I looked at Avery, surprised he wasn’t trying to break up the argument. He watched me, waiting to see where I was going to take this.
Bobson opened his mouth, but before he could say anything I continued. “Now, I’m going to help you save Melanie because unlike you, I’m not a heartless monster.” I turned on my heel so I was facing Ophi and Avery with my back partly to Bobson. “Draco must have taken her to the hills past the portal. That’s where he flew to when he trapped us in the crater. I’m willing to bet he’s got a nest somewhere on one of the hills.”
Ophi nodded. “You’re probably right. I’ll take Andrew and Derek inside and round up the rest of the boys.”
I watched Ophi carry Andrew over his shoulder and help steady Derek with his other arm. “I hope those two are going to be okay.”
“If it weren’t for you, Andrew would probably be dead by now.” Avery stared at me, and his cheeks flushed. “About before, I—”
I put my hand up to stop him. As much as I wanted to hear what he’d almost said earlier, now wasn’t the time. “Don’t worry about it. This place is making us all a little crazy.”
“Yeah, a little.”
I looped my arm through his. “Let’s go get Melanie.”
Ophi came back outside and headed over to the boys who were slumped onto the rocks, looking defeated. Bobson followed him without saying a word. They loaded up on weapons, and we headed out.
We made it to the hills without running into Draco, which meant I was probably right about where he and Melanie were. Ophi suggested we climb the first hill and search using the process of elimination. It was the most time-consuming method, but since we hadn’t seen any nests perched on the hills when we’d been in the valley, we had no other choice. Splitting up and searching all the hills at once was too dangerous, so we trudged up and down the hills like the world’s slowest rollercoaster. I wondered how pathetic we looked to the constellations, and that was when it hit me. The constellations! They couldn’t talk to us unless we were near the orb, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t communicate with them.
“Everybody stop.” I ran up the hill to the peak and searched the sky for Sagittarius. He was quickly becoming one of my new best friends. I spotted him off to my left and gave him a little wave. He smiled in return.
“What is she doing?” Bobson said. “We don’t have time for this!”
Avery grabbed his arm. “She’s getting help so we can find Melanie quicker.” He pointed to Sagittarius.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Bobson asked me.
I was afraid to yell because I knew if Sagittarius could hear me, then Draco probably could too. Charades was my best option. I pointed to my eye and mouthed, “See.” I flapped my arms, trying to mimic Draco flying—not my best impression, but I couldn’t exactly breathe fire, so it would have to do. I hoped Sagittarius could read my lips as I said, “Draco.” That just left the word nest. How was I going to communicate that? I searched the surrounding trees for birds’ nests, but I didn’t see any. I picked up a few twigs and tried to bend them into a small nest, but they snapped. “How do birds do this?” I tossed the twigs on the ground. Finally, I settled for putting my palms together and resting them under my cheek. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.
I opened my eyes to see Sagittarius laughing. I hadn’t been going for a comedic performance, but I didn’t care how dumb I looked as long as Sagittarius had gotten the message. I put my hands on my hips, trying to show him it was time to be serious. Sagittarius lifted his front right hoof slightly, paused, and then lifted it higher. I assumed that meant two hills in front of us. I couldn’t see a nest, but I trusted Sagittarius.
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
We crouched low to the ground as we climbed the hill. I wished I had some clue where the nest was so we weren’t the ones being surprised when we got there. I looked back at Sagittarius for help, but he just nodded, probably thinking I wanted confirmation that this was the right hill.
Trees lined the top of the hill, which worked well for us. We tiptoed from tree to tree, walking closer to the center. I figured for landing purposes, having his nest in the middle of the hill made the most sense. But when we reached the edge of the trees, I didn’t see a nest. I saw a giant black rock.
Had Sagittarius tricked us? I’d trusted him. Thought he was different from Draco and the others, but was he secretly working with them? I turned to Ophi, suddenly questioning him too.
Ophi stepped out from the trees. “It’s one of the meteorites.”
I’d seen the meteor Ophi had come here on, and it was nowhere near as huge as this. “No, it’s way too big.”
