Lawke walked unarmed into the clearing, his steps hesitant. He’d left his weapon with his brother at the priest’s instruction. Not an ideal situation, but they had little in the way of bargaining power with Zoe’s life in danger.

The priest stood behind a fire, facing the waterfall. The dark night hid everything else from her sight. She hoped Lawke could keep his cool.

Pressure built in her chest. A wave of immense dread swept through her, caused a shudder of despair. The glee in the priest’s eyes didn’t bode well for their chances. They were going to lose unless they had help.

Ancient and powerful assistance.

Legends and tales exist as warnings, to keep the humans safe from the dangers of magic and the creature who use it. Summoning a dragon was the easy part, dealing with one was a whole lot harder than dealing with a flock of sprites.

“I’ll be back,” she told Daphne. Magic shimmered around her and she transformed.

Launching into the dark sky, she flew toward Murmuring Springs. Angling her wings, she rode the fastest currents, raced to find the mini waterfall near the gazebo. With the new moon only a day away, her sight was limited in range.

The gurgle of a stream caught her attention. She circled in a wide arc. Starlight twinkled off the water before it disappeared over the shadow-filled cliff. Folding her wings, she dove for the ground.

She resumed her human form and ran up the hill. Under the trees it was dark, not threatening, but still impossible to find the small purple flower she needed. Tinkles of laughter surrounded her and then bright sparks of light flitted in the night.

Sprites danced all around. Their magic essence drizzled to the ground like glowing confetti. Soft pastel-colored petals illuminated the area. She searched but couldn’t find the one flower she needed. A cool breeze circled and lifted the fallen leaves into the air.

A single purple blossom glimmered, and the sprites swirled around it, dancing on air. She waited until the fairies moved on before she plucked the Dragon’s Heart flower. It tingled in the palm of her hand. She lifted it to her mouth, closed her eyes, thought of the help they needed to save Zoe and to stop the priest. She gently blew across the bloom.

Cast her wish for a dragon to lend its power, to assist them. And then she waited. Tried to keep her impatience at bay.

Time crawled forward. She yearned to return to Lawke. Should have been there with him. Maybe this was a mistake, a wild goose chase. She stared at the flower in her hand, willed something to happen. No longer willing to wait, she tilted her palm and let the bloom fall to the ground.

Her heart beat wildly. Anxiety for Lawke hastened her transformation. In seconds, she rode the currents back to him.

Behind her, the flower flared dark purple before disintegrating.

A strong headwind impeded her flight back. She flapped her wings, pushed to soar higher, move faster. A sudden downdraft disrupted her path, and she dropped but recovered. She looked up into the orange eyes of an enormous beast. Its iridescent scales shimmered in the starlight.

The dragon answered her wish.

“Hello little friend.” Her powerful voice boomed in Evelyn’s head.

“Thank you for coming. What are the consequences for your assistance?” Her shortness of breath had nothing to do with the height they traveled.

She glided behind the dragon’s wings, drafted in its wake. They traveled faster than she could hope for. But the dragon’s continued silence unnerved her.

“I’m not sure you can give me what I want. But I will help you anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because some gods should not be in this time and place.”

The dragon’s words did not instill Evelyn with hope. But they needed the dragon. “What do you wish for?”

“A home.”

Evelyn’s heart ached at the longing infused within those words.

* * *

Shadows hid much from Lawke. He couldn’t see his daughter, only the priest facing the waterfall. A twig snapped under his weight and echoed through the night. The priest turned, and a brown, malicious glow appeared to consume him.

His sight wavered and Lawke shivered.

“Ahhh, you’ve arrived. Do you have my prize?”

“Where’s Zoe?” He didn’t care if his voice sounded like a plea. “You get nothing until I see she is all right.”

The priest held out his hand and the fire leapt higher. In the flickering light, he saw his daughter laid on a stone altar, her hands tied in front of her, tape over her mouth. “What is going on?”

“Let me see the photo.”

He pulled the parchment from the container.

Gleeful anticipation shone from the man’s eyes. A queasy feeling settled along Lawke’s spine.

The man threw dark liquid on the fire, which intensified the blaze. “Hold it up to the light.”

He stretched the paper, so the image appeared illuminated from the flames. The two people in the background emanated the same glow as the priest. But now there was also a ghostly image being sucked into them.

A stiff wind yanked the photo from his grasp at the same time his daughter cried out. He saw a knife sticking from a stomach wound. Anger coursed through him and trees bent toward the priest.

The photo landed on the burning wood. The fire flared, sending the tree limbs backward, away from danger. The photo disintegrated, and two people appeared in a blinding flash.

“Free at last,” the man said.

The priest coated a finger in Zoe’s blood and then swirled that same finger inside a goblet. A golden glow emanated from the cup, He repeated the ritual with the second cup. The new arrivals drank from the shining goblets.

“Ichtaca, you remembered how I like my blood.” The man raised his hands and chanted as the wind swirled around him. His body melted, stretched, and then shifted into a flying serpent with wings.

Lawke glanced at where Evelyn and Daphne stood. His hopes plummeted when he didn’t see Evelyn.

He rushed to get Zoe but pulled up short as the priest stepped in his way.

“She serves another purpose now,” the priest said.

Coils wrapped around his daughter and lifted her into the sky. The clouds overhead formed a vortex only to come up short as the serpent wrapped around her and lifted her into the sky.

“Zoe.” Her name ripped from his soul.

“Your daughter will be the sacrifice that allows the Goddess Tlaltecuhtli into our plane of existence. She will devour your world and we will rebuild our great cities.”

Lawke watched helplessly as his daughter grew distant.

A fierce shriek and a loud roar disturbed the night. Evelyn’s falcon form rushed in to attack the face of the serpent. An enormous dragon went for the wings. Around they flew until his heart was in his mouth when his daughter fell.

Evelyn raced after Zoe, snagging her shirt, but only marginally slowing her descent. Zoe weighed too much. They dropped together despite the effort Evelyn put into flapping her wings.

Daphne stepped forward and drew symbols in the air. The pair slowed until they drifted gently to the ground like a floating feather.

The dragon plunged the snake down to the earth. The ground shook with the impact. Two claws kept the creature in place while he snapped at the priest and woman.

Lawke raced to his daughter and the woman who’d saved her.

He hugged them both.

“Daddy, you need to let go now,” his little girl said. Power glowed within her eyes. She limped over to the dragon, her chest heaving.

He stumbled back. What had happened to her?

The dragon bent its head at her approach.

“Time has pressed forward. You no longer have a place here.” She lifted her arms, and the ground rumbled. A seam split the dirt and grew larger until it engulfed the three people who caused all the trouble.

The trio fell into the chasm, and a three-fingered claw held onto the edge. The thump of the creature’s tail shook the ground.

Lawke’s eyesight changed. A greenish glow emanated from the life around him. Beneath the dirt, deep within, roots from the trees slumbered. He directed a thick taproot from a nearby oak tree to grab the snake and let it join his friends in the abyss.

When the creature was gone, Zoe closed the opening. Quiet blanketed the area, the silence as loud as the roaring dragon. His daughter wobbled. He raced to her side and caught her before she fell.

“I’m tired, Daddy.” She passed out.

Daphne whispered with the dragon, although he caught a bit.

“You cannot hide from the destiny that awaits you. We will chat some more after I have settled within the lake.” The large creature took off and he turned away.

“Is it over?” Evelyn asked.

“For now.”

She didn’t look relieved. Sadness settled around her shoulders like a heavy cloak.

Once he had his daughter settled, he’d talk with her. About what happened. About the two of them.