Ch. 2: The Graveyard of Dragons

Back to Arheled

             The   carnival   was   in   town. Finally.

             Connor,   who   was   in   the   volunteer   fire   dept, was   out   by   the   park   drive   directing   cars. He   and   Austin   weren’t   on   speaking   terms after   the   betrayal,   but   Brianna   had   practically   dragged   him   there   every   night   it   was   up. This   was   the   second   night. It   was   threatening   rain   and   weird   eerie   blue   and   grey   clouds   like   ancient   castles   were   glowering   down   on   the   crowded   park. The   rides   flashed   and   blinked. Crowds   laughed. Brianna   and   the   gang   had   smoked   a   little   pot   before   they   went   (and   then   some   smoker’s   incense   to   cover   the   smell)   and   they   were   whooping   and   laughing. Vanessa   was   doing   silly   dance   moves. Zimmerman   hadn’t   wanted   a   smoke:   that’s   cool,   that’s   his   loss,   more   weed   and   more   high   for   us. Bree   was   kissing   Austin,   while   Camille   and   Jas   were   ridiculing   them.

             Austin   saw   spring   out   of   the   crowd,   or   sink   into   it   as   if   stamped   in   vivid   detail,   a   face   he   knew:   hard,   stern,   with   burning   eyes:   that   guy   with   the   bike,   what   was   his   name? He   was   with   a   couple   of   really   cute   girls   and   some   guys,   and   a   strange   hostile   expression   marked   his   face. And   there   should   be. This   was   their   place,   not   his;   this   was   their   world,   not   his. He   forgot   him   the   next   moment   as   Bree’s   little   fingers   went   exploring.

             The   thunder   began   to   sound. A   man   was   standing   on   the   ferris   wheel. The   thunder   sounded   from   him. Pulsing   throbbing   thunder. Time   slowed. Clouds   shook   and   swirled   slowly   around,   rotating   over   him,   bending   down   toward   him. Despite   the   distance   that   separated   them   his   eyes   were   visible   like   burning   stars,   so   was   his   eerie   mocking   smile. He   lifted   his   hands,   and   lightning   sprang   about   among   the   clouds. There   was   a   crash   of   shattering   light   bulbs. The   voice   of   the   man   sounded   like   the   thunder,   pulsing   and   beating   at   the   very   foundations   of his   soul. Austin   heard   ancient   words   in   ancient   tongues   reechoing   and   echoing   throughout   his   aching mind. Tremendous   vistas   of   things   his   shallow   soul   had   never   comprehended   burst   like   stars   within   his   head   and   blotted   out   his   sight. He   swayed. His   legs   were   flexing   and   quaking. He   felt   sick   to   his   stomach. He   felt   sick   to   his   lungs,   to   his   muscles,   as   if   lung   and   bicep   and   developed   the   ability   to   vomit. He   did   not   even   notice   he   had   sprawled   upon   the   ground.

             He   had   never   known   such   anguish. It   was   as   if   his   body   was   being   wrung   like   a   rag;   wrung   furthermore   by   hands   of   living   flame. Unimaginable   heat   roared   and   raced   through   his   twisting   organs. Muscles   clenched   in   nauseous   agony   even   as   they   cooked   alive. He   found   his   eyes   dancing   down   strange   avenues   of   flame,   green   and   pink   and   yellow   flame,   flame   not   only   hot   but   cold,   heavy   flame,   flame   of   blackness,   wet   flame,   dry   flame,   electric   flame   and   flaming   light;   every   color   there   was   known   danced   and   jeered   with   roaring   laugh. And   in   every   flame   faces   were   growing,   faces   of   humans,   human   faces   melting   and   distending,   rending   with   a   torment   like   his   own;   and   flickering   in   and   out   were   other   faces,   intelligent   lizards,   rational   reptiles   with   wise   and   evil   grins,   and   their   eyes   were   dragon’s   eyes.

             He   felt   arms   twisting   and   bending. He   felt   his   legs   buckle   backward   and   knees   break   and   reform. He   could   not   scream,   for   his   throat   was   changing   too,   and   his   face   was   growing   long,   distending,   and   his   eyes   were   filled   with   a   huge   face,   seven   huge   faces,   the   faces   of   the   dragon   in   his   dream.

