The Blue Woods (25 page)

Get back!
Nerina screamed.

A stream of fire roared out from the Dragon's mouth, scorching the trees just beneath, just missing Cal, who in typical fashion had raced ahead of the rest of the Clan. He stumbled out of sight into some brush.
Cal!
Are you okay?
I called to him.

Yes. Just a little singed—

Retreat. RETREAT!
Nerina ordered. We all fell back on her command just as the Dragon let loose another jet of fire. I dodged up and away, following the Clan as we raced back to the farm.

A freaking Dragon?
Bree gasped.
Are you kidding me?
Far below me, she clung to the Stag's neck as he rocketed over a fallen log.

He's the head of the
Concilio Argento
,
Heath said.
Their
Concilio
turn into mythical creatures just like ours.

We have one too—Dario turns into a Dragon—

Who the hell cares? What are we going to do?
The Dragon was still chasing us over the treetops. Cora kept pace with me as we swerved this way and that, trying to shake it off.
I told you they'd be here—

Nerina ignored my dig at her.
We have to retreat until we know it's gone—

It'll track us right back to my house,
Jeff said.
We need to throw it off.

But as we crossed over the stone wall that marked the edge of my farm, an unearthly glow came over the pasture. Hundreds of Malandanti in all shapes crested the hill, swarming the ground like a plague of locusts.
Jesus,
Heath breathed.

I thought I destroyed all of them!
Bree said.

These must be the last ones left—

But what the hell are they doing here?

Nerina didn't answer, probably because she didn't know the answer. It didn't matter what the hell they were doing here—the fact was that they were here and we had to deal with them. We couldn't retreat; there were too many of them, spread out across the whole length of the farm. I whirled to look back at the forest. The Dragon hovered over the treetops, daring us to face him. And out of the woods below, another figure shot up to join the Dragon: the Harpy's ebony wings beat in rhythm with the Dragon's.

An army of Malandanti in one direction. The
Concilio
in the other.

We were trapped.

Nerina faced us.
Bree, you deal with the fake Malandanti. Jeff, Cal, and Heath, get to the Waterfall and see what we're up against there. Alessia and Cora, you're with me.
She didn't have to say what she wanted us to do. We were the winged creatures of the Clan. The only ones who could take on the Dragon and the Harpy.

No one had to be given their orders twice. Cal, Heath, and Jeff raced back over the stone wall, their bright blue auras disappearing into the woods. Bree cloaked herself in shadows, swallowed up by the night. Cora, Nerina, and I soared toward the Dragon and the Harpy.
Watch out for the fire,
Nerina warned.

No shit!
Cora said.

He has a tell,
Nerina said. The Dragon rose higher. He sliced his huge serpentine head to the left, then to the right.
There. Did you see it? He shakes his head once. Then—

A wall of fire lit up the sky, blasting us backward.
Look for that,
Nerina said.
You two go low. I'll go high.

Cora and I dipped low, bursting through the fire just as it fizzled out into the air. As we wove in and out of the trees, little balls of silvery auras appeared all around us. The winged fake Malandanti surrounded us on every side. My heart stuck in my throat as the silver auras multiplied. This was not good. This was not going to end well . . .
Come on, Bree . . .

We veered up behind the Dragon and the Harpy as Nerina dove toward them. A dozen Malandanti shot up after us, nipping at my feathers. I struck my talons out, catching one across the nose. It tumbled away toward the earth, its aura fracturing like shards of lightning. Two more took its place, trying to catch me. I swerved back and forth, flying blind, my eyes fixed on their beaks and claws . . .

Alessia, watch out!

They just keep coming! I can't shake them off!

No, above you!

I swiveled my gaze away from the Malandanti and met the cold black eyes of the Dragon. I'd flown too close to it in my attempt to get away from the fake Malandanti. The Dragon shook its head left, right . . . I dove just as it opened its huge mouth and exhaled a stream of fire that caught my tail feathers. I plummeted to the ground, my body a ball of fire and smoke, excruciating heat climbing up up up as I went down down down.

