Circles of Seven (32 page)
Billy slid his hands under Palin’s body. “Maybe if I get you across the bridge—”
Palin grabbed Billy’s wrist. “No! Don’t!” He slowly relaxed his grip, and his voice became steady and low. “It’s too late for me. I’m already dead, remember? I had my chance to cross the bridge long ago. I—” His body arched upward, and he exhaled slowly, releasing Billy’s arm. As his body settled down, his extremities began to crumble, first his fingers, then his hands and legs, dissolving into ashes.
Billy and Walter rose to their feet. A fresh breeze cut across the top layer of Palin’s ashes and carried them down into the valley, biting away at the pile until it disappeared.
Walter patted Billy on the back. “C’mon.” He snatched up his cloak and pushed his arms through the sleeves. “We still have to get Bonnie across the bridge.”
Chapter 22
Marilyn rubbed Hartanna’s neck with long strokes. “Your scales are still cold.”
Hartanna exhaled, and a few tiny embers shot from her nostrils. “I never had a chance to build a regeneracy dome after the long trip over the ocean. I was exhausted when I arrived, and breaking through the portal sapped my reserves.”
The professor descended the slope from an upper terrace. “We have to get you out of here. A crowd is gathering near the entrance, and, believe me, you have not seen a true media feeding frenzy until you’ve seen a British one. I expect lights and cameras all over this place before we know it.”
Hartanna pushed up on her forelegs. “I don’t think I can fly, but I might be able to crawl to the trees in a few minutes.”
Ashley sat down on the grass and checked the time on her computer. “Let’s see. Shiloh’s been gone half an hour now. I’ll check with Barlow again.” She pressed a button and spoke into the microphone. “Hey, Barlow. Anything new, or is it still too dark to see?”
“They are in the light now, Miss, but I feel that I am still in the dark. What I have seen is so amazing, I cannot describe it.”
Ashley propped her forearms on her knees. “Well, give it your best shot.”
“I saw a floating head made of pure light, but I did not recognize the face. I saw hideous creatures bouncing off a shield of light. I saw a dragon burn Palin to a crisp, and his ashes blew away in the wind.”
Ashley pressed her lips together. “Did you see Shiloh and Walter?”
“Yes, I caught glimpses of both of them. They seem well.”
“That’s a relief! How about Bonnie?”
“William carries her body from time to time. She still appears dead to me. And, before you ask, I checked the lights. They are still glowing in the drawings in the seventh and eighth circles.”
Ashley pushed against the ground with her palm. “I understand. I’ll ask the professor—”
A voice shouted from the top of the tor. “There it is!”
Ashley spun her head. Someone turned a powerful beam of light down the slope and waved it over Hartanna. “Keep the light right there! We’ve got it!”
With a heavy grunt, Hartanna leaped into the air. Her wings flailing wildly, she rose over the tor, bounding off the top of the tower as she leapfrogged the peak. The professor and Marilyn sprinted in pursuit, following just behind the low-flying dragon as they followed the path toward the entrance.
“Quick!” the voice yelled. “It’s getting away. Roll the camera!”
A young man jogged down the slope, a TV camera hoisted on his shoulder. The man with the light followed, keeping it trained on the escaping dragon. The professor halted, stepping in front of the pursuing cameraman and raising his hand. “Stop this nonsense! Don’t you know what night this is?”
“That’s no Halloween costume, old man. Get out of my way!” The cameraman pushed the professor roughly to the side, knocking him to his seat, but the professor managed to stick his leg out. The cameraman tripped and tumbled down the slope head over heels, and his camera followed behind, rocking to a stop at one of the terraces.
The professor hustled down the slope and grabbed the camera, but when he looked up at the sky, he let the camera drop to the grass. A helicopter buzzed overhead with a high-powered spotlight aimed at Hartanna. The dragon landed and bustled into a cluster of trees while Marilyn followed. The professor hurried back to the portal area and found Ashley. “There’s no use trying to hide her now.”
Ashley nodded toward another helicopter far in the distance. “Yep. Let’s hope they don’t have live feeds to the networks.”
A voice buzzed from the computer, but the chopper’s engine drowned it out. Ashley raised it to her ear. “Karen, did you say something?”
“Yeah. I’m watching you guys on TV right now. Except for a Scooby Doo marathon on the Cartoon Network, you’re on every channel.”
Ashley kicked at the grass. “Oh, great! The dragon’s out of the bag!”
The professor’s mouth dropped open, and he took a wobbling step backwards. “In the name of all that is holy!”
