Hello, friends! :)
Thank you SO much to bookworm250250, Jett, WolfishMoon, Zmusic2014, hamaiasa, and guest! You all are so kind, and it made my heart so happy to read each of your sweet comments when I got back from my trip. :D You are awesome!
Guest: It's almost done! Thirty is my goal. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you continue to enjoy! :D
And to everyone else reading/(hopefully!) enjoying this: please review at the end! I really am genuinely interested to know what everyone thinks! Even if it's just one word, even if you hated it; I want to know!
Fun fact: the spinosaurus is thought to live in Africa. Yay! That's what I based my image of Mokele-Mbembe on to begin with, even though the real thing isn't thought to look anything like that. And it lived in Africa, so that worked out perfectly! Double yay! If you want to know more about it, look it up and read about it! It's really interesting.
All original characters and storyline belong to Scott Westerfeld; I own nothing!
:)
Six-year old Deryn peeked over of the rim of the basket. She had to stand on her tippy toes to look at the grass below. Given, Da said they were only fifteen feet up, but fifteen feet was much, much taller than she was and that was slightly frightening.
Her eyes widened as a gust of wind blew the basket a few feet faster than usual. "Da! Take me down; I'm scared!"
Her father laughed from behind her. "I'm right here, lass!"
She shook her head, crossed her arms, and sat down firmly, planting herself in the spot.
Da scooted down so she was looking at him. "But you told me you wanted to fly, didn't you?"
She had begged and begged him to take her up in a balloon for weeks. When he had finally agreed, she couldn't believe her luck! Jaspert had been eight when he went flying with Da for the first time and she was only six!
"Would you feel better if I held you?"
She nodded reluctantly as he scooped her up. "See? It's not that bad, is it?"
She cracked one eye open to observe her surroundings. It wasn't that bad at all. In fact, she quite enjoyed the feeling that she had when she was up in the air, flying. It was only when she looked at the ground she remembered how high up she was. But with Da holding her, she felt quite safe and outgrew her fear of heights almost instantly.
She moved a bit and Da lessened his grip on her. For a moment, only a moment, she felt like he was going to drop her to the ground. She yelped and threw herself back into him.
Da held her tight in his arms.
"Deryn, I'm not going to let you fall."
She took a deep breath. "Promise?" she mumbled from his shoulder.
She felt him nod. "Aye. I promise, lass. And if you do, I'll always reach out and catch you."
Deryn felt a small shudder pass through her as she looked up at the enormous structure from the bottom of its steps. There were so many. It was intimidating, and the feeling that she might not be coming back down lingered. But she had to go. If she didn't, Dmitri would murder Cocijo and Alek for whatever his mad, stupid plan was. Still, though, she hesitated. She wished Da were here to nudge her on.
But he wasn't, and that was that. Slowly, she stepped up the first step, then the next and so on and so forth. Every time her foot slapped onto the cold concrete, she could her Themba's voice.
He lives in you.
Jaspert would never forgive her; that Deryn could accept. But her Ma. She hoped with every bit of Ma that she would be able to find the strength to pull through and get better. She would wear skirts for the rest of her life if she knew Ma would be all right.
He lives in you.
With each step she grew closer to the plateau on the top, so she could see more. About halfway up she could make out Dmitri's shape, standing and waving his arms like he was composing a symphony. He looked pure dead ridiculous. She couldn't see Cocijo or Alek, but she knew they were up there.
He lives in you.
She heard a scream and moved faster. When she was almost at the top, she slipped and fell, her bad knee hitting the sharp edge of the stairs. She bit back a groan and forced herself to get up despite the throbbing protests coming from her knee.
He lives in you.
The steps stopped. She looked around the plateau to see Cocijo tied to a table right next to where she was standing, bound at the hands and ankle, and Alek in the same situation in a table next to him away from her. Dmitri was standing with his back facing them. She immediately crouched down behind the solid stone table Cocijo was on to avoid being spotted. To get to Alek, she would have to walk behind Dmitri or crawl past Cocijo.
She peeked around the corner and saw the man looming down over something. His hands were gripping the table he was leaning over and his shoulders shaking… Was he crying? He appeared to be quite engrossed in whatever it was; hopefully that would give her enough time.
Quietly, she crawled over to the other end of the table where Cocijo's head was. Slowly she rose up onto her good knee, making sure that Dmitri was still facing the opposite direction, and pressed a hand over Cocijo's mouth so he wouldn't make any noise.
