The Dragon Egg Saga. Stephen Lindsay J.
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Название: The Dragon Egg Saga
Автор: Stephen Lindsay J.
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Контркультура
isbn: 9781607460312
isbn:
Before she can finish, Karl takes off running down the aisle toward Sporting Goods. He doesn’t have to go far – only about 10 steps or so, but as far as Melissa could tell, he was once again running off to play the fucking hero. “Dammit, Karl! Get back here!”
Karl doesn’t bother answering her. There isn’t time to debate things right now. Not with that – whatever the hell it was – out there. He spots what he is going after just on the edge of the flame’s glow – an overturned rack of aluminum baseball bats. He bends over, grabs three of the bats and piles them in his arms as if he’s gathering wood for a fire.
Satisfied that he has what he needs, Karl turns and starts back toward Melissa and Clay. “Clay,” he whispers loudly. “I need a sheet. Just one. Do you think you can get one back in Bedding?”
Clay dashes off toward Bedding, more than happy to have even a moment away from that terrible skittering sound. “I’m on it!”
Melissa looks at Karl. “I hope you know what you’re doing. For a second I thought—”
“You thought I was going to ditch you and Clay.” Even in the soft glow of the blue flame, Karl can see color rush to Melissa’s cheeks. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you for thinking that. But I didn’t.”
A fresh round of skittering legs across tile causes them both to jump a little.
“I want to kill whatever that is just to stop that damn noise, if for nothing else.” Melissa peers down the dark aisle, both wanting to see what’s causing that noise, and not wanting to see.
Karl grins. “Can’t argue with that.”
“Here you go!”
Melissa’s heart skips a beat at the sudden sound of Clay’s voice. Judging by his labored breathing it is clear that the boy had been running. But once again, his movements didn’t make a sound. Dear lord. He’s like a ghost, Melissa thinks.
Clay holds out a large sheet covered in images of pretty pink flowers and swirling green vines toward Karl.
Karl nods approvingly and chuckles. “Nice work. Although I wouldn’t have pegged you to have such feminine taste in bedding.”
Clay leers are Karl. “I just grabbed the first sheet I could find!”
“Relax, kiddo. Just bustin’ yer chops. Now cut it into thin strips, about four inches wide running the length of the sheet. Think your blades can handle that?”
Clay pulls out one of his daggers and makes quick work of the first strip. Karl takes it and wraps it around the head of one of the bats, knotting it at the end. By the time Karl is finished with the this first one, Clay is holding out two more strips of the sheet.
Karl takes them and gets to work wrapping another bat. “That should be enough. Thanks, kid.”
When Karl finishes wrapping the tops of all three bats, he holds one out in front of himself. “Ok, Mel, if you would be so kind, please move the flame under the sheet.”
Understanding dawns on Melissa’s face. “Torches? You’re making torches?”
“If this works, yeah. I think we’re going to need all the light we can get in there. And besides, in the movies, monsters are always afraid of fire. Maybe we’ll get lucky and have the same thing happen here.”
Melissa slips her open hand under the top of the first bat. The blue flame darkens a bit of the sheet, but it refuses to catch. Karl closes his eyes, an exasperated breath escaping his lips. “Dammit.”
Melissa leans in close to the flame. “Exuro.”
The blue flame blossoms orange and then white, rising as if someone had turned up the burner on a stove. The sheet catches fire almost at once.
Melissa winces in pain and closes her fist, shaking it several times. “Shit, shit!”
Karl bends down, grabbing the other two makeshift torches. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She blows into her first lightly. “Just singed myself. No big deal.”
Karl presses the ends of the unlit torches to the lit one. Both quickly catch fire and start to burn slow and steady. He hands one to Melissa and the other to Clay. “Are we ready?”
The group looks at one another. Melissa nods, followed by Clay. Karl returns their nod with one of his own. He bends down and takes up his sword in his right hand. In his left, he holds up the torch. “Right. I’ll lead. You two stay close behind me. Whatever’s in there, we use the torches to keep it in sight.”
There is no need for them to respond. It is as good a plan as they can expect to have, given the fact that they had no idea what they were dealing with.
Karl steps around the first of the broken grills, swallowing hard. His eyes and ears strain; listening for either the hissing or skittering sounds. He’s hoping to locate them without having to see them first. Experience has proven that if you rely too much on sight, by the time you see what you’re looking for, it’s probably too late.
Ahead of him he can just barely start to make out the open archway leading into the Garden Center. Two steps later, the archway is clearly visible, and that causes Karl to freeze in his tracks.
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