The Dark Shadow of Spring (31 page)

“Good point,” Ben said. Then he stared past Clark. “Not the dragon again.”

Alex followed Ben’s gaze to see Gall’Adon rise back on his hind legs and breathe deeply, filling his chest until it seemed likely to burst. Then the dragon opened wide its mouth and expelled a long jet of crimson fire up into the air. After a slight pause, Gall’Adon fell back to all fours and stared again at Alex. A dragon’s expressions are hard to read and Alex was unsure if Gall’Adon’s countenance beheld anger or satisfaction. Or possibly hunger.

“I should burn you to cinders for what you have done,” Gall’Adon said to Alex.

“I sealed the Shadow Wraith back into its prison,” Alex said, stepping forward and staring up at the dragon. “I did the job you were too cowardly to do, and I have given you back your fire. You know my destiny, Gall’Adon. If you take my life today, I will only return in some other time and when I do, I will take more from you than your fire.”

Gall’Adon stared intently at Alex for a moment and then raised his head in a deep and booming laugh that sent smoke rolling out of his wide nostrils. “You are courageous and foolhardy,” the dragon said. “But you are also right. I should have helped you defeat the spirit of what was once my great grandsire. I should have helped you destroy it rather than trap it again. Its spirit should be set free once and for all. When you make your plans to slay the beast for good, Revenant, I will be at your side.”

With no warning, and seemingly no concern for those nearby, the dragon spread his wings wide and leapt into the air. Within moments, he beat his wings over the treetops and out of sight, back to his lair.

“How did you know it wouldn’t fry us alive?” Victoria asked, her hand still on his shoulder.

“I didn’t,” Alex said with a sigh of relief. “I was bluffing.”

“Bluffing,” Daphne said as she spat on the ground. “Of all the bone-brained…”

“Genius,” Ben muttered as Clark sat him on his feet. “Reckless genius.”

“Are you okay?” Alex said to Ben.

“Yep,” Ben said. “But I don’t want to conjure fire again.” Then, laughing, added, “At least not for a month or so.”

“Hmm, sounds like he’s just fine,” Clark said and patted his diminutive friend’s shoulder.

“Well, when you do make your plans to finally slay the Shadow Wraith,” Rafael said, his tone dry like kindling, “don’t bother inviting me when you invite the dragon.”

“If you didn’t come along, who would be there to complain?” Alex teased.

“Fine,” Rafael said with a smirk, “as long as I can still complain.”

“Do you do anything else?” Daphne said, punching Rafael in the arm.

“How are you, Sis?” Alex asked Nina, noticing that she was far more quiet than usual.

“That was such a stupid series of stupid things that I don’t think Mom and Dad will even believe how stupid you can be,” Nina said.

Alex laughed and felt a hand slip into his and pull him from the others. He looked and saw Victoria’s hand in his, pulling him to a place in the clearing where the ground slopped gently downward. As she stopped, he found himself standing at eye level with her for the first time.

“I still owe you something,” Victoria said with a mischievous look on her face.

“It’s okay,” Alex said, smiling at Victoria, wondering why she had pulled him away from the others. “We’re even now. A life for life.”

“Not quite even,” Victoria said as she leaned her head toward his.

And then Alex was kissing her. Him. Eyes closed tight. Kissing. Victoria.

And it was great.

As they broke apart, catcalls and hoots of laughter erupted from their friends. Alex and Victoria turned toward them, both laughing and blushing.

“Wow,” was all Nina said in a giggle.

“Blazing banshee burps,” Daphne said as she laughed and stared at Victoria. “You are so much crazier than you look.”

“Loony,” Ben said, his eyes still wide with surprise, “to kiss Alex.”

“I thought centaurs had better taste,” Rafael said with a smile.

“Well, hmmf, I didn’t see that coming.” Clark said, cocking his head at Alex and Victoria like a dog faced with something new and trying to figure it out. He looked sideways at Daphne for a moment and then abruptly shook himself as though waking from a daydream, looking away before she noticed.

“I see something coming,” Victoria said, her voice rising in alarm. “Oh my goodness.”

“What now?” Alex asked as he looked at Victoria, stilling feeling a bit giddy.

