Shelly picked up the other throw pillow and hugged it to her stomach. “Can we eat soon? I’m getting hungry.”
Not yet. Call my sister. I have decided how to counteract Merlin’s plan.
Shelly grabbed the newspaper, wadded it up, and threw it into the fire. “Yo! Elaine!” she shouted. “Morgan wants to talk to you.”
Now prepare for me to take over your voice. I will be gentle.
A petite woman glided into the room, her long, silky gown giving her the appearance of a floating ghost. “Yes, Sister?”
Shelly felt her eyes rolling upward, her mind drawing back into her head, burning like fire, as though someone had grabbed her soul with a pair of tongs, impaled it with a spit, and roasted it in a broiler. Her vision turned cloudy, sort of like looking through glasses with the wrong prescription, or maybe more like watching a play through a fuzzy camera lens. She could still hear her surroundings, echoing as if from a distant valley. A voice erupted from her throat, deeper than her usual tone, but still recognizable as her own.
“Still no ill effect from living on the earth?” Morgan asked, using Shelly’s voice.
“None at all, Sister. As I explained—”
“Yes, yes, yes. I’ve heard it too many times. You never married a Watcher, so you don’t have to cocoon yourself to survive another century. ”
Elaine folded her hands and bowed her head. “How many lives do you have left?”
Morgan frowned and raised a single finger. “I can regenerate only one more time. That’s why I can’t afford to leave this hostiam. I must save my last life for an emergency.” She leaned over the chessboard and slid a black pawn forward. “I finally understand Merlin’s strategy,” she continued, “and I need you to visit Dragons’ Rest to block his next move. Do you know how to enter?”
Elaine nodded, her head still down. “With a dragon’s eye?”
“Yes, but since you are not a dragon, you must not take it off until you are ready to leave that place. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” Elaine tilted her head up, regaining eye contact. “What am I to do there?”
Morgan slid the chessboard’s white king behind its knight. “Young Arthur will try to rescue his father and the other dragons. You must stop him.” She opened the rectangular case on the table and withdrew a dagger. Its gnarled wooden handle and primitive stone blade made it seem old, even prehistoric. She held it up, caressing the rough edge with her finger. “This is perhaps my most valuable treasure, a sublime weapon of stealth and betrayal that leaves its victims no hope. It can kill anything forever, even wraiths like you and me. Cain used it to murder his brother Abel, and Brutus plunged it into the heart of Julius Caesar. Only a direct touch from the word of God himself can reverse its power, and Dragons’ Rest is void of any such influence.”
“But isn’t Merlin orchestrating a sacrifice and resurrection? Wouldn’t we be playing right into his hands?”
Morgan picked up the black queen and raised it in her fingertips. “Sister, you are wise to see this as playing. Merlin and I are at war in a supernatural game of chess, and the stakes are high. He foiled my queen’s gambit in the circles. I did not get the hostiam I desired, and Devin lies trapped in the candlestone. But I have recovered my position on the board. The Watchers are free, and I have advanced my pawn to gain a new hostiam.”
She set the queen down two spaces from the white king. “Now Merlin will launch his final attack, expecting the boy king to follow the trail of the human messiah. But he makes a dangerous move.” She pulled the white bishop next to her queen. “Merlin wishes to play the bard and retell the crucifixion tale. It is a tired, old story that many have rehashed in doggerel verse, but Merlin’s living play is the worst abomination of all.” A painful cackle erupted from Shelly’s throat. “And to top it off,” Morgan added, “Merlin would use the Great Key as the stone of the tomb, rolling it away to present the risen king as he leads forth captives from the other world. What a hopeless romantic!”
“But would it work?” Elaine asked. “Would it set the dragons free?”
“Oh, yes. It would work. . . . If not for this.” Shelly saw the dagger turn in her hands, the hilt now extending toward Elaine. “If Judas had stabbed the Nazarene in the heart with this staurolite blade, perhaps there would have been no resurrection.”
Elaine grasped the hilt, admiring the simple, yet deadly weapon.
“Use it on the boy,” Morgan said. “We’ll give the old bard a funeral dirge he’ll never forget.”
