The Bug Dragon Project

by Suzie Taylor

  Ben, Alf and Emily hauled the semi-conscious Nadia onto the bank next to one of the enormous roots of the fallen tree.

  “Gotta go,” shouted Ben, and began to climb up onto the tree. “Stay hidden!”

  Before they had a chance to object, he was gone and Alf and Emily turned their attention back to Nadia. Her eyes were shut and her lips pale. She moaned a little and flapped one of her arms.

  “Nadia! Are you ok?” said Emily anxiously.

  “Get... gun...” Nadia muttered.

  “Forget your stupid gun!” shouted Emily. “It’s gone!”

  “So is the modifier,” sighed Alf.

  “Where were you bitten Nadia?”

  “Leg. I think. Sorta top...”

  Emily looked. “Ewww!” she said.

  “Keep still Nadia,” said Alf. “Emily, we need to tie something over the bite.”

  “I haven’t got anything. I’m only wearing a shirt!”

  “Bra?”

  “I’m not wearing a bra stupid!”

  “Your belt... the transmitters!”

  They fastened the belt firmly over the bite on Nadia’s leg.

  “I guess that’s wide enough,” said Alf. “Nadia keep still! Stop trying to get up! You’ll be fine. I hope Ben doesn’t take too long though. Hey can you hear something? Squeaks?”

  “Bug dragons?” asked Emily hopefully.

  Something black swooped down low overhead.

  Alf grabbed a piece of bark and hauled it over the top of them like a shield. “No,” he gasped. “Bats!”

  Ben began to make his way down the trunk of the tree, feeling very vulnerable and exposed. The bark was rough and uneven and he had to watch his way carefully, making it difficult to go at any great speed. He could see the shape of the pedestal up ahead, bright in the moonlight, poking up between the branches. It looked like a long way. “I can do this,” he told himself.

  Once again there was a foul smell in the air and Ben looked anxiously about, trying unsuccessfully to find cover. The sound of his mother’s voice came into his mind - ‘Don’t do anything stupid!’ But this wasn’t stupid was it? He suddenly felt unbelievably tired, cold and wet. It was late and he was going to be in so much trouble! He tripped on a knob and fell to his knees. Why was he doing this again? There was a good reason wasn’t there? Nadia. Nadia was hurt, he needed to go back and help. No... there was something about a stone. A marble or something? He inadvertently felt in his pocket and as soon as his fingers touched it, his mind cleared. “Focus,” he told himself, “That’s what Nexus said to do,” and he got back to his feet.

  A dark shadow swooped overhead. He ducked instinctively but kept going. The darkness like an oppressive cloud overshadowed him a second time and this time he raised his eyes to look. The appalling face of a horseshoe bat grimaced as it bore down on him, its leathery wings beating hard and causing him to stagger and lose his balance.

  “Go away!” he shouted, desperately waving his arms. If only he had a weapon of some sort! The bat had such dreadfully sharp looking teeth! “Focus!” he told himself desperately. He tried once again to tear his eyes away from the bat and look at the pedestal up ahead. He continued to run, clambering over the branches that jutted out at angles in front of him and dodging the occasional strand of vine. Bats started to come at him from every angle but he doggedly refused to look at them keeping his eyes fixed on his goal. “Almost there...” But then he remembered the others. “What if the bats were attacking them too? They were unarmed!”

  Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a bat came directly at him, front on, with its mouth open. Those teeth! It would have got him – it was that close, but just as it was about to snap him up there was a flash of colour from behind and King Orsum the Magnificent swooped in, grabbing it around the neck. Another bug dragon fired his gun and for a brief moment Ben caught a glimpse of a fairy like figure riding the bat, hanging on to an evil looking harness and bridle. The figure was illuminated for a moment by the light of the gun and the expression of menace and horror on its face before it disintegrated was an image Ben would never forget. The bat, now freed from its rider, turned immediately to head back into the forest.

  Bats and bug dragons were everywhere. Balls of colour and light were being hurled in all directions, tossed in the air, struck with the bug dragons’ tails, head-butted, or batted one to another like volleyballs until the right moment came to slam dunk into a target. The bats once freed from their riders were only too glad to escape from the melee.

  One of the bats had discovered Alf and Emily hiding under the bark. It was unable to land, but swooped in and managed to knock the bark away. Alf, who had been desperately holding it, was left with only a broken fragment in his grasp. He dropped it and dived for the nearest stick to defend himself, but the bat had realigned its attack, flew in at speed and was able to overpower him by its sheer size and weight. Alf was knocked flat and pinned to the ground.

  “Em! Do something!” he yelled.

  Emily looked around desperately but the only thing she could see was the pile of transmitters. She grabbed an earpiece and dashing out from the root, stuffed it into the bats ear before screaming into the microphone with all her might. The bat recoiled and fell backwards in shock, its eyes wide, and having lost its balance began to flap helplessly on the ground as Emily continued to scream. Alf, his hands over his ears dashed back to Nadia and began digging himself deeper under the root. Mouse and Needles, alerted by the racket flew down to investigate and upon seeing the bat began pounding it with light balls. Emily stopped screaming and the bat, realising it had been freed from its rider took off and headed as fast as it could into the trees.

