In response she raised the crossbow and gestured that she intended to circle round to the other side of Duffy.
“No!” I shouted. Arrows, titanium or not, wouldn’t have the slightest effect on Duffy; he had barely noticed being stabbed multiple times by my fireswords. “Just get out of here.”
She ignored me, heading the direction she had indicated, holding the crossbow in front of her, ready to fire. Neither Dennis nor Ally followed her. I studied Dennis for a moment, worried that he’d join Duffy in attacking me, but he looked more like an interested bystander than anything else. Not that there was much point in worrying about Dennis while Duffy still stood.
I’M STARTING TO GET ANNOYED. Duffy rose first to four legs, then up onto his back legs until he was standing upright. An arrow hit him in the snout, and he turned his head toward Persia. DO I HAVE TO SWAT THESE BUZZING FLIES ONE BY ONE?
I ran forward, trying to come up with another taunt, but before I had a chance to think one up, Duffy turned back my way. I skidded to a halt. He spread his wings wide, and the light emitted by his swelled-up chest turned from orange to dazzling white.
“Beelzebub,” I whispered, crossing my fireswords in front of my chest just as a stream of roiling white fire hit me. I leaned forward, trying to stop myself from being blasted backward. Still, my feet slipped beneath me and I needed to take small scrabbling steps to retain my balance. I had expected just an instantaneous burst of fire, but the stream went on and on, burning hotter and hotter. The flames changed color from white to blue. My arms trembled with the effort of holding the fireswords out in front of me, and as waves of heat pounded me, sweat dripped from every pore.
Just when I thought I could no longer hold out, a whirring sound brought new hope. Was it possible? Flames leaped and danced all around me, but I could just about make out what was happening beyond them. The helicopter had returned, and it hovered behind Duffy.
Once again, the gunner didn’t hesitate in firing; this time he didn’t miss. The stream of fire ended. Duffy spasmed, his head tilting back, then leaning forward to stare at the tip of the giant spear sticking out of his chest.
I gulped in big mouthfuls of fresh air and let my hands fall to my side, the fireswords winking out of existence. Before I had a chance to relax, Duffy toppled forward, his body falling straight for me. I turned and ran.
I was well clear of the falling dragon by the time he hit, and still the impact threw me off my feet. I landed on my shoulder hard, though the stab of pain barely registered—at this stage bruises were being layered on top of bruises.
I was slow getting to my feet, and slow to turn around, nearly afraid to discover that it had been for nothing.
Duffy’s body lay twisted over itself, one leg sticking in the air. His head lay in a crater of its own creation. His eyes were closed, and his chest no longer glowed. I looked across to see if I needed to worry about Dennis, but he was jumping up and down, whooping. For once, he looked like an actual child.
Close to the ramp, Ally stood very still, showing no emotion.
I heard footsteps coming up behind me.
“We did it!” I said. I still could barely believe the plan had worked. “It’s over.”
“Not quite. My mission was different than yours.”
I turned around to see Persia unslinging her backpack, bringing it around to her front. She unclasped the top of the bag, drew out her netgun and let the bag fall.
“What do you need that for?” I asked.
She raised the netgun and fired. Titanium netting swallowed me, and I fell to the ground.
Chapter 22
Thursday 23:55
Having been caught in a net before, I knew not to blindly thrash against it. Instead, I fumbled for the edges of the netting, attempting to untangle it. Persia’s hand came down on my fingers, and she aimed her crossbow straight down at me. “Don’t try to escape.”
I snatched my fingers back. “I don’t understand. We did it.”
“It’s not only the dragon that has to be feared, but what comes after. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you, Beacon?”
She said the word “beacon” as if it should have some significance to me. “I don’t know any beacon.”
“Don’t lie to me.” She held the crossbow steady, but her voice had a tremor in it. “Don’t make this decision any harder.”
