Dragon’s Fire Page 4

  “I have no children. Their mother died when the fire sorceress rose to power.”

  “No, their mother is right here!” He wouldn't give in. “Your daughters are young women now. Did you know you’re a grandmother?”

  She flinched, but quickly brushed it off.

  “A grandson,” he added hopefully. “His name is Max.”

  I wasn't sure if Dr. Chen was trying to lure his wayward wife home, or if he was trying to create a distraction so that I could escape with the pendant. Either way, I was at the small opening in the wall.

  Despite the dire circumstances, part of me wanted to linger to hear how she would respond. But when Dr. Song let out an angry cry and energy shot from the staff she held, I knew I needed to get out of there. The energy struck Dr. Chen square in the chest, sending him flying backward, slamming into the wall, and crumpling to the floor.

  I hesitated, fearing the worst. Because snakes had terrible eyesight, I couldn’t see if he was conscious.

  Probably seeing my hesitation, Dr. Chen yelled, “Lacey! Don’t wait.”

  In the distance, I could just make out the outline of Dr. Song turning in my direction. Then I felt the rhythmic vibration of footsteps stomping towards me.

  Time to go.

  I wheeled myself around, engaging my muscular snake body and shot forward, leaving the clean white walls of the gallery and thrusting myself into the dark, damp space between the walls. I was relieved I wasn’t trapped in some sort of closed ventilation system. Sensitive to temperature as a cold-blooded creature, the cool air quickly affected me. I had to work just a little harder to keep moving.

  Through my skin, I felt a thump on the wall behind me, followed by an angry yell. Dr. Song must have been kicking it in frustration.

  I slithered across the cold floor, dragon’s tooth dangling from my mouth. Slowing down, I struggled to keep my head held high. The tooth dipped and barely nicked the cement floor, but this still caused a small shower of little sparks. Startled, I dropped the tooth, and it rolled forward. But the time I reacted, it had already slipped from the narrow edge of the cement ledge and plummeted down to a tangle of pipes half a floor below.

  I wanted to shout No!, but it came out as an angry hissss. When the tooth hit the metal pipe, another little spark flashed up, marking its spot.

  Despite my long, lithe body, the dangling tooth was too far down for me to be able to lower myself without risk of falling and missing the pipes only to drop farther down to the lower level.

  I contemplated changing my form to that of a bird so I could move with more ease, but then I heard a high-pitched squeak behind me. Whipping my head around, a pair of timid rats had summoned up the courage to sneak up behind me. Instinctively, I bared my fangs and hissed again. The rats, who’d probably never seen a snake, quickly backed off.

  I felt the predator’s gleam of anticipation right before the kill. I wondered how long it would take for one of the rats to die after I bit it. Yikes! I did not like being a snake. I shook off these fresh murderous urges and tamped down a pang of hunger. Once I transformed, I felt the nature of the creature I’d become. Snakes ate rats. So at the moment, a little rat snack seemed like a good idea. Because of the obvious inappropriateness of the timing, I put my craving on hold.

  Behind the pair of rats, more rodents inched into view, tentatively observing from a distance. Squeaks echoed off the cement wall. They were all around me. The place was infested.

  In fact, an over-sized rat — probably the king around here — scaled the pipes below me, heading for my tooth. I couldn’t let this fat rat steal the pendant and carry it off into some impossible-to-find little nook in this museum.

  I briefly consider trying to shift into an even larger, more dominant rat, but dismissed the idea when I realized I might have to battle the king for dominance. I needed something that would immediately scare him away. Gaining courage with their growing number of rodents, the rat king inched closer.

  I didn’t have a lot of time, space, or options. Luckily, inspiration struck. I closed my eyes and concentrated as my body grew more substantial, warmer and furry.

  I turned and hissed at the king. But this time it was the fierce hiss of a gray tabby cat.

  Startled, the king and his rat soldiers instantly retreated. They may not have recognized a snake, but they definitely had a healthy fear of a big, hungry cat.

  With ease, I gracefully leaped down to the pipe and scooped up the pendant with my mouth. I carried it away along with highway of pipes, meandering down to the ground level.