  Ben was on the home stretch. With nothing between him and the pedestal he ran with renewed energy, leaping over obstacles and then up into the branches where he began climbing for the top as fast as he could go. With no other resources left, the darkness closed in. The moon disappeared behind a huge cloud and a black mist began to rise from the surface of the water around the island. The sounds of the battle around him and the flashes of light from the bug dragons faded into the blackness and Ben found that he could no longer see where he was going. He heard the sound of huge wings and felt his hairs standing up as the foul smelling air fanned the side of his face. Gritting his teeth he tried to keep going, climbing blindly in the dark and struggling for a foothold. “I can do this!” he gasped.” I can...”

  “No you can’t. But I can.”

  The voice was neither audible or in his head but he felt the words resonate all around him. He stopped and opened the palm of his hand. The spectrum stone flashed like a star, radiating rainbows and swirling mists of light from its depths. The darkness immediately recoiled and gathered itself into the shape of a huge black bird that sprang back from Ben with its wings and pinions spread wide like a phoenix. Ben watched in awe as it beat the air heavily with leaden wings before flying away, an empty black shadow against the stars. In that moment, the bats that were still left were set free from their riders who rose up and followed after the great black bird like a smoky trail. The battle was over.

  Ben turned and realised that he was almost at the top of the pedestal. He quickly climbed the last few feet and at last stood level with the Orator. It began to glow with a mysterious green light and Ben hesitated for a moment, not wanting to look down into it... then he leaned forward and carefully placed the stone on its surface.

  A bright green mist emanated from the depths of the Orator and merged itself with the light of the star.

  “What is it that you seek?”

  Again the voice seemed to have no particular source.

  “We need to destroy the clouds over the bug dragon city,” said Ben.

  The spectrum stone gradually began to reform and recolour itself until it took on the unmistakable shape of a chocolate cup-cake! Ben blinked. What craziness was this? He reached out and took the cake to examine it more closely. To his surprise, his eyes were like zoom len
ses, able to focus in closer and closer until he could see that it was made up of words! Thousands of Microscopic words!

  “What’s that?” asked the King behind him. “Are you supposed to eat it or what?”

  “I guess so.” Ben took one bite and then other... and as he did so his mind was filled with stories, histories and prophesies. It tasted delicious and he felt as though he was eating it for hours but it was actually only a few seconds before he found himself staring at the wrapper. He was about to screw it up when he realised that there was a single current lying in the bottom.

  “I don’t like currants,” said Ben.

  “Eat it anyway,” said the King.

  The currant was bitter and its story was not a happy one. It contained a history of evil, war, death and judgement. Ben swallowed it as fast as he could and scrunched up the wrapper. To his surprise, the paper which had become a hard lump in his hand, began to change, gradually becoming larger and more solid until it was fist sized.

  “So what’s that?” The King demanded. “An egg?”

  “Um... I think it’s a grenade,” said Ben a little taken aback. Of all the weapons he could have been given why did it have to be a grenade? Didn’t the Orator know he couldn’t throw? What if it landed in the wrong place or even worse, right in front of him? He looked back at the Orator reflecting on the stories he had just absorbed and finally began to understand. None of this was about him or his abilities. He had been assigned with a task and all he had to do was say ‘yes.’

  “Well?” demanded the King impatiently.

  “I guess I just need to throw it,” said Ben. “What are you doing?”

  “If you’re going up there without armour so am I!”

  Ben grinned and took off his bicycle helmet.

  “Up you get,” said the King crouching down to offer his back.

  They flew as fast as they could back through the forest, up out of the valley and then down into the entry cavern, but instead of heading for the dark crack on the floor as Ben had expected, they zoomed behind a pile of fallen rocks and through the short hallway which led directly to the bug dragons’ cave.

  “What?” exclaimed Ben, “how...?” but there was no time to wonder. The cavern was completely overcast. Menacing clouds had infiltrated the spaces between taller buildings and the murky centre of the storm whirled like an angry hurricane. A fierce wind filled the air with dust and broken plants, but the King fought his way through, flying as hard as he could go, swerving to avoid stalactites and the giant vines that hung from them, but try as he might, the dark centre was moving too quickly.

  “Can you throw it?” he panted.

  “Can’t!” yelled Ben. “It’s dodging us!”

  A few heavy drops of rain began to fall. Ben held the grenade up high and found that it formed a protective canopy that deflected the water as it homed in on them. The centre of the cloud continued to swirl and move out of range.

  “Throw it!” yelled the King. “Stop the rain!”

  Ben pulled out the pin and hurled with all the force he could muster.

  It was a terrible throw. The grenade went down instead of up but before Ben could express his dismay, it bounced cleanly on a large seed pod and ricocheted straight into the black heart of the cloud. For a fraction of a second everything froze… then a deep voice rumbled and with an eerie flash of light, written words exploded throughout the entire overcast expanse of the sky. The rain, which had been radiating out in all directions, stopped short in mid-air then slowly began to draw back, increasing in speed until it was completely reabsorbed. The cloud itself then began to implode, its outer edges being sucked closer and closer into the centre until the entire thing had condensed itself right down into a tiny black dot. It hung suspended in front of its antagonists for a moment, not a solid thing like a marble but more like a hole – a hungry black hole wanting to draw all the surrounding energy into itself. Ben could sense its fear and hatred but he didn’t care. He shouted in triumph and the King roared. The dot fled as fast as it could towards the back of the cave where it disappeared from sight.