             “You   have   a   new   Father   now.”   the   Dragon   said.

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   Austin!”   his   mind   screamed;   his   body   made   no   sound,   for   it   was   growing   long. “I   know   who   Dad   is! The   f—head   screwed   my   mom   and   left   her! I   want   to   kill   him!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “That   may   come.” <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">   said   the   Dragon. ''“But   he   did   not   sire   you. Another   did,   taking   his   shape. I   did. Dragon-blooded,   dragon-boned,   born   of   human,   called   now   home! Dragon-born,   by   dragon   grown,   be   not   now   mortal   but   mine   own! Walk   and   shift   as   man   or   me,   thy   true   nature   son   to   be;   the   cloud   and   fog,   the   storming   smog,   the   power   of   lightning   now   be   thine! Weather-dragon,   weather-breathing,   thy   dual   nature   now   conceiving:   Austin,   rise   and   me   adore!” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   knew   the   meaning   of   that   now. Amid   the   roaring   screaming   flames   of   the   souls   of   the   dragons   as   they   were   being   born,   he   prostrated   himself   in   abasement   and   adoration   before   the   seven   faces   of   the   Father   of   Dragons.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   blinked. His   eyelids   moved   oddly. He   saw   in   several   spectrums   at   once,   so   that   the   world   of   light   was   overlaid   with   the   wavering   red   of   heat-vision,   and   the   bizarre   hues   of   ultraviolet,   and   he   could   dimly   see   through   garments   and   walls,   and   knew   if   he   sharpened   it he   could   see   the   X-rays. He   lumbered   along   on   four   legs,   slow   and   awkward:   his   muscles   kept   misbehaving   whenever   he   told   them   to   do   something,   moving   in   odd   directions. He   lifted   his   head   and   inhaled;   and   when   he   breathed   out,   he   breathed   tiny   blue   electric   sparks.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Food. Warm,   luscious,   living   flesh   moved   around   him. Gorgeous   raw   legs   with   blood   still   pumping   through   them   moved   and   ran. A   ravenous   lust   to   eat   raged   through   him. A   girl   was   in   front   of   him. His   long   new   body   discovered   it   had   a   tail,   and   flexing   his   new   huge   mile-long   butt   Austin   knocked   the   girl   down.''   Flesh. Flesh. Flesh.''   Peach-like   skin,   so   supple   and   chewy. Firm   muscles   to   crunch. Delicious   soft   breasts. He   gobbled,   pure   bliss   filling   his   beastial   stomach   as   raw   blood-soggy   food   slid   tenderly   down   his   gullet. Only   when   he   reached   the   face   did   a   faint   flash   of   recognition   come   over   him:   for   it   was   Jenna,   her   gold   hair   matted   with   blood,   a   look   on   her   distorted   face   such   as   must   be   worn   by   the   damned.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             His   hunger   appeased,   Austin   swallowed   the   last   of   the   delicious   mashed   skull   and   looked   around. Most   of   the   people   had   fled. Half   the   rides   were   burning. Dragons   were   crawling   and   stumbling   over   themselves   all   around   him. There   must   have   been   dozens. Five   humans   had   not   fled. Two   soft   luscious pretty   girls. One   nice   plump   guy. Two   stringy   guys. The   shorter   of   the   two   had   red   hair   and   was   holding   an   umbrella.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             It   was   the   bike   guy. Whom   he   hated. It   was   Ronnie   Wendy.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Austin   opened   his   mouth   like   a   yawn. A   pleasurable   sensation   of   expulsion   welled   up   far   down   inside   him. He   felt   power   gathering   in   his   throat,   sending   shivers   of   pleasure   through   his   body. His   mouth   opened   wider,   in   a   cross   between   a   yawn   and   vomit,   and   the   power   travelled   up   him,   tingling   deliciously,   and   burst   out   of   his   mouth. It   looked   like   a   cloudy   cone   of   lightnings   and   raw   concentrated   weather   blasting   in   a   single   blueish   cataract   from   his   mouth   onto the   hated   Ronnie. He   paused   to   draw   breath.