Dr. Conner burst back into the room. “The Alpha exit’s caved in, too! The whole side of the mountain is giving way!” Barlow and his men reentered, carrying Ashley’s grandfather, wheelchair and all, and leading Derrick by the hand. Doc waved his arm. “Everyone to the center of the lab!”
While Barlow and his knights rushed toward the central pedestal with Derrick and the wheelchair, Bonnie dragged Billy’s limp body forward. He felt like a thousand-pound sack of sand. Lifting Edward and all those rocks had sapped her strength.
Barlow ran to her side and deftly lifted Billy over his shoulder. “I’ll take him, Miss.”
The crowd clustered around the pedestal while larger rocks crashed to the floor, piling in front of the Alpha exit and raising a thick wall of dust. Ceiling panels, along with their twisted frames and support beams, tumbled all around. Barlow deflected two panels with one of his massive arms, while Fiske, Standish, and Woodrow arched their bodies over Ashley’s grandfather and Derrick. Edward and Newman stood like shade trees over Bonnie while she sat cross-legged on the floor. Barlow placed Billy in her arms. She laid her cheek against his and silently prayed.
Walter stayed at his post and kept his eyes trained on the restoration dome.
Ashley’s voice crackled through the speakers. “They’re both in there.” Lights flickered and loud pops sounded all around. Ashley threw off the headphones and pushed three sliders fully to the right. “Power’s going down on generator number one. Going max on restoration while the second generator lasts. Get ready, Walter! As soon as you can recognize him, count to three and pull him out!” Ashley left the panel to join the huddled group.
Walter placed his hand over the switch. Bulbs exploded, and every light went black, but the dome still buzzed with activity. One second later, the professor’s familiar form appeared, standing erect on the platform. “No time to wait for that glass to rise,” Walter muttered. He grabbed Excalibur from the floor, counted to three, and with a mighty swing, smashed the glass cylinder with the glowing sword. Glass flew everywhere, pelting the professor and scattering across the floor.
The professor brushed the glass from his robe and stepped down to floor level. With sharp, piercing eyes, he turned slowly and took in the battered lab—the ceiling debris on the cracked tiles, the mound of rocks blocking the Alpha door, and the huddled group in the center of the cavern. A mangled frame and a few panels remained in the ceiling above. The sword in Walter’s hands and a row of LED’s still flickering on the control panel provided only scant light in the dim room. The professor’s body shone against the blackness as if somehow he had retained some of his transluminated form.
All was still. He reached out his hand, and his voice echoed in the darkness. “The sword, please, Walter.”
Walter flipped the sword around and extended the hilt. The professor grasped it and limped toward the central pedestal.
He knelt at Bonnie’s side and placed the sword in Billy’s hands, wrapping his own fingers on top and elevating the blade. Billy opened his eyes and tightened his grasp on the hilt.
“William,” the professor said, softly, “what now is your weapon?”
Bonnie could see Billy’s eyes reflecting the professor’s shining face, enhanced by Excalibur’s glow. She held her breath, waiting for Billy’s reply.
“Truth,” he whispered, his voice rasping. He cleared his throat. “Truth is my sword.”
The professor nodded, his eyes now flashing, and his voice erupted in deep, echoing tones as if Billy’s answer strengthened him. “And what now is your defense?”
Color returned to Billy’s face, and his jaw tightened. His voice surged with emotion. “Faith . . . faith is my shield.”
Excalibur flashed. Its glow exploded in dazzling brilliance, sending out a sparkling corona and bathing the lab in a spectacular halo. A dozen shafts of light shot out from the sword’s tip, angling in all directions and then bouncing back, combining into one huge bolt of lightning that plunged into Billy’s chest.
His body lurched at the impact, and his skin shimmered like the sun on a perfectly polished suit of armor, his entire frame flashing like a human strobe light. He let out a long, loud yell, a warrior’s battle cry that echoed across the littered cavern floor.
As the professor released his grip, the bright light faded, and Billy sat up, clutching the glowing sword. He took Bonnie’s hand in his and stared at the union, soft fingers interlocked and two rings touching, creating a glow of their own.