Elaine dipped into a curtsy, a thin smile spreading across her lips. “With pleasure, Sister.”
Shelly felt a laugh erupt from her belly. “You’re still scornful that he spurned Naamah’s advances, aren’t you?”
“And why not?” Elaine asked, spreading her arms to display her perfect figure. “No man ever resisted me before, whether I chose to wear the face of Naamah or not.” She rubbed a wide scar on her wrist. “An eye for an eye, a cut for a cut. I will pay him back for his insult.”
“What form will you take this time?”
“I haven’t decided. Whatever will be the most likely to deceive him.” Elaine spun in a slow circle, and her body transformed into the shape of a young man. “Perhaps a male body this time? I could be a comrade. I could be his Judas Iscariot.”
“That would be an interesting approach, but remember, males are not as easily deceived by other males. Their hearts are made proud and deflated by the fairer of the genders.”
“True.” Elaine turned again, reverting to her original form. “I will seek Lucifer’s counsel and decide the best shape to conjure.”
“Excellent, but before you go, tell Samyaza it’s time to gather our troops.”
“He has already gathered them, six hundred of our father’s angels at our disposal. Samyaza has instructed them where to hide, and they await your command to mobilize.”
“Six hundred warriors and only nine dragons to conquer. Excellent. We will overwhelm them with sheer numbers.”
Light footsteps tapped the floor and faded away. The fire crackled and hissed. A low voice seemed to meld with the dry heat, hanging in the air like a bitter smell, half spoken, half thought. Morgan picked up the black queen and knocked the white bishop over. “Checkmate, Merlin. The end of the dragon race is at hand.”
Shelly felt her brain floating back toward her eyes, as though she were being pulled from the depths of a mineshaft, passing through both icy wind and oppressive heat until her vision cleared and she was back on the sofa. Elaine was gone, and the fire was slowly dying.
Nausea churned Shelly’s stomach. Dizziness spun the world as her head pounded a savage drumbeat. She grabbed the pillow again and hugged it close, too sick and scared to move.
Ashley stole through the woods, using a penlight to guide her way in the darkest parts of the forest. Panting as she scaled a steep rise, she paused at the top to survey her surroundings. The clouds had parted, letting the moon’s glow bleed through the bony treetops. She jerked her head back and forth. Her gaze latched onto a familiar rock formation. That way!
She hustled down the slope, surfing on wet leaves to the bottom. With breathless whispers, she urged her legs up the next rise. “Have to hurry. They’ll notice I’m gone soon.” Finally breaking into a clearing, she found what she was looking for, the airstrip and Merlin II, still guarded by a pair of dragons.
Ashley folded her hands behind her and nonchalantly approached the plane as she caught her breath. “Good evening, dragons. Remember me? Ashley Stalworth?”
Both dragons perked their ears and swung their heads toward her. “I didn’t feel you coming, Miss Stalworth,” one of them said. She let out a rumbling chuckle. “Obviously, you pose no danger to us.”
“Not at all. What are your names?”
“Mine is Legossi,” the dragon replied. She then stretched her neck toward the other dragon. “This is Firedda.”
Ashley laid her hand on the fuselage. “Well, thank you for guarding the plane so well
, but I have to take it now. I’m sure you’ll be able to find Thigocia and the others, right?”
“Yes. I led your professor to the campsite.”
Ashley shifted on her feet. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”
“Be careful in that flying machine,” Legossi said, stretching out her wings. “The wind is still unpredictable.”
“Don’t worry. I will.” Ashley climbed the rear airstair and pulled it closed. Leaning over to avoid bumping her head, she walked up the narrow aisle to the airplane’s cockpit. After seating herself in the pilot’s chair, she paused. Was she stealing? Was saving a life more important than asking permission? She didn’t believe for a minute that the Watchers would spare Marilyn, or Mrs. Foley. The Watchers were liars. As long as they held Pebbles, they had all they needed to get Ashley to do whatever they wanted. Morgan and her monsters drank murder for breakfast. They wouldn’t hesitate to spill as much blood as they could as long as it didn’t interfere with their plans.