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             That   was   impossible! All   five   were   not   only   standing   but   completely   unharmed! Austin   gathered   breath   to   try   again.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   umbrella flamed   blue.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   power   that   smote   him   was   a   thing   utterly   foreign   to   his   experience. He   knew   no   words   for   it. It   was   solid,   because   he   impeded   it   and   not   because   it   had   solidity;   it   was   high,   it   was   as   if   something   remote   and   lofty   from   the   grossnesses   of   earth   had   come   down   to   breathe   into   his   face;   it   was   clean,   strong,   good;   it   was   so   good   that   it   burned   him,   it   hurt   him,   for   he   was   not   good   and   had   never   been   good;   he   was   steeped   in   sin   from   his   birth   and   he   had no   part   in   this. He   crashed,   tumbling,   head   over   heels   before   the   blue   wind   of   the   sanctified   umbrella.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             A   Saint   has   held   this,   the   voice   of   his   Father   resounded   in   his   thought. ''Follow   them,   but   do   not   press   them. Destroy   the   Five   Churches! ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Church. The word   called   up   an   insane   torrent   of   instinctive,   nauseous,   loathsome   associations   and   images. Sharp   prickly   spires   and   steeples   like   spikes   set   to   spear   dragons. Awful   castles   that   had   too   many   windows   and   yet   were   still   fortresses. Sickening   painted   saints   and   the   evil   glare   of   colored   glass. The   altars,   the   Bibles,   the   hateful   ribbons   of   the   pomp   of   God,   crashed   through   his   dragonish   soul   like   the   very   synthesis   and   archetype   of   everything   evil. Hatred,   pure   and   raging   as   a   waterfall,   poured   over   him   as   he   lumbered   after   the   retreating   accursed   Catholics,   the   hereditary   foe   of   his   ancient   people   since   first   the   Cursed   One   climbed   up   on   His   tree.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             There. Like   a   hard   solid   stone   in   a   sea   of   mud,   a   stone   of   poison   in   a   lake   of   healthy   warm   slime,   it   burned   against   the   clouds. His   eyes   could   not   see   it:   to   them,   the   holy   place   was   only   a   black   void,   a   cutout   in   the   vision,   traceable   only   by   outline:   but   his   dragon-magic   saw   it   brilliant,   searingly   so. He   hesitated   to   go   closer. Behind   him   he   heard   a   hiss   and   scream   of   dragonish   agony   and   laughed:   a   fire-dragon   had   tried   to   ford   the   shallow   river.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             But   he   approached   none   the   less. His   body   felt   the   power   in   that   place,   the   power   of   goodness,   of   prayer   and   blessing:   a   more   solid   form   of   the   umbrella’s   bolt. It   beat   on   him   like   heat. He   found   to   his   surprise that   although   uncomfortable   he   could   endure   it,   like   hot   water   that   is   not   quite   hot   enough   to   scald   but   still   causes   pain. He   crawled   around   it,   snuffling   at   the   base. His   brothers   and   sisters   landed   on   the   roof,   grimacing   at   the   prickly   pain   the   touch   of   the   church   gave   them.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             ''Kill. Smash. Crush. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   voice   of   their   Father   reawoke   his   hatred. Austin   heaved   back   his   tail,   dragon-eyes   narrowed. The   cursed   thing   was   hard   to   see   properly;   it   was   like   a   blinding-bright   darkness. He   swung,   hard. He   felt   rock   shudder   and   mortar   crack   beneath   his   scales. Grinning   he   leaned   back,   this   time   for   a   real   blow.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             His   squinting   eyes   could   not   see   the   white   flash   that   passed   through   the   very   stone   of   the   church. His   tail   rebounded   like   a   snake   slapped   on   rocks. Austin   curled   up   on   the   ground,   moaning,   his   bruised   tail   cuddled   against   his   belly. What   the   heck   had   happened   to   that   weak   stone   wall?!

