Slayers: Friends and Traitors (41 page)

Instead of disappearing into the trees, Ryker turned his attention back to Jesse and the dragon, checking on them. As soon as he did, Overdrake lunged forward, tackling him. With a yell of anger, the dragon lord grabbed his rifle, twisting it in an attempt to rip it from Ryker’s hands.

Tori hesitated in the air, the parachute pack clutched in her hands. Who should she help? Ryker needed her more. She tucked the parachute under her arm, headed in that direction, then stopped herself. The dragon was her first priority. She had to do everything she could to get those straps off, even if it meant that Overdrake got his gun back. Hopefully Bess and Kody could help Ryker.

Tori flew toward the dragon again. Jesse had cut through the second strap and was swinging his rifle forward to blast through the chain. The dragon slashed its tail at Jesse, using it like a whip. He leapt upward. He wasn’t fast enough this time. The tail hit him—not batting him away. The dragon wrapped its tail around him like a snake strangling its prey.

Jesse strained against the coil, pushing. He was able to keep the dragon from squeezing him to death, but couldn’t free himself.

What could Tori do? She slung her rifle forward and shot at the dragon, not at the chains that held on the bulletproof plating; she wasn’t in the right position for that. She was only trying to distract the dragon, to keep it from finishing its task.

The dragon barely flinched. Kody sent a freezing shock to the dragon’s snout. Still the dragon didn’t let Jesse go. How long would it be until the dragon overcame Jesse’s strength and crushed him?

Tori’s training told her to ignore what happened to Jesse and do her best to blow the chain straps away. But if she did that, the dragon would squeeze Jesse to death. He only had moments left.

She tried the only thing left to her. “Drop him!” she yelled.

The dragon turned and peered at her.

She maximized the sound window in her mind, hoping it would give her more access to the dragon’s brain. “Drop him!” she yelled again, with every ounce of feeling and determination she had.

In that moment, Tori entered the dragon’s mind. It was like the beast sucked part of her inside it and she was stretching now, trying on scales and wings. Tori still saw things from her perspective. She knew she was hovering in the air staring at the dragon, but another part of her saw out of the dragon’s eyes. Things suddenly had more color, depth, and most odd of all, she smelled everything around her—the whiffs of smoke from the branches that had burned earlier, the slumbering life within the trees, the frozen ground covered in decaying leaves. She even smelled the Slayers—streaking bodies tinged with sweat, fear, and adrenaline.

All within an instant, Tori knew the dragon was a female, old enough to have laid two clutches of eggs. Overdrake called her Kihawahine, but she had no name for herself. She was fierce and powerful with strength she hadn’t even tapped yet. She was a hunter as sleek and beautiful as a panther—hungrier, though. Much hungrier than a cat. The dragon didn’t usually get to chase prey that flew, and she enjoyed this challenge, knew she would win. Flying had given her an appetite and her mouth was already watering for a taste of blood and bone marrow. Tori felt the intake of dragon’s breath and felt the fire hot on Kihawahine’s tongue, waiting to be released.

“Drop him!” Tori told the dragon, going closer.

Tori heard Overdrake’s voice—not from his mouth; it was inside the dragon’s mind. “The human in front of you is called Tori.”

Overdrake knew she was in the dragon’s mind. Tori could hear the rage in his voice. Slowly he said, “Kill her now.”

Tori shot sideways, speeding away from Kihawahine as fast as she could. The dragon lunged after her, roaring. As Tori flew, she held on to the connection in her mind, telling the dragon, “Stop!” over and over again. It was as fruitless as waving to get a horse’s attention when someone else held the reins. The dragon was firmly in Overdrake’s control, always had been. Tori had only managed to temporarily distract it.

Tori let go of the connection and concentrated on fleeing. The dragon couldn’t reach full speed while her tail grasped Jesse. She dropped him and raced after Tori, closing the gap between them in seconds.

Tori flew lower. She needed to slow Kihawahine down. She skimmed over the treetops, just above the reaching branches. The dragon chased after her, wings smacking into branches with every down beat. Bits of wood and broken branches flew everywhere. Tori had meant to fly down below the canopy, to lose the dragon there. She couldn’t hide from Kihawahine, though, not when the dragon could smell her. Flying around trunks and branches would delay Tori, maybe leave her trapped. One blast of fire, and the dragon would roast her.

