CHAPTER 44
Ask
There it is!” Bupe shouted. “The signal!”
Bupe, sitting in the top of a tree, saw three bursts of flame come from the tiny remnant of the skypod. She scrambled down and raced to Ivy and Finn, shouting all the while. “The signal! The signal! They are coming!”
Ivy jumped to her feet, her heart racing. Finn looked at her. She gave him a shaky smile.
“It’s time.” Finn nodded.
“Prince Warriors!” Ivy shouted, pulling her seed-shield from her pocket. “Assemble!”
“What’s going on?” Mary Stanton, the only one who had actually fallen asleep, sat up and looked around blearily.
“Come on, Miss Stanton,” Ivy said. “Get up. It’s time.”
“Time for what?”
The forest burst with commotion as the Warriors jumped up, putting on helmets and heading for the battle zone. As they emerged from the woods into the open area, bright flashes erupted from the dark cloud that hovered around the summit.
“Fireballs!” Ivy shouted. She threw up her shield. The other Warriors did the same. They hurried to get into position, forming a single, unbroken line.
All around them the fiery balls of lava began to fall. The Warriors pressed themselves closer together so their individual shields formed one large covering, a sparkling net of red seeds over all of them. Fireballs of lava fell all around them, creating smoking craters in the snow. There was so much steam it was difficult to see anything at all.
“Stand!” Ivy shouted, the command carried down the line by others. It was all they could do.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the attack from above stopped. The only sound was the hiss of lava turning to steam and the heavy breathing of the Prince Warriors.
“They’ve given up!” said Mary, her voice filled with hope. “So it’s over, right? ’Cause they know it’s not going to work?”
“It’s not over,” Ivy said in a stern voice. She shouted to the rest of them. “Don’t move! Keep your shields up!”
The Prince Warriors continued to stand firm with their shields raised.
New noises arose, the sound of engines churning. The Askalons, most of which were still in the woods behind them, were starting up. But instead of the familiar roar, they were sputtering and straining, as if unable to get going.
“They’re stuck,” Finn said.
“What if they manage to break through the sticks in their wheels?” Ivy said.
Just then a huge fireball crashed into a tree, and it burst into flames. More fireballs followed. Soon the entire forest would be on fire.
“Maybe the fires will hold them off,” Finn said.
Ivy turned back to the mountain. She hoped Finn was right. Because now she could plainly see a dark wave descending from the cloud that rimmed the crater, rippling down the slope.
The Lava Forgers were coming.
“We need to get off this rock,” Xavier said. The boys could see the Lava Forger army streaming down the mountain. But the fireballs were still falling all around them, and the Ents were still attacking. They were trapped.
Ask.
The words bubbled up from some distant memory. The Cave. The Book. The letters dancing in the air. Ask and you will receive. Xavier turned around and looked at his little brother.
“Evan, do you think if you asked Ru, he would fix Tannyn?”
“I . . . don’t know if it works on dragons. But I’ll try.” Evan slid down from Tannyn’s back. There was barely any room to stand. He inched his way over to Tannyn’s head and put one hand on his nose. The dragon moaned out soft gorps. His eyes were closed. His broken wing was outstretched, for he couldn’t even fold it properly.
“Hey, big guy,” Evan said softly. “It’s okay.” Evan placed his hand over one of Tannyn’s eyes. Tannyn yelped a little, smoke steaming from his nostrils. “Just relax.” He reached into his pocket with the other hand and gripped the rock tightly, remembering Ruwach’s words to him. He spoke aloud. “Ruwach, I know you’re here. I know you can hear me. Please, make Tannyn’s eyes all better.”
Evan waited, but he didn’t feel the familiar heat from the rock. He heard the answer clearly, as if Ruwach had spoken aloud.
No.
No? Evan’s heart sank. He closed his eyes in despair.
The wing.
Evan’s eyes flew open. He turned and inched over to Tannyn’s broken wing. He put his hand on it. Suddenly he could see Ruwach, see him as clear as day, standing right in front of him, reaching out one of his glowing hands and putting it over his own. He felt the warmth of that hand filling his body, radiating into the broken wing. He saw the wing begin to straighten, the bones knitting together, the torn flesh sewn up. He smiled and bowed low and thanked Ruwach for healing his friend.
“Gorp!”
Evan’s eyes flew open as the giant wing under his palm flapped once, nearly knocking him over. The wing had straightened, the burned-out skin returned to its normal green. Tannyn flapped it again and gorped loudly. Evan made sure to duck that time.
“He did it,” Manuel said, in awe.
Evan saw Xavier’s staff still on the ground, where he had dropped it during the dragon fight. He picked it up and handed it to Xavier and then climbed onto Tannyn’s back.
“He still can’t see,” he said. “How’s he going to fly?”
“We can guide him,” said Xavier.
The skypod shuddered as another big chunk fell off.
“Let’s get out of here!” Evan shouted.
Holding his staff in one hand, Xavier inched along Tannyn’s neck until he was straddling him right behind his head. “Okay, boy, I’ll tell you where to go. You just fly.”
Tannyn flapped his wings, sent a blast of fire into the cloud of Ents, and took off into the sky. He wobbled and almost did a somersault, but Xavier steadied him, clinging to his neck.
“Hang on, guys!” Xavier shouted to Evan and Manuel. He glanced back and saw the last remnant of the skypod crumble, releasing another cloud of Ents.
“Four hundred seventy-three, four hundred seventy-four . . .” Manuel whispered.
“Let’s get down to the battle!” Evan cried.
Xavier looked at the battle below, where the Lava Forgers were barreling down the mountain, headed straight for the Prince Warriors. He was about to guide Tannyn that way when he saw something the Warriors on the ground couldn’t see.
“Hang on, guys,” Xavier said. “There’s something we need to do first.”