Call Spirits in Your Past **Book Two**

Chapter 51 (Monday morning)

Kwayo roared. He brought his paws to the ground, slamming the man to the grass and holding his arms down. The man stared up at him fearfully, his yellow jacket still dripping from Zillie's ice. In Kwayo's periphery, the door Rielle had ripped from its hinges hung wide open, flames licking across its surface. Bella had the other guy pinned, and Manuel was staking his shirt to the ground with carapace spikes.

"Who are you?" the guy beneath Kwayo gasped.

Next to him, Zillie shrugged. "The people who are going to overthrow your school."

Kwayo glared at him, his bear snout twitching with the smoke in the air. "What?" Zillie asked, and Kwayo just shook his head.

Suddenly, Kwayo was flipping head over heels. He thudded to the grass, dizzily staring at the sky.

"Don't let him get away!" someone yelled, then the most enchanting song Kwayo had ever heard drifted over his ears. Like soft cotton candy. Like dripping honey and sweet vanilla and the memory of cinnamon and--the song cut out. Kwayo blinked, staring down at his human feet. How...how had he gotten halfway across the sidewalk?

"I'm so sorry!" Treble exclaimed. Kwayo glanced around, finding most everyone else lying or sitting down, similarly confused.

"Well, I'd say he's definitely unconscious," Addie poked the guy's yellow jacket with her shoe, gripping her backpack in one hand.

Ripple stood next to her, gaping. "I can't believe that worked! What do you have in there?"

Addie shrugged. "A few books?"

Ripple stared at it. "Are you sure? I don't think just a few books could knock somebody out like that."

Addie pushed the backpack over her shoulders and shrugged. "Textbooks are kind of heavy."

"But..." Ripple trailed off, staring at the ground.

Addie hesitantly took her arm, but Ripple kept staring at the ground. "Are...you okay?" Addie asked slowly.

Ripple blinked. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. Wow, today has been exciting!"

The others slowly groaned and rose to their feet. Thick plumes of smoke rose from the dorm building, and Kwayo shrugged. "Sure, you could say that."

A sharp crackle warbled through the air, and Kwayo jumped. "What's that?"

That sounded like... Dryda trailed off.

"Uh oh," tall-Bella reached towards the man Manuel had pinned down.

"Stop it!" Rielle shouted, and a little gray object flew from his hand towards her, buzzing as it went.

"I already told them," the pinned down guy shouted back. "You can't stop it!"

Rielle caught the object and hurled it at the ground. The buzzing cut out. But, a flicker of gold spiraled into existence behind her.

"Rielle, watch out!" Tago shouted, hands raised.

Rielle glanced at him with quirked eyebrows, until she tripped forward. Addie gasped and Kwayo spun towards her, spotting Vizz for the first time standing on the wall of the building. Then Tago's lasers shot from his hands into the portal.

Nothing happened.

"You just shot them through the portal," Manuel said blandly.

"I thought somebody was going to jump through it!" Tago exclaimed.

"What was that?" Rielle asked, slowly rising to her feet and dusting herself off. "It felt like somebody yanked me."

Addie pointed at Vizz, about to speak, only then a looming metal creature actually stepped through the portal.

"RUN!" Treble shouted, and Kwayo didn't need any encouragement. He shifted to a small Taita falcon, flying after the others.

"Why do they have a giant robot lizard!?" Bella exclaimed. Something shot over their heads--beneath Kwayo--and Bella ducked. "With lasers!?"

"Just keep running!" Treble shouted again, sprinting away from both the flaming buildings.

An image flashed through Kwayo's thoughts.

Dryda, what are you doing? He asked.

You all just left Maro behind! She sent back.

Kwayo glanced behind him, fluttering to turn directions. The metallic komodo dragon, too, skidded to a halt and spun around.

I think it might've heard my footsteps, Dryda sent softly, like she was trying to telepathically whisper.

Kwayo screeched, hoping to distract the robot. It didn't listen, so he swooped towards it. He raked his talons across the tail, wincing at the horrendous scraping sound. His talons hardly made a scratch, but one of the shoulder mounted cannons swiveled toward him. He took flight, the cannon's belly glowing with white energy. The robot hadn't even slowed.

"Rielle, do something!" Manuel faintly shouted.

"I'm trying," she grunted. "It's too heavy."

"Hey, giant robot beastie!" Ripple threw a backpack at the thing, jumping up and down. The lizard turned to her, uttering an odd clacking. A pale flash of energy flew towards Ripple, but she disappeared in a blur. She stopped several feet to the side, hands on her knees, gasping for air.

Kwayo, help, Dryda sent. She had heaved Maro onto her back, but with his extra weight they had no chance of outrunning the robot if it returned for them.

Coming! he sent back, and tucked his wings into a dive. At the last second, he spread his wings and landed, hobbling awkwardly on bird legs for a few steps before fully shifting to a human and running after Dryda and Maro at the edge of the lawn, beside the smoking doorway.

Behind him, the others battled the robot lizard. The ground shook and branches cracked, so Kwayo imagined Bella had uprooted a tree and whacked the robot's lizard face. Zillie kept forming crackling ice, shouting about the robot's unhindered advance.

Kwayo skidded to a halt beside Dryda. "I think we need a horse," she panted.

Kwayo vigorously shook his head. "You weren't conscious the last time we tried that."

"Wait, when..." she trailed off, and Maro motioned with his hands, forming inky ribbons that slowly knotted together.

"You...want us to tie you down?" Kwayo asked. That sounded like a terrible idea, but Maro nodded.

Something crashed loudly behind them, and Manuel yelled. "Watch out, Kwayo! It's--ooomph--"

Kwayo shifted to a horse, staring at the robot lizard running towards them through his left eye. Its metallic body and tail snaked side-to-side with each step, but the laser cannons never wavered. One of them shot a ball of spiraling lightning. Kwayo blinked in terror, but one of Maro's ribbons shot into it. The lightning orb silently bloomed, forming a jagged star shape. It thundered out of existence.

Dryda pushed Maro onto Kwayo's back and hopped up behind him. She gripped Kwayo's mane, sending frantic images of a barely-conscious Maro.

Here goes nothing, he thought, and Dryda sent back determination.

He broke into a gallop, running diagonal to the lizard robot that was still chasing them, hooves clopping over the sidewalk.

"Why are we going that way?" Dryda screamed.

Because the other way is a burning building! Kwayo screamed back.

"We're not going to make it!" Dryda screamed.

Kwayo desperately looked around for somebody to distract the robot, hopes dwindling at the sight of Zillie, Tago and Rielle slumped against a squat tree. Where were the others-- A massive shadow loomed in the sky and his gaze shot upward. A massive lightning orb arced through the air towards them, and Dryda shouted incoherently in his ear. He frantically tried to swerve, but the orb struck, zapping them with paralyzing electricity. Kwayo toppled to the ground, vision going black.