Billy forced himself to stay calm. He gave the grass a furtive scan. Excalibur was nowhere in sight. It wouldn’t have burned in Arramos’s flames. Maybe Sapphira had taken the others through the portal and returned by herself. “All right. I’ll take Sapphira and—”
Gunshots ripped through the air, sounding like jackhammers pounding on metal. Arramos beat his wings and flew backwards. His head swayed as he searched for the gunman. Three men wearing army fatigues stood on the bleachers firing automatic weapons. They aimed high, apparently to avoid hitting the hostages.
Billy ran toward the fallen women, his speed hampered by pain. Walter sprinted onto the field. As bullets pelted Arramos’s scales, Billy scooped up Sapphira, and Walter reached under Catherine to lift her. Arramos swung his tail and swept it under Walter’s legs, upending him.
While Billy hobbled away with all of his might, Arramos pounced on Catherine and reared his head back as if to blast Walter with flames. Gunfire popped even faster. Bullets zinged into Arramos’s face and open mouth. He backpedaled and dragged Catherine facedown across the grass.
“Walter!” Billy shouted from his knees as he laid Sapphira on the turf. “Get back! We’ll regroup!”
“No way!” Walter ran and dove for his mother, but Arramos jerked her away. Walter slid across the grass with empty hands.
Beating his wings, Arramos lifted into the air and began flying in a tight orbit. Walter leaped to his feet and lunged for his mother’s dangling legs as they passed by, but they were inches out of reach.
Billy jumped up and waved his arms. “Whoever is shooting, cease fire! You might hit Catherine!”
The gunfire stopped. When the echoes died, Arramos called from his orbit. “I will return in two hours at which time I will expect you to have mended Sapphira.” He blinked hard, as if suffering an eye injury. “She will open the portal for me, or I will kill my hostage!” He angled away and flew toward the city. Seconds later, he disappeared behind a line of trees.
Walter ran to Billy’s side and sat next to Sapphira. Gasping for breath, he glared in the direction Arramos had flown. “That snake has my mother. But we can’t open the portal for him.” He turned back to Billy, his face creased with worry. “Right? I mean, what options do we have?”
“We’ll get together with Elam and decide what to do.” Billy knelt next to Sapphira. Blood smeared her clothes all across her waist. He unbuckled her belt and pulled up her sticky, wet tunic. Blood trickled from a slice in her side at her waist, as if something had bitten off a chunk of flesh. He had to concentrate on helping her, but with Carl’s bullet-riddled body lying not far away, it seemed that a hundred-ton weight pulled every thought toward the carnage. Since Walter’s thoughts likely focused on his mom’s capture, he hadn’t even noticed his father’s corpse. Someone would have to tell him soon. “Walter,” Billy said, “what do you think of this wound?”
Walter knelt with him and peered at Sapphira. “No vital organs hit, but she might lose a lot of blood. Probably has already. Maybe she also has head trauma from a fall.” He laid a hand over the slice and compressed it. “I saw a first-aid kit in the airplane. I should’ve thought to bring it.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Billy took in a deep breath. This wouldn’t be easy. “Listen, I have to tell you some—”
“Just a second.” Walter turned toward the bleachers and shouted at the gunmen. “Can one of you guys go to the airplane and fetch a first-aid kit? The other two can cover us. Keep an eye out for Arramos. He said two hours, but he’s the world’s biggest liar.”
One of the gunmen waved. “Will do, old chap!”
Billy squinted at the man. His voice sounded familiar, flavored with an English accent, but that wasn’t important now. He grasped Walter’s arm, barely able to speak the horrible news. “Walter, your father is dead.” He gestured with his head toward the wheelchair.
“Dead?” Walter looked that way. His mouth dropped open. He rose and walked toward the chair in slow, shaking steps. When he reached it, he knelt and touched his father’s face, then combed his fingers through the corpse’s scant hair. Finally, he lifted his head toward the sky and screamed, “Nooo!”
Billy stayed with Sapphira and pressed a hand against her wound. Tears welled as his throat clamped shut. If only he could comfort Walter, but the poor guy had to grieve alone. Now he had lost his father as well as his sister and nephew, and Satan himself held his mother.
