“Hey sleepin’ beauty!” he calls out over the wind. “Feeling better?”
I’m confused for a minute, until I look down. The ground whizzes past in a mixture of greens and browns, and I realise that we’re in the air. I sit up straight immediately, making him pull me towards him further.
“We didn’t leave them behind, did we?”
He shakes his head. “They’re below us, staying low to the ground to avoid detection.”
Following his gaze, I finally see the colourful bodies of the Wyverns soaring just above the ground. They are formed into a tight arrow, with Purple taking the lead. Green is at the back, clutching Lil Red in her jaws.
“Are they all okay?” I ask, trying to look for any missing.
His eyes darken. “Red didn’t make it.”
The blow from that dragon must have been too much. “Is Green…?”
He finishes my sentence for me. “She’s more upset about the eggs, I think. She didn’t really look at Red’s body. I think it’s in their nature to put their children over their mates.”
Sadness fills my heart remembering how happy they looked before, watching Lil Red bounce around our makeshift camp. They looked so in love. How can that fade over death?
It reminds me of Marine’s story. I look up at Marco. I won’t let him share the same fate as William. There is no way I’m letting him die after all the shit we’ve been through.
“I sent Ariadne ahead to warn Isaac. I don’t know what he’ll think, though, having his dragon return alone.”
“I’m sure he’ll know to wait up for us,” I say, staring down at the rainbow of dragons, flapping their wings strongly to keep up with us.
I must have been out a while, because the city doesn’t look that far off. The buildings loom over the horizon, sinister in the sunlight. Who knows what Ray has done there since we’ve been gone? It’s only been two days, but that’s enough time for the Wyrms to manipulate people.
“Hazel! Marco!”
Isaac’s voice makes me jump as Ariadne swoops in front of us from below. Her appearance makes Drea falter in mid-air and screech to a halt.
“Shit, Isaac!” Marco screams. “You scared the crap out of me!”
“Sorry, but I needed to warn you before you got too close,” he explains, his hair ruffled by the wind.
“About what?”
“The WADT are patrolling. They found out where the Wyverns are.”
“How?”
“There’s no time to explain. We need to continue by foot.”
With a grumble, Drea decides to drop out of the sky like a stone, making me grab onto Marco like a limpet. When she’s metres from the ground she flares her wings and lands gracefully, but that does nothing to calm my beating heart.
“Thanks, Drea.” I pry myself out of Marco’s grip and swing my legs to the ground. They immediately turn to jelly and I fall on the floor with a thump. After pulling myself up, Marco does the same; he wasn’t expecting Drea’s little stunt either. Isaac and Ariadne land much more smoothly, and he steps off her with ease. The Wyverns circle around us, tilting their heads to the side at the new face.
“This is Isaac,” I introduce him to the confused dragons. “We’re taking you to his home so you can be looked after.”
Isaac’s eyes widen as he looks at the Wyverns around him. “Oh my…”
“They’re all that we could convince to come with us,” Marco explains, rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly. “We hit a lot of trouble along the way.”
The blond boy shakes his head. “Amazing. I feel sorry for the ones you left behind, though.”
“Why?” I ask, my stomach dropping.
“Ray has been using the Anthropomorphic to track you,” he explains. “The last sighting led the WADT straight to the Wyverns.”
“Oh, shit…. We have to help them,” I manage to get out.
He shakes his head. “It’s too late: the WADT must have passed you on foot hours ago. They’ve been broadcasting setting fire to the fields.”
This is all my fault. If I’d never gone back, they would be safe. Ray wouldn’t have known where they were for much longer.
“I…I shouldn’t have come.” I droop my head, unable to look at the Wyverns. My appearance has brought them nothing but grief.
“Haze, it’s not your fault,” Marco reassures me, bringing me towards him in a hug. “This is Ray’s doing. The Wyverns’ blood is on their hands, not yours.”
I wish I could believe him.
