Tiny Dragons 2: The Bear and Scepter (6 page)

It was still locked.

She read the words,
"What Makes You Worthy"
aloud and took a deep breath. She put her hands on the lid and it stopped shaking. The wood felt warm under her palms as if the thing inside it were getting hotter. She thought of her mother and James downstairs and the two brave cats, and that she would do anything it took to save them. "What makes me worthy is that I need to save the people I love," she said.

The lid shifted under the weight of her hands, coming loose easily. Her eyes widened as she opened the box and looked inside to see a golden, glowing scepter. It was as long as her arm and topped with a bright green gemstone the size of a softball. She expected it to be too heavy to lift, but it was light in her hands as she pulled it from the box and sat on the floor, staring at it in amazement. 

Before she could decide what the scepter actually did, it dipped and swayed left toward the door, tugging against her hands as it pulled her that way. Alana squeaked in surprise as its pull grew stronger and stronger, until she was afraid it might fly out of her hands and never come back. She got to her feet and hurried after it, gripping the length of gold metal in both her hands tightly, even as it whipped her around Mother's bedroom door and dragged her toward the staircase.

A deafening roar erupted from downstairs, so loud and terrifying it froze Alana stiff. She heard one of the cats cry out in pain, then fall silent. The voice whispering in her mind was confused again, a jumble of noise, and Alana forced herself to concentrate. She steadied herself until the words came together as clear as if she'd spoken them herself.

Be the light in the darkness.

Alana nodded, and the gemstone at the tip of the scepter began glowing brighter, casting green light on her and the stairs below, lighting her way. She carried it down the steps and turned down the hallway, seeing James slumped against the wall of the office where Mother had lain him. The living room was almost destroyed, the couch had been overturned and the pictures were smashed from their hooks on the walls. Alana's mother was bent over in the kitchen, holding a large, dented frying pan in her hands like a weapon. Her shirt was torn, and there were several painful-looking scratch marks down her face.

The floor was a mess of fur and shredded carpet, and both of the cats were thrown into different corners of the room, struggling to get back up, but limping and mewling in pain. And in the center of the living room stood the bear.

The enormous bear's head brushed against the ceiling as it moved toward Mrs. O'Neil, its black eyes glaring at her, almost glittering with wicked intent. Mrs. O'Neil straightened herself and raised the pan, knowing it was useless, but that there was nothing else to do.

The scepter in Alana's hands turned itself toward the bear, aiming the light of the gemstone at the creature's face and began to shake.

Speak the words…

The bear turned toward Alana and growled at the sight of the scepter, baring its sharp teeth like it meant to gnash at the stone and tear it to pieces.

Speak the words…

Alana heard the voice in her head over the bear's roar, and even her mother's cry of surprise, and she raised the scepter high over her head and spoke the words as they came into her mind, saying,

"Creature of darkness

creature of night

vessel for the wicked one's

fiendish delight

I place the Scepter of Katta-Ru

now in your sight

and drag you forth from the shadows

and into

the light!"

The gemstone burst into light, brighter than the sun, and Alana was forced to look away and shield her eyes. She could barely stand to look, but the bear was thrown backwards against the wall of the living room, thrown like it had been struck by a massive invisible fist. It wobbled to its feet and shook its head, thrusting its mouth open to roar. Instead of a roar, Alana heard the muted, strangled cry of a man. The man's voice screeched in anger at the scepter, and the bear coughed and spat up what looked like a mouthful of black string. The strings moved, and wiggled out of its mouth, twisting and turning as they were drawn forth by the scepter and came stretching out across the living room toward the gemstone.

The bear coughed up more and more of this smoky black goo, heading for bright burning surface of the gemstone, where they were burned away to nothingness. Alana waved the scepter through the air, destroying every last remaining bit of the black cloud. With every touch of the green stone, the black strings sizzled and gave a high-pitched cry in the same man's voices, but as more of it was dissolved, the weaker and fainter his voice became. Finally, the bear spat out the last of it and sat back on its hind quarters, staring at Alana and her mother in confusion.

The scepter's green gemstone grew dim once more, and Alana let it down, feeling the suddenly heavy weight of the golden wand in her hands. Mrs. O'Neil seemed too stunned to move as she looked at the bear, seeing that its eyes were now soft and brown and heavy-lidded, as if it might fall asleep.

Mister Six staggered to his feet at the far end of the room and sniffed at the large bear, rousing it enough to make it lumber up and find its way through the broken patio door. He waited for the creature to leave and limped over to where the other cat was lying, using his nose to prod her gently and calling to her in his strange, cat tongue. The Siamese cat's eyes opened slowly and she slowly rolled over and pushed herself against the wall to get to her feet.

Alana watched the bear vanish into the darkness of the woods, then looked around their shattered living room in disbelief. The scepter dropped to the floor with a dull thud, much too heavy to hold any longer. She knew she needed to say something, anything, to try and make sense of what had happened, but no words came. She looked at Mother, and was about to speak when Mrs. O'Neil's arms came around her, holding her so tightly, that suddenly nothing else mattered.

When James next opened his eyes, it was daytime and the sun was shining through his window blinds. They were drawn, but somehow the sunlight managed to find every crack and edge of each plastic slat, hitting him right in the face. He raised his hand and looked around the room, seeing two people sitting next to his bed, watching him.

Mrs. O'Neil jumped forward in her seat, reaching for her son, but her hand was stayed by an old man, who touched her wrist and said, "Let us be sure first, my dear."

Master Chi-Sao came around the side of the bed, his long red robes whispering against the thick blankets on James's bed, and he pressed his hand against the boy's forehead. "Tell me, son of the Nastikan, what is the last thing you remember?"

