Cry of the Wolf (Avalon: Web of Magic #3) (13 page)

A
DRIANE STUCK HER
head out of the cave. The giant orcs were stomping across the gully… right toward them. She looked back at the hatching dragon egg. “What do we do?”

“We run!” Zach grabbed Adriane’s hand and yanked her out through the opening. They skirted the top of the ravine, making for the next valley. Zach was determined to put as much distance as possible between themselves and whatever monsters were behind them.

Adriane couldn’t get those eyes out of her head. It was as if the dragon were calling to her, connected to her.

“Wait!” she yelled, pulling Zach to a stop. “I can’t leave Drake. I’m going back!” Adriane ran back atop the ridge.

“I was supposed to bring back an egg,” Zach shouted after her. “Not a live dragon!”

Adriane leaped over the ridgeline, sliding and skidding down toward the cave.

Bent low, she scrambled inside. All that remained were goo-covered shell fragments. Whatever had hatched was gone.

Zach tentatively peeked into the cave. “Well?”

“It’s not here!”

“Oh, great.” Zach slumped, head in hands, trying to figure out what to do.

Adriane spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Something in a shell fragment. She bent, pulled it free, and looked at it. It was a stone, rough-hewn but definitely some kind of crystal.

“Come on, Adriane!” Zach yelled in to her.

She slipped the stone into her vest pocket and climbed outside. “Which way?” she asked.

The ominous booming sound of marching feet resounded from the gully below.

“Not that way,” Zach said.

Adriane’s breath caught in her throat. Six orcs crashed through the trees, grinding rocks and logs into dust under their heavy feet. They brandished mismatched, battle-worn swords, spears and shields, some chipped and stained from other bloody battles.

She heard a swish and caught sight of a glint of steel. Zach had drawn his sword. A hint of fire licked up and down the finely hewn edges, as if it were hungry for battle.

Adriane frantically scanned the area for anything that might have just recently hatched.

Ching!

A giant spear appeared in the wall not a foot away, sending clods of dirt flying in all directions. Adriane jumped back in shock and felt the loose earth beneath her feet give way. She was slipping. “Zach!” she called, desperately scrabbling for a handhold.

He grabbed for her arm but the hillside slipped down into the ravine, Adriane along with it.

“Ahhgh!” She landed hard on the gully floor.

Six orcs crashed across the steam, barreling down on her. She jumped to her feet, raising her wrist. The magic flowed from the stone like amber fire, swirling up and around her arm.

The orcs grunted and slowed at the sight, obviously wary of magic fire.

Zach landed in front of her, sword raised and glowing with fierce power. “Go for their legs,” he yelled over his shoulder. “The hamstring just behind the ankle!”

The orc leader snorted, long upturned teeth moving on both sides of its pig snout. Beady, black eyes filled with rage, it roared, lunging at them with battle-ax raised—and suddenly stopped. The others stumbled as they barreled into him. The orc leader held his thick arm out to the side, its beady eyes now full of total terror.

“That’s right, we’re bad!” Zach taunted.

Adriane watched in amazement as the orcs started to shuffle backward. Then, squealing like pigs, they broke rank and ran away.

“Ha! Guess we showed them!” Zach turned around with a grin… which suddenly twisted into a horrified grimace.

“What?” Adriane had only to look at the gaped-mouth expression on Zach’s face to know that whatever had really scared those orcs away was standing right behind her.

“Maamaa!”

Adriane turned at the cry ringing through her mind. She had never seen anything like it. It was a dragon all right—or at least what she thought a dragon looked like! It was about the size of a really big dog. It sat back on two large feet. A rounded belly tapered off to a thinner chest with two arms and a long neck. It was covered with smooth scales in a variety of red colors, ending with a long, wagging tail, shaped into an arrowhead at the end. Its two silky wings shifted in colors, just like when it was still in its shell. It had a spiky ruff at the neck, not unlike a lion’s mane, and two stubby, rounded horns jutting out from behind oversized, pointy ears that bent over at their tips. It actually reminded Adriane of a big puppy. Its long horse-like face had a wide mouth filled with tiny, sharp baby teeth.

