A spear pierced the air in front of him. He froze to the spot.
“Stay back or I’ll crush the breath out of her.” Lamia breathed on the coal.
“Please don’t,” Nia begged.
A ray of light snaked its way out of Nia’s mouth. Flames shot out of the coal, now glowing red as it sucked in Nia’s breath. The brighter the ember burned, the paler Nia became, until she turned completely into stone.
“Place her next to the fountain,” Lamia told the guard who had hurled his spear.
The man dragged Nia’s statue toward the garden room, out of Theo’s sight.
“I saw her as a stone statue in my dream and couldn’t prevent it.” Theo rubbed his sleeve across his teary eyes.
“You can’t let Lamia win,” Pavel said. “We’ll fix Nia later. We can do this together. It’s time to stand up to bullies—as soon as we get your arrow.”
“Do you think you can escape, children?” Lamia approached. “I’ll kill you and eat your hearts piece by piece and give the rest to my miniature dragons. I think you remember them from the field of poppies, where you killed many of my pets. They’re eager to return the favor.”
The door crashed open, and Zima stepped into the room. “Sorry it took so long.”
The remaining guard at the door raised his spear, but Zima thrust him through the neck with a jab from his own spear. Blood spurted when Zima pulled the weapon from the man’s throat.
Theo gasped. Beside him, Pavel gagged. An arm closed around Theo’s neck. The guard who had lugged Nia’s statue into the garden room had returned.
A beautiful blonde, dressed in a filthy white robe, followed Zima into the room. She fitted her bow with an arrow, quickly shooting the guard behind Theo. The arm around his neck loosened, and the man slid to the floor.
“Who’s next?” Jega strutted through the door, arm linked with a brunette, who carried a bow and quiver like the first woman.
Nine other armed men, even taller and more muscular than Zima and Jega, forced their way through the shattered door.
Golden scales erupted on Lamia’s face and arms, and her voice deepened. “Kill the girl,” she commanded the guards who held Diva.
An arrow struck each man’s throat before they had time to raise their spears. The blonde and the brunette nodded to each other.
The creature that had captured Diva earlier lunged at her. Jega hurled his spear, piercing the creature through the heart. It dropped to the floor, green ooze seeping out.
Diva sailed across the room and joined Theo and Pavel. She took her bow from Pavel and pointed an arrow at Lamia.
Theo’s heart pounded. Lamia was surrounded, left alone. He might not have to fight her after all.
“You think you can defeat me? You’re wrong,” Lamia screeched.
Scales on her face and arms swelled and multiplied, covering all traces of skin. Her golden hair writhed as if alive.
“We may not be able to kill you right now,” the blonde retorted, “but we can toss you into the prison you’ve kept us in.”
“Never!”
Lamia’s shriek curdled into a roar as she swelled into an enormous golden dragon, with wings tucked to her side. Red scales lined her underbelly. The beast’s three snarling dog heads, each with white, blind eyes, hit the ceiling. Centered on the middle head above the blind eyes, a third one flashed like burning embers. The dragon bellowed again and sent a beam of light from this eye into the night.
The clue rolled around Theo’s head again: Wherein power blazes, close the gateway to the soul. Mom had often said that eyes were the mirror to the soul. That third, all-seeing eye must hold Lamia’s power. He still did have to battle the beast to destroy one more soul. He ran across the room to where his silver arrow lay within the glass enclosure.
“Jega, can you smash the glass?” he asked.
“My pleasure.” Jega struck it with the wooden end of his spear.
The glass held firm. He beat it again and again while the castle shuddered to its foundation.
Creatures scurried out of hiding places, scampering around them, only to disappear into other hiding places.
“It must be magic,” Jega said.
Magic? Would the pin Baba Yaga gave Theo open the case the way it had the cage?
Theo pulled the pouch the witch had given him from his pocket and removed the pin. He stuck it into the keyhole. Once more the red stone glowed. He opened the case, grabbed his arrow, and twisted around to see what was happening in the room.
The light from Lamia’s eye still lit a path through the darkness outside. A purple mass of bats zoomed past the windows. Once again, the castle shook, but not from Lamia’s roar. The hum of hundreds of wings beat the air as miniature green dragons and the half-woman, half-bird Harpies filled the balcony.
