Socket pushed Edgar onto the platform and held him against
the rail as the platform began to rise. Just as Edgar was about
to rise all the way out of the room he saw Red Eye standing
against a far wall, turning some sort of dial.
Red Eye had opened the door to the passageway of lies and
gone to find Commander Judix.
CHAPTER 16THE CENTURION
"Keep running!" cried Samuel. "Whatever it is has caught our
scent and it's following us!"
Isabel had already loaded a sling and was ready to face the
oncoming enemy when she felt something warm at her back.
"It's getting hot in here!" yelled Samuel.
"Run faster!"
Glancing back, Isabel saw a growing tower of red fire shot
through with spiraling black smoke.
"This is worse than the Inferno!" said Isabel. "We're about to be
set on fire!"
The extra light from the flames gave Samuel a chance to see
his surroundings a little better. Whatever was behind them
would soon catch up. Their only hope was if the tunnel
narrowed far enough so whatever it was could no longer
advance, or if they could find -"There!" said Samuel, pointing to a small opening in one wall.
Isabel saw it, too, and they both scrambled inside.
The sound of crashing feet and a snapping tail was practically
on top of them and a new bolt of flames came shooting through
the tunnel. Isabel burrowed deeper into the hole and Samuel
fol owed, crunching his shoulder into her side and knocking her
flat on the ground.
It was dark inside and they quickly discovered that the space
they'd entered turned downward and opened up. When they
stood, the opening was at eye level and they each looked out
as flames drove past their line of sight.
And then, as quickly as they had arrived, the flames and the
sounds of pounding feet and a snapping tail were gone. All was
dark. Samuel sat down and pulled Isabel to the ground next to
him.
"Should I take out the pen?" whispered Samuel. He'd put it in
his pocket to hide the light, but now he wondered if it wouldn't
be a good idea to look around.
"No!" whispered Isabel. "Just be quiet and let this thing pass so
we can get out of here."
Outside the hole the tunnel glowed softly from seeping points of
light hidden from their view. An enormous clawed foot stepped
in front of the hole. The creature was tracking them, searching
out the passageway.
Isabel felt Samuel touch her shoulder and shrugged away his
cold hand. She listened as the monster outside crept down the
descending tunnel and sniffed the air.
Samuel touched her again--his hands were so cold--and this
time she brushed him away, but soon felt his hand on her other
shoulder and then on her head.
"Stop touching me, Isabel!" Samuel whispered. "You're scaring
me."
"I'm not touching you," Isabel replied, shivering as she realized
something truly terrible: Something was in the hidden space
with them.
She could barely breathe. Isabel watched as Samuel took the
pen from his pocket and blue light escaped. Like a nightmare
growing in intensity, they began to understand what had
happened. They were the intruders in someone else's quiet
home.
Along the walls they could now see dark spheres entangled
with long tentacles, glowing slick in the light of the firebugs. The
many twisting arms pulsating along the floor were moving
toward Samuel and Isabel, surrounding them, touching them.
What had they found?
The long arms ensnared their legs and arms and wrapped
around their necks, squeezing and pulling in every direction.
There was no doubt--the creatures wanted to destroy them.
Samuel could feel the tablet being pulled away by one of the
tentacles and lunged toward it, striking a twisting arm with the
burning tip of the firebug pen. It burned a deep wound in the
tentacle and the creature's grip loosened. He kept stabbing at
the arms even as they crushed him.
"Samuel!" cried Isabel. She had forgotten about the larger
monster outside as her neck and middle were squeezed tighter
and tighter. Just about the time Isabel thought she was going to
lose consciousness, she heard a terrible noise.
Whatever was outside had heard her scream Samuel's name. It
was coming back. And before either of them realized what was
happening, a monstrous black claw wrapped around them both
at once and jerked them out of the hole.
Isabel and Samuel now saw the first creature that had been
chasing them. It was covered in blue scales and had curved,
piercing eyes. Black spikes ran all the way down the neck and
over the powerful back, and the beast's crowning glory was a
swordlike spike protruding from the bridge of its nose. Samuel
and Isabel looked at each other, both of them sure it would be
the last time.
Samuel saw the roiling slick tentacles around Isabel and the
bodies of the creatures hanging heavy at her side. They
appeared to have no eyes or nose, only the round pulsing body
and the arms squeezing tighter and tighter around the two
intruders.
Isabel screamed as the beast lunged forward, sure its great
spike would punch right through her chest and out her back,
splitting her in two. But Isabel felt nothing. She opened her eyes
and saw the spike had gone right through the bodies of both
creatures, slashing them into pieces until only a strong smell
remained.