Tori barely kept ahead of the dragon. If she wasn’t already out of reach of the other Slayers, she would be soon. Bess couldn’t shield for her. Lilly couldn’t extinguish fire. Nothing ahead offered protection. Tori had to turn around, but couldn’t; the dragon would catch her.

Kihawahine didn’t shoot out fire. Probably because Tori would taste better uncharred. In another minute, the dragon’s teeth would be on her.

Two months’ training hadn’t prepared her for this. Fighting the small mechanical dragon wasn’t the same. Tori could only think of one thing to do. She curved upward a little, held the parachute over her head, and pulled the rip cord. She was immediately jolted backward. The opened parachute smacked into the dragon’s face, covering it.

Tori let the parachute go, then flipped upward so the dragon flew by underneath her. The dragon let out a blast of fire that incinerated the parachute. By that time, Tori was over the dragon’s back. She swung her rifle forward and in quick succession shot at the chains on both sides. It was sloppy shooting, but it worked. The chains gave way. The Kevlar shield fell from the dragon’s underside.

Down below and far behind Tori, the other Slayers let out a shout. They had been running after her, she realized, trying to keep her in range. Tori would have joined them in celebrating if the dragon hadn’t twisted around to come at her again.

For a fleeting moment Tori had a shot at the dragon’s underbelly. Her rifle was raised. Her finger was on the trigger. She hesitated, though. Tori had been inside the dragon’s mind. She had seen the beauty of its jewel-like scales. If Overdrake wasn’t holding the reins, Kihawahine could be controlled. Tori could stop the dragon from killing people. And then the moment was gone and the dragon was speeding toward her. Its glowing golden eyes fixed on her.

Tori zoomed back in the other direction, fleeing toward the Slayers. The dragon was already too close and her friends were so far away. She chided herself for not taking a shot while she had the chance. Even if her aim hadn’t been good enough to kill the dragon, she might have at least hurt it enough to slow it down. Now Kihawahine roared behind her, faster and more powerful than Tori. She had only escaped before because she had a parachute. She was about to be eaten, and it was all because she’d hesitated to shoot something she’d shared brain-space with.

Jesse flew in her direction, rifle raised. He was still too far away to maneuver into a good shooting position. But she could help him.

Tori streaked upward. Kihawahine followed, exposing her now-unprotected belly. Tori glanced downward. The dragon was right below her, mouth opening, ready to snap its jaws on her feet. She could smell its oily breath overtaking her.

Jesse fired. The sound of gunshot punctuated the night like drum bangs. Tori couldn’t tell whether he’d hit his target. Then the dragon’s wings shuddered. Kihawahine’s head lolled unsteadily, and she plummeted downward, wings convulsing. She screeched as she fell, fire streaming from her mouth. Her turquoise scales glittered in the firelight, winking like a crystal chandelier. The dragon stared at Tori with golden eyes, still fighting to fly upward. Instead Kihawahine sunk downward, hitting the ground with such force leaves and broken branches shot upward in an explosion.

Jesse flew down, and keeping a safe distance, emptied another round into the dragon’s underbelly.

Tori finally stopped him. “You don’t have to do that. She’s dead.”

“How can you tell?” Jesse asked, gun still trained on Kihawahine’s quivering figure.

Blood streamed down the dragon’s stomach onto the ground. Red blood. It looked wrong to Tori, too human. It should have been turquoise, something as unique as dragons.

Tori knew Kihawahine was dead because she couldn’t connect to her at all. The dragon’s mind, its breathing, its raw energy, everything was gone. That emptiness left a hollow spot in the bottom of Tori’s stomach that felt nothing like victory.

“I don’t hear what the dragon hears anymore,” she said.

The music Overdrake always played next to the fledgling dragons was back in Tori’s mind now. Classical music. Something with scolding violins.

Tori caught a flash of movement in the sky and looked up. Overdrake flew by. He knew what had happened, knew Kihawahine was gone. “The next time I see you,” he shouted, “you’ll wish you had died here!” Then he disappeared over the treetops.

Ryker wasn’t far behind him. “Come on!” he yelled to Tori and Jesse, “We can catch him!”

Jesse flew upward to follow Ryker.

“Don’t!” Tori called to them. “Come back!”

Jesse hesitated, then relinquished the idea. “She’s right!” he yelled at Ryker. “Come back!”

Ryker nearly didn’t listen. He flew farther away, then turned around and reluctantly glided back. He held his hands out in disbelief. “We could have caught him.” The wound on Ryker’s leg looked worse now. It hadn’t stopped bleeding and a red trail made its way down his boot.