“They come in all sizes. A meteor would have to be this large to carry Draco here,” Ophi said. “There’s a considerable size difference between us.”
“Okay.” I was still in disbelief of how big this thing was. The-size-of-my-house big. “But why did Sagittarius lead us here?”
Bobson smirked. “Maybe your charades weren’t quite up to par.”
“No.” Ophi shook his head. “Sagittarius is trying to show us something. He wants us to see this.”
I checked the sky. Sagittarius mimed walking around something. “He wants us to see the other side.”
My heart raced as we walked around the meteorite. I didn’t know what to expect, and I hoped Sagittarius wouldn’t let us walk right into Draco. We rounded the bend and saw something leaning against the meteorite. Something very small in comparison.
“Melanie!” I said, louder than I’d intended.
“What?” Bobson pushed his way through the boys for a better look.
Melanie was slumped forward, held up by a single chain across her waist. We rushed over to her, and Avery gently shook her shoulders to wake her. She moaned and opened her eyes, squinting against the sun. She looked groggy and dizzy. “What happened?”
“That’s what we’d like to know,” Avery said. “Why did Draco chain you to this meteorite?”
Something clicked in my head, and everything suddenly became clear. “The big plan. This is it.”
“What are you talking about?” Bobson asked.
“Don’t you get it? There’s only one reason Draco would chain Melanie to a meteorite.” I waited for Bobson to connect the dots, but he stared blankly at me. “When we went to find the guys Draco took earlier, we found three craters in the ground, but the meteorites were missing. They’d been moved.”
Everyone stared at me. Everyone but Ophi, who was watching Melanie instead.
“Three meteorites. One for Melanie and one for each of her parents. The rogue constellations are planning to send the Pritchards into the heavens. Make them spend eternity in the sky in their place. Then the constellations would be free to stay in Stellaris.”
Melanie’s face went completely white. She knew I was right. It made sense, and it was the perfect payback. “But I didn’t put the constellations in the sky, and neither did my parents. Why would they want to do this to us?”
I looked her in the eyes, unable to keep from feeling sorry for her. “Because they can’t get revenge on the people who really did put them there, so they’re taking it out on the people who keep them there.”
“So my parents are alive.” Melanie blinked back tears and leaned her head against the meteorite. “Ow! My head hurts.”
I looked at the back of her head. Her hair was sticky and reddish. Caked with blood. Draco must have knocked her out in order to chain her to the meteorite. I checked the chain and saw the ends had been melted. Draco had used his fiery breath to fuse the metal to the meteorite.
I tugged on the chain. “How are we going to get her free?”
Ophi moved closer to the meteorite. “Step aside.” He grabbed the chain and tugged, breaking it as easily as if it were a strand of spaghetti.
Melanie flopped forward into Avery’s arms.
“Whoa, I’ve got you,” he said. “You’re okay.”
“Ophi, could you carry Melanie back to
the castle?” I asked, wanting to get her out of Avery’s arms as soon as possible.
“Sure.” Ophi took Melanie by the arm and draped her over his shoulder.
“Do I look like a sack of potatoes to you?” Melanie complained. Apparently, not even a blow to the head could make her lose her attitude.
“Sorry.” Ophi repositioned her so she was almost sitting in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder. “Is that better?”
“It’ll do.”
Melanie complained most of the way back to the castle. I tried to convince her to be quiet so Draco wouldn’t hear her and attack us, but she yammered away, telling me it was my fault she’d been kidnapped. I reminded her that she’d started it, and we got into a huge argument that only ended when we heard Draco screeching.
“He’s close,” Bobson said. “We need to move quicker. Melanie needs to get inside the castle where she’ll be safe.”
We stayed in the cover of the trees as much as possible, hoping they’d keep us hidden. Draco flew overhead, heading straight for the castle.
“What is he doing?” Avery asked.
I nodded in Melanie’s direction. “Probably looking for her.”