“I’m sorry,” Isaac interrupts awkwardly by clearing his throat. “But it’s not safe here. I can show you how to get into the city again without being detected.”
“Even with all the Wyverns?” I ask miserably. I don’t want to be responsible for their deaths too.
“Yes. The WADT are in the direction you came from. It’s safer in the city than out here right now.”
Reluctantly, I climb onto Drea’s back, Marco sidling up behind me. Just as Isaac mounts Ariadne, Drea surges forward. With her long, powerful legs, we’ll make it to the city in no time. The Wyverns float just above our heads, unable to keep up with us on foot. As long as they don’t get seen, we should be fine.
I wish that I could have saved Patriarch and his group too.
* * *
“This way. We’ll have to be very quiet,” Isaac whispers as he leads us through the tower of grass.
The grass hasn’t been looked after for years; it’s been allowed to grow up to our waists. I can see why Isaac said this would be an easier way in, as it’s not far from the Aislados HQ. We’ve stopped in an abandoned garden, with an equally derelict building in front. Weeds and grime cover the dull bricks; some have started to crack. The windows are smashed from the outside; someone must have wanted a roof over their heads for a night or two.
The Wyverns hobble after us, not used to hopping along in this thick terrain. Their wings are better in open spaces; they look clumsy in such tall grass. Just as we approach the back of the building, an iron door that looks brand new swings open, making me jump.
“There you are!” Jazz hisses, guiding us in with a tattooed hand.
She looks dumbfounded when the Wyverns also squeeze through the tiny door, Lil Red screaming in protest at being taken away from the outside world. Once we’re all in she slams the door behind her and locks it with a thick padlock.
“Thanks, Jazz.” Isaac breathes a sigh in relief. “I thought you hadn’t made it.”
“I’m never late,” she scoffs, her hair now a bright purple. “Hey, you two, I see you, uh…completed your mission.”
“Kinda,” Marco shrugs in embarrassment.
“Come on, we need to get these dragons warm and fed,” Isaac says, leading the way through the empty house.
The floor is covered in shattered glass and old rags, with the odd trinket here and there. The floor creaks each time one of us takes a step, making me scared that it will break and someone will fall through. Isaac lifts a finger up and it ignites into a bright white light. After seeing me squint, he dulls it down a bit. He knocks twice on another iron door, and it slips open with a creak.
A younger boy, maybe about thirteen, trembles as Isaac wanders in. “Isaac-”
“The Wyverns?”
The boy trembles. “They found them.”
I push past them both into the restaurant, which is devoid of customers. The Aislados are huddled around a TV hung up on the wall, which is showing a video of a fiery blaze. The orange flames spread quickly through the dry wheat as the camera swings towards a familiar cave.
The Wyverns.
Patriarch huddles out of the cave, roaring at the camera in the sky. At once, different elemental balls start flying at the trapped dragons. One Wyvern is hit on the head by an ice shard, and it quickly flops to the floor. Others use their wings as shields as the attacks get stronger, trying to shield Patriarch. The cameraman gasps as a woman steps out of the fray, looking right up at the camera.
“You will pay, Ma
rine!” she screams, her brown hair whipping in the wind. “You did this!” She points a pale finger towards the camera, her face glowing brightly as the Wyrms consume her face. “You will die!”
The screen suddenly goes black, which some people murmur in disapproval about.
“Enough,” Isaac says, waving the remote in their faces. “We all know how this ends. You don’t need to watch it.”
Several people grumble but obey him and go back to cleaning the restaurant or return to the kitchen. The Wyverns clamber inside, swinging their heads around in awe at all the shiny stuff on the walls.
“Ariadne, take the Wyverns to the rest of the dragons. They’ll be looked after there,” Isaac orders calmly.
His dragon nods sharply and growls something to the two-legged dragons as they follow her into the hallway. Marco shuffles up to me, forcing a smile on his face.
“It’s no use telling you not to think about it, is it?” he sighs.
I shake my head. “No. They all blame me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I led the WADT straight to them.”