He smiled at her, then whispered, “I have work to do.”
Bonnie squeezed his hand and withdrew her fingers from their clutch, smiling. “Then you’d better get to it.”
A strange noise buzzed across the chamber. The cap of the broken restoration dome, now dangling from a bent frame by a mangled wire, sent a feeble beam toward the platform below. A new phantom appeared in the ray, taking shape like a radiant ghost, his yellow-green eyes glowing like copper laser beams shooting through a night sky.
The professor reached for Billy’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Your work is beginning, William. The captives await their final liberation.”
Billy raised the flashing sword high as though it weighed no more than a child’s toy. “First thing’s first. Where’s the candlestone?”
Ashley pointed. “In the diver’s dome!”
Billy shouted, “No more prisoners!”
He rushed to the diver’s dome and smashed the glass cylinder with one blow of the sword. He swung again, this time driving the blade directly into the stone, slicing through it cleanly. A tiny explosion of sparks erupted, and the two halves fell dark.
Billy spun around to face the slayer, shuddering at the apparition on the recovery platform. Devin’s body, not yet fully restored, pulsated between light and darkness, between man and glowing beast as the restoration ray continued to bathe his phantom form.
Billy raced to the control panel and ripped the metal surface with Excalibur’s blade, sending a wave of sparks flying high into the air. The constant hum died, and every blinking light faded to black, leaving Excalibur’s glow and the slayer’s throbbing body the only lights in the room.
Devin remained on the platform, a glowing mass of electric plasma that seemed to float in place. “Addison!” he growled. “I know you’re out there somewhere. Assemble our men!”
The nearly naked Addison ran to Devin’s side, trembling like a chilled pup, and four fierce men followed him. Devin turned to the huddled group near the pedestal. “Conner, open the weapons cache for my soldiers. It’s time to get rid of the mongrel blight.”
Dr. Conner rose to his feet. “Mongrel blight?” He glanced at Bonnie, gave her a weak smile, then spun back toward Devin, his chest puffing out. “You blind fool!” He waved his hand at the group sitting around his feet. “Look at them! You call them mongrels, but their love for each other, their willingness to sacrifice their lives for their friends, shows they have more heart than you’ll ever have—more heart, more faith, and more courage.”
Bonnie stood up and grasped her father’s hand. He squeezed hers in return. As he kept his defiant glare trained on Devin, a tear streamed down his cheek. “Someone told me not too long ago that my plans could fail because love might turn on me and set all the captives free. She was right, and I’m one of those freed captives.” He took a step forward, still clutching Bonnie’s hand. “Get lost,
Sir
Devin. I’m not afraid of you anymore.”
Devin flashed, and sparks flew from his hands and hair. “A bit late for that, you fool!” He jumped from the platform and glided toward a closet door, his own light illuminating his path. He put his hands on the doorknob, and a stream of fire engulfed the surface. With a Herculean pull, he jerked the door open, tearing it loose from its melting hinges. “Men,” he said, motioning toward the inside, “arm yourselves.”
Addison and the other four hustled toward the closet. Barlow leaped to his feet and raced to head them off. Edward surged ahead and tackled Addison, knocking him into two of the other conspirators. Barlow’s remaining knights charged, each lifting a guttural battle cry. Devin thrashed Newman and Standish with his fiery arms, sending them flying, their clothes singed.
Billy pulled the protective robe over his head and tossed it to the side. He checked the cotton belt on his jeans, then dashed toward the fray, Excalibur sparkling in his hands.
“Mind the beam, William!” the professor shouted. “It will disintegrate your friends as well as your enemies!”
Walter grabbed a broken piece of metal and followed close behind. Dr. Conner pried off a nail-studded two-by-four and sprinted toward the crowd, brandishing his weapon. With her strength renewed, Bonnie snatched up a fallen board and exploded into the air. She swooped down in front of Addison’s right-hand man and bashed him across the back, then zoomed upward before he could retaliate.