Ashley pivoted on her heel. The portal had reappeared, bursting with streams of light flying in all directions. An enormous, glowing creature had stepped out with muscular legs as thick as an elephant’s. His body, a human form at least nine feet tall, solidified, shaking off the glow as he stomped along one of the tor’s terraces. His angular jaw opened, and he let out a warrior’s cry that shook the earth as several other creatures, just as massive, poured through the shimmering rectangle and lined up in a row.
“Ashley,” Karen’s voice shouted. “What are those things?”
Ashley’s jaw froze. She could only stare in stunned silence.
“They are the Watchers,” the professor whispered, “ancient demons more powerful than any other evil creature.”
A dragon flew through the portal, his wings beating the air. With a quick snuff, he shot a stream of fire at the helicopter, sending it hurtling to the ground in flames. He then took a place at the end of the line of creatures.
Finally, a slender woman dressed in black emerged from the portal followed by a smaller woman and a vicious looking, striped dog. She walked in front of the line with long, confident strides.
“All hail Morgan!” they cried.
Morgan stopped at the center of the line and raised her arms. “We’re free at last!”
“Free at last!” they echoed.
She balled her hands into fists. “Now Elaine and I will help you regain the world! Samyaza will be revered once again, and all who oppose him will die.”
“What’s happening?” Karen called. “There’s no picture. Everything went dark.”
Ashley squatted low and tried to swallow. She could barely spit out her words. “I think it’s . . . it’s the end of the world.” She pulled the computer closer and whispered. “I love you, Karen. Say good-bye to Beck and Stacey and Pebbles for me.”
“Good-bye? But—”
Ashley turned off the computer and whispered. “Sorry, Karen. Can’t risk any noise right now.”
Morgan stalked back and forth along the terrace. “As you know, our only real enemy is the dragon race, and the only two dragons remaining are Hartanna and this one whom Devin now occupies. When we find Hartanna, she will be easy prey, because she will trust the dragon she believes is Clefspeare. Devin will destroy her. Then, after we find a more suitable vessel for Devin to inhabit, he will destroy the dragon body he now occupies.”
The creatures shouted their approval in a cacophonous wail, sounding like a choir of howling dogs and bleating sheep.
The professor crouched at Ashley’s side and put his arm on her shoulders. “Can you speak to Larry?” he asked.
“Probably. But what can he do?”
“I suggest the biggest flash Apollo can possibly produce. Perhaps we can bring Billy and the others back here, or perhaps we can send these monsters back to hell where they belong.”
Ashley tapped her jaw. “I’m on it, Professor.”
Billy bent over slowly, picked up Excalibur, and slid the blade back into its sheath. He trudged back to Bonnie and lifted her into his arms.
Carrying Apollo again, Walter helped Shiloh to her feet, and the two of them joined Billy at the edge of the bridge. “Well,” Billy said, “I guess I’ll just try to cross and see what happens.”
Walter slapped him on the back. “I’m right behind you, buddy. You can count on that.”
When Billy reached the apex of the arch, he saw an old man on the other side, his arms held out in a cradle, much like Billy’s.
“Joseph?” Billy asked.
The old man, now dressed in a long robe, nodded. “Yes. Come now. Give the precious lamb to me. I will take her to the Holy Grail.”
Billy descended the arch, quickening his pace. Walter and Shiloh trailed him by a couple of steps. Billy reached the opposite ledge and laid Bonnie in Joseph’s arms. “Be real careful with her, okay?”
“She is a precious treasure, I know, but don’t let your heart be troubled. I have carried a lamb even more precious than she.”
Joseph turned toward a huge boulder behind him. “Come out Patrick. I know you are weary, but I will need help with my burden. I am not as young as I used to be.”
Patrick emerged from behind the mammoth rock. When he caught sight of the three young people on the ledge, he fell to his knees. His lips quivered, and he held his hand to his chest. “Sh . . . Shiloh?”
Shiloh lifted her head. Three deep lines dug into her brow as she leaned forward. “Daddy?”
Patrick’s face lit up. He jumped up and spread out his arms. “Shiloh!”
Shiloh leaped into his embrace. “Daddy! It’s you! It’s really you!”
He spun her around, laughing and crying, kissing her cheek over and over again. “Shiloh! My dear Shiloh!” He wrapped her up in his arms. “My daughter is alive from the dead! Praise the King of Heaven! My daughter is alive!”
After a final spin, Patrick turned to the others, his face bursting with joy. “She’s alive! Can you believe it? My daughter’s a—” He suddenly dropped his chin, and he turned slowly toward the dead body in Joseph’s arms.
