Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

" D ie?" Paige cried. "Wait…no."

Drucinda sneered at the Graggles, widening her stance as she thrust her knife forward.

"Most likely, yes," Dewey said with a nod. "We are vastly outnumbered with limited weapons. Basically, this all hinges on how well Drucinda can fight."

"Well, she can fight really well, I mean she took down all those goblins as a kid."

"Come on, you little muppets," Drucinda said with a wave of her fingers, "let's dance."

"Wow, that was super aggressive," Paige said with a shake of her head. "I would have just said nothing. Why tempt fate?"

"Scare tactic," Dewey said. "I mean…would you attack Drucinda after she said that?"

"I would literally never attack Drucinda, but it doesn't look like that applies to the Graggles. I think they're going to rush her en masse."

The fuzzy creatures formed an attack line fronted by wooden shields .

"Ohh, you should help her," Dewey said.

"What? Why aren't you helping her, too?" Paige asked.

Dewey shrugged. "I'll be there in spirit. I don't want to take a chance with my life."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Paige, you'll be okay. You're the main character."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Fine, go fly into a tree and hide there and Drucinda and I will handle this."

"Well, probably Drucinda will handle it, and you'll just…draw a few off to even the odds for her."

Paige pressed her lips into a thin line as she shot him a glare. Before she could join Drucinda for the fight, a loud whooshing noise descended on them.

Paige glanced skyward, the moon blotted out for a moment as Devon dove down toward the Graggles, still in beast mode.

He barreled through them, knocking them sideways and tossing a few into trees before he rose into the sky again, preparing for another pass.

"Your husband is saving the day," Dewey reported. "Wow, I never expected this of Devon. Good job telling him you loved him at just the right time to turn him into a hero."

"Come on!" Drucinda shouted at them. "Let's make a run for it before they regroup."

Paige rushed forward on wobbly legs, dashing toward the now-open road into the jungle.

"Run, Paige, run!" Dewey wailed.

"I'm running, I'm running," she said, puffing with effort as she pushed her body forward.

A Graggle leapt in front of her, bearing its teeth.

Paige ground to a stop, but Drucinda skirted her, slashing at the creature with her knife before she knocked it aside with a swift fling of her arm .

They continued forward, but the Graggles had started to regroup, forming a new line at the village's entrance.

"Oh, crap," Paige murmured.

Before they reached the line, though, Devon swept down again, knocking the Graggles aside.

A few attempted to leap onto his back but he shook them free before he climbed into the sky again.

They dashed forward through the opening before the stunned Graggles could retaliate, leaving the village behind and racing through the jungle.

Enormous leaves smacked Paige in the face as she tried to put distance between her and the village.

After a few minutes running, Drucinda slowed to a stop. Paige doubled over, gasping for breath as Drucinda merely fixed her ponytail and sucked in a big breath.

"Man, I wish I was part Valkyrie," Paige choked out.

"Everyone does, darling," Drucinda said. "Unfortunately, it's reserved for those of us who are fabulous. Now, where is that husband of yours?"

Paige searched the skies for him. "I don't know. Do you think he could see us from up there?"

"Hard to say. The canopy is fairly dense." Drucinda sent her gaze skyward. "Call out to him."

"No," Paige said with a shake of her head. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. The Graggles will be able to find us."

"A chance we'll have to take," Drucinda answered. "We need to find Devon. Oh, unless you're planning on leaving him behind. You know, the grieving widow bit. You'd stand to inherit quite a bit."

"I'm not leaving him behind, but I'm not going to shout out to him." Paige shook her head before her eyebrows pinched. "Although…there's really no other way for him to find us, is there? "

"Perhaps if I climb a tree and try to reflect something off the moon using Morse Code," Drucinda answered, "though I doubt he'd recognize it. He never did like studying much."

"Still, it might attract his attention. What do we have that will reflect the moon?"

Drucinda raised the knife in the air, blade pointing up. "Best I can do."

She clenched it between her teeth as she mounted a nearby tree and scurried up toward the top before settling onto a branch and using the knife to try to catch the moonlight.

Paige shifted her weight from foot to foot, a shiver snaking down her spine as worry over Devon set in. "Where is he?"

"Probably lost," Dewey answered.

"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Paige retorted with a shake of her head.

"I am. I could have said dead or captured. I went with the best option: lost."

Paige clicked her tongue, heaving a sigh. A loud crack to her left drew her attention. Her muscles stiffened as her senses stretched to listen for any other disturbances in the jungle.

"Devon?" she whispered, peering into the darkness.

Seconds later, Devon appeared, crashing through the large leaves before he collapsed face first onto the ground.

