Snapdragon Book II: In the Land of the Dragon

by Brandon Berntson

  “Keep it safe,” Seth said.

  “I will,” she told him.

  He nodded and turned away, walking over the snow toward Ben, the black sword in his hand. He knew how they were going to battle, what they had to do. The stranger had been halfway defeated already. The black palace had been destroyed, the snapdragon given to its rightful owner.

  Seth swung his leg up, sitting on the back of Ben. He took a deep breath. Ben dug his claws into the frozen earth. As ridiculous as it seemed, there was no other way. The fate of Ellishome came down to this one moment in the dark, in the meadow behind his home.

  They were going to joust.

  Seth saw Ellishome through his mind’s eye, the ruins it had become. Not ruins, he realized, but an eternal graveyard, a city for the dead. Most were denizens of the black earth already. The Dragon was death. He was from everywhere, yet timeless. He was from Ellishome, the stars, keeping company in the dark. A killer, Percy had said.

  Cold touched Seth’s heart like a malignant entity. He faced the figure thirty yards away, holding tightly to Ben’s fur. His breath made clouds of vapor in the cold. He wondered how the demon would battle them.

  But he did not see the phantom in the top hat as he looked. He saw the same horned warrior who had kidnapped Kinsey after their battle with the wolves. The horse was a destrier. The rider wore a horned helm, leather armor. Two red eyes narrowed in the dark.

  He is timeless, Seth, Ben said. He is everything and anything. He is whatever he wants to be to scare you, illusions, mainly. But he is also fear and loneliness. He knows nothing else. He is made of darkness, making darkness. He is blood and fire.

  Put your thoughts into the blade and thrust with everything you are made of. Everything that is not him. Remember…you are unblemished. You are made of light. Think of the laughter of your friends, Seth.

  He thought he understood. He would do whatever he could to defeat this monster. His friends watched, as if from the sidelines, holding hands. No, Seth realized. They knelt. They were not watching at all. Ben had instructed them to pray.

  The destrier and warrior trotted toward them. Ben, also, began to move at a brisk pace. Seth thought how comical this must look: the destrier and the dark warrior against a small boy and his tiger. How could they defeat it? The lance would penetrate Seth before he could even bring up the sword to defend himself.

  Ben trotted faster, picking up speed, taking long, loping strides over the snow. Seth held the sword in both hands, legs clamped hard onto Ben’s flanks.

  He closed his eyes when they clashed, putting all his thoughts into the blade as Ben had instructed. Dark wind from the enemy’s lance rushed against his face. Seth raised the sword, swinging upward, and deflected the lance out of the way. A flare of blue fire lit the meadow. But the blow failed to cut the lance in two. The blade was no longer the black weapon he’d used to defeat the knights in the dungeon with, nor was it the weapon he’d used to slay the wolves. It was brighter, the incandescent blue of—

  Snapdragons.

  The sword burned with a vibrant white light deep inside the blue, as if he were holding the power of the sun in a single blade.

  Ben slowed to a trot, and they turned to face their enemy again. In the surrounding area, the darkness moved in like a living sea. The stars were no longer visible. The snow turned black.

  The warrior and the horse galloped toward them once more, picking up speed. Seth braced for another collision. Ben, too, dug his claws into the ground, and ran toward their enemy. To the side, his friends continued to kneel, hands linked, heads bowed in prayer.

  Seth closed his eyes and saw the field of snapdragons in his mind’s eye, the palace of Elysium. Seth thought of Jeanie Masterson and the laughter of his friends.

  Before another parry, Ben took to the air, leaping off the snow. The lance came at Seth a second time. He thrust upward, driving the lance out of the way, and closed his eyes. Sweat plated his palms and forehead. Without thinking, Seth quickly brought the sword low, swinging hard against the knight’s chest, making a loud cry in the dark. The blade burst into flame as it made contact, and Seth opened his eyes. He saw—out of his peripheral vision—the creature split, miraculously, in two. The Dragon toppled to the side, cut in half, and fell to the frozen earth.