Shiloh pressed her cheek against Patrick’s. “She gave her life for me, Daddy. Bonnie died to set me free.”
Patrick let Shiloh slide down to the ground. He strode forward and pushed his arms under Bonnie, joining hands with Joseph and making a two-man cradle. As they began descending a path that led into the valley, Joseph looked back at Billy. “Follow us into the grail, and bring Apollo . . . and your faith.”
Billy took Apollo from Walter and trailed the two men as they wound their way into the valley, following a narrow, switchback path. The valley was littered with bones, dusty, crumbling bones, many still pieced together in the shapes of dragons. When Joseph and Patrick finally arrived at the bottom, they laid Bonnie’s body down in the midst of the densest collection of whitewashed dragon remains. Billy tramped through the dust and set Apollo next to an arching set of blanched ribs.
Joseph shook Patrick’s hand. “Go and be with your daughter.” Patrick bowed and hurried away.
Joseph spread out his arms and turned his head from side to side. “Young man, can these bones live?”
“What?” Billy squinted at the unearthly scene, a strange old wanderer standing in the midst of a valley of dry bones. “Why are you asking me? I thought you’d tell me what this is all about.”
Joseph folded his hands at his waist. “Do you not remember what your professor sang to you after your adventure with the candlestone?”
“Well, I remember his singing, but I don’t remember the song.”
Joseph bowed his head. “Then listen to the words again.”
A voice rose from the valley floor, the professor’s gentle tenor somehow pouring forth from the bones as if they themselves were singing.
A valley deep, a valley long
Lay angels dry and dead;
Now who can wake their cold, stone hearts
Their bones on table spread?
Like wine that flows in skins made new
The spirit pours out fresh;
Can hymns of love bring forth the dead
And give them hearts of flesh?
O will you learn from words of faith
That sing in psalms from heaven
To valley floors where terrors lurk
In circles numbering seven?
The beautiful song left Billy breathless. He placed his palm on his chest as if to keep his heart from leaping out.
“And you have seen Merlin’s verse, have you not?” Joseph continued, his head still bowed. “Speak it to me.”
Billy pivoted and gazed under the bridge at the red boulder on the other side. Although it was a few hundred feet away, its huge letters were easy to read. With trembling lips he spoke the prophecy.
The final circle numbers seven,
And beasts await your sword’s command.
The greatest danger tests your faith,
And wisdom’s touch will make you stand.
The bridge of faith still lies in wait,
The narrow path of answered prayer.
Restore the fountain from the stone,
Regenerating souls laid bare.
Joseph lifted his head. “I ask you again, can these bones live?”
Billy firmed his chin and nodded. “Yes, they can live.” He then squinted at Joseph. “But how?”
“Turn now,” Joseph said, “and approach the prophetic stone. Then raise your sword and strike it.”
Billy pivoted and urged his tired legs into a lumbering jog. As he approached, the red stone seemed to grow, towering over him like a scarlet skyscraper. He slid Excalibur from its scabbard and lifted it in the air with both hands. The white letters suddenly blazed with fire, flames dancing in the deep etchings. Billy hesitated and glanced back at Joseph.
“Strike the rock!” Joseph yelled. “Strike it with all your heart!”
Taking in a deep breath, Billy pulled back his arms and lunged toward the heart of the stone. With a mighty swing, the blade cracked against the face, slicing a gash from the top of his stroke to the bottom.
Red liquid gushed out, spilling over Billy and knocking him down. Torrents of crimson carried him along the valley floor, sweeping him toward Joseph. As the rushing tide slowed, the old man waded over and helped him to his feet. Billy held tight to Excalibur, and the blade dripped red, as though freshly drawn from a kill.
The flood abated to a shallow stream that covered the valley floor, flowing gently around Bonnie’s body and the dragon bones. Joseph held Apollo in one hand and gripped Billy’s wrist with the other. “Now lift up your sword and paint the skies with the visions of the night, the dreams that have prophesied all that you are about to see.”
Billy aimed Excalibur toward the sky. The beam exploded from the blade and seemed to rip into the hazy blue backdrop, scarring the heavens. Billy’s recurring dream flooded back into his mind—the muddy water, the bone-filled cemetery, the electric fence.
Billy guided Excalibur, drawing line after line in the sky until he had emblazoned a shimmering fence on his sparkling canvas that hovered hundreds of feet above the entire valley.
Excalibur’s beam died away, but the fence remained. A rift in the sky near one edge created a gate that swung open, leaving a gap in the fence. From the center of the gap, another beam of light shot out and drilled into the valley floor, spreading out until it covered the riverbed like a silver carpet.