Ashley took a step to join them, but the professor held her back. “You are too weak, child. See to your grandfather. Cover him.”
Using her back as a shield, Ashley threw her arms around her grandfather. The professor dropped down to protect Derrick, resting one hand against the ground, his palm flat.
“Another tremor,” he said softly, closing his eyes. “As you may have guessed, Ashley Stalworth, this is no normal earthquake.” As the battle continued in front of the weapons room, his voice melted into a lilting song.
Tremors, O tremors of the earth
Come now with mercy
To those of royal birth
Answer, O answer to our cry
Open now the chasm
To bring fire from the sky
As he lifted his hand, a strong jolt shook the lab. The twisted ceiling frame crashed to the floor, followed by a hail of rocks and dirt. Knights and conspirators tumbled to the ground. As Billy knocked a sword from Addison’s hand, the jolt threw him down to the gritty floor, scraping his back and jarring Excalibur from his hand. Addison sprang toward him, but Billy planted his feet in the conspirator’s chest and thrust him into the air, tossing him toward a pile of rocks.
A falling panel struck Bonnie on her back and drove her to the floor, sending her weapon flying into the tangled heap of rubble. She smacked her palms and knees on the dirty, debris-strewn tile and slid to a painful stop. The door to the dorm hall flew open, and a frightened chimp dashed out, along with the Scottish terrier and a scampering rabbit.
Devin, his bright, sizzling body radiating sparks, charged Billy, reaching for him with fiery hands. With his focus on the villain’s eyes, Billy groped for Excalibur at his side.
Too late! Devin leaped toward him. Billy launched a stream of flames into the slayer’s face. The force blew the glowing phantom backwards and slammed him into a back wall on the far side of the cavern. He disappeared in the midst of falling dirt and rock. His glow continued, penetrating the flying, swirling dust. He stalked out of the gloom, dazed, but larger and brighter than before.
Billy grabbed Excalibur and jumped to his feet, trying to keep a battle stance on the trembling ground, waiting to see what the dragon slayer would do.
Barlow bowled over one of the conspirators and burst into the weapons room. His arms bulging with swords and shields, he scrambled back to Dr. Conner, Walter, and the knights, each one pulling out a blade and shield as Barlow passed by. The conspirators regrouped and drew back into the shadows.
Brushing a hand across her eyes, Bonnie shook the fog from her head. Her fingers came away cold and wet. She took wing once again, soaring upward to look around, then floated down toward Ashley. “The top of the mountain and the ceiling are completely gone! We’re in the open!”
Ashley grabbed the wheelchair handles. “Then let’s get Daddy and Derrick out of here, even if we have to climb over the rubble to get to the valley.”
The professor put a hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “That won’t be necessary,” he said, pointing to the skies. “The summoned one has arrived.”
Chapter 22
Shielded by a blanket of dense clouds, the moon’s white glow painted ghostly images throughout the sky. The thick falling snow framed a tiny silhouette, a winged shadow approaching the toppled mountain. Bonnie brushed flecks of snow from her hair.
It’s a dragon! Billy’s dad? Did he fly all this way?
She stared into the dark chasm that had once been the lab.
Should I tell the others?
A cry rang out. The conspirators charged, their swords swinging. Addison’s sword pierced Walter’s shield, the point stopping within inches of his face. He jerked the shield back, wrenching the sword from his attacker’s grip. Barlow stepped in and landed a bruising elbow on Addison’s cheek, sending his smaller opponent crashing to the ground. Woodrow and Fiske stood side by side, crossing swords with two conspirators, beating them back toward a wall. Edward and Newman battled the two remaining traitors, raising their shields next to Dr. Conner and keeping him tucked between them. Pushing the terrier out of the way with his foot, Newman parried a sword thrust, spun gracefully on his toe, and plunged his blade into his enemy’s midsection. Edward faced the biggest of the evil knights. He ducked under a sweeping sword, twirled on his knees, and swiped across the conspirator’s ankles. The burly man toppled to the ground like a felled redwood. Standish stayed back, guarding Derrick and the others with a raised sword and shield.