“Finding it difficult, are you—stabbing me in the back like this? Excuse me if I don’t make it easier for you. I haven’t known you that long, but I thought I still had one friend.” Perhaps friend was too strong, considering she had barely said a civil word to me before this evening. “An ally, at least. Someone I could trust.”
“Believe me, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Flavini told me you were Beacon, but I had to assure myself it was true before doing this.”
“I told you, I don’t know who or what this beacon thing is.”
“Beacon is Uro’s representative on Earth.”
The denial on my lips never made it out my mouth. Was that what Uro had planned for me? “You accused me of betraying my own side when I caused the Searing. And yet you turn on me in a worse way.”
Persia shook her head. “My mission from the start was to watch you. I wanted to believe in you, especially after…you were so brave in the face of…” She rubbed the back of her hand across one cheek. “You are too dangerous. This has to be done.”
The helicopter was landing not far from the downed dragon. Near the ramp, Dennis watched us, making no move to intervene. His arm lay casually across Ally’s shoulders, who had a wretched expression on her face.
“So, what’s going to happen to me now?” I asked. “My role as bait is over so I can be disposed of. Shoved into a titanium cage and the key thrown away. Nothing I ever do is right.”
Don’t go back to feeling sorry for yourself, Jerome thought.
“And don’t think I don’t know you wanted Noah’s body,” Persia said, raising her voice so that it could be heard over the roar of the helicopter's engine.
“What?”
She nodded toward my neck, and I realized I was fingering the barbed-wire necklace. “You mean Jerome?”
“You wanted to give Noah’s body to it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I realize Noah’s body is slowly decaying away. That doesn’t mean I want him turned into a shade.” The crossbow trembled in Persia’s hands.
Jerome? I thought. You weren’t scheming to take over Noah’s body, were you?
Scheming, no. The thought had occurred to me though. I was waiting for a better time to bring it up, Jerome thought.
“Jerome had considered it,” I told Persia. “But he didn’t push for it.”
“Noah was a fighter; he hated the thought of becoming a vegetable,” Persia said. “But I can’t just let him go—not while there’s the tiniest chance he might recover.”
“We would never have tried anything without you agreeing to it,” I said, but Persia’s attention had shifted.
“Beelzebub,” she said.
“That’s my curse word.”
“No.” She gestured behind me. “Beelzebub.”
I turned around to see two glowing orange eyes staring at me—the dragon was still alive.
We weren’t the only ones who had noticed. The rotors of the helicopter, which had almost stopped, began to speed up again. Before it had a chance to take off, though, a fireball flashed across the rooftop and disappeared into the cockpit.
The helicopter exploded, sending burning shards of metal arcing into the night sky.
Chapter 23
Friday 00:10
“Get this off me!” I shouted, grabbing at the netting. Persia dropped the crossbow on the ground and knelt down to help me.
Striding toward me, with the burning helicopter at his back, was Dennis. Duffy still hadn’t moved—that I could see—but he was clearly conscious enough to use his telepathic link to control fire shades. Dennis pressed his hands together
, preparing for another fireball. I frantically fumbled with the net, but it wasn’t coming off fast enough and with no way to summon my fireswords, I couldn’t protect myself. An aura of orange light gathered around Dennis’s hands, then fire fizzed directly toward me. I tried to fling myself to the side, but trapped by the netting, I merely bounced slightly. I slammed my eyes shut as the orange light swallowed me up.
When I was still alive a moment later, I opened my eyes to find a fiery shield surrounding me. It reminded me of the Oasis. “Uro,” I said, thinking he must have been the one to save me.
Persia glared at me.
Behind her, I saw the source of the shield. It was Ally, who had come to our rescue.
If you want more of my help, you have to ask for it, Uro thought.
“It’s not possible,” Dennis said, addressing Ally as he approached. “You are subject to the same commands I am. How do you resist him?”
Ally didn’t reply, though her face showed evidence of terrible strain.
