B0075M2D1U EBOK (18 page)

Jeremy slowly placed his hands on Sirrush’s jaw. I set the flower pot down, and I nodded that I was ready. Jeremy pried open the dragon’s huge jaw while I scooped out a huge handful of the Moon Flower. While Jeremy held his jaw, I pushed Sirrush’s gross, sandpapery black tongue up and placed a handful of Moon Flower under it. I was unaware that, at that time, Anya and Brennan stood up and faced the dragon, holding hands and chanting Da Vinci’s translated spell. I quickly reached down into the flower pot and scooped up another handful of the Moon Flower to place in the dragon’s mouth. Just as I was shoving the second batch under that nasty, black tongue, I heard Jeremy gasp, and in less than half of a second, I saw three things happen all at the same time. Jeremy let go of Sirrush’s jaw and took off running. I felt the razor sharp teeth of the dragon chomp down on my left wrist, which was still in Sirrush’s mouth, and I felt Anya and Brennan tugging at my body, screaming chants that echoed off the trees. Luckily, my right arm was free, as I was in the process of reaching towards the flower pot with it again when Jeremy suddenly let go of Sirrush’s jaw. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion for about four seconds. I saw that terrifying, glowing fiery-orange eye looking down at me and heard the snorting, gasping sounds of the beast while his muscular body writhed unhappily awake. I felt like my body was going to be ripped in two, as my fairy friends tugged at me from one side, wrapping their arms around my waist and legs, and the crazyass dragon tried to lock his jaw and pull me the other way. He didn’t have a firm grasp of his teeth in my flesh though. Luckily, I had moved my wrist just enough and the gaps in his teeth were just wide enough that he couldn’t get a good hold. I didn’t feel any pain from Sirrush’s clenching jaw. Oh God. Is this what it feels like when you get your hand chewed off by an alligator or a shark? Maybe I didn’t feel any pain because my hand was gone! What was I going to do with no fingers?!? I need fingers! I must be in shock. Yes, I’m sure I’m in shock. But somehow, I felt stronger than ever. I struggled to keep pulling my wrist out of his mouth while I reached into my backpack with my other hand that was free and grabbed one of my garden tools. I couldn’t see what I was getting, but was quite pleased when out came the small, stainless steel garden rake. I reached up swinging my right hand with all of my force, burying the pointed rake into Sirrush’s snout. I screamed like a warrior princess, “Arrrgghhhh!!!!!” The dragon yowled in pain, freeing my hand. My hand! I still had my hand! I grabbed my backpack and scrambled as far away as I could. You know those dreams where you feel like you’re running in quick sand? Yeah. That was me. Brennan and Anya were right by my side (I don’t know where the hell Jeremy had run to, and frankly, I didn’t really care. I needed to get my butt away from this psycho dragon, and fast!) The Moon Flowers and the spell were obviously affecting Sirrush, because he seemed a bit loopy, struggling and staggering, and flapping his huge wings. And, oh my goodness, were those wings huge. Seeing the large flapping wings reminded me of a prehistoric pterodactyl. He whipped his tail around to knock us down into the sand. He caught all three of us and knocked us flat on our stomachs with the huge thrust of the powerful tail. Arrggh! I got a mouthful of gritty sand as my face hit the ground. The backpack flew out of my hand, and we scurried away on our hands and knees.

As we were lurching for our lives, Brennan shouted to me, “Too bad you can’t wish us home with those ruby slippers, Kansas!” I glanced at my red Converse… Typical Brennan and his smartass cockiness. Doesn’t he realize we are fighting for our lives here? I stretched forward for the backpack which had landed a few feet in front of me. I reached in and grabbed another handful of the Moon Flowers.
Better to be safe, than sorry
, I thought. Sirrush was coming at us, but his steps were wavering, as if he were drunk. He collapsed to his knees (if dragon’s had knees) and I knew the spell and flowers we placed under his tongue were having some effect on him. Giving him another dose of the Moon flowers would surely knock him out for good. I yelled, “Say the spell again!” as I righted myself, spun around to face the ugly beast and ran directly at him as fast as I could. I must have looked like a raging lunatic, running straight for the crazed dragon. As I ran closer, the only thought that went through my head was, “
Pleasedon’tbitemyheadoff.