Walter staggered back to Billy. “What happened? Did Arramos kill him?”
Billy nodded. “Well, Arramos’s orders. The helicopters got him.”
“What about Ashley?” Walter’s features twisted into a misshapen mask as he spoke in a rattling growl. “Where … is … my … wife?”
“I think she went through the portal. Sapphira just came back.”
Walter sank to his knees, his voice still fractured. “So … she and Bonnie … must be safe … right?”
“I assume so. I’m guessing my mother, Thomas and Mariel, and Carly, too.”
“I’m going to kill that lizard!” Walter rolled his hand into a trembling fist. “I’ll gut him and feed his bowels to the birds!”
Billy compressed Walter’s shoulder. “We’ll gut the snake together, but we have to be patient. Keep the faith. Sapphira first. Then your mom. Then our wives. One step at a time.”
“Right.” As tears streamed down his dirty cheeks, his fingers loosened. “I’ll take another turn.” He nudged Billy’s bloody hand away and reapplied pressure to Sapphira’s wound. “Gotta take my mind off things.”
“Let’s see what we can figure out.” Billy pushed his clean hand into Sapphira’s and spoke in a loud tone. “Sapphira? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand.”
Her fingers compressed his weakly. Then her eyes opened. “Billy?”
“Yes. Yes.” He bent lower. “What happened?”
“So … so much to tell.” She rasped through rapid, shallow breaths. “So weak.”
Keeping his hand on her waist, Walter leaned close to her ear. “Can you at least tell us what happened to Ashley and Bonnie?”
She licked her dry lips and spoke in a halting whisper. “Through the portal … Bonnie … Billy’s mother … Clefspeare’s plant … Ashley … Thomas … Mariel … and Carly. … They are in … Second Eden.”
New tears joined the others on Walter’s cheeks. “Thank God for that.”
Billy ran a thumb across Sapphira’s knuckles. “Try to relax. We’ll get that wound in your side stitched up.”
“My … my leg hurts more. … Left leg.”
Billy slid her pant leg up. Blood flowed freely from a hole just above her ankle.
Walter wrapped his free hand around her leg. When it shifted, Sapphira moaned. “It’s broken,” Walter said. “Probably a bullet cracked it. Maybe we can stop the bleeding and give her a splint.” He winked at Sapphira. “You getting shot is a weapon in itself. Anyone who makes an Oracle of Fire bleed dies, right?”
Billy looked at the helicopter wreckage near the sideline. “I forgot about that. I was wondering why those two choppers crashed so easily when I shot at them.”
At the bleachers, the two remaining gunmen opened the gate and trooped onto the field, rifles at their hips. The third ran from the bleachers passageway, carrying his rifle as well as a white box.
“Here comes the cavalry.” Walter scanned the sky, his voice now steady. “Keep an eye out for more incoming aircraft. Arramos has something up his scaly sleeve. At the very least he’ll bring someone who’ll go through the portal for him—maybe more helicopters, probably enough force to kill everyone in Second Eden.”
When the gunmen arrived, the trailing one set the box on the turf next to Sapphira. Marked on top with a red cross, it looked much bigger than a typical first-aid kit. The gunman tapped the top with his rifle barrel. “An excellent selection of supplies, my good man.”
Billy opened the box. “She’ll need stitches in her si
de and a splint for a broken left leg.”
The leader of the newcomers, a bald man with short white whiskers, knelt and withdrew a pair of scissors from the box. “Stitches are not a problem. The splint will depend on the severity of the break, but I suppose I will be able to rig something for her. We have some pain medications here as well.”
“Great,” Billy said. “Thanks, but … who are you?”
“Ah! I was wondering if you would recognize me now that age has hooked my hide. My name is Standish.” He gestured with his head to the rear. “My fellows are Edmund and Newman. They have aged better than I have.”
Billy nodded at the other two men. “It’s good to see you again.” He looked at the bleachers. “Where are Sirs Fiske and Woodrow?”
