'Night World : Witchlight Chapter 17\r'

' non for the rousedrake. She jumped for the steer.\r\nIt was a life-threatening, t both loblolly pine, whose drooping lower branches didnt construe as if they could support a kitten. precisely Keller didnt need support. As she leaped, she changed, pushing it as fast as she could. She reached the tree with four paws practiced of lethal claws extended.\r\nAnd she ran continuous up the vertical surface. Her claws sank into the clean, cinnamon trunk, and she s longing up wish a rocket. When she got naughty enough to be obscured by the dull-green needles on the droopy branches, she launched herself into the air again.\r\nIt was a direful move, betting everything on one blind spring. yet it was in either(prenominal) she could think of. She could neer purpose the tophus in a fair fight.\r\nShe was betting on her claws.\r\nIn the wild, a panther could shear the fore soldiery off a deer with a bingle swipe.\r\nKeller was going for the automobile horns.\r\nShe came d cons ume right on target. The flying lizard made the mistake of looking up at her, maybe thinking that she was look foring to get tail it, to land on its venture again and blot start it. Or maybe thinking that she might drawch the pale face of an innocent miss and hesitate.\r\nany(prenominal) it fantasy, it was a mistake.\r\nKeller was already floging as she landed. A single deadly swipe with all her ability keister it. Her claws peeled the fore bye off the brute in a spray of blood and flesh.\r\nThe call roar al most(prenominal) burst her eardrums.\r\nIt was the level-headed shed comprehend in front in the mall, a sound so deep in pitch that she felt it as much as comprehend it. It shook her bones, and it reverberated in every tree and in the red clay of the instal.\r\nAnd that was a nonher mistake, although Keller didnt shaft it at once.\r\nAt the corresponding instant as she heard the roar, she felt the pain. The tenebrific power crackled through her deal a wh iplash and tore her ingest involuntary shrieking from her. It was worsened than the first time shed felt it, ten measure worse, maybe much. The potassium hydrogen tartrate was much stronger.\r\nAnd it followed her.\r\nLike a real whip, it flashed across the elucidation after her. It mark her again as she hit the ground, and Keller screamed again.\r\nIt meet.\r\nShe tried to scribble away, save the pain made her watery, and she fell everyplace on her side. And thusce the black zipper hit her right shoulder- detailedly w present it had hit the first time in the mall.\r\nKeller maxim gabardine light.\r\nAnd then she was falling in hiddenness.\r\nHer last thought was, I didnt get it. I couldnt involve. It salve has power.\r\nDiana, Im sorry…\r\nShe vacateped fingering anything.\r\nShe subject her eyes slowly.\r\nHurts…\r\nShe was looking up at the dragon.\r\nIt had dropped Iliana; Keller couldnt touch where. And it was staring d accept at her in evil f ury, obviously waiting for her to wake up so she could feel it when it killed her.\r\nWhen he killed her. Hed taken on the exploit hed been wearing in the bring downning. A young man with clean, distri moreovere close to features and a nicely muscled if compact body. smutty copper that shed rainbow colors downstairs the work and looked as fine and soft as her own fur. And those obsidian eyes.\r\nIt was tough to look away from those eyes. They arrestmed to capture her compliments and suck her in. They were so much more(prenominal) akin treasures than eyes, silver-black, shiny stones that seemed to reflect all light bulge again.\r\n nevertheless when she managed to drag her gaze upward, she felt a thrill of hope. His fore nous was a bleeding ruin.\r\nShe had gotten him. Her slash had carved a nice hamburger-sized piece come to the fore of his scalp. Somewhere on the ground in the clearing were two little stubby horns.\r\n entirely barely two; in that location were thr ee left on his head. He must(prenominal) have turned at the last instant. Keller would have cursed if she had a military man pharynx.\r\nâ€Å"Howre you feeling?” the dragon said, and leered at her form under the gory mess of his scalp.\r\nKeller tried to snarl at him and agnize that she did have a human throat. She must have collapsed covering into her half-and-half form, and she was similarly weak to change back again.\r\nâ€Å"Having trouble?” the dragon asked.\r\nKeller croaked, â€Å"You should neer have come back.”\r\nâ€Å"Wrong,” the dragon said. â€Å"I comparable the modern land.”\r\nâ€Å"You should have stayed asleep. Who woke you up?” She was buying time, of furrow, to try and regain some strength. simply she also actually cherished to know.\r\nThe dragon laughed. â€Å"Someone,” he said. â€Å"Someone youll never know. A witch who isnt a witch. We made our own alliance.”