“It’s worth a try,” she said, shrugging. They hurried to the feed store and pushed through the heavy metal door that hung on one hinge. A rat scurried away from the light. Circe cringed. The room was dark and smelled of rotten grain. Going inside was the last thing Circe wanted to do. Xavier pulled the flashlight from the backpack and led her through the front door.
They made their way past the toppled metal shelves that had once contained buckets and brushes and the assortment of things ranchers needed to care for their animals. Circe covered her nose, protecting it from the dust and the scent of mold. In the back corner of the room, past the cash register, they found a hobbyhorse toppled over on its side. Underneath the hobbyhorse lay a large Western saddle meant for a full-grown man to ride a gigantic steed. Xavier pulled the saddle from the rubble and blew the dust off into the darkness of the room while Circe held the flashlight.
“I think this is exactly what we need,” said Xavier, his boyish grin brightening his face under the flashlight’s glow.
“But how are we going to rig this to fix onto your back?” she asked, her voice muffled behind her hand. The saddle might fit a large horse, but it definitely hadn’t been made for a dragon. “Maybe we should find some ropes or some bungee cords or something to keep me strapped to your back.”
“Agreed. Yesterday, you came close to slipping off my back. Trying to outrun those dragons and keep you safe at the same time makes it difficult to make decisions.” They looked around the store for additional ropes and harnesses, but they didn’t find anything either of them thought would work.
“Maybe what we need is something like climbing gear,” Xavier said, examining a bridle.
“There’s an REI I know of in San Francisco.”
They left the feed store, Xavier carrying the saddle while Circe carried their backpack. Outside, Xavier took his clothes back off while Circe watched appreciatively. She climbed up his leg and onto his back, clinging tightly to his neck.
Xavier clutched the saddle with one claw and took to the sky. In no time at all, they were flying over the Golden Gate Bridge. Having spent a great deal of time in San Francisco while she was in college, she really loved the city. She hadn’t seen it since the war, and the startling change stunned her.
Most of the city’s skyscrapers were bombed––tops blown away, giant craters, and broken windows. It was a war zone. The sight of the once beautiful city filled Circe with anguish. Catching herself, she knew that was exactly what the Anu wanted her to feel.
“I think there was an REI down by the water, south of Market, near the Bay Bridge,” she shouted over the rushing of the wind. Xavier banked left toward the east bay and descended along the freeway headed toward the bridge. He flew low over the streets until Circe recognized the building that had once been the outdoor-supply store.
She’d visited it several times with her friends to get supplies for camping trips she’d taken in college. They landed in front of a three-story redbrick building. But it was far different from the building she remembered from fifteen years ago. Half of the roof had collapsed. Bricks were strewn about on the street. Circe slid from Xavier’s back, examining the building.
It didn’t look like it would even be safe to go inside. She let the backpack slide from her back, relieving herself of the heavy weight. Xavier shifted to human form and stood beside her, pulling his clothing from the backpack. She wondered if he ever got tired of taking his clothes on and off. But she imagined it was a small price to pay for the ability to fly and breathe fire. Once Xavier was dressed, he put his hands on his hips and shook his head.
“Okay, let’s go take a look,” he said with an air of confidence Circe definitely did not feel.
“I don’t know if we should go in there,” she said, gesturing to the building. “Look at it. It could fall in on our heads.”
“Nah, it’s fine. Let’s see what we can find,” he said, moving toward the front door. He grasped the doorknob and pulled the door. It fell forward and crashed on the ground. Circe gave him a knowing look, as if to say “I told you so.” All he did was give her that thousand-watt grin that made her melt every time.
She shrugged and followed him inside, holding the flashlight while he picked his way through. They tiptoed into the wreckage of toppled-over shelves and displays, dusty bikes, and ripped backpacks. Much of the equipment had been looted, but much of it still remained. A metal staircase led to the second floor, where Circe knew the climbing equipment would be. She shined her flashlight on the rickety staircase, wondering if it would hold.
