Dragon Quest

by Heather Walker

  Robbie threw the door open. The night faded to dim grey outside. He headed outside when Elle laid her hand on his arm to stop him. “Give me your saber, Rob.”

  “Heh?” he asked.

  “I don’t have a weapon, and you won’t need it in your dragon form. Give me your saber. Please.”

  Angus unbuckled his scabbard. “She’s richt. We’ll no be needin’ these. Disarm, lads, and gi’e yer weapons tae these humans. They need ‘em more than we do.”

  The five brothers took off their weapons and loaded them into Ewan’s, Carmen’s, and Elle’s arms. Elle buckled Robbie’s saber around her waist. It didn’t give her any more courage to face what was out there. A saber wouldn’t do much against those things, but it was better than facing them empty-handed.

  “You should take a weapon, too, Hazel,” Carmen remarked. “You might need it out there.”

  Hazel stared down at the stuff in her hands and shook her head. “I won’t need it. If I can’t defeat them with this, we’re all finished. I only wish I could cast the spell here, in peace and quiet. I don’t want to go out there with them screaming in my ears the whole time.”

  “You have to do it out in the open,” Carmen told her. “You have to open the portal where the most ghouls are likely to get sucked into it.”

  “There’s only one thing,” Hazel replied. “If I succeed, the curse will be lifted. You and I and Elle will probably get sucked into the portal, too. We’ll be sent back.”

  The company that prepared a moment before to rush out to battle paused on the very threshold. Elle looked up at Robbie, and he gazed down at her. She couldn’t hold back. She threw her arms around him all over again. She had to hold him at all costs. She couldn’t get sent back. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing him.

  Angus and Carmen regarded each other from a few inches apart. Angus raised his arm to lay his hand against Carmen’s cheek. “Lass.”

  They fell into each other’s arms kissing. No one turned away. The King and Queen of the Urlus kissed right there in the sight of everyone. Elle hid her face in Robbie’s chest. She tasted one last time the sweetness of his sheltering presence. Ushne. Her Ushne. She didn’t say it out loud. That was their own private secret. She carried that name in her heart. She would never forget, even if she did get sent back to a world bereft of dragons and magic and ghouls.

  He kissed her head and held her as long as she stayed in his arms. He never let her go until she separated from him of her own free will. She couldn’t kiss him—not then with all the others standing around. She saved that for another time when they could be alone. She touched his cheek once and walked out the door.

  Chapter 33

  Robbie and the others lined up inside the trees and looked out over the plane. Dawn lit the sky, but that day held no warmth or comfort for anyone hiding in the forest. No ghouls fluttered around the castle anymore. They were all up on the ridge.

  None of the castle towers remained standing. Most of the wall surrounding the castle sagged into piles of loose rock. Would anything be left by the time they got back—if they got back? Maybe that’s why the ghouls didn’t fly around anymore. They didn’t have to. They probably already destroyed the Throne and went home. Now Robbie and Angus and all the rest of them might as well go home, too, because they sure weren’t going back to that castle.

  Robbie glanced down the line of people standing at his side. His brothers, Ewan, Carmen, Elle, and Hazel. Nine people against an army of ghouls from Hell didn’t sound like wonderful odds, and everybody knew it. No one wanted to make the first move to step out on that plane. The castle didn’t inspire much confidence, either.

  Robbie fixed his eye on the ridge overhead. They were up there, and he had a score to settle with Alan. If Hazel succeeded in making the spell, so much the better. In the meantime, Robbie had a job to do.

  Tension crackled down the line. The brothers itched to spread their wings and get out there and fight. The human women didn’t show the same anticipation to face the deadly ghouls, but they would rise to the occasion. Robbie knew he could count on Elle and Carmen.

  Hazel was a different matter. She kept looking at Fergus, who stood at her side. He alone gave her the courage to face what she had to do. Fergus murmured in her ear. “Gang ye out there. Get yer spell started now while they’re quiet. Get as much o’t done as ye can afore they twig tae what’s afoot. Do ye understand?”

  She nodded, but she didn’t move. He waved to the plane, but she still didn’t go out there. Robbie didn’t blame her. No one in their right mind would want to go out there alone, much less set up shop and cast a magic spell that would bring the demons down on her head.