  “We’ve done it!” breathed Ben.

  They glided down in wide smooth circles then headed straight for the balcony of Nexus’s house where they found him waiting to greet them.

  “You didn’t leave with everyone else?” panted the King.

  “I had faith,” said Nexus.

  “What, in him?” asked the King incredulously, “or in the stone?”

  “Gee thanks,” said Ben.

  “I had faith that the stone would be able to succeed despite him.”

  “Hang on a sec,” said Ben suddenly. “You’re speaking english!”

  “Yes.”

  “So why all the pretence earlier?”

  “I was pretty sure you weren’t spies,” said Nexus, “but His Majesty wasn’t. It was useful to have you think that you couldn’t be understood from time to time during your preparations when we weren’t wearing translators.”

  “I see.”

  “What was your weapon out there? You looked like you were throwing something. A spear?”

  “Grenade,” said Ben. “All I have left now is the pin... can I keep it?” as soon as he said it he realised that it had turned into the spectrum stone once again.

  “How about we let it decide where it wants to be?” suggested Nexus. Ben nodded and took a step backwards. He tossed the stone up in the air and it immediately sped out across the water to the island where it positioned itself once again at the tip of the stalagmite.

  “Well i guess that settles that,” said Ben. “I need a drink.”

  “Come inside,” Nexus nodded.

  At that moment a small group of bug dragons flew down and joined them on the balcony. Emily and Alf were riding but Nadia was being gently carried.

  “Oh no!” said Ben “Is she gonna be ok?”

  “Bring her inside,” Nexus commanded. They followed him in and laid her carefully on the couch. Nadia groaned and her eyelids fluttered.

  “What bit you?” asked Nexus. “Can you tell me what it was?”

  “Something with too many eyes and legs,” she muttered.

  Nexus shook his head and hurried off for his equipment. He took a tiny blood sample which he then tested, and tut tutting to himself, proceeded to search out the anti venom which he injected into her arm.

  “Is there anything this guy can’t do?” Alf asked the King.

  “Laugh,” he replied.

  “Is she gonna be ok?” Ben repeated.

  “Well I think so,” said Nexus “but she may have sustained permanent brain injury.”

  “Have not!” Nadia retorted, glaring in their direction.

  Ben turned towards Alf and nodded at Nexus. “Did you notice he is speaking English? He’s been fooling us.”

  “Didn’t fool me.”

  “What do you mean? How did you know?”

  “He has a bookshelf of classic English literature on a shelf in the hall outside the bathroom, and there’s a copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on table with a bookmark in it!”

  “Mr Nexus, can you do something for my foot?” asked Emily. “I’ve landed on it funny twice today and it’s begun to swell up.”

  Nexus got down on his knees and felt her ankle. “I’m sorry Miss Emily, I can give you something for the pain but the only cure for this is to stay off it for a while.”

  “But I have ballet on Wednesday!”

  “What’s ballet?”

  “Weird girly dancing,” said Ben.

  “It is not,” Emily retorted. “Don’t listen to him Mr Nexus. He’s really ignorant!”

  The bug dragons’ city had not escaped completely unscathed. The tallest of the buildings were bleached and dead in a manner that Alf likened to the bleaching of coral and the plants that were on them had become dry lifeless skeletons. Despite that, the population were out in force, partying, celebrating and creating light shows. The children had been encouraged to join in but they didn’t
last long. They were completely exhausted, and it really wasn’t fair on Nadia, who despite having improved considerably, was still too shaky to stand for any length of time and Emily who could only walk with the aid of a stick.

  “So what do you think it was?” asked Ben. “The cloud I mean.”

  “From your description and my own observation, it was a life vacuum,” said Nexus. “The stone and plants that I tested haven’t simply died; they have been sucked of everything that ever made them organic. It seems to me that there is a hidden source somewhere, trying to extract the life out of things to feed itself. When you threw the grenade, the fragment that I had captured actually smashed its way out of the bottle to join with the rest of it. That suggests that it is a whole entity of some kind, able to compress or expand itself at will. Very bizarre I must say! I honestly thought this kind of thing had ended with Felantia, but apparently I was sadly mistaken. Whatever was behind both attacks is still out there.”

  “So you didn’t actually destroy it?” asked Emily.

  “No, it flew away,” Ben replied.

  “So this is not over then.”

  “It is for us! We’re going to cop it like crazy when we get home - we need to go now!”

  “I want a hot chocolate,” said Nadia.

  They were carried back out into the forest accompanied by a huge and enthusiastic crowd. Mouse and the King led the way until they reached the large fig tree that marked the secret entrance to the gully. There the children dismounted as they needed to be restored to human size – a feat that could only be accomplished in the bug dragons own land. The tall misty shapes of the water wraiths rose from the stream to greet them then parted ceremoniously to let them through.