27. An act of sheer stupidity.
An act of sheer stupidity.
HARLOW
“ W e need to leave. Now,” Jayce says, kissing my lips one more time, as if he can’t get enough. I understand it so well; I’m the same. I don’t want to let him go.
I was right to hope. He didn’t give up on me. But now is not the moment to kiss. I raise my eyes fearfully to the sky, expecting the great shadow of wings to obscure the smoke above us. Alara, Freddy, and Wilbur join us at the stern.
“The last crew members flew as soon as they saw you kill their captain,” Alara says, looking at Lord Darrington and Clarence on the deck.
Clarence is whispering things to his husband, who appears to be taking his last breaths. How ironic that he should outlive his lover, if only for a few hours.
Wilbur has a gash along his cheek, bleeding profusely, but he seems unbothered by it. He aims his shotgun loosely toward Lord Darrington, and he looks very tempted to shoot him. But the man is dying already, and it would only be a mercy he doesn’t deserve.
Myrval roars again, and the ground shakes.
“Back to the Blunder !” Jayce says.
I get a hold of the crate containing the egg, but Freddy gently pries it out of my grasp and jumps overboard and onto the upper deck of the Blunder . They rammed the airship into the other, I realize with shock. The hull will need more repairs. Jayce risked it all to save me.
Before climbing over, I take one last look at Clarence holding Lord Darrington’s head on his lap, his tears falling on the other man’s face. The flames devour the ship all around them, but they don’t seem to care. They’ll both die soon, either from their conditions or dragonfire…
An idea sparks in my mind. I take a step back, toward the hatch going below decks.
“Harlow,” Jayce calls. He’s offering me a hand to get to the Blunder .
“I’ll be right back. There’s something I need to grab.”
“What—”
But I’m already running and disappearing in the dark passageways below. The liquid-fire lamps are still burning, lighting the way through the thick smoke. Quick steps behind me let me know Jayce followed.
I reach the belly of the airship and the basket we used to get to Myrval’s lair.
Our dragonhide suits lie disregarded on the floor since we escaped with the egg.
I grab a few of them, unsure of what parts and sizes they are exactly—we don’t have time—and throw them in the biggest crate.
Jayce, helpfully, doesn’t question my actions and just carries the crate up the stairs once we’re done.
“Go on, baby, get in front of me,” he says. “I’m not taking my eyes off you anytime soon.”
I obey, heart racing as the liquid-fire lamps guide us back to the light of day. Now the entire airship is catching fire, and the smoke burns my throat like acid.
We jump back on the Blunder , and as soon as my feet land, Gia throws her arms around me, sobbing. “I’m so happy you’re safe, Harlow!” Then she looks me up and down, searching for injuries. “You’re wounded!” she says, noticing the blood on my tunic.
“It’s nothing. A bullet grazed my shoulder.” The wound throbs a little, but the shot barely made an indent in the muscles at the top of my shoulder. It might require a few stitches, but nothing troubling.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through this,” she says, holding me tight.
I feel like crying, too. I’m home.
Alara fires up the liquid-fire burner and the propellers, and we rise above the university. Some trees in the park are ablaze. I remember sitting under their shade often during my time in school, reading books, and I feel an uncomfortable pang in my chest.
If we do nothing, Dragonest is doomed. Myrval might be blind, but that won’t stop her fury. And there are ten times more inhabitants than a century ago; the casualties will be staggering.
Jayce appears in front of me, eyes searching as he holds my face in hands. “Show me your wound.”
“I’m fine,” I whisper against his lips.
“Are you truly?”
I nod, even though I can feel tears threatening to fall. The surrounding destruction is partly because of me. If only I hadn’t led them to her lair…
“I need to give her back her egg,” I say.
“Harlow…” His voice carries a warning.
“Please, can you take me to the highest building? And I will… The dragonhide suit…”
My plan is shaky at best. How do I attract the attention of a giant blind dragon to give her back her egg? And if I do, what then? She might just swallow me whole before I can even give her back her progeny.
Jayce sighs, his thumb caressing my cheek. “Let’s do it then.”
“Wha—what?”
But he’s already turning on his heels, roaring orders. “Crew, ready to disembark as soon as we land outside of the city! Harlow and I are going on a little mission.”
Alara joins her husband at the helm, and she watches us with her nose up, looking down on us even though she’s smaller than we are. “A suicide mission, you mean. I know that look in your eyes.”
Jayce smiles and shrugs. “What can I say? I’m a man of action.”
He would risk his life and the Blunder to help me?
“No—” I say.
But Alara speaks first. “I’m staying. You’re my captain, and this is my home. And although I don’t care about Dragonest and the King, the little people don’t deserve to burn. I’m helping.”
At her side, Freddy nods.