  The lance dropped to the ground. The horse reared up, backpedaling. The bottom half of the creature slipped from the saddle and into the snow.

  Seth watched as the darkness from the edge of the meadow moved in. Or was it retreating?

  Ben paid little heed to any of this, and focused on his enemy. With Seth still on his back, they approached the fallen warrior. A thick, tangible darkness clung to what remained of its existence.

  Seth and Ben stood over the fallen figure. No spiders, no sign of it’s dark magic. The phantom magician was only an illusion.

  Finish the job before it’s too late.

  Too late? Too late for what? But he didn’t question.

  Seth climbed off Ben’s back and stood over the severed creature, positioning the point of the sword downward, and thrust the blade through the horned helm, pinning it to the ground. A shriek sounded just inches from his face. He winced and clenched his eyes shut. Shadowy hands reached up, trying to claw at him, but Seth drove the blade deeper into the earth.

  Soon, he let go and stepped backwards. The light within the sword grew bright, blinding his eyes. He held his arm up, shielding himself from a sudden, fiery incandescence. The sword burst into flame, lighting the meadow.

  Violence ripped through the air, making the ground tremble. The cacophony lifted Seth off his feet and threw him backwards onto the ground. He held his arm up to shield his eyes again.

  An inferno burst from the earth where Seth had pinned the helmet to the ground, a towering cylinder of fire rocketing into the night air. Heat and flame washed over him. A stentorian roar filled his ears, driving him and Ben back from the blaze. In front of them—high into the night sky—a transcendent, flaming dragon stood as tall as a skyscraper.

  Father of darkness, Ben said. Deceiver of souls.

  Massive, flaming red eyes burned across the night sky under the stars, a wicked jumble of mammoth teeth. Claws reached, stretching to either side of the meadow. Wings of red and orange flame spread wide under a limitless mantle.

  To Seth, it was a colossal nightmare. The massive beast reared back its head and let out a roar that reverberated across the meadow, into town, and back again. The earth trembled at his feet.

  His friends, he saw, had stopped praying. The force of the Dragon had sent them sprawling as well. Seth shielded his eyes from the blaze.

  The Dragon seemed to writhe in a current of pain. In one great, supernal motion, it detached itself from the earth and ascended to the stars, the meadow illuminated with a great conflagration.

  Clinging to its pain, and consumed by the power of the enigmatic sword, the Dragon ascended through the dark, and disappeared into the night sky. It’s roar diminished as it reached the stars.

  Yes, Seth thought. Anything it wants to be. Anything and more.

  For eons, it had lived, and now, it was flying toward darkness to die alongside darkness with its fathers.

  Above them, the light dwindled. The dragon had disappeared. The sword was still pinned to the earth, but was simply a black blade again. Any sign of the warrior, its horse, and the surrounding blackness was gone.

  Silence filled the meadow. Seth heard his own labored breathing. A cold January wind started to blow.

  Ben, as if mourning the loss of a close friend, stepped closer to the sword and looked up into the sky where the Dragon had disappeared.

  “Ben?” Seth said, getting to his feet.

  The tiger looked at him. Seth felt his friends drawing close behind him. Albert’s hand touched his shoulder.

  “Ben? Is it over?”

  Yes. Faint. Almost a whisper, perhaps even a long-anticipated sigh. Yes. It’s over. After all this time.

  Ben paused an
d looked at Seth.

  Thank you for your courage, Seth. I don’t know what else to say. Give us both time. There are a lot of years ahead. I know, to you, he was evil, but he was still my companion. You will pardon me while I mourn for him.

  Ben looked at each of them in turn, nodding a single time.

  Whatever nightmare thing had threatened Ellishome had taken its evil and gone. Whatever magic Seth and his friends had witnessed was enough to assure them of its strength.

  You had enough…

  Seth heard these words, but not from Ben. Apparently, the tiger was right. He did have enough, whatever it meant, but not only him. He was tired of singling himself out. If it hadn’t been for his friends, the battle would’ve never come to this miraculous end. They all had enough…

  Seth watched as Ben gave him a single nod.

