Dragon Dreams: Book 2: Prophecy of the Dragons (22 page)

"Well?" Cassie asked.

"We can expect four in the next car and the leader in the engine."

"Good." She gave him a wink. "I'm glad Andi relayed the message instead of Lee."

"Yeah, it was terrific."

Before they moved to the door, he flicked his left wrist and had his shield back. He kept the gun in his right, confident he could be effective with it, despite what Cassie thought. She noticed, but didn't say anything.

As they moved to the door, Andi and Lee pulled the remaining passengers out to the back car and caboose. They'd be up here with him and Cassie soon, and he wanted to make sure these bandits were dead before that. He had no clue what bullets would do to the dragons' scales, and didn't want to find out.

"They had to have heard the commotion," Cassie said, "so they'll be waiting to ambush us. Go in with your shield up, and I'll be right behind you, blasting away."

They burst into the baggage car. Somehow these bandits hadn't heard anything because each looked up in surprise from the luggage they were pawing through. Cassie opened fire and all four dropped dead. They picked their way to the front of the car, which had bags, clothes, shoes, hats, and all kinds of other things strewn about. Good thing this was only a dream world because the real nightmare for these people would be getting all their belongings back. As they reached the front, Andi and Lee joined them.

"I'm guessing the gang leader will be a demon or some other sort of tough-to-beat being," Lee said.

Cassie nodded. "And bullets to the head probably won't be enough to stop it."

"So what do we do?" Andi asked.

Ben flicked his wrist, transforming his gun back into his trusty sword, and shrugged. "Wing it," he said, and started for the front of the train.

"Yes, what the boy said," Lee said.

Up ahead, in the train's engine, the leader of this so-called notorious gang stood, and, honestly, Ben wasn't impressed. He didn't look like a demon or any other supernatural creature. Looks could be deceiving, but he had figured on more.

As they climbed along the edge of the coal car between the engine and the rest of the train, a sign blasted by that caught his attention. "Bridge out. End of the line. Ten miles." At the rate they were traveling, they'd cover that distance in a matter of minutes.

The leader tipped his hat. "Congratulations on besting my crew. If you four would like to join forces, seek me out. If you survive, of course. Good luck." With that, he lifted his fingers to his lips and blew a shrill whistle. A horse, running faster than should be possible, positioned itself beside the train, allowing the gang leader to jump onto its back. They peeled off and out of sight.

"What was that about?" Cassie asked. "And how was his horse moving so fast? That's impossible."

"So is turning your knives into pistols with the flick of your wrist," Lee said.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Did anyone else see that we have less than ten miles before the end of the line?" Andi asked.

"Yeah," Ben said. "Let's hurry and stop this thing. Then we can get out of here."

They climbed into the control deck of the engine and found the engineer crumpled against the controls, his brains splattered all over from a point-blank gunshot. Though Ben knew nothing about how trains worked, even he could tell these controls were wrecked beyond fixing. It looked like an axe had been taken to them. Everyone else came to the same conclusion. There was no stopping this speeding train.

Lee pulled out the map and they saw the exit was for sure down the smokestack. He and Cassie were closest.

"Go," Ben said. "We'll be right behind you." They nodded and climbed up. Ben looked out, and though it was still a ways in the distance, the incomplete bridge was coming up fast.

Andi pulled on his arm. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

"No, wait. What if these are real people having nightmares. If we bail out, they'll still plummet to their death. We have to save them."

She opened her mouth to protest, but then let out a deep breath. "Okay. What do we do?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe we can unhook the cars from the engine."

"Do you know how?"

He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and zipped past onto the coal car. "Not a clue, but we'll figure it out."

They moved past the coal car and landed between it and the baggage car. Ben was well aware how fast the end of the line was coming, but this needed to be done. He looked down to where the cars were hooked together. There had to be a way to separate them, an easy way if movies and television shows were to be believed, but at first glance, he didn't see the answer, and he didn't have time.

"Can you see how it's done?" he asked.

"No. Hurry. We're almost to the bridge."

"I'm being stupid," he muttered, and grabbed her in an embrace. He had powerful magic at his disposal, so why not use it? "Concentrate on breaking them apart. We might be able to stop the cars, too."

