The night before...
"You know what I want," Tobias's hoarse, tear-choked voice rang
out in the darkness. "You know!"
Lecrian shuttered, trying to wake up.
An image appeared in the swirling darkness. Jake, the leader of the
young heroes, crawling on his hands and knees, trembling and pale,
trying to hide.Beyond him, a giant throne materialized. Atop the
throne sat an abomination.Lecrian tried to close his eyes, but that
was impossible in dreams.
The creature sitting upon the throne was huge. It towered above all
of the giants that Lecrian had ever seen, above the mighty dragons,
and even above, itseemed, the very clouds that decorated the sky. It
was a creature that seemedfully alive, but it was a strange
amalgamy of metal and flesh. But that was notthe worst. At the
very top of this monstrous giant sat, in place of a head, an eye. A
huge, blood-red eye that turned every which way, seeing
everything,looking for something.
Jake. It was looking for Jake.
The eye looked down. It saw him. And Jake knew it saw him.
I know an unfamiliar voice said, not attacted to this part of the
dream. Butalready there used to be six of you and now there is
five. Soon, Jake, it'll befour.
Jake, pale as a sheet, oblivious to the voice, staring wide-eyed at
the Big Red Eye, opened his mouth to scream.
Lecrian suddenly sat up in his bed, panting. His eyes frantically
searched the room until he recognized his home. He looked down
on the sheets, and saw thatboth they and himself were drenched in
cold sweat. Throwing the covers off andgingerly putting his feet
down on the cold rug, Lecrian, crown prince of Hineva,buried his
burning face into his hot, sweaty hands and trembled in fear.
Hestayed that way for a long time, waiting for his heart to stop
pounding and forhis shakiness to go away. He forced himself to his
feet and got dressed.
He double checked the whole castle. A few of his guards were
asleep, but never a pair asleep at once. He looked in both rooms
where four of the heroes slept, but they were safe and fast asleep,
totally undisturbed. With his faithful guards
standing watch, nothing could reach them without loosing an arm,
or at least theedge of surprize. Then he went to the stalls, woke and
prepared his horse, androde into the forest. Soon, he found the last
two children, but they were awakewhen he found them.
Sure that something had happened, Lecrian asked "Is everything
alright?" with genuine concern.
Tobias seemed to stretch in his tree. Is that it? He asked
grumpily. Of course everything is alright, unless you consider
loosing sleep because a jockeydecided to go on a midnight stroll
with his horse in the woods is something toreport.
Lecrian was taken aback. He's never seen this side of Tobias
before.
Aximili noticed his expression and explained. Tobias is
sometimes irritable when awaken.
Tobias sighed and fluttered down to a lower branch. Sorry he
apologized. So,what inspired you to come and wake us?
"I didn't mean to wake you," Lecrian smiled. "I sincerely tried to be
as quiet as possible. How did you know I was coming?"
Hawk hearing is better than humans. And Andalites Aximili
added reluctantly, And even when I sleep I always keep an eye
open.
Lecrian smiled all the more. These two couldn't be ambushed very
easily, and each one can easily take care of himself. They would
not be in danger. "I justfelt I should check up on all of you."
More dreams? Tobias asked. Lecrian nodded.
"I better let you two go back to sleep. Big day tomarrow." And he
turned around to remount his horse.
Lecrian? Tobias asked. Lecrian paused. Get your sleep,
alright? If you are right about these dreams of yours, you will need
every minute of rest you canget.
Lecrian rode off, deciding not to trouble the youths with his
troubles.
The next day, before the dance...
Lecrian walked down a long stone hallway. The ball would start
soon, and he needed to be there to make sure that the heroic
children would remain safe.Glimpses of images floated on the edge
of his vision, but he tried very hard toignore them, since he could
not make them go away.
"Hey, Lecrian!" a deep voice bellowed behind him. Lecrian spun
around, and relaxed when he saw who it was.
"Eran!" His face split into a grin as his brother-in-law-to-be and
best friend roughly shook his hand. "Where have you been all
day?"
"You must be older than you look, old friend. I was out hunting,
remember?"
Lecrian remembered. He suddenly felt sheepish.
"Well," Eran continued, letting his Prince off the hook, "You
should have seen ..." His eyes suddenly became unfocused, as if
looking at something in thedistance, which couldn't be very far,
considering he was facing a wall. Behindhim, a dark blur darted
away and disappeared into a crack in the wall.
Lecrian waited a second. He didn't like this. "Eran," he called
trying to get a response. Eran didn't answer.
"Eran!" he called louder, shaking his shoulders. He was about to
call again when Eran began to come to.
"Huh? Wha? Stop shaking me." Lecrian did. Eran shook his head,
then looked sheepishly at his friend. "I guess you're not the only
one who is loosing hismind due to old age." Eran tried to joke,
seeing his friend's overly concernedface. "I just blanked out for a
second."
"More like ten." Lecrian countered without a hint of humor. "You
should go and rest."
"But I feel perfectly fine."
"'Fine' people don't just blank out in mid-sentence like that.
Besides," he continued, with a hint of slyness in his voice, "you
wouldn't want to be tootired tonight at the dance. Your fiancee's
back, and I assure you she won't stopmoving once the dance starts."
Eran smiled slyly back. "You really know how to play dirty."
"Yep."
Eran laughed. Not a hint of his daze lingered, Lecrian noticed.
"Alright, I'll go. Besides, I don't think she'll want to see me like
this." Eran said as he showed Lecrian his dirt-ground hunting
clothes. "See you later, yourHighness." he said, bowing low.
Lecrian rolled his eyes self-mockingly and pushed his friend in the
direction of his room.
Once Lecrian left Eran and Eran shut the door, the rat that hid in
the crack crept out. It scurried to Eran's room and slipped under the
door. A few minuteslater, Eran yelled in startled explamation, but
his cry was cut short by a heavythud. Soon, sounds of something
being drug across the floor emerged, followedbut more movement
sounds.
The rat scurried out of the room, looked both ways, and hurried
through a crack in the wall to a space behind it. It pulled out a
metallic object that no one but the Animorphs have seen before,
and dragged it back under the door of Eran'sroom.
No one saw. No one heard. A few hours later, just as the dance was
about to begin, Eran opened the door and stepped out.
Double-checked his doublet to seeif his weapon was there.
Grinning wickedly, he locked the door and threw thekeys into the
crack in the wall. Whistling a song that he could not havepossibly
have known, Eran swaggered to the dance.
* * * * *
"I am terribly sorry," Eran appologized to Marco as the angry
princess, Ariana, stormed away. He quickly followed her.
"Don't try and butter me up now!" Marco yelled after him, "You
owe me a free refill after being attacked by a certain jealous
boyfriend I could mention!"Marco would have gone on with his
much exaggerated account of the bump Eran gavehim which got
him in such trouble with Ariana, but Ax interrupted him. Ax
wasbusy stuffing his face with treats while trying to say something
at the sametime.
"Swallow, Ax," Marco said. "You're not in snake morph."
Ax obediently swallowed, and with great self control said, "Marco,
Tobias and I only have thirty of your minutes left."
"And stop saying 'your minutes' since you are stuck with them,
too." Marco was pretending to be angry, not only because Eran
made him spill his punch, butbecause he was getting ready to cut in
between her and Eran, too. Besides, hereally was annoyed by Ax's
constant "your" minutes, hours, days, years, etcetera. Then he
looked at the center of the dancce floor, where Rachel andTobias
danced.
A crooked smile crossed his face. "And good luck. You'll have to
try and pry Bird-boy from the death-grip of Xena over there
without having your liver tornout." He made a "tsk" sound several
times, swinging his head back and forthsadly. "Poor, poor Ax,
they'll say. He was such a good, sensible blue-furred,freaky
four-eyes, scorpion-tailed centaur from planet Zenon 16.
Whateverpossessed him to go and face Xena, Warrior Princess? To
save helpless Bird-boyin her clutches?"
Ax looked at Marco with no comprehension in his eyes. Then,
realizing that Marco, his friend with the strongest case of 'humor'
of his five friends, beganto laugh.
"Hah. Hah. Ha--" Marco clapped a hand over Ax's mouth, silencing
him.
"Please," Marco begged, sounding pained, "Don't do that."
A few minutes later, Ax and Tobias were on their way to their
dressing room. Jake and Cassie left the ballroom to talk on the
sheltered balcony. Rachel, much to the dismay and severe
disappointment of many of the elligible batchlors,decided that she
was thirsty, and no, she does not want someone to fetch it forher.
The young men finally got the hint and left her alone. Rachel,
glowingsmugly at Marco's downtrodden expression, joined him.
"Oh, yeah, what a night," she greeted him happily. "What will it
take to get those poor souls to look for someone else?"
"A good, long sniff," Marco poked at her, cringing his nose.
"Woooowee! What did you put on tonight? La Femme Sweatte?"
"It's obviously working better than whatever you're wearing.
Exactly how many times have you been asked out onto the dance
floor? Hmmmmm?"
"Hey, you saw that crowd around me. They like my special
charisma. They loved me."
"Actually, I think they just wanted to see Ax since they lost you.
Nothing personal, but they just can't see you over each other's
shoulders." And theywent on and on, enjoying their insult and
comeback game.
Than Rachel became serious. She looked at the guards surrounding
the ballroom.
"Have you noticed the guards?" she asked.
"How could I not notice them. Lecrian has been very, very edgy."
"Tobias said that Lecrian was wandering around in the woods last
night. He said that he was checking up on each of us. You know, to
see if we are alright."
"And you think these guards are here for the same reason?"
"Yep."
"I agree. Thanks." The last word was directed at Eran, who handed
Marco a glass of punch.
"Oh, yes, now I remember why I came over here in the first place,"
she remarked as she reached for a cup.
"Uh, uh, uh." Marco intercepted her. Grinning widely, he
extravagantly bowed to her, then dramatically and slowly picked
up a cup and filled it to the brim. He bowed to her again, holding
the cup delicately out to her.
Rachel rolled her eyes, but accepted the punch.
But Marco wasn't done yet. "Would you like for me too sing for
you, oh vision of queenly loveliness?"
"Please, Marco. This is a ball, not a haunted house. We don't want
to scare these poor people off."
"We don't?" Marco asked, eyes wide in innocence.
"No, stupid." Rachel was getting irritated.
"Was that a royal 'we'?" Marco inquired.
"Shut up, Marco," Rachel threatened.
"Yes, your highness, Warrior Princess Xena."
"Marco," she said sweetly, "if you do not shut up, you'll be missing
a kidney."
Marco laughed. He gulped his punch down, than grimaced. The
punch had a strange aftertaste.
boom
The crowd grew silent. There was a storm outside, but King
Themis said that no thunder would be heard in the castle.
Unnoticed, Marco began to feel queesy. He felt as if the room was
spinning.
Boom! Lecrian and his guards began to evacuate the people.
