“I’ll kill her for harming you,” Theo thought back.
“No, my son. You must do the right thing for the right reason. Revenge will eat away your heart and compassion as it’s done to Lamia.”
The dragon-woman slithered closer until her breath was hot on his face. “Have I frightened you, child? Do you not dare to try to shoot me again?”
Theo relaxed his trembling finger on the taut string. “Let my sister go and restore Dragon Village, and I’ll let you live.”
“I was right. Weak like your father and unworthy to rule my kingdom. Perhaps this will change your mind about serving me.”
Lamia snapped her fingers, and a creature, like the one that delivered the slop to the prisoners, carried in a golden cage, which it dropped in front of Theo.
“Pavel!” Theo grasped the bars, staring at his motionless friend, bound with ropes. Bruises covered his face.
“You trusted her,” Lamia said as she gestured into the ballroom, “and this is your reward. Betrayal.”
Theo looked through the arch. Vela wept behind Nia. The servant girl lowered her head. Her hair tumbled to cover her face.
“I forgive you, Vela,” Theo whispered. “I wasn’t able to protect you.”
Nia glanced at the crying girl with disdain, then stormed through the archway. She snatched the silver arrow from Theo’s hands. “Vela refused to tell Lamia anything. She’s on her way to the dungeon. I told Lamia you, Pavel, and your Samodiva friend were here.” She spat out the word “Samodiva” as if it were a curse.
“Nia? Why?” His shoulders slumped.
She curled her lips the way Lamia did and wrapped her arms around the dragon-woman. “Why? Lamia’s my new mother. She loves me.”
“Her?” Theo clenched his fists. “She wants to hurt you.”
“No, she’s doesn’t. You and your friends are the ones who want to hurt her,” Nia shouted. “She’s told me you’re some ‘unborn hero,’ who thinks you’re supposed to kill her.”
Theo shook his head, not believing this was his sister. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dragon-woman. What had Lamia done to her? “Nia—”
“No! Don’t talk.” Nia held up her hand. “You’re not even my real brother, so don’t pretend you came to save me. You want Lamia’s riches and power, but you can’t have them. They’ll be mine!”
“Power and possessions aren’t love. We’re poor, but Mom loves us.” He reached for his sister. “Come home with me.”
“No.” Nia snuggled closer to Lamia. “Mom doesn’t want me. Lamia showed me what was happening at home. How happy everyone was that I was gone. You should have stayed there and left me here.”
“Nia, you know that’s not true.” Theo’s heart ached. “Let’s go home.”
“She’s quite happy here.” The dragon-woman wrapped her arm around Nia’s shoulders. “Even though your brother wants to kill me, I’ll be merciful and forgive him, for your sake, dear one.”
Theo shouted, “I don’t want your mercy or forgiveness.”
Lamia tilted her head to the creature that had brought in Pavel. “Bind him and put him in the cage with his friend.”
The creature grasped Theo’s bow, but a black cobra reared its head from the wood and struck it in the face. The creature howled and released the weapon. As it clattered to the floor, the bow changed into a cobra and slithered among the flowers. The creature plodded through the garden to search for it.
“Stop!” Lamia screamed. “You’ll destroy the flowers, you clumsy beast.”
“My bow.” Theo stared where the snake had disappeared.
Lamia gloated. “It appears you no longer have a magic weapon to kill me.”
“I’ll destroy you somehow.”
“Get the boy and take his possessions,” Lamia shrieked. Golden scales burst out on her face. “I’ve heard enough.”
Theo struggled with the creature as it pulled the backpack away and tossed it toward Nia. The beast wrapped its iron-solid arms around him and shoved him into the cage with Pavel. As it locked the door, an arrow whizzed past Lamia and struck the creature in the chest. It screeched and gripped the shaft, pulling it from its rough skin. Green liquid oozed from the wound.
“You again!” Lamia darted across the room, wrapping her tail around Diva’s waist and squeezing like a vise. Her pearly sharp fangs shone like crystals when she flicked her tongue against Diva’s cheek. “I’ve never had a young Samodiva for dinner.”
“You’re vile,” Diva spat the words at the dragon-woman.
