Just as I cleared the roots there was another loud crack, and glancing behind me, I saw the hole in the earth close up and blot out the light.
This was it; there was no turning back now. Behind us was only darkness, and ahead of us, well, a dragon. And all this on juice and a few muffins. I prayed to Gaia it would be enough to get us through the day safely. If not, well, I hoped Carter’s insurance was paid up in full; his next of kin was gonna need it.
10
Dark Caverns
We were completely underground, cut off from daylight, but the long stairway under the tree was faintly lit by beautiful mushrooms growing all over the walls, and I could see exactly where I was going. They reminded me of big, fat shiitakes, and I wondered if they tasted half as good if you fried them.
“Can you all hear me?”
Mr. Reynolds had magically amplified his voice so we could hear him loud and clear at the back.
“Yes,” I shouted, since I was the last in the tunnel. I saw Pike bow her head a fraction, as if she was thinking: My mom.
“Good. We’re going down quite a way. If any of you are claustrophobic, let me know. I know a pretty good spell to help that.”
It’s a bit late now, I thought, but said nothing.
Carter turned to find me. “You okay?” he whispered. His eyes twinkled and his aftershave filled my nostrils. Ooh, instant manly pheromone rush. No waaaaay was he gay, that smolder couldn’t possibly be fake.
“Me? Yeah, fine.”
“Good.” He smiled and turned around again.
Hmm. Delish. Mind you, there was still the problem of Maisy. I’d worry about that later. Right now, I needed to focus. Dragons. Well, dragon singular. But no less dangerous!
“Okay, everyone, we’re coming to the bottom of the steps,” Mr. Reynolds announced. “We’re now two-hundred feet down, just a little above sea level. There is a small cavern at the bottom, and I need you all to wait there for a moment while I check the dragon’s lair.”
It didn’t take long to reach the bottom, and the steps ended in a decent-sized cavern. I couldn’t see Mr. Reynolds, but there was a dark entrance to what looked like another cavern on the far wall, and I guessed he’d gone in there. I caught up with Björn who still looked like he’d rather be back in bed.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Don’t ask,” he said. “I’ll be all right, I think. I just had a rough night.”
“Oh. Maybe you just need a little tonic or something?” I asked, fishing. “Maybe Carter can fix you up? He’s good at potions.”
“Ja, maybe,” Björn said.
Clearly, he wasn’t going to bite.
A lull came over the group as we heard the sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing. We were so close. That dragon could only be a few feet away. My adrenalin surged, and if I was honest, I was as desperate to see this dragon as everyone else.
I noticed Bo had moved to stand by his father’s side. Most of the time the young teenage boy had kept his distance, like most of them did, but the possibility of coming face-to-face with a live dragon had exposed his more sensible side. I respected that. Then again, perhaps he sought to protect his father should anything go wrong. I respected that, also.
Looking about I saw Pike on the other side of the cavern. Unlike Bo, she’d moved to the front of the group, clearly wanting to be one of the first to see the great würm. A surge of pride and anxiety kindled in me at the same time. She was my only daughter, after all, and if there was gonna be any trouble, I wanted her by my side, too.
“What are we waiting for?” Crystal asked. “Why don’t we just follow him in?”
“Mr. Reynolds has to check out the dragon’s lair,” Maisy answered. “Don’t worry, err, my dears, he’s um, just making sure everything is okay before we proceed, that’s all.”
Perhaps it was my imagination, but I detected a tiny tremor in Maisy’s voice. I wished I could read her face, but right now, it was turned away from me.
Carter had caught up with her by the entrance to the dragon’s lair, and in the dim light cast by the mushrooms, I saw him put his hand on her arm. He leant in and whispered something to her, and though I couldn’t overhear what was said, I watched as her hand went instinctively to her face and she nodded.
Carter seemed appeased, and then stood watch for Mr. Reynolds’s return, just like the rest of us.
I had to admit, despite my imaginings, I’d seen nothing to cement the idea that he and Maisy were a thing. She’d been all over him sometimes, sure, but her clinginess came over as more platonic than romantic.