Rachel put her glass down and focused her mind on whatever was
coming. Whatever was making thebooming noise, it wasn't
thunder, and it wasn't staying still. That meant thatit was alive and
getting closer.
Unnoticed, Marco began to sway. He dropped his glass and
grabbed onto the table, trying to fight off his dizziness.
CRACKKKKK!!!!! Suddenly, part of the edge of the ceiling and
wall were gone.
Stone screamed and tore. Sheets of rain poured in through the
broken ceiling. People screamed and ran from the room, seeking
safety from whatever it was thatcaused the stone to cry in pain.
Rachel lost her footing as the castle shook
like it was hit by an earthquake, sending both her and Marco to the
ground. Rachel saw the tear in the ceiling and wall and saw the
debris fall, but no onewas hurt. Or so she thought.
One cry of despair rang from the darkness outside, from the
balcony. It belonged to a voice she knew very, very well.
"JAKE! NOOOOOOOO!!!" Cassie screamed.
Lightning flashed soundlessly, illuminating the scene for a brief
second that seemed to last forever. Cassie was pushing herself off
the floor, her eyeslocked in horror on Jake. Jake layed still as
death, crushed beneath a fallenrock. Beyond them both, beyond the
balcony's edge and looking at them, twoblack, fiery eyes glowed,
teeth two feet long gleamed, and scales the size offists glistened off
a serpentine neck and head and gigantic wings. Even
Rachelrecognized it for what it was. A dragon.
"GRAAAAAAAKKKKKK!!!" the dragon roared in truimph.
"Cassie!! Jake!! Look out!!" Rachel screamed as the light
disappeared. She pushed herself up to her feet, searching her mind
for a morph that could help.
She was about to just run into the darkness as she was for fear that
she didn't have time to morph when a hand clasped her ankle.
Rachel snapped her head to Marco, who was holding her ankle.
"Get up, Marco!" she yelled at him. "A dragon has attacked Cassie
and Jake. They need our help.Now!"
Marco groaned. She barely heard him as he tried to say something.
Weakly, beating past the fog in his mind and the pain blinding him,
Marco begged "help."
Rachel had no idea what was wrong with Marco. All she knew was
that he needed her help. She looked back to where Cassie and Jake
were, trying to decide whatto do.
King Themis and his sons made the decision a lot easier for her.
Lecrian shouted orders to his many soldiers, leading some onto the
balcony, sending others tothe high catwalks of the ballroom where
longbows and quivers full of arrows, and sending the rest outside
the ballroom so they could fight the dragon on groundlevel. King
Themis lifted one hand while the other flashed. The rock on
Jakelifted,light illiminated the night, and the rain disappeared.
Cassie ran over to Jake,and Crimber stood between them and the
dragon, holding a body-length shield.Herlim focused on his sword
and the weapons of the soldiers, making them glowred-hot. And
Cassie, the fastest and best morpher, began to change.
Rachel reached down to Marco and shook him vigorously. "Get up,
you idiot. Morph!"
"Poison," Marco murmured, trying to focus his thoughts.
"Figure it out later! Just morph before you die." And she shook him
all the more violently.
Yes. Morph, Marco thought. Didn't know why, but yes. And Marco
began to grow. Black hair shot up from his skin as he muscles upon
muscles ripped out of hisfrail frame. The clothes streached and
began to tear, but he didn't care. Thepain and fog and dizziness was
dissipitating, and he was feeling a lot betteralready.
A new voice screamed. Marco turned around to see Ariana
standing in the doorway, hand over mouth and eyes wide in terror.
Hey, it's only me. Tall, dark, handsome Marco. Now I come with
muscles. He wasn't nearly done morphing, but he was morphed
enough for thought-speak.
"Marco. She could care less if you are a gorilla or not, since there
really is no difference between it and you. But she's not looking at
you."
Marco turned to face her, only halfway done morphing. He saw the
battle outside.
Oh.
"Marco you idiot, go to your demon morph."
Yep. No problem, Xena. And Marco reversed the morphing
process, getting smaller. Last, his gorilla hair disappeared, leaving
him in shreaded rags.
"And why aren't you morphing, may I ask?"
Rachel looked hard at the battle outside. "None of us have a morph
that could take that thing."
Marco clicked. "What?!? Are you INSANE!?! You're going to
morph that?!?"
"Just morph, Marco." she said calmly, then laughed that insane
laugh of hers and bounded away.
"Oh, man." Marco began to morph again.
* * * * *
A few minutes earlier...
Morph, Jake. a voice yelled at him. A familiar voice. But he was
mostly unconscious. Just now did a hint of awareness arrive, and
with it, a world ofpain. His whole body was wraked with pain
beyond description, and he was aboutto slip back into painless
unconsciousness.
Jake, please the tantilizingly familiar voice pleaded. Please,
wake up. Morph. Please.
Cassie. The voice in his head was Cassie.
Please, Jake, don't die. Please don't die. We need you. I need
you. Cassie plead, her gentle voice crying.
Jake moaned. He fought back the darkness, and instantly regretted
it as the agonizing pain flooded back.
Now he remembered. There was a loud sound, like thunder. the
castle shuttered. A rock fell, almost hit Cassie. He pushed her out
of the way. It hit him instead.
The pain. He knew what that pain was. It was broken back, crushed
ribs, and pierced lungs. He was dying.
In the instant of clarity before death, Jake lifted his eyes, looked
past Crimber and saw the dragon and Cassie. Cassie was an earth
elemental, using allof the earth powers at her command to fend off
the dragon many times her size.
Cassie. He always did like her.
Please, Jake, I can't lose you now. Morph. Morph werewolf.
What a good idea, thought Jake approvingly, sleepily, no longer
feeling the pain of his broken body. He could feel himself slip
away, but he remembered what the werewolf looked like and
without realizing it began to change.
He knew when he began changing when the pain flooded back to
him, worse than ever.
"AAAAAAH!!" he screamed.
Jake! You're alive! Cassie cried jubilantly. Then she, too,
screamed in pain,as the dragon took advantage of her distraction
and swiped her with a massivepaw, sending her flying.
"You're alive!" Crimber yelled, startled, almost dropping his shield.
Jake didn't reply. He bit his lip to keep from screaming more, and
focused on morphing the werewolf. Thick, grey fur rippled up and
down his body. His facebuldged outwards to form the 'wolf's
muzzle. Suddenly, the pain was gone.Completely and totally gone.
'Of course!' Jake thought, as he remembered how fast real
werewolf healed after every wound. Closed up like water.
He continued morphing, but as he morphed he surveyed his
surroundings.
Jake surveyed his suroundings. The soldiers futilely charged the
dragon, weapons glowing red-hot. Arrows burst into flame as they
flew from the ballroom, somesticking to the black scales but most
bouncing off. Lecrian and Herlim foughtwith the soldiers on foot,
trying to distract the dragon from Cassie. Crimber,recovering from
the scare Jake gave him, stood his ground between the dragon
andJake, shielding him from view. Strangely enough, the King
wasn't doing anythingmuch. In fact, he seemed to be in a daze, as if
his mind was somewhere else.Cassie was on her feet, and faced the
dragon again. The huge, black dragonscreamed in rage, shaking off
the soldiers, ignoring the arrows and soldiers and focusing on
Cassie. Looking back in the ballroom, Jake saw Ariana
standingparalyzed in the doorway. Something about her being there
bothered Jake for somereason, but he didn't have the time to think
of why. Marco was busy demorphingfrom gorilla. Rachel looked
hard at the battle, then turned back at Marco.
Jake looked back at the thrashing dragon. Crimber, tell me
everything you know about the dragon.
Keeping his eyes on it, Crimber yelled over his shoulder, "Dragons
have many special abilities. They are immensly strong, fast, agile,
immune to fire andpoison, and can see in the dark and the
invisible, and fly. They are highly intelligent and generally have a
high sense of honor. There really is not muchthat could hurt them.
They are possibly the most powerful allies we have."
Allies? Jake asked, surprized.
"Yes, allies. But a few months ago, the Dragon King informed us
of a renegade who hates Father for some reason. That renegade
disappeared, but I don't doubtthat this is him."
Jake looked at King Themis, who seemed to have broken out of his
trance. Themis looked at the dragon and then, with a wave of his
hand, made the nearbybuildings disappear.
What about your father? Why isn't he helping?
"A long time ago, an covenant was made between the dragons and
us. The dragon can't harm the King, but Father can't hurt him. It's
immune to Father's magic."
I see. Jake was almost all werewolf, now. Feeling ready, he
slunk away from behind Crimber and got ready to leap into the
fray. His sensitive ears caughtevery twang of the bows and every
footfall. He could hear Crimber's heartpounding. His nose, though
not as acute as a wolf's, caught the overpoweringscent of fresh rain,
sweat, blood, wet earth, dragon, and fear. His predatoreyes focused
on the dragon, looking for a weak spot, and the werewolf mind
foundone. Muscles bunched, claws sharp, Jake got ready to spring.
Jake! Marco yelled. Startled, Jake flinched, but not towards the
dragon. Jakeglared angerly at Marco, who was human except for
his head, which grew fangs andwas now too large for the rest of his
frail body. Jake saw the tiniest glimpseof Rachel blowing past the
helpless Ariana.
What? Jake yelled back, the werewolf in him thoroughly
annoyed at the delay.
Psycho-woman Rachel is going to try and morph that thing!
Jake froze, and his own mind was in complete control again. He
knew his cousin inside and out. She was impulsive and very direct
and sometimes even dangerous,but she knew how to fight better
than any of them. If she wants to morph the
renegade dragon, that means that she thinks that they didn't have
enough firepower to take it. Looking back at the whale-sized
reptile, Jake had toagree.
She'll need help.
What?!? You're saying that Rachel waltzing out there in a dress
and shaking hands with that overgrown lizard the size of Idaho so
she could clone it isokay?!?
It turns out she is right. Now hurry and finish morphing. We need
your help.
You want *Xena* to turn into a T-Rex version of a bronsosaur?
Marco continued.
Now, Marco.
Yes, Prince Jake. Marco said obediently, imitating Ax.
Please, not you, too.
Yes. Prince Jake.
Once again, Jake had that nagging feeling that he was missing
something. Pushing the doubt to the back of his mind, Jake turned
his thoughts to Rachel.
Rachel, Jake yelled as loud as he could. I hope you can hear
me, 'cause Ineed to tell you something. Don't try and acquire the
dragon until I give theword. Got it? He didn't expect a reply, since
Rachel was most likely in humanform and couldn't thought-speak.
Then, Jake turned back to the battle and once again got ready to
pounce.
