Evil Eyes 34
Joanne's head snapped around so fast that the helicopter started to spin out of control because of it. She quickly turned her head back, focusing straightening out the aircraft. Then she slowly looked behind her and found a shy, smiling Alexis staring at her.
She could see that the girl was talking, but with the noise of the helicopter and the headset she was wearing, she couldn't hear a word. Joanne set the controls, tapped the seat next to her a couple of times, then checked to make sure the controls on that side were indeed dead. She didn't want a Dracolich sympathizer crashing them.
Alexis took her time, doing her best to not touch anything as she climbed into the seat. The restraint harness was too big for her so Joanne didn't try to strap her in. She did, however, reach over and hold out a headset for her to put on.
Joanne motioned for Alexis to put it on her head like hers was. She found it rather cute as a small child wearing overalls that were far too big for her was sitting in a seat that was also too big for her and was putting a headset that was, like the other things, too big for her.
She forgot for a moment that Alexis was a potential enemy. Joanne spoke into her mic. "Can you hear me?"
At first Alexis started to nod her head, but all that did was allow the headset to start to fall off of her, forcing her to quickly grab it and put it back into place. "Yes," she answered, all the while never taking her eyes off of Joanne.
"How did you end up in a lake?"
"I... we just wanted to help. It had Mom on the ground and was going to hurt her." Alexis began looking at her hands that were cradled in her lap. Her lip quivered briefly then her chin came up. "I'm a brave Bear!" she stated with more conviction.
"And what did you do?" Joanne still wasn't sure what to think.
"I jumped and used my claws to attack it. I ended up inside it so I attacked it and hurt its eye. Then it tried to shake me loose but that didn't work." Alexis paused as she tried to think about what had happened and when. She condensed it down to simple episodes. "Then we were flying. ...It was scary," she explained, "but I kept attacking it. Then it crashed into water and I had to swim. It was hard and I was so tired."
Alexis turned her head to look at Joanne. "Did you save me?" Alexis had no idea how she ended up in the helicopter. She was happy to be there but didn't understand how she got there.
"I fished you out of the lake; you were having trouble swimming." Joanne didn't want to scare her by talking about her drowning.
"Thank you." Alexis went back to looking at her hands. She was in trouble, she just knew it. Mom was going to be so mad at her, she was convinced of it.
"So you attacked the dead Dragon?" Joanne was still wrapping her mind around that part. A little Bear had attacked the most dangerous beast she had ever heard about.
"It was going to hurt my mom!" Alexis cried out. ..."I'm a brave Bear," she insisted defensively with a little more conviction.
"That you are, little one, that you are." Joanne chuckled softly. There was just something about that family. "You said 'we.' Who was the other person with you?"
"Sam. ...She sent me to Mom but she flew off a different direction. Do you know where she is?" Alexis still didn't understand why Sam hadn't gone with her. They were both going to go help their mother. At least that was the plan.
"I'm sorry, I don't know, Alexis."
"Where are we going?" Alexis tried to look out the window by lifting up to look over the instrument cluster.
"Sit down, sweetie, it's safer." Joanne watched her suddenly plop back down in the seat with a look on her face like she was afraid she'd done something wrong. "The Dragon's headed east, so, so am I. It's going somewhere and I want to know where. I'll try and kill it if I can."
"Oh...can I help? I'm a brave Bear, you know." Alexis was willing to attack the Dragon again. After all, except for getting wet, nothing bad had really happened to her.
"We'll have to see." Joanne pressed a button on her stick. "Say again, Jess." She had missed most of what Jessica had said.
"Kim and Miles have found Kate and Rick. Both are badly hurt, Kate more than Rick. Kim said that her tail looked like someone had tried to remove it.
Mark has alerted Jonathan who's going to fly to the Kodiak Community to ask for a healer. Kim has a wild idea and is headed to Johanna and Oscar's. They want to borrow his horse trailer to try and find some cows to buy and feed to Kate," Kim related.
"MOM"S HURT?!" Alexis, who had heard every word, suddenly spoke up, sounding very concerned and quite upset.
"I take it you still have Alexis," Jessica chuckled. "Your mother will be fine, honey. She's just really hungry and needs food so she can feel better."
"Cows?" Joanne questioned.
"We need large animals for Kate's Dragon to eat. It was either that or horses or pigs. And since Oscar is a Horse shifter, we settled on cows." They hoped they could find a few and doubted that there was a pig farm anywhere near there.