Serpens and Scorpius started hissing and making other awful sounds that gave me goose bumps. I watched Draco fly past the castle and land on the other side where the constellations were chained. “Oh, no. It’s worse. He’s going to try to free Serpens and Scorpius!”
We sprinted up the hill. Ophi ran Melanie inside the castle and came back out with an armful of weapons. His speed was incredible. We crept around back where Draco was removing the rocks from the net.
“Stop!” Bobson yelled. He and the army fired arrows, making Draco drop the rock he was holding.
We weren’t going to be able to hold Draco off. And even if we did, he’d keep coming back and trying again. I only knew of one place Draco wouldn’t go. The water.
“Ophi, we need to move Serpens and Scorpius somewhere Draco can’t get them. Can you pull the net to the edge of the hill and push it into the water? They’ll sink and Draco wouldn’t dare go after them.” I hoped.
Ophi hesitated for a second.
“Will they drown?” I asked, thinking that must be what he was worried about.
“No, we don’t breathe. At least not to survive. They’ll be fine.” He grabbed the net and tugged. It moved, but slowly.
Draco saw what was happening and dove toward the net. Avery fired an arrow that sunk into Draco’s tail. Draco squealed in pain, but he yanked the arrow out and dove toward Avery. Bobson and the army intercepted him with a volley of arrows, but none of them hit the mark. Ophi was still struggling with the net, and Draco turned toward him again.
“Form a wall around Ophi!” Avery yelled. “Block him from Draco’s attacks so he can move the net.”
The guys got themselves into position pretty quickly, and even though they weren’t doing any real damage to Draco, they were keeping him from Ophi. They didn’t need me to help them, but Ophi did. I grabbed the other end of the net and pulled. I didn’t have Ophi’s strength, but it went a little quicker. Mostly because Scorpius was trying to sting me instead of pushing against Ophi. At least his claws were tied so he couldn’t grab me. We reached the edge, thanks to the army, which had finally started getting in some good shots since Draco came in closer to snap at Ophi and the net. Draco had arrows sticking out of the tips of his wings and tail. They weren’t hurting him very much, but they were keeping him distracted long enough for Ophi and I to drag Serpens and Scorpius across the hill.
Ophi met my gaze. “Pushing them over isn’t going to be easy. They’ll fight us the whole time, shifting their bodies in our direction.”
He was right. Serpens and Scorpius weren’t going to make this easy for us.
“I’ll keep pulling and you push,” I said.
Ophi nodded.
I pulled and tugged, using all my weight. Ophi pushed, and just like he’d said, Serpens and Scorpius pushed back at him. We were caught in a game of reverse tug of war, and so far the rogue constellations had the upper hand.
I had to distract them long enough to make them stop pushing against Ophi. I let go of the netting and ran to Avery, grabbing an arrow from the pack on his back. I sprinted to the edge of the hill and slipped the arrow through the net. Serpens was still wrapped around Scorpius, so I aimed the arrow at the snake’s fleshy body. It took all my body weight, but I pushed the arrow into him, driving it as deep as it would go. Serpens hissed and threw his weight back at me. I grabbed the netting and pulled at the same time.
My plan worked. The net slid across the grass. Ophi pushed as Serpens continued to flail his body around. I let go and scrambled to the side, but my foot got caught in the net. It tightened around my ankle as the net rolled toward the side of the hill. I fell to the ground and twisted, trying to dislodge my foot, hoping my shoe would come off and let my foot slip out of the net. But Ophi continued to push, oblivious to what was happening to me, and I slipped closer to the cliff.
“Help!” I screamed as the net fell over the edge, dragging me down with it.
16
Maybe I’d seen too many movies, but I expected everything to happen in slow motion. The net floating through the air. Drops of water rising out of the sea as the net sank beneath the surface. But that wasn’t at all what happened.