His eyes widened when he saw her; she removed her hand and placed a finger to her lips as she began sawing at the ropes tying his hands down with the maquahuitl. It was awkward, with the ropes being so small and the maquahuitl being so disproportionately big in comparison, but she managed.
"Deryn!" he whispered frantically.
"Shush!" she whispered back, one rope down.
She moved faster, breaking the other rope. She couldn't get near his feet without being right behind Dmitri, so she left that. At least his hands were free. She crouched down and was just moving to Alek down when a familiar, deafening roar that shook the air stopped her in her tracks.
"It's here," she heard Dmitri say. She could hear the mad grin in his voice.
She reached up to Alek and put a hand over his mouth. His forehead was bleeding a bit, as though he's been hit. That was her prince, fighting back. He moaned slightly as she shook him.
"Alek! Alek!" she whispered, trying to wake him up.
He blinked hard at her. "Deryn?"
"I'm right here, love," she answered, trying to stay calm.
She sawed quickly at the rope, and cut it successfully. And just as she was about to move to the next one, she was interrupted by a voice.
"You just have to be the hero, don't you, Deryn?" Dmitri said from behind her, rather flatly. He grabbed the sword and tossed it away and before she realized where he was, and a fistful of her hair, by which he dragged her to the end of the table. She struggled and flailed wildly, but none of that seemed to affect him. Then she looked at him for a moment. He didn't look his usual mad self; in fact, he looked quite sad. He left her where she was and moved back to the table.
She heard him murmuring. He turned around, holding a small, wooden doll in his hands. Deryn had never seen it before. It was rounded and fat at the bottom; once painted intricately with flowers and a face, though now much of it appeared to be faded. Was he really talking to a barking doll?
"What do you say, Vasilisa?" he said, holding it close to his mouth. He paused, as if waiting for a response. "Oh! How rude of me. You two haven't met, have you?" he said, looking at Deryn. "This is my sister, Vasilisa."
His sister was a sodding doll? How barking mad was he?
After a moment, his face darkened and twisted back to madness as he said, "She doesn't like you."
Before she even thought about it, she lunged at Dmitri and tackled him to the ground. He staggered, obviously not expecting the retaliation he was receiving. She hit him again and again, for every time she had so wanted to these past years. Every bit of anger she had ever felt coursed through her veins. He sputtered a bit and coughed and made the strangest sound.
Was he laughing at her?
Indeed. Wheezing, he said, "Fool. You are so predictable."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"
He smirked at her as he wiped a bit of blood from his mouth and spat out a tooth. "It is time for you to meet your creation, of course. I'm sure you're anxious to see how it turned out."
Very much awake now, Alek screamed from behind her, "Deryn! MOVE!"
She turned around slowly, dreading what was undoubtedly there.
For the first time, she was face to face with the very creature she had been fabricating for two years.
Only, it wasn't exactly face to face, for it was much, much bigger than she remembered designing it to be. It loomed above her, its yellow eyes looking straight down, studying the sight beneath it. It had the thick body of a basilisk, the great snake Deryn had fabricated in Africa. Around its head, almost like a lion's mane, were great, bright quetzal plumes. All down its body were shorter feathers that blended in with its scales; orange, purple, and green. A thin, red tongue flickered in and out of its mouth as it made a soft hissing sound, its body slowly bobbing side to side. It cocked its head at her in morbid curiosity. She recognized this stance. Like a snake about to eat its dinner.
She realized this just in time, for it lunged at her just as she hustled out of the way, just avoiding the snap of its fangs. She jumped to the side quickly, away from Alek and Cocijo. It recouped and moved just as fast, slithering after her, again twisting its head, interested in chase.
Deryn moved again, trying to get it as far away from Alek and Cocijo as she could. Perhaps if she could trick it, it would slither right over the edge and into the River. It snapped at her again unexpectedly; she lost her footing and fell onto her back. She crawled backwards on her elbows, but it was to no avail: the wall of the comb was in her way. There was nowhere to go. She looked up and saw the Quetzalcoatl still looming over her, tongue flickering in and out of its mouth, tasting the air. It bumped into the comb clumsily as it moved closer, knocking stones loose here and there.
Deryn shot once last glance at Alek. He was sitting up, desperately trying to free his other hand from the rope. She braced herself as it prepared itself to strike.