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Road.. The   Road. The   Road   is   in   the   churches. The   Road   called   them   awake. ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             What   awful   force   the   Road   might   be   Austin   did   not   know. He   only   felt   it. Felt   a   mindless   but   tremendous   power,   like   the   very   blood   of   the   Gods   themselves,   pulsing   in   those   walls. Looking   through   those   walls. Looking   right   at   him.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Then   it   expelled   him.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   felt   it,   like   devastatingly   powerful   currents   of   concentrated   water   hammering   upon   you   till   you   can   no   longer   resist,   seize   him   and   hurl   him   into   the   air. On   every   side   as   he   tumbled   he   saw   his   brothers   sailing   beside   him;   winged   or   wingless,   for   one   awful   moment   they   all   flew.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             No—no—the   trees   were   coming   too   fast… ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Crashing   and   thudding   the   dragons   smashed   through   the   branches   of   strange   trees   to   plow   great   pits   in   the   earth. Moaning   lizard-forms   squirmed   in   pain   as   far   as   Austin   could   see. He   wasn’t   too   hurt   himself,   as   he’d   curled   up   in   a   ball   and   his   scales   were   tough.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;">''<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Heal.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             With   a   wafting   wind   of   power   a   massive   form   settled   lower   and   lower,   giant   wings   beating. Trees   dissolved   at   his   touch. The   Father   of   Dragons   landed   on   the   ground. Injuries   closed   and   dragons   ceased   to   squirm. Fearfully   they   looked   up   at   the   monster   that   had   haunted   all   their   dreams   the   past   summer.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             ''“Does   my   size   intimidate   you? Perhaps   you   would   know   me   better   if   you   beheld   the   form   under   which   I   begot   you   all.” ''