“You will tell me.” Dennis shot another fireball which exploded against the shield, making the entire dome flare brighter.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Persia shouted out. “She’s stronger than you, idiot.”
I finally pulled myself free of the titanium net and got to my feet.
“It wasn’t natural, what happened to Dennis and me,” Ally said. “We were given too much power too young.”
“The two of you are not the same,” I said. “Not in the slightest.”
“Every assurance that has been given to me has been a lie.” The fireshield all around us sent flickering red shadows dancing across her face, giving her an otherworldly aspect. Her tone of voice was strangely calm. “I was told that once I gained control of the elemental within me, I could forge myself back into the real me. Then Duffy came along, and once again I lost control.”
“Duffy’s day is done,” I said, even as the tremble on the concrete rooftop told of the giant beast beginning to move.
“And Dennis?” Ally asked. “If it’s not one power controlling me, it’s another. I don’t know what I did in my short years to deserve not just purgatory on Earth, but pure hell.”
“You are stronger than Dennis. You can resist him.”
“Not doing something is harder than doing it. Every moment requires fighting the resistance. Every action is another step into roaring headwinds.” Ally walked forward, and the shield around us disappeared. “I can only do it for so long.”
I quickly summoned my fireswords and moved to stand in front of Persia.
“What are you doing?” Dennis demanded. He shot a fireball which struck Ally. It didn’t harm her though. Instead, she flared red as if the shield had become part of her skin.
“Brother,” she said, opening her arms. “We were born together in unnatural fire. Join with me once more.”
“No.” Dennis staggered backward. His fireball once more struck Ally to no effect. “I’m young. My dark destiny awaits.”
“You were never meant for this world.” Ally's whole body glowed with fire. “Neither of us were.” She embraced Dennis.
Fire swept upward from the two of them, forming a pillar which shot high into the air. Then the pillar flashed out of existence, taking both Ally and Dennis with it.
Before I had even a moment to process what had happened, Duffy’s thoughts crashed into my mind.
SO I FIND MYSELF ALONE.
I turned to see that the dragon had risen back into an upright stance. The giant spear still skewered his torso.
NO MATTER. His chest glowed white, and both halves of the spear fell from his body. EVEN ALONE I AM ENOUGH. Duffy flapped his wings and rose into the air. WHERE IS THE TV MAN?
I had forgotten all about Fred Hanson and his cameraman. When Fred—responding to Duffy’s command—stood up out of a crouch, I spotted them by the ledge at the roof’s edge. Though the cameraman had been keeping a low profile, he appeared to still be filming all that was occurring.
Duffy also saw them. TELL THE WORLD MY WORDS. SHOW THEM WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I AM ANGERED.
Fred Hanson raised his microphone to his mouth. Though I couldn’t hear what he was saying, he was clearly narrating Duffy’s thoughts.
I HAVE INDULGED MY HUMAN SIDE TOO MUCH. I WAS TOO LENIENT, AND MY ENEMIES SAW THAT AS WEAKNESS. LET EVERYONE KNOW MY FULL POWER AS I DESTROY THIS CITY, BUILDING BY BUILDING, BRICK BY BRICK.
Duffy folded his wings as he dived down toward the closest skyscraper. His mouth opened, and fire blasted through the windows. Glass and metal exploded outward. Duffy spiraled downward, continuing to aim a deadly stream of fire at the building.
I stared in horror; I could only hope that the building consisted mainly of empty offices rather than apartments full of sleeping innocents.
I did warn you, Jerome thought. Everyone knows not to poke a sleeping dragon.
The time for stupid wisecracks has passed, Jerome, I thought. Long passed.
Persia crowded in beside me. “This is awful. What do we do now?”
I glanced down at the discarded titanium net not far from her feet. “Maybe you could reload your netgun and shoot me again.”
She had no answer to that.
Her question swirled in my mind. What do I do now? One by one, all those I thought friends had deserted me. Just like Duffy, I was alone. Only one option remained.
