Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Chapter 22: As Above, So Below

We rushed back inside to see three angry-looking dragon bloods burst through the front door.

“This way,” Ewan said, leading me down a narrow hall to the servants’ staircase. We rushed up the stairs and headed down the hall toward my bedchamber.

There were shouts coming from below and then there was another explosion. Grabbing hold of the balcony rail, I looked over in time to see two more of the dragon bloods enter. That’s when the shooting started.

Lucy appeared from the side room, pistols in both hands, and began firing.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” William said as he rushed down the hallway toward us, buckling his belt with one hand and pulling a sword from his back with another. “Looks like they found us. Ewan, get her out of here.”

“But you and Lucy—” Ewan began in protest.

“Get Rapunzel and her dragons away from here. I’ll go. Can’t let Lucy have all the fun,” William said then pulled his sword.

Ewan eyed William’s blade. “Taking a sword to a gunfight?”

“Oh, this is new. Got it from the tinkers,” he said then activated a lever on the pommel. The sword sparkled blue. I could feel heat emanating off of it. William inclined his head to me then turned and ran toward the commotion.

Ewan and I headed back toward my chamber.

I flung the door open only to duck a moment later as a fireball came blasting toward me.

Wink clicked loudly, alerting Estrid to stop.

Estrid snorted, exhaling a puff of flame.

“Girls, we need to go. Now,” I said.

Ewan raced across the room, grabbed the satchel with the egg, and handed it to me. I strapped it on then motioned for the girls to follow us.

“This way,” Ewan said, leading us away from the battle underway and toward another servant’s stairwell.

Luna clung to my hair as we raced away, Estrid and Wink hovering nearby.

“My auto is parked in the barn,” Ewan told me.

“But Lucy and William…”

“Lucy and William have made the same oath as me. They’re buying us time. Let’s go.”

I rushed along behind Ewan. We raced down the stairwell, which ended not far from the kitchens. On the other side of the door, I heard dishes clatter, breaking as they fell to the floor, then a loud scream. It was Caroline, the lady's maid. I listened to a rough, angry voice shouting and Caroline’s weepy replies. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. They wouldn’t dare hurt an innocent girl, would they? Anger rippled through me.

“Ewan, we need to help,” I said, stepping toward the commotion.

“No. We need to get to my auto. Rapunzel, this way,” he said, but when I wouldn’t budge, he turned and looked back at me. “Rapunzel?”

Glaring down the hallway, I stopped. “We need to help,” I said again. This time, I felt sure of it. My body felt strange. It was like warmth was uncoiling from somewhere deep within me.

“I know you want to help, but think about the girls, the egg. We need to get you away from here. If not for your sake, for theirs.”

I stared at the door. I could distinctly hear a man shouting and Caroline’s frightened cries.

Estrid growled low and mean. I looked from her to Wink. Estrid jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen.

The girls and I headed toward the kitchen door.

“Rapunzel,” Ewan whispered, aghast.

Pushing the door open, I saw signs of a struggle. Broken china lay all over the floor. A massive man, a dragon blood, had lifted Caroline by the neck of her dress and was holding her against the wall. The tearful maid was shaking her head.

“I don’t know what you're talking about,” she sobbed.

“Put her down,” I said, my voice sounding far sterner than I ever thought I was capable.

The man stiffened then turned around. Yanking Caroline around him, he lifted a knife off a nearby counter and held it to her throat.

“Lower your gun, Ewan,” the dragon blood hissed. “Or I’ll cut her throat.”

I turned and looked behind me to see Ewan standing there, his pistol aimed at the man.

I nodded to him.

Frowning, Ewan looked from the dragon blood to the maid then to me. He lowered his gun.

“Let her go, Cheron,” Ewan told the man.

“Gladly,” the man replied then pushed Caroline. She banged against the counter with a grunt. Fear in her eyes, she turned and fled the room.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I growled.

“Why not, blood of Anna? What is she to me?” he said.

Glaring at him, I motioned to Wink.

The little dragon blinked. The air in front of the dragon blood shivered, and Wink appeared before the man.

“What in the name of Mordred?” he whispered, but he didn’t have time to finish his thought.

Wink exhaled a massive cloud of pink smoke in his face.

At once, the man collapsed.

“Okay, now we really need to go,” Ewan said.

Turning back the way we’d come, we raced down the hallway then slipped out a side door. We headed toward the barn. As we raced toward the building, two massive brutes emerged. They ran away from the structure. A moment later, there was a loud explosion, and the barn was engulfed in flame.

“My auto,” Ewan whined.

Grabbing my hand, Ewan and I turned and rushed toward the garden.

“Five miles west of the field where we picnicked is a road. We’ll head there,” he said, but just as we turned the corner, two more of the dragon bloods appeared.

“Ewan, we were looking for you,” one of the dragon bloods called. He was the same man from the platform, the one who’d shot the tower guard and the pilot. “Where are you headed with our mate?”

Mate?

“Look,” the second man—the one with the odd gun from the airship platform—said. “Dormad, look. Not at her, or Goodwin, at them.”

Dormad, who had been glaring menacingly at Ewan, turned his attention first to me and then to Wink, Luna, and Estrid.

“Are those…dragons?” he asked in an astonished whisper.

Ewan looked at Wink. “We’re going to need that stinky breath of yours again.”

The air shivered, and a moment later, Wink appeared in front of the second man.

“Owyr, meet Wink,” Ewan called.

Wink snorted then huffed a breath of pink smoke at the dragon blood.

“What the hell?” Dormad called.

A moment later, Owyr fell to the ground.

