opened to the drizzling sky. Daylight. Cloud-obscured, to be sure, but it was still daylight. He turned to Sapphira and nodded upward. “Is that the top level of Hades, or are we still in the real world?”
“Hard to say. Since Gabriel is solid, my guess is Hades, but maybe he can fly up there and” Sapphira’s eyes shot wide open. “Roxil!”
Walter spun in the direction of her stare. A huge dragon lay sprawled on the ground about twenty feet away.
Sapphira ran to Roxil and knelt at her side. “Roxil! Can you hear me?”
Flapping his wings, Gabriel glided across the ground, landing near Roxil’s face. He laid a hand gently on her brow. “Her scales are cool. I don’t think that’s a good sign.” He passed his finger in front of Roxil’s snout. “But I feel warm breath. She must be alive.”
Walter, Ashley, and Karen joined them, Ashley still shivering.
“Is it time for another healing?” Walter asked.
“I can try.” Ashley rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “But I feel weak, like everything’s drained out of me. I climbed over a thousand steps and faced the giant that clubbed Roxil. I guess the adrenaline rush wore me out.”
“Let’s give her a few minutes to rest,” Gabriel said. “In the meantime, I’ll see what’s going on up top. It won’t take long to figure out if we’re in Hades or not.”
“I know a faster way.” Ashley tapped her jaw. “Larry, can you hear me?”
A static-filled reply buzzed from Ashley’s mouth. “Your signal is weak, O loquacious leviathan. I am on generator power, so my reception and transmission capabilities are diminished.”
“We must be in the real world.” Ashley’s gaze drifted from Walter to Gabriel to Sapphira. “Larry, any news reports that would indicate very strange phenomena?”
“Strange, indeed! Because of a widespread power outage, my access to the Internet is malfunctioning, but I have been scanning a variety of radio frequencies. It seems that electricity is being drained from several strategic locations, thereby disrupting the power grid. Authorities suspect terrorism, and they are working to pinpoint the drainage spots. Many cities are in a panic with widespread looting and out-of-control fires. A very recent report indicates that unruly hairy men are swarming in the streets and committing acts of unspeakable violence, especially against children. To put it in layman’s terms—all hell has broken loose. This, of course, is exactly what a terrorist would want.”
“It’s not terrorism,” Ashley replied, her shivers returning. “I think you nailed it when you said, ‘All hell has broken loose.’”
“Your words are cryptic. If you know the cause, then perhaps I should notify the authorities. I can send an anonymous shortwave message to”
“No. They can’t help us.” Ashley knelt close to Roxil and caressed her dull tawny scales. “We need a special kind of firepower.”
Thigocia sniffed a footprint in the mud at the edge of a narrow bubbling stream. “It is the same man we spoke with,” she said, lifting her eyes toward Arramos. “Zane’s odor is unmistakable.”
Sitting on his haunches in the surrounding grass, Arramos tapped the end of his tail on the ground. “He is the only wanderer we have found in all these hours. Are you satisfied?”
Thigocia let out a low growl. “For now.”
“Good.” He rose to all fours and unfurled his wings. “We must meet with Roxil as soon as possible. We have a very long journey ahead, and our delay has compromised our schedule. Great haste is now a necessity.”
“Do not worry about me.” Thigocia stretched out her wings, but her span, though wide and impressive for a female, was no match for his. “Fly quickly,” she said. “I will keep up.”
“As you wish.” With a great flap of his wings, Arramos shot into the sky and ascended at a dizzying rate.
Thigocia followed, beating her own wings furiously. After several minutes of exhausting flight, she caught up and flew to the right of and slightly behind Arramos, decelerating to keep to his new, slower pace. With every downbeat of his powerful reddish wings, his profile came into view. He didn’t look back at her, but she detected a cynical smile. Of course he had slowed down to allow her to catch up, but not out of mercy. His was a condescending leniency, not a loving act of grace.
As she continued watching his face, she heaved a sigh. Had she made a mistake going with him? What would happen when she finally had to trust him in battle? And would they ever really find Roxil?
She