They had also ruled out going into town and buying all the beef, pork, and turkey they could lay their hands on. It just wouldn't be enough. Even if the grocery store did have entire sides of beef in the cooler.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
Ava was getting really hungry again even though all she was doing was mostly gliding. She would occasionally flap her wings to maintain altitude. However, she had no idea where she was going. It was still dark and she was doing her best to avoid the places that had lots of lights showing. Her mother had made it very plain that she was not to be seen as her Dragon. It would be dangerous if people saw her as a Dragon.
She was coming up on a mountain range that she could just barely see in the distance. She began to turn to avoid it since she wanted to keep gliding and not work hard to go over it. But Sam wanted her to head right for it. She darted off of Ava and flitted all over. Then she shot off in the direction of the mountains before coming back, only to do it again.
It wasn't until Ava was headed the right direction again that Sam returned to Ava's back to ride and rest. It felt weird to just glide along like that. She really wanted to get out there and fly herself, but that was tiring and she trusted Ava. Ava had done a lot for her when she was hurting.
"Mom," Sam whispered softly. Kate was great and she considered her her new mother, but she still missed her parents and her brother.
Sam didn't know when it had happened, but she suddenly noticed that they were right over where they needed to go. She jumped off Ava, darted all over the place, then shot almost straight down in a spiral. It was time to save her mother – her new mother.
Ava almost missed it except Sam darted around her head before diving for the ground. Ava was afraid to even try to fly like that and didn't dare fly toward the ground very fast. She wasn't that confident in her flying ability yet.
It took time, but Sam was flitting all over the place as she approached a white, two-story house. It had a small porch, was old-looking, and really needed painted. She also noticed there was a large pond off in the distance behind it.
Sam started flitting around the patio, wondering how to get inside. Maybe an open window? She flew all around the building looking for a way in.
What she wanted was inside. She could even see it in her mind. The Unseelie had seen it and knew just where it was.
Sam was exasperated; she didn't see anyway inside. So she transformed into her human shape, stepped up to the front door, and tried to open it, only to find it locked. She was angry and tried to rattle the door open holding onto the doorknob. "OPEN!" Sam so wanted inside. A sudden loud sound caused her to turn to look behind her. She truly feared that it was the dead Dragon, but what she saw was Ava. "It's inside but I can't get the door open, it's locked." She really wasn't sure what Ava could do to help her.
Ava wasn't sure what to do, either, however, her Dragon had an idea. Soon she found herself breathing heavily. She felt her lungs filling with air and rapidly expelling it.
Sam was afraid Ava was sick and quickly transformed into her dragon. She fluttered over to Ava to see if she could help her.
Suddenly Sam was amazed when a massive amount of fire gouted from Ava's mouth and struck the front of the house. The sound was deafening. Wood broke into bits and windows shattered. The door was effectively gone as were all of the windows on that side. Sam was quite impressed and wondered if she could do that since she was a dragon, too.
Sam didn't waste a moment and flew for the opening and darted around all over once inside. It was in a back room just sitting there. She zoomed back there, transformed into her human shape, and reached for it. SHE HAD IT! Now what did she do with it?
The Unseelie feared that it would be broken so she tried to break it. She quickly found that it was too strong for her. It looked flimsy but it was resistant to everything she tried.
Sam had one idea left. So she ran to the front doorway and went outside. "We need to break it to save Mom and Dad but it's too strong for me." Sam held out the item for Ava to see.
It was long, quite thin, had these silver hoops at even intervals, and had a large object on one end. It looked really fragile to her so she didn't understand why Sam couldn't just break it in her hands.
Still Ava was willing to give it a try, so she stretched out her neck, opened her mouth wide, and waited. Sam carefully put in Ava's mouth.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
Joanne had what she was sure was the dead Dragon and the unknown out in front of her. Stopping to get more weapons had obviously allowed the Dragon to get out in front of her. Still she was pleased that she was slowly gaining on it.
"Where are we going?" Alexis asked. She had resigned herself to just looking at the color screens in front of her and the ones in front of Joanne.
"This diamond is the Dragon; the diamond out in front of it is an unknown that I've been following. All of us appear to be going the same direction. The idea is to catch up to the Dragon and attack it with my missiles."
Joanne suddenly saw a pair of new diamonds that didn't have transponders associated with them. What had her concerned was that they were traveling very fast. "Fighter planes." Just what she didn't need. She was no match for F-15s armed with missiles. She could fool their missiles but she had nothing to fight back with save for a few thousand rounds of ammunition that would only last seconds. There were also three Hellfire missiles, but she was reserving those for the Dracolich.
Alexis had heard the words and started looking at the color screen to see if she could see them. "What's it doing?" Alexis pointed and got Joanne's attention.
What Joanne saw was the diamond out in front headed for ground, fast. Yet it also looked like a controlled descent to her. "It's landing on the mountain?" It didn't look like there was an airstrip anywhere near there.
