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  Mikal recoiled. “That does sound like a very big favor.”

  Another tear rolled down Hector’s snout.

  George gnawed on her bottom lip. “I think we should do it.”

  “You have got to be joking!” Cavendish said. “He’s a dragon. Besides, you’re supposed to be finding a key to Astria, not rescuing every monster and reptile that comes your way.”

  “You’re the one who led us to the monster, Cavendish,” Mikal said. “And it turned out he had the key. You led us here, so maybe we’re supposed to help Hector to get the second key.”

  “Even if we don’t get a key out of it, I think we should help.” George stepped forward and touched Hector on the shoulder. “If we help you, Hector, do you promise you won’t hurt us?”

  Hector looked solemnly at George. “I do promise, little human.”

  George took a very deep breath. “All right, then. Do we have any matches?”

  Mikal dropped to his knees and began rummaging through a backpack.

  Caleb closed his eyes and shook his head. “Seriously, George? I want to help too, but really? Sticking your arm down his throat? You’re doing half the work of eating you for him!”

  “He said he wouldn’t hurt us. Besides, do you know how thrilled Daniel will be to find out I helped a dragon get his fire back?” George’s green eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

  “Who is Daniel?” Hector asked.

  “He’s my little brother. He’s lost. But I’m going to find him, and when I do, you can bet I’ll bring him back to meet you.”

  “Good luck, George,” Mikal said as he handed her the book of matches he kept with his supplies.

  Hector’s face lit up excitedly.

  Cavendish groaned.

  “Hold on, George,” Caleb said, swiping his hand through his hair. “I’ll do it.” He took the matches from her and stepped between Hector’s stubby front legs.

  “I’m the one who agreed to it, Caleb.”

  “Yes, I know,” he said as he rolled up his sleeves. “But I’m taller.”

  Hector’s head towered over Caleb.

  Caleb struck a match on the side of the box. “You’re going to have to come down here if you want me to be able to reach.”

  Hector obediently lowered his head to Caleb’s side.

  Caleb paused for a brief moment before reaching into Hector’s gleaming-razor-sharp-tooth-filled mouth.

  “Wait!” Mikal said.

  Caleb jumped and was relieved to find his fingers still attached. “Yes, Mikal?” he asked with exaggerated patience.

  “His snout is as big as your entire upper body,” Mikal said.

  George nodded. “Mikal’s right. He could bite you in half with one chomp.”

  Caleb’s eyebrows rose. “I had, naturally, noticed that.”

  Hector drew himself up, staring down at George and Mikal, looking every bit the threatening dragon. “Do not impugn my honor, little humans. I made a promise, and dragons always keep their promises. I swear, on my very fire, that I will not harm any one of you.”

  Caleb held his hands up. “Happy?”

  George swallowed hard. “Yes. Sorry, Hector.”

  “I forgive you. I understand what it must be like to be such fearful and defenseless little beasts.”

  “We’re not as defenseless as you might think,” Mikal said with a scowl. “And I’m getting braver. It’s just a process.”

  “Of course, little knight,” Hector said.

  Mikal narrowed his eyes at Hector. “Are you patronizing me?”

  “I think he just may be,” Cavendish said dryly.

  “Enough already,” Caleb said. “Let’s get on with it. Open wide, Hector.”

  “You’re in an awful big hurry to get your arm chewed off,” Cavendish said.

  “Well, it’s my arm, not yours, so stop complaining.”

  “Well, excuse me for caring! Besides, I don’t have any arms,” Cavendish said.

  Caleb rolled his eyes as he struck another match. “Ready, Hector?”

  “I am,” Hector said, licking his chops nervously. “Try not to burn my tongue. It’s sensitive.”

  George grabbed Mikal’s hand as Caleb took a deep breath and slowly began to guide the match past the razor-sharp teeth to the back of the dragon’s throat.

  “Careful,” Hector mumbled, holding his mouth wide open.

  Caleb squinted in concentration. “Just … about … there.… Got it!” He snatched his arm out of the dragon’s mouth and flung the hot match into the puddle of tears.