Lamia smashed the windows with her tail, letting the creatures swarm in.
Boo croaked and zipped into the garden room.
Zima and Jega, and then the other Kukeri, let out inhuman shrieks and rushed into the melee. The Samodivi, like fierce Amazons, joined the battle. Diva dropped her bow and quiver and twirled into a falcon. She flew straight toward Lamia, clawing at the dragon’s face with the all-seeing eye.
Pavel grabbed the dropped weapons, nocked an arrow, and pointed it at Lamia. Theo ran across the room to join him. He fit the silver arrow into his bow and looked for a clear shot at the dragon, but the beast continued to thrash around the room, with Diva attacking.
The blond Samodiva twirled like Diva and became a hawk, taking to the air after a Harpy. She thrust her beak through the winged-woman’s throat. Before the Harpy had a chance to shriek, yellow liquid spurted from her neck, and the creature crashed to the floor.
One of the elder Kukeri brothers grabbed the dead Harpy and hurled it at a pack of green dragons swarming around Jega. “Move, brother!”
Jega somersaulted to the side a moment before the Harpy smashed into the miniature dragons. Yellow slime sizzled on their wings and bodies as it sprayed the creatures, melting away flesh and sinew. The dead and dying creatures tumbled out the window.
On the balcony, Zima plunged his spear through the belly of a Harpy, twisting away from the deadly spray like a professional dancer when he pulled it out again. Not losing momentum, he grabbed a green dragon zooming near him and sliced its head off on a jagged edge of the smashed window.
The brunette Samodiva and other Kukeri fought their own battles against Lamia’s minions.
Lamia shook off Diva and fired flames at Theo and Pavel. They ducked and backed against the wall, wading through dead bodies that littered the floor. The dragon queen whirled, knocking over everything and everyone in her path. Mirrors shattered, hurling even more glass over the marble floor. Theo and Pavel crouched behind a chest, barely dodging the rain of shards.
Pavel’s teeth chattered. “Rat droppings.”
The chest flew across the floor as Lamia’a tail swiped it away, leaving them facing the monster.
“Double rat droppings.” Pavel scrambled away from the dragon.
Lamia roared, whipping her three heads at the ceiling. A crystal chandelier crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces. With each lunge forward, she crunched crystals beneath her claws.
Theo aimed the silver arrow at her third eye, but she swiveled her heads. Diva dive-bombed her again. The dragon flicked her tail, tossing Diva out the shattered window.
“No!” Pavel screamed.
The dragon turned toward Theo. Fire erupted from the nostrils of all three dog-faced heads as Lamia snorted, filling the room with a sulfuric stink, mixed with the smell of blood and guts. The two sightless heads thrashed about, sniffing for the boys. One head crashed into another chandelier, sending crystals flying over Theo and Pavel. The glass cut into Theo’s arms as he covered his face.
“Hide in the garden.” Theo ran behind Pavel toward the alcove. Shards on the floor cut into his shoes.
Roaring, one of Lamia’s heads clenched the rest of the chan
delier between her jaws and ripped it from the ceiling. The dog-faced head heaved the crystals to and fro and hurled the chandelier out the window. Tinkling crystals mixed with shattering glass. Creatures hovering outside screeched.
Six blind, bulbous eyes rolled in their sockets while the third yellow eye on Lamia’s center head flashed at Theo.
He readied the silver arrow again, his hands shaking.
The dog heads spewed fire from jaws large enough to swallow an adult whole. The white fangs glistened like diamonds.
“Run!” Theo shoved Pavel into the garden room and sprinted in the opposite direction onto the balcony.
Far below, more Harpies and dragons battled Samodivi and winged deer. Antlers pierced the winged women and tossed them to the ground, where a multitude of hooves trampled them. Green clouds of dragons shrieked as deer sent out bright flashes of light from suns glowing between their antlers. Creatures twisted and clawed through the air as they fell, landing with a crash on the blood-splattered ground.
Where was Diva?
Fire erupted over his head. Theo turned his gaze back to Lamia and aimed the silver arrow at the dragon.