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   giant   dragon   shrank,   red   scales   and   gold   wings   disappearing. His   seven   heads   fused   into   one,   and   that   one   became   a   man’s. Bald,   massive   and   stout   though   fit   and   nimble,   they   all   knew   him:   Cornello,   the   town   big-shot,   Kevin’s   father,   who   had   often   hosted   them   in   wild   drug   parties   on   Big   Island   where   he   lived. Several   of   the   girl-dragons   giggled:   they   remembered   being   in   bed   with   this   same   man.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Whoa,   whoa,   whoa,   man,   you’re   saying   you’re   our   DAD?!”   Austin   exclaimed. His   voice   was   a   surprise;   like   his   own,   but   rougher   and   somehow   crackling.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Yes.”   Cornello   said,   a   wide   and   ugly   smile   on   his   beaming   ruddy   features. “Like   all   dragons   I   can   change   my   shape. I   had   so   much   fun   with   your   hot little   mommies. And   when   you   girls   grew   older,   to   cement   the   bond,   I   had   some   fun   with   you,   too.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Nauseated   expressions   appeared   on   several   feminine   but   reptilian   faces. One   dragon   started   vomiting   mud:   she   apparently   was   an   Earth   Dragon. With   a   concentrated   roar   of   powers   the   other   dragons,   as   one,   erupted   upon   the   Father   of   Dragons.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   gigantic   laughter   of   Cornello   rose   above   the   crackling   crashes   of   power. None   of   their   blasts   was   getting   anywhere   near   him. “You’re   getting   better,   my   children. But   you   are   not   good   enough.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Such   punishment   as   followed   Austin   could barely   comprehend;   he   only   knew   his   dragon’s   body   was   being   smashed   systematically   in   every   possible   way. He   lashed   and   writhed   as   blades   of   water   tore   and   drilled   him,   and   all   around   he   heard   the   screams   of   dragons.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   shall   learn,   little   children,   just   how   to   use   your   powers. You   shall   learn,   little   children,   just   how   enslaved   to   me   you   are.”   Cornello’s   voice   filled   the   earth.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             All   pain   was   gone. Battered,   exhausted   and   terrified,   the   dragons   sprawled   upon   the   ground,   injuries   again   made   whole.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   do   not   draw   breath   or   expire   without   my   leave   and   permission. What   I   command,   you   will   do!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Percussive   beats   of   pulsing   music   pounded   in   the   air. Cornello,   dragon   once   more   but   as   small   now   as   they   were,   began   bobbing   back   and   forth   as   he   promenaded   before   them,   heads   snaking   in   and   out   in   birdlike   darts   in   time   with   the   beat. The   feet   of   the   dragons   began   to   tap   and their   own   heads   to   snake   and   dart   in   time. Slow   horror   was   stamped   on   slender   sharp   faces   as   they   felt themselves   enthralled by   the   music   and   recognized   the   song.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   sexy   and   I   know   it,   know   it,   know   it.”   the   deep   voice   of   the   Dragon   reached   inside   them,   pounding,   tugging.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “He’s   sexy   and   he   knows   it.”   wailed   the   dragons   in   chorous.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You’re   looking   at   BOD,    BOD,   BOD. You’re   lookin’   at   GOD. For….I’m   sexy   and   I   know   it.”   rapped   the   Dragon. Wailing   as   they   felt   huge   and   horrible   urges   bulge   like   vomit   through   their   bodies,   the   dragons   drew   nearer. He   was   bilocating,   he   stood   before   each   one   of   them,   he   was   naked,   he   had   a   grossly   attractive   dragonish   private. The   atavistic   urges   tore   like   pain. Their   humanity,   degraded   as   they   were,   recoiled   in   screaming   horror   as   their   dragon-bodies   forced   them   to   mate   with   their   own   Father.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Austin’s   eyes   slowly   opened. He   blinked,   painfully,   his   lids   like   bruised   stones. His   eyes   hurt. Come   to   think   of   it,   everywhere   hurt. Especially   his   groin   and   rear   end. He   flopped   limp,   groaning   as   pain   shot   through   him. After   a   while   he   managed   to   sit   up. He   was   lying   on   leaves,   utterly   naked,   in   the   middle   of   a   cloudy   forest. At   least,   there   was   no   sun   and   overhead   was   only   a   greyish   gloom. Other   naked   people   were   sprawled   here   and   there   and   everywhere   as   far   as   the   undergrowth   let   him   see:   at   first   sight   it   was   hard   to   tell   if   any   were   girls,   but   on   a   few   who   lay   face   down   he   saw long   fine   hair   and   others   had   breasts   too   large   for   males. Normally   this   sort   of   sight   would   have   him   in   a   tizzy,   but   he   was   in   such   aching,   dull   pain   he   barely   even   registered   the   fact. Sitting   up   he   hugged   himself,   shivering:   cold   was   added   to   his   other   problems. He   hadn’t   thought   his   skin   was   that   pale,   and   should   it   have   blue   tinges   underneath   like   that? Gripping   his   most   painful   areas   he   moaned   aloud. Others   were   stirring   now,   evidently   in   as   much   pain   as   he   was. Faces   like   ashy   snow,   drawn   with   suffering,   blinked   bruised   eyes   at   each   other. Girls   huddled   with   arms   wrapped   around   chests. Boys   crouched   miserably. Nobody   felt   like   making   any   crude   comments,   as   they   would   otherwise   have   been   doing   with   great   glee   on   finding   themselves   in   such   unclad   company. He   was   surprised   to   see   here   and   there   a   face   he   knew:   there   was   Brianna,   on   all   fours,   looking   undecided   whether   to   crawl   or   plop   down   and   die,   and   there   was   Jeremiah,   and   Vanessa,   and   Connor—heck,   practically   half   the   people   he   knew   were   here!

