Together we hurried across the stones to the hidden entrance. The wall looked like any other part of the pool room, but little bits of plaster lay on the floor and some chunks of the stuff hung loose off the wall. I slammed the bottom of my fist against the wall and watched as an avalanche of plaster fell to reveal a wooden door.
“Allow me,” Xander insisted as he slipped out of my arm.
He grabbed the edges of the door, gritted his teeth, and yanked backward. The ancient door fell away and revealed a long, roughly-cut passage. He tossed the door to the side as the dragon behind us roared again.
I looked over my shoulder and watched the beast climb out of the pool. It opened its tall mouth and in the depths of its throat I glimpsed the makings of a huge fireball. Xander swept me into his arms and carried me over the threshold of the secret exit. I had a great view as the dragon spit out its flaming ball of fury. The ball struck the ground ten feet behind us and melted the stone. The heat scorched my cheeks and forced me to look away.
The exit was a tunnel lined with bricks and cobwebs. The air was musty and with each pounding step Xander stirred up a small poof of dust. The walls shook as the dragon screamed its fury.
A loud crashing noise forced me to look back. The dragon was pushing its way into the tunnel, causing every loose brick around us to fall to the ground. Its girth prevented it from causing a complete collapse of the tunnel as it wiggled its way down the tunnel after us. Xander ducked and dodged the debris, losing ground as the dragon closed the gap.
The passage wound its way through the mountain for fifty yards when the musty air changed to damp. Puddles formed at our feet and the bricks fell away to reveal the moldy surface of the tunnel. A faint light appeared at the end of the path. The dragon was now only twenty feet behind us and closing.
The next moment we leapt through a mess of thick trees and vines and stumbled out on the upper side of the barracks hill. A hundred feet above us stood the imposing building, and below us lay the steamy jungle that hid the forgotten city.
We had only a few seconds to admire the view before the dragon burst from the tunnel, throwing rocks everywhere. The rubble pelted Xander’s wings and forced him to land fifty yards down the hill. Xander set me down and pulled me behind him as he faced the beast. The creature stood and cast its shadow over us. Saliva dripped from its mouth and hit the ground with a sizzle. The claws dug deep into the earth.
We took a step back, but froze when the beast curled its lips back and growled. Those hideous eyes were focused only on us.
“Run,” Xander whispered to me.
I glared at him. “Not on your life.”
“Miriam, please-” The dragon swooped down and opened its gaping mouth. Xander shoved me out of its path and braced his legs against the ground as he threw up his hands.
The dragon’s teeth were two feet from Xander when a dark cloud swarmed over its face. The creature drew its head back and stumbled backwards, but the cloud followed it. I climbed to my feet and squinted my eyes at the small attackers. They resembled paper bats.
“Not a bad shot, was it?” a voice spoke up.
Xander and I whipped our heads to our right. Out of the brush stepped Tillit. In one hand was his tube cannon. He shouldered the weapon and grinned at us. “You guys are always so easy to find. I just have to find the most trouble and-” he paused and swept his eyes up and down Xander. He chuckled as he drew off his long coat and threw it at our dragon lord. “My Lord, I do believe you’re birthright is showing.”
Xander was just putting the coat on when the mutant dragon screamed and clawed at its face. The creature turned away from us and its tail flew at us. Xander swept me off my feet and leapt over the tail as it drew it back and slammed the ground. We ran past Tillit who yelped as the dragon fired off a random ball of flame that hit the ground near him. He fired off another shot from his tube before he rushed after us.
“I hope you have a plan after my shots are out!” Tillit shouted.
I glanced over Xander’s shoulder at our giant foe. The mutant dragon opened its mouth and out of its jaw erupted a huge stream of fire. The paper vampires were caught in the flames and exploded into tiny bits of cinder. The dragon raced through their remains and followed us down the hill.
“I hope that thing can’t-” It opened its wings and leapt into the air, making itself airborne and cutting the distance between us in half. My face fell. “-fly. . .”
It flew past us and landed with a crash thirty feet down the trail. Xander and Tillit skidded to a stop as the dragon bent down and snarled at us. Its face was married with dozens of cuts that left a trail of sludgy black blood on the ground. The creature opened its mouth and showed off the fireball developing in the back of its long throat.
Xander rushed forward and grabbed the top jaw. He slammed it down into the lower jaw and wrapped his arms around both of them, sealing the fireball. The dragon raised its head and flailed around to try to shake Xander loose. He swung around like a rag doll, but kept his hold on the jaws.
I whipped my head to Tillit. “Can you hit it with Xander there?”
He pursed his lips and shook his head. “No chance, and even if I could they’d be burned to nothing again.”
My eyebrows crashed down as I swept my eyes over the area. It was then I saw we stood in the old square. There was the vine curtain through which Thatch had led us. In the center of the clearing stood the remains of the fountain.