\r\nKeller didnt under tolerate , and her brain was too fuzzy to deal with it. only if just at that moment, she noticed something else.\r\nMovement behind the dragon. The figures that had been lying on the ground were stirring. And they were doing it stealthily, in ship provokeal that showed they were awake and with their wits ab stunned them.\r\nThey were resilient. She could see Galens head snare, with moonlight shining on his haircloth as he looked at her. She could see Winnie turn toward Iliana and\r\nbegin to crawl. She could see Nissas shoulders hump and then fall back.\r\nLater, when they were asked, they would all say the selfsame(prenominal) thing had brought them to awareness: a deep rumbling sound that vibrated in their bones. The dragons roar.\r\nOr, at least, three of them would say that. Galen would always say that all he heard was Kellers scream and his eyes came open.\r\nThe gasp of hope she felt made Kellers heart stick to hard and wiped away the pain-for the moment, at least. still she w as fright of giving the dragon some clue.\r\nShe didnt dare look at Galen any longer. She stared at the dragons black stone eyes and thought with all her strength, create away.\r\nGet away, take the Jeep, take Diana. He may not be able to follow you. Run.\r\nâ€Å"Your times over,” she told the dragon verboten loud. â€Å"The shapeshifters dont want you anymore. Everything has changed.”\r\nâ€Å"And its changing again,” the dragon said. â€Å"The end of the world is coming, and the beginning of a new one. Its time for everything thats dormancy to wake back up again.”\r\nKeller had a horrify vision of hundreds of dragons being dug up and brought back to life. But there was something going on in the clearing that was even off more horrifying to her.\r\nGalen wasnt acquiring away. He was slithering on his stomach toward her.\r\nAnd Winnie, the idiot, was beside Diana now but\r\nshe wasnt force her to the Jeep. She seemed to be verbalize to her.\r\nKel ler felt a hot shiver of utter desperation.\r\nWhat tummy I do?\r\nIf the dragon sees them, theyre all dead. on that points nothing any of them fag end do against him. Galens not a warrior-he cant change. Nissa looks too hurt to move. Winnies orange fire wont even singe the dragon. And Diana provide get swatted like a butterfly.\r\nThey cant do anything. I have to.\r\nShe was so tired and hurt, and her claws were much little lethal than in her full panther form. But she had to do it, and she had to do it now.\r\nâ€Å"Go back where you came from!” she sh come to the foreed. She bunched her muscles and jumped.\r\n unspoiled for him. Straight on. That was what took him by surprise, the sheer insanity of the attack. He threw the black energy at her, but he couldnt remain her leap.\r\nHer claws ripped into his forehead again, and then she fell back.\r\nThe dragons scream split the heavens. Dizzy with pain and shock, Keller stared at him, hoping desperately…\r\nBut s hed taken only one horn off. He belt up had two.\r\nHe thrashed most in wounded fury, then threw the dark power at her again. Keller shuddered and lost her balance. She crashed to the ground and lay there, limp.\r\nâ€Å"Keller!” The scream was full of such raw anguish\r\nthat it hurt Kellers throat to hear it. It made her heart throb hard and then fall in sick dismay. Galen, no, she thought. Dont reproof with me. You have to get Iliana away.\r\nâ€Å"Keller!” he screamed again, and then he was beside her, holding her.\r\nâ€Å"No . ? .” she whispered.\r\nShe couldnt say more than that. She looked at him pleadingly with the eyes of a dumb beast. If he died, too, it would make her own death meaningless.\r\nThe dragon was still screaming, both hands to his forehead. He seemed to be too angry to attack. â€Å"Keller, hang on. Please, you have to hang on.” Galen was trickle tears on her face.\r\nâ€Å"Run…” she whispered.\r\nInstead, he did the most gallant thing she had ever seen.\r\nHe was already holding her, his shaky hand stroking the hair off her face, brushing one of her tufted ears. Now, suddenly, he gripped her hard, and his expression changed.\r\nHis jaw tightened, and a white railroad line showed around his mouth. And his eyes… seemed to darken and glow red.\r\n besides late, Keller agnize.\r\nHe was taking her impression. Learning her shape.\r\nNo. You were meant to be something gentle.\r\nGalen stood up.\r\nAnd changed.\r\nBut something was a little off. Maybe it was the item that he had to hurry when he took the impression, or some extra twist from his own genes. Because, instead of suitable a soot-black panther, he became a gleaming princely leopard.\r\nThe same animal. Different colors. This leopard was the dark rich amber of Galens hair, and its eyes were the incredible green of his eyes.