  Then I catted my way to a large, open utility area. A voice called to me, “Hey you, gato? You a new guy?”

  I turned to see a young smiling dark-skinned man dressed like a janitor addressing me. I didn’t sense any malice but remained cautious. Keeping my distance, I walked over to a pair of wide metal doors that looked like they probably led outside. I gently set the pendant down by my front feet and meowed.

  “No, mija.” He shook his head. “Kitty need to stay.”

  I meowed again in protest.

  “Too many rats here. Go catch your dinner, killer.” Then he noticed the pendant. “What you got there, kitty cat?”

  I pondered the idea of shifting back into my human form — a serious no-no when humans were around — but I ended up getting lucky.

  The exit door swung open, having been pushed from the other side by a second janitor rolling in a jumbo-sized empty garbage bin. I seized the opportunity, scooped up the pendant and flew out into what looked like a service courtyard in the back of the museum. No one was around. A row of half a dozen cars lined one wall while a trio of dumpsters stood guard against the other.

  Even though darkness had fallen, I trotted across the open cement between two of the dumpsters so that I was out of sight of any prying eyes or security cameras. Then I shifted back into my human self and quickly slid the pendant into the front pocket of my jean jacket.

  Breathing in through my nose, I took a minute to rest. Transforming into two separate creatures, from two different subphylums— mammalia and vertebrate—had nearly worn me out. Since no one had yet come storming out behind me, I figured I probably had a few seconds to spare.

  Still, I didn’t dilly-dally. After a moment, I got up and slunk toward the narrow drive between the horseshoe opening that led to the street. Approaching the mouth of the alley, I was thrown into darkness as a hulking shadow grew in front of me.

  “Yous!” bellowed a deep, gravelly voice. A shiver rippled through me. The troll from whom I’d retrieved the pendant towered over me, looking pissed. “I takes back my pretty necklace.”

  “Sorry but it’s not yours to take back, big boy,” I yelled as I beat a hasty retreat back into the service courtyard.

  I didn’t quite have the strength or the calm, steady heartbeat required to transform into another creature. I needed time to recover. If my heart beat too hard or too fast, my body wouldn’t shift.

  The troll thundered after me with his massive strides, nearly catching up. He reached out a big meaty hand and almost managed to grab me. In a panic, I dropped to the pavement and rolled under a car.

  Luckily, it took the dimwitted troll a moment to figure out where I’d gone.

  With no time to waste, I pulled out my cell phone. If he hadn’t changed his plans, Stryker might’ve been nearby in a bar on Olivera Street. Fumbling with my phone’s screen, I pulled up his contact and punched his number just as the troll lifted up the entire back end of the car under which I was hiding. With his free hand, he again tried to grab me. I rolled to the next car.

  “Change your mind?” Stryker answered, skipping the hellos and jumping right in. I heard the buzz of laughter and clinking glasses in the background.

  “I can’t tell you how much I wish I was there with you right now,” I said, frantically rolling to the next car.

  “I knew you come around to my—”

  “There’s a troll chasing me behind the Asian History Museum.” I a
lso got to the point as the troll lifted the back end of the new car I was under.

  “Jeez, how many guys are trying to date you?” He laughed at his own joke.

  I rolled to another car, then rolled back the opposite way. The troll was confused long enough for me keep talking.

  “I’m not kidding. He wants the dragon tooth back.”

  Frustrated, the troll bellowed and dropped one of the cars, creating a loud boom, along with setting off a chorus of car alarms.

  “What the hell was that?” Stryker voice sounded serious.

  “The troll!”

  “I’m a block and half away. I’ll be right there.”

  The line went dead just as I rolled under a truck, the last vehicle in the line parked next to a cinderblock wall. On my side under the truck, the dragon’s tooth pressed against my side, warm and sharp like it was trying to get my attention. I pulled it out by the chain and held the half tooth in my hand, feeling its power. It crackled with tiny sparks of energy. Maybe I could use it. I rolled out from under the car and stood.

  “There yous is.” The troll seemed surprised, and oddly delighted, to see me.

