Chapter 32
The patch revealed not an empty eye socket, but a swirling mass of blues and greens. The colors formed a round ball inside the socket, the light of which swept over the room like the explosion of a star.
It also began to swirl around Marc. He clenched his teeth as the light enveloped his form and changed it.
Scales burst out of the left side of his face and spread to the right, while his nose elongated into a snout.
Wings burst out of his back, and his hands transformed into thick claws.
His body expanded, and his clothes were torn to shreds, revealing more scales.
A tail burst out of his butt and slammed into the wall behind him.
While he transformed, the room fell into chaos. A wild wind accompanied his transformation, spinning around us like a small tornado. Dust and small furniture were flung about. I had trouble keeping my eyes open against such a gale, and my feet were nearly swept out from under me more than once.
Sailors burst into the room, but paused on the threshold to gape at he monster Marc was becoming. “Detain him!” Jaeger commanded them.
His men clambered across the room and dogpiled Marc. Most of him disappeared for only a moment before the pile began to pulse like it was breathing. The sailors were flung aside as Marc stood, more beast than man now.
“Take her out of here!” Jaeger shouted at the man who held me.
My captor tried to retreat with me, but a small shape skittered across the floor from the corner shadows and latched onto his legs with sharp teeth. The sailor yowled and danced about with my old friend Ramaro securely attached to his leg.
Jaeger drew out a strange gun with a minuscule barrel, which he pointed at Marc. I lunged at him and threw myself on his arm. The gun went off and fired a projectile like a porcupine quill into the rear wall. The quill detonated on impact, blowing out a huge hole in the wall.
Jaeger grabbed me by the throat and yanked me off the floor so we were at eye level. “You bitch!” I gasped when he tightened his grip, cutting off my air.
Ramaro released his captive and tried to run to me, but the sailor grabbed him about the neck and flung him through the gaping hole created by Jaeger. That gave me an idea, and my hand fumbled in my pocket until I found what I needed.
Ramaro’s scales. I grasped the package tightly and shoved the paper into Jaeger’s face.
The contents exploded and invaded every orifice.
Jaeger stumbled back and released me, where I crumpled to the floor.
He clutched his face as huge welts appeared all over his cheeks and forehead.
One even protruded from the tip of his nose.
I wish I could have laughed, but a roar from Marc made me turn around.
The sailors were still trying to tackle him, but he swept them aside with his wings.
He was now completely a creature of legend, long and lithe, with a bit of a bowled belly.
He stretched his wings and flapped hard, causing a tempest that flung men and furniture around the room.
“Marc!” I shouted as I flipped over onto my butt. “Marc!”
His brilliant blue eye fell on me, and there was some recognition in it that gave me hope.
Then he started marching toward me, his thick, clawed hands breaking every board he touched.
Instinct told me to run, so I scuttled backward.
He caught me after a few steps and slipped his long neck under me.
I yelped as I slid down to land on his back, where a few rough ridges stopped any further slippage.
I twisted around and wrapped my arms around his neck as he stood.
The swirling eye moved faster, and a terrific tornado swept around us.
Men clung to the walls and the nailed bed to keep from being blown out the enlarging hole at the rear.
The ceiling rattled until it broke under the strain, and boards and furniture flew up and out.
The man at the helm leaped over the front railing as Marc leaped into the air.
He flapped hard and took off into the brightening sky.
I looked down and beheld Jaeger standing in the huge hole, his eyes filled with fury.
I also saw a small shape climb over the rear of the ship. “Hey!” Ramaro shouted as he waved a claw. “Down here!”
My heart skipped a beat, and I tugged on one of Marc’s scales. “We have to fly by the ship! Ramaro’s down there!”
He didn’t even turn his head to me, but continued to flap.
“Please, Marc!”
His body shuddered at his name, but he stretched out his wings and dove sideways toward the ship.
The crew drew guns and fired at us. I could see and hear the bullets clink against his iron-hard scales, leaving nothing more than a few scratches.