James blinked as he looked at the old man, trying to remember. "There…there was a bear," he said slowly, not sure if it sounded as strange to them to hear as it did to him to say it. "And it was trying to get inside the house." He doubted his own words as he spoke them, unsure if he was telling them something from a dream.

Mrs. O'Neil made a small, coughing noise, and Chi-Sao said, "Go on, child."

"The bear was at the door, and it hit me. It was going to come in the house and get Alana and my mom. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong," he said. He looked at his mother and felt a hot tear stream down the side of his face. "Are you both all right? Please tell me she's all right too."

"I'm fine!" a tiny voice cried out from beyond his bedroom door, followed by quick footsteps as Alana came running in and dove past Master Chi-Sao, climbing up onto James's bed. She grabbed her brother in a tight hug and said, "I'm so glad you woke up! You were asleep forever!"

He looked at his mother and said, "How long was I out for?"

She nodded toward the old man and said, "Just long enough for Master Chi-Sao to make sure you were okay." She looked nervous then and said, "Is he okay?"

The Master stepped back from his bed, having to tug his long robe out from under Alana's feet and he nodded, "The Evil One was not able to infiltrate the boy. Apparently, the wielder of the scepter removed the stain of his shadow completely."

Alana pulled on James's shirt to get his attention, "That's me! I'm the wielder of the scepter. It sucked up all the bad spells inside the bear and it went from being all RAWRR! RAWRRRR! to just being all HUH? WHAT AM I DOING HERE? Then it ran out of the house."

"I'm confused," James said. "What scepter?" James felt paws on his feet and looked down to see that Mister Six had leapt up onto the bed as well. There was another cat with him, a pretty female, and both of them sat at his feet, looking up at him. "And apparently we got a new cat?" James said.

Mrs. O'Neil came to his side and wiped the hair out of his face, looking relieved. "It's a long story. The only thing that matters is that everyone is okay."

"For now," Chi-Sao said.

Mrs. O'Neil looked up at him and said, "We can discuss everything else in private, please."

The old man shook his head, "Your daughter wields the scepter. Your son has proven himself a great warrior. You are thinking that they are only children, Mrs. O'Neil, but they are the children of the Nastikan, and the sooner they learn what forces pursue them, the better for everyone it will be."

Alana looked at her mother and said, "Mom? What forces is he talking about?"

"Nothing," Mrs. O'Neil said defensively.

Alana was thinking about the dragons on the distant mountain. She was thinking about Prospero the Sorcerer and his bumbling assistant, who they'd fought and overcome. And the bear. And her strange cat that seemed so much more than that. But most of all, she was thinking of Star, the tiny dragon who was her friend that no one could ever know about. She was thinking that if she could handle all of that, she could handle anything her mother might say. Now, the only trick was convincing her. "Mommy," Alana said slowly. "Whatever it is that you don't think I'm old enough to understand, I am telling you I am. So is James. We want to know, right?" She looked back at her brother and he nodded, trying to sit up in his bed. "Who is the Evil One and what does he want with us?"

Mrs. O'Neil's face stiffened for a moment, as if she might suddenly get sick. She looked at Master Chi-Sao, who folded his hands inside the lengths of his long robe and nodded encouragingly. "Kids," Mrs. O'Neil struggled to say, searching for the right words. "There are a few things about me and your father that you might have trouble understanding. Before we had you, he…I mean, we…we weren't regular people."

"Mom, just say it," James moaned.

"It's okay," Alana said, putting her hand over her mothers.

"Okay," Mrs. O'Neil said, taking a deep breath. "Here it is. There are things in this world that are real that you might not understand. Things you think are just fairy tales. Myths."

James and Alana looked at one another. "Things like what?" James said.

Mrs. O'Neil was struggling for the right words. "Things like…well, if other people thought you believed in them, they'd call you crazy. But some of them are quite real. And the fact is, we may have to go see them very soon."

"What your mother is trying to tell you," Master Chi-Sao said, stepping in, "Is that the people who claim to know everything about this world are not as smart as they think. There is much, much more to it." He looked at her and said, "Tell them where you are going, Mrs. O'Neil, or I will tell them for you. It can no longer be avoided."

"We are going…" Mrs. O'Neil said, letting out another long breath. "We are going…to someplace that your father said we should only go in times of extreme emergency. A place where we can find help."

"Where are we going, Mom?" Alana said.

Mrs. O'Neil looked at both of her children and took them each by the hand. "I know this is going to sound crazy, and I promise you, I understand if you think I'm losing my mind, but I need to ask you both to just trust me. We are going into the mountains to speak to someone who will help us in our fight. Kids," she said cautiously, "I know it sounds insane, but dragons are real."

Alana and James both looked at her silently for a moment, and then turned once more to look at one another. James was the first to laugh, letting it out in a short, muted chuckle, but the moment Alana heard it, she began to giggle as well. It was as if all the days and weeks of keeping it a secret had finally come erupting out of her and soon she was clutching her sides and laughing so hard she got the hiccups.

"Kids," Mrs. O'Neil said sternly, "I am not kidding! There are dragons and we have to go speak to them!"

Her seriousness only made them laugh harder, and soon Alana and James's hands were wrapped around one another, laughing so hard that both of them were bent forward, holding their stomachs.

"I told you," Mrs. O'Neil said, looking up at Master Chi-Sao. "I told you there weren't ready to know."

The old wizard looked at the children with one white eyebrow raised, and then turned his attention to the two cats. They were sitting there, staring at him silently, waiting for him to discover what they already knew. Master Chi-Sao nodded slowly and then looked back at James and Alana and said, "You misunderstand, my dear Mrs. O'Neil. Your children are not laughing because they do not believe you that dragons are real. They are laughing because it is something they already knew."