  George sagged in relief as Mikal shook his hand free.

  A massive whoosh of hot flame shot over their heads, forcing them to duck for cover.

  “You wonderful children! My life is complete once again,” Hector said. “Oh my, I’m so sorry. That was entirely unintentional. I’m just a bit rusty.” He swiped his long tail through the puddle of tears, causing it to cascade over the little group, successfully dampening the smoking tendrils around George’s ears.

  “It’s quite all right,” George said, wringing out her hair.

  “DON’T GET ME WET, DON’T GET ME WET, DON’T GET ME WET!” Cavendish screeched in a panic.

  “It’s okay, Cavendish. You’re not wet,” Mikal said upon close inspection.

  “Are you sure? I could short out. I could DIE.”

  Mikal wiped the screen with the hem of his shirt. “You’re perfectly dry. I promise.”

  “Okay, okay, okay. Breathe deeply.” Cavendish made exaggerated breathing noises.

  “I’m sorry to be such a trouble. Setting you on fire and then almost drowning you.”

  “It’s okay, Hector,” Caleb said. “You could have eaten my arm, so no harm done.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Mikal said as he shook his hair free of water. “I hope you know, George, this counts as a bath. So don’t try to get me to wash up again anytime soon.”

  “Thank you so much for your help, little humans. Look at my beautiful fire! You have truly saved my life!” He laughed and proudly scorched the remains of the little pond.

  The kids jumped back to avoid being hit by the flames that erupted from his mouth, and he blushed in embarrassment.

  “My aim is still a little off. I almost cooked you again. I had better be going before I do any more harm. Thank you again, and if you ever need me, I’ll be thrilled to escort you anywhere my wings can take you. I am forever in your debt!”

  Hector bowed the front half of his body close to the ground and began to pump his wings. The gale he generated threatened to blow the children off their feet. They huddled together and watched him rise into the air. He circled twice before flying off in the direction of the mountains, his scales sparkling in the light.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “What a nice dragon,” George said.

  “I’m glad we helped him,” Mikal said. “But we still don’t have the second key to Astria.”

  “And he dried up our escape route.” Caleb gestured to where the pool of tears had been. “I was planning on using that puddle to get back to the Door Way. We can’t find our way back the way we came. The wind blew over our tracks, and everything looks the same here.”

  “I don’t think that would have worked anyway,” Mikal said. “The Hag said you need rain to make a proper mud puddle.”

  “Seems like the Engineer could have come up with a better plan than mud puddle travel,” George said. “Maybe, like, a really small Moor you could keep in your pocket. Then whenever you needed it, you’d just take it out, and it would grow and open right into the Door Way.”

  “Maybe you should be the new Engineer, George,” Caleb said.

  “What you’re talking about is a Portable Moor,” Cavendish said. “And those are outrageously illegal.”

  “Why are they illegal?” Mikal asked.

  “Because Portable Moors could go nearly anywhere you wanted them to. All you had to do was open them while thinking about the location you wanted to end up at. That made some
very important people nervous, because security was nearly impossible. Dozens of restrictions were placed on them, but it was ultimately decreed that all Moors must have a static destination, which means they have to be programmed to go to a single, known place. That rendered Portable Moors illegal, and their production ceased and became a punishable offense, along with many other technologies both useful and sinister.”

  “Leave it to you to come up with a great idea that’s against the law, Georgina,” Caleb teased.

  “They weren’t very practical anyway,” Cavendish said. “They were only good for one-time use, and very spendy.”

  “One-time use would be good enough for us,” George said with a sigh. “Oh well. Can you show us the way out, Cavendish?”

  “Nope, can’t do it. And not just because I’m being difficult, though that is a bonus. The inside world doors are hidden for security purposes.”

  “So we have to wait for rain?” George asked.

  “I don’t think that happens very often here,” Caleb said, looking around.

  “You’re forgetting the Hag’s gift,” Mikal said. “She said it would make rain.”