I wasn’t so tough, and one of the bullets nicked my arm.
A hiss escaped me as I clapped a hand over the shallow wound.
Marc whipped his head around, and his blue eye blazed with fury. I shook my head and stabbed a finger at Ramaro, who had been noticed by one of the crew. “I’m okay! Just get down there!”
Marc snorted and returned his attention to his dive.
He swooped us around the rear of the ship so we were hidden from the whizzing bullets.
Ramaro flicked his tongue at the man who crept toward him and leaped off the back.
He landed neatly in front of me and used his claws to clutch onto the scales.
Marc flew us away from the ship and toward the brightening horizon. The bullets ceased and silence fell over us. There was only the soft flap of his wings as he kept us aloft a hundred feet over the water.
Ramaro twisted his head around and frowned at the blood that dribbled down my arm. “Are you alright?”
I managed a shaky smile. “I’m okay.” My eyes invariably fell on our ride. I brushed a hand over his scales. “Will Marc be alright?”
Ramaro sighed. “It’s been a long time since he looked like this, so there’s no telling what effects will linger once he’s changed back.”
Hope was rekindled inside me. “Then this isn’t permanent?”
“I hope it’s permanent enough to get us back to the Tempest,” he mused as he squinted at the horizon. “Otherwise, we’re dead.”
I leaned to one side and studied Marc’s bright blue eye. “Does he. . .does he even know what he’s doing?”
My companion sighed. “Even if he didn’t, a dragon always goes back to its lair, and there’s no place he feels safer than on the Tempest.”
I examined his large body and lithe wings. “How is this possible?”
He wrinkled his snout. “Haven’t you learned enough yet? Magic is everywhere in our world.”
I looked up at him and cocked my head to one side. “Can anyone do this?”
Ramaro cleared his throat, and his tongue flicked out. “Well, not anyone, but the captain can do it.”
A violent ripple ran through Marc’s body. I tensed and latched onto his scales as Ramaro did the same. “Is that supposed to happen?”
“No,” Ramaro told me as he cast his gaze to the horizon. “We’d better hope we find the Tempest soon or we’re headed for a wet landing.”
My pulse quickened as we flew over the seas.
Ramaro and my eyes were glued to the far horizon as the sun rose above the endless waters.
Another ripple ran through Marc. There was also a plunge as we lost altitude.
Ramaro and I screamed as we tumbled toward the cold, dark waves.
Marc pulled up at the last moment and his belly skimmed the waves, sending seaspray all over us.
He pumped his wings hard and fast, and we gained fifty feet. Half the height as before.
Ramaro shook off the water before his head popped up. “There! The Tempest!”
I looked at the spot that had caught his attention. A faint black outline appeared over the horizon. My heart leaped, and just as quickly dropped into my stomach as we tumbled again.
I gripped the dragon’s back as he recovered, but our altitude was again cut in half. “We’re almost there, Marc! You can do it!”
He gritted his sharp fangs and flapped hard. More tremors ran through his body, and I noticed his scales began to soften.
“No,” Ramaro murmured as he leaned away from Marc’s back. “He’s changing back into a human!”
The Tempest’s sails turned toward us, and the ship helped close the distance. Marc pumped his wings even as they began to shrivel. He gained enough altitude to dive down toward the deck as the sailors aboard the vessel waved their hands above their heads.
“Get out of the way!” Ramaro shouted as we tumbled toward them.
They scurried out of our path, and Marc crashed into the deck. Boards cracked beneath our hard landing, and I lost my grip. I was sent tumbling across the rough deck and rolled to a stop several yards away, my body aching and my mind fuzzy. A sharp pain stabbed something inside my chest, too.
I lifted my bruised head and watched the sailors crowd around Marc. Cook and Ramaro’s faces popped into view as the world began to fade. “Rose! Are you alright? Speak to me!”
And then everything went black.