The huge beast sniffed them both--first Isabel and then
Samuel--then its tongue darted out and touched Isabel's hand.
"He smells like burned figs," said Isabel, in a state of stupefied
shock at the thought of being cooked and eaten. She was sure
this thing was tasting her skin in order to decide whether or not
to flame broil her.
"It's the Centurion," said Samuel, quite suddenly aware of what
he was looking at. "It didn't occur to me until I saw the black
horn on its head. It's not going to eat us, Isabel!"
"Of course it's going to eat us!"
"No--no, it's really not, are you, Centurion?"
The dragon pulled its head back ever so slightly. Its beautiful
black teeth were slick and shiny, perfectly shaped and powerful
beyond imagining.
"Could you put us down?" Samuel requested gently.
Amazingly, the Centurion set its bundle on the ground and
released its claw. To Isabel's great plea sure the Centurion sat
down and looked at them, tiny puffs of black smoke curling out
of its nose.
"It looks... I don't know... happy or something," remarked Isabel.
She rubbed her arms, her neck, her stomach. "What is this
thing, Samuel?"
"Look here," he said, holding out the tablet and looking at the
inside. He'd barely had a chance to start examining it before fire
had started filling the tunnel behind them. "You see, it's a
Centurion. Or maybe it's the Centurion. I don't know if there are
any others
."
The tablet had an etched figure of a spiked head encircled by
words written in flames: Gossamer. The Centurion made by my
hand to protect. A dragon of the most excellent kind.
"Strange name for a creature like this," said Samuel.
Isabel didn't understand the words "gossamer" or "dragon," but
she liked the sound of Gossamer right away.
"What does it mean?" she asked.
"Well, I think it means delicate or soft, but this thing is anything
but."
"Dr. Harding never does anything without a purpose. Maybe
he's softer than he looks."
"He?" said Samuel.
"Yes, he," said Isabel. She crept forward with an outstretched
hand and Gossamer leaned in close to her. He would not let
Isabel touch the black horn, but he did let her touch the scales
of his long nose.
"There's something magical about this beast," said Isabel,
completely swept away by Gossamer's power and warmth.
"He's much softer than he looks."
"Well, there you have it," said Samuel. He wasn't as sure as
Isabel about touching a dragon. One swipe of the tail or flick of
the head and Samuel would be cut in half. He searched the
tablet for more about Gossamer and found a block of small
words in one corner.
"Listen to this, Isabel," said Samuel. "'Imagined in my youth at
the place called the Silo, where all grown persons but Hope
were cruel. Forged by my hand in the secret realm of Atherton,
this beast is made to love children but distrust all others. It is
powerful and purposeful beyond all measure. A child must
guide it homeward.'"
Isabel was overwhelmed by the grandeur of this beautiful
creature in their midst. "He's on our side," she said, her voice
lyrical with wonder. "Who can be against us with a thing like
this on our side?"
Gossamer's stomach made a noise neither Isabel nor Samuel
understood and Isabel stepped back, momentarily unsure of
what was coming next. The dragon reached forward, gently
nudging Isabel to the side, and put its claw inside the hole from
which he'd rescued them. He did it in a familiar sort of way, like
he'd done it many times before. When his claw came out he
held one of the horrible things that had tried to kill Isabel and
Samuel.
"What's he doing?" said Isabel.
"I don't have any idea, but I think I know what that is," said
Samuel. He had found an image he'd originally thought was a
sun on the tablet. It was round in the middle and it had wavy
lines on every side. Drawn inside the circle was a word.
"Pythid," said Samuel. "It's called a Pythid, I think."
The Pythid squirmed in Gossamer's claw, wrapping its long
tentacles around scaly fingers. Gossamer held the squirming
glob away from Isabel and Samuel, dropped it, and proceeded
to blow a stream of fire. The Pythid burst into flames and tried to
scurry away, but Gossamer grabbed it by one arm and let it
dangle in the air. He blew fire once more, toasting the skin on
the Pythid until it was crispy black.
"Wow," said Isabel. "We're real y lucky he likes us."
Gossamer set the Pythid down and took one of the crusted
tentacles between two of its claws, ripping it from the round
body.
"Yuck," said Isabel.
The dragon held the dripping arm in front of Samuel and Isabel,
again with an expression that could only be assumed was a
smile of some sort.
"I think he wants us to eat it," said Samuel. Gossamer turned
back to the burned pile of Pythid and picked up the remains
with his other front claw. He leaned his head back, dropped the
whole thing into his mouth, and swallowed it without chewing.
"Maybe it tastes like rabbit," said Isabel. "At least it's cooked."
She reached out and took the crispy tentacle from Gossamer,
and the dragon seemed to encourage her to take a bite. It was
about the size of her own arm and appeared to be boneless.
