Dragon Dreams: Book 2: Prophecy of the Dragons (19 page)

"Dinner," it squeaked, and the entire clan charged.

Andi took a step back and was in her half-dragon form in the blink of an eye. Five of the little rat-beasts jumped at her, and she smacked them away in one mighty swipe. She figured that would be the end of those, but they bounced off the rock wall, and regained their feet to rejoin the attack. Before she could worry about those coming back, more of the creatures pounced at her.

"There's too many," Ben said. "And they're too quick."

He was right. Though they'd fought masses of zombies, even before Ben had his full complement of Dragon Guard powers, those moved so slow that they were easy enough to kill. These rat-beasts could maneuver out of harm's way and launch a counter-attack in an instant. Sure, she, Ben, and her parents could handle the beasts in the short run, but what about when the battle went longer? She peeked to the other end of the cavern and saw countless more of the vermin spilling in. This wasn't good.

"You two okay?" Mom yelled from the middle of the room. Andi roared an affirmative for Dad to hear, while Ben shouted "Yes!" for Mom's benefit.

Mom and Dad moved in and out of groups of the beasts as one, tearing and slicing them to bits. That drove their earlier point home: She and Ben needed to practice fighting together instead of relying on their individual talents. She moved back towards him, slashing her way through the rat-beasts.

"If you can shield me for a few seconds, we can end this right now," he said, when she made it to his side.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's get you in the corner, and it should be no problem." He nodded, and they walked back-to-back, him forward and her backwards, towards the nearest corner of the cavern. He used his sword and shield to clear a path, while her claws and teeth kept the increasing attacks at bay.

Once at the corner, she made herself as big as possible to keep any from getting through to Ben. She felt like an ice hockey goalie, using the scales on her legs to deflect incoming beasts, while her teeth and claws continued decimating the attackers that came in high. She allowed herself a quick smile when she realized this teamwork had to rival what Mom and Dad were doing, but in a different way.

"When I say so, concentrate on wanting these things to all fall asleep." He pushed against her back.

"Asleep?" she asked, making sure she heard right.

"Yes. I'll say when."

"Okay." She felt the power bubble out of him and not just surround her, but engulf her, saturate her. It warmed her, both physically and emotionally. It proved Ben, her Benjamin, not only had extraordinary powers, but he couldn't wield them without her. Now that she thought about the powers like this, she was happy about them. She swept away another dozen attacks, more determined than ever to not fail him.

"Now, Andi, now! Asleep!"

While she continued battering away rat-beasts, she ran, "Sleep, beasts, sleep," over and over in her mind. The energy that had seeped inside of her blossomed out slowly at first, and then exploded throughout the entire room. The little beasts all fell, but they still breathed.

"What happened?" Mom asked.

"Ben put them to sleep," she said, back in her human form.

"I didn't want to kill all of them," he said. "They aren't evil. They might be intelligent, but in their hearts, they're animals. We were simply unlucky enough to be seen as prey."

Andi gasped and jumped into his arms. When she thought there was no possible way she could love him more, he did something miraculous.

"How can anyone believe you could turn evil?" she whispered in his ear.

He clasped his hands on her cheeks and whispered back to her. "I couldn't do it without you. I love you."

He gave her a hard but too quick kiss. She wanted his lips to linger, but with Mom and Dad ten feet away, his way was better. Stupid, but better.

They turned towards Mom and Dad, and found them examining the sleeping rat-beasts.

"How long do we have until they wake up?" Dad asked, as if the public display of affection hadn't happened.

"At least an hour, and maybe closer to two or three. If it had just been this room, I'd have knocked them out for five or six hours, but I made sure to nab the ones still burrowing up from the deeper tunnels. I got the whole extended family."

Mom and Dad stepped over to them, making sure not to stomp on any of the slumbering beasts. Dad slapped Ben on the back. "You amaze me at times, Benjamin."

Mom leaned over, a huge smile on her face, and whispered to Ben. "That may be the biggest compliment he's ever given you."

Dad shook his head and continued back to the tunnel that would take them to the surface. Andi figured the big sandstorm had to be over by now, right?

Ben answered her as if she'd asked aloud. "Yeah, it's done. It might still be a bit blustery up there, but we can walk through it."

*****

In the mile or so walk from the entrance of the rat-beasts' home to their destination, they didn't have to dodge anything, which made for a pleasant, but warm, walk. She and Ben spent most of it holding hands, which was nice. There was nothing like a life or death situation to show how great the victory could be. She wanted to ask everyone how things would have panned out without Ben's powers, but she was afraid of the answer. She, after all, knew what she thought, and it wasn't a happy ending.

The map led them to a sparkling oasis. Palm trees and lush green grass lined a crystal clear pond. It wasn't much bigger than a swimming pool, but nothing had ever looked so inviting. She hadn't noticed her thirst until this moment, but now the dry desert air reminded her how parched she was.

"Do you suppose we can drink it?"

"I doubt it," Dad said, "but I think I might like to try."

Ben knelt, cupped his hands, and dipped them in. He moved the collected water slowly to his lips, probably scanning for any signs of danger as he came closer to ingesting it. As his cupped hands reached his lips, he shrugged and took a sip.

"It's fine. Good, actually."

That's all the rest of them needed. They each knelt on the shoreline of fine sand and brought handfuls of the cool nectar to their mouths. In her seven and a half centuries of life, Andi had drunk from countless ponds, lakes, and streams, but none matched this oasis for refreshment or taste. She almost dunked her face right in and slurped it up, but she'd been scolded enough by both parents for doing that when she was little. They wouldn't care at this moment, but she still stopped herself. Funny how childhood lessons could stick.

