Kendra huffed. "And a servant of the Sphinx. How do you like taking orders from a human?"
Gavin's face hardened. "The Sphinx may be a brilliant strategist, and it may serve my purposes to aid him for a time, but before the end, the Sphinx will learn that no mere mortal is my master."
"Why not teach him by switching sides and helping me?"
Gavin snorted derisively. "No, Kendra, I will not be helping you. I want the demon prison open."
We're coming, Kendra.
She did not hear the words with her ears. They were chanted in her mind. Although a thrill of hope raced through her, Kendra tried to keep her face composed. She needed to keep Gavin talking.
"You want to open the prison on your terms, not the Sphinx's."
"We should not be having this conversation." Gavin turned and raised his sword. A screeching astrid flew toward him. The blade flashed, and the owl fell. A second astrid came behind the first, talons outstretched, human face set in a determined expression. Gavin cut it down as well. A third astrid streaked along the passage from the opposite direction. Gavin pivoted and slew it with a well-timed slash.
Kendra covered her eyes, unwilling to look at the three dead astrids. "Stop!" she cried. "Stop, he'll kill you!"
"Astrids?" Gavin asked, looking up and down the passage. No other owls flapped into view. "Even as a human, I
could kill astrids all day! Nowhere easier than in a narrow passage like this. Send them all and let's be rid of them! Whose help will you summon next? Chipmunks? Snails?"
"I didn't call them," Kendra said.
"We had best get going."
"If Nafia is standing guard, how did the astrids get through?"
"The same way chipmunks would get through," Gavin said. "Nafia is guarding against threats, not pathetic owls."
"I'm not coming willingly," Kendra said. "You'll have to knock me out or kill me."
"Easily done," Gavin said with a shrug.
Then a dragon with silvery white scales materialized behind him. The dragon was not particularly large, hardly twice as tall as Gavin, but even with its wings folded, the streamlined creature barely fit in the passageway. Raxtus stared at Kendra, then glanced from her to Gavin uncertainly.
Gavin quickly checked over his shoulder. Raxtus disappeared just in time to avoid detection, then reappeared once Gavin turned back to face Kendra.
"You're overacting," Gavin remarked, "but it never hurts to be sure. You can save the theatrics. If you want me to look away from you again, you'll have to do better than comically gawking over my shoulder."
Kendra returned her gaze to Gavin. Raxtus loomed right behind him. Gavin kept his eyes fixed on hers.
"I don't blame you for wanting to take a swing at me," he went on, "but try to show a bit more ingenuity. I have excellent senses. If something tried to creep up behind me, I would know."
Raxtus shook his head.
Kendra fought the urge to stare at the dragon. He had Gavin trapped! The hallway was much too cramped for Gavin to transform. All Raxtus had to do was strike. As she watched him peripherally, the silver-white dragon looked hesitant. He leaned his head forward, mouth opening slightly, then stopped himself, pulling back a tad.
"At least now you're looking over my shoulder more subtly," Gavin complimented. "Had you glanced that indirectly the first time, I would have been much more startled. You might have even earned a chance to land a cheap shot." He snorted as if the idea of resistance were ridiculous.
Kendra had to motivate Raxtus. She had to do it without directly talking to him, and it had to happen now.
"Maybe I should stop trying to fool you," Kendra sighed.
"Now you're making sense," Gavin replied. "I wish you meant it."
"What about the other dragons?" Kendra asked. "Won't they be mad you took the key we got from the Dragon Temple? Won't they be angry you killed the dragons who came after us? What about Celebrant?"
Gavin chuckled. "We'll be long gone before any of them really know what happened."
"But Celebrant is supposed to be the toughest dragon alive," Kendra said. "Aren't you worried he'll want revenge?"
Gavin shook his head. "Celebrant is the one who should be worried. After I open the demon prison, I'll be able to descend on him with an army of such power as the world has never seen. Trust me, there will be a new king of dragons before long. Kendra, you're staring way too obviously again."
