Barnabus let out a pained holler and dropped Alec, who fell to the ground with a sickening thud. He lay still. I hoped he passed out in mid-trauma and not that the rescue came too late. Barnabus turned his full attention to Gabe and tried to shake off the enraged cat. The sight of Alec’s body lying there like a discarded toy made me snap to. I took advantage of the diversion and quickly hooked my arms under his armpits to drag him outside. I made a conscious effort not to look at the gaping hole in his head or the blood that covered him and left a trail behind us. Going with the superhero stereotype, I wasn’t supposed to puke or pass out in the face of adversity. Right now those were both very strong possibilities.
Through the darkened backstage and out the exit into the cool, crisp night air we went. As soon as I got him outside, I checked for his pulse. I had to know for sure if my failure to act cost him his life. Scared to see if his face had been reduced to hamburger, I opted for his wrist. Even that was covered with warm stickiness from the blood that seeped everywhere. The drumming through his veins was weak but steady. He desperately needed medical attention or for Kendall to heal him. I would personally see to it that he got one, if not both of those things. Just as soon as I took care of the three-story reptile that desperately needed a butt kickin’. I sprinted back to rejoin the battle.
Back in the theater, Barnabus whipped his spiked tail across the stage at Gabe, fixated on impaling him. The lion’s fur was visibly wet with sweat as he darted, leaped, crouched, or dived to avoid each lash.
“Hey, Lizard Breath!” I yelled. “Don’t tire yourself out before you and I get a chance to dance!”
The head of the massive dragon swung toward me. “You’re absolutely right. I should not be wasting my time on this flea-ridden pest.”
The villainous dragon stomped at me. The floor vibrated under my feet. Gabe—my sentry—ran to position himself between Barnabus and me. That lethal tail swung again.
“Gabe! Look out!” I screamed.
He turned back to face our enemy, his timing truly tragic. A barb from Barnabus’ tail caught him in the chest. The air left his lungs in a heaved gasp. Then he tumbled through the air, caught up in the momentum from the lashing. The defeated lion soared off the stage and shattered two rows of theater seats into kindling as he crashed.
“Would you look at that,” Barnabus tsked, curling his tail up in front of his face. “I ripped off a spike when I slaughtered your meat sack of a brother. What an annoying travesty.”
Barnabus’ goading probably would’ve been more effective if I hadn’t taken that moment to notice that Kendall was no longer lying where she collapsed. I didn’t spot her, but I knew she was back in play.
Barnabus misread my silence as mourning and grinned wickedly. “I feel generous, so I’ll give you a choice. I can kill you quickly and savagely or slowly and painfully. Which shall it be?”
I coated my voice with heavy despair in a performance that would’ve made Kendall proud. “You’ve slaughtered my entire family. Please, have mercy and make my death quick.”
“So be it,” he said with a satisfied smirk, then lunged.
His teeth, hungry for a taste, snapped as he neared. I stood firm. The ugly face of the dragon turned sideways; his mouth opened wide. He intended to snap me in two. Hot, rank breath assaulted my nose as his jaws encased me. A split second before he could chomp down, I jumped and wedged my arms and legs against the insides of his mouth. He tried to bite down, but I pushed back with all the force I could muster. My right hand and foot dug into the bumpy ridges of the roof of his mouth. A thick layer of gooey saliva squished between my fingers. Unfortunately, that was still the more pleasant side. My left hand and foot got the distinct displeasure of being mashed into his moist, wriggling, sandpaper tongue.
The life of a superhero. Glamorous, no?
I succeeded in catching Barnabus off guard. He spastically flung his head but couldn’t dislodge me from his mouth. I was stuck like a rogue popcorn kernel. The initial surprise wore off, and he became eerily still. A low chuckle rumbled up from his throat, accompanied by the smell of sulfur. I gaped directly down the gullet of the beast. Red and orange flames tore up his throat. I was about to be charbroiled.
Hmmm…I really should’ve seen that coming.