The battle wasn't going very well. The dragon, as Marco pointed
out, was as big as the any of the biggest of dinosaurs, while Cassie
was only ten feet tall.Many soldiers were injured badly. Arrows
rained down in it until the dragon grew tired of them. It breathed
fire at the archers, setting the wooden weapons andthe tapestries on
fire. The archers would have died, but King Themis teleportedthe
men out of the blast's way just in time. Lecrian was injured badly,
andHerlim knelt next to him, listening intently to what Lecrian was
telling him.Crimber, no longer having to guard Jake, ran back into
the burning court to geta spear. A stone wall shot up between the
soldiers and the dragon, shieldingthem from the dragon's whip-like
tail. Any soldiers left inside the wallsuddenly disappeared, only to
materialize on the safe side.
None of this was important to the dragon. His name was Saurat,
and nothing could challenge him. The little men, the wall, the royal
family, none of them wasimportant. They could not harm him,
nothing more than sting him. Besides, hewasn't sent to kill them in
the first place.
He was after the children. At first, Saurat didn't understand why his
new lord wanted them dead. He thought his lord overestimated
them. But the boy was asgood as dead, and now he walks. The
small girl changed into an elemental, and an
elemental could hurt him. The earth elemental by herself was not
much of a threat, since it was still young and lacking in power, but
when she is hit, shegets back up, and when she hits him, flesh
under the scales bruise. And otherslike her were coming.
She must be taken down. Now.
Ah! Cassie cried as she jumped back. The dragon snapped at
her, and only herdesperate dodge saved her from a world of hurt.
She had made sure the otherswere safe by creating the wall, but
now she has to take care of herself.
Her stone hand slapped down on the muddy ground, feeling it mold
itself to her will. She willed it to come, so it did. A column of
muddy earth shot up from the ground, hardening just before it
connected with the dragon's jaw. The dragonsnapped its head back,
avoiding the brunt of the blow. Still, it screamed inpain
asmud-turned-rock glanced off it's chin.
Its snake-like head coiled around the column of earth. It bit at
Cassie again.
Cassie tried to dodge again, but she had to release the earth first.
Besides, earth elementals were never known for their quickness.
The dragon's jaws snapped shut over her leg, and suddenly Cassie
found herself being jerked into the air. Saurat shook her viciously.
AHHHHHH!!! Cassie screamed. Though she wasn't in pain, she
knew what was happening, and her human mind reacted to the
horrible thought of being torn topeices.
Cassie brought her body up, then hammered on the side of the
dragon's head with a two-handed fist. Because of the shaking, she
only struck a glacing blow, but she could feel the muscles cave in
where she made contact.
"Screeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" Saurat screamed in pain, releasing Cassie.
Cassie's severed leg bounced off when she hit the ground, but the
welcome earth formedanother and attached itself to her, reforming
the leg. Looking up, Cassie sawthe damage she did to the dragon.
She had struck its cheek. The cheek muscleground into its open
mouth, and its own teeth cut into it's face, lacerating the tissue. The
side of its face beganto swell.
Cassie felt bad. She really did, but lives were at stake, including
her own and Jake's. She wasn't going to back down. She reached
back down into the earth.
The dragon struck again, but not with his head. A clawed hand
swiped at Cassie, breaking her hold with the earth and sending her
flying into an evacuatedbuilding. Before she could recover, Saurat
struck again, slamming her into theground. Stunned, Cassie
couldn't move when Saurat grabbed her with both handsand lifted
her off the ground. It pulled her in two directions at once,
andCassie could feel herself straining to stay together. Just because
the elementaldidn't feel pain doesn't mean that it couldn't die.
Cassie was scared. She couldn't reach the earth. She didn't have any
leverage. Couldn't save herself.
Saurat suddenly paused, a questioning look in his eyes. Cassie
could feel the tension ease as the dragon whipped its head around
to look behind him.
Jake was on its back. Jake had climbed over the wall and onto the
dragon. Saurat was so focused on Cassie, he didn't notice the warg
clawing up his body. Jakewas now between its shoulder-blades,
between the two huge wings. Stopping, Jake reached down with his
clawed hands and began to peel individual scales off.
Saurat screamed. Jake was hurting him! Instead of dropping
Cassie, Saurat reared back, trying to dislodge the warg. Jake held
on, his claws digging into theexposed bit of back muscle and into
cracks in the other black scales.
Frustrated, Saurat threw Cassie as far as he could. His head snaked
back and he looked directly at Jake with a cold hatred. Hissing
menacingly, Saurat shot hishead forward as fast as a striking snake.
He snapped...
On nothing but air! Jake saw it coming, and with reflexes akin to a
tiger's, dodged out of the way without falling off the dragon's back.
Growling, Jakeleaped at Saurat's face, claws extended and teeth
bared.
Jake's jaws snapped shut on Saurat's snout, bitting in so deep he
struck bone.
"Screeeaaaeaaeeeaaaah!!!" the renegade dragon roared, shaking its
head violently, trying to dislodge the warg. But Jake wasn't about
to let go.
Saurat reached up with one hand and grabbed Jake around the
torso. Digging his foot-long claws into Jake, Saurat jerked at him,
trying to either tear him looseor tear him in half.
Still, Jake held on. He was in pain, with dragon claws tearing
muscles and bones, and with dragon strength jerking him, but the
werewolf mind didn't careabout the pain. He healed, so torn tissues
healed immediately, and he never feltlightheaded from loss of
blood, since blood replentished itself faster than itwas lost. Nothing
short of magic could kill a werewolf. And he needed to delaythe
dragon, keep it distracted, until Marco and Cassie could join him.
So Jakeheld on.
In the end, it wasn't Jake who gave in. Realizing that the warg was
delaying him, Saurat used all of his strength to tear Jake off. A
large chunk of his own flesh, clamped in Jake's jaws, tore off with
him. Screaming in blind rage,Saurat threw Jake to the ground with
all of his fury. Jake bounced on the groundhard, the crushed bones
and shattered organs mended so fast it was like he wasnever hurt in
the first place.
The dragon breathed fire at Jake, but Jake scampered out of the
way, totally untouched. Jake could feel the earth rolling behind
him, and when he lookedbehind him he saw Cassie riding a wave
of earth. Behind the dragon, a hugewinged shadow rose over the
wall, holding a human figure. Marco was coming, andhe was
bringing Rachel with him.
'Good,' Jake thought, 'we are all he--.' Suddenly, he realized what
was wrong.
Saurat breathed fire at Jake again, interupting his thoughts.
It saw Cassie coming. It looked behind itself and saw a baalrog, a
huge demon of sorts, setting a human girl down on the ground. The
baalrog was red and black,humanoid, with fangs in its mouth and
ram-horns on its forehead and hugeleathery wings extending from
shoulderblades. A whip of fire appeared in itshand, and it flew at
the dragon, leaving the girl.
He was surrounded. The human children had surrounded him and
not one of them was dead. That knowledge only made him angrier.
But while Saurat was sizing up the situation, Jake was telling the
others his plan, making sure the dragon didn't hear.
Marco, set her down and get some altitude. Stay in the air so it
will not have any reason to look down. Cassie, keep your distance,
always be ahead of it, but watch for Rachel. None of us draw
attention to her. We have to lead it out ofthe city, so no one get
directly behind it. Rachel, don't go yet. Wait.
The dragon, sure it could kill at least one of the shapeshifters but
afraid that they will escape, attacked.
* * * * *
"Father, Lecrian told me that they need mine and Crimber's help."
Herlim begged King Themis.
Themis stopped mending the wounded soldier's wounds and
looked up at his sons. Herlim was unarmed and scared, but he
looked as if he knew he needed to go.Crimber clumsily held a
spear and looked as if he had no idea what Herlim wastalking
about.
"If we don't go, everything will go ... wrong."
Themis weighed Herlim's words carefully. He knew very well how
hot-headed and reckless the boy was, but he knew that his son
wouldn't lie to him. If Herlimsaid that Lecrian said he must go,
than he must go. Still, nothing in the futureis certain, so something
could still go wrong...
With a wave of his hand, Themis made Herlim and Crimber
vanished. He turned wearily back to his many dying soldiers,
vainly wishing that he could replacelost blood as well as close
injuries. He cast one more spell to watch over hisboys. Then he
thought of the Dragon King...
Herlim and Crimber appeared on the other side of the wall. They
didn't like the sight that greeted them.
The giant dragon roared in rage and charged the warg that was
Jake. Jake easily dodged and ran towards the dragon's foot. The
young elemental called Cassiestayed back, but slapped the ground,
causing a pit to appear under the dragon,making it stumble. Marco,
the baalrog, flew in the air, cracking his fire whipat the dragon's
mouth, trying to entangle it. Rachel, her dress torn at theknees so
she could move more freely, crept unnoticed towards the dragon's
back.
But the dragon was fighting back. It pivotted so fast it was almost a
blur, hitting Cassie and Jake at once with its incredibly long tail. It
coiled itsneck like a snake and struck at Marco. The only thing that
saved Marco was thesimple fact that he was bigger than Cassie, but
Marco still cried in pain as thedragon bit into him and slammed
him down.
"Do you have any idea why the Animorphs call wargs
'werewolves?'" Herlim asked, his voice trembling.
"What does that have to do with this?" Crimber asked back,
puzzled at Herlim's unusual behavior.
"Never mind." Then Herlim couldn't even pretend to joke anymore.
"Can you thrown that far?" he said, pointing at the spear.
"How far?"
Herlim pointed at the dragon. "Can you hit Saurat's eye?"
Crimber's eyes grew wide. "You want me to hit *that?!*"
"That's what I just said. Well, can you?"
Crimber looked scared and doubtful. "Well, not naturally..."
"With your linking power?" Herlim asked desperately.
"Maybe. I've never tried to link with something that I hadn't
touched before."
"Good enough." Then he looked back at the battle. Trembling,
keeping a close eye on Rachel, Herlim crept forward, with Crimber
following behind. Then Crimberremembered something.
"Saurat? Where did you hear that?"
The battle continued, moving farther and farther away from the
city. Marco was hurt, but still flying. Cassie used her earth powers
to attack the dragon. Jakestill clung to Saurat, biting and peeling
scales off. Saurat still thrashedaround, failing to dislodge Jake, but
avoiding Cassie's attacks, and swiping atMarco. Rachel suddenly
broke into a run, heading for an ankle.
The princes ran after her. "That's the name Lecrian gave me, now
listen. Saurat is going to ..."
Rachel touched the dragon. In the instant that she touched him,
Saurat saw. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw. Roaring in
triumph, Saurat spun around andlundged at her.
The earth rode up between him and Rachel, and the dragon
slammed face first into the raised turf. Rachel ran, sprinting for all
that she was worth back towardsthe city.
MARCO!! Jake screamed, GET HER OUT OF HERE!!!
Saurat didn't hear him, but he did see Marco, hundreds of yards up,
diving at Rachel. Ignoring the warg clawing up his neck, Saurat
spread his vast wings andflew. He intercepted Marco and snapped
at him. Marco dodged and shot past him,heading straight towards
Rachel.