“Let her go!” Theo shook the cage.
“Don’t tell me a Samodiva’s love has weakened you, the way it did my stupid brother.” Lamia squeezed tighter, and Diva’s face reddened. Lamia snatched Diva’s bow and quiver and tossed them to the floor. “Take her to the dungeon with Vela, but put her with her sisters, so she can’t escape.”
While the creature slunk closer, Diva grabbed hold of her claw-and-feather talisman at her side.
Lamia wrenched it away and hurled it against the wall. “Naughty, naughty. For that, I’ve changed my mind. I have a better place for you to go.” She turned to the creature. “Hold her in the ballroom for now.”
The creature dug its claws into Diva’s arms and fought to control her as it dragged her away.
“You haven’t won yet,” Diva yelled back. “You can’t defeat the unborn hero.”
Lamia slithered to the cage. “Dear nephew, if you want to save the Samodiva, you’ll become a servant like Nia. In time, you’ll be happy and love me the way she does.”
Theo pressed his face against the cage bars. “Nia doesn’t love you. She’s under your spell so you can sacrifice her tomorrow.”
“Such lies.” Lamia glanced at Nia and simpered, “You’re happy here, aren’t you, dearest?”
A wide grin spread across his sister’s face, and she nodded.
“See how happy she is?” Lamia said. “You have time to think while I finish my bath. Decide what’s more important to you—your so-called destiny or your friends. It’s your choice.”
“I won’t serve my mother’s murderer.”
Lamia stopped at the door. “You can be persuaded.”
Theo gulped as he remembered the torture device in the prison. “I-I’m going to destroy you.”
Lamia smiled. “Such brave words, little boy.” She clasped Nia’s hand and strode from the room with his sister, closing the door behind them.
Chapter 23
Visions, Dreams, or Reality?
Moonlight filtered through the glass in the domed ceiling, casting rosy colors on Pavel’s bruised face. He groaned and cracked his eyes open to slits. “Ah, man. They got you, too. Where’s Diva? Did she get away?”
Theo shook his head.
Pavel sat up. “Ow, I feel like a mashed potato.”
“You look like one, too.” Theo slid closer, with his back to Pavel. “Let’s see if we can untie each other’s hands.”
“Doggie doo. I can’t. I hurt all over.”
“Let me try to undo yours then.” Theo scooted closer and tugged at the rope around Pavel’s hand.
“Ow.” Pavel groaned and pulled away. “That’s not going to work. How are we going to get out of here?”
“Shh. Listen.”
Tap, tap, tap sounded above the splashing fountain water.
“What is that?” Pavel asked.
Theo shrugged. “Maybe the cobra? My bow changed back.”
“How are you going to beat the beast now?”
Tap, tap, tap. The noise became faster. Glass shattered and pink shards fell from the domed ceiling.
“I’m coming to help,” a high-pitched voice screeched.
Theo crawled to the edge of the cage and looked up. “Who’s there?”
“What’d you hear?”
Boo zipped down from the broken pane in the ceiling, carrying a black object in his claws.
“Him!” Theo grinned.
“You’re hearing the magpie again?”
Boo flew toward the cage.
“Thank you, Boo. How’d you get this?” Theo asked.
“Waak, waak.” The magpie dropped the Paveltron through a slot in the cage, then flew to the back of the room, picked up something with his beak, and zipped out the broken window.
Theo shook his head. “I was sure I heard him talk again.” He patted the cage floor until he touched the Paveltron. He picked it up with one hand. “Do I have it positioned right side up?”
“Yes.”
“It’ll take forever for you to tell me how to slide the buttons to open this.”
“Use quick mode, number nine, to get the mini saw,” Pavel said. “That way, you only have to press three buttons.”
“How do I do that?”
“Press the plus sign first. It’s on the bottom right.”
Theo ran the index finger of his free hand over the buttons like reading braille, moving it until he reached the one Pavel had indicated. “This one?”
“Yes.”
He pushed the button. “Now what?”
“Move up three rows, still on the right side,” Pavel answered. “Press the nine.”
Theo slid his finger up and pressed. “What’s the last button?”