Raxtus bated his fangs, his brilliant eyes brimming with rage. His neck coiled slightly, then his head darted forward, teeth flashing, and with one swift bite, a large portion of Gavin went missing. The sword clattered to the ground. The dragon's forelegs propped Gavin up, and with three more bites, he was gone.
Kendra gawked at Raxtus in stupefied wonder.
"You know," the dragon said, still chewing, "for such a bad guy, he tastes pretty good."
"You did it!" Kendra gasped. "Where did you come from?"
"The astrids alerted me to your predicament." The dragon examined the dead astrids on the ground. "After so many centuries, these are the first of their kind to perish. My fault, as usual. I came here, invisibly of course, and saw Nafia standing guard. I chickened out. So three of the astrids went in. When I heard them die, something snapped, and, well, here I am. Better late than never. Sorry I hesitated. I've never slain a dragon before."
Kendra remained stunned. "You must be the only dragon who can fit inside Sidestep Cleft."
"Even I can't squeeze through all the way. But I could hear the thoughts of the astrids, and knew you were on this side of the narrowest gap."
"You ate Gavin. You ate Navarog."
"Not very gentlemanly to ambush him while he was trapped in human form by a narrow cave. But then again, he was no gentleman."
She wanted to hug Raxtus. Unable to resist, she strode forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. His scales felt hard and cold. As Kendra clung to him, the dragon began to shimmer and gleam as if sunlight were reflecting off of his bright scales.
"Whoa," the dragon said, his voice amazed. "What are you doing?"
Kendra pulled away. "You're shining."
Raxtus blinked. "I feel really good."
"I'm full of magical energy," Kendra said. "When I touch fairies, they glow brighter."
"Feels like you lit a fire inside of me."
"You've touched me before," Kendra said, somewhat befuddled.
"I've touched your clothes, like when I carried you. But never skin to scales until now. Hug me again."
She threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly. Raxtus shone brighter and brighter. His scales began to feel warm.
"Okay, enough," he finally said. She backed away. "I feel like I could explode."
"I can hardly look at you," Kendra said, eyes squinting.
Suddenly the dragon was gone. "I can still turn invisible," he said. "We should go."
"Let me check something." Kendra used the rain staff to probe the smoldering remains of the knapsack, hoping some connection to the room might remain. As she prodded aside the charred remnants, she found no evidence of an opening. The mutilated knapsack had lost all shape.
"Your friend is trapped inside?" Raxtus asked.
Kendra nodded, not trusting her voice to hold if she spoke.
"I don't think we can access the room anymore, but I'll bring what is left of the backpack. Maybe someone smarter than me can find a way in." He grabbed up the burned flaps of shredded leather. "Where should we go?"
"I think Seth made it back to Thronis," Kendra said hesitantly. She knew Raxtus was afraid of the sky giant.
"The griffins proved he was on your side," Raxtus said. "But the spells protecting his stronghold still might harm us if I try to fly there."
"Should we just stay here?" Kendra wondered.
"No. Not counting whatever happened to the guardians, four dragons are dead. Five, including Navarog. We need to get away from the scene of the crime."
"Where? Blackwell Keep?"
"You don't want to get Agad involved," Raxtus warned. "He won't like all of these dead dragons one bit. If he sheltered you, other dragons would probably attack seeking vengeance, plunging Wyrmroost into chaos. I'll take you to my lair. It is far from here and well hidden."
Kendra picked up the unicorn horn, her rain staff, and her flashlight. "The egg is too heavy."
"Not for me," Raxtus replied. "All four of my claws are useful for grabbing. Follow me. Walk this way. Keep that light turned off. Toward the end, when the passage widens,
I'll pick you up. If the rain keeps falling, and we're quick and lucky, we'll slip away right under Nafia's nose."
Kendra followed the dragon along the passage. Once the passage grew wide, she felt his claw take hold of her waist, and then they were soaring up into the rainy night. Since she had stopped shaking the staff, the storm had lost some of its fury, but the winds continued to gust, and the rain felt icy cold against her face. How could water that cold not be frozen?