As for Carter, he was always polite and attentive to her, but I’d seen his smooch-face, and this wasn’t it. Not once had I seen him look at her with anything more than friendship.
Maybe Lea had been wrong about them. Maybe I had been wrong. Heck, it wouldn’t be the first time. Still, it was impossible for me to be totally sure. Time would tell.
“Okay, everyone, there’s a dragon in the house and we are good to go!” Mr. Reynolds’s voice was clear, if maybe not quite so loud as it was before. “Please, keep your wands in your pockets, and no flashes of light. You’ll frighten her, and she might try to defend herself.”
Carter’s gaze was fixed on me and I pressed my lips tight, controlling my anxiety. Okay, the order was that wands were away, but I squeezed mine in my pocket––nothing was gonna make me let go of it no matter how safe they all professed it to be.
“Now, just a few last things,” Reynolds said. “You can talk quietly in her presence, her hearing isn’t that good, anyway, but no shouting or loud noises. She typically only responds to high pitches––so watch it ladies. And strictly no photos––the flash might set her off. Right. If you’re all ready, everyone follow me!”
A famous wizard once said, “If you’re tired of dragons, you’re tired of life.” Well, I certainly wasn’t tired. My earlier lethargy had completely vanished, and I was as excited as every student in the cavern.
At this exact second my attention was glued to Pike––my eager daughter and Evelyn were the first to follow Mr. Reynolds to the next cavern beyond ours.
Harrison and Maisy were right behind her, and though I trusted them to protect her from any danger, there was no way I was letting my baby girl out of my sight. I gripped my wand a little tighter, and after taking a deep breath, I followed them all into the dragon’s lair.
The two caverns were connected by a short tunnel, also lined with the luminous mushrooms. It was a little darker here in the tunnel, as there were fewer of them, and our progress through it was slow.
The rhythmic breathing of the dragon ahead of us continued, and it grew louder as we inched along. It reminded me of a lion purring, only the sound was much deeper and richer. It wasn’t especially threatening, but the mere fact I knew this was a dragon had my nerves on edge. Like all the children and even the adults present in the tunnel, I craned my neck, lifting my head as high as I could for a better look over the top of everyone else, anxious for that first exciting glimpse.
We slowed down. Mr. Reynolds had reached the entrance to the dragon’s lair, so we only had to be a few feet away from the beast. My heart was racing, and I wondered how Pike was faring so close to the front. I could only imagine her excitement, young as she was. Heck, I was wetting my panties myself.
“Slowly, now,” Reynolds said. “We just had a railing put in, and I need you all to walk to the end of it, but no further.”
A railing? “Is it a magic railing?” I asked, my hopes rising.
My voice echoed through the cavern as if I were standing right next to Mr. Reynolds.
“No. There are no magical enchantments in the cavern. We don’t like tampering with a magical creature any more than is necessary, and besides, any enchantments inside might have a negative effect on the concealment spells outside, and we don’t want anything messing with them.”
“What’s the point of it then?” Harrison asked.
“It’s just a way of keepin
g a little order and distance inside the cavern,” Mr. Reynolds explained. “She’s a good girl, I assure you, but I don’t believe in tempting fate. We had a bit of a, um, misunderstanding, when her baby was born, and well, we thought the railing might be a good idea, so we put one in.”
“So just a precaution, then,” Harrison said warily.
“Just so.”
One by one, the students moved to either side, some venturing left, others right, and once the tallest had passed through the entrance to the lair, I caught my breath in wonder.
Right in front of me was a dragon! A real live stinking dragon! I stood frozen in awe, then fanned my hand in front of my nose, because the place reeked of brimstone and sulfur.
“Come along now, everyone,” Mr. Reynolds said. “Keep moving until we’re out of the tunnel.”