She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder, the trust emanating from her. He hoped it was warranted. His subconscious voice hadn't whispered this would work like it usually did, but it felt like the right move. Who knows? Maybe it meant he was gaining a handle on this magic thing. He told the cosmos to unhook the baggage car from the coal car and to keep the passengers safe. An energy exploded off the two of them, and the unmistakable click of the cars unhinging greeted them.

"You did it!"

"No,
we
did it. I couldn't have done it without your added power."

"Whatever. Look, the cars are even slowing down."

He reached out with his thoughts, and something told him the passengers would be fine. As far as he knew, it was his own imagination, but he didn't think so. He grabbed her hand, and they hurried back to the engine and its smokestack.

As they climbed to the roof of the engine, they were seconds away from the unfinished bridge. Andi transformed to her half-dragon self, saying she was stronger and more agile in that form. She leapt, grabbed the edge, and pulled herself up. She dropped to her scaly belly and put out her arm for him to grab onto. "Hurry," her voice sang into his mind. They hit the bridge and roared on towards the end. The bridge went out about fifty feet over a steep canyon and then stopped.

He jumped, latched onto her wrist, and she dragged him up. They moved to slide down the smokestack into the gateway when the engine ran out of track and arched out to its freefall. Ben lost his footing and slipped off.

"Ben!" Andi screamed into his mind. She shot her claws into his shoulder and yanked him back. He grunted at the pain, but found she'd shifted his momentum. As the train went into a nosedive, he tumbled into the gateway with her right behind him. His bloody shoulder had already begun to heal.

Andi wouldn't let them move until Ben's shoulder was completely healed, which, of course, took hardly any time at all. He tried his best to make sure she didn't feel bad about hurting him, but she couldn't help it. Yes, if she hadn't done it, he might have slipped off the front of the train, but even that couldn't stop her tears from flowing. Finally it was Mom who got her out of her self-misery.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Andi, it sounds like you did the only thing you could to save him. Your dad once bit my leg so hard that the bone showed through my flesh, and I don't heal anywhere near as fast as Ben. And I was happy he did it, like Ben is happy for your claws. If you hadn't, you'd both be dead right now."

Ben wrapped her in a big hug. "That's what I've been saying. You saved me. You did what had to be done. And look." He made sure she had a good look at his shoulder through his torn shirt. There were a few faint red scratch marks, and nothing more, on his skin.

"Alexandria, you two are destined for great things, maybe the greatest in the history of our kind. There will come times, like on that train, where you have to make decisions that hurt. You can't ignore that fact. Your heart, head, and instinct will lead you down the correct path every time. I admit I treat you like a child far more often than I should — I can't stand the thought of you not needing me — but you've proven time and again that you can handle anything thrown your way. Both of you."

She let go of Ben and jumped in her dad's arms, tears streaming down her face. "Thanks, Daddy," she managed to croak out in between tears. Mom came over and embraced them, too, and Andi could swear she was also crying. She wanted to tell Dad that he was being silly, that she would always need him, but she didn't think she could articulate it at the moment. No worries, though, since she'd have plenty of time to tell him later.

Once they'd cried it out, even Dad shed a few tears, she smiled at Ben and took his hand. He was a bit embarrassed at having watched the close family moment, but mostly happy. That happiness skyrocketed when Dad came over and gave him a big hug and smacks on the back. No words were exchanged, but none were needed.

Mom broke the silence. "I suppose we should go see what the final nightmare has in store for us."

"It's going to be clowns," Andi said. "I know it."

Ben rubbed her back. "I like clowns, so maybe not. It might take your second-worst nightmare."

She shook her head. "No, it will be."

"So what's the deal?" he asked. "You've never said anything about clowns before."

"Exactly. I've avoided even thinking about them."

"We had an unfortunate run-in when she was younger," Mom said. "A travelling circus came to our area, a real treat since we were living so far from any sort of civilization. We thought it would be a thrill for Andi, since she'd never seen anything like it before. And it was, until a group of clowns gallivanted through the audience."

"A couple of them grabbed me and pulled me towards a larger group," she said. "And these weren't the fancy clowns you see today, but hideously made-up monsters. They looked like brain-eating hobos from Hell."

"They did at that," Dad said, with a laugh. "But all they wanted was for you to dance with them. They even apologized when it was over."

"I thought they were dragging me off to rip me apart and suck the marrow from my bones. I know it's stupid, and even then I knew it wasn't true, but…"

"But sometimes fears are irrational," Ben finished for her.

"Yeah." She had to fight hard not to kiss him. He always knew the perfect thing to say.

