Dragon Dreams: Book 2: Prophecy of the Dragons (16 page)

As soon as everyone calmed down, Sarah continued. "Once Rico had possession of the statue, we were able to start figuring out where the demon was. After that, it was a simple matter of finding the best way to mount a rescue mission. Since you've already secured the key and map, you four will do fine. That map will be your lifeline. Other than that, follow your strengths and hunches. Should you fail, what strange dreams everyone has thus far experienced will seem like nothing. As long as you four do what we all know you can, everything will turn out as it should."

Before anything else could be said, the three council members and their guards who had gone after Timothy and Sasha returned.

"No sign of them," Angus said. "Either they're guilty, or someone's captured them." This brought another outburst of conversation from the Dragon Council.

"I know which one I'm guessing," Andi whispered, and Ben nodded.

"Silence," Jonas called, cutting off all discussions. "For now we'll lock the Stronghold so that no one can enter or exit. I'll get in touch with our operatives who can launch a deeper search for our missing council member and his mate." He turned to the four of them. "Other than soon, I have no knowledge of when Rico plans to use you for the assault. He can get you here as easy as anywhere, so no need to worry about that. In the meantime, enjoy our hospitality." Jonas turned to face everyone in the room. "Adjourned!"

Gretchen and Reggie wandered over to them while most everyone else filed out of the Council chamber. Jonas shared a private conversation with Angus, Quinn, and Geoffrey.

"Go and get ready for dinner," Gretchen said. "Reggie and I will come get you when we head for the dining room. In the meantime, I'm sure you four have plenty to discuss." She winked, took Reggie's hand, and walked off.

Yeah, Ben thought. Plenty to discuss indeed.

After only a few seconds of sleep, or at least that was what it felt like, Ben opened his eyes and found he, Andi, Cassie, and Lee in Rico's realm. Despite the fact that they should have been locked up back home, his sword and shield were in his hands. A quick once-over proved these were his real ones and not energy replicas. A glint in his eye cause him to turn towards Cassie, and he saw she held her twin daggers. Like him, she travelled to the Stronghold unarmed, but unlike him, she couldn't create them out of nothing. The sole explanation he could see was that whatever magic Rico used to draw them into his realm, he did the same with their weapons. And their clothes, too, as they were all dressed in jeans, long-sleeved t-shirts, and their favorite sneakers. Clothes to fit any situation, he supposed.

"Welcome," Rico said. "You know why you're here, what you're up against, and the importance of coming out on top. The Nightmare Syndicate is close to finding out how to break the Demon of Dreams, but as long as you don't dawdle through the dream worlds, you'll be in time to stop them. Any last minute queries?" They all shook their heads. "No? Good."

Thanks to Lee and Andi's dragon brain encyclopedias, which they'd looked into before and after dinner, they had a pretty clear idea of what they were up against. The Nightmare Syndicate wouldn't be involved in their trip through the four dream realms — there'd be no need. Those realms would be dangerous enough. Once they navigated past whatever the Realm of Dreams threw at them, the Syndicate would be there to greet them. Or, more specifically, the three wizards who headed the evil group would be, and they'd have plenty of warriors along to protect them. What the Realm of Dreams held, as well as in what capacity they'd have to duel with the three wizards, would be a surprise, but at least they had that much to go on.

Rico handed Lee the pocket watch map. "I'd demonstrate, but it won't work here. Simply open it and it'll guide you where you need to go. Trust me, without it you won't make it anywhere. Got it?"

They all nodded again.

"Good. And here's the key."

As soon as Cassie had it in her possession, everything spun out of control for a few seconds before righting itself. When Ben had his bearings, he found they stood on the start of a hard-packed dirt path in a dark forest. He couldn't tell if this world was dark because it was dusk, or if the trees surrounding them were so thick that light had a difficult time shining through. Though there was no fog rolling in, Ben could feel the thickness of the air pressing in around them, and there was no breeze to push any of it away.

"I assumed it would take us back to the gate where we got the key," Cassie said.

"Maybe Rico worked the spell so we bypassed that," Lee said. "He did say he wanted to make our journey easier. Shall we get started?"

Without another word, they moved down the dirt path towards wherever it was they were going. Danger flashed through Ben's mind, but it was mostly simple warnings. Be careful and everything would be fine. He even knew they were travelling the correct way by the flashes of good feelings in his brain. The path was about ten feet wide, and there was at least that much space between it and the densely packed tree line. He tried to glimpse deeper into those woods, but couldn't see far.

