Enchanted Ivy

CHAPTER Seventeen

With every breath, the dragon stretched and swelled. Lily sagged onto the chapel steps and stared upward as the stone gray scales shimmered with flecks of emerald and gold. The dragon's tail extended into a curl, and his wings expanded until they blocked the evening sky.

Mr. Mayfair's face twisted and reddened. "Foolish girl, what have you done?"

Lily tried to stand, but her knees folded under her. Silence roared in her ears. She could see her grandfather was shouting, but she couldn't hear him.

Above, the dragon jackknifed. He flattened his wings against his now full-size body and dived toward Mr. Mayfair. The aged knight sliced up at the sky with his sword. Landing on the plaza, the dragon wrapped his front talons around Mr. Mayfair. "You tricked me," the dragon said. His voice punctured the white noise that filled Lily's head. "You will pay with pain."

"You failed me!" Mr. Mayfair shouted. "You killed my son, not the girl!"

The dragon pushed off his hind claws, and the concrete flagstones cracked beneath him. As the dragon lifted him into the air, the old man hacked with his sword at the dragon's scales. The ring of steel on stone echoed across the plaza.

"Our alliance is ended," the dragon said. He bit into Mr. Mayfair's shoulder, and Mr. Mayfair screamed as the dragon drained him.

Grandpa struggled to his feet.

Lily watched without understanding. She wanted so badly to sink into the stones and rest. But the tiny part of her brain that was still able to think told her that she couldn't. Tye still needed her.

Gritting her teeth, she dragged herself up the steps and then stumbled into the chapel. She crawled up the marble stairs to the choir box.

Tye lay at the edge of the fairy's dried blood. Lily knelt beside him and untied the ropes around him with shaking hands. "Wake up," she said. It hurt to talk. Her head throbbed. Her lungs ached with every breath. "Please, Tye." She leaned against his chest and laid her head on his shoulder. "Please."

"Lily?" Tye's arms wrapped around her.

"Please. I need you to be okay," she whispered.

Tye opened his eyes. "You're drained. What the hell happened?"

She felt like crying, but she couldn't summon the strength. Her muscles felt like stone. Everything hurt. She felt bruised from the inside out. "I released the dragon."

He swore.

"Lily, hold on," he said. "I'll take you through the gate. But you have to stay awake."

She tried, but her eyelids fluttered closed.

"Lily!" He shook her. "Open your eyes. There's a good girl. Come on, I'll carry you." She sucked in magic-less air and tried to focus on Tye. "Look at me—that's right."

Her vision tilted and darkened.

A second later Tye lifted her up. She laid her head against his chest and felt his heartbeat through her cheek. "I like you," she said.

"Very nice," Tye said. "Don't die, and I'll take you out for ice cream."

"I like ice cream," she said.

And then she screamed as every bone in her body felt as if it were shattering. Lightning lanced over her eyes. She heard voices around her shouting, and she felt her body spasm. "She won't make it!" "Put her down!" "There, right there!" "Open her mouth!" She felt cool, thick sweet liquid pour into her mouth and hit her throat. She coughed and gagged. "More! Make her drink it! Lily, baby, please, you have to drink this!"

She heard Jake's voice. "Take mine!"

And more was forced down her throat. She swallowed and swallowed. The magic spread like fire in a forest. It coursed through her. Her blood blazed. Her skin sparked. She opened her eyes and saw pure light.

"Lily, my Lily!" Grandpa cradled her against him.

High above, the dragon circled, a dark shadow against the starry sky.

Lily felt arms around her. She breathed in the smell of earth after rain, and she knew it was Tye who held her this time. Her cheek rested against his chest. She must have blacked out again. She tilted her head to see his chin. Above them was the East Pyne arch. They were tucked under it. Tye was looking out at the plaza, so she followed his gaze.

The knights were spread across the flagstones, and the dragon spiraled above them. Flattening his wings, he dove. His empty talons stretched toward the knights, and they fought back with swords and knives and spears.

It wasn't enough for him to have had his revenge on Mr. Mayfair. He seemed determined to punish all of the knights.

Over the sounds of the battle, Lily heard the music of the plants, louder and clearer than ever before. The notes tumbled over her like a waterfall. She thought of Mom's piano playing in the lobby of Vineyard Club. Mom had been playing this music, she realized. Lily hadn't heard the plants clearly enough before to recognize it.

"Tye?" she whispered. Her throat hurt, as if she had swallowed flames.

"He's toying with them," Tye said grimly.