No time to dwell on my lack of foresight, I anchored my right hand and left foot then shifted the opposite limbs. Now both my hands were on his upper jaw. With the temperature rising by the second I latched onto his razor-sharp teeth. Blood ran down my arms as my palms sliced open, but I held fast. As the scorching flames came rushing at me, I pushed off with the balls of my feet. The dragon’s spongy tongue worked as my spring board to flip myself up and out of the way. I landed straddling his snout.
“Get off my nose you nit!” he bellowed as he shook his head.
“No can do, Barney!” As boldly as I declared it, this comment was nothing but empty bluffing. With no history as a bull rider I was completely unprepared for the bucking and rearing Barnabus unleashed. Needless to say, I didn’t stay on the full eight seconds. I careened through the air, the wind whistling past me.
With ease I tucked and rolled to absorb the impact of the fall. I landed behind the stage curtain and scanned the area for some kind of weapon. The only potential prospect was an American flag hung on a thick pole in the corner.
“I hope this doesn’t make me a bad American, but it’s for the good of the people,” I rationalized as I pulled the sturdy pole out of its resting place and snapped it in two over my leg. The bottom half splintered into a perfect makeshift spear.
From the direction of the stage came the ominous, rumbling voice, “Where did you go, girl? Did you finally come to your senses and run?”
My new weapon in hand, I marched back out onto the stage. “Don’t bet on that happening!”
A quizzical expression played across Barnabus’ face, and my own, as we both took stock of my self-deprecating comment. That moment was fleeting once my enemy noticed I was wielding a sharp stick. His lizard lips curled up into what resembled a smirk. “A stick? That is your weapon of choice? What do you plan to do with that? Pick my teeth?”
I tossed the wooden lance back and forth between my hands. “Actually I was thinking of ramming it through your heart. How’s that sound?”
The dragon lowered its head to my level. I readied my stick for a possible strike. “Do you really think you could do it, child? Take a life? That is a huge burden to bear. I have to say.” His reptilian eyes shifted to give me a paltry once over. “I just don’t think you have it in you.”
I glared up at him. “I really hate it when people underestimate me.”
He hissed out a laugh then stood up to his full height. His massive head craned toward me as he spread his oddly-sized dino-arms wide. “By all means, go ahead. Prove that you are nothing but a lowly killer, just…like…me.”
Any other person in that position may’ve taken a moment to consider what he had just said. The ramifications of the act. If it meant they were evil too. Blah, blah, blah. The only thing I considered was that the ancient, demonic being just gave me a free shot. I didn’t hesitate. I leapt into the air and landed on his midsection. Bracing myself to his chest with my knees, I reared back and used both hands to plunge the spike into him. The pole splintered into thousands of tiny toothpicks in my hands, but failed to even scratch his thick hide.
Barnabus roared with laughter. “Did you really think I would make it I that easy for you?”
“I’m not going to lie, Barns. I was really hoping.”
“And the vigor you attacked me with! That was impressive! You didn’t even hesitate! You truly are a fighter. It is almost a pity I’m going to exterminate you.”
That last comment made me very aware of my proximity to the enemy. I pushed off with my legs and flipped gracefully backward. The giant reptile caught me, mid-backflip, in his crusty, scaly hand.
“Don’t run off pigeon,” he purred in that disturbing growl. “I have big plans
for us.” His grip crushed as he squeezed me. I tried to push back against him to no avail. As the pressure of his grasp increased, my breath caught in my throat. A searing pain in my side signaled that my recently mended rib cracked again. Black spots danced before my eyes. My consciousness threatened to give.
“Now then,” Barnabus said in a casual tone that goes along with being the squeezer and not the squeezee. “If you would like to plead for your life, now would be the time.”
Leaning in eagerly to hear my words, he eased up on his grip to allow me to speak. The air rushed back into my lungs. I sucked it in like a deep sea diver emerging from the depths. When the daunting darkness retreated from my head, I peered directly into the enormous eye of the dragon. My voice still came out a wheeze when I attempted to declare valiantly, “You won’t make it out of this theater alive.”
Barnabus’ alligator-like snout crinkled into a snarl. “What are you hoping will happen?” he sneered. “Do you think your muscle bound brother and feather-brained sister are going to swoop in and rescue you? Perhaps you’d like to see what they’re up to?”