"Devon!" Paige raced to his side, collapsing to her knees. "Are you okay?"

She rolled him over onto his back, her fingers turning wet and sticky. Her nose wrinkled as she pulled her hand back to peer at her fingers, rubbing them with her thumb.

She gasped as the moonlight revealed blood. "No!"

"Uh, Paige…" Dewey said as he poked a claw at Devon .

She glanced down to find blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

"Paige," he choked out, coughing up more blood before he reached toward her.

"OMG," Paige said, her features registering shock as Drucinda's boots hit the ground and pounded toward them.

"What's happened?"

"They got me, Dru. They got me good."

"Is he lying? Is this a Dewey situation?" Drucinda asked.

Paige's head wagged back and forth. "I don't think so. His shirt is soaked in blood."

Paige raised her bloody fingers as proof.

"And he's coughing up blood and sort of acting like he's dying," Dewey added.

Drucinda focused on her friend, her features pinching as she studied him. "How bad is it?"

"Bad, Dru," he answered, his voice gravelly.

"We'll see about that." She grabbed hold of his shoulder, rolling him onto his side.

With her knife, she sliced his shirt open and peered at his wound in the dim moonlight as Devon groaned in pain.

"How does it look?"

"Not good," Drucinda answered, twisting Paige's stomach into a tight knot.

"Well….what should we do? Should we try to get him back to our world or…" Her voice trailed off as she found no other suitable options.

She'd just come to the realization that she may want to spend the rest of her life with him and now it may be too late.

"Oh, no…Devon is the one who's going to die for the cause." Dewey gasped, slapping a paw against his forehead.

Drucinda ignored him as she leaned closer to study the wound, her eyes narrowing. She pulled the skin apart, sending a stream of blood flowing down his back.

"Ahhhh…should you be doing that? He's bleeding…like a lot," Paige said, her voice shaky.

"I have to assess this. The depth, what– "

"What? What what?" Paige asked when Drucinda's voice cut off.

"I see the problem here," she answered. "This is not great."

"What is it? What's wrong?" Paige inched closer, trying to find what Drucinda found.

"There is a poison arrow tip lodged in this wound." She shook her head as she cursed under her breath. "We need to get this out of him."

"Here? Now?" Paige tried to keep her breathing calm, but it came in ragged gasps.

"We don't have much choice. He's not going to make it to the portal. We're never going to be able to carry him, and our slowed pace will cost us time."

"Well…what are we going to do?"

Drucinda raised her knife, the blade gleaming in the moonlight. "I'm going to perform an emergency surgery to remove this from him. After that, we'll need to cover this with a paste that will suck the poison from his system."

She glanced up at Paige, her features pinching. "Hold him down!"

Paige winced as she shimmied around to place her hands against Devon's shoulders and press down. "Okay."

Drucinda readied her knife, then plunged it into Devon's back. He wailed in pain, squirming and escaping from Paige's grasp.

"I said hold him down, not put your hands on him gently. Hold him."

"Okay, okay," Paige shouted as she slammed her weight down on top of him, squashing him against the ground with as much force as she could.

"Come on, Paige. You're really dropping the ball here," Dewey answered.

"You're not helping, little man," Drucinda said as she cut into Devon's skin again. "Go gather a few Fiji plants for the paste."

"Right. I'll handle that."

"Be careful," Paige said as she gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her brows from her effort to hold Devon still.

Finally, he went limp, and she heaved out a sigh of relief. "He's out."

"Yep," Drucinda said as she tossed the knife aside and dug into the wound she'd created.

Paige winced as blood oozed from the slit. She curled her fingers into fists as Drucinda grunted with effort.

"Come on," she murmured through gritted teeth. "I can't get it."

"Let me try," Paige said.

Drucinda's jaw unhinged as she stared at Paige. "Are you joking? You?"

"My fingers are slimmer than yours, maybe I can get it."

"Are you saying my fingers are fat?"

"No, just that mine are skeletal and long. Let me try."

Drucinda arched an eyebrow.

"It's his life, Drucinda. Let me try."

Drucinda pulled her fingers from the wound and motioned toward it. "Take your shot."

Paige licked her lips as she stared down at the bloody slit. She winced, her nose wrinkling as her trembling fingers hovered over it.

"Are you going to do it or just think about doing it?"

"I'm doing it. I'm doing it. Just let me…prepare."

"Do it before he dies," Drucinda retorted .

"Okay, okay!" Paige's shrill voice betrayed the panic rising in her. "I just don't want to make things worse."

"It can't get much worse than this. He's dying."

