I'd had to run into the mill and grab a weapon before setting out, so to my chagrin I'd lost sight of Kay's actual person very quickly. I'd had to resort to my extrasensory tracking skills, and they had led me to this place, though I wasn't one hundred percent certain he was actually here. It did, however, seem the ideal spot for Beta's lair.
"Figures it would be underground, dusty, and foul smelling," I muttered to myself. "More aliens need to stay at the Ritz." I suppressed a nervous laugh and squinted into the cavern.
As soon as I arrived, I'd felt vibrations far below the surface, and they'd been growing louder. Now their source was only a few hundred feet away, and closing in on me. With every tremor, streams of black powder cascaded from the ceiling.
An earthquake was the last thing we needed now. Mines like this one were full of explosive coal dust, of course, and if it was Beta...
Am I ready for him? I wondered. How long would it take to run out of this place in the dark?
The tunnel was really rocking and rolling now. Then, all at once, things got really quiet. It reminded me of that moment when the theater darkens and the audience stops talking right before a play begins.
But this wasn't a play. And the flames that were beginning to seep out of cracks in the ground weren't special effects.
I lay down on my stomach and watched the space below me. It was easy to see the whole ballroom-sized chamber glowing on all sides with rainbows of flame. I could make out the mouth of a tunnel at the other end, fifty, sixty feet away.
Something was moving inside, a bright spark in the shadows. It didn't look like the wisp of flame that I was expecting from Beta--the one I'd seen three too many times already.
The flame was long and narrow. It whipped back and forth in the darkness of the tunnel like the arm of an octopus.
And there was a large body attached to it. I watched in fascination as a scaly, conical head snaked out from the opening, a lithe body like the fuselage of a Learjet following it on about eight tiny feet. We've all seen pictures of dragons, right? This one had lava seeping from between its scales and jets of flame for teeth.
The dragon scurried up the wall like a centipede, arched its neck, and took a bite out of a coal deposit in the ceiling. The sound of grinding rocks echoed through the chamber. Pebbles as big as my clenched fists rained down from its jaw. Then it cocked its head and gave a sniff that sent waves of heat my way.
"Welcome, stranger," it said in a familiar hissing rasp. "Please, come in. After all, there's no point in hiding now that I've smelt you. You can have the honor of being my next victim."
Chapter 64
I COULDN'T TAKE MY EYES off of the dragon--off Beta. It seemed like Beta couldn't take his focus off me, either. He stared down at me, and the flames where his eyes should have been glowed blindingly bright.
He was silent for a moment, and then he began to chuckle, his mouth spitting out hissing, gasping hiccups of flame. "You're definitely not who I expected, but I guess it's my lucky day. And that makes one of us."
I'd been waiting for this fight to start for days, but all of a sudden it was much too real for me. Beta's heat was too intense, the flames too bright. And for some reason I could already smell burning flesh.
I froze. Just for a split second, but I definitely froze.
Here's a fact I've learned over the years: in the time it takes to read this sentence, an Alien Hunter who hesitated h as probably been squashed and digested, or maybe vaporized two or three times.
I brought my weapon--one of Merlin's swords--up in front of his face. It was a basic parry, a way to block the opponent's sword from splitting your head open. Reflex, nothing more.
I knew that on its own it wouldn't really work against Beta's firestorm. It was time to start summoning my powers.
The tongues of flame hit the sword and ricocheted away, as surely as if I had been surrounded by a wall of asbestos. I'd created a shield of carbon dioxide--and lots of it--to stop Beta's flames inches before they could burn me to a crisp.
Beta roared in frustration and unleashed an even more furious torrent. This time I was totally enveloped in it.
When the air cleared, though, there I was, drenched in sweat and covered in a layer of black soot but none the worse for wear and tear.
"You're only making it harder on yourself," bellowed Beta. "I was going to flash-fry you, but now you're going to get slow-roasted."
"My dad always warned me that dragons were real," I shouted defiantly. "Descendants of dinosaurs. He didn't mention that they were buttheads, as well."