"So it'll be clowns," Dad said. "When they show up, either use your fear as fuel and fight, or hide behind us. There's only one more realm between us and our goal."

"Shall we?" Mom said, motioning up the path. "Remember to ignore everything."

As they wandered through the dark forest, her advice wasn't needed. Either the magic of the forest had given up on them, or they didn't notice. Mom and Dad led, and they had their heads together the entire way, speaking too low for her to hear. Not that she tried. She and Ben walked arm-in-arm behind them, and she lost herself in him, in this peaceful moment, savoring everything about him. She again had to fight from kissing him, both knowing Mom and Dad wouldn't approve at a time like this, and if she did, she'd have a hard time stopping. And there was still plenty of work to do. Plenty of unpleasant work.

Once they reached the huge wall, Andi took a deep breath. Maybe they were right. Maybe clowns were a bit too on-target. Maybe the Realm of Nightmares would ferret out something else from her subconscious. Maybe that would be better, or maybe it would be worse.

The smells of a carnival bombarded them before they passed through the gate. Popcorn, roasting meat, deep-fried goodies, cotton candy, and more. All of it made her mouth water. There would be clowns here, but they were easy enough to dodge at carnivals.

They stepped into a crowded midway with game booths, complete with obnoxious, but fun, barkers, along with plenty of places to pick up scrumptious snacks. She was about to ask if they could grab a corndog when she remembered their task. Ben, of course, sensed her almost-intention and gave her a grin.

"Pull out the map, Daddy. Where do we need to go?"

There were so many people in the midway that they had a hard time finding a quiet spot out of the way. It showed they needed to get to the big top. Her stomach took a nose-dive. Out here in the carnival proper, she could dodge the clowns. But inside the circus tent? That was the lion's den, so to speak. And, heck, since it was a circus, maybe they'd even have to go through a literal lion's den.

They stared in the direction of the big top, which would lead them through the ride area and the various shows. The path was nice and wide, accommodating the hundreds upon hundreds of people here having a good time. The ground was concrete, though a thick layer of sawdust cushioned it nicely. After a few steps, the world blinked, and they found themselves in front of a carnival game, the one with three milk bottles on a round table. All that existed in this little pocket of reality were the four of them and the game. She knew this one. You had one or two throws, depending on how much money you plunked down, to not just knock the milk bottles down, but all the way off the table, which, in this case, was as large as a party-sized dining table. A carny stepped out of the dark and laid one ball down in front of them. He had dead eyes, but looked otherwise alive. He was too skinny, but that wasn't all that unusual for most real-world carnies that she'd ever seen.

Ben leaned over and whispered in her ear. "He's dead, but not. It's the weirdest thing. My undead encyclopedia keeps trying to tell me what he is, but then comes to the conclusion he's alive."

The carny pointed to the milk bottles. "All the way off the table in one throw. If you fail, the masters will deal with you."

"What does that mean?" Mom asked.

"Trouble," the carny said. He then shrugged and flashed a big smile, showing off a mouth full of rotted teeth and gums. "I don't know what kind, ma'am. I just run the game. I suggest you win."

Ben stepped to the table and murmured, "I got this."

Andi gave her parents a grin. The confidence flashing off of him made her realize they wouldn't be meeting the masters, whoever they were, at least not right now. Ben wound up and fired the baseball at the bottles. Though she couldn't see it, she felt a blast of energy leave his hand right after the ball. The bottles didn't stand a chance, flying off the table to the wall at the back of the stall.

If the carny felt the energy, he didn't show it.

"Well played," he said, nodded, and waved his hand. The booth shifted, leaving behind the table and scattered milk bottles. In their place was a tilted wicker basket. This was the one where you had to land an oversized softball in the basket without it rolling out. Usually it was too shallow to keep a ball in fair and square, and there was always a sign reading "No backspin." That would be a rule here, too, even if it wasn't posted, especially since the basket wasn't deep enough to cover the entire ball.

The carny plunked the large ball on the counter and said, "Keep it in the basket, or the masters will deal with you."

"Yeah-yeah," Ben said. "I kind of doubt they'd want anything to do with the four of us." Andi giggled at this, while Mom rolled her eyes, and Dad grunted, no doubt trying to convey the notion that he shouldn't be so cocky. The carny stared at them, no emotion etched on his face.