This
was the fearsome monster that everyone was so worried about? It was just a baby and it was crying—

“Maamaa!”

—for its mama. Uh-oh.

“Maaaaaama!”

The dragon lumbered toward her, tripping over feet much too big for its body. Joyfully, it bumped against Adriane. She hugged it. “Steady there,” she said with a smile. She looked at Zach. “Look, Daddy. Baby’s taken his first step.”

Realizing his mouth was still hanging open, the boy closed it, put his sword away, and stomped over. “I’m taking
baby
back to the Fairimentals right now.”

The dragon buried its head behind Adriane, sweeping its body around and knocking its big tail into the boy. Zach went flying into the stream.

Drake sniffled, resting his long snout on top of Adriane’s head. She wasn’t afraid at all. She felt a bond, familiar and strong.

“Aww, it’s okay, little guy,” she cooed, scratching him under his chin. “You scared away those mean old monsters, didn’t you? Yes, you did.”

Zach stammered, tried to speak, but spat out water instead.

“You hungry, Drake?” Adriane reached into her pocket and pulled out a coconut. She cracked it open and held it up to the dragon’s mouth.

Drake stuck his snout in the coconut and happily lapped up the milk with his forked tongue.

“There, good baby,” she cooed.

Zach had begun to pace back and forth in the gully, arms waving. “This is just great!”

“What’s with you?”

“I’ll tell you what’s with me. The dragon has imprinted on you! He’ll never let me take him back now. And I can’t take him to the mistwolves. You’re going to have to come back with me to the Fairy Glen.”

“I can’t. I only have until the moons rise. I’ll never get to Storm in time.”

“Well, we can’t sit here!” Zach glanced downstream. “Those orcs are dumb, but once they realize it’s a
baby
dragon, they’ll be back. Then what do we do?”

“UrRRRrp!” Drake belched a small fireball.

“Ahhh!” Zach’s butt was suddenly crisped with black soot. He jumped up and down rubbing his smoking rear and yelling, “You big dummy! I’m not an orc!”

Drake lowered his head, cowering behind Adriane, one wide eye watching the boy dance around.

“I told you! That thing is dangerous!” Zach yelled.

“He didn’t mean it.” Adriane scratched behind the dragon’s ears. The scales were amazingly soft. “Shhh, it’s okay. Good dragon.”

Her face was suddenly covered in sloppy wet dragon licks. Adriane giggled.

Zach walked over, brushing off soot. “You’re still gonna have to come back with me.”

“Drake, now you have to listen to me,” Adriane told the baby dragon.

Drake sat, panting like a big puppy.

“I can’t take you with me. You have to go with Zach to the Fairy Glen. Do you understand?”

Drake cocked his head and eyed Zach.

Zach forced a big smile over his face.

“See? He’s okay,” Adriane said.

She started to walk away. “Good dragon. Now stay with Zach. Stay.”

She had gone only a few yards when Drake leaped up and ran to her, big feet clomping in the dirt.
“Maamaa!”

“No, no. You have to stay with Zach! Ohhh… ”

Panting happily, Drake reached out and gave her a big hug, slobbering all over her head.

“Oh, it’s no use,” Zach said in dismay.

A terrifying roar split the air. Followed by the thundering boom of feet.

Zach whipped his sword free from its sheath. “They’re coming back.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Good idea.”

They ran down the gully, following the stream. Zach was out in front, and Drake clumped behind Adriane. The ravine was getting deeper and narrower. Soon this stream would be a river and Adriane knew where that would eventually empty out. They ducked under logs that had fallen over the ravine like bridges.

The sound of marching feet echoed behind them. Those orcs were persistent.

“Let’s get out of this ravine!” Zach shouted.

The sides of the ravine now rose up into muddy hillocks. They started up, but Drake was having trouble climbing, his feet sliding back in the mud.