  George retrieved the glass vial from her backpack. The vapor inside had changed from pink to light green. She pulled the stopper from the vial, and the vapor trailed out, twisting and curling as it disappeared into the twilight.

  “You probably should have waited to do that until we found the key,” Caleb said.

  “It isn’t doing anything, though,” Mikal said.

  “Maybe it takes time to work,” George said. “Let’s look for the key while we’re waiting.”

  The children scoured the area near where Cavendish’s map had led them. Nothing was to be found but dead brush and parched earth.

  * * *

  “This is ridiculous,” George said finally. “Cavendish, can’t you be more specific about where we’re supposed to find it?”

  “I told you, I can get within a hundred yards of the key. Don’t blame me just because you’re a bad looker.”

  “It must be close to lunchtime now,” Mikal said, his stomach growling.

  Caleb looked to the sky, but it was no closer to raining than it had been before. “Let’s eat. Maybe we’ll come up with a better plan when we’re not hungry.”

  George sat in the dust and tapped at her chin thoughtfully.

  Mikal flopped down beside her and dug out the last of the peanut butter sandwiches to pass around. “This is it for the food. I hope our next stop will be a place where we can get more.”

  Soon the sky darkened and the stars began to arc across the heavens in a frenzy.

  “What’s the time, Cavendish? It can’t be late enough for it to be this dark yet,” George said.

  “The time is now one eleven PM DWT. You currently have thirty-four hours before your very lives are extinguished. It gets dark early here.”

  Caleb whistled softly as he lay back to watch the meteors flashing overhead.

  “Heavens to Betsy, there’s a lot of them!” George said.

  “No wonder. This is the sixth night since the showers started,” Mikal said.

  “In the story, people were already drowning in the stars by now,” Caleb said.

  “The only reason we’re not drowning is because the Council keeps them from hitting the worlds. At least until tomorrow night,” George said.

  “That’s right,” Cavendish said. “The meteors would be bashing your heads in right now but for the Council of Seven. As long as it exists, the showers return every hundred and eleven years but never continue past the seventh night and never beat against the worlds.”

  “And if we don’t find two more keys to Astria, retrieve the missing pieces, and get to Selyrdor, wherever that is, by eleven eleven PM tomorrow…” Caleb trailed off.

  “Then the Council of Seven can’t be remade. If that happens, there are two potential scenarios. The first is that the Flyrrey goes haywire and all of the inhabitants are destroyed in the chaos. The second is that the stars crash down before that, and we all die in a rain of fire and stone. More scenic, much faster, still dead,” Cavendish said pleasantly.

  “I like you, Cavendish,” George said. “But I’m not really comfortable with how certain you are that we’re all gonna die.”

  “That’s just what your kind does. Artificial intelligence is eternal, though, so I’m good.”

  “Look over there,” Mikal said, pointing to a streak of orange far in the distance. It drifted nearer, and with it came a light drizzle.

  “I can’t believe it! The Hag’s potion is working,” George said. She got to her feet and tried to catch raindrops on her tongue.

  Mikal jumped up to join her, stretching his arms out and spinning in circles.

  “You have to cover me up!” Cavendish said. “The water is bad! It is very bad!”

  “We know, Cav,” Caleb said patiently. “We’ll keep you dry. Don’t panic.”

  “You would panic too if the water wanted to kill you!” He began muttering to himself. “I must stay dry, I mustn’t get wet. I must stay dry, I mustn’t get wet.”

  Mikal stopped twirling to stuff the map under his shirt. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Cavendish.”

  They donned their raincoats and climbed the hill to the scanty shelter of the tree atop it. The rain began to pour in earnest, and soon the entire blue desert looked like a vast lake.

  “Maybe the rain will wash up the key or something,” George said loudly, to be heard above the storm.

  Mikal clutched Cavendish under his raincoat with one arm and put the other around the trunk of the tree. “If the water keeps rising, we’re gonna be in trouble.”