  Thank you, he said again, and looked at each of them one more time. Your journey has been long, trying, and painful, but in my thoughts, and in my memory of you, I will never forget what you did for me. In time, know that I still live, and that I am with each of you. And I do not let tasks go unrewarded. You are my friends, and I am yours.

  For now, it was all Ben could say. The tiger looked into the night sky again where his immortal companion, his timeless adversary, had vanished, finally severed after a billion years.

  Ben looked at them again. I have to say goodbye for now. I have to mourn this loss, and pick up the pieces of my own existence. Bear with me, if you will.

  Seth had a feeling it wasn’t the last time they would see Ben, despite how much time the tiger needed.

  Ben looked at them for a second or two longer. It seemed he, too, didn’t want to leave. Finally, he nodded a single time and turned, his head downcast. As he walked west, he looked casually back and forth from north to south as if surprised by the silence, perhaps his own aloneness, which he’d never known until now. Whatever thoughts Ben had, he was keeping them to himself.

  Soon, the tiger disappeared into the meadow.

  Seth and his friends stood alone. For a while, no one said a word. Then:

  “I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like that again for as long as I live,” Albert said, with wonder in his voice. “Even in dreams…in the movies. Never.”

  “Are you all right?” Malcolm asked Seth.

  He nodded. “I’m a lot better now…just knowing…” he trailed off.

  Eddie laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Albert asked.

  “If our parents wake up and find us gone,” he said. “There’s gonna be hell to pay.” The small boy looked up toward the stars, however, his mind on other things.

  Albert and Kinsey laughed. Malcolm was strangely quiet.

  “Malcolm, are you all right?” Seth asked.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Just weird, don’t you think? The Dragon never tried to harm any of us. It went for you and Ben right away like we weren’t even there.”

  “But we were there,” Eddie said.

  “Maybe it knew,” Seth said. “Maybe it knew it couldn’t harm you.”

  Malcolm nodded, but didn’t seem to accept it.

  After some amount of time, Malcolm, Eddie, and Albert eventually said goodbye, then made their way home.

  v

  Kinsey walked with Seth after the others said goodbye. “Do you think everything is really over?” she asked.

  Seth nodded. “I do,” he said.

  Kinsey looked at the snapdragon in her hand. He followed her gaze. “It’s my favorite color,” she said.

  Seth nodded, smiling.

  The house was still dark. Masie and his mother hadn’t stirred, despite the cries of the Dragon. Perhaps the battle had been for them alone.

  “It’s good to see you’re okay,” he said.

  “It was weird,” Kinsey told him. “I don’t remember anything. Just waking up in bed, having the doctor look at me. Dad and Mom were there. I kept lapsing in and out. They wanted to ask me all kinds of questions. I remember saying you guys were still out there, that you were trying to make it home. That someone had better get out and start looking for you. I wanted you guys to come home so bad. After a while, I didn’t think you would.”

  Seth nodded. He hadn’t noticed until now, but Kinsey did look better, fuller, healthier.

  “It’s weird, isn’t it?” Kinsey asked. “All that? Mom kept talking about moving away, getting out of town, but I don’t think I could handle it.” She paused. “Without you, I mean.”

  “My mom’s talking about the same thing,” he said.

  They were silent while Kinsey nodded, looking at the snapdragon. “What do you think this is really for?” she asked.

  Seth shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe someday we’ll find out.”

  Kinsey looked at him and smiled. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time,” she said. “Stupid, huh? I’m so geeky sometimes.” She paused. “Anyway, when we were on the journey, it felt so weird having you there with the others. I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

  “I know,” he said.

  “Do you feel the same?”

  Seth knew what she meant. “No,” he told her, truthfully. “No. I don’t feel the same at all. I don’t think I ever will.”

  “Neither do I.”

  They stood in the cold, feet shuffling back and forth over the snow.

  “It’s cold,” Seth said. “You’d better get home.”

  Kinsey nodded, and Seth thought he heard her sniffle, whether cold or emotional, he didn’t know.

