Snapdragon Book II: In the Land of the Dragon

by Brandon Berntson

  Eddie looked at Albert, shook his head, and rolled his eyes. “Eat a Twinkie,” he said.

  “Did you bring Twinkie’s, Higgs?” Albert said, eyes wide. “Man, what a guy! Did you hear that, everyone? Twinkies? Start fetchin’ ’em out, Higgs!”

  “Would somebody smack him for me?” Eddie said. “And don’t call me Higgs.”

  Gavin looked down, smiling to himself. Malcolm and Seth grinned.

  “Albert’s right,” Malcolm said. “As much as I hate to admit it.”

  Albert glared at him, frowning. “Why is everybody picking on me?”

  Malcolm ignored him. “It’s okay, Kinsey,” he went on. “I think we’re all feeling it. Something strange is happening. I think we have to be careful, though, of the way we think and feel.”

  Kinsey nodded and looked at the ground as she walked. “Thanks,” she said.

  Seth wished he could say something, do something to make her feel better, but the land seemed to work a miracle of its own. Something about being out here in the wild…

  He breathed in the cool morning air. The sky was richly blue with cirrus clouds. As much as yesterday had warranted nightmare, he was glad of the humorous, light-hearted talk of today. Everyone seemed to be fairing better.

  Seth looked at Kinsey.

  “Sorry,” she said, referring again to the night before.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he told her. “Look at Albert. He’s got a rifle and two fishing poles. He thinks he’s gonna shoot his way to the palace.”

  “I heard that, Your Majesty,” Albert said.

  Seth turned to Albert. “I said no name calling.”

  ii

  The land rose higher as they climbed.

  He missed it already: the time with his sister, Jeanie, and Rheanna. He wondered when and if he would ever sit in class again, if his friends would be there with him. When he thought back, he knew what Kinsey was talking about. The boy he’d been then and the boy he was now were already two completely different people. Battling for their lives, he longed to find the Cat Fighter Attack Plane he’d abandoned in the meadow, zooming it above the high grass again. But the more he thought about it, especially now, the more childish it seemed.

  Seth wished he could do something, send out a thought to his sister and mother, let them know they were alive and okay, but he’d have to be content hoping they’d figured out enough between them to know they were still alive.

  The sun warmed his back, and Seth thought about Ben, wishing the tiger could reveal what lay beyond the next bend, the next rise. He said a silent prayer in his heart for each of his companions and continued to walk in silence.

  The scenery unfolded with more shrubs and wildflowers. Soon, dry bushes and red rocks became prevalent. They’d covered a lot of ground since yesterday.

  In the sky, a hawk glided gracefully under the pale blue sky.

  Seth stopped and stared at it for a while before moving on.

  iii

  Thicker clouds moved in again by mid-afternoon, and the wind turned forceful and bothersome. The sun vanished, adding to the chill. The foothills were soon behind them and they found a mountain pass to cut through.

  Throughout the day, they drank from their canteens, nibbled occasionally on food, and continued a slow but arduous pace.

  Despite how weary Seth grew, each step bringing them closer to the palace kept his hopes alive—or at least gave him something to look forward to.

  As the day waned, the clouds grew dense, and again, the warm morning seemed to have never been. The wind held a biting chill, threatening snow.

  “Should we look for cover?” Gavin asked, looking at the clouds.

  “It doesn’t look too bad yet,” Malcolm said. “Let’s just wait and see.”

  Seth looked behind him at the sloping foothills and the land beyond. Already, they seemed to have traveled miles. All hints of Ellishome, of civilization, were completely gone.

  To the right, roughly ten feet in front of Seth, a red-tailed chipmunk bolted with lightening speed through the six of them—running just inches in front of Albert, who stumbled in comical surprise—then disappeared in a shrub.

  Kinsey laughed.

  “Chipmunk!” Eddie exclaimed.

  “Jeez!” Albert said. “I think I just soiled my shorts! That little bugger scared the crap out of me!”

  “A chipmunk?” Malcolm asked.

  “It surprised me,” Albert said, blushing.