  In the end, Fergus took her by the hand and led her into the open. The sky lightened a little more. He guided her out into the field and stopped. The group under the trees watched in breathless anxiety while Hazel went down on her knees in the grass. Fergus stayed on his feet and surveyed the hills all around.

  What Hazel was doing out there, Robbie couldn’t guess. Adrenaline burned in his chest. He couldn’t stand the wait much longer. Part of him hoped Hazel would hurry and get the spell done soon to cut the ensuing fight short. On the other hand, she better work slowly and make sure she got it right.

  How could anyone be sure she would do it? What if she botched it and they all wound up dead or dispersed? He couldn’t think that way. Fergus believed. Nothing else mattered. Fergus made the decision to trust Hazel. The rest of them would follow his lead in this for a change.

  Something rumbled out of the distance. Robbie took a step forward to fly out into the field, but Angus held him back. “Not yet. Stop a moment.”

  Robbie’s brain roiled in the tension. He couldn’t stop another second under these trees. He had to get out there and face this, whatever happened.

  Then he saw them. A white smoky haze poured over the ridge on a direct line for Hazel. Fergus turned around to face it. Hazel stopped what she was doing to look up. Fergus bent down to say something in her ear, and she lowered her head to concentrate on her work.

  At that moment, Angus exploded out of the trees. He roared to the heavens. In an instant, his huge black body broke the branches and he rose on the wing to the sky. His brothers responded in a flash. Robbie jumped, and the air hit his scales whooshing past him. At the same instant, Callum and Jamie launched into the air, too. The four brothers zoomed low over the grass to intercept the enemy.

  Ewan raised his sword on high and bellowed out, “Come on!” He charged onto the field with Elle and Carmen right behind him. At the same instant, Fergus changed into a glowing blue dragon, but he didn’t take off. He planted his crooked legs in front of Hazel and screeched his challenge to the onrushing ghouls.

  Hazel screamed at the noise. She jumped back, and the Tarot cards fluttered over the grass. Elle and Carmen rushed over to her. Elle exchanged a few words of conversation with Hazel, and Hazel fell on her knees one more time. She fumbled to gather up the cards and get back to her spell.

  Ewan took his place next to Fergus, and that was the last thing Robbie saw of his brothers and his friends. He whizzed faster than thought up the mountain toward the ridge. The rest of the battle would take care of itself.

  He streaked inches over the grass and rocketed into the sky over the ridge. He stalled there in mid-air and stooped to plummet down the other side when he saw something that made him hesitate. There was Alan—not the devilish, wavy ghoul Robbie saw during their first battle. It was really Alan, Alan the man, Alan his friend.

  Robbie hovered in the air. He flapped his wings a few times, but he couldn’t attack this man. As long as Alan kept his human form, he diffused all Robbie’s murderous venom. He wanted to kill Alan in the bloodiest, most excruciating way, but he couldn’t.

  He drifted to the ground and landed on his legs. He straightened up. The wind blew his kilt against his knees, and he took a step forward. He stared at his friend—the man who used to be his friend before all this happened. Robb
ie could have been looking in a mirror when he looked at this man. “Alan?”

  Alan smiled. “Ye’ve done weel, lad, but ye cinnae keep the castle.”

  “What in the name o’ heaven are ye doin’ this fer, Alan?” he asked.

  “The Phoenix Throne is evil, mon,” Alan replied. “We and our kind are sent tae eliminate it from the world entirely.”

  “Evil!” Robbie gasped. “How can ye say that? It’s our richtful inheritance. Me brother is King. He came through the fire tae claim it and break the curse.”

  “He ne’er broke the curse, and weel ye ken it,” Alan replied. “We are the ones who’ll break the curse o’ the Phoenix Throne, no ye and yers. The wraiths that attacked ye in yer castle back home were sent tae destroy ye and the evil o’ yer kind. We’ll no rest until we destroy the Throne and all that belaings tae it. Ye mun’ accept that, for ye’ll no drive us away wi’ tricks and baubles.”

  Robbie shook his head. This couldn’t be right. He couldn’t believe it. “Ye’re lyin’. Ye cinnae destroy the Throne by any means. That’s why ye needed me tae defeat Angus, ‘cuz ye cinnae defeat him yerself. Ye cinnae destroy the Throne wi’oot us destroyin’ it ourselves. Ye’ll ne’er defeat us. As long as e’en one o’ us remains alive, we’ll ficht ye tae the death. Ye cinnae win.”