But suddenly the creature's head sort of snapped forward, like a person that unexpectedly misses the bottom of step of a staircase. It stopped for a moment, then seemed to shake it off. It moved closer and readied itself again and just when it looked about to lunge, a narrow line of skin on the back of its neck split and its head jerked forward again. Before she realized what was happening, the head of Quetzalcoatl snapped clean off and landed in front of her with a loud thump!.
As the monster's head fell, the rest of its body withered and jerked onto the ground. Cocijo, his father's maquahuitl in his hands, was standing a ledge next to where the creature's head had been. The maquahuitl must have been sharper than she'd thought to hack through that. The boy looked shocked at what he had just done; his eyes were wide and he was nearly shaking. The creature's body jerked and twitched, shaking madly. It wiggled over to the edge and slipped over the side into the River. A satisfied, loud roar came from that direction, this time much, much closer.
Dmitri stood frozen with a look of utter shock mixed with rage on his face, and charged over to Cocijo. He reached for the boy, who moved to escape his grasp, falling off the ledge in the process. He couldn't get up fast enough as Dmitri glided over to him and lifted by the neck. Deryn tried to get up on her feet, but a piece of stone had fallen on her leg, pinning her there. It wasn't that it was especially heavy; she moved it quite easily, but it had landed directly on her bad knee, further annoying it and slowing her down.
Cocijo's feet kicked the air madly while he gasped loudly for air. Dmitri snatched the sword from his hands, his eyes shining with madness.
"No matter," he spat. "I will simply spill the rest of your blood."
He raised the maquahuitl above his head, ready to bring it down upon the boy when he jumped and let out a very uncharacteristic yelp, rather effeminate at that. Cocijo took the chance to crawl away hurriedly toward the steps. But Dmitri didn't seem to notice. The man wiggled and shook his torso, dropping the maquahuitl. A furry blur ran down his chest and onto his back. His shaking and wiggling went down to his legs. He kicked, and the furry lump rolled out from the back of his pantleg. It was Bovril. The clever creature, wherever it had been, had evidently bitten the villain.
"Nasty," it declared while licking its lips before dashing off to avoid a kick. It ran to the steps to where Cocijo had gone.
Dmitri regained what was left of his composure and let out a breath that sounded like a growl. He moved to Alek, taking a knife from his belt. Feathers and plumes adorned the butt of it; it appeared to be quiet ceremonial.
Alek tried to move, but his other hand was still tied. "Deryn! Just go! Please!" he pleaded as he tried to free himself.
Dmitri stopped midstride and turned to her, grinning wickedly. Evidently, he had forgotten she was there. She tried to move, but with her bad knee roughed up, she wasn't fast enough. He grabbed her once again by the hair and dragged her in front of Alek.
"You have ruined everything I have done. Now you will watch the one person you love suffer and die, just as I have," he hissed, throwing her onto the ground. "And then it will be your turn."
She hit the ground and coughed for air. Knee screaming at her, heart pounding in her ears, she forced herself to stand up.
Cocijo's head poked up from the side where the steps where, Bovril on his shoulder. He was motioning madly towards the small table, mouthing something Deryn couldn't make it. Then she understood and dove for the doll.
She moved over to the edge overlooking the River and held the doll out over it. "Let him go, or I'll drop it," she announced.
Dmitri stopped cold and released his grip on Alek, eyes wide. Then he smiled at her wickedly as he took a step closer. "You wouldn't dare."
What did she care about his silly doll? She let it slip a wee bit to see what his reaction would be. He moved just a little faster and reached out though he was still too far away to catch it. Apparently it was more important than he'd let on. She smirked at him.
"I won't, will I?" she said, scooting along the edge. She moved to the middle and held the doll over the small fire that was burning. "Perhaps you'd rather me burn it?"
He stopped, a calculating gleam in his eyes. Seriously, he said, "If you do that, Deryn, we will all die."
As if she would believe him. Just as she was about to demand for Dmitri to untie Alek again, a clap of thunder broke out over them, and rain poured down, extinguishing the fire. Realizing her threat was now empty, he lunged at her and pushed her down, fingers curling around the doll. He snatched it from her and walked to the edge of the plateau, inspecting it for damage.
After a moment, he grinned at her madly. "You wouldn't have done it. You are too afraid to die."
She had hoped she wouldn't have to do this, but there was no other choice now. He was exactly where she wanted him. "See, that's where you're wrong."
With every last bit of energy she had, she hurled herself at Dmitri, completely blindsiding him. In a tangle of legs and arms, they both fell over the side, plummeting to the raging river below.