  “Here I am.” I wrapped my hand tightly around the tooth and concentrated.

  When he realized what I was trying to do—use the dragon’s fire—he threw his arm up to cover his face, like he was waiting for some big explosion.

  Except I had no idea how to work the enchanted tooth.

  Clenched in my fist, I thought I could feel the tooth’s energy growing in my hand. I wasn’t sure what would happen. Somehow Stryker had channeled flames to shoot out of the tooth. I uncurled my fingers resting it on the palm of my hand. I concentrated harder. But when the tooth finally reacted, only a little zap of energy trickled out, then quickly died away.

  “Shoot!” What was I doing wrong?

  The troll, seeing that I’d failed, roared and lunged at me.

  Realizing I wasn’t going to get a second chance, I ducked to the side, barely escaping his meaty fist as it slammed down, and sprinted off. I probably couldn’t outrun him on foot, but right now, it was my only option.

  As I sprinted to the alley’s opening to the street, the museum backdoor boomed open. And Dr. Snow appeared.

  “There you are, my dear,” she said like we were old friends. “I believe you have something that I really do need to collect before it gets too late.”

  “Sorry.” I scrambled to find a way out. “But I’ve been instructed to only hand this over to Dr. Chen.”

  “Don’t you want to be more than just a little delivery girl?” The other half of the tooth dangled from a choker secured to her neck. “I can sense you have so much more potential within you! Let me teach you.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to have to pass for now.” Before I could move, she smiled and, with the smallest flick of a wrist, she sent a stream of fire straight toward me.

  Instinctively, I wrapped my hand around the half of the tooth that I held and raised it up. The oncoming stream of fire stopped a few feet in front of me like I had erected some sort of invisible firewall.

  The only person more surprised than me that I’d managed to survive was Dr. Snow. “You see, you have great potential.”

  Freaked out and nearly certain I couldn’t create a second firewall, I turned my back and made a break for it, taking a shortcut right under the troll’s legs. But I hadn’t gone ten steps when a ball of fire sailed directly over my head, exploding inside a dumpster right in front of me. The force of the explosion nearly knocked me off my feet. A second fireball landed in the next dumpster. Scorching hot flames shot up, spread out and completely blocking my exit.

  “Stop her!” Dr. Song bellowed.

  As his mistress commanded, the troll surged toward me. The troll swiped a hand in my direction, easily scooping me up, lifting me up into the air.

  He pivoted toward Dr. Song and knelt, bowing his head like he was addressing the queen. “Mistress, I did not let her get away.”

  “You did very well, good boy,” Dr. Song said like the proud master of a smart golden retriever. “Now bring her and that tooth to me.”

  Marching forward, I saw that the ninjas had somehow appeared on either side of the troll’s feet. They couldn’t directly fight such a large foe, except with their wit. Together, they each held the end of a long, heavy rope. In unison, they circled the unwitting troll, binding his ankles.

  “Look down, you big oaf!” Dr. Song tried to warn him.

  But he was already too tangled. The troll stumbled and fell still holding me in his hand.

  Plummeting toward the hard ground, my life flashed before my eyes.

  Chapter Six

  Trapped in the troll’s hand as he fell, I would either go sailing in the air when he flung me away or get squished when he tightened his grip. But neither happened. Instead, the towering brute face-planted on the concrete while somehow managing to hang onto me.

  The force of the impact on landing rattled my bones. The way the troll sprawled on the ground, I was still in his hand, lying on my back looking up at the night sky. The back of my head throbbed against the cement, and I felt dizzy for a moment, my eyesight unfocused.

  Recovering, I could still make out a blur of red slowly moving toward me. It slowly sharpened into the figure of Dr. Song. She reached out and snatched the pendant from my hand then turned and walked away laughing.

  I was instantly filled with a terrible sense of dread. The worst had happened. Dr. Song now possessed both halves of the dragon’s tooth.

  “Camille! Wait!” a voice called, accompanied by a rhythmic metallic gallop approaching from the street side of the museum. Fire still burned in the dumpsters obstructing the view. The galloping continued to approach until a stone dralion the size of a horse, with Dr. Chen riding his on back, leaped over the flames.