Ashley flashed her penlight on a tri-fold startup checklist, hurrying through each step and mumbling their completion. “Okay, cabin doors secure. Check. . . . Brake set. Good. . . . Fuel tank selectors, on. . . . I think I can skip some of these. . . . Fuel quantity. Hmmm. Not great. No idea how long it’ll last.” By the time she finished the list and started the engine, the dragons had taken wing and were nearly out of sight.
“My turn to fly,” she whispered. She taxied the plane to the end of the runway, pressing the steering pedals to maneuver into position. “Okay. Flaps, twenty degrees. Temperature within limits. Brakes released.” She pressed the throttle, her heart thumping like a thousand bongo drums. “Here we go!”
Merlin II raced down the runway, bumping along the uneven surface. Ashley watched the speedometer, waiting for the right moment to adjust the flaps. Then, with a breath-taking lift, the plane launched into the sky.
Ashley leveled the plane, feeling much more confident in her ability to cruise, but anticipation kept her teeth on edge. When would the Watchers come? What would they do? And when Legossi and Firedda showed up at the campsite, would a platoon of dragons rocket into the sky to try to stop her?
Ashley turned Merlin II away from the campsite and accelerated, flying as fast as she dared. She knew the Watchers could catch her, but the dragons probably couldn’t. They might mess up everything. She had to go alone.
Billy angled his watch toward the moonlight. The hour was almost up. He closed Fama Regis and tucked it under his arm. He had read enough. He knew what to do.
After balancing the book on the log, he withdrew Excalibur from its scabbard. The beam exploded from its tip, blasting light throughout the campsite. Humans and dragons alike gazed at him, their eyes wide and shining.
“Everyone gather around,” Billy said.
While the humans made a circle around him and the dragons arced in a second circle behind them, Billy pivoted in place to survey the group. Heat blazed from his toes to his tongue, words spilling out almost unbidden. “Too many obstacles have been set in my path. Too many delays have stolen precious time. I have a mission set before me, and I intend to fulfill it.” He paused, a nagging voice whispering tremors of doubt, but he brushed them aside. “I can’t let Watchers, or witches, or floods, or even Pebbles stand in my way.” He paused again, his throat catching, narrowing, threatening to pitch his voice to soprano. “I . . .” He cleared his throat and swallowed, deepening his tone. “I have to find my father, and I’m only allowed to take one person with me. I will have to leave everyone else under the protection of the dragons, but the book taught me how to give some of you a valuable gift that will help.”
Billy removed the pendant from around his neck, the chain catching for a moment in his tousled hair. “Fama Regis offered this protection for women and girls.” He approached his mother and laid the chain around her neck, allowing the gem’s octagonal frame to rest on her bosom. Her eyes glowed with heavenly pride. He waved Excalibur over her head in a circular motion, completing seven orbits before he pulled it back. An almost imperceptible aura remained, white and sparkling, like a blurry angelic halo. He did the same for Shiloh and Karen, then for Bonnie, waving the sword a few seconds longer over her than over the others.
He backed away and searched the faces in the circle. “Where’s Ashley?”
His mother fingered the pendant lovingly. “She hasn’t come back yet. Neither has Walter.”
Billy checked his watch. Two minutes until their scheduled meeting time. “I’ll cover her before I leave.” He doused the beam and rested the sword on his shoulder. “Anyway, the halo protects females from the Watchers. It’s called the king’s cap; it’s sort of like a spiritual cloak. The book says demons won’t even be able to see a girl who wears one.”
Billy swung around to Professor Hamilton. His old friend and teacher crossed his arms and nodded, his face solemn. Billy walked toward him, a lump growing in his throat again, but this time he couldn’t swallow it away. The professor’s brow wrinkled. His chin quivered.
Billy extended his right hand. “Take my hand, please, Professor Hamilton.”
The professor grasped Billy’s hand, his cold fingers wrapping it up, shaking ever so slightly.
“Do you remember how our friendship started, Professor?”
A wrinkled smile grew wide on his face. “You had to visit the water closet, and I joked about you having too much tea.”
Billy laughed. “Right. A lot has changed since then, hasn’t it?”
