipating mist. The effect was immediate as it gasped and gurgled, clutching at its throat like it had an unbearable itch. It didn’t die, but it landed in a heap next to the dead Macu, shaking and growling, the sound wet and loose.

  I kept moving, my eyes on Marcus Tannon who was losing ground fast. They surrounded him on three sides as the Demon wolves pushed him towards the cliff edge and the wild rumble of water from the falls. Their attention was on their victim, mouths pulled back in a parody of an evil smile. I shuddered as I slashed at the first furred back. He arched with a painful roar and turned, swiping that long arm and razor-sharp claws in my direction. Those neat nails sliced clean through a shank of my swinging hair, missing my head by a breath.

  Even as I ducked, I caught Marcus’ eyes, desperate as he removed his bomb and flung it high over their heads. It exploded clean; the mist drifting in a wide arc over all three Demon wolves and two Macu who had broken through the ranks and were making for the bridge. All five hit the ground, the Macu still within seconds, the Demon wolves writhing and howling at their feet.
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br />   I looked around me as we fought for our lives and for a single second everything moved in slow motion. Sirris, Thomas and Nick were on my right. I could see the cliff bridge and several Demon wolves edging along it to join. Thomas and Nick held aloft the two remaining bombs. We’d done damage, but we were hopelessly outnumbered and standing on the edge of the abyss behind us, the misty falls cold at our backs. My eyes slashed to Nick’s and the futility of it all was reflected there. I looked at Sirris, standing protected in our center. Small fists clutched around her staff, blue light drifting weakly along its bloodied length. Nick’s eyes were on the cliff and the assembled wolves and I knew before he threw it where his bomb was going. It wouldn’t be enough. Nothing would. They outnumbered us at least three to one. Someone had tipped them off, again.

  The Demon wolves must have realized we were trapped. They stopped fighting, moving in closer, eyes light with anticipation. Their quarry stood helpless with nowhere to go but down. The tallest, the same demon Nick and I had seen in conversation with the shadowy traitor before, stepped apart from the others.

  When he spoke, it was in the same garbled rasp we’d heard before. Only this time, I understood what he said.

  “What now, Magicals, human garbage... there is nowhere to run. I’m going to enjoy taking my time ending you.” He chuckled, the sound making my skin crawl as it scraped over my skin.

  In my nightmares, I’d imagined this moment. I’d thought the terror of dying would own me. Instead, all I felt was the rage as it swept me away. My fingers gripped the slippery hilt of my knife and the glow of power that spun through me made me shake.

  I hunched low, and my eyes narrowed in on my first victim. I wouldn’t go quiet; I was taking as many with me as I could. I watched their eyes, waiting for them to move.

  My eyes moved over the rest of our group and then swung back to Sirris. Her eyes had changed. I blinked and stared. The pupils were no longer round and human but had elongated and looked more like the eyes of a reptile. Along her brow line several scales, iridescent and beautiful, had popped to the surface and graced the sides of her face in a shimmer of color.

  Even as my mind registered the scream of the charging wolves, she was moving. Sirris small fingers gripped the staff and in a fluid motion brought it up and down with a scream of rage was like nothing I had ever heard. The magic tipped end of the staff hit the ground with a shudder and I felt the ground move. The vibration beneath my feet started out small, and then it grew.

  Then a different sound, distant at first. The Demon wolves laughed as they started the charge. “Puny halfling, was that the best you could come up with? I believe we can do better.”

  But even as I watched them prepare to leap, the roar above our heads further up the mountain reached a deafening crescendo.

  Everyone’s attention suddenly shifted to the wall of water that sprung in our direction. The river had swollen and gathered, picking up force and speed as it tumbled down the mountain, called by the one who controlled it. We watched that rising wall of water and Sirris eyes bled to red as her arms rose into the air. And then in a movement as sudden as it was graceful, she pulled her arms in and down.

  “Sirris, what are you...” was as far as I got.

  The last thing I remembered was the wall of water as it slammed into us, pulling us back into space. I had the forethought to gulp a lungful of air and then I was falling, covering my head, hoping it was enough as I slammed into the roaring river below. I opened my mouth to scream, choking on the river as I rocketed along, glancing off boulders and twisting debris. A sudden punch to the head, and I knew nothing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  I heard voices. Whispers I couldn’t make out as I swam to the surface of consciousness. The pain hit me and I moaned, feeling like a thousand needles were being stabbed into my brain. I cracked an eyelid, and it got worse. The lights. I slammed them shut, but not before recognizing the blurry figures gathered round me.

  “The lights. Turn off the lights.” I moaned, or tried to, the words sounding foreign and strained to my ears.

  My tongue felt like it was swollen and covered in cotton. I tried to move my lips and couldn’t. There was movement and I felt someone push a straw to my lips. I sucked in water on instinct, and then greedily drew more, growling when someone took it away.

  “Not too much, the Doctor said it could make you sick.” I opened my eyes. Someone had finally dimmed the lights.