Grinning wickedly, Saurat took a deep breath, opened his mouth
wide, and breathed out.
NO! Jake yelled, clawing for the dragon's face but not quite
reaching it.
Fire shot from the black dragon's throat like a bolt, missing Marco,
and heading straight for Rachel.
Time seemed to crawl. Both princes stopped and stared. Marco's
eyes grew wide as he saw that he was too late.
Fire engulfed her. She disappeared in the flames.
NOOOO!! Jake cried in despair, finally reaching the dragon's
eyes.
RACHEL!! Cassie screamed. RACHEL, NO!!
Crimber stared in horror. Is this what Lecrian saw? Did he know?
Suddenly, Rachel ran out of the flames. Fire clung to her, but it
dissipitated, leaving no trace. Not a hair was singed, not a speck of
black on her dress. Itwas as if the flames never touched her.
Crimber looked at his brother. His furrowed brows and tight jaw
gave the secret away.
"You saved her!" he cried in relief. Herlim shook his head, then
held his head tenderly, as if he had a headache.
"Never realized," he said shakily, "how hard that would be. She's
not safe yet. I can't do that again." Then Crimber understood. He
looked up at the dragon and got his spear ready.
Marco had reached Rachel and scooped her up. He was flying as
fast as he could towards the city, but Saurat was closing in. Jake
had bitten the dragon's faceagain, but the dragon had torn him off,
having set his sights on Marco andRachel. The two flyers were
flying closer towards Crimber.
Crimber cocked his arm and looked straight at the eye of the
dragon. He reached deep inside himself for a rarely used power he
thought was useless in battle. He imagined a line between the tip of
the spear and the back of the huge, glowingeye, and threw with all
the might in his skinny body.
The spear flew. It looked as if it was going to miss.
Its path curved, and it buried itself deep into the dragon's eye.
"SSSSSSSRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Saurat's scream shattered the air and rocked Crimber's bones.
Saurat crashed, forgetting about his prey. It clawed athis eye,
breaking the spear, but it will never see in that eye again.
"Father," Crimber plead, knowing that his Father heard him.
"We've done all that we can. Get us out of here." And the King,
hearing his son, teleported them back home.
* * * * *
Marco blew through the empty streets, heading towards the other
edge of the city. Once there, he dropped Rachel off.
This will be your greatest thrill yet, Xena. Marco joked. You,
the biggest, baddest thunder lizard of them all. Eat your heart out,
T-Rex. Rachel, thedragon, is coming through.
"Get out of here, Marco" Rachel said, pretending to be angry, but
with an insane glint in her eye. Then she laughed. "Let's do it!"
Don't forget to wash your hand before you eat, though. Marco
paternally pattedher shoulder, then flew away.
"Yuck." Rachel looked around once to make sure that no one was
around. The King's magical light did not reach this side of the city,
so everything wasquite dark. 'Maybe that means no one will see
me' she hoped. She stripped offher dress, and began to morph.
* * * * *
Jake was getting tired. Cassie was hurt. Marco was tired and hurt.
The dragon was not.
The dragon was hurt, no doubt. It had pieces of its face missing,
half of Crimber's spear still stuck in its eye, and it had a few
bruises from Cassieand Marco. But it wasn't tiring. In fact, it was
almost as if it was gettingstronger as the battle continued, as if
fueled by it's rage and frustration.Neither Jake or Cassie had a
more capable morph, but Marco was in huge trouble.He was hurt,
and hurt badly. And none of them could fight forever against the
dragon.
It has been almost a minute since Marco dropped Rachel off on the
other side of the city. Jake really wanted her to hurry up.
Marco, get out of here. Demorph." Jake yelled at his failing best
friend.
The dragon bit at Jake. This time, Jake didn't succeed at dodging.
Cassie grabbed the dragon's leg and pulled, yanking it off-balance.
The dragon didn't let Jake go, but used him like a bludgeon and
snapped Jake at her, makingher release her grip.
Marco tried to fly away, but the dragon saw him. Snatching Jake
out of its mouth, it threw him at Marco, who just barely managed
to catch the flyingwerewolf. At about the same time, the dragon
flew at Marco. Before Marco couldreact, it grabbed him with both
hands and slammed him into the ground. Marcolost consciousness
and relaxed his grip on Jake.
Jake stood over Marco protectively, growling threats at the
triumphant dragon and knowing that he cannot save him. The
dragon stood before Jake, and the sky shook with quieted
lightening. Grinning wickedly, showing its sword-like teethin the
last of the pale blue light, the one-eyed dragon paused a moment,
andlunged.
Look out! Cassie yelled as she threw herself between the dragon
and her friends, coming in on its blind side. The dragon bit down
on hard rock. Teeththat was not meant to eat stone broke, and the
dragon recoiled in shock. Itshook its head, saw teeth fall, and
glared down on Cassie.
Marco! she yelled at him. Wake up! You've got to wake up!
Fast as lightning, the dragon lashed out at Cassie, knocking her far,
far away. Just as quickly, Jake leaped at the dragon's hand as it
blurred by. Though hewas tired, he caught onto it, and before the
dragon could shake him loose, he bit down in the wrist. He could
feel the half of the wrist bones break as hecrushed them.
The dragon screamed, then whipped Jake off. Jake took a bit of
meat with him as he flew. As he flew, he thought he could hear
something beating the air. Wings.
Finally, Saurat could focus on the baalrog, who was starting to stir.
If just one of the children die, his mission would be accomplished.
Too late, he heard the sound of wings beating the air.
Something huge slammed into him. Something huge, black, and
scaly sent him rolling across the field. When he finally stopped to
face his new challenger, hefroze.
Saurat was looking at himself. The new dragon was as big, strong,
and black as he was, but with none of the injuries. It was not
blinded, it was not missingchunks of flesh, and its wrist was not
broken.
Hey, I'm your size, a female voice echoed in his mind. Let's
wrestle. Andthe impossibility laughed and charged.
Faster than the eye could follow, they fought. Rachel tackled
Saurat to the ground. Saurat twisted, freeing himself from her grip.
He wrapped his tailaround her neck and pulled back. She fell, but
grabbed the tail and painfullyyanked at it. Both dragons jumped up
to their feet and circled each other beforecrashing together again. In
a blur of fury, the two dragons battled. Each bit atnecks and
shoulders, slashed with claws, entangled with tails, and
screamedtheir full-throated challenges. Both bled, neither gaining a
clear upper-up.Rachel had health. Saurat had experience.
Suddenly, Rachel blew fire at Saurat's face. Though the fire didn't
hurt him, Saurat was blinded by the flames and smoke for just a
moment. In that moment,Rachel leaped over his blind shoulder.
With two healthy, clawed hands, she toreSaurat's wing.
Saurat screamed. Painfully, Saurat shoved Rachel away using his
one good hand.
Give up? Rachel challenged, seeing just how pain-wracked her
enemy was.
Saurat growled, then attacked her again.
I'll take that as a 'no.'"
"Stop!" a commanding voice rang in the darkness.
Suddenly, King Themis appeared. Saurat saw him and stopped his
attack. Rachel had the feeling that she shouldn't press the fight
until the King said what he had to say. Jake slunk up beside the
King, Cassie lumbered to his other side,and Marco flew overhead.
"Saurat," King Themis addressed him "Give up. Your brothers
come for you." And with that he pointed toward the red moon
hanging beneath the haltedthunderclouds. Unmistakably, a vast
number of winged silhouettes flew, nearlyblocking out the moon's
light. Saurat began to tremble.
He suddenly leaped up and flapped his wings, trying to fly, but he
only had one good wing. He crashed back down to earth.
Rachel grabbed him and pushed him down to the ground, pinning
him. Saurat struggled, but Rachel didn't loose her grip.
King Themis approached the struggling dragon until he was
standing dangerously close.
You better stand back, Themis, Rachel told him.
Themis smiled at Rachel, touched by her concern and not the least
offended by her lack of formality. He knew she came from a place
where there is no royalty.
"He won't hurt me," he said. "He can't."
Then, King Themis stood only a few short feet from Saurat's
battered face. Saurat glared at King Themis with unmistakable,
complete, and total hatred, buthe didn't attack.
"You cannot escape, Saurat. Your brothers will be here soon. If
you cooperate, they may not be as harsh with you. So tell me,"
King Themis asked, his voicelowering. "Who sent you? And
why?"
For a few seconds, Saurat glared silently at the King. Then his head
slumped against the ground in defeat, and for the first time, Saurat
spoke.
"What's the use?" Saurat asked himself, the fire finally burning out
of him. He looked at the King. "Zilos sent me."
Themis nodded. "I'm impressed. I never realized he could
summon..."
"He didn't summon me!" Saurat yelled, rebelious hatred burning in
his eyes again. Then he calmed down. "I went to him on my own,
of my own free will. Noone can summon me, human."
"I see," Themis replied, seeing no need in making the dragon clam
up. "But why did you come? What did you hope to gain by this?"
Saurat looked past the King and looked directly at the Animorphs.
"Them." He said simply. "We were here to kill them. At least one."
King Themis didn't like the sound of that. "We?"
But then, the dragons came. They almost took Rachel, but they saw
Saurat and King Themis explained what happened. The dragons,
without a word, picked Sauratup and carried him away.
As Saurat was taken away, Jake remembered something.
Guys, I'm worried. he said to everyone. Tobias and Ax didn't
show. Jake began, going straight to business. They should have
showed up at about the same time as Ariana did.
You think something may have happened to them? Rachel
asked. Jake nodded.
"I'll take you back to the castle." And with that, Themis teleported
everyone to just outside the castle. People were working on
cleaning up the place, havingboarded up the broken wall.
Themis bent down to the muddy ground. "Open." he commanded.
Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath them, revealing several
rooms. Each one was just big enough for them, even one deep
enough for Rachel, and each one had their morphing clothing on a
dresser.
"Hurry," he gestured to the strange rooms, "This is taxing me."
Soon, all four were underground and changed. Themis was
exhausted.
"I could teleport you there, but I might accidently miss and send
you into a wall. Do you know how to reach Tobias' and Ax's
room?" Jake nodded grimly. Then,leading his four friends, he ran
into the ballroom.
Looking up gloomily at the sky, Themis released the clouds,
Immediately, the rain began to fall in sheets once more. The light
went out, replaced bylightning. This time, Themis didn't deny the
thunder its voice.
Soon, the remaining Animorphs reached Tobias' and Ax's room. It
was boarded up. Marco morphed just enough of the gorilla to tear
the door from its hinges.
Rachel was the first inside. She screamed in anger and despair.
The room looked like a tornado with blades hit it. A table was
thrown. The furniture and walls were had long slashes in them. The
window was broken.
Ax was no where to be found.
Tobias, pale, unmoving, and in human form, layed in a pool of his
own blood.