I did as I was told, though was totally unable to drag my eyes from the blue dragon before me. She was freakin’ beautiful. It was hard to gauge her true size because she was curled up in a tight ball like a cat. Her blue scales looked soft, not like a snake’s as I’d imagined they would be, but more like soft leather or suede. Still, the softness did nothing to conceal the raw power she had beneath her skin. She was magnificent.
The dragon sighed, and small wisps of vapor curled upward, spreading out like wafts of smoke along the cavern ceiling.
Her head was bobbing up and down, and I suddenly realized she was licking something. Since her head was turned away from us, I couldn’t quite see what it was, but whatever it was, it had her full attention. I doubted she even knew we were there in the cavern with her.
“See,” Carter said. “I told you we’d be perfectly safe.” He had waited for me by the entrance, and to my astonishment, when no one was looking, he gave my hand a little squeeze.
“I’m sorry.” His whisper was low so he wouldn’t be overheard.
“What for?”
“Everything. I’m glad you came, though,” he said. “Experiences like this are so much better when you can share them with someone you care about.”
A fire kindled in me that had nothing to do with dragons. Carter’s eyes twinkled, even in the darkness, reflecting his boyish excitement, and all my grievances and gripes disappeared in an instant. How could anyone hold a grudge against a man who said romantic slush like that? In front of a dragon. I knew exactly what he meant, though: an experience like this was better shared than seen alone. I felt exactly the same about it, so I gladly returned his squeeze.
“She’s beautiful,” I said, letting go and placing both hands on the railing.
The dragon moved slightly, and I heard the rattle of a chain clasped around her ankle, accompanied by a gentle groan.
“She’s chained?” I said. “Um, I thought she was a wild dragon.”
“She is.” Carter cast a glance down the line, making sure the students were behaving, which they totally were.
I followed his gaze. Pike had pulled out some drawing paper and was taking a sketch. The others were being entertained by Mr. Reynolds, but I’d been too taken up with Carter to hear what he was saying.
Next to my daughter, Björn was talking to Maisy, his huge frame practically obscuring the petite woman from view. They appeared to be talking rather animatedly, though were too far away for me to hear what was being said.
“Björn put the chain on her last night, as a precaution,” Carter continued, seeing where I was looking.
“Björn did?” I sputtered. “He went up against the dragon on his own? And she let him put that on her? Without a fight?”
“Well, I had planned to go with him myself, but I got, um, waylaid.”
Was he kidding me? “Err, what? Why didn’t you say something? You let him go and face a dragon alone?” I thought about the vial that had passed between them. “Oh, please don’t tell me that was your cunning plan to keep us all safe? Dragon drugs?”
“No, no, of course we didn’t,” Carter said. “What do you take me for? And keep your voice down.”
I rolled my eyes but did as he suggested.
“Look, I’m going to tell you, if only to shut you up. Björn comes from a line of Norwegian dragon shifters. Haven’t you noticed the silver tint to his aura? It’s not like he tries to hide it or anything.”
“I, um, yes, I might have noticed it,” I said, embarrassed not to have made the connection. “So, what was the potion for?”
“He hasn’t been around dragons for a long time. One touch of the dragon’s skin and poof,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that, he might shift into one. His son has never seen him transform, and Björn was afraid it might scare him. I gave him the potion to make sure he didn’t shift, that was all.”
“And that’s why he looks like death warmed over this morning?” I asked, looking down the line to where he was still talking to Maisy. If he was a dragon shifter, then the closer it got to a full moon, the bigger and bulkier he would become as his body prepared for the transformation. No wonder his pants looked so tight!
“Just so.”
The conversation at the other end of the rail was growing more and more animated by the second. Even Pike had put her drawing away and was watching Björn and Maisy with interest. Mr. Reynolds stopped relaying dragon facts and seemed concerned.
“Is something wrong with your man, Mr. Carter?” Reynolds asked.
Carter sighed. “Damn. I thought we had this under control.”
“Had what under control?” I peered up at him, trying to hide the alarm on my face.
“Maisy is terrified of dragons.”
“Then why is she here?”
“Err, therapy?”