"Jess, do you copy?" Joanne called out.
"I copy. The others are off trying to buy cows for Kate," she responded.
"I need you to try and find out if there are any private airstrips in the Catskills. I have a target out in front of the dead Dragon that looks to be landing." She really only cared about the Dragon but she was curious. If it was a smuggler maybe she could get two birds with one stone. Get the authorities into that area to pick him up.
"Wait one," Jessica replied. Joanne waited somewhat impatiently, still gaining on the dragon.
"There is Sha-Wan-Ga Valley Airport outside Bloomingburg, New York, that has an unpaved runway of 2,400 feet. But it was abandoned years ago. There's also Catskill Valley Airpark outside South Cairo, New York. It's a small airfield with a paved runway and a control tower. That's about it."
"Thanks Jess. I'll be engaging the Dragon in a few based on my closure speed." Joanne pulled up the coordinates for the first airstrip on her screen. "Okay, so you're not going to that one," she muttered to herself.
Suddenly the diamond that was the Dragon started a dangerous dive that was following the target out in front. "Both are going the same place?" Joanne didn't understand. But the Dragon appeared to be in a hurry, so, so was she. She began her nosedive to increase speed so she could get within range.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
Ava and Sam heard a loud sound as a sudden gust of wind stirred up a huge amount of dust and debris. Ava turned her head with the item still in her mouth.
What she saw scared her to death. It was a massive Dragon that was all bone. Its face looked funny and its back was blackened. It also had one angry glowing red eye. The shock and being frightened out of her wits caused her to close her mouth. Whatever the item was had easily snapped into two pieces. Then she tucked her wings in tight and started backing up between the house and the trees. Just looking at that thing had her heart almost pounding out of her chest.
What they saw and heard was a terrible scream as a sudden beam of blue light burst out of Ava's mouth and shot up into the night sky.
Sam started flitting around all over while Ava looked for a way to escape. But there was no room to run so she could get into the air and fly away. Plus the blue light streaming from her mouth had her frozen in terror.
They both saw the Dragon collapse onto the ground and just lay there. Ava opened her mouth and let the two pieces fall as she backed up and tried to put some distance between her and that massive bony Dragon.
However, it just laid there and did nothing. When suddenly, as she managed to squeeze herself between the house and a few trees, the area in and around the Dragon erupted in an explosion followed by two more that caused debris to fly everywhere.
Ava never did notice that Sam had landed on her head. They both watched as the dust settled and revealed that there were bones and shards of bone lying everywhere.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
He couldn't believe any of it. How had all of his plans failed so spectacularly? His fury at ever having placed any trust in that damn Unseelie had him fuming with absolute hatred. That accursed thing had gotten exactly what it had coming to it.
Up until yesterday everything had been so perfect. The humans had nothing that could threaten him. He was a Dracolich and was not remotely concerned about a few ships, submarines, or airplanes. Their weapons meant nothing to him. The Dragon who had created him was a shifter and knew all about these weapons.
He actually had his future directly under him just yesterday. All he had to do was perform the spell and obtain the necessary parts from that young Dragon. He just needed its heart, a little blood that he was only to happy to spill, then to perform the ritual.
Taking over its body would allow him to live again. He would be able to taste blood once more, listen to the pathetic humans beg for their lives.
It should have been so easy.
His little campaign of terror had been amusing. He had watched sailors drown, planes crash, and ships sink into the ocean. Destroying that monument to uselessness on that tiny island had been immensely satisfying. He'd watched the human ants run for their lives as they screamed in terror, only to disintegrate under his breath weapon.
Even with all his fun, it had failed to draw out the Dragon that he wanted most. He had been forced to chase it down until finally it had confronted him. It was such a fool to think it could defeat him.
He hadn't counted on it having help, unfortunately. He was furious about that damn helicopter that had launched missiles at him. However, he was enraged that a giant Bear had had the audacity to attack him and rip off his jaw. Even now he was thinking of how he was going to find another dead Dragon body to transfer himself into so he could go back.
The maneuver that had allowed it to breathe on his back had been a surprise. Still it brought a thrill to the fight. His target was actually worthy of being killed and becoming his next life.
Now he was racing to rescue his very soul. Leaving the object that contained his soul and hiding it in plain sight had seemed like a such brilliant idea. Who would ever expect that his soul would be kept in such a mundane item and left where anyone could see it and touch it?
Of course he had considered hiding it deep in some cave. Placing it under a pile of rocks in the deepest part of the ocean, but this had had an appeal that had made him smile. Now he was regretting that choice.
