The sweeping light gathered at the surface, and the oval-shaped aura appeared, floating above the surface of the pit. The image congealed into a familiar face, sharpening until he recognized it easily. His father’s face. His father’s human face.
Billy gulped. “Dad?”
The aura vibrated like a gently plucked harp string. “Yes, son. I felt your presence earlier, so I figured out how to make an image appear on the surface after watching Samyaza do it. I’m really still at the bottom of this pit. The Watchers have huddled in a corner, but I’m not sure how long they will allow me to speak to you.”
“Then who is the dragon outside the cave?”
“Our old enemy, Devin, has taken over my dragon body. Once they brought me into the seventh circle, I had no power to stop him.”
“Are . . .” The pain ripped through Billy’s chest. He gasped for breath and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “Are you trapped in there with Samyaza and the Watchers?”
“Yes, but since I have no body, they are not able to touch me. I have only spiritual perception, so all I can do is manipulate the light.”
“Is Shiloh in there with you?”
“Yes. She is a delightful girl; a bit sore from her spill into the pit, but not badly hurt. Since she has a body, I have to protect her from the Watchers.”
Billy’s lungs ached, ready to collapse. He took three steps back, enabling him to breathe again, but he had to cough out every word. “Why . . . can’t you . . . just leave?”
“I can’t escape because the entire pit is lined with candlestones, and I exist only as a spirit. My energy gets pulled into the abyss by the gems, sort of like gravity on a physical body. It’s all I can do to keep from being drawn into the gems themselves. Shiloh can’t escape, because the pit is simply too deep, and its walls are sheer.”
“But is . . . is Morgan still inside her?”
“No. Light and darkness can have no fellowship, and the light in Shiloh was too powerful. Morgan had to leave her body. Apparently the two fought for control while they were up there, and Shiloh jumped in to take Morgan with her. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for you, Morgan is trapped in the abyss with us. Even she is unable to climb through the energy fields that seal this chasm.”
Billy raised his sword, using both weakened arms to hoist it. “Well . . . I’m going to . . . get you . . . out of there . . . with Excalibur.”
The aura flashed. “No, Billy! Don’t! You’ll release the Watchers. That’s what Morgan has been wanting all along.”
Billy let the sword’s tip fall to the ground. “The Watchers?”
“Fallen angels, far more powerful than you can imagine. They will make earth into a living hell, and you, Billy, as the new Arthur, would be their first victim. They’ve corrupted the world once before, and God brought the great flood as a result. Who knows what would happen if the Watchers took control again?”
Billy took two more steps back. “But how . . . how else will you get out?”
The aura turned pale blue, and ripples spread out from the center like splash rings in a pool of water. “We are content to stay here. To sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of the entire world is a small price to pay. Although Shiloh has nothing, no food or water, she keeps saying, ‘I have all I really need.’ She is willing to suffer and die. Her love is amazing!”
With pain roaring through his heaving chest, Billy cried out, “Dad! I have to get you out! I have to!” He sniffed and wiped his sleeve across his nose. “It’s . . . it’s just not the same without you! I tried to pretend you were dead, but . . . but Mom never smiles anymore. She needs you . . . and I . . .” He drooped his head, and his voice died away in a pitiful lament. “I need my dad.”
Billy wrung Excalibur’s hilt like an old mop. He inched backwards, his legs stiff and cramping. “I’ll be back. . . . I’ll . . . I’ll find a rope or something, and . . . and I’ll come down there and get both of you out . . . somehow.”
A red hue splashed across the aura. “The candlestones would kill you! You’d never make it halfway down.”
Billy neared the cave’s entrance, still backing away. “Then Shiloh can climb out on the rope.”
“If Shiloh tried to climb, the candlestones would prevent me from following. I wouldn’t be able to protect her from the Watchers.”
With renewed strength, Billy raised his sword again. “Then I’ll be the one to do the sacrificing. Let the Watchers do what they will to me. I’ll be ready.” Excalibur’s beam shot out through the tip. He charged toward the abyss and swung the beam down into its depths, illuminating the entire cavern. The embedded candlestones in the walls of the pit filled with flaming light and exploded like over-juiced lightbulbs, popping and sparking in a fireworks grand finale. With the candlestones getting zapped, Billy felt sudden relief. The constant draining of energy vanished.