“You didn’t know Ray was tracking you.”
I sigh irritably and flop into one of the metal chairs. “A giant dragon that wants me, and only me, is a pretty big thing to overlook. Of course Ray would use it to track me down.”
Marco kneels in front of me, kissing my knuckles. “Ray killed them. Not you. You saved the ones you could. Lil Red wouldn’t have hatched if it wasn’t for you.”
“And you.”
“Mostly you, though,” he winks at me, making a small smile appear on my face.
A familiar growl makes me jump out of my seat. My companion limps towards me, with his little grey tongue lolling out. “Aqueous!”
For once he lets me embrace him in a large hug. I’ve missed him so much.
“Hey! Don’t forget me!” Braith waves as she runs into my arms.
“Like you’d ever let me,” I joke as she pulls away.
“I heard that you brought some Wyverns back!” she says excitedly. “I’ve got so much to tell you about Olwen’s research! Like, get this…the Wyrms produce asexually. No wonder they’re always in such a bad mood – they can’t even make babies the fun way!”
“I thought you were supposed to be researching things that could help us,” Marco snorts, though his brown eyes twinkle with mischief.
“I have, you asshole! We’ve got so much to talk about!”
“Can we eat and rest first?” I sigh as my stomach growls. “We’ve been sleeping on the grass for two days while eating tinned beans.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that we had much better food here. You missed pizza night yesterday! It was so good!”
I slowly drown out her constant talking, but my mind quickly flashes back to the Wyverns. It’s like I kill everything I touch. Jason, Red, Patriarch…. Should I even be near anyone?
My companion nudges me softly and gives me a narrowed glance. There’s no hiding anything from him; it doesn’t help that we have a bond as well. I smile slightly and pat his neck, but he still looks unconvinced as Braith throws the doors open to the kitchen.
“I’m back!” she announces.
Several groans erupt from the kitchen staff. “Fuck off, you’ve just eaten!” a freckled boy in a hair net snaps.
She sticks her lip out. “It’s for my friends, not me! Though if you make something for me that’ll be great too.”
“All we’ve got is leftovers until dinner.” He points to several packages wrapped in tin foil. “Carbonara on the left, pomodoro on the right. It’s still hot.”
Marco and I both pick up a packet of carbonara, smiling in embarrassment as Braith marches us out. Plucking two forks from the tray, I start digging into my lunch, relishing the warm cheese as it fills my stomach. Anything is better than beans and pineapple.
“So, what stories do ya have?” Braith quizzes, eyeing up our food. “You must have some cool stories!”
“I think we need to talk about your findings first,” Marco suggests, swallowing a large mouthful of pasta.
“Oh, yeah I forgot about that.” She rushes up the stairs while Marco and I continue to eat.
I wipe a glob of cheese away from his mouth, making him snicker while trying to chew. At least now we have good food and a nice bed to sleep in.
“You feeling better?” I ask, swallowing my last strand of bacon.
He nods, chewing happily on his meal. “Yeah, it’s nice to have a proper meal again.”
Braith slides down the stair rail on her bum, catching the laptop close to her chest. “Oh, Draca said he visited you.”
My mood sours. “Yep, causing trouble again.”
“How so?”
I glance at Marco, and he shakes his head slowly. Braith doesn’t know what happened with him, Sadie and Maya, and there’s no point bringing it up now. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just not happy with him.”
“He said he apologised about your dad.” She opens the laptop, scrunching her eyebrows.
“He isn’t the one who should be apologising about my dad. Only he can, and God knows where he is right now.”
If that bastard truly cared, he would have helped my mum raise Rocky and me until the government took us. Instead, he ran off with no regrets and took our money too. That’s unforgivable.
Braith smiles slightly. “I’m sorry, Haze. I don’t think he meant to ruffle your feathers. He apologised about my dad too.”
“Yeah,” I grunt, not really agreeing with her. “So, what have you found out?”
Her brown eyes light up once more. “I’ve trawled through almost all of Olwen’s articles and I’ve managed to find something about the Wyrms.”