"You know what I want," Tobias's hoarse, tear-choked voice rang
out in the darkness. "You know!"
Lecrian shuttered, trying to wake up.
An image appeared in the swirling darkness. Jake, the leader of the
young heroes, crawling on his hands and knees, trembling and pale,
trying to hide.Beyond him, a giant throne materialized. Atop the
throne sat an abomination.Lecrian tried to close his eyes, but that
was impossible in dreams.
The creature sitting upon the throne was huge. It towered above all
of the giants that Lecrian had ever seen, above the mighty dragons,
and even above, itseemed, the very clouds that decorated the sky. It
was a creature that seemedfully alive, but it was a strange
amalgamy of metal and flesh. But that was notthe worst. At the
very top of this monstrous giant sat, in place of a head, an eye. A
huge, blood-red eye that turned every which way, seeing
everything,looking for something.
Jake. It was looking for Jake.
The eye looked down. It saw him. And Jake knew it saw him.
I know an unfamiliar voice said, not attacted to this part of the
dream. Butalready there used to be six of you and now there is
five. Soon, Jake, it'll befour.
Jake, pale as a sheet, oblivious to the voice, staring wide-eyed at
the Big Red Eye, opened his mouth to scream.
Lecrian suddenly sat up in his bed, panting. His eyes frantically
searched the room until he recognized his home. He looked down
on the sheets, and saw thatboth they and himself were drenched in
cold sweat. Throwing the covers off andgingerly putting his feet
down on the cold rug, Lecrian, crown prince of Hineva,buried his
burning face into his hot, sweaty hands and trembled in fear.
Hestayed that way for a long time, waiting for his heart to stop
pounding and forhis shakiness to go away. He forced himself to his
feet and got dressed.
He double checked the whole castle. A few of his guards were
asleep, but never a pair asleep at once. He looked in both rooms
where four of the heroes slept, but they were safe and fast asleep,
totally undisturbed. With his faithful guards
standing watch, nothing could reach them without loosing an arm,
or at least theedge of surprize. Then he went to the stalls, woke and
prepared his horse, androde into the forest. Soon, he found the last
two children, but they were awakewhen he found them.
Sure that something had happened, Lecrian asked "Is everything
alright?" with genuine concern.
Tobias seemed to stretch in his tree. Is that it? He asked
grumpily. Of course everything is alright, unless you consider
loosing sleep because a jockeydecided to go on a midnight stroll
with his horse in the woods is something toreport.
Lecrian was taken aback. He's never seen this side of Tobias
before.
Aximili noticed his expression and explained. Tobias is
sometimes irritable when awaken.
Tobias sighed and fluttered down to a lower branch. Sorry he
apologized. So,what inspired you to come and wake us?
"I didn't mean to wake you," Lecrian smiled. "I sincerely tried to be
as quiet as possible. How did you know I was coming?"
Hawk hearing is better than humans. And Andalites Aximili
added reluctantly, And even when I sleep I always keep an eye
open.
Lecrian smiled all the more. These two couldn't be ambushed very
easily, and each one can easily take care of himself. They would
not be in danger. "I justfelt I should check up on all of you."
More dreams? Tobias asked. Lecrian nodded.
"I better let you two go back to sleep. Big day tomarrow." And he
turned around to remount his horse.
Lecrian? Tobias asked. Lecrian paused. Get your sleep,
alright? If you are right about these dreams of yours, you will need
every minute of rest you canget.
Lecrian rode off, deciding not to trouble the youths with his
troubles.
The next day, before the dance...
Lecrian walked down a long stone hallway. The ball would start
soon, and he needed to be there to make sure that the heroic
children would remain safe.Glimpses of images floated on the edge
of his vision, but he tried very hard toignore them, since he could
not make them go away.
"Hey, Lecrian!" a deep voice bellowed behind him. Lecrian spun
around, and relaxed when he saw who it was.
"Eran!" His face split into a grin as his brother-in-law-to-be and
best friend roughly shook his hand. "Where have you been all
day?"
"You must be older than you look, old friend. I was out hunting,
remember?"
Lecrian remembered. He suddenly felt sheepish.
"Well," Eran continued, letting his Prince off the hook, "You
should have seen ..." His eyes suddenly became unfocused, as if
looking at something in thedistance, which couldn't be very far,
considering he was facing a wall. Behindhim, a dark blur darted
away and disappeared into a crack in the wall.
Lecrian waited a second. He didn't like this. "Eran," he called
trying to get a response. Eran didn't answer.
"Eran!" he called louder, shaking his shoulders. He was about to
call again when Eran began to come to.
"Huh? Wha? Stop shaking me." Lecrian did. Eran shook his head,
then looked sheepishly at his friend. "I guess you're not the only
one who is loosing hismind due to old age." Eran tried to joke,
seeing his friend's overly concernedface. "I just blanked out for a
second."
"More like ten." Lecrian countered without a hint of humor. "You
should go and rest."
"But I feel perfectly fine."
"'Fine' people don't just blank out in mid-sentence like that.
Besides," he continued, with a hint of slyness in his voice, "you
wouldn't want to be tootired tonight at the dance. Your fiancee's
back, and I assure you she won't stopmoving once the dance starts."
Eran smiled slyly back. "You really know how to play dirty."
"Yep."
Eran laughed. Not a hint of his daze lingered, Lecrian noticed.
"Alright, I'll go. Besides, I don't think she'll want to see me like
this." Eran said as he showed Lecrian his dirt-ground hunting
clothes. "See you later, yourHighness." he said, bowing low.
Lecrian rolled his eyes self-mockingly and pushed his friend in the
direction of his room.
Once Lecrian left Eran and Eran shut the door, the rat that hid in
the crack crept out. It scurried to Eran's room and slipped under the
door. A few minuteslater, Eran yelled in startled explamation, but
his cry was cut short by a heavythud. Soon, sounds of something
being drug across the floor emerged, followedbut more movement
sounds.
The rat scurried out of the room, looked both ways, and hurried
through a crack in the wall to a space behind it. It pulled out a
metallic object that no one but the Animorphs have seen before,
and dragged it back under the door of Eran'sroom.
No one saw. No one heard. A few hours later, just as the dance was
about to begin, Eran opened the door and stepped out.
Double-checked his doublet to seeif his weapon was there.
Grinning wickedly, he locked the door and threw thekeys into the
crack in the wall. Whistling a song that he could not havepossibly
have known, Eran swaggered to the dance.
* * * * *
"I am terribly sorry," Eran appologized to Marco as the angry
princess, Ariana, stormed away. He quickly followed her.
"Don't try and butter me up now!" Marco yelled after him, "You
owe me a free refill after being attacked by a certain jealous
boyfriend I could mention!"Marco would have gone on with his
much exaggerated account of the bump Eran gavehim which got
him in such trouble with Ariana, but Ax interrupted him. Ax
wasbusy stuffing his face with treats while trying to say something
at the sametime.
"Swallow, Ax," Marco said. "You're not in snake morph."
Ax obediently swallowed, and with great self control said, "Marco,
Tobias and I only have thirty of your minutes left."
"And stop saying 'your minutes' since you are stuck with them,
too." Marco was pretending to be angry, not only because Eran
made him spill his punch, butbecause he was getting ready to cut in
between her and Eran, too. Besides, hereally was annoyed by Ax's
constant "your" minutes, hours, days, years, etcetera. Then he
looked at the center of the dancce floor, where Rachel andTobias
danced.
A crooked smile crossed his face. "And good luck. You'll have to
try and pry Bird-boy from the death-grip of Xena over there
without having your liver tornout." He made a "tsk" sound several
times, swinging his head back and forthsadly. "Poor, poor Ax,
they'll say. He was such a good, sensible blue-furred,freaky
four-eyes, scorpion-tailed centaur from planet Zenon 16.
Whateverpossessed him to go and face Xena, Warrior Princess? To
save helpless Bird-boyin her clutches?"
Ax looked at Marco with no comprehension in his eyes. Then,
realizing that Marco, his friend with the strongest case of 'humor'
of his five friends, beganto laugh.
"Hah. Hah. Ha--" Marco clapped a hand over Ax's mouth, silencing
him.
"Please," Marco begged, sounding pained, "Don't do that."
A few minutes later, Ax and Tobias were on their way to their
dressing room. Jake and Cassie left the ballroom to talk on the
sheltered balcony. Rachel, much to the dismay and severe
disappointment of many of the elligible batchlors,decided that she
was thirsty, and no, she does not want someone to fetch it forher.
The young men finally got the hint and left her alone. Rachel,
glowingsmugly at Marco's downtrodden expression, joined him.
"Oh, yeah, what a night," she greeted him happily. "What will it
take to get those poor souls to look for someone else?"
"A good, long sniff," Marco poked at her, cringing his nose.
"Woooowee! What did you put on tonight? La Femme Sweatte?"
"It's obviously working better than whatever you're wearing.
Exactly how many times have you been asked out onto the dance
floor? Hmmmmm?"
"Hey, you saw that crowd around me. They like my special
charisma. They loved me."
"Actually, I think they just wanted to see Ax since they lost you.
Nothing personal, but they just can't see you over each other's
shoulders." And theywent on and on, enjoying their insult and
comeback game.
Than Rachel became serious. She looked at the guards surrounding
the ballroom.
"Have you noticed the guards?" she asked.
"How could I not notice them. Lecrian has been very, very edgy."
"Tobias said that Lecrian was wandering around in the woods last
night. He said that he was checking up on each of us. You know, to
see if we are alright."
"And you think these guards are here for the same reason?"
"Yep."
"I agree. Thanks." The last word was directed at Eran, who handed
Marco a glass of punch.
"Oh, yes, now I remember why I came over here in the first place,"
she remarked as she reached for a cup.
"Uh, uh, uh." Marco intercepted her. Grinning widely, he
extravagantly bowed to her, then dramatically and slowly picked
up a cup and filled it to the brim. He bowed to her again, holding
the cup delicately out to her.
Rachel rolled her eyes, but accepted the punch.
But Marco wasn't done yet. "Would you like for me too sing for
you, oh vision of queenly loveliness?"
"Please, Marco. This is a ball, not a haunted house. We don't want
to scare these poor people off."
"We don't?" Marco asked, eyes wide in innocence.
"No, stupid." Rachel was getting irritated.
"Was that a royal 'we'?" Marco inquired.
"Shut up, Marco," Rachel threatened.
"Yes, your highness, Warrior Princess Xena."
"Marco," she said sweetly, "if you do not shut up, you'll be missing
a kidney."
Marco laughed. He gulped his punch down, than grimaced. The
punch had a strange aftertaste.
boom
The crowd grew silent. There was a storm outside, but King
Themis said that no thunder would be heard in the castle.
Unnoticed, Marco began to feel queesy. He felt as if the room was
spinning.
Boom! Lecrian and his guards began to evacuate the people.