  “Such a mighty warrior,” Gavin said. “With his big gun.”

  The others smiled

  The clouds threatened rain again. After another half hour, the first drops began to fall. Seth thought how ironic that was considering he was finally wearing dry clothes.

  “We should have brought some umbrellas with all this rain,” Eddie said. “It’s starting to drive me crazy.”

  A sudden downpour drenched them from low, thick clouds. Seth bit his tongue, trying not to complain as his dry clothes turned soaking wet. The others griped and mumbled as well.

  “We definitely should’ve remembered raincoats,” Gavin said, but no one replied.

  The wind became an obnoxious force, making their trek more difficult. Despite the weather, they were determined to put some distance behind them. They made their way through plain, barren, and less verdant hills. Soon, the land began to turn green with pine, blue spruce, and fir trees. Much to everyone’s relief, the rain abated to a light mist and finally tapered off completely. The wind, too, began to die.

  Seth was already tired. He noticed his friends’ pace becoming weary as well. They labored for breath, walked slower, and stopped more often on their second day.

  Dark forests soon hemmed them in from all sides. Two days into their journey, and they were already in the middle of the mountains. Seth and his friends followed a deep meandering river to their left, and they moved through a vast green landscape with towering lodgepole pines.

  The air grew increasingly colder, and they stopped to pull out their knit hats and gloves. The sky was still gray, pushing the clouds closer to the earth. An hour before sunset, they found a clearing in the pine trees on even ground and set up camp. Eddie and Gavin were lucky to find some dry wood, and as the night came on, they managed to make a pleasant, roaring fire, which seemed to lift everybody’s spirits. Malcolm, Albert, and Kinsey had all stored a supply of matches in waterproof containers in their packs. Kinsey told the others she had NATO-issue survival matches, reported to light even when wet. If conditions grew worse, she could use the NATO matches should the others fail.

  After setting up the tents, the six of them changed into dry clothes. They kept their wet garments on overhanging branches while they warmed themselves by the fire.

  “Anyone ready for a hot meal?” Kinsey said, and smiled.

  Albert raised his eyebrows. “Now, is not the time to be joking.”

  Kinsey smiled to herself. She unhooked the pot and rifled through her backpack, emitting various supplies—something wrapped in tinfoil. The others sat around the fire, knit hats on their heads, faces ruddy after only two days of travel.

  Kinsey walked around, doling out a plastic fork and a small tin plate to each of them.

  “Kinsey,” Albert said. “You’re making me very excited. What have you got planned?”

  “It’s a surprise,” she said, smiling to herself.

  The others looked at one another, raising their eyebrows. Eddie shrugged. Gavin watched Kinsey, while Malcolm and Seth waited patiently.

  Kinsey unwrapped some tinfoil, revealing a bulging Ziploc bag filled with roughly four pounds of bright pink hamburger. She exhumed another Ziploc bag bulging with diced potatoes. “Surprise surprise,” she said.

  Everyone’s eyes grew wide in amazement.

  “Kinsey,” Albert said, eyeing the beef like a predator. “Will you marry me?”

  “I’m taken,” she said.

  “How did you—” Eddie began. “I mean—”

  “I got it re
ady after my parents went to bed,” she explained. “I knew it wouldn’t last long, and this was all I could bring as far as meat goes. I wanted to make it last night, but with the rain, I didn’t get the chance. Since we got a fire going, I thought I’d surprise you. It’s hard keeping a secret.”

  “I love you,” Albert said. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

  “I think she knows,” Gavin said, but he was excited as well.

  Kinsey situated the potatoes and the meat in the pan. “I even got salt and pepper,” she said, holding up a small plastic cylinder of each. She stirred the meat and ground it up with a small metal spoon she’d brought. Soon, the tantalizing smell of cooked hamburger and potatoes filled the night air. After twenty minutes or so, Kinsey drained the grease into the flames as best she could, doling out a generous amount onto everyone’s plate. In seconds, they were like hungry wolves, shoveling it in until it was gone. Seth thought it a perfect change after the long, cold day. Kinsey was even a decent cook.