When Beta dropped low and sent out his next blast, I was ready and leapt backward, deflecting it deftly with my sword.
Now the fight to the death was really on. The dragon would spit an explosive fireball, and I would block it with a sweep of my sword. I would thrust mightily at the dragon's chest, the dragon would knock my sword away with a glowing claw. And once when I ducked to avoid a lash of Beta's fiery tail, it cracked like a whip and took out a stone column, sending rubble scattering across the ground.
Now, isn't this exactly what my dad trained me for on Cyndaris? Navigating tricky rock landscapes while multitasking--without falling? My dad had been proud of my training then, but he wouldn't have been now.
Because what did I do? Nothing but trip on a hunk of rubble with the edge of my foot--and I went over backward on my rear end.
Beta rushed forward to seal the deal. His mouth opened wide, his fiery jaws ready to bite off my head.
I saw it coming, of course, and the dragon's teeth met my sword's cold blade with a clang loud enough to shatter double-glazed windows. My muscles shook with the effort of keeping Beta away.
And then--inexplicably--my father's voice came screaming into my head so that it drowned out everything else. "Water, Daniel! Lots of water! Immediately--or you die!"
Chapter 65
BETA PRESSED his cruel face, his jaw, closer to my head.
My heart was pounding, ready to explode from my chest. I wasn't sure exactly what I was planning, but the cavern was moving again. With every motion of that huge serpentine body, I felt the hot stone tremble.
Dad had a good idea, but there was no way I could create enough water to put out Beta. Not in an hour. Not in a day. He should have known that. So just what did he mean? Was he back to giving cooking tips?
But then I felt something else. A constant vibration, underneath the shudder of Beta's movement. The rustle of flowing water ; I realized. An underground river. That was what Merlin was hinting about, wasn't it?
I put my hands flat on the rock beside me and sent my power surging through the walls and into the cavern floor b elow. In the next fraction of a second, there were three distinct hissing sounds.
The first was the mechanical hiss of the high-pressure fountain I'd just created, beginning to pump water to the surface at about fifteen hundred gallons a minute.
The second was the hiss of a gigantic water jet vaporizing into a cloud of steam as it hit a very surprised dragon in the throat.
The third was a hiss of pure malevolence. Beta's eyes narrowed till they looked like cinders, and he reared back onto his hind legs. His head was hidden in the cloud of steam that had already filled the top half of the cavern.
Gasping, I rolled to the side to avoid a swipe from Beta's tail, which was whipping around the room at random. Then I clambered to my feet.
There were a few glimmers up above, and an ominous clicking, as if Beta were trying to start a stubborn gas grill. Next came a blessed moment of silence.
But then an unearthly howl.
Flames swirled down toward us, splitting the cloud of steam in two. It took only a second before the fountain I'd made was a twisted lump of melted metal.
"DANIEL!" This time it was Merlin's voice. And he meant business. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? It's supposed to be Arthur. It has to be Arthur. Do not mess with history, young man." Chapter 66
"SOMEONE'S CHEATING," purred Beta from the heart of the fire.
"I thought we were fighting mano a mano"
In a flash my eyes darted through the cavern while keeping Beta in view. And there was Arthur, leaning heavily on one of the few remaining columns, with Merlin the Sword hanging by his side. His face flickered in the light from the cavern floor, which was lit up like the devil's disco.
I frowned. Merlin was proving himself to be the madman he'd always seemed. Arthur could barely stand up for himself when his foster brother beat up on him. How was this kid supposed to take out my alien ? Number 3, no less?
Then I remembered how I'd helped Arthur be courageous before. I could do it again. And had to.
I gave Arthur a penetrating look and encouraging nod that said "You can do this, buddy."
"Arthur, meet Beta," I said cheerfully. "Beta, meet Arthur. Sorry if there was any confusion, but you didn't give me a chance to explain. I was just the opening act. Arthur here is... the real deal , shall we say."