They walked for a hundred yards or so when Andi stopped, her curiosity piqued.

"What is it?" Ben asked, his gaze following hers.

Lee let out an appreciative whistle, while Ben and Cassie looked at each other and smiled. A golden, jewel-encrusted wolf, about a foot tall as well as long, sat at the base of a tree a few feet off the path. Ben put a hand on Andi's shoulder when she took a step towards the small statue, and Cassie had to do the same to Lee.

"Not so fast, you two," Cassie said. "Doesn't it seem odd that a small statue would be sitting out here for the taking?"

"Yeah," Ben said. "Screams trap to me."

"Do your senses tell you that?" Lee asked.

"They don't work like that with traps. My common sense tells me that."

"But it's so sparkly," Andi said. "And right there for the taking. Besides, it might be a clue."

The four looked at each other for a beat, and then Lee nodded.

"Indeed. A clue of sorts does make sense. We don't, after all, know the ground rules of this place." Neither Ben nor Cassie could argue.

"Okay," Cassie said. "Let me check it out. I have the best reflexes."

She stepped off the path, and the level of danger Ben sensed stayed the same. It wasn't until she touched the golden statue that he knew something was wrong.

"Cassie! Watch out!"

All in one motion, she dropped the statue, drew her short swords, and back-flipped away. Nothing happened immediately, but something was coming. Ben clutched his sword tighter. As soon as he did, a pack of a half-dozen wolves stepped out of the forest right where the golden statue lay. But these weren't regular wolves. No, they were far too big for that.

"Dire wolves." Andi's voice came directly into his mind. He turned and found her dragon head, claws, and scales grown out of her human body. "Like regular wolves, but bigger and stronger."

"Why didn't you go full dragon?"

"Can't. I tried, but this is all that happened. Dad, too."

He turned and saw Lee in the same predicament, but it was fine. They could worry about it after they disposed of the dire wolves. Even as half-dragons they were plenty deadly.

The wolves each stood almost as tall as Ben, had dirty gray fur, and brown eyes that spoke of more intelligence than should be possible in a beast. Instead of launching an immediate attack, the six wolves moved to surround them. Before they could get into position, Cassie and Lee threw themselves at two. Before either beast could react, Cassie slashed the throat of hers, while Lee ripped the head off of his. The other four leaped back in defensive postures, now ready for attacks.

"Too bad we didn't think like that," Andi said. "That would have made this easier."

"At least it's even now," Ben said.

The dire wolves looked to be devising a strategy through their growls and body movements. Ben studied them to find his best course of action. No doubt they'd charge, and he figured if he could smack whichever one came at him in the nose with his shield, it'd give him time to slice into its neck with his sword.

"Choose one and watch your back," Cassie said, taking charge of the situation. "And work fast in case there are more out there."

Ben and Andi nodded, and the wolves sprinted at them. Instead of coming at them individually, two teamed up to attack each dragon. It would have been a good idea if they hadn't been bunched up. As it was, Ben moved over and plunged his sword into the side of one of the wolves that attacked Andi. It yelped and fell, and before it could do anything else, he lopped off its head. Andi, in the meantime, had little trouble with the other. She dodged out of its way and struck the back of its neck with her teeth. Though the blow didn't kill it, it slowed the beast enough to where she had no problem ripping out its throat with her razor-sharp claws. They turned and saw Cassie and Lee had just as easy a time with their pair.

With all six dire wolves lying dead, they looked back at the small golden statue.

"I guess it was a clue of what was going to attack us," Cassie said.

"Indeed," Lee said, and he let out a sigh. "I suppose we need to leave it here."

"Such a waste," Andi said.

"Let's go, you two." Cassie gave them each a nudge. "Maybe we'll find more treasure later." She rolled her eyes so only Ben could see, and he fought hard to keep his laughter silent. Andi and Lee, of course, knew something was up, and gave them both dirty looks. That made holding in the laughter even harder.

The packed dirt path continued like before, complete with the nagging, but not immediate, threat of danger. The path curved through the forest in big, sweeping arcs, so it was impossible to see very far ahead. After another blind corner, Cassie stopped. Ben and Andi tensed, ready for an attack, but none came. Instead, Cassie let out an "Aww," and stepped off the path.