Rachel put her glass down and focused her mind on whatever was
coming. Whatever was making thebooming noise, it wasn't
thunder, and it wasn't staying still. That meant thatit was alive and
getting closer.
Unnoticed, Marco began to sway. He dropped his glass and
grabbed onto the table, trying to fight off his dizziness.
CRACKKKKK!!!!! Suddenly, part of the edge of the ceiling and
wall were gone.
Stone screamed and tore. Sheets of rain poured in through the
broken ceiling. People screamed and ran from the room, seeking
safety from whatever it was thatcaused the stone to cry in pain.
Rachel lost her footing as the castle shook
like it was hit by an earthquake, sending both her and Marco to the
ground. Rachel saw the tear in the ceiling and wall and saw the
debris fall, but no onewas hurt. Or so she thought.
One cry of despair rang from the darkness outside, from the
balcony. It belonged to a voice she knew very, very well.
"JAKE! NOOOOOOOO!!!" Cassie screamed.
Lightning flashed soundlessly, illuminating the scene for a brief
second that seemed to last forever. Cassie was pushing herself off
the floor, her eyeslocked in horror on Jake. Jake layed still as
death, crushed beneath a fallenrock. Beyond them both, beyond the
balcony's edge and looking at them, twoblack, fiery eyes glowed,
teeth two feet long gleamed, and scales the size offists glistened off
a serpentine neck and head and gigantic wings. Even
Rachelrecognized it for what it was. A dragon.
"GRAAAAAAAKKKKKK!!!" the dragon roared in truimph.
"Cassie!! Jake!! Look out!!" Rachel screamed as the light
disappeared. She pushed herself up to her feet, searching her mind
for a morph that could help.
She was about to just run into the darkness as she was for fear that
she didn't have time to morph when a hand clasped her ankle.
Rachel snapped her head to Marco, who was holding her ankle.
"Get up, Marco!" she yelled at him. "A dragon has attacked Cassie
and Jake. They need our help.Now!"
Marco groaned. She barely heard him as he tried to say something.
Weakly, beating past the fog in his mind and the pain blinding him,
Marco begged "help."
Rachel had no idea what was wrong with Marco. All she knew was
that he needed her help. She looked back to where Cassie and Jake
were, trying to decide whatto do.
King Themis and his sons made the decision a lot easier for her.
Lecrian shouted orders to his many soldiers, leading some onto the
balcony, sending others tothe high catwalks of the ballroom where
longbows and quivers full of arrows, and sending the rest outside
the ballroom so they could fight the dragon on groundlevel. King
Themis lifted one hand while the other flashed. The rock on
Jakelifted,light illiminated the night, and the rain disappeared.
Cassie ran over to Jake,and Crimber stood between them and the
dragon, holding a body-length shield.Herlim focused on his sword
and the weapons of the soldiers, making them glowred-hot. And
Cassie, the fastest and best morpher, began to change.
Rachel reached down to Marco and shook him vigorously. "Get up,
you idiot. Morph!"
"Poison," Marco murmured, trying to focus his thoughts.
"Figure it out later! Just morph before you die." And she shook him
all the more violently.
Yes. Morph, Marco thought. Didn't know why, but yes. And Marco
began to grow. Black hair shot up from his skin as he muscles upon
muscles ripped out of hisfrail frame. The clothes streached and
began to tear, but he didn't care. Thepain and fog and dizziness was
dissipitating, and he was feeling a lot betteralready.
A new voice screamed. Marco turned around to see Ariana
standing in the doorway, hand over mouth and eyes wide in terror.
Hey, it's only me. Tall, dark, handsome Marco. Now I come with
muscles. He wasn't nearly done morphing, but he was morphed
enough for thought-speak.
"Marco. She could care less if you are a gorilla or not, since there
really is no difference between it and you. But she's not looking at
you."
Marco turned to face her, only halfway done morphing. He saw the
battle outside.
Oh.
"Marco you idiot, go to your demon morph."
Yep. No problem, Xena. And Marco reversed the morphing
process, getting smaller. Last, his gorilla hair disappeared, leaving
him in shreaded rags.
"And why aren't you morphing, may I ask?"
Rachel looked hard at the battle outside. "None of us have a morph
that could take that thing."
Marco clicked. "What?!? Are you INSANE!?! You're going to
morph that?!?"
"Just morph, Marco." she said calmly, then laughed that insane
laugh of hers and bounded away.
"Oh, man." Marco began to morph again.
* * * * *
A few minutes earlier...
Morph, Jake. a voice yelled at him. A familiar voice. But he was
mostly unconscious. Just now did a hint of awareness arrive, and
with it, a world ofpain. His whole body was wraked with pain
beyond description, and he was aboutto slip back into painless
unconsciousness.
Jake, please the tantilizingly familiar voice pleaded. Please,
wake up. Morph. Please.
Cassie. The voice in his head was Cassie.
Please, Jake, don't die. Please don't die. We need you. I need
you. Cassie plead, her gentle voice crying.
Jake moaned. He fought back the darkness, and instantly regretted
it as the agonizing pain flooded back.
Now he remembered. There was a loud sound, like thunder. the
castle shuttered. A rock fell, almost hit Cassie. He pushed her out
of the way. It hit him instead.
The pain. He knew what that pain was. It was broken back, crushed
ribs, and pierced lungs. He was dying.
In the instant of clarity before death, Jake lifted his eyes, looked
past Crimber and saw the dragon and Cassie. Cassie was an earth
elemental, using allof the earth powers at her command to fend off
the dragon many times her size.
Cassie. He always did like her.
Please, Jake, I can't lose you now. Morph. Morph werewolf.
What a good idea, thought Jake approvingly, sleepily, no longer
feeling the pain of his broken body. He could feel himself slip
away, but he remembered what the werewolf looked like and
without realizing it began to change.
He knew when he began changing when the pain flooded back to
him, worse than ever.
"AAAAAAH!!" he screamed.
Jake! You're alive! Cassie cried jubilantly. Then she, too,
screamed in pain,as the dragon took advantage of her distraction
and swiped her with a massivepaw, sending her flying.
"You're alive!" Crimber yelled, startled, almost dropping his shield.
Jake didn't reply. He bit his lip to keep from screaming more, and
focused on morphing the werewolf. Thick, grey fur rippled up and
down his body. His facebuldged outwards to form the 'wolf's
muzzle. Suddenly, the pain was gone.Completely and totally gone.
'Of course!' Jake thought, as he remembered how fast real
werewolf healed after every wound. Closed up like water.
He continued morphing, but as he morphed he surveyed his
surroundings.
Jake surveyed his suroundings. The soldiers futilely charged the
dragon, weapons glowing red-hot. Arrows burst into flame as they
flew from the ballroom, somesticking to the black scales but most
bouncing off. Lecrian and Herlim foughtwith the soldiers on foot,
trying to distract the dragon from Cassie. Crimber,recovering from
the scare Jake gave him, stood his ground between the dragon
andJake, shielding him from view. Strangely enough, the King
wasn't doing anythingmuch. In fact, he seemed to be in a daze, as if
his mind was somewhere else.Cassie was on her feet, and faced the
dragon again. The huge, black dragonscreamed in rage, shaking off
the soldiers, ignoring the arrows and soldiers and focusing on
Cassie. Looking back in the ballroom, Jake saw Ariana
standingparalyzed in the doorway. Something about her being there
bothered Jake for somereason, but he didn't have the time to think
of why. Marco was busy demorphingfrom gorilla. Rachel looked
hard at the battle, then turned back at Marco.
Jake looked back at the thrashing dragon. Crimber, tell me
everything you know about the dragon.
Keeping his eyes on it, Crimber yelled over his shoulder, "Dragons
have many special abilities. They are immensly strong, fast, agile,
immune to fire andpoison, and can see in the dark and the
invisible, and fly. They are highly intelligent and generally have a
high sense of honor. There really is not muchthat could hurt them.
They are possibly the most powerful allies we have."
Allies? Jake asked, surprized.
"Yes, allies. But a few months ago, the Dragon King informed us
of a renegade who hates Father for some reason. That renegade
disappeared, but I don't doubtthat this is him."
Jake looked at King Themis, who seemed to have broken out of his
trance. Themis looked at the dragon and then, with a wave of his
hand, made the nearbybuildings disappear.
What about your father? Why isn't he helping?
"A long time ago, an covenant was made between the dragons and
us. The dragon can't harm the King, but Father can't hurt him. It's
immune to Father's magic."
I see. Jake was almost all werewolf, now. Feeling ready, he
slunk away from behind Crimber and got ready to leap into the
fray. His sensitive ears caughtevery twang of the bows and every
footfall. He could hear Crimber's heartpounding. His nose, though
not as acute as a wolf's, caught the overpoweringscent of fresh rain,
sweat, blood, wet earth, dragon, and fear. His predatoreyes focused
on the dragon, looking for a weak spot, and the werewolf mind
foundone. Muscles bunched, claws sharp, Jake got ready to spring.
Jake! Marco yelled. Startled, Jake flinched, but not towards the
dragon. Jakeglared angerly at Marco, who was human except for
his head, which grew fangs andwas now too large for the rest of his
frail body. Jake saw the tiniest glimpseof Rachel blowing past the
helpless Ariana.
What? Jake yelled back, the werewolf in him thoroughly
annoyed at the delay.
Psycho-woman Rachel is going to try and morph that thing!
Jake froze, and his own mind was in complete control again. He
knew his cousin inside and out. She was impulsive and very direct
and sometimes even dangerous,but she knew how to fight better
than any of them. If she wants to morph the
renegade dragon, that means that she thinks that they didn't have
enough firepower to take it. Looking back at the whale-sized
reptile, Jake had toagree.
She'll need help.
What?!? You're saying that Rachel waltzing out there in a dress
and shaking hands with that overgrown lizard the size of Idaho so
she could clone it isokay?!?
It turns out she is right. Now hurry and finish morphing. We need
your help.
You want *Xena* to turn into a T-Rex version of a bronsosaur?
Marco continued.
Now, Marco.
Yes, Prince Jake. Marco said obediently, imitating Ax.
Please, not you, too.
Yes. Prince Jake.
Once again, Jake had that nagging feeling that he was missing
something. Pushing the doubt to the back of his mind, Jake turned
his thoughts to Rachel.
Rachel, Jake yelled as loud as he could. I hope you can hear
me, 'cause Ineed to tell you something. Don't try and acquire the
dragon until I give theword. Got it? He didn't expect a reply, since
Rachel was most likely in humanform and couldn't thought-speak.
Then, Jake turned back to the battle and once again got ready to
pounce.