Maisy shrieked. Her shrill cry echoed around the cavern, and at last, the she-dragon raised her head and turned to face the group huddled over by the wall. Her snout was covered in blood.
And then we saw it. Nestled in its mother’s frame was a young dragon. The baby had a huge gash in its hind leg, and I realized the mother had been licking the wound.
As the great beast stretched its wings, Maisy screamed in terror. Surprised, the dragon pulled back, its expression turning from surprise to fury in a second. Its eyes trained on Maisy, and my heart stopped. Pike was standing right next to her, frozen.
I felt Carter’s hand on my arm. “Don’t panic––look.”
The dragon lunged forward, only to be pulled back violently by the chain that held it.
The she-dragon looked down, and with an angry roar, she let loose a ball of flame that scoured the ceiling of the cavern but didn’t have the range to reach us.
Her fire spent, she tugged again at her foot, but the chain wouldn’t give. There was a spark of malevolence in her eyes that made my skin crawl. Shrewdly, she glared at the chain, and after inhaling deeply, she let loose a blast of flame so hot it would melt anything in its path. When the flame died, she tugged desperately at the glowing metal. There was an awful chink as the weakest link broke, and with one more tug, the angry mother was free.
“Oh, shit,” said a voice full of terror. It was mine.
11
The She-Dragon
Maisy screamed again, and most of the students fled back toward the tunnel, crushing and pushing each other in a mad panic as they tried to flee from the dragon. Harrison went with them, pushing Evelyn, Crystal, and the others ahead of him to safety. Crystal pushed him aside and tried to turn back.
“Piiiiike!” Crystal shouted, fighting against the flow of bodies running the other way as she tried to reach her friend.
“Come on,” Evelyn cried. “You can make it!”
The two girls fought desperately to get back to Pike, where she still stood frozen next to Maisy. But Harrison was determined, and positioning himself in front of his daughter and Crystal, he urged them both back to the safety of the tunnel.
Maisy was petrified, her hands held to her face as she continued to cry and scream.
“Don’t move,” Pike urged her as quietly as she could. “She can track you better when you mov
e.”
But Maisy was beyond reasoning, and trembling, she backed into the granite wall of the cave.
Wand in hand, Björn tried his best to calm her, but in her frenzy, Maisy managed to knock it from his hand, leaving them both defenseless against the dragon as she circled them.
I gasped. What had happened to Maisy’s beautiful face? The entire left side was badly scarred, her eyes and lips drooped, and the side of her head was bald. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed, but there was no time to ponder what it meant.
The dragon crouched down on her hind legs; she was close enough to pounce or let loose her fire on the trapped witches. I pushed past the students, trying to get a better position for a disabling spell. I whipped out my wand, but in their haste, one of the students knocked my arm and the highly polished wood slipped through my fingers. I watched in abject horror as it rolled into the center of the cavern.
Carter had his wand focused on the dragon, but whatever he had in mind, he wasn’t quick enough—my daughter beat him to it.
“Tempus suspensus!” Pike shouted, just as the dragon leapt into the air, talons extended. A jet of green light flashed through the cave, hitting the dragon bang on the snout. The dragon froze, mid-flight, then dropped to the cavern floor like a sack of potatoes. The crash was deafening.
“Quick,” I cried, remembering how MacGuffin had only remained frozen for a few seconds. “Get the hell out!”
I leapt over the railing and made a dash for my wand, which was mere inches from where the dragon had fallen. Stupid, maybe, but I wasn’t going to leave it behind.
Pike and Björn dragged a screaming Maisy toward the tunnel, but in her panic, she dug her heels in the ground, slowing their progress. Carter and I had our wands trained on the dragon, covering their escape. All too soon, the dragon opened her yellow-slitted eyes and shook her head, regaining her bearings. She snorted, and puffs of smoke came out of her nostrils, then she turned, her angry eyes trained on the fleeing witches who hadn’t quite reached the tunnel.
A Different Class of Magic Page 7