The swords ricocheted off the dragon's scales. He breathed fire, and a knight screamed as orange flames engulfed him. He dropped to the ground, and other knights piled on top of him, trying to smother the fire. The dragon soared back into the air, out of reach.

"It'll take the Air Force to bring him down," Tye said. "And then ... the secret will be out. Despite everything we did ... this is it."

She looked up at the dragon. "But we have our own air force."

Tye frowned at her.

Jumping to her feet, Lily grinned. She felt magic vibrating inside her. Her bones sang with it. "Come on—ride a dragon with me?"

Quickly, Lily and Tye crossed to the magic world.

The tiger man was in the yard, coordinating the aftermath of the battle. He listened to Tye's explanation and then ushered them to the concrete stadium across campus.

A few minutes later, Lily was ready. She was strapped to a ruby red dragon's back with leather belts, and she held reins in her hands. On the back of a second dragon, Tye signaled that he was ready too.

Tye's father yelled to them, "Keep them over campus! We have to limit exposure!" He slapped Tye's dragon on the leg. "Now, fly!"

The two dragons flapped their enormous wings and then leaped into the night air. Pumping, they shot upward. Lily felt the wind hit her face, and the trees' song fell away. Flanked by griffins, the dragons flew toward the gate. At Nassau Hall, the griffins peeled away, leaving the two dragons with their riders alone for the final approach.

Tye's dragon flattened his wings, extended his neck, and tucked up his talons. He shot down toward the gate. Lily's dragon dove after him.

Seconds ahead of her, Tye's dragon bashed through the iron decoration, sending the Princeton seal spinning through the air.

Lily's dragon flew right behind him. She felt the impact as the dragon's flanks scraped against the stone pillars. The pillars cracked. White light flashed. And then they were through.

On the other side, the dragons veered up over Nassau Street, silhouetted against the backdrop of the starry sky. Lily spotted the Chained Dragon instantly. He was weaving between the chapel spires, a gray shadow against the dark blue sky. "There!" Lily shouted, but the dragons had already seen their kin.

Talons extended, the Chained Dragon dove toward the plaza. Lily screamed. Her dragon echoed her scream with a trumpeting roar. Below, she saw figures: Grandpa, Jake, other Old Boys. All of them were looking up at the three dragons.

The Chained Dragon broke his dive. Rearing back, he rose in the air in front of one of the chapel's stained-glass windows.

Lily's dragon took the lead. Blasting flame from his jaws, he seared the air in front of the Chained Dragon. Lily felt hot wind on her cheeks. Dodging, the Chained Dragon fired back a burst of orange red flame.

Shooting fire back and forth, the three dragons spun in a spiral higher and higher over the chapel. Lily saw stars spin above her, streaking into circles of light. Suddenly, the Chained Dragon broke out of the spiral and shot away from the cathedral plaza. Lily's and Tye's dragons chased him.

They flew over the classrooms, the gardens, and the dorms. Ahead, beyond several fields, Lily saw a string of car headlights on Route 1, the highway that marked the border of campus. She thought of the tiger man's warning. They couldn't let the dragon leave campus.

Red sparkles burst over a soccer field. A stream of silver white chased them. Fireworks! She heard a band playing John Philip Sousa below them.

As they flew over the field, the sky lit with umbrellas of silvery sparkles. Fireworks whistled and screamed. All three dragons veered away.

Lily yanked on her dragon's reins. "Listen for the whistle, and watch for the streaks!" she shouted to her dragon. She pointed toward a thin strip of sparks that then exploded into a white burst of light. "Drive him toward those!"

Tye followed. Together, they chased the Chained Dragon over the soccer field. Using the reins, Lily guided her dragon around the about-to-explode fireworks. With no one to help him watch for the telltale streaks, the Chained Dragon spun erratically through the air, twisting and turning to avoid both the two dragons and the umbrellas of embers and hot ash.

As the Chained Dragon flailed in the air, Tye and Lily circled around him and began to drive him back toward the chapel. A crinkling sparkle of white yellow light singed one of the Chained Dragon's wings. He screamed and dipped, and the two dragons closed in.

Talons extended, the two dragons flew above the Chained Dragon's back. They forced him into a descent. He twisted and spat flame at Lily. Lily's dragon veered away, skimming the tops of the trees. Song from the trees burst into Lily's head.

She had an idea.

"Drive him toward the gardens!" she shouted to Tye. Snapping the reins, she urged her own dragon faster. They overshot the Chained Dragon and beelined for Prospect Gardens.