“Something that might help us?”
“Might. On one Wyrm maybe,” she says, holding a finger up. “It’ll require some field testing.”
“You want us to face the Wyrms again?” Marco coughs up some pasta in surprise. “That doesn’t sound like a good plan.”
My friend rolls her eyes, pointing the screen towards us. She taps the spacebar and a video starts playing. Like the last one, it starts with Olwen shakily placing the camera down so it’s at waist level. She leans down and smiles into the camera confidently.
“Test number forty-four A, the Great Serpent.” She steps back to reveal a tiny version of Thula, recognisable from his neck spikes and green scales.
Braith pauses the video to interject. “That’s why Thula looks different to the other Wyrms; it’s a different species!” she squeals before playing the video again.
Thula looks up at her, its red eyes locked onto her face. “Why don’t-”
She interrupts it. “Thula.”
The Wyrm stares up at her, titling its head to one side. “Why don’t you set me free?” it suggests, a harsh cackle in its voice.
My heart thrums as Olwen shakes her head. “Be quiet, Thula.”
The Wyrm looks puzzled, bobbing its head up and down. “Why don’t you set me free?” it repeats more angrily.
“Sorry, Thula. Your powers don’t work on me.”
The Wyrm hisses and slinks off into the corner of the room, its tail wrapped tightly around itself. Olwen approaches the camera with a huge grin on her face. “Test number forty-four A, successful. Earplug X34 works.”
The video cuts off and Braith cuddles the laptop close, squealing in delight. “We have a way to repel them!”
“But we need those earplugs.” Marco taps the screen with the end of his fork.
“I’m hoping we can recreate them here.”
“But we know nothing about them.”
She wags her finger “That’s where you’re wrong.” She zooms to the bottom of the page, highlighting a paragraph. “The earplugs are made of a weird mix of elemental rock, ice and shavings from the original scale.”
My mind drifts to when Draca first showed me a vision of the scale, glowing a sickly amber colour and infested with hundreds of tiny Wyrms. That doesn’t soun
d like something I want in my ears.
“How do we get hold of the scale? We left the lab in ruins,” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
“We can’t get the original scale, but we can get one off Draca.” She bites her lip nervously. “If he’ll let us.”
“It’s a dream, Braith. We can’t bring stuff from-” I cut myself off quickly as I think of the necklace. If we can get a scale off Draca, we may be able to bring it back with us.
She looks at me expectantly. “You think of somethin’?”
I shake my head to clear my mind of the necklace. “Kind of. If we ask Draca, will he hand one over to us?”
“We can try,” she says with a shrug.
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Marco argues half-heartedly.
“It’s better than going to the lab,” Braith sighs, not noticing his discomfort. “We just need a few shavings. Hopefully then Marco can make some.”
My boyfriend perks up. “Me?”
“Yeah, you’re good with science stuff. If we get you the materials, could you create a mould or something?”
He shrugs. “I dunno.”
“Well, let’s find out!” She jumps to her feet before I can stop her. “Draca! A chat please?” she calls out sweetly to the ceiling.
“No don’t-” When my eyes open again, I’m no longer in the hallway, but surrounded by mounds of snow.
Braith kicks up lumps of the cold slush around her like a child. “C’mon, let’s get this over with!”
With an irritated sigh, I trudge towards the cave just behind her as Draca pokes his head out. He smiles warmly at Braith, a friendly twinkle in his eye. I bite my tongue to prevent myself from speaking out. Marco would hate it if I went spouting his personal business in a fit of rage.
“Hey! You answered quickly!” Braith says, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“I just happened to be taking a nap,” Draca chuckles, igniting a ball of fire in his claws for her to warm herself in.
I enter silently, my arms crossed. I’ll let Braith do all the talking.
“Sorry, we just need a favour,” she smiles apologetically.
“A scale,” Draca says, flaring his wings out. “I overheard.”
Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3) Page 16