He swung his massive frame around, me in tow. With the flip of his wrist he turned me in the direction of auditorium. There were Gabe and Kendall, in the exact same spot Gabe fell. Kendall’s wings wrapped protectively around the fading lion. She glowed with her healing warmth, but my brother’s hacked open chest wasn’t healing. An ever expanding puddle of blood surrounded him. Kendall trembled from the strain. Sweat coated her flesh and soaked through her shirt. Still she fought. If she wasn’t ready to give up, neither was I. Barnabus wanted this image to destroy my resolve. Instead it strengthened it.
I craned my neck to look back at his ugly mug. “Like I said, you won’t get out alive.”
All the air rushed out of my lungs in a gut wrenching whoosh as he constricted me in his white-knuckled fist. “You infuriating little pest! You cannot comprehend when you’ve been beaten can you? This is it! This is the end of you! You can say whatever you want. It ends here!”
As he screamed, he shook me viciously. My head wobbled so hard it felt like it might snap off my neck. Soon his rants turned into nothing more than a ringing in my ears. One by one, my senses gave up. They retreated into the dark abyss and waited for me to join them there. I hung on by a thread. My insides were squeezed by the agonizing death grip squashing me. But that paled in comparison to the panicked fire in my lungs as I tried in vain to gasp in even a whisper of air. The black spots returned. They bonded together to form a black curtain that blocked out the world. This time I couldn’t fight it. Everything went black.
CHAPTER 32
“Wake up! Wake up! Do you hear me, young lady?”
A familiar voice in the darkness, but the sleep is comforting. It takes away the pain. Movement means searing pain. Sleep, sleep is good.
“Celeste Marie Garrett! You have to wake up! You have to fight!”
Daddy? Is that you? Am I dead?
“No, not yet. But if you give up, you will be. You have to fight, Celeste. Too much depends on you.”
It’s too hard. I’m not strong enough. I can’t do it.
“Yes, you can! You have to! Now wake up Celeste!”
“Wake up, Celeste!” My father’s voice gave way to Kendall’s urgent screams.
I pried my eyes open. The dragon’s rough palm still grasped me. Yet, something caused him to loosen his grip just enough that air could return to my lungs. Weak, dizzy and light-headed, I let my head loll back as I peered up at ole lizard face. His narrowed eyes glared down at the ground directly in front of us.
I followed his gaze and grinned weakly at what I saw. One perturbed-looking lion and an angry look-alike angel were in fighting stance at the foot of the beast. Between his teeth Gabe held the very barb that Keni extracted from deep in his chest. If it was made of the same substance as Barnabus’ skin, it should be able to penetrate his scaly shell. Judging by the smug look on Kendall’s face and the nervous expression Barnabus wore, I wasn’t the only one who made that conclusion.
“Killing the two of you is becoming a tedious task,” the dragon rumbled.
“Then stop.” Kendall shrugged. “’Cause we’re not crazy about it either.”
“Not a chance,” he hissed. His enormous body folded in half toward them as flames blasted from his jaws.
This time Kendall was ready for it. She rocketed up to meet the attack. With one wing curled over her head, she used it as a battering ram against the geyser of fire. The flames bounced off her. My scaly prison was another matter. The ricocheting flames beat against the dragon’s claws, which just so happened to be holding yours truly. If Kendall concocted this plan as a way to get Barnabus to release me, there was one crucial flaw—I was in the way. My skin blistered as it was scorched. It prickled in excruciating pain. My nose and throat burned. My lungs ached from breathing in the smoke and flames. My eyes watered so badly that my vision blurred. A wall of red and orange blazed up around me. I was going to die before this overgrown gecko even got uncomfortable enough to let go. Clawing and squirming became pointless. I couldn’t escape. I tried to scream for Kendall to stop but could only manage a hacking cough.
I am so glad I woke up for this. Would’ve been a pity to miss out on this whole burning alive experience.
For the first time all day, luck turned in our favor. The dragon screamed in agony and lost his hold on me. Our evil nemesis waved his hand frantically, blowing on it and screeching in pain.