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “What…happened   to   us?”   Vanessa   was   groaning.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   feel   like   I   got   raped.”   Brianna   called,   before   flopping   back   on   her   face.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Did   we really…turn   into   dragons?”   said   Ally.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Where’s   Jenna.”   moaned   Jeremiah.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Um,   I   think   I   ate   her.”   said   Austin.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Twigs   broke   under   booted   feet. The   children   fell   still,   shrinking. Memory   roared   back   over   them. Torment   grew,   etched,   in   every   face.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   voice   of   their   Father   guffawed   with   inhuman   mirth   above   them. “You   do   not   know   pain,   you   do   not   know   fear. You   pathetic   little   weaklings. A   mere   taste   of   both   lies   you   in the   dust. With   the   adversaries   we   are   going   to   face,   you   will   need   to   bear   pain. You   will   need   to   breast   your   fear.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             They   looked   away   with   hatred   from   the   face   of   Cornello.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Shift   your   shapes.”   their   Father   said   contemptuously. “When   you   are   injured,   shift   your   shape. The   shifting   will   heal   your   wounds.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Slowly   Austin   reached   down   inside   himself. The   crackling   power   was   there,   waiting. He   tugged. The   consuming   pain   of   transformation,   somewhat   less   and   somewhat   faster   than   the   last   time,   made   him   scream. Similar   screams   arose   from   the   others.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “This   is   only   your   second   change. With   the   third   it   will   be   bearable;   with   the   fourth,   pain   will   cease,   and   the   fifth   will   be   completely   natural.”   said   Cornello. “You   are   not   here   to   play. You   are   here   to   be   trained.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   dragons   were   having   dinner.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   fifteen   deer   and   four   bears   they   had   hunted   would   last   them,   Cornello   informed   them,   for   a   week   in   dragon-shape,   unless   they   went   to   sleep. So   as   dragons   do,   they   ate   the   meat   all   at   once,   Brianna   cooking   hers   in   her   own   flames.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “It’s   almost   kind   of   fun,   being   a   dragon.”   she   said.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Not   to   mention   that   dragons   have   so   many   cool   new   pleasure   organs.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Mmm. Just   lick   my   ear   like   that   again,   would   you?”   said   Briana,   and   gasped   with   delight   when   he   did   so.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   think it   is   fun   to   be   dragon?”   the   voice   of   their   Father   said   softly. All   the   dragons   flinched   away. Cornello   in   dragon-form   moved   sinuously   through   them. “You’re   improving. At   least   you   know   your   powers. But   you   are   still   pathetically   human. A   weakness   I   will   remove. You   have   not   yet   died—or   been   reborn.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   grew   to   a   tremendous   size. “I   hear   little   Jermy   tried   to   kill   himself   the   other   day,   didn’t   he? Shall   I   show   you   why   no   Dragon   ever   really   dies? Shall   I   show   you   all   how   tight   I   hold   you,   that   even   if   I   die, I   can   get   you   back? I   believe   I   shall.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Prepare   to   enter   the   Graveyard   of   Dragons!”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             It   was   the   most   agonizing   experience   Austin   had   ever   known.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Teeth   were   tearing   their   way   into   every   bit   and   pleasure   organ   his   new   body   had. It   was   like   something   chewing   on   his   privates   and   eating   them   alive,   only   everywhere. Blue   and   red   lightnings   of   pain   jiggered   his   mind. He   became   aware   that   he was   screaming   powers,   screaming   weathers   instead   of   sound;   and   the   dragons   that   were   eating   him   were   screaming   powers   as   well,   for   they   were   being   eaten themselves;   and   the   hindmost   in   the   circular   chain,   Austin   was   eating.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   have   become   the   Ouroboros.”   laughed   their   Father. “You   know,   the   Hindu   serpent,   beats   his   own   tail,   sign   of   infinity? Granted,   it   will   not   last   forever;   the   circle   shortens,   and   he   that   is   left,   I   will   eat.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Brianna   was   chewing   Austin’s   throat   and   screaming   fire   instead   of   sound. Vanessa   was   devouring   his   torso;   she’d   already   consumed   his   tail. Her   own   torso   was   nearly   gone. Ripping   pain   piled   on   ripping   pain,   and   Austin   longed   to   go   mad,   to   escape   the   torture…