With Excalibur blazing in his grip, Billy faced Devin. The slayer brought his palms close together and fashioned a ball of flames from his own light energy. The fireball shot out from his hands and hurtled toward Billy like a crawling nest of electric scorpions. With a quick swing, Billy smacked the ball with his blade, sending it rocketing into the night. The fireball lit up the cloud-covered sky, illuminating a silhouette with bat-like wings.
“A dragon!” Devin roared across the crater. “The time has come! My prophecy is now fulfilled!”
The dragon swooped, then pulled up, its massive body blocking the veiled moon. With its wings extended, it glided in a wide circle as if surveying the battle scene. The two remaining conspirators scampered into a dark pocket.
Angling its wings, the dragon swooped again, this time straight toward Devin. As the dragon opened its mouth to shoot a barrage of flames, Billy threw up his hands. “Dad! No!”
It was too late. A huge jet of yellow surged through the cloud of snow and plunged into Devin’s chest. An explosion of fire erupted, sending a blazing plume all around, Devin’s arms flapping wildly in the midst of the inferno. The wall of fire expanded, and Devin’s body grew with it, seeming to absorb the energy until his form swelled into a massive, glowing monster of light. Now three times his normal size, Devin’s evil face reappeared, his eyes radiating like demonic beacons in a human lighthouse.
The reenergized slayer created another fireball and flung it at Barlow. The spherical lightning rolled through the battlefield, knocking Barlow to the side and bowling over Edward and Newman. The two conspirators sprang from their hiding places and pounced toward the fallen knights, but Fiske and Walter held them at bay. Dr. Conner ripped off his shirt and smothered the flames on Newman’s clothes.
Bonnie grabbed two heavy stones, leaped into the air, and hurled them at the conspirators. The first stone crashed into the larger man’s head while the second glanced off the smaller knight’s hip. They ducked and retreated again to the shadows.
Away from the battle scene, Ashley caressed her grandfather’s face. Even as the battle raged, the whole world seemed eerily quiet. Fear squelched her vision. Snow muffled every sound. Ashley felt alone in the world, just Daddy and her.
Ashley rubbed heat into her Daddy’s frigid hands, but the warmth quickly died away. She couldn’t coax any blood into his fingers. She pressed her hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. A weak, chaotic beat thrummed against her fingers, then stopped. Ashley gulped, but the unsteady rhythm started again, weaker than before.
“Ashley,” a voice whispered.
Ashley jerked her head around. She had forgotten the professor was sitting there.
The kindly faced gentleman scooted to her side. “Ashley, your grandfather is slipping away. You know that, don’t you?”
Ashley nodded, squeezing her lips together to keep from crying.
He placed a tender hand on the side of her head. “He has made his peace with God. It’s time for you to make your peace with your grandfather.” The professor limped quietly away.
Ashley lowered her lips next to her grandfather’s ear, her voice quaking. “Da . . . daddy. I . . . I love you so much.” She pushed her fingers through his wet hair and braced his head with her hand. “You’re the best . . . the best daddy a girl could ever want.” She sniffed and placed a hand over his heart. “I know now that you were right . . . about everything. I . . . I promise I’ll believe . . . I mean, I’ll try to believe. Bonnie’ll be here to help me. . . . I’ll try to make you proud of me again.”
The dragon spread his wings and swooped again, but Devin sidestepped, as agile in his new form as a leaping gazelle. The huge wings angled, and Clefspeare made a wide turn around a distant mound of stones.
Billy couldn’t let Devin feed off dragon fire and get stronger again. A quick kill was his only chance. He raised Excalibur and charged.
With the slayer keeping his eye on the dragon, Billy sneaked up close. He lunged and sliced into his opponent’s side. The blow felt strange, like he had cut into a squishy mix of jelly and rocks. He sensed a buzzing tingle as the blade sliced through Devin’s electric belly, and embers gushed out like a thousand silver sparklers on the Fourth of July.