Uro, I need your help.
Chapter 24
Friday 00:25
No, Jerome thought. Don’t do this.
Uro isn’t what people think, I thought.
He’s much worse. He’s a master manipulator, and he’s been grooming you for this moment for months, Jerome thought.
Uro is going to lead to better world where sentinels and shades and humans are equal, I thought.
Listen to yourself, Jerome thought. You’re just spouting garbage he told you.
It wasn’t him who’d told me that, though, I realized. It’d been Sash, just before I’d killed her. Sash, who in my dream, had asked me to give Uro a chance.
Sash was grief-stricken when her lover died, Jerome thought, and Uro used that to create hooks in her mind. Then he used your guilt over killing her to gain access to you.
Trusting Uro wasn’t my first choice, but, with all other options exhausted, it was time to give him a chance. Please. I need you, I thought.
We must work closely together if you wish to succeed, Uro thought. You can’t listen to a conflicting voice.
What did I tell you? Jerome thought.
I can’t just cut off the necklace because it will unleash uncontrolled elemental power, I thought.
If you follow my instructions, you can rid yourself of the necklace while sealing the elemental inside it, Uro thought.
What do I have to do?
Hold onto the necklace with one hand, then use your firesword to cut through it, Uro thought. Then, without letting go, hold the firesword in the other hand against both ends, searing them closed.
I got a firm grip of the necklace with my left hand, pulling it tightly to create a separation between a section of it and my neck. A barb bit into my palm. I summoned my right firesword.
This is your last chance, Jerome thought. If you do this, you’ll forever be a servant to—
The firesword cut through the necklace, and Jerome’s thoughts were lost to me. I pulled the necklace free of my neck, and held it out in front of me, both ends dangling loose; I touched my firesword to the longer end. The necklace rapidly heated up, searing my hand, but I didn’t let go; I had borne worse pain. The bottom of the necklace turned orange, then a yellow light flared.
Sealed, Uro thought.
I moved my firesword to the shorter end, and the pain in my hand intensified. The necklace turned orange along almost its full length.
When the yellow light flared for a second time, I immediately dropped the necklace to the ground. A bright red streak cut across my palm, and I blew on it. Then I let my hand fall to my side, shaking it, as if I
could shake the pain away.
The broken barbed-wire necklace lay on the ground by my feet. Sorry, Jerome, I thought, though of course he couldn’t read my thoughts any longer. Ironically, when Jerome had tried to betray me by trying to take over my body, I had forgiven him; it was while he sincerely tried to help me that I discarded him like a piece of garbage.
Though looking across to where Duffy continued to burn the skyscraper, I realized I had made the only possible choice. I let my firesword disappear. When will Duffy run out of fire?
Never, Uro thought. It comes from Brimstone, where there’s enough fire to burn the Earth many times over.
How do I defeat him?
Your fireswords are not enough. You need to draw on your fire magic.
That will open a portal to Brimstone, creating more problems than it solves.
With my guidance your connection to Brimstone can take place inside the Oasis, Uro thought. If you do that, I can ensure that no elemental crosses into Earth while also amplifying your power.
I closed my eyes and looked inward. Heat blossomed within me, the magic coming easier than it ever had before. As well as feeling the warmth of my fire magic, I saw the blackness of the veil and through a gap in that veil, I saw the world of fire and smoke beyond. Whereas previously, I’d sensed elementals racing toward an opened portal, this time there was none of that. I recognized the Oasis from my dreams; the only thing missing was Sash smiling up at me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Duffy flapping his wings and rising up into the night sky, putting distance between himself and the inferno that raged in the skyscraper he had targeted. I couldn’t let him attack another building. I stretched out my arm and reached for my magic. Fire exploded from my hand in a bright beam of light that went skyward—nowhere close to Duffy—and sent me flying backward and landing on my ass.
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