Beta had stopped roaring, but his jet of flame was hanging in front of Arthur. Then a dark face appeared in it, grinning in an all-too-familiar way.
Arthur didn't move, but I saw his eyes flick back toward me for a moment. Then he raised his sword.
"So, beast," he began, sounding more like a king already. "Let the tournament begin."
Chapter 67
BETA WASN'T INTERESTED in the grandeur of a tournament. Before Arthur had even finished his flourish, Beta's fiery jet darted forward till it encircled Arthur like a boa constrictor ready to squeeze and turn him into charcoal. Arthur dove and rolled and avoided becoming toast-- literally. By inches.
"That was too close," Merlin thought at me, and then I heard him sigh, a long, long sigh of relief. So I guess he was a little nervous about Arthur after all. Was I just as insane as Merlin to let Arthur get mixed up in this?
Merlin wasn't going to take any chances.
At that moment I felt a sudden change in the air. The remaining clouds of steam began to glow white against the dark cavern walls. I heard crackling, and the sword's hil t b egan to glisten. I stared, trying to get a better view. Was that... frost?
Merlin was really something. Even I didn't know how to freeze water right out of the air.
And then in a beautiful stroke of luck or brilliant swordsmanship, Arthur thrust the frozen sword into Beta's side. The dragon's oblong face twisted in pain and anger and shock as its flames were sucked back in.
Then the huge beast slumped down, his entire body covered with a sparkling sheet of ice. His eyes, no longer flames, were more like empty sockets weeping frozen tears.
A tiny flame still flickered in his open mouth like a bright forked tongue, but the rest of his body was going dark.
Arthur drew the sword out of Beta's side and aimed for the dragon's head. This would end it, end Beta. And then the dragon's mouth opened and gasped something in a voice that sounded almost... human.
"I didn't think you had it in you... Pendy."
Arthur hesitated, a confused expression contorting his face. As he did, the last few flames leapt from the dragon's mouth, sizzled against the floor, slithered over to the wall, and--to my sudden horror--disappeared through a fissure.
"No!" I yelled. But it was too late. The last few sparks that were left of Beta had escaped underground. He wasn't gone for all eternity. He would rise again.
Meanwhile, the dragon's body was crumbling. By the time I reached it, it was no more than a pile of gray ash-- with a shape inside, a shape that moaned and turned over as I came closer.
It was burned beyond recognition, but to my astonishment it began to regain its form. I saw Merlin off to the side, with both arms extended--chanting in an unidentifiable tongue. Healing the beast?
Instantly the form was complete--and it was human.
"Kay?" said Arthur.
"My king," muttered his stepbrother.
Chapter 68
TALK ABOUT A TOUGH DAY in the mines.
When we finally pulled ourselves together enough to hoof it back to the castle, Arthur locked himself in his room. Merlin and I had felt it was only fair to try to explain to him what had just happened, right down to our suspicions that Kay had become a flame weaver and that Beta had come to possess him. As you can imagine, that shocked him even more. I don't think he even bothered to sponge off the soot and burn marks before he . Turned in that night.
That gave me the private moment I needed with Merlin. I had a bone to pick with him.
My fellow Alien Hunter--or so he said.
I limped back across the fields to his house in the water mill in silence. By the time I got there I couldn't hold it b ack any longer. "We let him get away , Merlin. Beta slipped through our fingers! We failed. I've never failed like this before."
Merlin looked at me for a long moment before speaking. There were bags under his eyes that were way too large and saggy for his childish face.
"Beta is an extraordinary creature," he said, and heaved a sigh. "We had better sit down and have a drink. I suppose I'm going to have to explain this to you after all. Y'see, my boy, I'm not exactly an Alien Hunter. I was backup for one. She was my mentor. Guinevere was her name."
We sat down and he handed me a cup. It was empty. I looked at him questioningly.
"What? I'm exhausted!" he said, a little snappily. "If you want a drink, imagine it yourself."
I put the cup down as he pushed a book across the table at me. It was the same one he'd shown me before.