“The plus sign again.”
He moved his finger back to the bottom and pressed the button. The panel opened, and a tool slid out, dinging as it hit the bottom of the cage.
“You did it,” Pavel said. “Be careful not to cut your hands on the saw blades.”
Theo let the Paveltron drop to the cage floor, then grasped the tool. With slow, awkward movements, he cut away his bindings. He flexed his wrists. Once the feeling returned, he freed Pavel and handed him the gadget.
Pavel examined the cage lock, which was shaped like a coiled snake. He pushed his glasses to the brim of his nose, unlocked all the tools, and flipped through them. “This one should work.”
Theo peered over Pavel’s shoulder as he inserted a tool looking like a wire tree into a small hole in the snake’s eye. “Did those creatures catch the Kukeri?”
“No. Only me. Shh. Let me concentrate. I have to listen for the clicks.” His ear pressed close to the lock hole, Pavel twisted the tool a fraction to the right, then slowly to the left. He continued for a few minutes. “Ta da!” Pavel beamed at Theo. “Freedom.” He pushed at the cage door, but it didn’t swing open.
“Not quite, Pavel. We have to get out of the cage first.”
Out? He pulled the pouch from Baba Yaga out of his pocket. What had she said about the pin? That it could get him into or out of tight places. She’d probably guessed he’d be captured. The lock must be magical. Maybe the pin was, too.
“Let me try this,” Theo said as he dumped it onto his palm.
“A pin?”
Theo nodded and stuck it into the hole until the red stone on the pin connected with the snake’s eye in the keyhole. For a brief second, the stone glowed. He put the pin back into his pocket.
“That’s it?” Pavel asked. “See if it worked.”
Theo pushed on the door, and it opened. He crawled out of the cage, with Pavel right behind him.
“Did you find Nia?” Pavel asked.
“Yah.”
“Is she okay? You look like you’ve been to a funeral.”
“Well she’s not harmed physically, but I think she’s under Lamia’s spell,” Theo said.
“What about the dragon? Did you see her, too?”
“Not in her beast form,” Theo said. “Help me look for my bow. I need that before I can fight her.”
Pavel glanced around the room. “Where’s your arrow?”
“Nia took it. We’ll have to find it afterwards.” Theo walked near the flowers. “The cobra hid over here. I hope it changed back into my bow.”
They parted rows of flowers looking for the snake, but couldn’t find it in the garden. “It can’t have vanished, right?”
Pavel shrugged. “How would I know? I never saw it change.”
Hissing came from near the fountain.
“There it is.” Pavel pointed.
Theo shuffled toward the fountain and slowly moved his hand close to the cobra. “Please turn back into a bow. We haven’t finished our mission.”
The cobra swayed from side to side, but didn’t draw its head back to strike. Theo held his breath as he wrapped his fingers below the creature’s head. It reshaped and hardened into the massive bow.
Pavel’s eyes were wide open. “That was scary watching.”
“Even scarier doing.” Theo approached the archway. “Let’s see if we can get out of here.”
Pavel grabbed Diva’s bow and quiver and followed.
A carved white dragon and a golden one, maws gaped as if ready to attack, faced each other on opposite sides of the golden doors. In their talons, each clutched a crystal globe that glittered with the colors of the rainbow.
Pavel stared into the globe the white dragon held in its grasp. “Come look, Theo. These are like mini TVs. This one’s showing a soap opera. A man and woman are holding hands, walking along a beach. The guy just picked up a seashell and handed it to the woman. I can see her face. She looks like you—except pretty.”
Theo poked his nose close to the globe the golden dragon clutched. Fear gripped him as he stared at the unfolding scene.
Pavel shook his shoulders. “Theo? What’s the matter? What did you see?”
Theo turned away. “It was horrible.” He covered his mouth as bile rose in his throat, the burning like Lamia’s fire destroying Dragon Village. “I-I have to see the rest. See how it ends.”
“The end? Of what?”
Theo let out a long breath. “The battle with Lamia.”
Pavel backed away. “Let’s find another way out. Get Nia and leave without you having to fight—”
“How?” Theo asked. “We can’t get out the skylight like Boo did unless you have climbing gear on you.”