  “You’re too late, Elias!” Dr. Song laughed, holding up half of the pendant in each hand, savoring her moment of victory. “Now I again control all the power and destruction of the dragon. I can burn cities, countries, half the planet, if I choose.”

  Dr. Chen dismounted and moved closer. “But you are not a destroyer, Camille. You are a creator. A giver of life. A mother.”

  For a moment, Dr. Song didn’t reply. “The pendant is more important than one person. More important than one little family.”

  “But we love you. We love you still.”

  “You’re still a fool, Elias!” She laughed as she rejoined the two halves into one perfectly fitting tooth.

  “No, Mother!” a young woman’s voice called from behind me. It was one of the ninjas, her masked removed. I also recognized her as one of the art restorers. The second ninja, the other restorer, appeared by the side of the first girl and pulled off her mask.

  Dr. Song’s eyes flooded with confusion. “Violet…? Rosalie?”

  Her daughters had been here all along.

  “Mother, please,” the second one begged. “Please come back home with us.”

  Because I was still in the troll’s grasp, I was the closest person to Dr. Song. I watched as hesitation lined Dr. Song’s face. She seemed to steel herself, fighting her motherly urges. I had a bad feeling this family wasn’t getting back together today, and time was running out. Despite the troll’s firm grip on me, my breathing and heart rate had slowed. And no one was paying any attention to me.

  It was now or never.

  I closed my eyes. Concentrating, I shifted into a tiny monkey with the nimble fingers of a thief. Because of my small size, I easily pulled my furry body up on top of the troll’s clenched fist. Before he could react, I flung myself in the air, landing on Dr. Song’s shoulder and snatched the whole pendant right out of her hand.

  “NO!” Dr. Song screamed, turning her full fury onto me. The thing she had scoured the globe to find had just been stolen from her by a six pound monkey. “Give it back.”

  I scampered off, shimmying up a light pole then swinging down to the hood of one of the cars
. Jumping down to the ground, I shifted back into my human form, holding the pendant up. “I have it, Dr. Chen.”

  Dr. Song looked ready to kill me, but as she tried to hurl fire in my direction, nothing happened. No fire streamed from her fingers.

  I now had control of the tooth. Did I also now have control of the fire?

  Suddenly, a nearby window shattered and a mummy plunged his body through it. More mummies appeared, including the mummified remains of a large horse. They seemed to be popping out of every window and doorway around us.

  “You didn’t think I was done, did you?” Dr. Song laughed. She’d woken them from their slumber in the lower chamber of the museum. “My power to control fire may be gone for now. But my ability as a sorceress still remains.”

  There were too many to fight. They were staggering toward Dr. Chen and his girls, surrounding us.

  Dr. Chen called to me, “Lacey, go! Save the tooth. It can’t fall into her hands.”

  “But I can’t leave you behind,” I argued as the mummies closed in.

  “You must! Turn into a bird. Fly away. Fly to safety.”

  I knew he was right, but I couldn’t stomach the idea that I’d be leaving Dr. Chen and his daughters behind.

  My only option lay in the palm of my hands. I uncurled my fingers to see the pendant with wisps of smoke rising off it. I felt a tingle of nerves because I failed so miserably last time. My spell hadn’t work before, why would it work now?

  “Piggyback,” a familiar voice called to me from the street. Stryker stood at the mouth of the alley.

  “Off what?” I asked. I didn’t have enough magical strength.

  “The mummies!” he replied. “Use their dark magic as a conduit.”

  Of course! Just like Stryker had amplified the half tooth off of the demon’s power, I could’ve done the same with the horde of mummies.

  As the army of mummies bared down on us, I turned and focused my energy on them. Fire literally shot from my fingertip.

  Flames engulfed them. They quickly baked into a hard shell and became unmovable as their mummified bodies turned to ash. I repeated the process on several more approaching mummies. In the end, there were only seven mummies, not a full-blown horde like I had initially feared. Still, an irreplaceable fortune in ancient artifacts had been destroyed by me in under two minutes.