Devin roared and smacked Billy away with the back of his hand, like a giant swatting at an annoying horsefly. Billy flew a dozen feet and bulldozed into what remained of the back wall of the lab, dropping Excalibur as his arm smashed against the ground.
Clefspeare approached again, and the dragon’s mouth opened once more to fire. This time the flames shot near Devin’s feet, making a scorched ring around his body, melting the surface to form a circle of bubbling, red rocks. The slayer froze. Clefspeare slammed into his huge electric body, flattening him against the melting ground before zooming back into the sky.
Billy jumped up, pain shooting down his spine. He snatched up Excalibur and sprinted toward the fallen giant, hoping to whack off his legs while he had the chance. Devin was too quick. He leaped to his feet, hurdled the ring of lava, and charged Walter, who was once again battling the determined pair of conspirators. Billy screamed, “Walter, look out!”
Walter ducked just as the slayer swung a flaming arm. He plunged his sword into Devin’s thigh and pulled it out, jumping to the side. A fountain of sparks spewed from Devin’s wound, but the loss of energy didn’t seem to slow him down. The slayer roared and shot a bolt of lightning from his right hand, zapping Walter on the shoulder and sending his sword clanking to the ground. Walter grabbed at his wound and dropped to his knees, his face twisting in pain.
Devin repeated his attack, shooting two bolts in Walter’s direction. Walter rolled. One bolt ripped the ground at his side; the second exploded at his ear.
Billy leaped in front of his friend, holding Excalibur high and bracing his legs. Devin launched another bolt, and Billy parried with the sword, deflecting the bolt into the air. His heart pounded, and he set his feet again. He couldn’t hold off a barrage of lightning for long.
A loud roar pierced the darkness. Clefspeare circled through the blanket of falling snow, and a second dark figure swooped in from behind. Billy dropped to his knees. “Two dragons!”
Devin grabbed Walter’s sword, a mere toy in his huge, glowing hands. As Clefspeare hurtled downward, the slayer thrust the sword into the air. With a great beat of his wings, Clefspeare dodged the slayer’s lunge and surged back into the sky.
“Hartanna!” the dragon yelled. “The slayer is armed. Use the flank, as we did at Chalice Hill.” The dragons thrashed the air with their massive wings and disappeared high into the darkness.
Bonnie tugged on Edward’s sleeve, her head tilted upward to search the sky. She gasped for breath. “Did he . . . did he say, ‘Hartanna’?”
Edward pulled his bloodstained sword out of his fallen opponent and leaned on it to rest. His labored breaths came in short gasps. “I can’t be sure, Miss, but it did sound like Hartanna. The name is familiar to me, but I can’t place it.” He walked over to the fallen Addison and set the point of his sword near the man’s bare chest. “These fools are beaten. Only Devin remains. If I had my horn, I would sound the victory call.”
Bonnie unfurled her wings and lifted a few feet into the air. With a joyous smile, and with new tears sparkling in her brightening eyes, she clasped her hands together and shouted. “Hartanna was my mother’s name!”
Devin’s sizzling head turned in all directions as he scanned the skies. “Where are you, you cursed demons? Come out and fight in the open!”
Billy leaned over and gripped Walter’s wrist. Walter returned the grip, and Billy pulled him to his feet. Walter grimaced and rotated his shoulder. “Wow! That overgrown Roman candle really packs a wallop!”
“C’mon,” Billy whispered. “Let’s find another sword for you. Maybe we can strike low while the dragons strike high.”
Billy found Edward, and they scrounged for a sword and shield for Walter. The three allies, now armed but winded, charged the flaming giant.
Devin, still holding the sword high as he watched the skies, jerked around. Edward vaulted into the air. As Devin sidestepped, Edward cut a deep gash in the slayer’s arm, sending a rain of sparkling blood to the floor. Devin smacked him away with the back of his hand, launching him toward a wall. Edward landed on his feet but toppled over, banging his head on a fallen boulder. He moved no more.