She stepped toward it. They might as well find what they’d come looking for. Xavier took the lead up the stairs, holding her hand with his warm fingers. After testing the first few steps, it was evident that the stairs were sturdy enough. They climbed the rest of the way without much trepidation.
At the top, Circe moved her light across the showroom floor. Racks of clothing, shoes, and equipment were dumped on the ground, mixed together in a chaotic mass. They stepped through the retail carnage until they made it to the back near the climbing wall.
Circe found a harness mixed amongst the wreckage that looked about the right size. She pulled it up over her legs around her waist, testing it for size.
“What do you think? Pretty sexy,” she said, twirling around and holding her palms up. Xavier threw back his head and chuckled a hearty laugh. He looked her straight in the eye.
“Definitely. That thing is giving me ideas. Sexual ideas.” He bobbed his eyebrows.
Circe couldn’t help but giggle at his obvious and bad innuendo. She bit the inside of her lip. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea and giggled again.
“I can see what you mean,” she said.
He gathered her in his arms and kissed her hard, pulling her to him by the straps on the harness. She put her hands on his chest and let him consume her momentarily until she pushed him away.
“There’s too much to do to get distracted right now,” she said with all seriousness.
“You’re right,” he said. “Let’s pack up this harness, some ropes, and some of these clips and cords. I’m sure we can fashion some kind of safety harness with these and the saddle. I want you to be safe the next time we go into a battle.”
They gathered everything and took it all back outside into the sunlight. They worked for several hours, piecing together a safety harness from all the various parts they had gathered.
When they were done, they took a break to eat from ancient cans of baked beans. After eating, Xavier shifted to dragon form. Circe arranged the saddle with the harness attached to his back, strapping it under his belly, around his chest, under his neck. It fit him very much like a saddle but fixed with the safety harness.
She buckled the saddle tightly to Xavier’s body and climbed up, slipping inside the safety harness. She clasped the horn of the saddle and put her legs in the stirrups before giving Xavier a slight nudge with the heels of her feet to let him know that she was ready.
Xavier beat his wings, and they flew above the city and over the bay. Clinging to the saddle horn, Circe held her breath. Xavier twisted and turned in more daring maneuvers than he had ever tried with her before. Her heart pounded as he swooped low over the gray waters of the San Francisco Bay. Moisture clung to her face and dampened her clothes. Xavier’s wings spread wide, gliding over the surface of the water, and Circe screamed with glee.
Taking her by surprise, Xavier shot upward at a ninety-degree angle, beating his wings to charge directly toward the sky. Circe shrieked in terror and delight, but the harness held fast, its rivets and buckles staying firmly in place against the strain.
She had no idea how she could possibly channel her healing energy into his body while hanging on for dear life during such maneuvers. Then he took her off guard again, flipping over and then righting himself in a backflip that took all of a split second to perform. Circe was so stunned by the maneuver that she couldn’t breathe for nearly thirty seconds.
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They floated across the sky and over the water. When Circe finally came back to herself, she slapped his back, her tiny hand ineffective against his thick scales. Xavier twisted his mammoth dragon head toward her, giving her what looked exactly like the dragon version of Xavier’s grin.
She glowered at him and bared her teeth, her angry eyes boring directly into his skull. Xavier looked forward and began scooping up and down in a waving motion. She shouted at him to stop. She was done riding for today if Xavier was going to tease her like this.
She yelled for him to go back to the city. She wanted to put her feet on solid ground. Xavier was definitely overconfident in the harness. His flying was going to make her vomit up the little food that she’d eaten or give her a heart attack.
Xavier gently banked right and flew toward the city, swooping low over the buildings. She felt he was looking for somewhere for her to rest while he went fishing for food. As they crossed into the downtown, Circe gasped in shock.