The List... Ye Olde version.
This time, it was open to a page with a series of panels, kind of like a comic book. Only this one had panels that were beautifully outlined with gold leaf. The lettering was an intricate calligraphy. And of course the ink swirled as the pictures moved in an utterly dizzying way.
At the top, the title read "Phosphorius Beta--Known Aliases," and underneath each panel was a name in a different language.
In the first, a sinuous, cloudy form swooped down on a pathetic cluster of huts. It chased a group of terrified Asians around on the page, setting their village on fire over and over again. A single Chinese character underneath the picture represented the word for "dragon."
Another showed a bearded man with a sword and shield on the steps of a building with marble columns. Behind him was a grotesque creature that looked like it couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be. It had three heads, each of them a different beast, each more hideous than the last. The bearded man turned as if to run, but one of the heads was unleashing a torrent of fire that enveloped him over and over again. Chimaera, read the inscription in Ancient Greek.
In the third picture, a man in a feathered headdress was kneeling--and seemed to be praying--at the top of a stepped pyramid, maybe Aztec in origin. That is, until the giant, scaly bird-snake in front of him bent down and swallowed him whole, then let out a fiery belch.
The rest... well, you get the idea, don't you?
Fiery beasts of all kinds, terrorizing half the human civilizations I'd read about in history books, as well as a few that I didn't recognize.
Maybe because Beta had destroyed them?
I finished studying and sat back in my chair, confused, though a bit relieved. I'd half expected to see myself in one of the brutal illustrations.
Merlin slumped forward and buried his face in his beard. When he spoke, his voice was muffled, and rather sad.
"Well, now you can see it with your own eyes, Daniel. Beta's been ravaging this planet for all of recorded history. No one knows how long, really.
"When things get too dangerous for him, he just hops through one of those time holes and ends up somewhere ten thousand miles and five hundred years away. That's what happened after he murdered poor Guinevere.
"In some of the places he goes, he's respected, even worshipped. More often, he's feared. But he's always looking for more fuel, and more power. The thing is--he loves to kill, lives for it."
That made his escape from the caves sting even more.
"But we could have stopped him in there.
We could have shut him down for good," I said. "Destroyed him, maybe."
Merlin shrugged. "Don't beat yourself up too much. We did well today. He's never been thrashed this badly before. He's underground, licking his wounds, and let me tell you, no one will be seeing him for a long time."
"A long, long time" I said slowly. "You mean like, say, fourteen hundred years or so? Sound about right to you?"
Merlin turned his head. "Hmm. Right."
"And he's still going to be waiting in ambush for me and my friend Dana on the other end. With about a thousand flame weavers. So my whole mission here has been a waste."
Merlin thought for a minute or two, twiddling his fingers and humming a tune. Actually, I'd heard that song once, at my grandmother's house on Alpar Nok.
"Not so fast, Daniel. You haven't thought about what disasters you've prevented from happening here on the British Isles."
"Such as?"
"Imagine an explosion the size of the one you told me about that happened in your own time. In these times, Daniel, with so many people living in wooden huts with thatched roofs, with so much of everything we use made from wood and simple flammable materials... why, whole villages could be wiped out. In a thousand years or more, Beta could decimate our whole island."
"All right," I conceded. "So my time here wasn't a waste. And I made a friend in Arthur--and you, too," I added hastily. "But how am I going to defeat him when I get back to my own time?"
"Beta invaded this country once before, Daniel. And the people who used to live here, the ancient Britons, built a machine to stop him. Guinevere and I helped them, actually."
"A machine? You can't be serious. If Beta came here before, it must have been hundreds of years ago."
"Try thousands," said Merlin. "I fibbed about my age."
"So what are you telling me? That this device to destroy him still exists? That it will exist in the twenty-first century?"
"You tell me. We called it Stonehenge"
Chapter 69
STONEHENGE. Of course I'd heard of it. A famous prehistoric site, the mysterious circle of giant stones on Salisbury Plain that has confounded scholars for centuries.