Tala Phoenix and the Dragon's Lair

by Gabby Fawkes

  A muscle twitched in Axel’s face. “While you’re protecting it, who’s going to protect you?”

  “You?” I said.

  Just like that, all expression left his face. “There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

  “Don’t be mad,” I said. “You know this is the right thing to do.”

  “No,” Axel snapped, his worry for me etched into his face. “Not this time. Last time I went along with your save-Olympus plan and it almost got you killed.”

  He turned around, pausing. “I’m not going to condone some shit-odds save-the-world plan again. Not this time. Especially not after what happened with the Romms and the invicto wands.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  In all the craziness of the past few days, I’d completely forgot about the invicto wands. And the fact that after getting them, the Romamagi had shown absolutely no signs of actually using them.

  “Forget it,” Axel snapped, striding away. “Wouldn’t want it to put a damper on your little rescue mission.”

  “What is your problem?” I demanded.

  “You,” Axel said, whirling around. His face was a collection of tensions and strains, his sea ice-blue eyes narrowed. “I’ve always believed in you, but this… it’s too much. Lately, you keep ignoring all the advice you’re given. One of these days it’s going to get you killed.”

  And with that, he strode off. I stood there for a few seconds, utterly speechless. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t seen this coming – after all, Axel had seemed off before. But did he really have to blow up in the middle of the party that was supposed to cheer everyone up?

  I thought he’d been on my side, got how necessary continuing to fight was.

  “Kian has something to show us,” Demi said, nibbling on an almond, her gaze high up. “It’s up there.”

  Clearly, she hadn’t witnessed my fight with Axel, which was a relief. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it yet.

  “Believe me,” Kian said, hooking her arm in mine and leading me toward the winding staircase, “it’s gonna be worth it.”

  Jeremy only bobbed his head, crumbs of brownie falling from the sides of his mouth.

  “Save any for anyone else?” I teased him.

  “Oh, it’s fine,” Demi said gaily. “I put some yummy clove and cinnamon brownies in their place. People won’t even notice the difference!”

  Kian and I exchanged a look, but decided to kindly refrain from commenting. While Demi helping Persephone cook and bake usually worked out, the few times I’d eaten her solo ‘creations’, they were… barely edible, to say the least.

  As we ascended the staircase, I took an envious glance down at the party, the excitement fading from view. “Exactly how high are we climbing?”

  “We haven’t actually been up there, but Kian swears it’s kick-ass,” Demi admitted.

  “Well,” I said, “If anyone wants to, say, jump on my dragon back and just fly up there, I’m all for it.”

  “Eh,” Kian said, clearly unconvinced as she applied a new layer of lipstick. “We want to get there in a few minutes, not in a few hours.”

  “I wouldn’t take a few hours…” I protested.

  “I still haven’t forgotten what happened the last time you shifted,” Demi scolded me. “How your dragon form evaded changing back.”

  His cheeks chipmunk-full, Jeremy vigorously bobbed his head in approval.

  “Do you guys know what happened with the Romamagi and their invicto wands?” I asked my friends.

  “No, why?” Demi asked.

  “Now that you mention it,” Kian said, frowning, “yeah… They were all slavering to get them, and then once they did… Nada.”

  “I’ve just been thinking about how we’re going to get Cody and the others back,” Jeremy confessed. “If we can’t get the Romamagi to tell us anything, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fresh out of ideas.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got nothing,” I confessed.

  Kian and Demi said nothing, but I could read their expressions easily enough. If there was anybody left to get back. We’d seen some of the horrific results of the lab experiments with our own eyes. Some of them had looked so far from human that… I shivered.

  “We’re almost there, cool your jets, mis amigos,” Kian said.

  I watched her lips move, considering the bright pink shade for a moment before she caught me staring.

  “It’s called Pink Pigeon, in case you were wondering. An oldie, but a goodie.”

  “Never seen you wear it before,” I said.

  “Guess I was saving it for a special occasion,” Kian said.

  By now, we’d reached the staircase landing. Even at this height, we were nowhere close to the God-know-how-high stronghold’s ceiling. As far as I knew, no one had actually reached it; even Timmy had gotten tired trying to fly there.

  Below us, our friends and the other kids were nearly indistinguishable specks. Even the enormous willow tree seemed a teeny green speck.

  “Okay,” I said, “we’re here, so…”

  “Look,” Kian said, pointing.

  Visually following her point, I shook my head. “No, no way. Nope. That is not a good idea.”

  Kian frowned. “Why not? I’ve been practicing all morning! As soon as I figured out I had to say Ploolooeem, as well as pulse my hands, it was a cinch.”

  “And you learned this from Linnie?” I asked.

  “Who is a super-powerful witch, thank you very much!”

  I stared balefully at the four floating chairs in front of us.

  “Tal may have a point,” Demi said uneasily. Although, under Kian’s glare, she sighed.

  “I’m sure they’re safe?”

  As Kian’s expectant glare burned into her, like a prisoner to the guillotine, Demi dutifully marched across the landing and tentatively pressed two fingers against the farthest chair.

  “Seems safe,” she said in a weak voice, as she clambered on.

  Seconds later, she let go of the platform, her cheeks so red and breathing so deep it looked like she was having a heart attack. “See? Perfectly safe.”

  “Going for witch of the year?” I asked Kian with a smirk.

  “Just get on,” Kian said, giving me a light push.

  I rolled my eyes and walked out onto the landing, grudgingly getting onto the chair beside Demi. Once I was on, my arm firmly linked with Demi’s and my feet dangling, I had to admit – it was actually kind of fun. Plus, if the worst came to the worst, I could hopefully just shift into a dragon and save everyone’s asses.

  As we sat there, we were close enough to still see the party, but far enough away that we, literally, felt above it. We could still hear the odd happy squeal and peal of laughter amidst Alt J’s blaring bass.

  “Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Kian said, unwrapping something noisy.

  I ogled the giant Mint Aero bar. “What the…? You been saving that for a special occasion?”

  “I don’t know,” Kian admitted. “I guess. It was small, but I wanted more, so…”

  She broke off one square, a piece nearly the size of a deck of cards, and passed it to Demi. Breaking more pieces off, Kian handed one to Jeremy and another to me.

  Once we all had one, we gently tapped them together, toasting them.

  “Here’s to not dying,” Kian said.

  “And to willow trees!” Demi added.

  “And to brownies,” Jeremy said, still cradling the platter, half finished, in his other arm.

  “And to friends,” I concluded with a smile.

  The song was at its strumming peak, and, as we bit down, in that single moment, it seemed like everyone-everything was connected. My friends and I, our arms linked, were swaying from side to side, in time with the tune. Even Maurice, who had migrated into Jeremy’s pocket at some point, was now squeaking happily.

  The creamy mint chocolate melted onto my tongue– good mother of all that is holy! my PV hissed delightedly– and my friends and I swa
yed and swayed, and, for just one perfect moment, no matter all the challenges that stood before us – defeating the DSA, closing Pandora’s Box, even getting back with Axel – none of it mattered, and everything was as it should be.