Pleasedon’tknockmeoutwithyourtail.

Pleasedon’tbitemyheadoff…
”

Suddenly, I was directly in front of the angry, half-spelled beast, just inches from those scary, fiery-orange glowing eyes. Thankfully, dragons don’t really have arms. Well, they do, but they’re kind of like the T-Rex. They’re very small…big ugly body, powerful tail, strong wings and little-bitty baby arms. I hoped that in his unbalanced state, he wouldn’t have the strength to whip his tail around again, and his arms would be of no use if I stood directly in front of his snout. I forcefully shoved a handful of whole flowers into his dragon-snot-filled nostril.

I was wrong about the tail.

Just as I pulled my arm from his gross, snotty snout, I felt the huge thud on the back of my knees as his slimy, strong tail lifted me up and backwards, landing me flat on my back in the sand.

Then, everything went black.

Chapter 25

I was laying flat on my back in the hot sand, and I couldn’t breathe. I blinked my eyes open and was staring up at the dusky blue sky. I took a few deep breaths, shaken and suddenly becoming aware that I had just been knocked out by a dragon. In my peripheral vision, I saw Brennan and Anya kneeling in the sand next to me, chanting something over and over in a language I couldn’t understand. I tried to turn my head slightly but gasped and stopped when the explosive throbbing thundered through my skull and shooting pain ran down my spine.

“
Oh God, oh God, oh God…” It was Jeremy, mumbling somewhere in the distance. I still couldn’t speak. I closed my eyes again, thinking it would ease the pounding in my head. Everything seemed foggy.

Then, the scent of earth, fresh grass, lilies and warm sun filled my nose. I don’t know how I smelled warm sun, but somehow, I knew that’s what it was. I felt warm all over, as if my body was comfortably melting into the sand, and sunlight was washing through my veins while roots from the earth came up to cradle me. Suddenly, I could hear Anya’s and Brennan’s voices in my head…and the words they were saying were crystal clear. “
Oh earthen spirit, heal thy soul, heal thy body, make it whole.
” Over and over…In my dizzied, head-pounding grogginess, I panicked for a minute. Why are they trying to make my body whole? What’s happened? And then, the warmth cradling me seemed to wash even deeper through my entire body. My head felt clear, like a broom had come through and swept away the cobwebs.

A few seconds later, I opened my eyes again and instead of the dusky blue sky, I saw Anya and Brennan’s faces peering over me, smiling.

“
You’re okay now, Ruby. We have healed you,” Anya said.

They each held one of my arms and supported my back as they slowly sat me up to a sitting position. I looked around the beach. Sirrush was gone. Jeremy was pacing near the shore watching me. As he saw me sit up, he leapt with joy, “YESSS!!! You’re okay!!!” he triumphantly yelled as he jumped up and down and came running over to me.

They all hugged me while I sat there in the sand. “Wait,” I pulled away from the group hug, “What happened to Sirrush? Where did he go? And where the hell did you run off to Jeremy?”

“
Sirrush is gone. He was transported back to Fey,” Anya said.

“
I hope he gets his crazy psycho dragon-ass kicked to high hell and then gets stuck in dragon prison forever!” I snapped.

“
He’s dead.” Brennan flatly answered.

“
Oh. Welllll…” I nodded, “…good.” I wasn’t going to pretend that hearing that wasn’t the best news I’d ever heard in my life. I hated that dragon.

“
Yes. It’s good that he died. His life was extinguished just before he transported back. We probably used too much of the plant…but who knows? There will be questions we will have to answer for the Royal Counsel,” Brennan replied seriously, “But I’m glad he is dead.” He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “After all, it just wouldn’t be right for the flying monkeys to beat Dorothy, now would it?”

I laughed, “You’re getting much better at the
Wizard of Oz
references, Brennan.”

“
I try, Kansas, I try,” he winked.

“
But, what exactly happened to me? I mean, duh, I was knocked out… but… anything else?”

Anya nodded, and her expression was full of concern and compassion, “Oh yes! Sirrush bit you and broke the skin. Dragon bites can be very dangerous…even deadly sometimes. Then, of course, you were knocked unconscious. Just after that, Sirrush perished as he was transported back to Fey. It all happened very quickly. Brennan and I used our magic to heal you.”