A kitten limped towards her, something, likely a thorn, stuck on its paw. Ben looked first at Andi, then at Lee, but neither of them seemed concerned. They didn't honestly think a harmless kitten would be wandering these dark woods, did they? It had to be a trick, especially right after the debacle with the wolf statue. Couldn't they see that?

Before he could voice his concern, Cassie picked up the kitten, and four huge cats leapt out of the woods. These, like the wolves, were bigger than any on their world. They looked like lionesses or possibly tigers without stripes, except for the huge fangs protruding from their mouths. Were these saber-tooth tigers?

Andi and her dad transformed, again only partway, and the kitten disappeared from Cassie's arms. Without any sort of preamble, the cats launched themselves. The one that pounced at Ben struck his shield with its claws, knocking him back. It moved to bite him, but he managed to work his sword up enough to ward off contact.

"These things are fast," Andi said. "I wish I could spit acid and be done with it."

"You going to be able to take it out?" he asked. He didn't dare take his eyes off of his own to check.

She scoffed into his mind. "Yeah, I think I'll manage. Hopefully you can say the same."

Ben chuckled, and parried another blow. He swiped at the cat with his sword, but it blocked the swing with its oversized teeth. He glanced as quick as he dared to Cassie and Lee and found them more than holding their own.

He wished he could watch their techniques more closely, as they were pulling off some cool teamwork moves he'd never seen. He and Andi rarely fought in this half-form, but Cassie and Lee obviously had, or at least practiced. They'd have to teach him and Andi some of those moves. But later, of course. He turned his full attention back to his own cat.

He thwarted another claw strike with his shield, and the tiger roared in his face.

"Don't yell at me," Ben said. "You guys attacked us. That's why I don't feel bad about this." He jammed his shield into its face, spun, and plunged his sword into the tiger's side. It howled and tried to get away, but Ben's sword kept it from moving. He twisted his blade and yanked up, ripping through the huge cat's back. It fell, bloodied and dead. He turned in time to see Andi pick her own cat up in her powerful jaws and shake it around.

"Toss it over here," he told her. "I'll make sure it's dead."

"One Brontosaurus Burger coming up."

"Saber-tooth," he corrected, earning himself a mental chastising.

"I know that, but Brontosaurus sounds funnier." He couldn't help but agree, and she tossed the still twitching saber-tooth tiger at him. He sliced off its head, and they turned towards her parents and found them watching with amused grins on their faces, their cats dead at their feet.

"What?" Andi asked as soon as she transformed back to her human shape.

"Nothing," Lee said. "We were wondering when you two would decide it would be a good idea to team up."

"It was too quick to formulate a plan on the fly," Ben said. "But I did notice you two had some nifty moves."

"That's why you practice," Cassie said. "Alone time is for more than just making out, you know."

"Mom!" Andi moaned, while Ben felt his face heat up.

"I, for one, wish you two would remember that more often," Lee said.

"Dad!" she moaned again. Ben felt his face grow hotter, but he also couldn't hold back a chuckle, which earned him a smack on the shoulder from Andi and laughter from her parents.

"Can we continue now, or do you guys need some more time?" Andi asked when her parents had composed themselves.

That got them giggling again, which Andi rolled her eyes at, but they agreed they were ready. Before they moved, however, Ben stopped them.

"I hope everyone realizes by now not to step off the path for any reason. And don't touch anything, no matter how shiny, cute, or helpless it looks."

Lee gave him a salute and an, "Aye-aye, Captain," which earned him his own smack on the shoulder from Cassie.

"He's one-hundred percent right, you know," she said.

"Isn't that what I said?" A hint of a grin lingered on Lee's lips.

They continued down the path, each scanning for danger, but all aware not to stray from the hard-packed dirt. A few sparkly treasures lay between the path and the tree line, and despite their ultimate desire to retrieve them, both Andi and Lee resisted.

After that, the forest threw a bigger challenge at them. A matronly woman stumbled out of the dark woods, looked straight at them, and screamed for help. A large, bloody gash ran over her scalp, from her left eyebrow to her right ear. She locked eyes first with Ben, and then with the others. After sharing a look with each, she again pleaded for help.

"Stay here," Ben said, and Lee grabbed Cassie's shoulder to keep her on the path. Ben put his own hand on Andi's arm.

"But she's hurt," Andi said, pulling against him.

"Wait," he said, and then addressed the woman. "Come up here. We'll help."

The woman didn't move, but called out again. "Please! Come help me. They're almost here."