“No.” Pavel’s shoulders sagged. “Jega has my backpack with all my other inventions. I’m only trying to help.”
“I know. You have helped.” Theo turned his gaze back to the golden globe. “I have to see what’s going to happen.”
The doors swung open, knocking Theo onto the floor. Nia stood on the other side. She stared at him with fire in her eyes.
“Lamia, they’ve escaped!”
Theo scrambled to his feet and dashed through the archway past Nia, but stopped short. Pavel slammed into him. Screams and shouts filled the room.
“Umph.” Pavel took a step back. “What’s going on?”
An empty cage rolled around the floor. Lamia screeched at the creature that had dragged Diva away as it chased a white mouse. Boo swooped down, pecking the creature’s head. It swatted the magpie away.
Four men dressed in red and gold uniforms stood near the exit, two on each side, spears held with a firm grip. Their faces were emotionless as stone, as if forgotten in the chaos, waiting for their queen’s command.
“Diva!” Theo whooped. “Boo must have brought her the talisman.”
Lamia hadn’t seen them. He pulled Pavel back into the alcove and put his finger to his lips.
Pavel whispered, “Is that shrieking woman who I think it is?”
“Yes, it’s Lamia.”
Pavel’s teeth chattered. “Scary. I’m staying away from her. Those claws could rip me to shreds.”
Theo peeked out of the alcove and scanned the ballroom, searching for his silver arrow. If it was there, maybe he could retrieve it and help Diva. “There’s my arrow,” he whispered.
“Where?” Pavel asked.
“In that glass case on the wall near the guards.”
One of the men turned his stony face toward Theo as if he had heard the words over all the noise.
“Oh, oh.” Pavel backed against the wall, holding Diva’s bow and quiver. “Now what?”
A swirl of silver smoke rose near the balcony. The mouse shifted into Diva. She ducked and tumbled, rolling
out of the reach of the creature chasing her. Boo croaked and flew onto a chandelier.
“You two.” Lamia pointed to guards on one side of the door. “Get her!”
“Diva, over here.” Pavel waved his arms frantically, holding up her bow and arrows.
The guards intercepted her, clamping their hands around her arms and dragging her toward Lamia.
“Fight them! Turn into a wolf!” Pavel screamed.
Diva struggled to clutch her talisman. “I can’t reach it.”
Nia skirted past Theo and Pavel, rushing to Lamia’s side. “Mistress, they’ve escaped.”
“I can see that! Can’t anyone do anything right?” Her dark eyes pinned on Theo, Lamia curled her tail around Nia in an embrace, then slithered across the room toward the hearth, dragging Nia with her. “I’ll give you something to fight for, nephew.” The tip of Lamia’s tail uncurled and rattled while it caressed Nia’s face.
Nia shivered and squirmed as if Lamia held her too tight.
Theo took a step closer. “Let her go!”
“Guards!” Lamia shrieked.
Immediately, the two guards remaining at the door raised their spears, pointing them at Theo and Pavel.
“Stay where you are, or she dies now,” Lamia said.
Nia gasped. “I thought you loved me.”
“You haven’t learned your lessons well, my princess. There’s no room for love in my life, only power.” Lamia removed a coal from the hearth. Turning back to Theo, she sneered. “Have you ever wondered why I captured your sister and not you, dear nephew?”
Theo’s heart beat faster. “You took her by mistake after Jabalaka wrote about me in his book.”
Lamia laughed. “I don’t make mistakes.”
“Then why?”
“Your parents put a protective spell on you.” The dragon-woman snarled. “I couldn’t bring you to Dragon Village myself, so I drew you here by taking your sister.”
Her mouth agape, Nia stared at Lamia. “Wh—”
Lamia cut her off with a glare, then stared hard at Theo, hatred bubbling from her eyes. “Now that you’re here, I no longer need your sister for a sacrifice. I’ll regain my sight if I kill you and drink your blood.” She placed the coal on Nia’s forehead.
“No!” Theo screamed as he ran forward.
The Unborn Hero of Dragon Village Page 23