Zima yelled, “Haven’t you killed her yet?”
“Trying,” Theo said. “Cover my back.”
The balcony shuddered as Lamia stomped inside the ballroom, turning around in the cramped space. She swept debris from the floor outside with one swipe of her tail. Her milk-filled bathtub tumbled through the air over Theo, coating him with the residue. His lost his grip on the slippery bow. The silver arrow clattered to the floor along with the bow.
“Hurry, Theo.” Zima thrust his spear into a Harpy and hurled her at green dragons battling the Samodivi.
Lamia mauled the floor, digging deep grooves into the marble. She lowered her center head and thrust it toward Theo. The sharp edges on her horns came inches from his face.
He scuttled backward and slipped in the milky bathwater. Time moved like a slow-motion picture. He waved his arms, trying to get hold of the railing behind him. The slick wood didn’t retain his grasp. He somersaulted over the side. The ground zoomed closer as he sped through the air.
“Help!” Theo screamed.
“My beloved son,” his mother spoke to his mind. “You can help yourself.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Remember what Kosara told you: ‘Use your instinct and your special gift.’ ”
Theo squeezed his eyes shut. “I dropped my bow on the balcony.”
“You have an even greater gift, my son: the combined strength of a Samodiva and a dragon. Concentrate on the power within you.”
Theo slowed his breathing, thinking about how majestic a dragon his father was: glorious scales resistant to attack, sharp claws able to pierce the strongest metal, scorching fire that could purge the land, a massive tail to crush the fiercest foe, and above all else, magnificent wings to soar through the sky.
Pain shot from the bumps beneath his armpits. The lumps grew larger and tore through the seams of his shirt. Red feathers stretched and expanded, spreading along his arms and out past his fingertips.
Theo curled his arms and flapped his powerful wings with smooth movements. His descent slowed. With each thrust, he soared away from certain death and back to the balcony where Zima continued to battle Harpies.
Everyone seemed too busy fighting to have seen the transformation—except Lamia.
The dragon-woman spewed fire at him.
Theo rolled to the side as he tucked in his wings. They disappeared until only the bumps remained. He grabbed his bow and the silver arrow and slipped past Lamia, sliding along the wet floor back into the ballroom.
Lamia bellowed, stomping as she twisted her body to face him again.
A light flickered around the room. Theo followed it with his eyes, like a cat preparing to pounce on sunlight. Pavel held a laser pointer, directing it against Lamia’s face.
“Pavel, don’t be stupid. Hide!”
“No! I doubt I can blind her with this, but I can make it painful.” He turned a knob on the laser pointer, increasing the beam’s intensity.
Lamia roared when the light struck her below her yellow third eye. Scales bubbled and swelled, turning a rusty brown. A sickening stench of burned flesh defiled the room anew. The dragon whirled and lashed out with her tail like a two-edged sword, splintering furniture and gouging walls. The pieces rocketed through the remaining windows.
“Go now!” Theo shouted to Pavel.
“No, I’m staying to help you. You don’t have time to argue. Shoot her!”
Theo wiped the milky wetness of the bathwater from the bow, nocked the silver arrow again, and aimed at Lamia’s eye.
The dragon belched fire from all three maws. Theo and Pavel scattered, flames barely missing their faces.
Pavel aimed the laser once more, hitting Lamia directly in the eye.
Her third eye bleeding, Lamia thrust her center head from side to side, stopping when she faced Theo. A viper ready to strike, she heaved back her neck.
“Now, Theo,” Pavel yelled. “You can do it.”
Theo drew back the string until it was taut. The arrow turned into a silver ray of light, the tip glowing brightly. It pulsed against his fingers as if alive.
His mother spoke to him again. “Remember all Diva taught you. Relax. Concentrate on her eye. Success is yours.”
Only the mesmerizing eye filled his mind. He could do this. Exhaling, Theo let the silver arrow soar. It sped like lightning, a blinding flash across the room. The arrow struck, piercing the yellow, mocking eye.