“We need to go,” Ewan said.

I nodded to Estrid. “Get rid of him,” I said, motioning to Dormad.

Estrid clicked happily, and a moment later, she let out a massive ball of fire. And then another and another. Dormad, for all his bravado, turned and ran.

“Let’s go,” Ewan said, and we rushed toward the garden.

Estrid appeared a moment later looking very pleased with herself.

We raced down the path and had just reached the statue of Diana when a gunshot rang out overhead.

Luna chirped nervously.

“Stop,” a voice called commandingly.

When we turned to look back, we spotted five dragon bloods coming out of the manor. One held Lucy tightly, her hands behind her back. I didn’t see William. Fear, and then anger, washed over me. They hadn’t killed him, right? I mean, they wouldn’t kill him, would they? The dragon bloods had their pistols trained on Ewan and me.

Estrid hovered in the air beside me. I could feel the heat as she readied a fireball.

“Let her go,” I yelled.

“Come with us, blood of Anna, and no one has to get hurt,” the leader called. He was a massive man, taller than the others, but also older. He had black hair with streaks of silver at the temples. Like the others, he had a heavy brow and a dark, angry countenance.

“Morad,” Ewan replied. “You’re a fool. The Once and Future King’s true heir will never consort with the likes of you.”

“Shut your mouth, Pellinore. God, will someone please shoot him,” Morad said, motioning to the others.

Estrid moved between Ewan and the dragon bloods and let out such a terrible roar that they all froze. Even my own body quaked at the sound.

Suddenly, the other dragon bloods didn’t look so sure anymore.

Morad sneered then turned to me once more. “Blood of Anna, you are revered amongst my brothers and me. You and your dragons. We are all the children of Pendragon. You are one of us, not one of them. That man is a dragon hunter,” he said, pointing at Ewan. “And you are a dragon, like us. They are using you. Don’t believe anything the Society has told you. These Pellinores… All they have ever done is hunt us. Come with us, and we will keep you safe. We will honor and worship you. Together, we are the true rulers of this realm. Come with your own kind.”

“Show me you mean it. Let Lucy go,” I said.

The leader motioned to the others, who shoved Lucy hard. She stumbled as she walked forward, but she didn’t fall. Her lip and nose were bloody, and there was a dark mark under her eye, but she was alive. She joined Ewan and me.

“Now, come with us,” Morad said, motioning to me. “No one has to get hurt. Let’s leave together.”

The wind whipped across the rose garden, carrying with it a sweet melody in the air, a soft sound like what I imagined a harp to sound like. And with it, I heard whispered words: Above. Above.

I looked from Lucy back to the dragon bloods—and then above them.

Coasting in slowly, the propeller off and lights out, an airship was dropping from the clouds. At the rail, I saw a figure wearing a red cape that billowed in the breeze.

“Rapunzel,” Ewan whispered, “don’t do it. You can’t trust them. They will…mistreat you. Please, don’t listen to them.”

“You must give your word that no one will be harmed,” I told Morad.

Hanging from my braid, Luna chirped nervously in my ear. Estrid looked back at me, giving me an angry, frustrated look. To make her stance clear, she went to Ewan and landed on his shoulder.

“You have our word,” Morad said.

I turned to Ewan.

“Please don’t do this,” he whispered. “Rapunzel, I…”

“You’re my butter upon bacon too. No, better than that. But you better get ready, because as above, so below.” I winked at him.

A moment later, a gunshot rang out. This time, it wasn’t the dragon bloods doing the shooting. As the airship lowered toward the yard, more than a dozen agents dropped from the sky, including Agents Hunter and Louvel.

“Rapunzel,” Ewan whispered in shock.

But there was no time. A moment later, a massive brawl began. Fighting his way through the crowd, Morad pushed toward Ewan, Lucy, and me.

“Go,” Lucy said, pulling one of Ewan’s guns from his holster. “I’ll hold him off. Get them away from here.”

She moved to engage Morad.

“Come on,” Ewan said, and we raced away from the scene.

But a moment later, Dormad appeared in front of us, a massive knife in his hands. “You think you’re getting out of here alive, Pellinore? Think again.”

“Rapunzel,” Ewan called. “The maze then back to Mithras.”

Understanding, I nodded then rushed into the hedge maze. At night, the maze felt ominous. I could just make out the tip of Diana’s arrow in the moonlight. Following that, I made my way through the maze.

“She went into the maze. Go after her before the agents catch up,” I heard one of the dragon bloods yell.

I heard the crunch of gravel as people entered behind me. The sounds of gunfire and fighting fell behind. Luna chirped nervously. With every step I took, I felt like I was making the wrong decision. What was I doing in the maze? I needed to go back and help the agents. I needed to stop the dragon bloods. But how?

My heart thundered in my chest.

I stopped and listened. I heard footsteps coming in my direction.

“She’s in here somewhere,” a rough voice called.

“We need to grab her and get out of here. The red capes are tearing up the place,” another voice answered.

Frowning, I turned and went forward once more. I held the satchel at my side, feeling the egg lying safely inside. I rushed through the dark maze, checking the skyline for Diana’s arrow. The walls of the shrubbery, so bright and green in the summer daylight, loomed over me menacingly under the moonlight. I made turn after turn until finally, I spotted the exit.

“Come on,” I whispered to the girls, and we rushed out of the maze. Now I just needed to double back to the other side of the garden and slip into the passage to Mithras’ temple once more. No one would even know we were there.

I rounded the corner only to find Owyr standing in my way. But this time, he held a long chain. And at the end of it, trapped in steel, was Gothel.