Clay, Satya, and Cass huddled under the one small overhang that remained amid the castle ruins.
“What do I do?” asked Clay, stricken. “I can’t just let—”
Suddenly, Bluebeard dropped from the air; at the very same time, Ariella reared up, talons flashing. For a moment, they both stood on their hind legs, eyes wild. They looked much like the two bronze dragons standing in the fountain behind them.
Ariella roared, a loud, bellowing roar, and then attacked, swiping Bluebeard’s neck with a long, sharp talon and then sweeping Bluebeard’s legs with the full weight of a twelve-foot-long tail. Bluebeard stumbled but quickly stood up again, spitting with fury. The two dragons bared their teeth at each other, then joined in movements so quick the dragons became a blur. One second they were in the air, flying at each other. The next second they were on the ground, wrestling.
For a while they appeared evenly matched: Ariella’s size and experience versus Bluebeard’s energy and youth. But there was something that Bluebeard had that Ariella lacked: the instinct to kill. When it seemed they might fight forever, Bluebeard let out a roar and sent a fireball bigger than any Clay had ever seen, directly at Ariella’s chest. The older dragon dodged as best it could, but a shoulder and part of a wing caught the full force of the flame.
Ariella staggered backward in pain.
“Ariella!” Clay shouted, panic-stricken. “Are you okay?”
Clay raised DragonSlayer in the air, but before he could even consider using it, Ariella rebuked him.
Stay away! You are never to strike a dragon, even one who would hurt us.
Clay looked back at Satya, but she was looking up, preoccupied with something in the sky. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle.
Suddenly, something was spiraling toward them. Another dragon?
No, too small.
Before anybody could tell what was happening, a certain gray falcon had dive-bombed into the dragon fight and was flying straight for Bluebeard’s eye.
Clay cheered. “Go, Hero!”
Confused and infuriated, Bluebeard thrashed this way and that, trying to bat the falcon away. Undaunted, Hero pecked and pecked at the screaming dragon.
Ariella watched from a safe distance. (A human was not allowed to attack a dragon, but a bird—this, it seemed, Ariella would allow.)
Finally, Hero let out a victorious squawk and flew high into the air, leaving Bluebeard with a bloody mess where a big yellow eye had been. The half-blind dragon continued to spin around in pain, seemingly afraid that the falcon would return at any second.
For one harrowing moment, Bluebeard’s good eye found Clay, and it looked as though the dragon might take out its rage on this easy human target, but Ariella immediately stepped in front of Bluebeard and growled a warning.
Screeching furiously, Bluebeard flew off into the night—like a bitter one-eyed pirate setting out to sea.
We must go.
Ariella lay low on the ground, so the dragon’s human passengers could climb on more easily. Still, Cass winced with pain as Clay and Satya helped her onto Ariella’s back. How was it that something could be so slippery and so spiky at once?
“You need to get her home right away,” said Satya, after Cass was securely in place and they’d jumped down to the ground.
Clay looked back up at Cass, struggling valiantly to sit upright. Beneath the smears of blood, her arm was turning a strange yellowish color. Satya was right. Cass needed medical attention as soon as possible.
“What about you? What about the baby dragons? What about—” Clay gestured helplessly. “I can’t just leave.”
“You have to.”
Before she could respond, Clay was startled by a crackling in his ear: “Clay, are you there?”
“Uh—” It was Leira. The hat was working again.
“Where’ve you been?! Never mind. Guess what—Ariella came back! And we all played charades and drew a map to show where you were, and now—”
“I know. Ariella’s here. Cass, too. But she’s hurt. Make sure Nurse Cora is ready. Sorry, gotta go—”
Clay pulled off his hat and looked at Satya. “Come with us,” he said urgently.
“I can’t.”
“Look around. You can’t stay here.”
As he spoke, Hero returned and landed on Satya’s shoulder.
“See, I’ll be fine. I’ve got Hero. And my dad. Now go. Before Ms. Mauvais sees you.”
“I’m coming back,” said Clay, reluctant to leave her side.
“No, you aren’t.”
“Will you kiss me when I do?” he blurted, then reddened.
Satya laughed, reddening as well. “Sure.”
Clay grinned. “Then I definitely am coming back.”
Feeling much better than he had in a long time, Clay picked up his sword and jumped easily onto the dragon’s back. Well, almost. He wound up with his feet dangling down the dragon’s side. Trying to keep a straight face, Satya gave him a push, and he swung his leg up and over, taking a seat in front of Cass.
He didn’t need to tell Cass to hold on tight. The minute Ariella unfurled those massive wings, flapping up into the sky, Cass’s good hand was digging into Clay’s shoulder.
They lifted up, and instantly the night became quieter and cooler, the stars brighter. Tentatively, Clay stroked Ariella’s back. He was unsure whether the dragon would appreciate, or even notice, his small human hand, but he felt the need to make contact.
When Clay had last seen Ariella, the dragon had recently molted, and its skin was smooth and sleek. In the year since, the scales had become rougher, careworn. Clay could see various lines and scars crisscrossing the dragon’s back. Where did the lines come from? What had Ariella been doing? He wanted to know, but it was not the right time to ask. He was certain that Ms. Mauvais would not let them go so easily. At any second he expected to see Gyorg piloting a helicopter behind them, the chopper’s missiles firing—straight at Ariella’s rear end.
He was right: They were being pursued. But not by a helicopter.
Cass lifted her head. “Oh no—behind us!” she rasped.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
A bright green dragon was streaking through the sky, directly toward them. It was Snowflake, apparently recovered from being hit on the head, and now chasing after them—under Bluebeard’s orders, no doubt.
That dragon—another Lost One? Ariella asked.
“Lost?” repeated Clay nervously.
A dragon who does not follow the ways of a dragon.
“Yes, another Lost One. Sorry.” He hoped Ariella wouldn’t choose this moment to try to school Snowflake in the finer points of proper dragon etiquette.
Very well.
The determined dragon leaned forward, flapping its wings with tremendous force, then holding them tight against its sides, picking up speed. Still, Ariella had been wounded in the fight with Bluebeard, and Snowflake covered the distance between them with shocking velocity.
“Hurry!” Clay urged.
Ariella responded with something that Clay couldn’t totally understand, but he guessed it was probably some dragon form of swearing.*
Breathing heavily, Ariella flew a little faster, but Snowflake kept gaining. By then Snowflake was almost upon them. Smelling victory, the green dragon stretched out its neck and opened its jaws, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. Clay was afraid Snowflake was about to bite down on Ariella’s tail, when he was startled by a sudden crackle, followed by a loud buzzing.
“What’s happening?” asked Cass, roused by the noise.
Just as they came level with the crater’s rim, Snowflake gave a strangled roar and stopped abruptly, swatting at the air. Confused, the dragon fell backward for a second before regaining equilibrium and flying back toward them at double speed—only to stop again, screaming with fury.
“It’s Snowflake’s collar!” Clay yelled. “I think the backup power finally kicked in! Vicente’s calling the dragons back.”
Sure enough, as Ariella soared farther and farther from the Keep, Snowflake spiraled downward until once again trapped inside the dome, like a flying goldfish in a giant bowl.
It looked, at last, like they were safe.
Clay turned around to share the moment with Cass, but her eyes were closed and her head drooping. Alarmed, he put his hand on her good wrist. She still had a pulse; she’d only fallen asleep.