The horde of zombies, at least a thousand strong, walked in a packed mass down the charred city streets. A tall, gangly zombie master led them toward the Bay Bridge. Circe’s breath caught in her throat, and she narrowed her eyes at the strange alien.
Xavier headed toward them, treading air above the bombed-out skyscrapers. Circe sent him a telepathic message, telling him she wanted to destroy the zombie master and all of the zombies with their green acid fire. She felt a wave of agreement coming through their telepathic connection. She squeezed Xavier’s back with her legs, letting him know that she was ready as she channeled energy into his body with the intention of destruction.
Xavier swooped low over the horde, breathing bellyfuls of fire onto the lumbering mass of undead bodies. The zombies writhed as their bodies burned, the fire bouncing from neighbor to neighbor in the tightly packed group. As they approached the zombie master, Xavier pulled back and took a deep breath, gathering his strength. He sent a blast of green acid fire onto the zombie master. The fire engulfed the alien, but it did not burn.
As Xavier circled around the towering being, Circe stared in stunned shock. The fire dissipated, leaving the zombie master unscathed. Furious, Xavier blew his red dragon fire at the alien. This fire had the same effect. It quickly dissipated without harming the zombie master in the least. It batted them with its long limbs, trying to swipe Xavier out of the air. Luckily, the zombie master was about as quick as the zombies themselves.
Xavier flew away in disgust. The dragon and dragon rider circulated, confused irritation between them as they charged away over the white-capped gray waters of the bay.
Chapter 30
Xavier didn’t stop flying until they made it to the mountains. He had not responded when Circe had spoken to him or used their telepathic connection to try to soothe him. Finally, he found a clearing in the middle of the woods and landed without ceremony in a meadow full of wildflowers.
Circe unstrapped the harness and climbed onto his back before unbuckling the backpack and throwing it on the ground. They had vowed to each other that they were in this together just last night, and here he was again, not speaking to her. He wrapped himself up in his own worries and wouldn’t let her inside. They would never work out how to heal the dragons or kill the zombie masters or ever defeat the Anu if they couldn’t work together.
Circe growled and stomped away, flailing her arms around her. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest as she stared at the ground and muttered to herself, watching her feet pound the grass. She could sense that Xavier had slumped down in dragon form, not bothering to shift or speak to her with a human mouth.
They were both frustrated. They had both failed. They had both been ill and weak. The only way they could overcome any of it was if they did it together. Teamwork and trust were what had enabled them to find the right herbs to cure the metamorphosis illness. Those were the only things that had enabled them to deal with the ravens or find the dryad. So they had had their share of setbacks, but it wasn’t a reason to shut each other out.
Circe could feel Xavier stirring behind her, finally overcoming whatever internal struggle had stifled him for the last two hours. She whirled around on the balls of her feet and stared at him as he shifted and put on his clothes. Her arms clamped against her chest, and she tapped her foot on the hard-packed soil of the meadow. A breeze blew the waist-high grass in waves, bending the blue-and-white flowers that grew at the tips. A bittersweet floral scent wafted on the air.
Circe felt the beauty of her environment sinking into her skin. Watching as Xavier crossed the meadow toward her, her irritation dissipated just enough for her to let him touch her elbow. She looked away, not meeting his eyes.
“Circe,” he started.
She shook her head, still not looking at him. “Last night, you promised me you would never shut me out again, Xavier. We have to stick together. The only reason our magic is not healing the dragons is because we are not integrated enough. We are not connected enough. Do you understand? Every time you shut me out, we’re that much further away from being able to accomplish our goal.”
“I know. I’m a coward, Circe. Weak. You don’t deserve that. Everything you’re saying, I know it’s true. All I can ask is that you forgive me one more time.”
She finally looked up at him. His eyes were wide and searching. The look on his face melted her heart. The task set before them was a tremendous burden on him. “We need to find a way to integrate our powers more. We’ve been flailing around in the dark, constantly making missteps.”