“Daddy!” Victoria said and pointed to the sky south of the mountain. Alex followed the line of her hand and saw something he found almost impossible to believe. There in the sky was a tractor pulling a wagon, weaving in a zigzag pattern through the air as it approached the clearing in the trees.

Chapter 26: Truth Be Told

“What in the name of Neptune’s noodles is that?” Daphne exclaimed.

“That’s Daddy’s flying tractor,” Victoria said in a matter-of-fact tone. Alex could see Victoria’s father had removed the tractor’s seat and replaced it with a platform that the centaur inventor could stand upon. Victoria gasped as the tractor dipped suddenly toward the ground and then back into the air. “We should get out of the way. Daddy’s a frightfully awful driver when he’s on the ground, much less in the air.” 

Alex and Victoria ran hand-in-hand across the small wooded clearing, followed by the rest of the Guild. As they reached the edge of the woods, they saw the tractor and wagon come hurtling out of the sky and slam into the ground, bouncing roughly across the open grass until it came to a halting stop inches from plunging into the pit of rocks that used to be the cave.

“Daddy!” Victoria said, releasing Alex’s hand and rushing to her father, who had been bounced off of his driving platform and now clung to the large steering wheel of the tractor as he tried to right himself.

“Daddy!” Nina said like an echo and Alex followed her gaze to see his father lowering himself from the wagon to the ground and shaking his head to clear it.

“Mom!” Nina added as Alex’s father helped his mother step down from the wagon.

Alex, Nina, and the others ran toward the wagon as more and more townspeople began to disembark from its hay-filled confines. Victoria helped her father safely down from the tractor and embraced him. Alex and Nina ran to their parents and into their arms.

“What were you thinking?” Alex’s father said, his voice hoarse and choked.

“He wasn’t thinking,” his mother said, kissing his forehead. “As usual.”

“Radcliff!” a nasal voice boomed from near the wagon. “I should have you flogged in the town square for getting us in that death trap. You said you could fly that contraption.” Alex looked around his father’s wide shoulders to see Mayor McClint, red-faced and wheezing as he leaned against his son, Dillon. Of course, no one had been flogged in Runewood for centuries, but the mayor and his family had always been prone to hyperbole.

Alex and Victoria frowned in unison, as much at Dillon as his father the mayor. The mayor was a large man of large appetites. While he had probably been lean in his youth, age and privilege had softened him, particularly around his waist. The flab falling over his belt was mirrored by the rolls of flesh hanging beneath his chin. His head was completely bald and he was only ever seen in public wearing a wide-brimmed hat, which he now pulled tightly down around his ears.

“You said you needed to get to the mountain quickly,” Victoria’s father said, his voice calm rather than defensive. “I told you it was a prototype.”

“Fine, fine,” the rotund mayor said. “Now what’s going on here, Logan? Where’s this cave? All I see is a hole in the ground that nearly became my grave. And what are all these kids doing up here?”

“I’m not sure,” Alex’s father said, his voice tense as he focused his eyes on the mayor. “But I’m sure Alex and his friends can explain. Isn’t that right, son?”

Alex looked around at the crowd of people who now filled the small clearing. Nearly twenty townspeople had disembarked from the wagon. They were not the people Alex would have expected, a number of them known for being poor mages. Alex suspected that many of the most powerful mages had either been trapped in their dreams or soul-bound to become part of the Shadow Wraith’s army. With the Shadow Wraith sealed back in its prison and its surrogate creature no longer able to touch the world, many of the townspeople would be waking up and wondering what had happened.

Added to the crowd were Anna, Mei, the rest of the Mad Mages, and the other children who had been forced to defend the cave for the Shadow Wraith. Whether by chance or intention, the crowd gathered in opposition to where Alex stood, like some anxious mob waiting for a reason to stampede. Alex felt Victoria, his sister, and the rest of the Guild align themselves behind him and breathed a little more easily.

“It’s not that difficult to explain,” Alex said, standing up straight and looking directly at Mayor McClint’s sweat-covered face. “One of the twelve seals that holds the Shadow Wraith imprisoned in another realm lies under the ground where that cave used to be. That seal was crumbling and the Shadow Wraith was breaking free, so we asked the dragon, Gall’Adon, for help to repair the seal. When he refused, I stole his dragon fire and gave it to Ben to hold and then, after we fought off the kids that the Shadow Wraith had enslaved and turned into guards against their will, we went down into the cave and fixed the seal and pushed the Shadow Wraith back into its prison realm. After that, the dragon came looking for his fire and collapsed the cave. When we escaped the cave, I gave the dragon back his fire and he flew off. Then you all showed up.” Alex took a deep breath and held it, continuing to stare at Mayor McClint and refusing to glance at his mother and father, even though he could feel their hot glares boring into the side of his head.