The abyss began filling with liquid light. It looked like a lava tube with boiling energy rising toward the top. As the bubbling light drew closer, something dark moved at the surface, something with arms and legs flailing about. Billy dropped to his chest and stretched his arm into the pit, wriggling forward until his entire upper body was suspended over the precipice. “Shiloh! Grab my hand!” Shiloh flapped her arms, but she couldn’t seem to turn the way she wanted. The cauldron of light was more like mist than water, thin and vaporous. She looked like a Golden Retriever paddling in the fog.
Other forms seemed to congeal in the glowing soup, rising up and snapping at Shiloh like attacking sharks. Were they the Watchers? Billy stretched out, reaching so far his joints felt like they were ripping apart. It wasn’t enough. Her desperately floundering hands grasped empty air.
Billy’s body slipped an inch, then another. He dug the toes of his boots against the cave floor, but it didn’t help. He heard his belt buckle scraping the stone as his hand dropped lower and lower. Shiloh’s writhing fingers drew within a hair’s breadth of his own. If he grabbed her now, would she just pull him in? Would the Watchers get both of them?
Dirt fell across the back of Billy’s head. Something clamped down on his legs. A familiar voice shouted out. “Grab her Billy, and let’s blow this place!”
“Walter!” Billy grunted. “Great timing!” He slid farther down and latched onto Shiloh’s wrist. “Got her!”
Billy’s body heaved backwards. He kept a vise grip on Shiloh’s wrist as her fingernails dug into the heel of his hand. As soon as Billy rose to his knees, Walter grabbed Shiloh’s other arm, and the two hoisted her to solid ground.
Billy brushed a clump of dirt from Shiloh’s hair as she knelt in front of him. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, grimy tears flowing down her cheeks. “I’m all right.”
Billy picked up Excalibur and thrust it into his back scabbard while glancing at the rising light in the pit. “I don’t think I want to be around when that stuff hits the surface.”
“Yeah,” Walter replied. “Pardon the language, but I think all hell is about to break loose.” He spread his feet apart. “Do you feel something?”
Shiloh slapped her palms on the rocky floor. “Yeah, the ground’s shaking.”
“This volcano’s gonna erupt with spooks!” Walter shouted, grabbing Shiloh’s arm. “Let’s get out of here!”
The trio bolted out of the cave. Billy scooped up Bonnie’s body and lumbered along the ledge in the direction of the bridge. Her limbs had stiffened. Even her back wasn’t as flexible as before. She was long dead. Who could hope for a miracle now? And what would become of his father? Would he just disperse in the light? Would he disintegrate and scatter into the great beyond?
Billy tried to shut the possibilities out of his mind as he labored up an incline, forcing his legs to push him into a quick march as the bridge came into sight. He kept his eyes fixed on it. The dragon was perched on the side at the apex of the arch, but Patrick was nowhere to be seen.
Walter draped an arm around Shiloh, who had lost one of her shoes. As the slope steepened, he half-carried her to offset her unbalanced strides. When they reached the bridge, he helped her sit with her back to the mountainside, and he plopped down next to her, setting Apollo between them.
Billy laid Bonnie in front of Shiloh and Walter and stood in front of them. The dragon unfurled his wings and hopped half-way down the bridge, balancing on the parapet. “Why have you come back, Son?”
Billy drew out Excalibur and squared his shoulders. “Cut the ‘son’ stuff, you mongrel lizard!”
The dragon drew its head back. “Billy! What are you talking about? I’m your father.”
“I know who you are, Devin. You’re Morgan’s little lapdog.” Excalibur’s beam flashed from its point, and Billy flexed his biceps. “You’ve called me a mongrel a hundred times for being the son of a dragon, but now you’re a dragon yourself! Looks like you’d do anything to please your mistress, you disgusting cur!”
The dragon roared and blew a river of fire at Billy. Excalibur’s beam slapped against the flames, and the fire wrapped around it like a snake winding around a pole. The beam absorbed the dragon’s breath in a sizzling bath of rising smoke.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Rocks tumbled down the mountain, raining dirt pellets on their heads. Walter jumped up and pointed at the cave entrance. “The pit just blew its top!”
A rush of light burst from the cave entrance, gushing out like a horizontal geyser. At least eight ghostly shapes, multi-winged humanoids, separated from the flow. With glowing eyes and a silvery aura, they stretched their double-sized bodies, flexing chiseled arms and legs and expanding their massive chests with the air of newfound freedom. Their wings unfurled, and they flew toward the bridge, a shrieking raven leading the way.