  She looked at him, and he had his answer. Kinsey had tears in her eyes. “I love you,” she said. “I know that sounds crazy. I keep telling myself I’m only eleven, but I don’t care. I had pneumonia right through my birthday. I didn’t even know it.”

  “Happy Birthday,” he said.

  “I got everything I wanted and more.”

  Seth nodded.

  Kinsey looked up and kissed Seth on the cheek. He gazed at her for a long time.

  “How are you parents?” he asked.

  “No different,” Kinsey told him. She looked at the flower, then threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. She pulled herself away quickly, not wanting him to see her cry.

  “Bye,” she said. Kinsey grasped his hand, squeezed, then turned away. She walked around the side of the house, and disappeared.

  “Bye,” Seth said, when she was gone. “I love you, too, Kinsey.”

  Seth looked out over the meadow and thought about Kinsey and Ben, wondering if things would ever be the same.

  Was this really the end? Was it really over?

  It didn’t seem like it. What if they all moved away and never saw each other again? He didn’t want to think about it.

  Instead, he touched the side of his face where Kinsey had kissed him and felt—for the first time—that the threat of the Dragon was finally over.

  Seth took a deep breath and stared at the sky. He studied the stars for a long time before he walked back inside.

  CHAPTER III

  Malcolm hoped the old man was staying somewhere else in town, unable to endure the silence of the Queen Anne by himself. He didn’t want to acknowledge the other possibility, but maybe Jamey could answer some questions. Malcolm only hoped the butcher was still in town as well. People were disappearing all over, and Malcolm was starting to feel very much alone in the world. The Queen Anne and its emptiness simply added to it. He didn’t need the constant reminder, the cold dark house, silent and still with his grandfather’s absence.

  Word had spread about their arrival. Certainly, the old man would know enough to come home by now. Any minute, the front door would open. But the car was still in the garage. And the more Malcolm waited, the more the front door stayed still and shut.

  The following morning, after the Dragon’s demise, Malcolm did not eat breakfast but put on some clean pants, his boots, a thick, dark sweater, and a winter coat. His hair was long, and it had been painful trying to co
mb out the snarls. A few times, he’d pulled out several fistfuls, only to give himself a massive headache, and eventually cut the clumps out with a pair of scissors. It didn’t look too bad, he thought, but part of him actually liked it long. It could be a new look for him.

  Malcolm stepped outside and shut the door behind him. It was a surprisingly warm January morning. The sun was high in a bright blue sky.

  Taking a deep breath, he stepped down the porch, and began the long trek into town. He’d walked this road the night before to Seth’s house, and here he was doing it again. Still, after the long journey through the mountains, a mile or two into town hardly seemed long at all. Now would’ve been a good time for the bike, though, he thought. He wondered if it was still sitting at the bottom of Samuel’s Creek.

  His first night home he’d slept over twelve hours. Last night, after he’d returned home, he’d slept another ten. It was almost 11:00 am already.

  He felt better, though, more refreshed. Sleeping in a warm bed had dispelled the horrors of their quest. He felt rejuvenated, more his old self again. Despite his grandfather’s disappearance, Malcolm Alister felt better than he had in a long, long time.

  The warmth felt good on his face, too. He looked from the snow-laden meadow to the barren trees lining the road, then into the bright blue sky.

  Most of the snow had already melted. The fallen leaves were thick and damp under his boots. The sun reflecting off the snow made him wince, but it was good to see. For a second, scintillating swirls of purple, blue, orange, and red appeared, reminding him of the palace.

  Malcolm thought about Gavin Lolly. He also thought about their journey as he walked between the tall oak trees. He thought about their return, and the battle he’d witnessed between Seth and the Dragon. Had the creature been as timeless as Ben said? Did it travel across eons of space? Had Ben followed it through the course of its existence, searching for that one, single element in which to destroy it forever? And had he truly found that element in Seth Auburn?

  It seemed absurd. He didn’t necessarily believe what he’d told his friends that day at Samuel’s Creek, that Seth was special, sensitive, and unblemished. He simply acknowledged that they needed to travel into the hills and beyond. He chuckled to himself, thinking how those premonitions had come true.