"...Then the baleful fiend its fire belched out,
and bright homes burned. The blaze stood high all landsfolk frighting. No living thing would that loathly one leave as aloft it flew."
Mr. Lancer stood before his British Literature class, reading out loud from the copy of Beowulf that rested in his hand. He flung his free arm emphatically about in the air, simulating the stature of the creature described in the ancient epic. Back in the desks where the students were listening, Samantha was sitting upright, taking in every word. Next to her sat Tucker, his elbows on the deck and his hands holding up his head, pretending to pay attention. His gaze did occasionally shift to the desk nearby where Danny sat, the desk which was now empty. Normally Sam would reach over and nudge him as a reminder that he should think more about his quiz grades than who he was planning on attempting to ask out the next weekend, but today she was more lenient; Danny hadn't shown up for class today, much less for homeroom or first period, that and they had yet to spot him in the halls. He would have let them know if he wasn't going to come to class today, and usually when he skipped out, it was because of either an illness or a severe ghost attack. His abscence today puzzled the both of them; they didn't even have the slightest guess as to why he wasn't in class.
"Alright everyone, come back tomorrow with a one-page report summarizing chapter 33. And Mr. Foley, I suggest that you see me after your lunch break; we have some matters to discuss, mostly about your in-class study habits."
Tucker didn't seem to hear Mr. Lancer; he remained sitting there, his chin in his hands, seemingly unaware of everyone else getting up to leave for the next class period. Sam got up and poked him in the arm.
"Class is over. Lancer wants to bore you some more after lunch."
Tucker flinched, as if he had suddenly been brought out of a trance. He looked around, then up at Sam.
"Uh... right. I heard. It's just that--"
"I understand. Come on, maybe we'll see him in the cafeteria."
Sam and Tuck picked up their backpacks and left the room. They were halfway to the school lunchroom when a loud noise like a bomb going off shook the walls, having come from outside. Tuck yelped in fright, and almost jumped back in surprise when Sam grabbed his arm.
"We've gotta see what that was. It might be something important... It just might a clue to why Danny isn't here!"
And with that, she turned and ran toward the nearest exit doors, half-dragging Tuck behind her as other students began crowding the halls, responding in frenzied alarm to the tremor.
Having seen the size and shape of his shadow in the late morning sun, Danny's fears were confirmed. A blast of ethereal fire from somewhere up above his head struck the north side of Casper High School, scorching brick and shattering glass. He could hear the screams of the terrified students and faculty inside. Some of them were already rushing out through the front doors, turning sharply and dashing away with greater speed at the sight of him. No, they weren't seeing him; he was invisible to everyone, including himself. What they saw was the towering form of the Ghost Dragon: a giant, winged, fire-breathing spectre that took control over a person's body through an ancient amulet that, when worn around that person's neck, would transform him or her into the malevolent creature once the person came under heavy stress or anger. Spectra must have slipped it around his neck while Bertrand was threatening the life of his father, infuriating him so that he would transform into the dragon. Why Danny was still able to see what went on around him without seeing himself or the dragon, he had absolutely no idea, much less why he wasn't seeing it from the dragon's point of view, where everything around him would have been miniaturized to the point of resembling objects in some kid's dollhouse.
His thoughts were interrupted when the fire alarm went off, red lights flashing through the windows. Danny felt slightly relieved; the fire department was sure to respond to the alarm soon, and that meant firetrucks would be heading towards the school. Hopefully enough of them would come that the dragon would feel at a disadvantage and would fly off before it could do any major damage.
The dragon roared, then swiped at the side of the building with its claws, creating a huge gouge in the wall and sending bricks raining down on the fleeing students below. Danny couldn't bear to watch anymore, since there was absolutely no way he could prevent it, so he turned to look away, off down the street behind him, where hopefully he would be seeing the fire engines' lights flashing at any moment...
Suddenly, a voice rang in his head, a voice coming through clear like the ring of a crystal bell; a sound he could hear above all other sounds around him, even the dragon's roaring.
"Tuck, look! The Ghost Dragon! Danny should be here any second now to drive it away..."
Danny swung around to find the source of the sound. Down on the ground, in one corner of the school's yard, was Sam, standing right next to Tuck, pointing up at the dragon. Seeing their familiar faces, he called out to them, momentarily forgetting that not even he himself could hear his voice.
"Sam! Tuck! Get as far away from here as you can, I don't want you getting hurt!"
The pair froze where they stood, looking around. Danny was taken aback. Could they hear him? And for that matter, how was he able to hear Sam, especially above all that clatter? Sam looked up in the sky in every direction, then cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted out a reply. However, her voice came through with the same volume and clarity as before.
"Danny!! Where are you?"
She must be able to hear my thoughts, or at least what I'm trying to say to her, Danny thought. Somehow or another we can understand each other.
"You probably won't get this, but I'm inside the dragon--no, I AM the dragon--or at least the dragon's overshadowing me. I'll explain later, if I can. But right now I need you two to go to my house and see if Mom and Dad are all right!"
He heard Sam and Tuck exchanging exclamations, quite possibly from the shock at Danny's message, while the dragon roared again and ripped away another section of the north wall. Then Danny heard sirens; not just fire engines, but also police cars, all approaching at top speed, rounding the corner and lining up around the building, keeping a safe distance away from him. He looked around and saw the students all crowded behind the chain-link fence that surrounded the school, their wide eyes watching him in complete and utter terror. The school yard was a confusion of lights, shouts, sirens, and movement. Really starting to feel the pressure, Danny turned his attention back to his friends, who were now staring up at him like everyone else.
"Don't just stand there, hurry! I really need to know if my parents are okay. And when you find out, go down in the lab and look for a device with a large antenna and a satellite dish--that's a new ghost tracker. You'll need that to find me later on. I can't control what the dragon does or where it goes... So please, hurry..."
Telling Sam about the upgraded Fentonfinder brought a wave of depression crashing down on Danny; he recalled the sight of his dad laying unconscious on the lab floor, Bertrand standing over him, ready to bring his claws down on his unprotected back. Even though he did see Bertrand step away from him, the thought of Jack's life being in danger just with him being in the very presence of Bertrand in cougar form made Danny extremely worried. At his request, Sam and Tuck quickly left the school grounds and went running down the street in the direction of Danny's house. He watched them go until they were out of sight.
The sound of someone yelling below caused him to shift his attention; the firemen had readied their hoses and now had them trained on him. At the signal of another yell, the hoses began firing powerful streams of water, strong enough to remove the grassy turf from the dirt where they struck the yard. Several of them struck the dragon in the side, and it roared, turning to face the firetrucks. The firemen then directed the force of the water to strike the dragon in sensitive areas; its nose, eyes, and neck. The dragon roared again, stepping back, then flapped its huge wings and took to the air, turning and flying away from the burning school. Danny gave a silent sigh of relief as he saw the ground fall away from him, the building fading from sight as he gained distance and speed. The noonday sun streamed down on him from overhead, illuminating everything below in its golden light. His gaze lingered on the cloud of smoke leading skyward from the building for a long time.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp drop in altitude. Swinging around to look, he found he was descending upon a farm, heading in the direction of a large field of cattle. He remembered that he hadn't had any breakfast yet, and, realizing what the dragon was about to do, he turned his gaze up towards the sky and the clouds, unable to cover his eyes.