"Why don't you give it a go, Cassie?" Ben said, and pointed to the ball. Could her parents feel the confidence pulsing off of him? Could the carny? It was like a second heartbeat to her.

Mom stepped up. "If you say so."

"No backspin. A nice, easy toss," the carny said, as she picked up the ball. Ben took Andi's hand and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "

"Will it to stay in the basket." She nodded, and Mom threw the ball. As it arched down, energy flowed out of their clasped hands. The ball hit the inside of the basket and nestled into the crook of the bottom as gently as if Mom had placed it there.

"Nicely done," the carny repeated and waved his hand. The game again shifted, and this time they were met with one of those test your strength games, the one where you used a sledgehammer to ring the bell. Usually she'd not be worried, as Daddy always won these. She'd received countless stuffed toys from this game through the 100 or so years that traveling carnivals had been around. This one, however, might be a bit much for even him. It went up 200 feet.

Dad took the hammer from the carny. "Think I can knock the bell clean off, Ben?"

"No doubt," he said. "Though I'm sure these master characters are going to be disappointed."

Dad chuckled at that, while Ben took her hand. Mom merely stood back with an amused smile on her face. Like Andi, she knew Dad would have a blast with this, even with a magical boost.

"You know what to do," Ben whispered in her ear. "But wait until it starts losing momentum. I'm sure he wants to see how high he can get it on his own."

She giggled and whispered back. "He thinks he can do it. Actually, he knows it."

Ben smirked at that, and they turned their attention to the game. There were levels every 25 feet. The first one read "Weakling," while the rest said, "Mama's Boy," "Girly Man," "Tin Man," "Getting There," "Strongman," "Iron Man," and at the bell, "Ultimate He-Man." Andi shook her head at the taunting sayings, especially since she'd witnessed firsthand how well they worked on the meatheads. In this case, it included her daddy.

Dad stepped towards the game and flexed his muscles as he took a couple of slow practice swings. He looked over to the carny, who shrugged, as if saying, "Whenever you're ready." Dad wound up and swung, and the metal ball zipped up the track. If it had been a normal size, he might have knocked the bell off. Heck, if it had been a 100 foot game, he'd have rung it. But it was obvious he might not even have knocked it to 125 feet, as it slowed fast. Ben squeezed her hand, and she ran, "Ring the bell," through her head over and over. The ball picked up speed and didn't stop until a loud "ding" sounded high above.

"Well played," the carny said. "Here's your prize." He snapped his fingers and their reality blinked again, and they found themselves back in the crowded midway.

"I'm guessing whoever those masters are didn't count on Ben's magic," Mom said.

"Indeed," Dad said. "They were rigged to not allow a normal victory. Cheated me out of a legit bell-ring."

Ben shrugged. "I didn't think you'd get it past 50, so I was suitably impressed."

"Shows what you know," Dad said. With a half-smile, he added, "You really didn't help until after 100?"

"No. That first 100 was all you."

"I knew I had it in me," Dad said, wearing a broad smile.

Mom sighed and kissed Dad on the cheek. "My hero. Can we get going now?"

They headed in the direction of the Big Top, and this time didn't get beamed to a carnival game. People around them enjoyed games of their own while munching on various fair treats. She sure could go for one of those funnel cakes. Chocolate-covered bacon would rock, too. They discussed it and came to the conclusion that these patrons were dreaming. At least they were having a good time. Even though she knew they were in for trouble, Andi couldn't help but smile at the merriment all around.

As they neared the end of the midway, the lights dimmed, and the classic clown song, "Entry of the Gladiators," blasted out. Though the various rock and pop music continued over the loudspeakers, the horrifying "Doot-do-doodle-doodle-doot-doot-do-do" overtook everything.

Andi froze, knowing this had to mean clowns were coming. Ben embraced her, and his closeness helped, but she still felt on the verge of hyperventilating. That feeling heightened when a clown gallivanted through the crowd. It had a happy face painted on, but that didn't fool her. She didn't need Ben's powers to tell her that evil bled off of it. Everyone else on the midway felt it, too, as the fun stopped.

The white-faced clown wore an orange jump suit with green fuzzy balls running down the front, and sported oversized red shoes. It danced around people, who did their best to not look, and had a merry time until it reached a lone girl probably around eighteen years old. It grabbed her shoulders, and they both disappeared. The song stopped, and the patrons return to their fun, as if nothing had happened.