\r\nHe was attach with perfect black rosettes, each with an even darker metal(prenominal) center. His bo dy was sleek and supple and intimately seven-spot feet long with the tail. He was a big leopard, at least a hundred and sixty pounds.\r\nAnd before Keller had time to think, he was in motion.\r\nA good spring. Untutored but full of the real cause of death instinct. The coughing yell he let out as he jumped was the kind a regorge makes when its fury is too great to hold in.\r\nThe dragon whirled to face him. But it was too late. Once again, the greaves dark power hit but couldnt stop the rush. The dragons human body couldnt fend off a hundred and sixty pounds of solid feline muscle.\r\nKeller saw Galen swipe.\r\nThe dragon bellowed, clapping a hand to his head.\r\nAnd Keller wanted to cheer.\r\nShe couldnt. She didnt have the strength left. But her heart was render inside her with sheer pride. You did it. Oh, Galen, my prince, you did it.\r\nShe saw his body falling, afflicted by the black energy. She saw it hit the ground and lie still.\r\nAnd she was sorry that they were bot h going to\r\ndie. But with the dragon dead, too, and Iliana alive, there would still be hope. There would be people to carry on.\r\n consequently she looked at the dragon, and time stopped, and her heart turned to ice.\r\nHe still had a horn left. The one right in the middle.\r\nThey hadnt done it after all.\r\nHe still had power. He was going to kill them now, and Iliana, too. And neither she nor Galen could do anything to stop him.\r\nThe noises the dragon was making were beyond description. He seemed to be out of his mind in pain and fury. And then Keller realized that it was more than that. He was screaming in sheer blood-lust-and he was changing.\r\nSo strange-she hadnt even thought about the dragon changing before. But she could take on most animals. She knew to go for the juncture amid head and neck for rhinos, the belly for a lion. But this… what it was shifting into…\r\nNo.\r\nI dont believe it, Keller thought.\r\nIt looked more like a moth being born than a s hapeshifter changing. It split its human skin like a chrysalis. More of the yellowish liquid she had seen on Jaimes organization oozed from the splits. And what was revealed underneath was hard and greenish-yellow, flat, smooth.\r\nScaly.\r\nThe smell was the smell from the wine cellar Sickly-sweet, pungent, an odor to make your stomach lurch.\r\n bureauful back legs bunched, and the figure grew and stood against the moonlit sky.\r\nIt was huge.\r\nIn her mind, Keller saw a scene from the past. Iliana, her violet eyes huge, saying, â€Å"He can turn into a dragon?”\r\nAnd Kellers scornful answer, â€Å"No, of course not. Dont be silly.”\r\nWrong, Keller thought.\r\nIt actually looked more like velociraptor than a dragon. Too big-it was more than fifteen feet long, counting the stiff tail. But it had the same look of alien intelligence, the same reptilian snout, the same saberlike hind claws.\r\nIts not a mindless animal, Keller thought. Its smart. It even has things like hands on its forelegs; Its where evolution took a different turn.\r\nAnd it had power. Maybe more power this way than in its human form. Keller could feel its mind even at this distance, the terrible ancient core of hatred and malice, the endless thirst for blood.\r\nIt clear its mouth, and for an instant Keller expected to see fire. But what came out was a roar that showed huge spiky teeth-and a flood of black energy. The dark power crackled around it like an aura of lightning.\r\nNothing-no shapeshifter, no witch, no vampire-could stand against this creature. Keller knew that absolutely.\r\nThat was when she saw Iliana getting up.\r\nStay down, you idiot! Keller thought.\r\nIliana stood straight.\r\nTheres no point, dont attract its attention…\r\nâ€Å"Azhdeha!” Iliana shouted.\r\nAnd the monster turned.\r\nThere they were, the maid and the dragon, face to face. Iliana looked twice as small as ever before in contrast to this giant. Her silver-gold hair was blo wing loose in the wind, and her dress shimmered around her. She was so delicate, so graceful-and so fragile, standing there like a lily swaying on its stalk. I cant watch, Keller thought. I cant see this. Please…\r\nâ€Å"Azhdeha!” Iliana said, and her junction was sweet but pack and stern. â€Å"Hashteher! Tiamat!”\r\nIts a spell, Keller thought. Winnie taught her a spell? When they were lying there, whispering together? But what kind of spell would Winnie know against dragons?\r\nâ€Å"Poisonous Serpent! Cold-blooded Biter! Rasta-ban! Anguis!”\r\nNo, theyre names, Keller realized slowly. Its names. Dragon names.\r\nOld names.\r\nâ€Å"I am a witch and the daughter of a witch. tap was the hand that took your power; mine was the hand that buried you in silence. Hecate was the most ancient of my mothers. Hecates hand is my hand now.”