The weight of the constellations made the net pick up speed with every millisecond. I was flung up above the net and being dragged down by my foot, plummeting toward the water. I prayed we’d miss the rocks that littered the edge of the sea, the ones Ophi had used to create the rockslide that trapped Serpens and Scorpius earlier. Thankfully, Ophi had pushed the net with enough force to send us sailing out to the open sea. The net crashed into the water with an earsplitting explosion. Nothing at all like voluntarily jumping off a cliff into the water. Serpens and Scorpius did the belly flop of all belly flops. Water splashed up around me, and I was jolted down toward the suction the net had created.
I screamed, which was pointless and more than a little stupid because I let out almost all the air in my lungs. The impact felt like a million hammers connecting with every part of my body. My head snapped back, and my arms and legs went completely numb. The net collided with the sea floor, and water rippled back up toward me. I continued to soar downward until my face bumped into the net. Luckily, I missed the arrow sticking into Serpens’s side. I bounced off the net only to be jerked back by my own foot, which still hadn’t come loose.
I blinked my eyes, trying to see through the murky water. The constellations had stirred up the sand and dirt on the bottom of the sea, and it was floating all around me. The water rippled again, and I saw someone off to my left. In an instant, I knew it was Avery. No one else here cared enough to risk their life by plunging into the sea after me.
He sank in the water, the weight of his armor dragging him deeper and deeper. Either he was having trouble seeing or he’d taken a major blow to the head when he’d hit the surface. I blinked the salt from my eyes and stared in horror at my best friend. Avery wasn’t moving. His body was limp. I wanted to scream at him for doing something so foolish. He was going to kill himself trying to save me!
I wiggled my foot, trying to get free so I could swim to Avery, but Serpens leaned his weight against the net, pinning my foot even tighter. His eyes stared back at me through the water. I’d never seen a snake smile, but I swore that was what he was doing. He was trying to drown me. Payback for the arrow, I was sure. I kicked him with my other foot, but the effect was lost thanks to the water. I couldn’t get any force behind it. My lungs ached in my chest. My air was running out. Everything was getting dark. Except the glowing yellow eyes. They were the last things I saw.
I was semi-conscious, but I felt a hand grip my ankle and pull my foot free. Then an arm wrapped around me and pulled me to the surface. I squeezed my eyes shut as the bright sunlight hit my face. I felt half-dead, like my body didn’t have the strength to functio
n, yet I gulped air into my burning lungs. As soon as I started breathing more normally, I realized someone was pulling me to shore.
“Avery.” My voice was barely audible. I had to make sure he was okay. Did my rescuer know he was hurt and possibly unconscious? “Please, help Avery.”
Gritty sand scraped against my skin. I turned my head away from the sun and saw Avery doubled over next to me, coughing up water.
I closed my eyes, relieved that he was somehow okay. Better than okay. He’d saved my life. One minute he was drowning and the next he was rescuing me again.
“Avery!” Bobson yelled. “Are you all right?” His feet pounded on the wet sand.
Other voices jumbled together, chattering nervously. But one came through louder than the rest.
“Is Ella okay? Does she need mouth-to-mouth?” Derek sounded a little too eager to help resuscitate me.
I opened my eyes. “Do it and I’ll knock all your teeth out.” My voice was weak and not the least bit intimidating. And I had to admit I was relieved to see Derek was feeling better so soon. “You okay?”
“What can I say? I’m tough. A real man.”
I laughed. “Sure.”
Avery reached for me and wrapped me in one of his hugs. “You’ve got to stop coming up with plans that nearly get you killed. I couldn’t take it if anything happened to you.”
I pulled my head back and faced him. “You should talk.” I paused, choking on salt water still lingering in my lungs. “You could have died diving in after me like that. You almost did die. I saw you sinking in the water.”
“The fall and the force of the water when I hit stunned me for a minute. My entire body was numb.” He wiped sand from my cheek. “But I don’t need to tell you how it felt. You must have had it much worse being dragged down by the net.”
“You should’ve waited for the others to help you. You never should’ve jumped. I thought the last thing I was ever going to see was you drowning.”
Avery’s eyes were red, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the salt water or if talking about how we both almost died had brought him to tears. We’d always been close, but this experience was making us realize how much we really cared about each other. Maybe even how much we—
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