Raxtus bated his fangs, his brilliant eyes brimming with rage. His neck coiled slightly, then his head darted forward, teeth flashing, and with one swift bite, a large portion of Gavin went missing. The sword clattered to the ground. The dragon's forelegs propped Gavin up, and with three more bites, he was gone.
Kendra gawked at Raxtus in stupefied wonder.
"You know," the dragon said, still chewing, "for such a bad guy, he tastes pretty good."
"You did it!" Kendra gasped. "Where did you come from?"
"The astrids alerted me to your predicament." The dragon examined the dead astrids on the ground. "After so many centuries, these are the first of their kind to perish. My fault, as usual. I came here, invisibly of course, and saw Nafia standing guard. I chickened out. So three of the astrids went in. When I heard them die, something snapped, and, well, here I am. Better late than never. Sorry I hesitated. I've never slain a dragon before."
Kendra remained stunned. "You must be the only dragon who can fit inside Sidestep Cleft."
"Even I can't squeeze through all the way. But I could hear the thoughts of the astrids, and knew you were on this side of the narrowest gap."
"You ate Gavin. You ate Navarog."
"Not very gentlemanly to ambush him while he was trapped in human form by a narrow cave. But then again, he was no gentleman."
She wanted to hug Raxtus. Unable to resist, she strode forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. His scales felt hard and cold. As Kendra clung to him, the dragon began to shimmer and gleam as if sunlight were reflecting off of his bright scales.
"Whoa," the dragon said, his voice amazed. "What are you doing?"
Kendra pulled away. "You're shining."
Raxtus blinked. "I feel really good."
"I'm full of magical energy," Kendra said. "When I touch fairies, they glow brighter."
"Feels like you lit a fire inside of me."
"You've touched me before," Kendra said, somewhat befuddled.
"I've touched your clothes, like when I carried you. But never skin to scales until now. Hug me again."
She threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly. Raxtus shone brighter and brighter. His scales began to feel warm.
"Okay, enough," he finally said. She backed away. "I feel like I could explode."
"I can hardly look at you," Kendra said, eyes squinting.
Suddenly the dragon was gone. "I can still turn invisible," he said. "We should go."
"Let me check something." Kendra used the rain staff to probe the smoldering remains of the knapsack, hoping some connection to the room might remain. As she prodded aside the charred remnants, she found no evidence of an opening. The mutilated knapsack had lost all shape.
"Your friend is trapped inside?" Raxtus asked.
Kendra nodded, not trusting her voice to hold if she spoke.
"I don't think we can access the room anymore, but I'll bring what is left of the backpack. Maybe someone smarter than me can find a way in." He grabbed up the burned flaps of shredded leather. "Where should we go?"
"I think Seth made it back to Thronis," Kendra said hesitantly. She knew Raxtus was afraid of the sky giant.
"The griffins proved he was on your side," Raxtus said. "But the spells protecting his stronghold still might harm us if I try to fly there."
"Should we just stay here?" Kendra wondered.
"No. Not counting whatever happened to the guardians, four dragons are dead. Five, including Navarog. We need to get away from the scene of the crime."
"Where? Blackwell Keep?"
"You don't want to get Agad involved," Raxtus warned. "He won't like all of these dead dragons one bit. If he sheltered you, other dragons would probably attack seeking vengeance, plunging Wyrmroost into chaos. I'll take you to my lair. It is far from here and well hidden."
Kendra picked up the unicorn horn, her rain staff, and her flashlight. "The egg is too heavy."
"Not for me," Raxtus replied. "All four of my claws are useful for grabbing. Follow me. Walk this way. Keep that light turned off. Toward the end, when the passage widens,
I'll pick you up. If the rain keeps falling, and we're quick and lucky, we'll slip away right under Nafia's nose."
Kendra followed the dragon along the passage. Once the passage grew wide, she felt his claw take hold of her waist, and then they were soaring up into the rainy night. Since she had stopped shaking the staff, the storm had lost some of its fury, but the winds continued to gust, and the rain felt icy cold against her face. How could water that cold not be frozen?
Glancing up and back, Kendra saw a looming shape through the rain that might have been Nafia perched on a craggy outcrop. The shape did not give chase.
Kendra felt like she had parachuted into a hurricane. Swirling winds buffeted them, coming from above and below. Even a small, aerodynamic dragon like Raxtus seemed overmatched by the turbulent gales. Sometimes he fought the gusts, sometimes he used them, zooming and stalling, twisting and plunging, curving and rising. As they gained altitude, the rain turned to hail, pinging off the dragon's invisible scales. Kendra's winter attire offered some protection against the cold and wetness, but eventually she began to shiver. She lost all sense of direction as erratic winds propelled them through the frigid darkness.
At last they alighted in a small grotto. When Raxtus made himself visible, his brightness lit up the room better than a bonfire. Flowstone covered the walls and floor like frozen caramel. On a stone shelf near a glittering patch of calcite roosted an astrid.
"Is this your lair?" Kendra asked.
"This hole in the wall?" Raxtus laughed. "No, my lair isn't grand, but it isn't quite this tiny and bare. The astrid summoned me."
Your brother is well.
"Seth?" Kendra asked. "Have you seen him?"
Others in my cadre have seen him. He is with the sky giant. Now that we can speak to fairies, two of us brought a fairy to Thronis to serve as an interpreter. Your brother and the giant know you are here. They suggest you wait here until morning.
"Then what?"
The giant will slacken the weather long enough for you to dash to the exit with the other survivors from your party.
"What about Trask? And Tanu? And Mara?"
Those three are well. The giant has been using his seeing stone to locate them. Griffins are recovering them as we speak. They will take shelter around the preserve.
In the morning, a griffin will come for you, and you will rendezvous with your friends at the gate.