The battle wasn't going very well. The dragon, as Marco pointed
out, was as big as the any of the biggest of dinosaurs, while Cassie
was only ten feet tall.Many soldiers were injured badly. Arrows
rained down in it until the dragon grew tired of them. It breathed
fire at the archers, setting the wooden weapons andthe tapestries on
fire. The archers would have died, but King Themis teleportedthe
men out of the blast's way just in time. Lecrian was injured badly,
andHerlim knelt next to him, listening intently to what Lecrian was
telling him.Crimber, no longer having to guard Jake, ran back into
the burning court to geta spear. A stone wall shot up between the
soldiers and the dragon, shieldingthem from the dragon's whip-like
tail. Any soldiers left inside the wallsuddenly disappeared, only to
materialize on the safe side.
None of this was important to the dragon. His name was Saurat,
and nothing could challenge him. The little men, the wall, the royal
family, none of them wasimportant. They could not harm him,
nothing more than sting him. Besides, hewasn't sent to kill them in
the first place.
He was after the children. At first, Saurat didn't understand why his
new lord wanted them dead. He thought his lord overestimated
them. But the boy was asgood as dead, and now he walks. The
small girl changed into an elemental, and an
elemental could hurt him. The earth elemental by herself was not
much of a threat, since it was still young and lacking in power, but
when she is hit, shegets back up, and when she hits him, flesh
under the scales bruise. And otherslike her were coming.
She must be taken down. Now.
Ah! Cassie cried as she jumped back. The dragon snapped at
her, and only herdesperate dodge saved her from a world of hurt.
She had made sure the otherswere safe by creating the wall, but
now she has to take care of herself.
Her stone hand slapped down on the muddy ground, feeling it mold
itself to her will. She willed it to come, so it did. A column of
muddy earth shot up from the ground, hardening just before it
connected with the dragon's jaw. The dragonsnapped its head back,
avoiding the brunt of the blow. Still, it screamed inpain
asmud-turned-rock glanced off it's chin.
Its snake-like head coiled around the column of earth. It bit at
Cassie again.
Cassie tried to dodge again, but she had to release the earth first.
Besides, earth elementals were never known for their quickness.
The dragon's jaws snapped shut over her leg, and suddenly Cassie
found herself being jerked into the air. Saurat shook her viciously.
AHHHHHH!!! Cassie screamed. Though she wasn't in pain, she
knew what was happening, and her human mind reacted to the
horrible thought of being torn topeices.
Cassie brought her body up, then hammered on the side of the
dragon's head with a two-handed fist. Because of the shaking, she
only struck a glacing blow, but she could feel the muscles cave in
where she made contact.
"Screeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" Saurat screamed in pain, releasing Cassie.
Cassie's severed leg bounced off when she hit the ground, but the
welcome earth formedanother and attached itself to her, reforming
the leg. Looking up, Cassie sawthe damage she did to the dragon.
She had struck its cheek. The cheek muscleground into its open
mouth, and its own teeth cut into it's face, lacerating the tissue. The
side of its face beganto swell.
Cassie felt bad. She really did, but lives were at stake, including
her own and Jake's. She wasn't going to back down. She reached
back down into the earth.
The dragon struck again, but not with his head. A clawed hand
swiped at Cassie, breaking her hold with the earth and sending her
flying into an evacuatedbuilding. Before she could recover, Saurat
struck again, slamming her into theground. Stunned, Cassie
couldn't move when Saurat grabbed her with both handsand lifted
her off the ground. It pulled her in two directions at once,
andCassie could feel herself straining to stay together. Just because
the elementaldidn't feel pain doesn't mean that it couldn't die.
Cassie was scared. She couldn't reach the earth. She didn't have any
leverage. Couldn't save herself.
Saurat suddenly paused, a questioning look in his eyes. Cassie
could feel the tension ease as the dragon whipped its head around
to look behind him.
Jake was on its back. Jake had climbed over the wall and onto the
dragon. Saurat was so focused on Cassie, he didn't notice the warg
clawing up his body. Jakewas now between its shoulder-blades,
between the two huge wings. Stopping, Jake reached down with his
clawed hands and began to peel individual scales off.
Saurat screamed. Jake was hurting him! Instead of dropping
Cassie, Saurat reared back, trying to dislodge the warg. Jake held
on, his claws digging into theexposed bit of back muscle and into
cracks in the other black scales.
Frustrated, Saurat threw Cassie as far as he could. His head snaked
back and he looked directly at Jake with a cold hatred. Hissing
menacingly, Saurat shot hishead forward as fast as a striking snake.
He snapped...
On nothing but air! Jake saw it coming, and with reflexes akin to a
tiger's, dodged out of the way without falling off the dragon's back.
Growling, Jakeleaped at Saurat's face, claws extended and teeth
bared.
Jake's jaws snapped shut on Saurat's snout, bitting in so deep he
struck bone.
"Screeeaaaeaaeeeaaaah!!!" the renegade dragon roared, shaking its
head violently, trying to dislodge the warg. But Jake wasn't about
to let go.
Saurat reached up with one hand and grabbed Jake around the
torso. Digging his foot-long claws into Jake, Saurat jerked at him,
trying to either tear him looseor tear him in half.
Still, Jake held on. He was in pain, with dragon claws tearing
muscles and bones, and with dragon strength jerking him, but the
werewolf mind didn't careabout the pain. He healed, so torn tissues
healed immediately, and he never feltlightheaded from loss of
blood, since blood replentished itself faster than itwas lost. Nothing
short of magic could kill a werewolf. And he needed to delaythe
dragon, keep it distracted, until Marco and Cassie could join him.
So Jakeheld on.
In the end, it wasn't Jake who gave in. Realizing that the warg was
delaying him, Saurat used all of his strength to tear Jake off. A
large chunk of his own flesh, clamped in Jake's jaws, tore off with
him. Screaming in blind rage,Saurat threw Jake to the ground with
all of his fury. Jake bounced on the groundhard, the crushed bones
and shattered organs mended so fast it was like he wasnever hurt in
the first place.
The dragon breathed fire at Jake, but Jake scampered out of the
way, totally untouched. Jake could feel the earth rolling behind
him, and when he lookedbehind him he saw Cassie riding a wave
of earth. Behind the dragon, a hugewinged shadow rose over the
wall, holding a human figure. Marco was coming, andhe was
bringing Rachel with him.
'Good,' Jake thought, 'we are all he--.' Suddenly, he realized what
was wrong.
Saurat breathed fire at Jake again, interupting his thoughts.
It saw Cassie coming. It looked behind itself and saw a baalrog, a
huge demon of sorts, setting a human girl down on the ground. The
baalrog was red and black,humanoid, with fangs in its mouth and
ram-horns on its forehead and hugeleathery wings extending from
shoulderblades. A whip of fire appeared in itshand, and it flew at
the dragon, leaving the girl.
He was surrounded. The human children had surrounded him and
not one of them was dead. That knowledge only made him angrier.
But while Saurat was sizing up the situation, Jake was telling the
others his plan, making sure the dragon didn't hear.
Marco, set her down and get some altitude. Stay in the air so it
will not have any reason to look down. Cassie, keep your distance,
always be ahead of it, but watch for Rachel. None of us draw
attention to her. We have to lead it out ofthe city, so no one get
directly behind it. Rachel, don't go yet. Wait.
The dragon, sure it could kill at least one of the shapeshifters but
afraid that they will escape, attacked.
* * * * *
"Father, Lecrian told me that they need mine and Crimber's help."
Herlim begged King Themis.
Themis stopped mending the wounded soldier's wounds and
looked up at his sons. Herlim was unarmed and scared, but he
looked as if he knew he needed to go.Crimber clumsily held a
spear and looked as if he had no idea what Herlim wastalking
about.
"If we don't go, everything will go ... wrong."
Themis weighed Herlim's words carefully. He knew very well how
hot-headed and reckless the boy was, but he knew that his son
wouldn't lie to him. If Herlimsaid that Lecrian said he must go,
than he must go. Still, nothing in the futureis certain, so something
could still go wrong...
With a wave of his hand, Themis made Herlim and Crimber
vanished. He turned wearily back to his many dying soldiers,
vainly wishing that he could replacelost blood as well as close
injuries. He cast one more spell to watch over hisboys. Then he
thought of the Dragon King...
Herlim and Crimber appeared on the other side of the wall. They
didn't like the sight that greeted them.
The giant dragon roared in rage and charged the warg that was
Jake. Jake easily dodged and ran towards the dragon's foot. The
young elemental called Cassiestayed back, but slapped the ground,
causing a pit to appear under the dragon,making it stumble. Marco,
the baalrog, flew in the air, cracking his fire whipat the dragon's
mouth, trying to entangle it. Rachel, her dress torn at theknees so
she could move more freely, crept unnoticed towards the dragon's
back.
But the dragon was fighting back. It pivotted so fast it was almost a
blur, hitting Cassie and Jake at once with its incredibly long tail. It
coiled itsneck like a snake and struck at Marco. The only thing that
saved Marco was thesimple fact that he was bigger than Cassie, but
Marco still cried in pain as thedragon bit into him and slammed
him down.
"Do you have any idea why the Animorphs call wargs
'werewolves?'" Herlim asked, his voice trembling.
"What does that have to do with this?" Crimber asked back,
puzzled at Herlim's unusual behavior.
"Never mind." Then Herlim couldn't even pretend to joke anymore.
"Can you thrown that far?" he said, pointing at the spear.
"How far?"
Herlim pointed at the dragon. "Can you hit Saurat's eye?"
Crimber's eyes grew wide. "You want me to hit *that?!*"
"That's what I just said. Well, can you?"
Crimber looked scared and doubtful. "Well, not naturally..."
"With your linking power?" Herlim asked desperately.
"Maybe. I've never tried to link with something that I hadn't
touched before."
"Good enough." Then he looked back at the battle. Trembling,
keeping a close eye on Rachel, Herlim crept forward, with Crimber
following behind. Then Crimberremembered something.
"Saurat? Where did you hear that?"
The battle continued, moving farther and farther away from the
city. Marco was hurt, but still flying. Cassie used her earth powers
to attack the dragon. Jakestill clung to Saurat, biting and peeling
scales off. Saurat still thrashedaround, failing to dislodge Jake, but
avoiding Cassie's attacks, and swiping atMarco. Rachel suddenly
broke into a run, heading for an ankle.
The princes ran after her. "That's the name Lecrian gave me, now
listen. Saurat is going to ..."
Rachel touched the dragon. In the instant that she touched him,
Saurat saw. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw. Roaring in
triumph, Saurat spun around andlundged at her.
The earth rode up between him and Rachel, and the dragon
slammed face first into the raised turf. Rachel ran, sprinting for all
that she was worth back towardsthe city.
MARCO!! Jake screamed, GET HER OUT OF HERE!!!
Saurat didn't hear him, but he did see Marco, hundreds of yards up,
diving at Rachel. Ignoring the warg clawing up his neck, Saurat
spread his vast wings andflew. He intercepted Marco and snapped
at him. Marco dodged and shot past him,heading straight towards
Rachel.