Landing just outside of the house and finding a baby Dragon with the object in its mouth was a shock. It wasn't possible was it? A baby Amethyst Dragon couldn't possibly be his undoing. All that effort lost because of an infant.
He watched his essence shoot skyward and felt his soul, his life, his dreams go with it.
It left behind the soul of the shifter with whom he had shared the body. No, more like had held dominion over was more accurate. 'At last! I'm so sorry, honey, so very, very sorry.' He knew he had screwed up and could only pray that he hadn't done anything to his family.
He had spent his life fighting his evil nature. He loved his wife and his family, he truly did. Just that when he had died in that stupid accident, he had made a deal. A bad one it had turned out.
'Oh, god, please don't hate me. I love you, both of you, so much.' And his soul drifted away to where all souls go.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
Using the helicopter's night vision, Joanne watched the Dragon make a dangerous descent that looked to be headed for a small building that she assumed was a house. She was quite surprised when she saw a small Dragon but couldn't tell what color it was.
"That's Ava!" Alexis shrieked as she pointed at the screen. She had seen her sister's Dragon countless times and knew what Ava looked like even if she couldn't see her color.
Joanne quickly looked at Alexis and could tell that she was serious so she accepted what she was saying as truth.
The Dracolich landed hard in what she took to be the driveway. That was quickly followed by seeing a brilliant blue light shoot up into the night sky going right past them by several yards. "What the hell..." Joanne had no idea what that was.
She kept her eyes locked on her screen and saw Ava backing up. "Just a little farther, honey, just a little farther." Ava needed to get out of the way.
"Fox One, ...Fox Two, ...Fox Three." Joanne pressed the button on her controls and launched all three of her recently acquired Hellfire missiles and they watched them hit the area where the bony Dragon was laying. Her night vision saw through the debris cloud and they both watched as pieces of the Dragon burst away in various directions.
"Did you kill it?" Alexis asked softly. She understood death, sort of. Mostly she just knew the Dragon needed to stop attacking her family.
"I don't know. I'm going to go find out." Joanne decided to risk it since it looked like those shots had done a lot of damage that her other shots hadn't been able to do. Which was a worrisome conundrum.
Joanne left the engine running as she unbuckled her harness and started to open the door, only to see Alexis trying to get out. "Stay there, Alexis. We may need to suddenly lift off. And I really need you to guard Serena, to keep her safe for me." She could see the conflict play across Alexis's face, however, she sat down in her seat.
Joanne opened the side door, got in, and secured a weapon. If the Dragon was still alive, or dead-alive, her weapon was most likely worthless. Still she felt better having one in her hand.
It had been a tight fit when she landed up the road leading into the site and the helicopter's rotor blades had hacked more than a couple of trees while descending. But those same trees gave her cover as she moved forward.
She darted across the road after creeping closer. What she saw was Ava poking her nose into a section of bone that was still mostly intact. Sam was flitting around all over the place. She even raced toward Joanne, circled her a couple of times only to zoom back toward Ava.
Eventually Joanne got close enough to poke her own pile of bones with her weapon. "I'll be damned." After all this time and all this devastation, it was finally dead after taking damage from three Hellfire missiles.
Joanne reached up and tapped her earpiece. "Jess, do you copy?" It was imperative that she share the news.
"I copy. Kim, Miles, and Mark are headed for Kate after purchasing a number of milk cows. Where are you?"
"A cabin in the Catskills. The Dracolich is dead. Soon as I get the binoculars out I'll connect it to download a visual," Joanne advised her.
"Say again?" Jessica all but collapsed; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Seriously!?" she whispered. It was too good to be true. "How?" They had thrown everything at it and it was finally dead.
XXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxXXXXXX
They couldn't sleep; the pain each of them felt kept them awake. It had also kept them silent. It was maybe an hour till dark when they heard the labored rumble of a car engine.
Neither of them saw a thing. 'Maybe it's Kim and the others,' Kate thought hopefully; she was tired and still in pain, not to mention starving. A moment later the noise stopped and she sniffed the air. That only caused her stomach to grumble even louder as her hunger pains made themselves known.
A moment later a Mountain Lion came bounding in and shifted into a naked Kim. "Sorry for being late, but it wasn't easy to get what we thought you needed. And I'm sorry for who came with us; they didn't give us a choice." She desperately hoped Kate didn't eat her for this.
It took a few minutes, but her mother came walking into the clearing carrying Aiden with her. 'MOM!' Kate couldn't believe it. Why had Kim brought her mother?
"Oh, sweetheart!" Johanna could see the pain on her daughter's face even if it was a Dragon's face.
All at once everyone's attention was centered on Aiden. Johanna was forced to drop him since he suddenly became too big and too heavy to carry.