I plummeted in a free fall, screaming my fool head off as the ground rushed up to meet me. My descent was short lived. Kendall swooped in and snagged me under the arms.
“You jumped off a building and landed without a scratch. What’s with the drama?” she asked calmly.
“Habit.” Without asking, I plucked one of her magical feathers.
“Ow!”
“Sorry, but after torching me up there you had that coming.” I rubbed the feather all over me. This was faster than waiting for my rapid healing to kick in. The results were instantaneous, leaving no visible signs I had ever been grilled to a perfect medium-well.
“Feel better?” Keni asked.
“Much, thank you. Now if you could kindly drop me off on the chest of the horrible, hell-spawned beastie, I’d like to kill him so I can go home and take a bubble bath.”
“No problem,” my pilot said. “Next stop, hell beastie.”
As she looped around the theater, making a wide arc back toward Barnabus, I sought out my weapon. “Gabe! Throw me the spike!”
Our cruising speed was a rapid one. We quickly closed in on our target. Yet Gabe hesitated. He eyed the dragon, then me, and back again.
“Gabe! Throw it to me!” Despite my screams, he seemed undecided. We were almost to the point of no return. The moment to act was at hand—and my hands were still empty.
“Gabe, get your big, furry head out of your butt and throw me the friggin’ spike!”
The bulky cat heaved a deep, resigned sigh. With a flip of his head, he tossed the spike through the air and into my eagerly waiting grasp. I weighed it between my hands and turned it over to find the most comfortable, functional way to grip it.
We were close enough to see the light reflect off his swamp green scales when Barnabus regrouped. He spun toward us, flames tearing from his throat.
Kendall looped us under the flames and skimmed up the dragon’s belly. “I believe this is your stop,” she said and released me. I grabbed on to his midsection with my arms and legs in a koala bear grasp. Quick as I could, I shimmied upward to my target. “I’ll try to distract him,” Kendall yelled as she flew off. The trail of the flames followed her.
I was almost to my destination when the dragon screeched. His body lumbered this way and that, almost causing me to lose my grip. I glanced down. Gabe had latched onto the dragon’s leg. He savagely scratched and bit into the scaly flesh. For a brief moment the lion lifted his mahogany head.
“Go!” he yelled remarkably clear
for a feline.
“Gone!” I shouted back. I fought to hold on and wriggled my way up Barnabus’ abdomen. Directly above the thumping heart of the beast, I stopped. Anchoring myself with my legs, I grasped the spike in both hands.
The sensitive region I was positioned in didn’t escape Barnabus’ notice. His sharp talons flew at me, ripping layers of skin off my back as he tried to knock me away. Had his energies been more focused he would’ve succeeded, but Gabe and Kendall divided his attentions just enough.
I ignored the pain and arced the spike over my head. With every ounce of strength I had, I plunged it straight down. I felt it cut through the rock-hard exterior of the beast, then plunge right into his soft, gooey center. An eardrum-piercing scream erupted from the dragon. His back arched, and he dug at his chest with panicked swipes. I dove off him and away from his feverishly racking claws.
Landing smoothly, I backed away from the towering creature. Slaying the dragon would seem less heroic if I got caught under him when he fell. Gabe and Kendall were soon by my side. No one spoke as we focused on Barnabus.
His frantic clawing faded fast, as did he. As the life slipped out of him, his shape shifted. He shrank from the enormous, terrifying dragon back to the demented man that had sought out evil. Time finally got the chance to take its long awaited toll on him. All the centuries that had bypassed Barnabus came rushing back to him. He aged right before our eyes. His skin, muscle, and bone melted away until a pile of dust was all that remained of the deranged, mad man.
“I really wish I had closed my eyes for that,” Kendall squeaked.
“Uh-huh,” I agreed.
Even Gabe nodded.
We stood in silence for a moment. It was over. Really over. We actually did it. We exchanged wide-eyed looks of amazement.
“Holy crap! We did it!” I marveled as I reached back to tighten my loose ponytail.
“And only two out of the three of us nearly died,” added Kendall, the lucky one-third.
The Conduit (The Gryphon Series Book 1) Page 18