I hit a patch of snow, and the coolness washed over me like a baptism.
Alessia!
Cora yelled in my head.
Answer me!

I'm okay, I'm okay.

They're right above you.

Got it.
I zoomed up, bits of snow raining from my feathers. Just above the trees, the Harpy met me. She stretched out a talon, but I dove beneath her and then shot back up, right into her underside. She screeched as my beak bit into her belly. I slashed her again and again before diving out of her reach.

The Harpy fell back, tumbling down into the forest below. Cora and Nerina faced off with the Dragon. I soared over to help them, but Nerina stopped me.
We'll hold him off. Fly around the perimeter. Tell me what's happening.

I climbed in the air to get a better view of the scene, high enough so that I could see the entire Waterfall site and the surrounding woods. It was beyond anything I ever could have imagined. There were just too many of them. I scanned the circle of the Waterfall. Cal, Heath, and Jeff were holding their own against the Malandanti Clan. Inside the barrier, Jonah stood rigid, watching the fight. I forced myself not to open my mind to him. I could not be distracted right now.

As I worked my way out into the forest, an itchy feeling started in my gut. Why weren't the fake Malandanti at the Waterfall, fighting with the real Clan? Why were they staying just outside, in the woods?

I spiraled outward, my eyes sharp on the ground below. Deep in the brush, I spotted seven dog-like shapes, slinking low and quiet along the ground in a close-knit pack. I would've missed them, so stealthy were they, save for the telltale silvery glow that encircled each of them.
You guys,
I said,
there's a bunch of Malandanti Dogs in the woods.

Are they real or fake?
asked Jeff.

Dropping a foot to get a closer look, I peered at their auras.
They look real. Not fractured like the other ones.

One of the Dogs raised its head and sniffed. I dodged behind a thick pine tree, hoping its scent was enough to cover my own. The Dog put its nose back down. A moment later, the seven Dogs broke apart from each other and fanned out.
They're surrounding the entire perimeter,
I told the Clan.

Holy shit,
Jeff said.
It's the Wild Dogs from the Congo Clan.

What? Why aren't they in Africa?
Cal asked.

They don't need to be,
Nerina said,
not since we retook the site
. I looked back at her. She and Cora zoomed around the Dragon in circles, disorienting it.
Alessia, stay up there and track their movements. They are extremely cunning hunters, so stay alert.

I fluttered from treetop to treetop, using branches and pine to cover me. Though the Wild Dogs were now several feet apart from each other, they moved in absolute unison, closing in on their prey with an almost beautiful precision. If Cal, Heath, or Jeff were to leave the Waterfall now, they would be pounced upon by one of the Dogs.

I couldn't just sit there, perched on a branch that towered above everything. I launched myself into a dive, right at the Dog near the birch trees. My talons were deep in its haunches before it even knew I was coming. The Dog yelped and snapped its jaws at me, but I twisted every which way to inflict as much damage as I could. With a powerful push, I shot several feet in the air. The Dog leapt up after me just as I dove again. There was no way on earth or anywhere else that Dog could ever hope to catch me. When it landed back on the ground, I heard one of its hind legs snap.

Whimpering, the Dog dragged itself into the brush, its aura sizzling from the injury. I rose back into the air. The other Dogs were still in place; they hadn't even moved an inch to help their fellow Clan member. They obviously had their orders. But now there was a hole in their ranks, a window through which one of my Clan could pass.

A cry of fear and triumph, of inhuman effort and sorrow, tore through my mind. With a force that shook the trees, a blast of light exploded over the Waterfall, rippling out all the way to my farm. One by one, the fake Malandanti disappeared, each of their artificial auras dissolving into the ether. I paused in midair to watch it, saying a prayer as each light went out. Far away across the world, people were mourning over the bodies of their fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters and friends. It was disgusting what the Malandanti had done, and I was glad to see those souls finally at rest.