“They have passed away, I’m afraid.” Standish picked up a small bottle of alcohol and a packet of gauze. “Woodrow was already up in years when we entered the candlestone, and Fiske met with an automobile accident about a year ago. Struck by a drunk driver. Such a tragedy.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Billy said.
“Yes. Well, we all have to die at some point, don’t we?” Standish pulled on Walter’s wrist and eased his hand away from Sapphira’s side wound. “What do we have here?” Blood immediately trickled again and dripped to the ground. “Oh, my! This will require many stitches, and I will need assistance. Newman, sterilize your hands with the alcohol, then mine, and we’ll mend the lass’s injury. I believe we have a topical anesthetic here somewhere, so the pain should be tolerable with regard to the stitches, but the broken bone is another issue entirely. She might have to bite a bullet while I set it.”
Billy knelt close to Sapphira. Her blue eyes stared up at him, pain evident. “While our gallant knights are working on you,” he whispered. “I’ll find Elam and let him know what’s going on.”
She nodded, the motion hindered by the ground beneath her head. “We can’t let … let Arramos go through the portal … no matter what. Second Eden … is too precious.”
“Definitely. He’ll go there only over my dead body.”
“And mine.” She slid her hand into his and offered a weak smile. “Thank you, Billy. You’re a hero among heroes.”
“That’s quite an honor coming from one of the bravest hearts I have ever known.” He kissed her forehead and rose to his feet. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
While Standish and Newman worked on Sapphira, Edmund walked to Billy and extended a rifle. “It seems that these weapons are no match for the dragon, though I think one of us put a bullet in his eye.”
“I noticed. It might help.” Billy grasped Edmund’s shoulder. “How did you get here? What’s going on?”
“We were summoned by Ruth, Sir Patrick’s widow. At the airport in London, a splendid mother-daughter duo accompanied Ruth, and all three joined us. With the expertise of the duo, we were able to locate a plane that transported some UK children to the States. We became stowaways, and once we were in the air, we hijacked the plane. Since our destination had been entered in the onboard computer, we simply flew to that location where we joined other transports that eventually flew here. When we landed, we opted to stay out of the battle and protect the children.”
“How did you pull off the hijack? There were at least ten soldiers in each plane.”
Edmund smiled. “It would be better to ask them.” He nodded toward the bleachers.
A woman and a female teenager walked onto the field. Both wore army fatigues that fit close to their trim bodies, boots that looked two sizes too big, and camo caps that squirreled their hair up in the back. When they arrived, the woman grasped Billy’s hand with a firm grip. “You must be William Bannister. I am Elizabeth Hamilton.”
Billy looked into her deeply set gray eyes. Hamilton? Yes, she looked a lot like Prof. “Charles Hamilton’s daughter?”
“The same.” She set a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “This is my daughter, Jennifer.”
“I’m pleased to meet both of—”
“You’re probably wondering about my last name,” Elizabeth said. “When Jennifer was born, my husband decided to go his own way, so Jennifer and I changed our names to Hamilton to honor my father.”
Billy smothered a grin. She was so much like Prof! “I’m sure he’d be pleased.”
“It is hard to be certain, since he is dead, but we hope so.” She pulled off her cap and let her ponytailed hair fall down, black without a hint of gray in the thick tresses. Although she looked to be in her thirties, she had to be in her fifties. “It is a superficial salute to my father’s legacy, but we are glad to do it.”
Jennifer kept her hair hidden. The few strands that appeared at the edges looked blonde, nearly white. She pulled out a mobile phone and took a photo of Sapphira as she lay on the ground.
Billy gave her a questioning look, but she just smiled in return and slid her phone away.
“William, let’s discuss the narrative.” Elizabeth removed her ponytail band and shook out her hair. “Kindly tell me what happened. I have surmised a good deal, but it is better to hear the facts from the proverbial horse’s mouth.”
“Sure.” Billy extended an arm toward the bleachers. “While Walter and Edmund stand guard over the surgeons, how about if we go to the parking lot? I want to check on everyone out there.”