\r\nWinnie couldnt have taught her that. Nobody could have taught her that. No witch alive today.\r\nKeller could se e Winnies pale face watching in surprise from beyond Iliana, her eyes and mouth dark Os.\r\nâ€Å"Mine is the hand that sends you back!”\r\nDianas palms were cupped now, and orange fire crackled between them.\r\nKellers heart plummeted.\r\nGolden-orange fire. Witch fire. It was impressive, from a girlfriend whod never been trained, but it wasnt nearly enough. It was about as dangerous to the dragon as a firefly.\r\nShe heard Winnies voice in the silence, small and frightened but determined.\r\nâ€Å"Aim for the horn!”\r\nThe dragon threw back its head and laughed.\r\nThat was what it looked like, anyway. What came out was a roar like all the other roars and a belch of black energy that fountained skyward. But in her head, Keller heard maniacal laughter.\r\nthence it swung its head back down and pointed the horn straight at Iliana.\r\nDie! it said. The word wasnt spoken but sent on a cold wave of pure energy.\r\nâ€Å"Mine is the power of the ages” Iliana shoute d back. â€Å"Mine is the power-â€Å"\r\nThe golden flare in her palms was changing, blazing white, glary hot…\r\nâ€Å"-OF THE END OF THE WORLD!”\r\nSomething like a supernova was born between her hands.\r\nThe tight shot up and out, exploding. It was impossible to look at. And it was no longer white but dazzling, lightning-brilliant mordant.\r\nThe blue fire.\r\nThe Wild Power had awakened.\r\nI knew it, Keller thought I knew it all along.\r\nKeller couldnt see what happened to the dragon;\r\nthe light was simply too bright. While it flared around her, she was bathed in radiance that seemed to shine through her, busyness inside her and lighting up her bones. She tried to lift her own hand and saw nothing but a vague rainbow shape.\r\nBut she heard the dragons scream. Not low like the roar but high and squealing, a sound like icicles driving into her ears. It went up and up, higher in pitch until even Keller couldnt pass across it. And then there was a thin sound like contrasted glass shattering, and then there was no sound at all.\r\nThere were shoot stars in the blue-white light.\r\nFor the second time that evening, Keller fainted.\r\nâ€Å"Boss! Please, Boss, hurry. conjure up!”\r\nKeller blinked open her eyes. Galen was holding her. He was human. So was she.\r\nAnd Winnie and Nissa were trying to drag both of them somewhere.\r\nKeller gazed up into those gold-green eyes. The exact color of a leopards, she thought. Only leopards dont cry, and his were brimming with tears.\r\nShe upraised a languorous hand and stroked his cheek. He cupped his own hand over it.\r\nKeller couldnt think. There were no haggle in her mind. But she was glad to be here with him, for this last moment in the moonlight. It had all been outlay it\r\nâ€Å"Boss, please!” Winnie was or so crying, too.\r\nâ€Å"Let me die in peace,” Keller said, although she didnt realize she was saying it aloud until she heard the words. Then she added, â⠂¬Å"Dont you cry, Winfrith. You did a good job.”\r\nâ€Å"Boss, youre not dying! The blue fire did something-it healed us. Were all okay. But its almost midnight!”\r\nKeller bunked. She blinked again.\r\nHer body didnt hurt anymore. Shed assumed it was the blessed impassivity that comes just before death. But now she realized that it wasnt. Her blood was running in her veins; her muscles felt hard and strong. She didnt even have a headache.\r\nShe stared beyond Winnie to the girl in white.\r\nDiana was still slight and childlike, almost fairy-like of figure. But something had changed about her. At first, Keller thought she looked as distant and ravishing as a star, but then she smiled and wasnt distant at all. She was simply more beautiful than the dreams of mortals.\r\nAnd really shining with her own light. It pooled around her in soft, silvery radiance. Keller had never seen a Wild Power do that before, not on any of the tapes.\r\nBut shes not just a Wild Power, th e voice in her head whispered. Shes the Witch Child.\r\nAnd Goddess alone knows all that shes meant to do.\r\nFor a moment, Keller felt so awed that it was almost like unhappiness. But then Winnies message lastly sank in.\r\nShe snapped her head up. â€Å"Midnight?”\r\nâ€Å"Yes!” Winnie said frantically.\r\nKeller bolted upright. â€Å"Nissa?”\r\nâ€Å"Right here, Boss.”\r\nKeller felt a flood of relief. Nissa was the one who had seemed closest to death on the ground there. But now she was standing on her own two feet, looking cool and imperturbable, even though her shirt was bloody and in rags.\r\nâ€Å"Nissa, can you drive that Jeep? Can you figure out how to get to Charlotte?”\r\nâ€Å"I think so. Boss.”\r\nKeller had never been so grateful to hear that calm voice in her life. She jumped up.\r\nâ€Å"Then lets go!”\r\n'