CHAPTER 27
Secrets
George was sitting high atop the World Trade Center tower scying for the Witch when he noticed that Henry Cross had turned over his coffee cup, signaling that he had information. The hand-written note next to the cap explained that there was an air flight due to arrive soon at Kennedy Airport in New York which hours earlier had deviated from its designated altitude and declared a flight emergency before abruptly ceasing all radio contact. The FBI had already dispatched agents to meet the plane at Kennedy.
The note also said that Henry had regained influence with the President and was already enroot to New York City. George was to scry for him if he wanted any assistance from the Government.
Scrying towards the broad Atlantic, George could detect several aircraft moving towards New York City, but only one carried a gigantic roc. He scryed closer and found only Evil-tinged death aboard the aircraft, except for the terrified pilot. Concentrated elsewhere on the plane was a patch of Evil so powerful that he could not distinguish its form. Obviously it was the Witch! He tried to alert Freedom but the dragon was questing many light years away in search of energy on which to feed.
"HELLO, YOUNG CHOSEN ONE," said Witch Greble. "I DETECT YOUR CLUMSY SCRYING. WHERE IS YOUR DRAGON?"
"HERE WITH YOU VERY SOON," George replied.
"YOU LIE. I NO LONGER SENSE THE WHITE DRAGON ON EARTH; LIKELY IT SEEKS A STAR OR TWO FOR ENERGY? GOOD. I HUNGER GREATLY!"
"I CAN'T LET YOU ENTER THE CITY," said George.
"YOU CAN'T STOP ME," Greble replied. Instead of landing at Kennedy she would have Cathy fly the 747 into a large New York building, she decided. That would provide a nice diversion. Meanwhile her roc could fly her into the heart of the City where she could kill more humans than ever! She walked from the first class cabin to the flight deck to give Cathy her new orders, only to find that her pilot was done! Reaching out to sense her, she discovered that Cathy wasn't anywhere on the plane!
"I TELEPORTED HER AWAY AS SOON AS I COULD," George informed the Witch. He wanted her focused on him, not on the lives of the eighteen-million people of the New York City metropolitan area.
The airplane itself was turning and losing altitude, Greble then noticed. The blasted Chosen had mucked with the autopilot! She quickly discovered that the mechanism was damaged and the airplane was spiraling itself down to a watery ocean grave! She couldn't fix it; she knew nothing of such mechanisms. She was the only one remaining alive on the aircraft and she had no piloting skills whatsoever. She would of course survive the crash but it would be painful and very inconvenient. It was time to leave the airplane.
She went back to first class, punched the severed head from the overhead fuselage hole, and stretching her form through the bloody hole, climbed outside to where the roc waited for her. She would fly the winged elemental to the Chosen One and destroy him!
For just a moment reason-driven doubt crossed her mind. How could a mere Narma witch hope to destroy a dragon or a Dragon's Chosen? But again her Talisman reassured her. With the Evil Talisman she was invincible!