After they'd gorged themselves for a couple of minutes, Mom pointed down to the center of the pond. "See it?"

Andi squinted down through the water, and after a second, she did see something shimmering down there. "What is it?"

Dad pulled out the map. "It's our doorway. Everyone ready?"

They each nodded, and without further ado, jumped in and swam to the door. Unlike the one from the dark forest to the desert, which felt like an ordinary gate, this one blacked everything out for a split second, and Andi found herself, along with Ben, Mom, and Dad, back in the dark forest where they'd first arrived.

"This must be a central hub, so to speak," Dad said.

"Remember," Ben said, "no matter what pops up, don't leave the path."

They agreed and walked on. Like last time, things appeared, from sparkly treasure, to cute little animals, and even a few medieval peasants begging for them to come help fight off marauders in their village. Once Andi turned away from the shiny, a diamond-encrusted gold broach in this case, ignoring the rest proved easy. As they'd guessed after their last trip through, the path was much shorter if they didn't leave it. Dad even remembered to pull out the map as soon as they caught sight of the colossal wall, meaning the gate stood open in front of them when they reached it.

"What do you think it'll be this time?" Mom asked, but no one responded. Instead, everyone took a deep breath and stepped through.

Andi did a double take once on the other side. They entered another forest, though this one had a much different vibe from the one they just left. Though the whole area was filled with trees, more light shone down, and a much softer feeling encompassed everything. The sweet aroma of flowers and fruit saturated the air, putting a smile on Andi's face. Because of that, Ben also relaxed, though Andi guessed he had no idea why. He gave her a questioning look when she giggled.

"Nothing," she said, knowing he'd see right through her little white lie, but she didn't care. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"It is," Mom said. "Hear those birds? It's lovely."

She was right. The chirps and whistles, obviously coming from many different types of birds, melded together to form a complex and melodious song.

"Whose nightmare could this possibly be?" she mused aloud. This seemed like a dream, a good one.

"Don't look at me," Dad said. "They already did mine."

A loud roar sounded somewhere out of sight, but close. That shut them all up. Their heads were on a swivel as they tried to find the source.

"You guys had to say something," Ben said.

"Get the map out, Lee," Mom said. "Let's try to get out of here as quick as we can."

"I think you're right." Dad pulled out the map and flipped it open. There was a clearing on the other side of a bank of trees, and a trail led to their goal. A huge cliff stood between them and the doorway, but the way would make itself clear once they reached it. Hopefully.

They hustled to the clearing and were halfway through when Ben froze. Everyone stopped and looked to the left where his gaze pointed. Only Andi could feel that his blood had run cold. Out of the trees stepped a huge monster, easily twenty feet tall. It resembled an enormous ape, sort of like King Kong, but it had the head of a wolf, with teeth made for ripping and tearing.

Andi shifted as far into a dragon as she could and stepped towards it.

"No, Andi," Dad said. "We run."

She returned to her human form, and they took off towards the pathway. The thing pushed out of the trees and rumbled after them. Though it was big, it wasn't fast, and she bet it couldn't maneuver well. If she and Dad could be their full dragon selves, they'd make mince-meat out of this thing. She wasn't quite sure why they were running now. The four of them were strong enough to beat any one beast.

Ben gripped her forearm as they ran. "This thing's stronger than you're giving it credit for, sweetie."

She scoffed, but kept running. Even with its superior stride, they kept ahead of the beast, though it looked to be gradually gaining ground. She saw how far they had to run, and though it wasn't the distance they covered in the desert, it was too far to outrace this monster.

"Did anyone else notice the cave system between here and the exit when we looked at the map?" Ben asked.

She didn't, but Dad obviously had.

"I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully we'll get the cover we need."

"Why don't we fight it?" Andi said. "What makes it tougher than anything else we've tackled?"

Mom answered as they continued running. "It's a nightmare, Andi, both figuratively and literally. We'll fight it if necessary, but there's nothing wrong with running. If you and your father could get to full strength, things might be different, but…" She let her words trail off, but Andi wasn't done.

"Whose nightmare is it? I've had dreams of being chased by a big baddie, but hasn't everyone?"

Ben grabbed her elbow, and they all dodged left through a big line of trees. The caves he and Dad talked about were in front of them, and they looked plenty big enough to hide in. She thought at first they were a big outcropping of rocks, like in the desert, but as they got closer, she realized the system was actually part of a ginormous petrified tree. It had to be a whole grove of petrified trees, but, no, it was just one.

They took cover in a cave a few feet off the ground. How deep did it go? Without a flashlight or candle or something, there was no way to know. They stayed at the entrance to better watch the monster and make sure they were safe. They could always scurry down deeper if it became necessary and hope nothing already occupied the space.

The monster smashed through the nearby trees, knocking them unceremoniously to the ground. It stopped, sniffed the air, and looked left and right. Andi held her breath, as everyone else did likewise. After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, the thing turned and lumbered off deeper into the forest.

"That was close," Ben murmured, but they all stayed where they were for the time being, just in case.

"To answer your question, Alexandria, yes, I'm sure we've all had the dream of being chased by a terror," Dad said. "Which means the nightmare this world was built around hasn't yet shown up. Wouldn't you rather get out of here before it does, rather than pick a fight with that oversized beast?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Let's get out of here, then," Mom said. "I think it's gone."

Dad pulled out the map. "The cliff looks to be right on the other side of those trees." He pointed ahead to where the path ended.

"I wonder how we'll get down there" Ben said. "Must be a pretty steep path."