Glancing up and back, Kendra saw a looming shape through the rain that might have been Nafia perched on a craggy outcrop. The shape did not give chase.
Kendra felt like she had parachuted into a hurricane. Swirling winds buffeted them, coming from above and below. Even a small, aerodynamic dragon like Raxtus seemed overmatched by the turbulent gales. Sometimes he fought the gusts, sometimes he used them, zooming and stalling, twisting and plunging, curving and rising. As they gained altitude, the rain turned to hail, pinging off the dragon's invisible scales. Kendra's winter attire offered some protection against the cold and wetness, but eventually she began to shiver. She lost all sense of direction as erratic winds propelled them through the frigid darkness.
At last they alighted in a small grotto. When Raxtus made himself visible, his brightness lit up the room better than a bonfire. Flowstone covered the walls and floor like frozen caramel. On a stone shelf near a glittering patch of calcite roosted an astrid.
"Is this your lair?" Kendra asked.
"This hole in the wall?" Raxtus laughed. "No, my lair isn't grand, but it isn't quite this tiny and bare. The astrid summoned me."
Your brother is well.
"Seth?" Kendra asked. "Have you seen him?"
Others in my cadre have seen him. He is with the sky giant. Now that we can speak to fairies, two of us brought a fairy to Thronis to serve as an interpreter. Your brother and the giant know you are here. They suggest you wait here until morning.
"Then what?"
The giant will slacken the weather long enough for you to dash to the exit with the other survivors from your party.
"What about Trask? And Tanu? And Mara?"
Those three are well. The giant has been using his seeing stone to locate them. Griffins are recovering them as we speak. They will take shelter around the preserve.
In the morning, a griffin will come for you, and you will rendezvous with your friends at the gate.
"I'll stay with you until morning," Raxtus promised. He raised a wing. "You can sleep up against me. Your energy made me warm."
"Okay," Kendra said. "Thank the giant for me."
I'll stay with you as well.
Kendra crept underneath the upraised wing, and Raxtus lowered it over her like a blanket. The dragon was right-- he was warm. Almost immediately she stopped shivering. It was actually quite cozy.
Closing her eyes, Kendra tried to shut down her mind.
At least Seth was all right. And some of the others had lived. Even Mara, who had looked like a goner.
Kendra licked her lips. Against all odds, she had escaped Navarog. She might actually live through this. She might see her parents and grandparents again. She might grow up.
Kendra tried not to picture Navarog devouring Dougan. She tried not to envision Warren, injured and trapped in the storage room. She tried not to visualize Mendigo disintegrating. She tried to forget what she had learned about Gavin, and tried to ignore that she had seen him eaten right in front of her.
Where was sleep? When would it come for her?
She tried not to worry about what the morning would bring. She tried not to wonder what new problems would arise on the way to the gate. She tried not to stress about what might await beyond the colorful walls of Wyrmroost.
Where was a nice, strong sleep potion when she needed it?
Outside the wind howled. Beside her the dragon breathed softly. She focused on the wind, listened to the breathing, and sleep overtook her.
Chapter 28 The New Knights
Feeling the vibrations of the road, Kendra tried to rest her eyes. Occasionally she would peek out the window at the leafless trees blurring by, or across the SUV at her brother. They would soon be back at Fablehaven.
Tanu had hinted that Grandpa had a secret he wanted to share. It had not sounded like happy news. She and Seth had pressed him for info, but the Samoan had remained tight-lipped, insisting that her grandfather wanted to relay the information in person.
Tanu sat up front at the wheel. Elise sat beside him on the passenger side. She had met up with them at the airport for added security.
Their departure from Wyrmroost had gone smoothly. The griffin had appeared on schedule, Kendra had bid farewell to Raxtus, and the others had been waiting for her after a swift flight to the gate. Mara had broken a few ribs, but Trask, Tanu, and Seth had survived relatively unscathed. When they exited, the distracter spell did not repulse them, and the horn functioned perfectly as a key.