Mayor McClint shook his head and laughed aloud. “That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard. You’d have to be a Spirit Mage to accomplish half of that.”

“I am a Spirit Mage,” Alex said, his voice both proud and defiant.

“It’s a lie,” Dillon said stepping up beside his father. “It’s all a hoax by their silly club and now they’ve been caught.” Alex looked at Dillon and blinked in amazement. What was he up to? Why would he lie like that after Alex had saved him? The sneer on Dillon’s face gave Alex a good notion of why Dillon would lie —
because
Alex had saved him. Dillon hated Alex and hated the idea of Alex looking like a hero.

“That’s not what you told us when you rode into town on Alex’s bike,” Alex’s father said, his eyes staring hard at Dillon.

“He was holding Anna and the others hostage,” Dillon said, his jaw jutting out defensively. “Ask them, they probably can’t remember anything.”

“Is that true?” Mayor McClint said to the Mad Mages and the rest of the children who had been in the clearing. They all shook their heads and muttered denials of having seen or heard anything to corroborate Alex’s story. Alex wasn’t surprised. The soul-enslaving spell the Shadow Wraith had used on them left them all with no memory of what had happened before it was lifted.

“It seems what we have here is a prank,” the Mayor said, his voice loud and triumphant. “And a serious series of crimes against the town.”

Alex and the rest of the Guild began speaking at once, pronouncing their innocence, the truth of their story, and denouncing the vile lies of Dillon. The Mayor shouted for quiet, which led to Alex’s mother and father adding their voices to the din, which was only made louder by the townspeople taking sides and voicing their opinions.

Alex could see Dillon smirking and wanted to punch him. He should have left the boy unconscious in the bushes where Rafael had felled him with the well-thrown stone. Instead, Alex tried to yell out the truthfulness of the story as the shouting reached a new level of intensity. Into this cacophony of sound came a high-pitched voice of dissonance that kept repeating a single phrase over and over.

Alex’s father’s magically amplified voice suddenly boomed over the clearing. “Quiet, I said!” The sound was so loud and so unexpected that everyone lapsed into immediate silence. “Now, what was that you were saying, young lady?” his father said, picking one girl out from the crowd with his steely glare. Alex followed his father’s gaze and found himself looking at Anna.

“I said he’s telling the truth,” Anna said, straightening herself up and raising her voice.

Her father, who stood next to her, shook his head in a patronizing fashion. “You must be mistaken, pumpkin,” the tall man said in a thick Russian accent.

“No, I’m not,” Anna said, her voice hot and defiant. “I remember everything after Alex saved me from the Shadow Wraith’s spell. It happened just like he said it did.”

“She’s confused,” Dillon said, desperately trying to catch Anna’s eyes. “He must have her under some kind of spell like he used on the town.”

“He’s lying,” Anna said, pointedly ignoring Dillon and looking instead at Alex. “Dillon hates Alex. He’s been trying to make everything that the Shadow Wraith did all week look like Alex and his friends were playing a hoax on the town.” Alex noticed the disdain that filled Anna’s voice as she said the words
friends. What is she up to?
he thought.

“Dillon?” Mayor McClint said as he confronted his son. “Is what she says true?”

Dillon looked from his father to Anna and back again and then stared right at Alex. “I’ll get you for this,” Dillon said and then turned and ran into the woods.

“Dillon!” Mayor McClint yelled after his son. “You get back here this instant.” But Dillon continued to run and was soon lost from sight.

The entire crowd in the clearing was silent, all staring at Mayor McClint, waiting for his pronouncement. All except Alex and Anna. Anna was staring into the woods where Dillon had disappeared. Alex was trying to figure out why Anna, of all people, would have supported him against Dillon. Then the look on Anna’s face told him everything he needed to know. Anna smiled. Not a big smile, not even one that anyone else would notice, but a smile all the same.