Jack Of All Trades ✓ | steampunk, dragons, trickery

Chapter 17.2: Enchantress Took Them All

Early in the morning, they ate the leftover rabbit and set off to find the dragon's breath cave. Jack ended up not sleeping much at all, being too excited and insomniac to sleep.

"You sure you don't want to take a little re—"

"I'm fine." Jack didn't feel the least bit sleepy. He had been up all night reveling in his revelation. Now he was more sure of who he was than before and had more sense of purpose. He followed Espin through the forest. The dragon fairy seemed certain this twisty path would lead them to the dragon's breath cave.

Gravel crunched underfoot. Jack drew his jacket closer when a chilled breeze touched his body. Twisted branches stretched to a foggy, dark sky. They were the black veins of the clouds. Perpetual mist had ended, but the moisture clung in the air, making his clothes stick to his skin. The scent of fresh soil flowed into his nostrils as he took a deep breath.

Espin's path wound this way and that over gravel or hard-packed dirt. Giant boulders sometimes obscured the way and they had to go around them. One was so smooth and in the shape of a crescent that it looked as if someone had carved it.

"That's said to be an Ancient One, one of the first dragons of Dragon's Wood," Espin whispered.

"Dragons turn to stone?" Jack ran his hand across the body.

"Some do. Especially if they don't use their magick. They go into a long sleep. Only those deemed worthy can wake them."

There were three more of the same kinds of smooth gray stones near the first, but the last one was the longest, largest stone. Espin explained that this one was the Elder, the father dragon of the other three. It was through his magick that they were born.

Crows screeched and the sound of many feathers in a frenzy came with a whoosh of wind as they all zoomed over Jack and Espin's heads. He watched them go over the trees. Beyond the gnarled branches, a hill sloped up towards the fog. It was too dense to tell how far the hill went.

"I don't remember this," Jack said. "Are you sure you know where—"

Espin shouted something and ran.

Dungs and apples! Jack ran after him. 

Off the side of the hill, going back down, was a narrow path between thorny bushes. Cutting through the bushes with his knife, Jack finally made it to the bottom when he heard Espin's squeaky dragon fairy voice cry out. The cave was just off to the side and Espin was a little dragon fairy on the now broken pedestal, sobbing. All the shelves were empty and some of them were destroyed.

"She took them all," Espin said in a shaky voice. "My brothers and sisters are gone."

The screech of a dragon brought him to his feet. He transformed into a human and ran back out of the cave. Jack followed him through the forest, hard on his heels. They climbed the slope, pumping their legs, pushing on.

"I hear them!" Espin shouted and fell, slipping on the rocky hill. Jack offered his arm.

"Come on then, if you want to catch them."

Then arm linked in arm, the two of them supported each other on the rocky slope that became steeper and foggier. As Jack was beginning to wonder if they would have to start rock climbing, it flattened out and the fog thinned. Breathing heavily, Espin nearly faltered, but Jack held him up. Another dragon, another, and another screeched in the sky. He heard a beat of wings. Many wings. There were so many dragons.

Espin shouted something and let his arm go, fumbling across the flat rock. Through the thinning fog, Jack noticed how the fog just hung onto the sky. Espin began to run. Maybe that dragon fairy could use magick, but he might not use it fast enough.

"Stop! It's the edge!" Jack said at the same time a dragon roared.

Espin was shouting some strange language and the dragon roared again. Were they communicating? But it wasn't the time to think of that. Jack finally came upon Espin and grabbed his wrist just as his body lurched forward.

He pulled Espin backwards and fell on his back. Since Espin was taller, he was a bit squished under the weight, but soon Espin rolled off and got up. His face was pale, and his lips were blue. It was obviously not magick.

"I know you can transform and fly, but it might not have been—"

"I'm supposed to protect you, but you protected me." Espin took a deep breath and let it out. The color came back to his face. "I was asking what happened and she told me that a man called Gray cracked and told the Enchantress about the other cave. She said they were being made to fly to Fairwicken."

"Dungshit, that's where the castle is!" Jack let out a sigh and sat up. They didn't have an airship or any way to get there fast enough. The fog ahead was thinning and now it was clear which direction they were facing. The layers of mountain stretches fenced in the royal city of Fairwicken. He could just make out the towers and the fortress going up in flames. 

A burst of red smoke billowed up into the sky then, turning into a blood-colored mushroom. The sound of the explosion came a few seconds later. Silhouettes of various dragons filled the sky. Fighter airships were coming from the west, shooting rockets at the dragons. Silhouettes began to fall.

But the dragons have no fault. Jack bit his lip in frustration. They need to kill the core, not the scattered pawns. Walking there would take days. He had to find a faster solution. Could he go to Birdbury and find a ship in time?

Flying is the fastest, but how is the question. Jack rubbed his chin and stared at the ground. If only he could fly like Espin.

"Can I fly?" he asked.

Espin cocked his head. "Oh," he said after a pause, "well, I can fly because I transform, but I don't know about humans. Never tried it."

Never tried didn't mean it wouldn't work. But then again, he didn't have time to figure it out. What if the magick ended up taking longer to figure out than going back to Birdbury to find an airship? 

When he turned to look behind, Birdbury was a smudge of black smoke against the horizon. He could make out dots flying around. Probably dragons. Airships were inflammable. Probably no luck there. Jack groaned in frustration, then an explosion reached his ears.