  She pulled other items out of her pack to wash the dishes with, but Albert was quick to volunteer.

  “Jeez,” he said. “What else have you got in there?”

  “Enough to keep us going for a while,” Kinsey said. “After that, though, we might be living off the land.”

  “Let me clean everything,” Albert said. “It’s the least I can do.”

  “What a gentleman,” Kinsey said, and Albert blushed.

  While Albert scrubbed the pot, forks, and plates in the river below, the others sat and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Albert returned shortly afterwards with clean dishes. “Kinsey, that just rocked my world. Have I told you that I love you?”

  “Yes, you did,” Gavin said, and everyone laughed.

  iv

  “We’ve covered a lot of ground,” Malcolm said, leaning back on the pine-needled ground of the forest floor.

  Seth looked up through the dying light, trying to see the stars through the tall pines. How much farther through the canyon walls and over the hills did they have to climb, he wondered?

  “I wonder how much farther it is,” Eddie said, voicing Seth’s thoughts aloud, but no one answered.

  The flames continued to dance and crackle, sending showers of sparks through the air.

  Out of the stillness of the night—from above the pines—came the sound of…bells?

  They looked at one another around the fire.

  “What is that?” Gavin asked, looking at the sky.

  For a moment, the others looked up as well. Several bewildering constellations were visible through the breaks in the trees.

  “I knew we were enjoying ourselves too much,” Albert said. “Too long without any trouble.”

  “No, wait,” Eddie said, his voice taking on a strange sense of awe.

  “It looks like our friends have returned,” Malcolm said.

  For the second night in a row, they turned their heads and saw the vast, brilliant array—the current of nebulous lights moving swiftly across the sky.

  “Fairies?” Kinsey said, in a silent whisper.

  “I don’t know,” Malcolm said.

  Hundreds of them, thousands, perhaps more, were high in the air above the trees. Together, they made a filament of incandescence, a silvery, gossamer ribbon of cloud that spread as wide as the sky. Along with it, though, was more than the sound of bells. A deeper, stranger melody was being played, a soft, yet rhythmic hum, dancing on the night wind.

  Seth didn’t think it was fairies so much as a current of light, of power moving through the night sky. The trouble they’d faced yesterday, and Kinsey’s uncertainty, evaporated in an instant. His childlike wonder returned, as though he were giving birth to it once more. Despite his doubt, a sense of mystery came back to him when he gazed at the lights above the trees. The night sky was a rainbow of ever-changing colors.

  “Wow,” Malcolm said, his head tilted back, glasses reflecting the glow above.

  “It’s beautiful,” Kinsey said.

  “Make sure you get this in you journal, writer boy,” Albert told Eddie.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Eddie said, staring above, the colors also reflected in his glasses.

  The minutes passed, and they continued to gaze, spellbound, at the lights above.

  “I think Ben must’ve won this round,” Gavin said, and Seth looked at him. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

  Or maybe it was Ben’s world coming more to life. Maybe it was Ben’s way of keeping an eye on them, while at the same time, waging war with his enemy.

  The bells faded, the colors dwindling through the night, and the trail tapered off before vanishing into the night sky. The tune faded with it.

  v

  As the fire burned low, and they talked lightly throughout the evening, a low, rumbling growl came from the trees. Branches snapped, and footsteps crunched over the forest floor and pine needles.

  “Get in the tents,” Seth said, reaching for his sword.

  “What is it?” Eddie asked.

  “Albert,” Gavin said. “I think now’s a good time to get the rifle ready.”

  “What is it?” Eddie asked, again.

  “Get in your tents and stay out of sight,” Seth said, with authority.

  Albert stood up and went to his pack, taking the rifle out of it case. He dug for a box of shells and loaded the rifle with trembling hands.

  The others retreated into their tents.

  Malcolm seemed bewildered, wanting to help, frustrated without a weapon.

  Through the trees, footsteps drew closer.

  Seth held his sword in both hands. Albert got the rifle ready and stood next to Seth by the dwindling fire.

  “Do you see anything?” Seth asked Albert.

