CHAPTER 48
The Turning
Now you will die!”
Levi struggled to catch his breath, which had been knocked out of him. His back ached. His sword was gone. He tried to rise.
Thayne had broken away from the shard of obsidian that had impaled him, though there was now a gaping hole in the middle of what was left of his chest. Part of his helmet and one arm were gone. But he still had enough of both legs left to stand and move. He raised his hammer over his head.
Levi managed to roll away in time; the hammer smashed into the floor, creating a large crack. Lava bubbled up from the crack, spreading out like a pool of blood. Levi had to keep rolling to get away from the hot lava as the crack lengthened. He saw his sword lying on the floor and crawled toward it. As Thayne reached down to grab him again, Levi flipped over and swung the sword with all his might. The sword caught the hammer and flung it from Thayne’s hands. The hammer flew through the air and landed in the lava pit, which exploded again as the metal sizzled and melted. Thayne bellowed in rage. He reached down, ripped Levi’s sword from his hands and hurled it into the lava pit, which caused another small eruption. Levi moaned at the loss of his sword.
Thayne grabbed hold of Levi by the neck and lifted him high over his head. Levi twisted in his grip, beating hopelessly on the heavily armored arm. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t cry out. Thayne carried him to the lava pit. Levi felt the searing heat of the lava blast his face. He closed his eyes.
“Levi!” It was Mr. J. Ar, calling to him from somewhere near the doorway. “Levi! Son!”
Thayne was about to throw Levi in the pit when a piercing scream filled the air. The sound made Thayne’s whole body shake. He spun around, letting go of Levi, who dropped to the floor. Levi gasped, struggling for breath, as a huge reptilian creature with yellow eyes seemed to sail through the air over his head.
Sybylla.
Thayne spun around as the leviathan landed on him, both of them crashing to the floor. Thayne smashed a fist into the creature’s head. Sybylla fell sideways then righted herself, her powerful jaws clamping down on Thayne’s only remaining arm. She yanked him off the floor and flung him about like a rag doll as she slithered to the lava pit. Thayne hooked his leg around her neck as she tried to dump him into the fire. She whipped her head from side to side but couldn’t shake him off.
Then she seemed to pause for a moment, turning to look at Levi. Her yellow eyes peered into his, and she blinked. She dipped her head once, as if she was nodding to him. Then she turned away and leapt into the lava pit, Thayne still locked in her jaws.
Levi stumbled backward, covering his face as the lava splashed and sputtered, engulfing the leviathan queen and her prey in blue fire.
The fire was suddenly quenched, and the lava pit began to steam as if rapidly cooling. Levi moved gingerly to the edge and looked in. He could see no evidence of Sybylla or Thayne in the pitch-black hole. If was as if they had been swallowed up by the fire, just as the fire was now swallowed up by . . . something else.
“Levi!” Mr. J. Ar had managed to climb over the piles of broken wall, hurtling glass shards in all directions.
“Dad,” Levi gasped, falling into his father’s arms. His legs suddenly felt too weak to hold him up.
“It’s okay, son,” Mr. J. Ar said softly, holding him close.
“Where’s Bean?”
“She’s outside.”
The floor under them shook violently, as if the whole mountain were gripped by a terrible earthquake. More pieces of glass wall began to tumble down into the lava pit, as if being sucked in by some unknown force.
“Let’s get out of here,” Mr. J. Ar whispered.
“Best idea I’ve heard all day.”
The whole army cheered as the newly arrived Prince Warriors overtook the Askalons from the rear. Several Warriors jumped up onto the machines, got into the hatches, and began steering them into each other, causing major pileups. Others thrust burning sticks into the side hatches, turning the ice-webs and ice-snakes to harmless water.
Tannyn appeared soon after, crash-landing at the edge of the woods. Ivy screamed with joy when she saw Xavier, Manuel, and Evan jump down from the dragon’s back and run to join them, their swords drawn. Xavier still carried his staff.
“Guys! You’re alive!” Ivy exclaimed.
“Yeah,” said Xavier. “Have you seen Levi and Brianna?”
Ivy shook her head. But there was no time to talk. The five friends joined the rest of the army in finishing off the Lava Forgers, who were still bumbling in all directions, slamming into each other.
“Thayne must be gone,” Xavier said. “He was the one controlling them.”
“Good! Finish ’em!” Evan shouted. He thrust his sword into a confused Forger, who exploded into ash.
The Bone Breakers came back, but instead of flying, they were just falling from the sky, as if their wings no longer worked. They flopped around on the ground, squawking like mad, creating even more havoc. Evan stop fighting Forgers when he noticed one of the birds choking and sputtering, as if something was caught in its throat. He drew closer to investigate.
“Hey! You took my seed!” Evan cried and rushed toward the bird. He was about to stab it with his sword when it simply fell over as if dead and its beak dropped open. Evan’s little red seed rolled out onto the snow, covered in slime. Evan lunged for it, grabbing it away before any other bird got hold of it. “I got it back!” he exclaimed. “Look, Xavier!”
Instead of making some snide remark, Xavier smiled at him. “That’s cool, Evan. I knew you would.”
As the battle wound down, Xavier began to wonder more and more about Levi and Brianna. Maybe they were still up there, still alive. Maybe it was possible to rescue them. He had to know for sure.
“You keep going here,” he said to the others. “I’m going up there.” He raced back to Tannyn, positioning himself once more on the dragon’s neck. “Let’s go, boy,” he whispered, and Tannyn took off.