The end where it had been severed was steaming and bubbly.
Isabel shrugged. Gossamer had saved her. If he wanted Isabel
to eat, then Isabel would eat. It was crunchy on the outside, soft
and squishy on the inside, and surprisingly tasty. After some
persuading, Samuel grabbed the other end and soon the two of
them were holding a cooked Pythid tentacle between them,
munching away happily in the presence of the most powerful
creature on Atherton.
"I think we're going to be all right," said Isabel. "Let's take
another look at that map."
"Look here," said Samuel. He'd been scanning the inside of the
tablet and pointed to a set of words and symbols and numbers.
He read the words aloud.
"'Lead Gossamer to the chill of winter, where all my work comes
to an end.'"
Gossamer cooked and ate nine more Pythids while Samuel and
Isabel thought about what the tablet said. Now and then the
dragon marched down one of the tunnels looking for danger,
and each time he came back with a squirming Pythid between
his claws. Apparently, there was plenty of dragon food along
the way.
"Are you ready to walk the yards?" Isabel asked at length.
Samuel nodded. They had named the great and winding tunnel
"the way of the yards" because of the combination that had
gotten them through the yellow door.
With a very impressive new companion leading the way, it
would take trouble of an even bigger kind for the two children to
worry any longer. Unfortunately, that was just the kind of trouble
awaiting them at the end of the long and dreary path on which
they traveled.
CHAPTER 17L-I-F-T-B-5
Red Eye waited in silence for two hours, wondering why he'd
bothered to come in the first place. Two hours! The barracks
would soon be shutting down for the night. He was hungry,
thirsty, and tired of staring out the window into the gathering
darkness of the forsaken wood. And they kept the lights so
bright in Station Seven he had to keep his goggles on. Now the
goggles itched his eyes and his head and he desperately
wanted to take them off. Why had he requested a meeting with
Commander Judix? If only he'd called instead.
"What can I do for you?" asked Commander Judix. She had
rolled silently into the room and Red Eye leaped back in fright,
touching the window. His hand was greasy and it left a smear.
"Don't touch the glass," snapped Commander Judix. "You know
how I hate that."
She watched in disgust as Red Eye tried hopelessly to remove
the smudge on the glass and only made it worse with his dirty
sleeve.
"Leave it, you imbecile!" said Commander Judix, rolling toward
Red Eye without a thought of slowing down so he could move
out of the way. "I hope you run the Silo with a little more care."
Smudged glass wasn't the only thing Commander Judix hated.
She loathed having to deal with Red Eye or his snarly younger
brother in person. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time
she'd actually see
n either one of them up close.
Red Eye embodied every thing she hated about the Dark
Planet. The sick eyes set deep in their sockets, those revolting
goggles, and skin so unnaturally pale. At least Red Eye didn't
have that cackling laugh. How she hated it when Socket would
screech in his unbearable way.
"The new recruit, Commander, he'll be ready with the other
one," said Red Eye, so nervous he could hardly spit the words
out. But he had so wanted to play the hero just this once, and to
do it in person. He had even allowed himself to imagine there
might be a reward.
"How old is he?" Commander Judix stared aimlessly at the
forsaken wood through the giant window pane.
"4311," said Red Eye. It was the second time he'd said the
number and he couldn't for the life of him imagine why he'd
come up with the random digits to begin with. Why hadn't he
chosen something closer to 4200?
"That's a little older than Grammel likes them. Is he edgy like
you? Does he cackle?"
"No, ma'am, there's none of that with this one. He's not in the
least bit nervous. He's an odd one, healthier than we've seen in
a long time. But he's been trouble-free and hardly says a word."
"You could learn a thing or two from someone like that,"
Commander Judix said.
Red Eye thought of how Edgar was getting the beating of his
life in the machine room, and this made him feel a little better in
the presence of the commander's cruelty.
Commander Judix had already heard how healthy this new
recruit was once before, and something told her it was a
meaningful piece of information. But her heart and her mind
were so bitter and determined, she couldn't quite get at it.
"Does he have a name?" asked Commander Judix, thinking it
might jog something in her memory.
"I don't know," said Red Eye. He thought he might make up a
name but had some concern that he'd soon forget it and be
caught in a lie. He was having enough trouble remembering
4311 without adding more details to remember.
"Find out and tell Shelton," said Commander Judix. "I'll ask him
in the morning and I want an answer. Do you understand?"
"I do," said Red Eye, nervously tapping the metal sole of his
boot on the floor.
"You're sure about the number? It won't do for Grammel to get a
different reading when he arrives."
"One boy of 4200 and one of 4311, both ready to work. That's