Billy held up Excalibur and waved it in front of him, hoping to fry at least a couple of the gargantuan ghosts before they descended on them like a pack of wolves. The brilliant beam spread out into a wall of light, creating a shimmering dome over himself as well as Walter, Shiloh, and Bonnie. The raven pulled back, flapping its black wings madly, but the humanoid creatures slammed against the barrier, bending it like rubber and rebounding in all directions.
Excalibur’s beam diminished, but the umbrella of light hovered a few feet over their heads. The creatures flew all around the edges, screaming and biting at the shield. Their wild eyes glowed red. Pointed fangs overlapped their lips, top and bottom.
The raven fluttered to a landing on the mountain ledge, transforming into Morgan as soon as her feet touched down. The dragon joined her, standing just behind with its head perched above her shoulder. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Very clever, young Arthur. Who told you a photo-umbrella would stall the Watchers?”
Billy knew he hadn’t done it on purpose, but he wasn’t going to let Morgan in on the secret. “Let’s just say I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve no one knows about yet.”
Morgan pressed her finger against the shield. A splash of sparks showered back over her hand. “You’d better have a few more tricks than this little bubble of yours. You’re stuck in the bowels of the underworld with a dead princess and two useless friends, and the only mortals ever to escape this land are not here to guide the way.” She dipped into a mock curtsy. “In the meantime, Your Majesty, I’m going to take my friends to the upper world. We have a few surprises in store for the folks back home.”
Walter jumped to the edge of the shield. “Go ahead, you Goth-babe wannabe! We’ll see you up there and kick you and your uglies back to Hades faster than your breath will curdle milk!”
Morgan raised her head and scowled, but a crooked grin washed away her frown. “Oh, Walter, you’re such a brave little man. Just because I like you so much, I’m going to show you and your friends mercy. You won’t have to suffer here after all.” She turned to the dragon. “Devin, your fire should be able to penetrate the shield. Kill them all. We’ll wait for you at the portal.”
The dragon grumbled. “But Excalibur—”
“Don’t fret over his toy light saber!” she yelled. “Just grab the living girl! Love is his weakness. Threaten her, and he will do whatever you ask.” She signaled with her arm. “Amazarak, lead the way to Avalon.” She then lifted her head to the sky, her eyelids fluttering. “Samyaza, my love, I think it’s time you carried me to our threshold.”
The largest of the silver-haired creatures flew down and lifted her into his arms. “With pleasure, my wicked pet.”
A man leaped down from an upper ledge and landed feet first next to the dragon, bending his knees to absorb the impact.
Walter nudged Billy’s elbow. “It’s Palin! What’s he up to?”
Swinging a sword, Palin lunged at Morgan. Samyaza pulled her away from Palin’s attack and flew away with her in his arms. The other Watchers followed, zooming through the sky until they disappeared over a mountain.
Palin waved his sword and shouted at the dragon. “Morgan has played us for fools, Sir Devin! Let us follow them to the third circle and stop this madness before it’s too late!” He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. “Forgive my boldness, my liege. I will do whatever you wish.”
The dragon raised a claw and laid it on Palin’s shoulder. “Whatever I wish, my old friend?”
“Yes, my liege, as always.”
The dragon drew his head back and took in a deep breath. “Then die!” He blew fire into Palin’s chest, igniting his clothes. Billy lit up Excalibur and charged through the shield. He swung the beam across the flames and slammed the stream of fire into the ground. Billy pivoted, ready to slash Devin, but the dragon leaped into the air and flew down into the valley. Seconds later, he was gone.
Billy threw down his sword and dove toward Palin. Wincing as the blaze leaped toward his face, he slapped Palin’s chest with his hands. Walter dashed through the dissolving shield, stripped off his cloak, and smothered the fire with it. The flames quickly died away.
Billy leaned over Palin’s charred face. “What can I do?”
Palin sputtered his words through half-melted lips. “It seems . . . we’ve done this before . . . Dragon Boy.”
Billy pushed Palin’s hair out of his eyes. “Yeah, and I’m sorry. I was a coward.”
Palin shook his head. “Not . . . a coward. I . . . deserved it.” He coughed. A stream of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. “I was wrong about you . . . Billy. You’re not just like me. You’re . . . you’re a better man than I.”