The Dragon's Descent (26 page)
V
ero surveyed the terrain around them. It seemed even darker on this side of the rickety bridge. Even his bright headlamp struggled to penetrate the utter blackness.
Kane shook Vero's shoulder. “What's he doing?” Kane gestured to Tack, who stood with both arms spread wide above the ground.
“Dowsing.”
“Yeah, but he's been standing like that for a few minutes now, and we really need to get going,” Kane said.
Vero nodded. He walked over to Tack and tapped him on the shoulder.
“I lost it,” Tack said.
Kane and Clover walked over as Vero asked, “What do you mean, you lost it?”
“I really felt that we needed to cross that bridge, but now I've got absolutely nothing,” Tack said as he hung his head. “Sorry.”
“Great,” Kane said, looking like he was about to punch something.
“Can't you even feel the general direction we should head in?” Vero asked.
Tack shook his head. As Kane looked off in the distance, Vero noticed his eyes suddenly went wide.
“What? What is it?” Vero asked.
“Panther!” Kane screamed.
Vero and Tack looked at one another, panicked. Kane ran into the dense forest.
“Run!” Clover screamed as she sprinted past them.
Vero and Tack took off, running blindly into the forest. Vero could hear the guttural roar of a panther, and it felt so close that Vero imagined he could feel its hot breath down his neck and its drool down his back. In reality, it was the sweltering heat of the forest, together with his own sweat. As they ran, everyone became separated; time seemed to melt away as they imagined the panther in close pursuit.
Suddenly, Vero screamed, “The trees! Quick! Get in the trees!”
They each clambered up the closest mossy tree they could locate.
“Vero, where are you?” Clover yelled, her voice sounding isolated and scared.
“Over here!” Vero answered. Their headlamps found each other and allowed them to make eye contact.
“What do we do?” Tack howled from a tall tree to Vero's right.
“Hopefully wait until he leaves!” Clover shouted.
“Except panthers are amazing climbers,” Kane shouted, the only one Vero couldn't locate. “We're not that safe in these trees!”
“Then why did we climb them?” Clover shouted, her voice shaky.
“Could be worse. It could have four heads,” Kane said.
Vero knew exactly what Kane meant.
“Okay, that's really dumb,” Clover called out.
“No, last time we were in the Ether, we had to deal with a four-headed leopard,” Kane said.
“Well, we're on earth. As far as I'm concerned, what happens in the Ether, stays in the Ether,” Clover quipped. “Right now we need to deal with a
one
-headed panther! It is one-headed, isn't it? Did anyone actually see it?”
“Yes, a big cat with a sleek black coat,” Kane answered, annoyed. “I think I know what a panther looks like.”
“It's too quiet. Maybe it's gone?” Tack asked, with a tinge of hope.
“Who knows?” Clover answered.
“Does anybody see it?” Vero asked.
“No,” the others answered simultaneously.
The crunch of twigs and dead leaves silenced everyone. The panther was on the ground, approaching Tack's tree. Tack screamed then scrambled, grabbing a branch and climbing higher as the panther drew closer to his hiding place.
“What did you guys do to escape the four-headed leopard?!” Tack howled.
“We cut its heads off!” Kane yelled.
“We had swords there!” Vero shouted.
The large cat leapt onto a low-hanging branch on Tack's tree.
Vero could hear Tack pleading and crying, “Please, God, if I make it out of this alive, I swear I'll do all my homework on time and wash the dishes andâ”
Thwack!
A stick hit the big cat in the side, stunning it. The panther turned its head. Kane stood on the ground underneath the cat, holding the stick. Kane's bravery quickly faded as his eyes then went wide, and he ran for the closest tree.
The panther bounded down out of Tack's tree, seeming almost wounded. As it pranced over toward Vero, he threw down his backpack, hitting the cat squarely in the head. The panther blinked and turned, appearing to decide Vero wasn't a meal worth the effort.
The lithe animal found its way to Clover's tree, where it circled, sniffing the air for the girl who hid in crevices of the tree above, camouflaged by the dark night.
The big carnivore made up his mind and bounded up into the tree. He wasted no time weaving his way upward. Clover held her breath, afraid any movement would get her killed. As silent tears rolled down her face, all was noiseless and immobile.
The hot breath of the panther sent chills down Clover's back. She peered up momentarily to see the menace right before her face.
Saliva dripped onto Clover's pant leg. She wanted to scream, but willed herself to stay smart. She knew that wild
animals liked to kill their prey themselves, and not eat anything that was already dead. So she remained unmoving and held her breath.
And held her breath.
And held her breath.
And held her breath.
Her vision was starting to blur as she turned purple and refused to blink.
I'm going to die. Right here. Right now. In a tree. In the middle of Sri Lanka.
Her body rebelled against her will.