  “You’ll be sorry you used that wicked woman’s potion. She meant for it to kill us! She did, she did. We’re all going to drown. We’re going to drown! Horrible woman, wanting to drown us,” Cavendish rambled on hysterically.

  “Hush, Cav. It’s going to be okay,” Caleb said, grasping the trunk with one arm and Mikal with the other.

  Cavendish ignored him. “Horrible woman, wanting to drown me. And I’m so young—”

  “Don’t fress?” Mikal asked, his voice quavering.

  George’s smile was taut with anxiety as she clung to the tree. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  The water continued to rise and soon lapped against the soles of their shoes.

  “Don’t let go. It’s our best hope of making it through this,” Caleb said.

  The water reached their ankles and then their knees. The current grew so strong the children would have been lost if not for the tree bravely holding its ground.

  “We have to keep Cavendish dry!” Mikal shouted above the noise.

  George and Caleb held tightly to Mikal’s body as he struggled out of his raincoat, being careful not to drop Cavendish into the rising water. He wrapped the raincoat around a whimpering Cavendish and held him as high above his head as he could reach.

  “I should tell you…,” Cavendish crackled with static.

  “I really don’t think this is the time,” Mikal said through chattering teeth.

  “But I must tell you now. If the water gets me, you have to know,” Cavendish said, his words gaining strength.

  George’s voice was shrill with fear. “Thank you for being so thoughtful, Cavendish, but I’m sure it’s not necessary.”

  “Listen! If it happens, remember your third key can be found in Obsidia.”

  “Hush, Cav. We’re all going to be okay,” Caleb said, but his grip on the tree trembled.

  “We’ve got to be okay, or my parents will never know what happened to me,” George said. “I can’t do that to them. We’ve got to be okay.”

  As the water reached their chests, Caleb looked up and saw an immense wave rolling in their direction. “Hold tight!” he yelled.

  The wave crashed over them, ripping the air from their lungs. Mikal was yanked from their grasp, and he swirled madly away. Caleb dove after him, managing to reach him just b
efore he was swept into the depths. George grabbed for them and pulled them back to the tree, but it was too late. The angry current had wrenched Cavendish from Mikal’s arms, and he vanished without even a cry.

  The rain slowed to a trickle and then stopped.

  “Let me go!” Mikal screamed, thrashing in Caleb’s arms.

  “You can’t get to him, Mikal,” Caleb said, refusing to let go. “You can’t.”

  “I can! He is just under the water there. He is right there! I promised him I wouldn’t let him get wet. I promised him!”

  The flood receded quickly, sinking into the ground so fast it was as if it had never been.

  Caleb finally released Mikal, allowing him to struggle through the knee-deep water, where he frantically searched for the map.

  “Mikal, he could be anywhere. Those waves … they were really strong,” George said as she waded to his side. “I’m so sorry.”

  Mikal turned and threw his arms around her waist, sobbing at the loss of his friend.

  George hugged him close and let him cry. She patted his back softly and murmured kind words, her eyes dull with sadness as she looked at Caleb.

  Caleb stood alone, with his hands on his head. He looked utterly lost.

  An ancient voice spoke from behind them. “What is it, little ones? Why are you weeping? I can feel your hearts hurting from here.”

  They all gasped in alarm, spinning around to see who was speaking to them. They were alone.

  “Who’s there?” George asked in a trembling voice.

  “It is me. Don’t you know me? You held so tightly in the storm.”

  “It’s the tree. The tree’s talking to us,” Mikal said, wiping his nose with a wet sleeve.

  “I-I’ve never heard a tree speak,” George said.

  “And I’ve never heard such a little one speak,” the tree said. “What kind of beast are you, if it is not rude of me to ask? I can tell that you are Loeta, and you do not belong.”

  “We’re humans. Human kids,” Caleb said, too tired to be amazed.

  “Oh my, I have never in all of my many days heard of human children in this realm, and I have been here since before the dust turned blue.”

  “How long ago was that?” Mikal asked, releasing George and blinking tear-swollen eyes.