My eyes widened. The fountain. I rushed forward and grabbed the tall side to lean over the pool. A shallow bit of water, gathered from rain and the humid air, covered the bottom.
I leaned back and looked at my hands. “Come on. I need you,” I whispered. Nothing happened. I frowned and shook them. “I need to save him!”
They lit up like a newly revived string of Christmas lights, if the string only had blue bulbs. I stretched out one glowing hand and held the palm toward the water. The surface bubbled and foamed, and from the froth rose two long, lanky water dragons. Their bodies were smooth and shimmering, and no thicker than my arm but more agile than a fish. Their heads were more pointed than the thick dragon skulls, and their eyes were glowing white orbs.
They curled around each other and paused ten feet above me where they looked down with their unblinking bright eyes. I stretched out my hand and they lowered their heads so I could pet their wet surfaces. “I need your help,” I whispered.
“Hold on, My Lord!” Tillit shouted.
I spun around to see Xander still with his hold on the jaws, but with his body slipping over the slippery scales of the creature. The mad dragon reached up a claw and tried to pry him loose. He kicked at it with his feet and the dragon was forced to drop his claw to maintain balance.
I rushed toward the dragon and cupped my hands over my mouth. “Get out of the way!” I shouted. Xander glanced over his shoulder at me. I pointed at the dragons. “Get out of the way!”
Xander leapt out of the way. The dragon opened its mouth and deep in its throat I could see the charge of its fire breath. My slippery serpents rose from the fountain and rushed into the mouth of the mutant. Their wet bodies doused the walls and tongue before they dove into the back. The dragon’s fire breath blasted from deep inside its throat and hit my little dragons. Steam burst out of its mouth and a few stray fireballs shot off in all directions.
Tillit and I hit the ground, me on my side and he on his stomach. Xander slid beside me and covered me with his body as we were doused with a hot fog. The monster emerged from its own billowing mist and opened its jaws. The creature’s aim was off as it missed us by a body length and staggered to its left away from us. Red spots appeared all over its body like harsh rashes. They grew darker and darker until columns of flames burst through its flesh and high into the air.
We climbed to our feet and Tillit glanced at me. “What did you put in those dragons?”
I shook my head and blinked at the sight. “I thought just water.”
“I do not believe this is any of your doing,” Xander spoke up.
We stepped back away from the hot fire and watched the dragon writhe in agony. It let out a weak cry and tumbled chin-first to the ground. The fire spread across its body and in a minute its body was a mess of charcoal.
My wide eyes turned up to look at Xander’s tense face. “That. . .that could’ve been you,” I whispered.
He nodded without looking away from the remains of the creature. “Yes. I believe that is what Drake intended.”
“So much for a great power,” Tillit quipped. He turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of power, where’d you learn to use water without touching it?”
“From the school of hard knocks,” I quipped as I glanced over my shoulder.
“That must have been a long session,” he commented.
Xander looked up at the sky with its waning sun and frowned. “We must finish this before the day is out, or we may not have another chance.”
“One moment, My Lord,” Tillit spoke up as he tucked the tube into his satchel and pulled out a long, smooth object: Bucephalus. He held out the sword to Xander. “I’m glad you kept your promise.”
Xander took the weapon and smiled. “So am I, but I fear Bucephalus may be no match for these beasts.”
Tillit studied the monster for a moment and shrugged. “I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with those Red Dragons getting big and flying over the sea to-” He frowned as his eyes fell on Xander. “I know that look, My Lord, and I don’t like it.”
Xander’s gaze remained on the dead beast. “Before Drake ordered us pushed into the pool he stated that I would be the first of many.”
I pointed at the large, burning corpse. “Yeah, but if they’re going to last that long he’s going to need to bring a pool to the continent, and he’s going to have to find another one because I pretty much drained that one.”
“Or perhaps he has found a way to neutralize the adverse affects and has hidden away some of the stock,” Xander countered.
Tillit snapped his fingers. “Philippus! He knows more than a thing or two about healing potions. I’d bet my last drachma he might have figured something out for his insane lord.”
Movement caught my attention. I looked up at the sky and my eyes widened before I pointed up at the barracks. “Speaking of minions, we have a problem.”
The men followed my movement and glimpsed the dozen overgrown weards that flew from the windows of the stone building. They flew down the hill toward us with swords in their hands and killer intent in their eyes.
Xander opened his mouth and pointed down the hill. “R-”
“Run this way!” Tillit ordered us as he rushed headfirst into the brush. Xander and I glanced at each other. Tillit paused a few feet into the thick jungle and looked over his shoulder with a frown. “Give Tillit a little more credit.”
We shrugged and rushed in after him.