“No,” Tori said. “Overdrake would have stayed out of reach until our powers ran out. Then he would turn on us and we wouldn’t be able to protect ourselves.”

Ryker grunted. “We could have caught him before then.”

Jesse headed toward the other Slayers and motioned for Ryker to follow. “In a half an hour, you won’t even be able to see in the dark. We need to get everyone off the mountain before our powers fade.”

Tori followed after the two. They didn’t have far to fly to reach everyone else. The Slayers were running toward them, cheering. Kody held his hands above his head like he’d made a touchdown.

Ryker swooped down and gave him a high-five. “You were awesome!” Ryker said. “The way you kept Overdrake from shooting—you saved us all, man.”

Kody high-fived Ryker back. “Awesome is my job.”

Tori and Jesse landed next to Kody, and he wrapped an arm around each of them in a group bear hug. “You guys rock!”

Ryker turned to the other girls. In their body armor and helmets it was hard to tell who was who. Lilly and Rosa were both petite and Willow and Bess were both tall. If Tori hadn’t memorized the symbols on the back shoulder of their uniforms, she wouldn’t have known who was who either. “Which one of you extinguished the fire?” Ryker asked.

Lilly raised her hand. “That would be me. Lilly.”

Ryker picked her up and swung her around in a hug. “You saved my life. Thanks.” He set Lilly down, and his gaze returned to the other girls. “Which one of you shields?”

Bess took off her helmet and shook out her hair with a smile. “Me.”

With the same enthusiasm, Ryker picked her up and swung her around in a hug. “You saved my life, too. I owe you.”

Bess laughed happily. “I don’t mind that sort of debt.”

Ryker set her down, picked up Rosa, and twirled her. “You’re the one who healed Willow and Jesse. You’re amazing!”

Ryker turned to Tori next, sweeping her up in a hug. “The way you got the Kevlar off—you can be my soul mate anyday.”

As Ryker set Tori down, Willow put one hand on her hip and tilted her head at her cousin. “Don’t even say it.”

He gestured weakly at her. “And you did a great job, too, Wills.”

She stamped her foot. “I did not. I didn’t do anything. I don’t even have an extra power. I thought those abilities showed up when you’re under attack.” She waved her hand at the dragon. “You don’t get more under attack than having a huge flying carnivore chasing you.”

Dr. B had finally caught up with the others. “Well done, Slayers!” he called. Without taking a new breath, he added, “Bess, put your helmet back on until we’re in a safe location.” He hugged her, then looked around at the others proudly. “Very well done!”

Kody elbowed Jesse. “That was nearly your epitaph. The dragon practically cooked you.”

Without answering, Jesse walked over to Rosa, picked her up, and twirled her in a hug. “Thanks for saving my life.”

Dr. B surveyed the group through his night vision goggles. “Does anyone have wounds that need attending?” He gestured to Tori’s legs. “Are you burned?”

“No,” she said, and then looked down to see why he’d asked. The bottom of her pant legs had melted away in places. The fire stream that had hit her earlier was stronger than she’d realized. She had been so intent on fighting she hadn’t felt anything, not the burn, not the cold air pressing against her legs. Now she bent down to check for burns. There was nothing. Not even red, tender spots.

Slayers had stronger skin than normal people. It took more to burn or cut them. But this—was this normal even for a Slayer? She thought of Overdrake after the fire blast. Jesse had fallen off the dragon, scorched, but Overdrake had calmly returned to his seat. And Dirk—he had never been burned at camp. The absurdity of that finally hit her. How could he have fought a flame-throwing mechanical dragon for years and never once have been burned by it?

Dr. B didn’t look at Tori’s legs or offer an assessment. Willow had drawn his attention to Ryker’s wound. “A bullet hit him,” she said.

Dr. B took the small first-aid kit from one of the pouches in his coat. “How deep is it?”

Ryker brushed his hand over his calf. Blood streaked his glove. “A bullet grazed me. It doesn’t hurt much so it can’t be too serious.”

Dr. B knelt in front of Ryker and moved his pant material to see the wound better. “It will hurt more after your powers wear off.”

Tori moved a few steps away from them. She didn’t want anyone noticing her legs, didn’t want anyone wondering how she’d escaped being burned. The enormity of the situation hit her—she had been inside a dragon’s mind. She knew its name. Dirk had told her the truth. She was a dragon lord and her unburned legs were proof for all the Slayers to see. Would they figure out that dragon lords didn’t get burns?