Havoc - Piper McLean

19: girls -girl in red

| girls —girl in red |

—Leo was lying on his back, when they found him, his face covered in soot and his clothes charred. He was covered in mud, snow and grease and even had a bit of grass in his mouth.

Camilla was so happy she might have let out a small sob, but she'd rather jump off a cliff than admit how much Leo meant to her. 

"No, no, no, no" Jason chanted as they touched down and all three of them stumbled to their friend. Piper dropped to the ground next to the boy, trying to shake him awake. 

"Wake up, Leo" She tried. "Wake up!"

This time she put charmspeak in her voice and it seemed to work.

He spit a clump of frozen grass out of his mouth. 

"Where—"

"Lie still." Piper had tears in her eyes. "You rolled pretty hard when—when Festus—"

At the mention of Festus, Leo's eyes became focused. "Where is he?" he sat up,

"Seriously, Valdez," Camilla said. "You could be hurt. You shouldn't—"

Leo pushed himself to his feet. Then he saw the wreckage. Festus had dropped the big canary cages as he came over the fence, they'd rolled in different directions and landed on their sides, perfectly undamaged.

Festus hadn't been so lucky.

The dragon had disintegrated. Camilla watched it happen. His limbs were scattered across the lawn. His tail hung on the fence. The main section of his body had plowed a trench twenty feet wide and fifty feet long across the mansion's yard before breaking apart. What remained of his hide was a charred, smoking pile of scraps. Only his neck and head were somewhat intact, resting across a row of frozen rosebushes like a pillow.

"No," Leo sobbed. He ran to the dragon's head and stroked its snout. The dragon's eyes flickered weakly. Oil leaked out of his ear.

"You can't go," Leo pleaded. "You're the best thing I ever fixed."

The dragon's head whirred its gears, as if it were purring. Jason, Camilla and Piper stood next to him, but Leo kept his eyes fixed on the dragon.

"It's not fair," he said.

It broke Camilla's heart seeing her best friend like this. Festus had been their ride but he was so much more than that. He was Leo's pride and joy. 

The dragon clicked. Long creak. Two short clicks. Creak. Creak. Almost like a pattern... 

"Yeah," Leo said. "I understand. I will. I promise."

Camilla exchanged looks with Piper, but the other girl seemed to have no idea either.

The dragon's eyes went dark. Festus was gone.

Leo cried and Camilla hated that there was nothing she could do about it. They all patted him on his back and whispered comforting things but it didn't seem to help much. 

Finally Jason said, "I'm so sorry, man. What did you promise Festus?"

Leo sniffled. He opened the dragon's head panel, the control disk was cracked and burned beyond repair.

"Something my dad told me," Leo said. "Everything can be reused."

"Your dad talked to you?" Camilla asked. "When was this?"

Leo didn't answer. He worked at the dragon's neck hinges until the head was detached. It must have weighed about a hundred pounds, but Leo managed to hold it in his arms. He looked up at the starry sky and said, "Take him back to the bunker, Dad. Please, until I can reuse him. I've never asked you for anything."