  Albert shook his head, holding the gun. “No. Do you?”

  “Yes,” Seth said.

  Albert snapped his head in his direction. “You do?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  Seth did not reply.

  There were four of them surrounding the camp, like dogs, only any similarity ended there, however. They had snouts, four legs with claws digging into the ground, but a mass of ridges ran along their backs. Growls issued. Offal and waste hung on the night air.

  “Dear God,” Albert mumbled, quietly to himself.

  Seth could only stare. His black sword would be nothing against these beasts.

  “Shoot it!” Seth screamed.

  “What?”

  “Shoot it!”

  The beasts approached, heads lowered, one smooth, graceful claw after another.

  Albert cocked the rifle, took aim, and fired, missing wide to the left. The bullet sailed and thumped into a tree.

  “Shoot it!” Seth screamed, again. He brought the sword up like a bat, waiting for a pitch, and planted his feet on the ground. Seth crouched low as the monster advanced, though he had no idea what he was going to do. The thing was ten times his size.

  Albert slammed another round into the gun, took aim, and fired, taking one high in the chest. The beast stepped back, whined, but turned back to face the two boys.

  “Seth, watch out!” Kinsey screamed.

  Malcolm, in an instant, got up and bolted.

  “Malcolm!” Kinsey shrieked. “What are you doing?”

  He ignored her, pulling his gloves from his pockets, and slipped them on. He ran to the fire, picking up one of the smoldering logs, and hurled it at the beast advancing on Seth and Albert. The log hurled though the air, hitting the monster directly in the face, making a shower of sparks. But much like Albert had done, Malcolm seemed only to anger the beast. It shook its head and eyed the boys with another low growl.

  Suddenly, a rumble, some distance away, shook the earth.

  Seth looked behind him. One of the creatures had advanced on the tent where Kinsey and Eddie lay huddled together. Gavin was alone in the other, looking on, helpless.

  “We have to distract them,” Malcolm said.
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  Another beast crouched by Gavin’s tent, sniffing.

  The ground trembled again, much closer this time. A giant face appeared in the middle of the camp like a dinosaur. A colossal nightmare blotted the sky and stars. Its mouth opened wide, clamping onto one of the beasts, and gulped it down. It looked from one side of the camp to the other, opened its mouth again, and took another beast into its jaws. Seth stared at the thing in awe, blood draining from his face. He was paralyzed with fear. When he’d gone to the museum on a field trip for school and seen the bones of T-Rex, he’d been dumfounded by the monster’s size. This thing, whatever it was, seemed twice that size.

  One of the beasts turned and fled, but as it did, the giant descended again, taking it in one mouthful. The other monster turned and hurried through the trees. The giant beast, making the ground shake, pursued. A massive, clawed foot to their right took out a group of trees, and the ground quaked, making Seth lose his balance.

  Above, the lights they’d seen earlier spread wide across the sky. A low hum filled the air, but in seconds, they were gone.

  Everyone stood still, numb with shock. No one moved.

  Kinsey was still in the tent with Eddie as if waiting for the nightmare to descend, crying openly. Gavin, stepped out of the tent too stunned for words.

  Albert dropped the point of the rifle. “I think I just soiled my shorts,” he said, and though he might’ve been attempting to lighten the mood, he didn’t seem to be joking.

  Seth went to Kinsey, pulling the tent flap aside, and knelt, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged him fiercely, burying her face in his shoulder. Sobs rocked her frame. Eddie, also, put a hand on Kinsey’s back.

  “I think we should move camp,” Malcolm said.

  Though the threat was over, no one argued.

  They situated their supplies, and rolled up their tents. Malcolm emitted a flashlight and led the way through the forest. The event had left them speechless.

  CHAPTER VI

  Half an hour later, they decided to stop, surrounded by more trees and outcroppings of rock. Taking off their packs, they set up camp again under the beams of the flashlights, content to sit in the dark and unwind without a fire, bringing less attention to themselves. The entire ordeal with the beasts had been so sudden, no one said a word. Finally, when the initial shock wore off, and when it felt the beasts were gone for good, they began to relax.