“Indeed. You were a boy then.” His grip tightened. “Now you are a man.”
Billy pulled in his lips and bit them hard. He could barely whisper. “Only because of you.” Then he drew back, releasing the professor’s hand and laying Excalibur’s hilt in the old man’s palm. “I can’t use it where I’m going, and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.” He stretched his arms back and slid out of the scabbard belt. “I know I can count on you to use it well,” he said, handing the belt over.
He helped the professor strap the scabbard on, then checked his watch again. “They’re late.” He glanced around the woods. “Where could they have gone?”
Hartanna unfurled her wings. “Dragons approaching! Friendly visitors, but unexpected.”
Thigocia swished her tail. “I sense two. Firedda and Legossi. Why would they leave the airplane?”
The two dragons circled low, then landed gracefully in the clearing, each one glowing in the moonlight.
“Why have you returned?” Thigocia growled. “Legossi! Who told you to leave your post?”
“There is no post,” Legossi replied. “The young lady, Ashley, has flown away in the airplane. There was nothing left to guard.”
“What?” Marilyn screamed. “She couldn’t! She wouldn’t!”
“She would!” Karen countered. “In a heartbeat. You told her she could probably fly the plane.”
“But I was just . . . I meant she . . .” Marilyn clenched her fists. “Oooooh! She probably really could fly it, the little twerp!” She kicked a branch, sending it spinning. “But why would she?”
“The Watchers wanted her,” Karen replied, “not you, so why risk your life?”
Professor Hamilton scanned the skies. “An excellent point, Marilyn. It was a brave and noble act.”
“But where’s Walter?” Carl asked. “I know he was upset, but it’s not like him to stay out of the action.”
Barlow drew a knife from a sheath on his hip. “I volunteer my knights. We will search the woods once again, and—”
“Wait!” Billy shook his head, his eyes closed, trying to make himself heard without yelling. “I can’t have any more delays!” He opened his eyes again. They felt wet and raw. “Walter’s proven he can take care of himself. And I can’t worry about him right now. It’s just another distraction that might keep me from my mission.” He choked up again, his voice barely squeaking. “I have to find my father.”
Sir Patrick clapped Billy on the shoulder. “Exactly. There is not
hing more important. Leave Walter and Ashley to us.” He leaned close to Billy and whispered. “Am I correct in assuming that you will not choose one of the knights as your companion for this quest?”
“You are correct.” Billy whispered back.
Patrick cupped one hand at the side of his mouth and shouted, “Knights and dragons! To the forest! Two dragons stay here for protection.”
The knights dashed away by twos again, and the dragons took to the skies, knocking Fama Regis off the log and scattering leaves as their wings fanned the ground. Billy hustled over and tucked the book under his arm.
“I’m going with the knights!” Carl shouted. He sprinted after Barlow and Fiske.
Sir Patrick massaged Billy’s shoulder. “Whom will you be taking with you?”
Billy, unable to speak, extended his hand toward Bonnie.
Bonnie pointed at herself and mouthed, “Me?”
Billy could only whisper, “Who else?”
“But won’t I be a distraction?”
Billy swallowed again. This time, his voice returned. “Remember when I didn’t want you to fly me over the moat to Avalon because I said I should be carrying you?”
Bonnie nodded, tears glistening in her eyes, her response like a hymn’s refrain. “I told you to be careful what you wish for.”
He extended his hand farther. “I’m being careful, and I’m wishing that you’ll come with me. I learned that day that I can’t do this without you.” The lump started growing again. “Help me find my dad.”
Bonnie dashed to his side, her wings shuddering. “Billy, you lead, and I’ll follow. And if I ever become a distraction, just send me away. I’ll understand.” As her wings settled down, she stopped bouncing. “Where are we going?”
“To the darkest place of all.” He opened Fama Regis and laid the spine over his hands. Standing with his back to his mother, he nodded at the professor. “Prof, I’m going to read a prayer, then I would like you to transluminate us with Excalibur.”
“What?” Marilyn gasped. “No!”
The professor lit up Excalibur’s beam. “This is no time for doubt, Marilyn. We must proceed.”