“Get Drake over that hill,” Zach said. “I’ll hold them off.”

“Wait.” Adriane held his arm. “You’re stronger than I am. You push him up, I’ll hold them off.”

Zach bit his lower lip, and then agreed. “Okay. But as soon as we’re over, you’d better be right behind us.”

Adriane faced Drake, looking deep into the dragon’s eyes. “Now you listen to me. You go with Zach. I’ll be with you very soon.”

The dragon seemed to sense what she was saying and allowed Zach to push him up the steep side of the ravine wall.

Adriane slid back to the flat ground. With a crash, the trees ripped away and the orcs broke into the gully. She was suddenly facing six giants armed with extremely unpleasant weapons.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Zach shoving Drake toward the top of the hill. The dragon’s head was craning back on its sinewy neck trying to see her.

Turning back, she whirled her arm in a circle, releasing a wave of golden fire. Crouched in a fighting stance, she braced herself for the attack. She didn’t have to wait long.

The orc leader, this time ready for magic fire, raised its shield and lunged forward.

Adriane swirled the fire around her. She threw her arms wide and released the ring, spinning it like a flaming Frisbee. It slammed into the orc, but its shield fractured the magic, sending it sparking into the trees.

Whoosh!

Spears flew at her. She dove, tucking and rolling away. The spears flew past her as she landed in the shallow water of the running stream.

The orcs were forcing her out into the open so they could surround her.

She heard a whine in her head.
“Maamaa!”

Oh, no. She whirled around to see Drake leap from the hill. He opened his new wings, but they weren’t strong enough to hold him. His belly smacked in the mud with a
thwack!

The orcs stopped uncertainly.

Drake rose up on his hind legs and roared. A lick of flame escaped his lips.

The orcs backed away. The dragon took a step forward and promptly tripped over his feet, falling flat on his nose.

The orcs snorted with laughter and raced forward.

“No!” Adriane threw herself in front of the dragon, diving to the ground and firing a stream of magic. The fire whipped out and wrapped around the ankles of two orcs. Adriane sprang to her feet, pulling her fist down sharply. The fire tightened, and the orcs went down, thundering into the water. Adriane leaped away as an ax split the air, cleaving into a boulder, sending splinters of stone flying. She danced and twirled, her gemstone exploding into blinding light that criss-crossed around her, creating a shield. Shards of rock bounced away.

White-hot pain pounded into her shoulder and she flew across the gully, landing face first into the water. She got groggily to her feet, hair streaked and dripping. Drake lumbered over to her, shaking with fear. The orc that had hit her towered over them as the others advanced. There were too many.

The orc raised its ax and swiped—but only the wooden handle came down, plowing into the muddy bank. It watched in surprise as the blade went flying into the trees.

Zach was standing on a natural bridge formed by a dead tree that had fallen across the ravine. His sword was out and ready. The orc threw away the ax handle, roared, and reached out with enormous hands to crush Zach like a fly. But the boy was too quick. The stunned orc gaped at the sword plunged deep into its chest. Its rib cage opened with one terrible swipe. The boy kicked the bewildered monster, and it crashed into the others like dead weight.

“Grab my hand!” Zach screamed. He had shimmied down and stretched out to grab Adriane.

“Hurry!” Zach leaned over farther.

Adriane looked at the regrouping orcs and then at Drake. Zach could save only one of them.

She reached into her vest pocket and raised her arm.

Zach slid lower, grabbing at her hand. Adriane slid her hand into his, but instead of grabbing hold, she slipped the chained orb into the surprised boy’s outstretched fingers.

She looked into Zach’s eyes. “Take Drake,” she said, and pushed the dragon’s tail into the boy’s hand.

Shock registered on Zach’s face. But he pulled with all his strength and yanked the startled dragon up beside him on the tree bridge. Then he leaped to his feet and ran, pushing the crying dragon away from the ravine.

Adriane threw back her soaking hair and faced the orcs. On her wrist, the golden wolf stone pulsed like the heartbeat of a warrior.