Grinning wickedly, Saurat took a deep breath, opened his mouth
wide, and breathed out.
NO! Jake yelled, clawing for the dragon's face but not quite
reaching it.
Fire shot from the black dragon's throat like a bolt, missing Marco,
and heading straight for Rachel.
Time seemed to crawl. Both princes stopped and stared. Marco's
eyes grew wide as he saw that he was too late.
Fire engulfed her. She disappeared in the flames.
NOOOO!! Jake cried in despair, finally reaching the dragon's
eyes.
RACHEL!! Cassie screamed. RACHEL, NO!!
Crimber stared in horror. Is this what Lecrian saw? Did he know?
Suddenly, Rachel ran out of the flames. Fire clung to her, but it
dissipitated, leaving no trace. Not a hair was singed, not a speck of
black on her dress. Itwas as if the flames never touched her.
Crimber looked at his brother. His furrowed brows and tight jaw
gave the secret away.
"You saved her!" he cried in relief. Herlim shook his head, then
held his head tenderly, as if he had a headache.
"Never realized," he said shakily, "how hard that would be. She's
not safe yet. I can't do that again." Then Crimber understood. He
looked up at the dragon and got his spear ready.
Marco had reached Rachel and scooped her up. He was flying as
fast as he could towards the city, but Saurat was closing in. Jake
had bitten the dragon's faceagain, but the dragon had torn him off,
having set his sights on Marco andRachel. The two flyers were
flying closer towards Crimber.
Crimber cocked his arm and looked straight at the eye of the
dragon. He reached deep inside himself for a rarely used power he
thought was useless in battle. He imagined a line between the tip of
the spear and the back of the huge, glowingeye, and threw with all
the might in his skinny body.
The spear flew. It looked as if it was going to miss.
Its path curved, and it buried itself deep into the dragon's eye.
"SSSSSSSRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" Saurat's scream shattered the air and rocked Crimber's bones.
Saurat crashed, forgetting about his prey. It clawed athis eye,
breaking the spear, but it will never see in that eye again.
"Father," Crimber plead, knowing that his Father heard him.
"We've done all that we can. Get us out of here." And the King,
hearing his son, teleported them back home.
* * * * *
Marco blew through the empty streets, heading towards the other
edge of the city. Once there, he dropped Rachel off.
This will be your greatest thrill yet, Xena. Marco joked. You,
the biggest, baddest thunder lizard of them all. Eat your heart out,
T-Rex. Rachel, thedragon, is coming through.
"Get out of here, Marco" Rachel said, pretending to be angry, but
with an insane glint in her eye. Then she laughed. "Let's do it!"
Don't forget to wash your hand before you eat, though. Marco
paternally pattedher shoulder, then flew away.
"Yuck." Rachel looked around once to make sure that no one was
around. The King's magical light did not reach this side of the city,
so everything wasquite dark. 'Maybe that means no one will see
me' she hoped. She stripped offher dress, and began to morph.
* * * * *
Jake was getting tired. Cassie was hurt. Marco was tired and hurt.
The dragon was not.
The dragon was hurt, no doubt. It had pieces of its face missing,
half of Crimber's spear still stuck in its eye, and it had a few
bruises from Cassieand Marco. But it wasn't tiring. In fact, it was
almost as if it was gettingstronger as the battle continued, as if
fueled by it's rage and frustration.Neither Jake or Cassie had a
more capable morph, but Marco was in huge trouble.He was hurt,
and hurt badly. And none of them could fight forever against the
dragon.
It has been almost a minute since Marco dropped Rachel off on the
other side of the city. Jake really wanted her to hurry up.
Marco, get out of here. Demorph." Jake yelled at his failing best
friend.
The dragon bit at Jake. This time, Jake didn't succeed at dodging.
Cassie grabbed the dragon's leg and pulled, yanking it off-balance.
The dragon didn't let Jake go, but used him like a bludgeon and
snapped Jake at her, makingher release her grip.
Marco tried to fly away, but the dragon saw him. Snatching Jake
out of its mouth, it threw him at Marco, who just barely managed
to catch the flyingwerewolf. At about the same time, the dragon
flew at Marco. Before Marco couldreact, it grabbed him with both
hands and slammed him into the ground. Marcolost consciousness
and relaxed his grip on Jake.
Jake stood over Marco protectively, growling threats at the
triumphant dragon and knowing that he cannot save him. The
dragon stood before Jake, and the sky shook with quieted
lightening. Grinning wickedly, showing its sword-like teethin the
last of the pale blue light, the one-eyed dragon paused a moment,
andlunged.
Look out! Cassie yelled as she threw herself between the dragon
and her friends, coming in on its blind side. The dragon bit down
on hard rock. Teeththat was not meant to eat stone broke, and the
dragon recoiled in shock. Itshook its head, saw teeth fall, and
glared down on Cassie.
Marco! she yelled at him. Wake up! You've got to wake up!
Fast as lightning, the dragon lashed out at Cassie, knocking her far,
far away. Just as quickly, Jake leaped at the dragon's hand as it
blurred by. Though hewas tired, he caught onto it, and before the
dragon could shake him loose, he bit down in the wrist. He could
feel the half of the wrist bones break as hecrushed them.
The dragon screamed, then whipped Jake off. Jake took a bit of
meat with him as he flew. As he flew, he thought he could hear
something beating the air. Wings.
Finally, Saurat could focus on the baalrog, who was starting to stir.
If just one of the children die, his mission would be accomplished.
Too late, he heard the sound of wings beating the air.
Something huge slammed into him. Something huge, black, and
scaly sent him rolling across the field. When he finally stopped to
face his new challenger, hefroze.
Saurat was looking at himself. The new dragon was as big, strong,
and black as he was, but with none of the injuries. It was not
blinded, it was not missingchunks of flesh, and its wrist was not
broken.
Hey, I'm your size, a female voice echoed in his mind. Let's
wrestle. Andthe impossibility laughed and charged.
Faster than the eye could follow, they fought. Rachel tackled
Saurat to the ground. Saurat twisted, freeing himself from her grip.
He wrapped his tailaround her neck and pulled back. She fell, but
grabbed the tail and painfullyyanked at it. Both dragons jumped up
to their feet and circled each other beforecrashing together again. In
a blur of fury, the two dragons battled. Each bit atnecks and
shoulders, slashed with claws, entangled with tails, and
screamedtheir full-throated challenges. Both bled, neither gaining a
clear upper-up.Rachel had health. Saurat had experience.
Suddenly, Rachel blew fire at Saurat's face. Though the fire didn't
hurt him, Saurat was blinded by the flames and smoke for just a
moment. In that moment,Rachel leaped over his blind shoulder.
With two healthy, clawed hands, she toreSaurat's wing.
Saurat screamed. Painfully, Saurat shoved Rachel away using his
one good hand.
Give up? Rachel challenged, seeing just how pain-wracked her
enemy was.
Saurat growled, then attacked her again.
I'll take that as a 'no.'"
"Stop!" a commanding voice rang in the darkness.
Suddenly, King Themis appeared. Saurat saw him and stopped his
attack. Rachel had the feeling that she shouldn't press the fight
until the King said what he had to say. Jake slunk up beside the
King, Cassie lumbered to his other side,and Marco flew overhead.
"Saurat," King Themis addressed him "Give up. Your brothers
come for you." And with that he pointed toward the red moon
hanging beneath the haltedthunderclouds. Unmistakably, a vast
number of winged silhouettes flew, nearlyblocking out the moon's
light. Saurat began to tremble.
He suddenly leaped up and flapped his wings, trying to fly, but he
only had one good wing. He crashed back down to earth.
Rachel grabbed him and pushed him down to the ground, pinning
him. Saurat struggled, but Rachel didn't loose her grip.
King Themis approached the struggling dragon until he was
standing dangerously close.
You better stand back, Themis, Rachel told him.
Themis smiled at Rachel, touched by her concern and not the least
offended by her lack of formality. He knew she came from a place
where there is no royalty.
"He won't hurt me," he said. "He can't."
Then, King Themis stood only a few short feet from Saurat's
battered face. Saurat glared at King Themis with unmistakable,
complete, and total hatred, buthe didn't attack.
"You cannot escape, Saurat. Your brothers will be here soon. If
you cooperate, they may not be as harsh with you. So tell me,"
King Themis asked, his voicelowering. "Who sent you? And
why?"
For a few seconds, Saurat glared silently at the King. Then his head
slumped against the ground in defeat, and for the first time, Saurat
spoke.
"What's the use?" Saurat asked himself, the fire finally burning out
of him. He looked at the King. "Zilos sent me."
Themis nodded. "I'm impressed. I never realized he could
summon..."
"He didn't summon me!" Saurat yelled, rebelious hatred burning in
his eyes again. Then he calmed down. "I went to him on my own,
of my own free will. Noone can summon me, human."
"I see," Themis replied, seeing no need in making the dragon clam
up. "But why did you come? What did you hope to gain by this?"
Saurat looked past the King and looked directly at the Animorphs.
"Them." He said simply. "We were here to kill them. At least one."
King Themis didn't like the sound of that. "We?"
But then, the dragons came. They almost took Rachel, but they saw
Saurat and King Themis explained what happened. The dragons,
without a word, picked Sauratup and carried him away.
As Saurat was taken away, Jake remembered something.
Guys, I'm worried. he said to everyone. Tobias and Ax didn't
show. Jake began, going straight to business. They should have
showed up at about the same time as Ariana did.
You think something may have happened to them? Rachel
asked. Jake nodded.
"I'll take you back to the castle." And with that, Themis teleported
everyone to just outside the castle. People were working on
cleaning up the place, havingboarded up the broken wall.
Themis bent down to the muddy ground. "Open." he commanded.
Suddenly, the ground opened up beneath them, revealing several
rooms. Each one was just big enough for them, even one deep
enough for Rachel, and each one had their morphing clothing on a
dresser.
"Hurry," he gestured to the strange rooms, "This is taxing me."
Soon, all four were underground and changed. Themis was
exhausted.
"I could teleport you there, but I might accidently miss and send
you into a wall. Do you know how to reach Tobias' and Ax's
room?" Jake nodded grimly. Then,leading his four friends, he ran
into the ballroom.
Looking up gloomily at the sky, Themis released the clouds,
Immediately, the rain began to fall in sheets once more. The light
went out, replaced bylightning. This time, Themis didn't deny the
thunder its voice.
Soon, the remaining Animorphs reached Tobias' and Ax's room. It
was boarded up. Marco morphed just enough of the gorilla to tear
the door from its hinges.
Rachel was the first inside. She screamed in anger and despair.
The room looked like a tornado with blades hit it. A table was
thrown. The furniture and walls were had long slashes in them. The
window was broken.
Ax was no where to be found.
Tobias, pale, unmoving, and in human form, layed in a pool of his
own blood.
