The Hunt for Freedom

Chapter Fifty Eight

    Dakari and his team took off at first light. The air was crisp and cool, visibility at its best. They gratefully accepted another boost from Mr. Toma, and they arrived back in Ireland in less than an hour. Penny had wanted to join them but her body wasn't up to the task yet. The blast of electricity had done far more damage than anyone expected.

Without Penny's invisibility cover, they actually flew the helicopter right to the cliffs. They pretended to be watching the ocean churn below, when in fact they were watching to see if there were still dragons about.

Thirty minutes later, Dakari was satisfied that even Essam hadn't come back. Carefully, they repelled down the cliff face to the opening the dragons had used. Not one child could be seen nor heard.

"Maybe they climbed out on their own? He wondered out loud.

The sound of a stifled sneeze reached their ears. Dakari smiled knowingly, and motioned for the others to follow him. "Follow my lead." He said over his shoulder as he made his way to the kitchen.

The kitchen, once run with quiet efficiency now was strewn with waste. As Dakari looked he could see the shelves were nearly bare. Hunger should be setting in. He saw the cage where he had spent the summer. His whole body trembled, he knew that hunger well.

Very loudly he called out, "We are from the search and rescue team, we have been sent to save anyone that is here against their will.

Paulo saw little eyes peeking out from behind a stone wall. "We have brought food for you, and can get anyone who wishes to leave home to their parents."

One brave boy stepped out. His freckles matched the ginger color of his hair, and when he spoke it sounded lyrical.

"Can you get me home to Scotland?" He asked cautiously. Seeing his bravery others began to come forward. There were so many children it resembled a schoolhouse.

"Were there no adults here?" Paolo asked the children, shocked at what he was seeing.

"There are a lot of moms, but they keep them down in the caves." The young girl that had seen Dakari in the passageway said. Dakari wondered if she recognized him. "I don't like to go down there, it's very scary down there."

"Can someone take us down there? We want to rescue everyone today."

"I can," stammered the Scottish lad. "I am not afraid of the caves."

The little girl rolled her eyes, "I saw a ghost down there once, I really did," she said to anyone who would listen.

They followed the boy down, twists and sharp turns that Dakari didn't remember at all. They came to a large cavern filled with computers, all blank now and unmanned.

"This must have been what Katalea saw in her dream." Dakari thought. He murmured some words, and they were gone. The little boy's eyes widened and he turned to look at Dakari.

"Are you like them?" His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried to look tough, but his hands shook at his sides.

"Let's just say we are the good guys, and we're going to make sure no one else ever has to live here again." Dakari ruffled the little boy's hair. He understood the fear. "Where are the moms?"

"Oh, this way, come on." He turned to go, wary but hopeful.

They reached another cavern, somewhat smaller but very well lit. This room looked almost clinical, long tables with microscopes on every table. There were test tubes and Petri dishes, all labeled, stored neatly in a cooler.

Dakari noticed what looked like a long incubator and went to investigate. As he got closer his stomach pitched when he understood what he was looking at.

"Embryos, oh goddesses, they're embryos." Dakari turned to the little boy. "Is this where the moms usually are?"

"Yes, they make the moms have little dragon babies." They take them out of the moms because they grow too fast for humans to handle, and they grow them in there." He pointed to the incubators. "The moms are all really young. I don't know where they are."

"They are usually under the dragon's spell," said another little boy who had tagged along. "They don't really know what is going on. I tried to talk to them when I would deliver food down here."

This just kept getting worse. He turned to his team. "Search every tunnel and cave. Find everyone you can and let's get them all up to the kitchen area."

It took time, but they did it. The moms were located, sedated but alive in a dorm-like room. They followed listlessly, the drugs still wreaking havoc on their bodies. They found another pocket of slaves, adults that had blockaded themselves into a small alcove. From them they confirmed all their suppositions.

This Gruppa of dragons had been actively growing an army. They abducted young women to house their embryos until they could survive outside the host body. The snatched younger children to be slaves.

"What do we do now?" Paulo asked, surveying the horde of people now staring at him. "I did not expect so many."

A little voice stammered, "You're not going to leave us here are you? The dragons might come back. Please help us."

The little girl from the hallway dropped her tough girl persona for a moment, "Please, I want to see my Mommy," she cried.

A loud crashing sound interrupted the children's pleas. It came from the direction they had just searched. A sulphuric odor belched out of the hallway along with a cloud of dust.

"I know that smell, it's the smell of rotten eggs." The little boy said, his face hosting a slightly greenish tint. He plugged his nose, "That is the smell that comes when they open those incubators." His nasally voice declared.

Dakari and his team rushed back down to find the clinical cavern empty. Gone were the test tubes, and Petri dishes. Gone, too, were the embryos.

"What in the world?" Dakari said, looking around at the cavern that was now nothing more than rocks and sand.

"I have no idea what just happened," Paulo answered. "But it is a definite sign that it is time to get out of here. We are not equipped to fight if Essam is somehow watching and wanting to stop us."

They hightailed it back to the large group in the kitchen. The climb out was too treacherous for most of the children, and out of the question for the girls who were barely conscious. Paulo went up to the helicopter.

With amazing skill he was able to hover the aircraft at the entrance of the lair. In groups of eight, they loaded the helicopter until the last person stood atop the cliff of Moher. They blinked in the bright sunshine and seemed to soak up the sun's rays. Dakari said a few words to them and their memories of the past horrors were gone.

The Scottish boy tilted his head one way, and then the other. "How did I get up here?" He looked at the faces around him, not recognizing anyone, he fearfully added, "and who are all of you?"

Dakari spoke loudly this time. "You were brought here by bus. They made you get out and then gave you this phone to call the police. They left and you don't know where they went. You have no idea where you have been, some sort of old building."

They nodded, accepting his words as fact. They sat down on blankets, with the food Dakari's team had brought. As Paulo finished his pre-check on the helicopter, the call was placed. They took off within minutes and as they flew over the little town they spotted police cars, lights flashing, headed toward the cliffs.

It was a good feeling knowing the kids would have no memories of the horrors they had witnessed. It made him glad for Lainey too. She would never again have nightmares about dragon rides and child abductions. But his heart grieved for the little sister he had grown to love.