"Right." She sucked in a sharp breath and plunged her fingers into the wound. Warm blood oozed around her skin as she searched blindly for the tip of the arrow. "I feel it."

"Good, now…grab it and pull it out."

"I'm trying." Her nostrils flared as her slimy fingers slipped on the slick metal. "This isn't easy."

"No kidding," Drucinda said.

"Wait…if I can just get under it…" Paige's nose wrinkled as she hooked her finger, digging further into Devon's flesh. "Ughhh…"

Bile rose in her throat, but she tried to concentrate on drawing the tip of the arrow upward. After a few minutes of work, a glint of metal became visible.

"Almost there," Drucinda encouraged, "keep going. Don't lose it now."

Paige forced herself to slow down so she didn't lose her grip on the piece. Finally, she teased it from his wound, raising it triumphantly in the air. "Got it."

"Excellent work, Paige. Excellent work. Let me see it."

Paige dropped it in Drucinda's hand and allowed the woman to study it under the moonlight. "It looks intact. Good. Now, all we need is the Fiji plant."

"Got ‘em," Dewey said as he buzzed over, carrying a number of red flowers.

"We need to make a paste with this. We'll have to chew the flowers and spit them out into our hands to form the paste, then spread it into and over the wound," Drucinda instructed.

Dewey stared blankly ahead, pushing the flowers toward Paige. "He's your husband. "

"Fine, I'll do it," Paige said with a nod as she snatched a flower. "What's the big deal?"

She shoved the red petals into her mouth and began to chew. A gag escaped her. "OMG, now I see."

"Uh-huh."

"Ugh. Oh, this is awful." She pressed the back of her hand against her lips as she nearly retched again. "It tastes like…vomit mixed with tar."

Drucinda snatched one from Dewey, shoving it in her mouth and chewing with a grimace.

After a few more seconds of chewing, Paige spit hers into her hand.

"Shove it into the wound," Dewey said.

Paige let her tongue loll out of her mouth to ease the taste as she slid the contents from her palm into the slit on Devon's back. "Oh, that's awful, just…terrible."

"Better you than me," Dewey answered as they slathered Devon's back with the concoction.

"How long will this take to work?" Paige asked, still pawing at her tongue to try to alleviate the flavor. "Ugh, is there any water to take this taste away?"

"Where would I get water?" Drucinda asked. "I didn't grab a bottle on the way out of the Graggle village."

"Is there a nearby stream, maybe? I mean, we have to wait for Devon to wake up, right?"

"I saw a stream nearby," Dewey said. "While I was gathering the Fiji plants. I can show you."

"Ugh, yes, please." Paige scrambled to her feet, her hands held to the sides, her fingers dyed red from the flower. "I can wash my hands, too."

"Don't mind me. I'll just stay here with your husband," Drucinda grumbled as Dewey buzzed through the air, leading the way to the water.

"How long do you think it'll take for Devon to wake up?" Paige asked with another grimace as more flavor burst in her mouth. "Wow, this taste just won't quit."

"Oh, yeah, Fiji plants are long lasting, that's for sure," Dewey said as he pushed aside another leaf.

Moonlight sparkled off of a small stream that cut through the jungle. Paige rushed forward, dropping to her knees and waving her hands in the water to clean them before she scooped up some water and slurped it from her palm.

She swished it around before spitting it back out. "Oh, some relief."

Dewey landed on the ground next to her, staring into the water. "Do you think we'll ever make it home?"

"Huh? I hope so," Paige said taking another drink of the water. "Why would you say that?"

"Felt like one of those moments. You know…mid-story, Dewey stares at his reflection in the water, questioning life."

Paige heaved a sigh and shook her head. "You really need to quit thinking of this as a book and just– "

"Just what?" Dewey asked.

Paige's nose crinkled as a strange sensation shot through her body.

"Paige?"

"I feel kind of…weird."

"You're normally weird. How is this different?"

"No, like…" She shot him an incredulous glance. "Strange. Weird. Like something is…wrong with me."

Dewey furrowed his brow. "Wrong with you? As far as I know, Fiji plants aren't poisonous to humans or anything."

Paige rose to her feet, stumbling back a few steps. "Are you sure? I…I don't feel right."

Her head began to pound at the temples, and she doubled over in pain. "Oh, whoa, I don't feel so great."

She squeezed her eyes closed, as heat washed over her, and her skin puckered into goosebumps .

After a second, the sensation passed. "Whew, okay, starting to feel better now."

"Ah, Paige…"

"Yeah?" she asked, her eyes still pinched shut.

"Mmm, not sure how to say this but…"

"What? Honestly, just say it."

Dewey hesitated for a moment before he spoke again. "You've turned into a tiny dragon."