He ran his hands up her shoulders and then pulled her into an embrace. She let him hold her as he breathed on the top of her head. She nuzzled her face against his chest and let out a long breath, trying to blow out all her frustration and pain.
“Xavier, I think we should go to Arizona to visit my sister witches. We are able to perform binding rituals. It may help us integrate and further balance our magic. If nothing else, at least I’ll get to see them again. We can rest for a few days with people who care about us.”
“We could go back to San Diego.”
“I’m not ready to go back to the compound, and I don’t know how that could help us. I think it would just be too much pressure. We haven’t achieved anything yet. And all those people will ask us what we’ve been doing all this time. We have nothing to show for our absence.”
Xavier let out a long sighing breath and said, “You’re right. Let’s go to Arizona. If you believe your sister witches can help us, that’s enough for me. But first, let’s find something to eat.”
Xavier arranged himself and shifted. He flew over the treetops of the forest, beyond the meadow, and disappeared as he drove down. Circe went into the forest, gathering firewood and kindling to roast whatever Xavier might catch. She found miner’s lettuce and wild blueberries and shoved them into a cloth bag. Circe brought everything back to the clearing and set about building a fire on a patch of rocky ground.
She arranged the firewood and kindling then intoned a fire spell, causing a flame to spark in the dry tinder. As the fire consumed the wood, Xavier’s dragon form appeared at the edge of the meadow, holding the limp body of an animal. He approached her, his golden scales glistening in the afternoon sunlight as he dropped a buck on the ground at her feet. He proceeded to butcher the deer, carving out choice bits for them to roast on the fire. Circe constructed a makeshift spit and cooked their food.
They ate roasted venison and drank cleansed water collected from a stream. After they had eaten their fill, Circe reattached the harness, and they were on their way again. They flew over the snowcapped mountains of the Rockies and south until they crossed the Grand Canyon. It appeared as a giant black fissure in the earth. From there, they flew southeast across the red-baked desert, the land Circe had called home for the last ten years. Her heart leapt at the idea of seeing her sister witches again. She had been gone only a few weeks, but she missed them desperately. After the war, the three of them had become a close-knit family.
> When the radiant red mesa along the river finally came into view, Circe felt a warm, tingling sensation overcome her. She could see the stone circle where she and her sisters had performed so many rituals in the past. Homesickness ached in her heart at the idea that she had left them without a third for their triad and without a leader.
Xavier swooped down, descending onto the mesa. Circe slid from his back, looking around expectantly. Two familiar figures climbed the narrow trail that led to the cave along the riverbank. Hecate and Vesta ran to her. Their long black hair glinted in the sunshine, and their skin was as white as chalk.
When they got close to Circe, they stopped in their tracks, surprised at her appearance. They had seen her during her astral travel, but all the witches’ astral bodies looked more similar to the human forms they had before the radiation pulses changed them. Hecate ran her hand along Circe’s arm and cupped her hair as she touched Circe’s chin.
“So it’s true. I didn’t believe it until I saw myself. You really have changed. You look completely human again,” Hecate said, her voice cracking.
Vesta grasped Circe’s other arm, her expression saying it all. Both witches were dumbfounded at Circe’s transformation. But no one was more dumbfounded than Circe had been when it had happened to her.
“Sisters, this is the result of the metamorphosis. I am now in a symbiotic relationship with this dragon shifter. His name is Xavier, and he has become very dear to me. Please welcome him into our fold,” Circe intoned. Introducing her sister witches to Xavier was a little more embarrassing than she had expected. Part of her had to hold back from giggling and jumping up and down about her new boyfriend. But when bringing a dragon shifter into a witch coven, a certain level of ceremony was more appropriate.
The witches turned their attention to Xavier as he pulled on his clothes. Eyes examined him, searching every inch of his masculine body. Circe watched them, seeing the yearning and approval in their eyes. She smiled, crossed her arms over her chest, and raised an eyebrow. She knew exactly what they were thinking.