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “No,   you   crybaby,”   Cornello   sneered,   “even   a   madman   still   feels   pain. There   is   no   escape. You   are   my   sons. My   beloved   sons,   whom   I   desire   with   an   utter   consuming   love. How   I   long   to   unite   you   all   to   me,   to   feed   me   forever   as   you   boil   in   my   belly. But   damnation   is   not   yet   yours. Not   until   the   end   of   the   world. Do   not   rejoice—you   may   yet   long   for   the   pains   of   Hell,   to   save   you   from   the   pains   of   Dragon.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Brianna’s   jaws   crushed   his   skull. Teeth   like   diamond   blades   sliced   into   Austin’s   brain. With   a   crescendo   of   agony   the   dragon   boot   camp   faded   from   his   eyes.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             He   was   in   a   land   of   stone. Everything   was   dull   and   red,   reddish   rock   and   reddish   sand   and   a   sky   of   an   overcast   pinkness. Great   tattering   crags,   pinnacles   and   broken   needles   of   stone,   rose   all   around,   like   some   nightmare   desert   badlands. Out   of   the   stone   unfolded   frozen   shapes,   as   if   the   crags   had   been   birthing   monstrous   creatures   before   they   all   were turned   to   stone. Wings,   half   extended;   a   long   whiskered   head,   sinuous   and   oriental   and   unutterably   evil;   great   serpentine   tails   like   broken   saws,   their   stegosaurian   plates   fractured   and   jagged. Dragons,   he   knew   at   once;   but   completely unlike   the   dragons   that   now   crouched,   small   and   reptilian,   in   a   huddled   group   in   the   hollow   of   the   badlands. Primeval   dragons. Pure   dragon,   without   a   breath   or   shadow   of   human. Ancient   monsters   from   before   the   fall   of   Gondolin.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Are we…dead?”   quavered   Brianna.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   guessing   we   are.”   said   Austin,   his   voice   sounding   like   a   scared   pig   in   his   own   ears. “And   this   is   the   afterlife.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Let’s   get   out   of   here,   then!”   said   Vanessa. Her   voice   echoed   in   the   crags,   and   she   covered   her   mouth,   looking   nervously   around.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Um,   dude,   not   all   of   us   fly.”   said   Jeremiah.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I’m   not   a   dude,   you   little   dipsqueak,   I’m   a   girl.”   she   snapped;   but   still   she   kept   her   voice   down,   all   of   them   did,   out   of   some   mysterious   instinctive   distrust   of   that   frozen   slumber   of   stone   the   monsters   were   in.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Yeah,   and   a   really   sexy   one,   too.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Oh,   stop   it.”   she   said,   but   she   was   smiling. “You’re   a   little   young   for   me.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Hey,   I   screw   as   well   as   a   high   schooler.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Hmm. Maybe I’ll   try   you   out.”   she   said   coyly.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Can   you    lovebirds,   like,   shut   up?”   said   another   dragon. No   one   had   paid   him   much   attention   before,   a   quiet   and   rather   solitary   boy   who   never   joined   in   when   the   others   started   a   nice   session   of   dirt-talk. His   dragon-form   was   rather   newtlike   and   orange,   and   no   one   remembered   seeing   him   use   any   powers   at   all.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “What’s   wrong,   dude?”   said   Vanessa.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “You   felt   it   yourself   a   moment   ago.”   he   said. “If   we   talk   too   loud…they   will   wake   up.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “So?”   Brianna   said   cattily. “We’re   dragons,   too. And   aren’t   we   already   dead?”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Not   really.”   Newt   answered. “If   we   were,   we   would   be   free. We   would   be   sent   to   our   place. And   I   somehow   very   much   doubt   you   lovebirds   would   be   feeling   quite   so   lusty   if   you   really   were   ghosts.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “Who   are   you,   anyway?”   snapped   Arianna,   a   nasty   black   girl   of   maybe   12. She   had   an   “attitude”   and   regarded   politeness   as   a   personal   insult   and   any   concern   as   hypocrisy. She’d   already   made   enemies   of   half   the   dragons. “I   don’t   remember   you   around.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   Newt   drew   himself   up. His   eyes   were   blue   and   somehow   froze   every   single   one   of   them   in   one   glance. “I   am   Gerald.”   he   said   with   immense   dignity. “And   my   Father   made   a   big   mistake   choosing   me. I   am   Catholic.”

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             There   was   dead   silence. Even   as   the   Dragon-born   were   getting   over   their   shock   and   mounting   their   rage   to   charge,   he   vanished.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             “I   am   an   Unseen   Dragon.” he   said   from   the   air.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             The   Dragon-born   would   have   given   chase   to   the   accursed   traitor   in   their   ranks,   this   bastard   who   was   both   of   them   and   of   the enemy,   but   a   sound   like   pebbles   falling   froze   them   in   their   tracks.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Above   them   the   Dragons   were   waking   up.

<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 1em 0px 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">             Frantically   the   Dragon-born   tried   to   teleport,   but   in   that   place   they   could   not. They   shrank together   as   the   stone   moved   around   them   and   enormous   shapes,   sarcastically   smiling,   leered   down   upon   them. Then   voices   in   some   ancient   and   horrible   speech   resounded   from   one   of   them,   and   with   screams   of   prickling   pain   the   Dragon-born   turned   into   stone.

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