  Alan chuckled and shook his head. “Ye allus were knuckleheaded, weren’t ye? Tak’ a look down the hill at yer beloved castle. It stands in ruins. It’ll only tak’ one more bombardment licht that tae pound yer castle tae the ground. Once the castle ceases tae be, the Throne will fall tae us and ye’ll die. Once the Throne is destroyed, ye and yer brothers will lose yer dragon forms. Ye’ll die from our lightning, and ye’ll cease tae trouble the world any lainger. Gi’e it up, mon. Save yer lives and fall back. Leave the Phoenix Throne the way ye found it and live.”

  Robbie’s head spun. This couldn’t be happening. Alan was right about one thing. The castle couldn’t survive another bombardment. What if he was right about the rest of it? What if the Phoenix Throne was part of the curse? What if the wraiths and the ghouls all came through the portal to correct the terrible mistake Hazel made—the same mistake she was getting ready to make down on the field right now?

  Robbie cast a glance over his shoulder. What if he and his brothers could take Elle and Carmen and disappear into the forest? Wouldn’t he rather travel this country with Elle than confront those ghouls? He would give anything to become nothing more than an ordinary man with his woman by his side. He would pay any price to forget the Phoenix Throne ever existed.

  At that moment, a dragon burst into the sky in front of his face. A bright red dragon rocketed into the heavens with a thousand ghouls on its tail. It was Jamie. The battle down on the plane called Robbie back. Whatever else he could be or wanted to be, his destiny remained caught up with his brothers. They extended themselves to their limit to save the Phoenix Throne, and he would, too.

  Elle was down there somewhere. She battled with the others. He couldn’t believe she or his brothers or Carmen or Ewan or Hazel or any of them were evil. This whole tragic situation was a terrible mistake, but he couldn’t change sides, not now.

  He turned around to walk away when Alan dove for his arm. “Stop a second, Rob.”

  “Leave me alone,” Robbie replied. “Ye lied tae me, tae trick me and turn me against me own brother. Ye used me tae try tae kill Angus. Ye made me believe he was dead. I ne’er would ha’e joined ye if I’d kenned the truth, and ye kenned it when ye lied tae me aboot it. I’ll no believe a word ye say fer the rest o’ me life, and if ye touch me again, I’ll roast ye where ye stand.”

  “It an’t licht that, Rob, and weel ye ken it,” Alan replied. “I ne’er lied tae ye. I told ye the Urlus took the country and Angus burned up in the fire. All o’ that was true. I told ye the Urlu King took the Phoenix Throne. I told ye the truth.”

  Robbie glared at him. “Are ye finished yet? Ye’re naught but full o’ lies. Ye’re the king o’ lies, and ye’re tryin’ tae trick me again. Now let go o’ me arm. I’ve a wee piece o’ business tae attend tae, and ye’re slowin’ me down.”

  Alan let his arm fall, and the benign smile faded from his face. “Ye’ll live tae regret this. Mark me words.”

  “Naw,” Robbie replied. “I’ll be laing dead afore I come anywhere close tae regrettin’ it. Now stand back if ye dinnae wish tae get hurt.”

  Robbie didn’t wait for him to answer. He turned his back on Alan and spread his arms to take flight when something hard gripped him from behind. A vise clamped on his shoulder, and icy tendrils crept up his neck to choke the life out of him.

  Robbie spun around. Alan stood in front of him, the same Alan Robbie convinced himself he cared about. Alan didn’t transform into a ghoul, but he did something to Robbie to stop him taking off.

  Robbie struggled against that unbreakable grip. Alan dragged him across the grass toward him. The cold crept around Robbie’s neck. He couldn’t breathe. He clawed at his throat. There was nothing there.

  He staggered forward against his will. The inexorable force hauled him in. It buckled his knees under him, and he went down on the grass at Alan’s feet.

  Chapter 34

  Elle threw herself on her knees next to Hazel and started talking fast. “Get the spell cast, Hazel. Do it now. Don’t look right or left. We’ll defend you. Just get it done. Do you hear me?”