“Kuroki is down there, and I’m not abandoning my ship,” Wilbur says simply.
“And I’m not abandoning you guys,” Gia says, drying her tears.
I shake my head vigorously. “No. We’re not doing this…” My plan wasn’t to risk their lives. I shouldn’t have said…
But Jayce is already unstoppable. “Alara, give us altitude. We need to find that dragon. Considering the size of her, I doubt it’ll be difficult.
” He chuckles, then grabs the crate and starts throwing dragonhide suits onto the deck.
“Put this on, all of you. Freddy, it might be a tight fit, but we have spare hide below decks.”
“I’ll get it,” says Wilbur, turning on his heels.
“Bring up all our remaining bottles of dragon blood.”
Gia and Freddy are already sorting the suits by size as I stand frozen, unsure of what to do and how to stop them from risking their lives once again.
If only I’d never boarded the Blunder that day… Kuroki’s hand, the ship’s damage, Myrval’s attack on Dragonest… I played a part in all these tragedies. And yet, even now, I’m selfishly grateful for my friends.
“Harlow,” Jayce says, appearing in front of me. “This is just another adventure.” He places a hand on the nape of my neck and squeezes gently.
The adventure that might very well be our last .
I nod and accept the dragonhide suit Gia is offering me.
We rise into the sky through the smoke. Below us, Dragonest is on fire.
Myrval is now above the poorer parts of the royal city, near the docks, and the ramshackle buildings burn faster, turning the streets into an ocean of flames.
I hope people had time to jump into the sea.
Many boats are escaping the crescent bay, hopefully carrying survivors.
Wearing the heat-resistant suits, we slather the upper deck in thick dragon blood. Our feet squish nauseatingly in the dark liquid, and I wish I’d put on the helmet to stave off the cloying smell. The airship looks like an oozing wound. I try not to see it as a bad omen for our venture.
“Ready?” Jayce asks once we’ve stored away the empty bottles.
I nod, and he gestures for everyone to put on their protection and then to Alara to steer the ship toward the pale dragon on the horizon.
I carry the crate containing the egg to the bow, Jayce by my side.
Alara turns off the engine and the burner a hundred feet from Myrval, and the momentum takes us closer to her.
The fear surges back like an old friend.
The dragon looks terrifying up close in an entirely new way, between the sheer size of her and the uncanny shade of her darkness-bleached scales.
Her body is three times the size of the Blunder , and her wingspan unfathomable—every beating shakes the sky itself.
One hit, and we’ll crash below, just like Lord Darrington’s airship.
We’ve lost our minds , I think as I grab the egg in my gloved hands.
Myrval breathes fire below her, the flames dripping onto the building below in true liquid fire.
But then she must have heard the wind catching our sails, because her enormous head whips up, and she breathes fire directly on the Blunder .
I close my eyes against the glare just as the dragonhide suit around me heats.
Blessedly, the attack is short-lived, and when I open my eyes to look through my darkened visor, the upper deck is smoking. But the flames haven’t caught on thanks to the dragon blood and the dragonhide comprising the balloon—only the sails burn bright.
Myrval roars in blind anger, but then her giant nostrils flare and she brings her head closer to the airship.
She can smell the dragon blood , I think. We got her attention, and she’s confused.
I feel a hand on my lower back, through the suit. Jayce never left my side; he’s risking his life with me.
I raise the egg above my head and walk to the dragon’s giant jaw—her teeth alone are as long as my upper arms. If Myrval breathes fire again, I’m not sure I would survive the heat from this close.
But she doesn’t. Her nostrils flare again, and she freezes, milky eyes unblinking. Her dark-red tongue slides over the pale scales of her maw. Can she smell the egg?
In an act of sheer stupidity, I walk into her open mouth to reach her nostrils with my upraised arms, bringing the egg closer. One chomp, and I’m dead.
But Myrval doesn’t close her mouth; she seems unsure of what’s going on. I lower myself back onto the deck and place the egg over her colossal tongue.
Jayce pulls me back into his arms and carries me away as fast as possible in our suits. I watch through my darkened glass visor as she closes her mouth.
The egg , I think with horror.
But she’s not putting pressure on it, and I can see the rainbow shell shine between her teeth.
Myrval rears back with a great beat of her wings.
Before going, she attacks one last time and takes out a sizable chunk of the hull with her back leg’s claws.
Wood splinters, and the airship tilts to the side.
Jayce grabs the bulwark and holds on to me as the crates containing the empty bottles of dragon blood slide from the upper deck and fall overboard.
Alara fires up the burner and the propellers once again, taking us away from the dragon, but Myrval isn’t giving chase. She’s already flying away from Dragonest, taking her progeny back to her lair.
We stand in a sticky pool of dragon blood, and below us, the city burns.