“
I gotta admit, I feel pretty darn good,” I said as I stretched my arms out in front of me and rotated my wrists around. It was then that I noticed the marks on my left wrist…marks that looked like dragon’s teeth.

“
They will fade,” Anya soothed, noticing my look of concern as I looked at my wrist.

I looked up at her and smiled, and then I looked at Jeremy, “Hey! You never said where you went off to.”

“
Oh,” Jeremy bashfully looked down, “Uhhh. I ran to the shoreline and hid behind that driftwood over there,” he said as he pointed off into the distance. “I’m sorry. I freaked,” he looked embarrassed as he apologized and uncomfortably shrugged.

“
S’okay,” I said as I rubbed his back, “I was freaked too.” How could I be mad at Jeremy anyway? He had gotten thrown into this whole fairy-dragon thing not even eight hours ago…he did pretty well…considering. He stood by me and went through all this craziness with as much guts as anybody could expect. Any other person would’ve probably thought I was a nutcase and try to have me committed.

Suddenly, I heard Anya and Brennan speak. “But what will you tell the Counsel?” Anya’s voice rang out. Brennan answered, “I don’t know yet. But I will handle it.”

Okay. Here’s the weird thing.

They weren’t speaking.

It was like I could hear their voices in my head. I looked at them, as they were looking at each other.

“
Uhhhh…. Guys?” I said out loud to the both of them.

They turned to look at me.

“
I can hear you.”

They stared questionably at me, and then a look of understanding spread across their faces. “Your bite. From Sirrush,” Anya placed her hand where the bite marks were, and looked down at my wrist.

“
What about it?” I said, wondering what they meant.

Anya continued, “When he bit you, he opened you up and gave you a part of himself. If he had remained alive, he would’ve controlled the magic, either taken it back or used it against you. When he died and we healed you, you absorbed some of his essence and his magic became a part of you.”

I sat there, stunned. “Wait. Are you telling me I’m part dragon now?? I’m not gonna get all scaly and stuff, am I?” I shrieked. I’ll admit it…I was freaking out.

Brennan laughed, “Not exactly. But you do have some dragon magic, and with it, some power from Fey coursing forever through your veins now.”

“
Soooo…what does this mean, exactly?”

“
It means,” Anya calmly and matter-of-factly stated, “That you are now connected to us and to Fey. Not only can you see fairies, but you’ll be able to hear us too. You will understand us when we are speaking in our language, and you’ll be able to communicate with us – telepathically – as Brennan and I do. As for anything else…other magical abilities… well…we’re not really sure. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see!” She smiled and seemed genuinely excited.

Okay. I was more than a little freaked out now. First, I can see fairies. Now, I’m actually going to be connected to Fey and have some kind of magical power? Yikes. As far as I knew, there wasn’t really any kind of special school like Hogwarts where I could learn how to use it. It was all a bit too much for me. I guess there was no point worrying about it now, since the special fairy hearing/telepathy power might be the only magic I get.

“
Okay, ladies!” Brennan announced as he stood up and brushed the sand off his clothes, “Time to blow this pop stand! There are a couple of pizzas calling our names at Martino’s!” Jeremy frowned at the “ladies” comment, but didn’t say anything.

We slowly stood up and headed back to the boat.

“
Hey,” I said to Brennan, “What did you mean back there, when you were, uh…mind-speaking with Anya – about talking to the Counsel? Are we going to be in trouble?”

Brennan was firmly shaking his head, “No.
We
are not going to be in trouble.
I
will go and talk to the Counsel. And
I
will answer all of their questions. There is nothing for you to worry about.” Then he looked at me and smiled. I somehow felt that Brennan wasn’t exactly telling me the whole truth. Crafty and cryptic, fairies are…

“
C’mon Kansas,” Brennan said as he and Jeremy helped me into the boat, “Let’s get you and your charming ruby slippers back to the farm. It looks like there’s going to be a beautiful moon tonight,” he winked.

I sat back and relaxed into the soft leather seats while I watched the brilliant, glowing pink and orange sunset light up the skies as it began to fade into the horizon. Who would have thought, that regular old me, with no special powers, living in this tiny city of lakes would have an amazing adventure with fairies and slay a dragon?