She sucked in air. A deep breath. And blinked rapidly.
The panther continued to stare at her. The fiend was stoic and frozen.
Why hasn't it tried to kill me yet? I'm clearly alive and an easy target. Why aren't I dead?
She looked up into the creature's eyes and felt the wind knocked out of her once she recognized the golden-green eyes. It was the panther from her dream! And then the large cat leaned into Clover and nuzzled her face with the top of its head.
The panther then backed away and climbed down the branch. It turned back to Clover, beckoning her to follow.
Clover took a moment to start moving. The panther was waiting for her at the bottom of the tree. Clover climbed down as a beam of light hit her.
“Clover, watch out!” Tack yelled, pointing his flashlight at her. “The panther's there!”
“It's all right, everyone,” Clover calmly said. “Come down. I know this guy. He's okay. He's here to help us . . . he's here to guide us.”
Clover followed the panther. Vero, Tack, and Kane raced down their trees, then watched, almost in reverence, as Clover trailed the cat through the trees. Then they too began to follow.
As they stealthily made their way through the forest, no one spoke a word, as if they were afraid any sound would break the panther's enchantment. They followed the fluid movement of the feral cat as it led them to a glade in the forest where the moon shone brightly.
The panther guided them through a tract of low-lying, soggy soil. Vero could feel his sneakers sinking into the mud with each step. They trudged through a cluster of bamboo stalks taller than any of them. It reminded Vero of walking through a cornfield during Halloween. Clover was the first to emerge from the bamboo forest. When Vero arrived next, he found Clover alone, staring at a large rock outcropping atop a high and craggy hill. Her eyes scanned the area, searching for the panther. It was nowhere to be seen. Kane and Tack emerged from the bamboo as Vero made his way to stand alongside Clover.
“Where's the panther?” he asked.
“He's gone,” Clover answered. “He just vanished.”
“It led us to here?” Kane said, staring at the rock wall. “A dead end?”
“No, it's not,” Tack said, his hands splayed on the rock. “This is exactly where we need to be.”
I
got my mojo back,” Tack said proudly as he ran his hands over the sheet of rock jutting out of the mountainside.
“Good, so where do we need to go?” Vero asked, his headlamp shining on the rock wall.
“Through this rock,” Tack said.
Vero and Clover exchanged confused looks.
“How can we go through solid rock?” Kane asked, annoyance in his tone.
“Hey, my job is only to tell you where to go, not how to get there!” Tack shot back.
“Thanksâyou led us to a dead end!” Kane replied.
“You know, for an angel, you're kind of a jerk!” Tack shouted.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Kane yelled in Tack's face.
“Exactly what it sounds like!” Tack shot back.
“This isn't going to get us anywhere,” Vero told them. “Just cool it!”
Kane and Tack eyeballed one another. After a few tense moments, Tack lowered his eyes and backed away. Clover stepped over to them.
“If Tack says we need to get inside that mountain, then we have to find a way,” she said. “Don't forget, the panther led us here. I'm sure it was for a reason.”
Kane nodded. “Okay, fine. Vero and I will look over here . . .” Kane pointed to his left. “And you and Tack can search that way.” Kane pointed to his right.
Tack, Clover, and Kane turned on their headband flashlights. Beams of light lit up the area as Vero walked off with Kane. Tack paced around the rock formation, then climbed over boulders and stepped over fallen, rotted tree trunks, all while scouring the ground for any sort of opening. But he seemed to be growing more and more discouraged by the moment. Clover stepped up behind him.
“Any luck?” she asked.
“No,” Tack sighed as he sat down on a large rock with a fairly flat top.
Clover sat next to him.
“I still believe in you,” she said, patting his knee reassuringly.
Tack's eyes went wide when he looked at Clover. He quickly put his arm around her neck and drew her in toward him. He then kissed her on the lips! A look of shock came over Clover. With his lips still pressed against hers, Tack pulled something off Clover's neck. She abruptly stood.
“How dare you!” Clover shouted. “I can't believe you . . .”
“Wait, no!” Tack yelled. “It's not what you think!”
“Are you gonna say it was an accident? That your lips just
accidentally
pressed up against mine?!”
“No, I kissed you on purpose, and I'd do it again!”
“What?”
“I did it to distract you.”
“Distract me from what?” Clover shouted.
“This.”
Tack opened his hand, revealing a big, fat leech. Clover looked at it. She thought her legs might buckle out from underneath her.
“The kiss was the only way I could pull it off without you knowing, 'cause I knew you'd freak otherwise,” Tack said, flinging the leech to the ground.
“Are there more on me?” Clover panicked. “Quick, look!”
Tack removed his headlight and shone it up and down her body. Clover turned around so he could check her backside. Tack put the headlight back on his head.
“You're good,” he said.