Lamia thrashed about the room, shrieking an unearthly sound. One by one her heads shriveled and disintegrated into golden dust until only the center head remained. As the arrow bore deeper into her skull, flames burst from within the beast. She staggered and crashed to the marble floor like thunder, filling the room with a powdery, golden haze.
Lamia’s minions scattered for the darkness of the forest.
A black mist flowed from Lamia’s open mouth. Theo stared in horror as it zoomed toward him. No time to run. He covered his nose and mouth with his hand. Rancid vapor soaked through his pores, burning his skin. He screamed. The mist seeped down his throat, blazing a fiery trail to his lungs. Clutching his chest, he fell to the floor.
Chapter 24
In the Morning Light
Theo woke with someone shaking him. “Stop, Mom. I want to sleep.”
“I’m not your mother,” Diva said. “I’m relieved you finally came to. You’ve been unconscious and moaning all night.”
He opened his eyes and sat up with a startled look, surveying the destroyed room. “I forgot where I was. I’m glad you’re okay, too.” Theo leaned closer to hug her, but doubled over, coughing, his throat parched.
“This is from your backpack.” Pavel handed him a water bottle.
Theo drained the tepid liquid. His throat and lungs still burned. “Is Lamia dead?”
“She looks it.” Pavel shuddered. “I didn’t take her pulse.”
“Help me up so I can make sure.”
Leaning on Pavel, he shuffled toward the balcony. Daylight filtered on the destruction and death in the room. Pain in Theo’s throat and lungs made every breath difficult. The Kukeri and Samodivi surrounded the dragon-woman, but parted for him. Lamia’s dragon form had disappeared, and a beautiful young woman with golden hair lay curled on the floor as if sleeping.
Theo kneeled by her and touched her cold face. A spark shot up his fingers, and the pain intensified. He yanked his hand away. Clutching his fingers, he rose and backed away, not wanting to be so close to her, even though she was dead. “She’s not even half dragon anymore.”
Diva tugged him away, her face beaming. “I found my sisters. They’re both alive.”
“That’s great.” Theo gave her a quick hug. “Where are they? And where’s Nia?”
“My sisters went with the Kukeri to free the rest of the prisoners.”
Pavel squeezed T
heo’s shoulder. “Nia’s still a statue.”
“What?” Theo bent forward and held his stomach as a raking cough overtook him. “The spell didn’t break when Lamia died?”
Pavel shook his head.
Theo ran into the garden room. Nia’s horrified gaze at Lamia’s treachery remained etched into her stone face, the same look he had seen in his dream.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Pavel said.
“The living water.” Theo dipped his hand into the fountain. He sprinkled it on Nia, but nothing happened.
“With spells, I think you have to reverse the action,” Diva said.
“Of course, the coal.” Theo rushed into the ballroom, stepped around dead creatures to reach the hearth, and grabbed the red, glowing ember Lamia had sucked Nia’s life-force into. Back in the garden room, he placed the coal on Nia’s forehead.
She remained like stone.
“I’ve come all this way and still lost you.” Theo hugged his sister’s stone body, and a tear dropped onto her hair.
He stepped away when her dark tresses softened to silk. A rosy glow pinked her cheeks and flowed down her throat. Her shoulders moved as if to stretch, and her fingers twitched. As her legs came back to life, Nia sagged, but Theo caught her.
She took a deep breath. “Where am I?”
“In Lamia’s castle.”
Tears flowed from Nia’s eyes. “I’m sorry for the things I did. I can’t believe Lamia hurt me like that.”
“You didn’t have a choice,” he said. “You were under her spell.”
Nia shook her head. “No, I wasn’t. Lamia showed me images from home about how happy everyone was without me. It hurt so bad. I thought no one cared. And ... and she was so loving to me at first.”
“It’s okay.” Theo wasn’t convinced Lamia hadn’t put some kind of spell on his sister. He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re free of her now.”
“She’s gone?” Nia wiped her eyes, then hiccupped. Theo nodded, and Nia hugged him back. “Thank you.”
Theo gently removed her arms. “I have one more thing to do. Baba Yaga helped me. I have to get living water for her.” He turned to Pavel. “Will you bring me my backpack?”
The Unborn Hero of Dragon Village Page 24
