Carrie Vaughn - Voices of Dragons

Over breakfast the next morning, Mom eyed her carefully. Kay’s hand kept shaking when she tried to eat her cereal.

“You’re going to try to talk to it again today?” her mother asked.

“Yeah,” Kay said, not meeting her gaze. “I have to be all patriotic, I guess.”

“Kay, if you don’t want to do it, I’ll stand by you. General Branigan has no right to ask you to do this. Whatever he threatens you with, we’ll deal with it. We’ll take it to the press to generate support if we have to.”

That was exactly what Kay was planning on doing. She shook her head and still couldn’t look at her mother. “I want to help. I want to do it.”

Pale, tight-lipped, Mom nodded.

Once again, Mom insisted on driving, and once again Kay didn’t argue. Even though she waited, there was nothing her mother could do once the plan started. She couldn’t interfere. But she hoped Jon got the gear out to where she could find it.

As they drove, Kay looked around and found one of the sedans behind them on the highway. Her mother’s glance in the rearview mirror showed she saw it, too.

“They followed me last night,” Kay said. “Just like they’ve been watching the house.”

“Bastards,” Mom muttered. “But that’s okay. They can follow us all they want. We’re only doing what they want us to. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Kay’s stomach had turned into butterflies.

They stopped in the same place and repeated the ritual, Kay’s mother urging her to call. Kay wondered if she’d even get reception a thousand feet up. Or if it was anything like flying on an airline. Please turn off all cell phones and pagers…

She almost laughed.

Kay hugged her mother extra hard, then went off into the woods. She had to concentrate not to look back.

She’d given Jon a pretty detailed map, marking off an easy-to-find spot where the stream turned, but that still left a fairly wide area where he could have left the gear. Marking a spot or trail by tying something to a branch at eye level was a common practice. So, when she reached the general area, she started searching for something that stood out, for anything colorful and fluttering that would mark the spot.

She didn’t have too much time for this. She’d have to meet Artegal, and then they’d have to move quickly.

“Kay! Over here!”

She spun, panicked, looking for the source of the call. Who had followed her? Her first instinct was to run.

Then she saw Jon, duffel bag over his shoulder, waving his hand.

He was right where she’d asked him to be, near the creek, downstream a ways from where she met Artegal. She stared for a moment then, angry, scrambled to him.

“Jon! What are you doing here?”

“I can’t let you do this by yourself.”

“You don’t even know what I’m doing!”

He didn’t say anything, because she was right. She was sort of disappointed, because she wanted to argue with him.

“It’s better if you stay out of it,” she said, grabbing the strap of the duffel bag and pulling it away from him. The coils of rope were lying at his feet, and she picked those up as well. She started hiking along the stream toward the clearing.

Jon followed. She thought of yelling at him, but that wouldn’t make him stop. She’d have to go back herself, not meet Artegal and not go through with the plan.

Tempting.

“Jon. Please.” She turned on him and glared.

“I’m worried about you. I want to help.”

She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t want to have to worry about him, too. Maybe she’d been wrong to ask for his help at all. She kept walking. “You can’t help.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s…it’s too big. There’s too much to explain. I’m sorry, Jon. I’m just…I’m sorry.”

She hiked, he followed, and she didn’t argue with him again. The whole point of this was to reveal the big secret, to go public. May as well start now. She had no idea how he’d react once he realized what she was doing. He may never speak to her again for keeping this from him. That almost made her stop; she didn’t think she could handle it if Jon stopped talking to her. But he wouldn’t do that; she wouldn’t like him so much if he was the kind of guy who would do that.

Only a few minutes of hiking brought them to the creek. It glittered in the sunlight. Beyond, the forest looked no different than it did on this side of the border.

“That’s the border, isn’t it?” he said, stopping at the edge of the water, staring. “We can’t go over there. They’ll kill us.” He pursed his lips. “ Somebody’ll kill us.”

“It’ll be okay,” she said, wishing she sounded more confident. She looked around; if anyone else had followed her, she couldn’t see them. “Jon, no matter what happens, don’t be angry with me. Please?”

“No, of course not. I just…I just want to understand with this is about.”

He would, soon enough. She kissed Jon’s cheek, squeezed his hand, then crossed the log bridge over the partly frozen creek.

He held back, looking at her with panic in his eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she’d taken crossing the border for granted. How deeply ingrained the rules had been until she’d met Artegal by accident.

“Kay?” Jon called, not moving.

Kay had only just touched the opposite bank when a familiar noise grew louder—at first, it blended with the jangle of running water. It sounded like a breeze. But Kay knew what it was. Something large with heavy footfalls moved through the forest.

Artegal appeared, neck snaking forward, shadowy body moving into view.

Jon’s eyes widened. “Oh my God—”

“No, Jon, wait.”

He stumbled back, tripping over himself as he started to run away. At the same time, Artegal reared back, curling his neck, spreading his wings, making himself appear larger. A hot breath snorted from his nose and fogged in clouds.

Jon was beyond words, his face locked in terror.

“Jon! Artegal! Stop!” She called to Jon and looked over her shoulder to Artegal, unsure who she should yell at first.

Jon fell, limbs splayed, gazing up at the monster that had stopped at the edge of the water, as if he might spring forward. Artegal had lowered himself to peer more closely at the strange human. Kay was standing next to his huge head, but he hardly seemed to notice her.

“This is my friend, Jon,” Kay said to the dragon. “Jon, this is…this is Artegal.”

Kay’s two friends studied each other.

“Oh my God,” Jon breathed, his voice shaking a little.

After a long moment, the dragon breathed, “Hello.”

“Jesus, Kay!” Jon said. Kay tried to remember the terror she’d felt the first time the scaled face looked down on her. She couldn’t remember it very well.

“It’s okay, Jon! I swear to you it’s okay.”

Artegal turned to her, head shifting on snakelike neck. “Why is he here?”

Sadly, she said, “He wouldn’t stay away.”

“It talks!” Jon said.

“Of course he does,” she said.

“You can’t come with us,” Artegal said.

Jon looked like he was having trouble breathing. Never taking his eyes off the dragon, he sat up. “C-come with you? Where?”

Artegal nodded, a tip of his narrow snout, and turned to Kay. “We should go.”

“Go? Kay, what are you doing?” Jon demanded.

“Jon, please go home. If you see my mom—I don’t know what to tell her. Make up some excuse. Just keep them from looking here.” She put on her climbing harness and started laying out the ropes. Artegal crouched to where she could throw them over his back.

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” Jon said. “Kay, that’s crazy .”