A figure tumbled out of the window I'd created in the forest and came to rest against one of the birch trees. I floated down. When I got close enough, Bree raised her head. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks. I landed on her shoulder. She buried her face in my feathers and sobbed.

You did the right thing, Bree. You brought those people peace.

I still killed them. Just like I killed—

I pushed against her.
No. You didn't kill them. The Malandanti did that. What you did was . . . extraordinary.

Bree snorted in that totally Bree-like way.
I have to go help Nerina,
I said and lifted off her.
You stay here and rest until we need you again.

I soared upward, wind whistling through my feathers. I still didn't think we would reclaim the site tonight, but now with the elimination of all those Malandanti, we would at least get out of there alive. I set my sights on the Dragon above me, climbing the air toward Nerina and Cora. Just before I reached them, the Dragon spotted me. He flicked his long spiky tail, nearly catching me. My wings faltered, and I tumbled down several feet before I could right myself. As I did, something on the ground below stopped my blood in my veins.

Cal had drawn the Malandante Coyote out toward the birch trees. But before he could get back to the Waterfall, the Wild Dogs closed in, and Cal's golden fur disappeared from my view.

I plunged down and down, but suddenly the Dragon was there, blocking me, hurling fiery blasts at me. I dodged over and under each breath, trying to see what was happening on the ground below.
Cal! Cal!

He didn't answer. I could hear his panting in my mind as he fought the Dogs off. God, he wasn't ready for this kind of battle . . . I hadn't trained him well enough. And now he was going to get hurt—or worse—again because I'd failed him.

With a burst of angry speed, I shot around the Dragon and zoomed down. I latched my talons into the back of one of the Dogs. It yelped and twisted away, revealing Cal's battered form beneath its paws. He bucked off one of the other Dogs. His head rose above the fray, and he gasped for air. I dove in to claw at the Dog closest to Cal's throat. At the last moment, the Dog turned its head. With one snap of its sharp, saliva-dripping jaws, it caught me in its mouth.

Pain sliced through me. I screeched, thrashing in the Dog's mouth, but its teeth bit into my flesh. Warm blood spilled over my feathers. My heartbeat filled my ears, fast, shallow, and desperate. I tried to scream, tried to cry for help, but the pain clouded everything. I fought for each breath, every tiny bit of air that would give me just one more second to cling to life . . .

In a last feeble attempt, I reached out across the Clans . . .
Jonah?
. . . but it was nothing more than a whisper. Dimly I heard Cal yelling for help . . . a glimpse of white fur flashed by me . . . Heath, always Heath to my rescue . . . I opened my eyes and saw myself surrounded by blue light . . .
At least the last thing I'll ever see is Benandante blue,
I thought. Then silver streaked across the blue . . . there was a yowl, a crash like lightning. The world shut down around me, and all I saw was black.

One Step onto the Path of Redemption

Bree

If someone had told me six months ago that in half a year I'd be battling a Dragon and shooting magic at it that I'd learned from ancient books written on bark, I would've asked them what they were smoking and could I please have some. Because you'd obviously have had to be really high to predict that.

Yet somehow that was what my life had become. I twisted cords of red smoke around the Dragon, trying to weaken him enough to shoot him out of time and space. He breathed a long lick of fire at me. I blocked the fire and turned it into smoke, shot it back at him to cloud his vision. He screamed in frustration. Oh, sure, I got it. Some little bitch who was no bigger than his tail comes along and thinks she can take on a Dragon. I'd want to fry me to a crisp too, if I were him.

But I wasn't him. My power unfurled inside me, filling me from the top of my head down to my red-polished toes. I tugged at the cords of smoke and the Dragon lowered down and down, unable to fight against the binds that held him fast. I raised my hand, ready to blast him out of this sphere.

Bree! Where are you?

My head rang with the force of Jonah's voice.
Fighting off your goddamn Dragon!

Alessia! Those Dogs are going to kill her!