As they flew, Lily unhooked the harness belts from around her waist and wrapped them around her arms. Taking a deep breath, she leaned over the side of the dragon's neck. She reached out one hand and touched the treetops.

Leaves brushed her palm, and she felt song crash through her so loud and strong that it felt as if the notes were ramming themselves directly into her veins. She put a picture in her mind of the Chained Dragon and of the trees reaching up to him. "Grab him!" she ordered the trees. "Bring him down!"

Approaching rapidly, Tye's dragon rode above the Chained Dragon, driving him lower and lower. Circling the gardens, Lily slapped at treetops, repeating her command until every tree she touched now strained toward the stars, branches reaching.

Just before the gardens, Tye's dragon slammed down hard on the Chained Dragon's back. The Chained Dragon jolted lower. As he hit the top branches of the evergreens, the trees snapped together. They knocked into his wings, they battered his stomach, and they caught his legs.

The Chained Dragon tumbled out of the night sky.

"Land!" Lily cried to her own dragon.

Her dragon abruptly dove. He skidded to a landing on the walkway outside the gardens. Lily was tossed forward into his neck. Tears sprang into her eyes as her chin smashed into a scale. She didn't let it slow her, though. She flung herself off the dragon and ran into the gardens.

Above, in the treetops, the Chained Dragon thrashed. Lily heard the trees scream.

Dropping to her knees at the base of the trees, she plunged her hands into the ivy that wove between the evergreens. She pictured what she wanted: vines growing and wrapping themselves around the beast's legs. "Grow to him," she ordered the vines. "Tangle him."

Obediently, the vines stretched and wound their way up the trees toward the suspended dragon. The ivy snaked around the dragon's body as he opened his jaws and spurted fire. The nearest trees burst into flame.

Lily grabbed more vines. "Smother the flames," she commanded. Again, she formed the clearest picture she could in her mind: the vines weaving into a mat and blanketing the fire. She didn't wait to see if they succeeded. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the trunks of the trees that held the dragon. She threw her arms around the closest tree. "Pull him down!" She repeated her order with all the nearby trees. "Capture him!"

Mimicking the image she had sent them, the trees began to enclose the dragon's legs in bark. As the bark thickened, vines crept around his torso. The tree trunks creaked as the dragon fought.

Lily ran to the flower beds. Bending down, she touched the tulip petals with her palms as she ran through. "Block his eyes!" she said. "Fill his mouth. Blind him. Gag him."

Pulled by the branches and the vines, the dragon tumbled to the ground. He crashed into the fountain in the center of the gardens. The tulips shot toward him. Brilliant yellow and red petals filled his eyes and mouth. Above, Tye's dragon hovered, silhouetted by the moon, blocking the Chained Dragon's escape.

The dragon thrashed, and the force of his flailing snapped trees and crushed flowers. Lily saw the vines strain. She needed more!

Lily sprinted up the hill to the rosebushes. She thrust her hands into the leaves. Thorns scraped her palms, but she ignored them. "Pierce him," she ordered. She felt her muscles shake as the magic flooded out of her and into the roses.

The rosebushes spread down the slope toward the heart of the gardens. They wove themselves around the fallen dragon. He fought them off, breaking the branches. Lily concentrated, picturing the magic pouring out of her and into the rosebushes. "More!" she cried.

Filled with her magic, the roses multiplied as they flowed down the hill, over the gardens, and to the dragon. Blossoms burst into red and white bloom as they snaked around the beast.

"Thorns, grow," she commanded. She imagined the thorns thickening and stretching until each was a living sword.

The thorn swords stabbed the dragon.

She heard the dragon scream, and for an instant, she faltered. The roses felt her hesitation and withdrew.

"Don't stop!" Tye shouted down at her. "He killed your father! He killed my mother! You have to end this now!"

Closing her eyes, she sent more thorns into the dragon.

Rose thorns pierced the dragon's heart.

In the distance, dimly, she heard men and women shouting. The dragon screamed as the Princeton knights burst into the gardens. Releasing the roses, Lily sagged to the ground.

The rosebushes retreated up the hill. The tulips fell out of the dragon's mouth and slipped from his eyes. The vines shrank and slithered back to their trees, and the trees themselves rose to stand tall around the gardens like silent, broken sentinels.

Swords raised, the knights, led by Jake, raced toward the downed dragon.

In the center of the gardens, covered in petals and blood, the dragon lay still.