  I was in the infirmary, again. I really hated that place. Thomas and Nick were on my left. Marcus Tannon stood at the door; a huge bandage wrapped turban style around his head talking to Lucas Seul.

  On my right was Sirris. Her eyes refused to meet mine, and I remembered. Panic reared its ugly head, and I opened my mouth to scream as the memory of the river closing over my head clouded my memory.

  Sirris had brought the wall of water that swept them off the cliff.

  “Thank you?” I managed, my voice the dull rusty edge of a knife.

  Sirris snorted in derision. “For what? Trying to kill all my friends and damned near succeeding?’

  “But you didn’t. We’re alive because of you.”

  She looked away, but not before I registered the dampness on her cheeks. “You almost died. You had a severe concussion...” She started.

  I reached out and grabbed her hand. “But I didn’t; we didn’t. Stop beating yourself up for doing what you had to.” I squeezed her hand to stop her from any further self-recriminations.

  Thomas moved closer. “Nope. It seems I swim better than they do.” He seemed too cheerful for my liking. “You’d have thought they were more cat than dog. They didn’t know how to swim. Most of them drowned. Water swept the rest downriver. Not sure. After Nick pulled you to shore, we were busy trying to get you out of there. We didn’t stick around.

  I tried a weak smile and failed. “Can I get some aspirin?” The doctor entered, checking his chart and frowning as he noticed the crowd in the room.

  He turned to me. “You, young lady, have a thick skull. You scared us, but I think you’re going to be fine. If you rest.” He looked hard at everyone else. “Pain meds are ordered and will be around in short. He tapped his chart with his pencil, the eraser chewed flat. “I’d suggest a few days of rest if I thought it would do any good.” He shook his head. “The earliest I’ll release you is in the morning. If everyone else leaves you alone and you rest, that is.”

  I nodded. For once, sleep sounded wonderful. It felt like I hadn’t closed my eyes in a year.

  He hung the chart and gave my arm a pat, and with a warning glare at everyone else; left.

  “You heard the Doc. I think that was our clue to make ourselves scarce so you can finish healing.” Sirris gave my hand a squeeze and let go and moved through the door with Thomas and everyone else. Nick hesitated at the door, waiting for his father.

  “Do you think they worked?” I glanced to the foot of the bed where Lucas lingered. My vision blurred with exhaustion.

  “I’m sorry. What?”

  “The bombs. We didn’t stick around long enough to see. Were they effective?”

  I thought back, remembering the first bomb I threw that exploded. “Yes, I think so. It killed the Macu outright. The Demon wolves didn’t like it either. Sirris. You know she saved us all?” Lucas nodded. “Mermaid magic can be a fearsome thing. They protect what’s theirs.” I wondered if we were talking about the same thing.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Sadie.” Nick finished. “That was a near miss for all of us.”

  I leaned back and closed my eyes as exhaustion pulled me under.

  Yeah, it had been.

  I TOOK A PULL FROM my water bottle and washed down the extra strength painkiller the doctor had prescribed before I left. I hadn’t been too proud to take them. I was better, but I was still fighting a constant headache.

  I tossed my backpack to my shoulder and glanced through the gauzy film on the bottom bunk; the shadows concealed her face shoulders, but two jean-c
lad legs, holes at the knees and ending in orange Nike's poked out. I made out the outline of a book in her small hands.

  I hesitated. “See you later Fern,” I mumbled.” It surprised me when she lowered the book and leaned forward enough that I could see her small dark face.

  “Take care Sadie Cross. Keep your eyes open and your magic close. You’re going to need it before this is through.”

  I blinked at the flash of silver I saw move through her eyes before she sat back in the dark once more.

  Was that a warning, or a threat?

  “Sure. Thanks?” I sensed her nod before she went back to her read. I shook my head and closed the door behind me. I had to meet up with others, and I was already late.

  WE GATHERED AT THE edge of Sutter’s Field. I was the last to arrive and my pace slowed when I realized Nick was standing with them too. He looked almost nervous as he twisted the straps to his own pack.

  Before I could say a word, Sirris stepped forward and grabbed me in a hug strong enough to make my ribs crack. “Ouch,” I grimaced, rubbing my arms. “Bruises, remember.”

  “Yeah, sorry. Forgot. You ready? Nick wanted to come to dad’s, and well, I think he kinda belongs, don’t you?”

  Part of me still wanted to protest. He still made me nervous and put me out of sorts regularly. But he was growing on me.

  “It would seem so.” I allowed.

  Thomas took the lead, and we were off, moving down the trail towards the main portal to the outside rim of Shephard’s Mountain. The demons were growing bolder, but it was still rare to see them in broad daylight. We had more than enough time to reach Sirris’ house before evening.

  The cold breeze of late fall breathed down my neck and I zipped my jacket and pulled the hood in place. The sun shone, but it wasn’t enough to warm us. We brushed past low hanging limbs and a feathering of pin-like brown needles drifted past our faces and made me sneeze.