  Hazel nodded, but she couldn’t speak. Her hands shook sorting the Tarot cards. She fumbled righting the bowl of lavender water. She touched the sage smudge stick to a live coal in another bowl. Smoke blew across the field, and she set the smudge stick aside.

  Elle rested her hand on Hazel’s shoulder to steady her. Fergus’s constant screeching only flustered Hazel more. She kept glancing up at him, but he didn’t see her. The blue dragon stood with his back to her and faced the onrushing ghouls.

  The first watery wave of the things rushed down the mountain. They aimed their lighting at Fergus. He bent his head low and let rip a steady stream of fire on them. It blasted straight through their ghostly bodies. It didn’t affect them at all. They flowed around Fergus in two streams that missed Hazel crouched behind him.

  Hazel bent her head over her cards. She mumbled the magic words “Mnistoh, mnylnin, ini dheflo llyatta lladdepas sefrimi viaphreen urlu…”

  “Not Urlu,” Elle interrupted. “Don’t say Urlu. That’s what got us here in the first place. You have to open the portal to somewhere else?”

  “Where?” Hazel asked. “What place should I ask for?”

  “I…. I don’t know,” Elle replied. “Anywhere, I guess. How about Antarctica? Or the bottom of the ocean? How should I know? Just send them somewhere.”

  Hazel’s eyes darted around the field. Then she gasped. “I know!” She started over with the incantation. “Mnistoh, mnylnin, ini dheflo llyatta lladdepas sefrimi viaphreen Atlantis…”

  Elle nodded. That should do the job. Hazel nodded back and went to work setting out the Tarot cards. The wind caught them. She had to hold them down to keep them in position. Elle saw the problem and held down two.

  She couldn’t stop looking around at the battle heating up all around her. Ewan swung two swords, one in each hand. The ghouls split around Fergus and doubled back. They shot their lightning at him and peppered his sides. Ewan deflected the lightning with his swords, but he couldn’t hold back the whole mass of ghouls rushing in to attack.

  The ghouls split a second time and a third until several streams of the white ghosts raced all over the field. No one could keep up with them, and their lightning crackled in all directions.

  Carmen backed into position. She took her place next to Ewan and turned to defend his side. “Come on, Elle!” she cried. “We need you.”

  At that moment, another lightning bolt cut the air above Hazel’s head. It singed her hair, and Hazel screamed all over again. Elle leapt to her feet and scrambled into position behind Hazel to protect her rear.

  Once she got upright, El
le’s heart quailed at what she saw. Ghouls raced all over the field. They blasted the dragons out of the sky. Fergus reared on his hind legs and beat the air with his wings under constant fire. Lightning flashed all over him. It hit his chest and sides and wings and neck and head. He flailed in agony, and his screams ripped the world apart.

  Ewan jumped in front of him to deflect the lightning away, but a vicious blast struck him in the leg and knocked him to the ground. He struggled up, only to be cut down by another blow to the head. He slumped at Fergus’s feet and lay still.

  Elle didn’t have time to help them. Ghouls crowded all around her. They came from both her sides and in front. She drew her sword, but she already knew it was hopeless. She couldn’t defend herself from all these things at once.

  Carmen cried out, and Elle glanced over her shoulder in time to see Carmen go down on one knee. Carmen still slashed right and left. She cut the ghouls in half, but they only reformed to throw their lightning bolts at her faster than ever.

  Down on the ground, Hazel’s voice rose to a shriek. “Mnistoh, mnylnin, ini dheflo llyatta lladdepas sefrimi viaphreen Atlantis…”

  Dear God, Hazel, hurry up, Elle thought. She didn’t say it out loud. She didn’t dare distract Hazel any more than she already was. How on Earth or anywhere else could Hazel get the spell right in all this chaos? What was Fergus thinking?

  At that moment, two of the whizzing streams of ghouls joined into one catastrophic river of whiteness. They barreled into Fergus, and a massive explosion of lightning and force lifted him off the ground. He levitated over the grass for one terrible moment. Electricity fizzled all over his skin and around his head. It electrocuted him and shook him in the air. Then it slammed him into the ground right in front of Hazel.

  The lightning squirmed all over his body, and he shrank back into a man. He lay spread-eagled on the ground. His head lolled to one side, and his black hair fell across his face. His eyes rolled half-shut, and his gaze rested on Hazel.