“Yes, of course.” Elizabeth withdrew a handheld computer tablet from her shirt pocket and tapped on the screen as she walked with Billy toward the sideline. Jennifer tagged along behind them. “If I understand the circumstances correctly, Arramos desires to keep Sapphira alive. If Satan were ever to pray, he is likely praying for her survival.”
“Good analysis. Arramos wants access to Second Eden, and only Sapphira can give it to him.” Billy opened the gate to the bleachers and held it for her.
“Ah!” She smiled as she walked through the opening. “My father was right about you. You are quite the gentleman.”
“Thank you.” Billy closed the gate behind them. “I left Adam with our dragon friends. Do you know if they survived? Arramos said they’re dead.”
Jennifer tugged on Elizabeth’s sleeve. “I win, Mother. You owe me a milkshake.”
“Predicting a lie from the devil isn’t exactly rocket science.” Elizabeth pulled the bill of Jennifer’s cap down. “My father used to say, ‘Never trust the word of Satan, a politician, or a liar, but, I repeat myself.’”
Billy tried to smile, but his lips stiffened. “So they are alive?”
“They are. They sustained wounds. Nothing life-threatening.” Elizabeth led the way along the path toward the parking lot. “We have eyewitnesses to the donnybrook, and we surmised that the soldiers delivered an insalubrious agent at close range.”
Billy narrowed his eyes. “Insalubrious?”
“What my mother means,” Jennifer said as she tagged along at Billy’s side, “is that the dragons have been drugged by something that drained their energy, and the dose they received was very high. It looks like they took a few bullets, but nothing penetrated deeply.” She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and spread it out over her palm. A yellow smudge covered the center. “I have a sample of the drug, but without a lab, I won’t be able to analyze it to formulate an antidote.”
“It seems,” Elizabeth said, “that waiting for the drug to take its course is our only option. My understanding is that Thigocia will likely revive first and help with restoring the others, but she has not given us any reason to believe she will do so soon.” She slid her computer back to her pocket and picked up the pace. “We are lollygagging. Jennifer, William has long-term friends waiting for him. While he gets reacquainted, you and I will go to our plane to see if we can find some replacement parts for Larry and Lois. I assume you saw their remains.”
“I did, Mother.” Jennifer copied her mother’s arm-swinging gait. “Ghastly amount of damage.”
As they closed in on the parking lot, Billy scanned the scene. A woman knelt ne
xt to Makaidos, poured water from a cup onto a cloth, and swabbed his face. A male teenager did the same with Thigocia, while an older woman, presumably Ruth, worked on Roxil. Adam was nowhere in sight.
The younger woman looked up. “Billy?” With blue eyes and lovely face, she looked like a wingless Bonnie, perhaps a few years older, though she was now a senior citizen.
Billy smiled. “Shiloh!”
She extended her arms, a finger missing from one of her hands. “It’s been so long!”
Billy limped to her and gave her a hug. When he drew back, he looked into her eyes. It seemed that Bonnie returned the gaze. His heart ached, but he forced a smile as he let her go. “It’s great to see you.”
“You, too.” She touched the teenager’s shoulder. “This is my son, Isaiah. I also have a daughter, but …” She bit her lip hard. “But the Enforcers kidnapped her.”
“Well, I have some awesome news for you.” Billy pointed toward the highway. “Gabriel is with Jillian at one of the transport planes. They’re both fine.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She looked upward for a moment and whispered, “Thank you,” then threw her arms around Billy and laid her head on his chest. “Oh, Billy! We’ve been through so much! Years and years of trials. When will it all end?”
He rubbed her back. “I’m afraid the light’s pretty far down the tunnel. We have to hang on.”
“I know. I know.” She pulled away, a trembling smile on her face. “We’ll hang on. We always do.”
Billy scanned the lot again. “Where’s Adam? I thought he would have told you about Jillian.”
“He hopped into a car, a Mustang I think, and took off. He said something about checking on Elam and some other kids. We haven’t seen him since.”
Billy looked at the highway toward the east. “So Elam’s still with the other kids he rescued.”
Ruth walked up, her cloth gripped tightly. “Billy, I have a suggestion for you.”
“Sure, Ruth.” He smiled. “By the way, it’s good to see you again.”