Billy clutched Walter’s collar and held him back. “Let’s see if we can wait for the dragons. We’re no match for him until he’s distracted.”
Walter shook his head. “No. There’s no use risking the dragons’ lives. You have to attack now. I’ll get Edward out of the way so you can turn that sword up to ‘deep fat fry’ and send that critter to join the Northern Lights.”
Billy tightened his grip on the glowing sword. Could he do it? Could he use Excalibur as a transluminating torch? He took a deep breath. “Okay.” He nodded toward a heap of stones. “Make a wide path around that pile, and drag Edward to Dr. Conner. I’ll see what I can do.”
With head low and knees bent, Walter sneaked away. Billy raised the sword. The blade gleamed in the night with a steady, unchanged brightness.
The professor didn’t mention any magic words, and, besides, a holy sword wouldn’t use magic. Maybe the beam will just come out when I attack.
The slayer spat a stream of electricity into the sky. “Death to Satan and his angels!” Two dragons hurtled toward him from opposite directions, one diving from a sharp angle, the other swooping low.
Clefspeare dodged the swinging sword, while Hartanna slammed into Devin’s legs, sending him tumbling over her back. With a swipe of her tail, she smacked him like a neon tennis ball against the mountainside, and a curtain of rocks cascaded over his body in a rumbling landslide. A bright flash blew a thousand sparks into the air like the glowing ashes of a bonfire’s blaze.
Billy sprinted to the pile of rocks heaped over Devin’s body. Nothing moved. He hoisted Excalibur over his shoulder and retreated a few steps toward his companions.
The two dragons landed near the professor and Ashley, and Bonnie flew over to join them. Her feet settled softly in front of the great female dragon. She inched closer and gazed at the scaly, winged creature, her tight brow rising and her lips quivering.
“Mama?”
Hartanna’s coarse voice lowered to a dragon whisper. “Yes, I have been your mother. I am now Hartanna once again.” The dragon sounded tired, yet sympathetic.
Bonnie extended her arms, but hesitated in the shadow of the strange beast. The dragon stretched out her forelegs and let out a soothing rumble. “Come, dearest one. I have called your name for these many weeks, and at last you have arrived. My claws are sharp and my scales are cold from lack of light, but my love for you burns warm and tender.”
Bonnie threw herself into her mother’s embrace and cried, wrapping her arms around her as far as she could. Bonnie’s entire body shook, trembling in rhythmic sobs. “Mama!” she cried. “I missed you so much!”
Hartanna rubbed Bonnie’s shoulders with her forelegs, hot dragon tears splashing and sizzling on the deepening snow.
“But how, Mama? How did you become a dragon again? I thought you were dead.”
“I was near death, a dragon’s blink from eternity. But your father kept me alive, in a hospital for a while, at least that’s what he told me. When he needed my blood for his experiments, he transported me to his lab. Some weeks after we arrived, he said I took a turn for the worse, and he thought I was dead. Then, my body began a slow transformation. I grew in size, and dragon features replaced my human ones.
“While I was still small enough, he dragged me to the cave and chained me up, fearing that I would become a powerful dragon again. Being kept in the dark and having my blood drained, I could not escape. I was given only the barest of lights, candles and fireflies, just enough to keep me breathing. I could barely speak; groanings became my prayers as I called for my daughter to come and find me.”
The professor edged up behind Bonnie. “And she was restored because of your faith, Miss Silver. The dragon shorn has new life.”
When the professor spoke, Hartanna’s eyes opened wide. She released Bonnie, and took a step back. “Master Merlin!” She bowed low. “Your servant, Hartanna, awaits your bidding.”
Clefspeare snorted a stream of hot gases. “I made the same mistake, Hartanna. This is Professor Charles Hamilton. He does resemble Merlin, to be sure.”
The professor pulled Bonnie into a warm embrace and looked up at the male dragon. “And the mistake is yours again, Clefspeare, for Merlin has returned. The professor and Merlin are melded in this body. It is very strange and unexpected, yet God’s purpose will not be thwarted, as witnessed by your response to the summons.”