be precise. The realms must not touch until the timers are ready to expire and the escape route for our giants is complete.”
The dragon beat its wings and joined Mardon at the edge of the chasm. “Leave the escape route to me. The giants will need to loosen their muscles after such a lengthy nap, so I envision a staircase that will lead them to the light.”
Mardon pulled the line, drawing the other precipice a few inches closer. With every painstaking inch, the ground trembled, raising the crunching complaint of stone grinding against stone. “An excellent idea,” he said. “Many steps to strengthen their resolve … and their anger.”
“And then our next step.”
“The greatest step. When I finish creating my tower to draw Heaven down to Earth, my plan will be complete.”
“Your plan?” The dragon’s eyes blazed. “I sowed the seeds of this plan long before you were born, the seeds of Eden that I gave to Samyaza’s wench, Lilith. It was she who first cultivated the Nephilim. You merely took her place in my grand scheme.”
Mardon averted his eyes and focused on the narrowing chasm. “I see. Morgan never told me where the seedlings came from.”
“Giving credit to others was not in her nature.”
“True enough.” Mardon turned back to the dragon. “I am therefore pleased to give you credit. When Heaven meets Earth, and I am installed as the mediator of the final covenant, you will be a chief prince.”
The dragon flashed an odd smile, toothy enough to be menacing, yet it carried a hint of amusement. “Beware of overconfidence. There are forces, human forces, that can stop us.”
Mardon shook his head. “Sapphira’s power is insufficient without her sister, and no one has seen Acacia in years.”
“Do not underestimate an Oracle of Fire. You consider Sapphira a mere seedling who has outgrown her pot, but she is far more powerful. She has already meddled in too many of my affairs for my liking.”
“Trying to kill Sapphira is dangerous,” Mardon said. “It means death to any who shed her blood.”
“We need not kill her as long as she remains ignorant.” The dragon raised his head and looked into the cavern’s dim upper recesses. “Yet, there is another who could ruin our plans. She is capable of discerning the meaning of your need for building a vortex connection between Heaven and Earth.”
“Thigocia’s child?” Mardon laid a hand on his head. “I have forgotten her name.”
“Ashley Stalworth. If she alerts her mother, then all is lost.”
Mardon pulled again. The rope vibrated, shaking off golden sparks that floated into the chasm. “Do you have a remedy?”
“Divide and conquer. While you build your tower, I will deal with Thigocia.”
“And what of Ashley?”
The dragon’s eyes flashed once more, this time with a glow of triumph. “For now, she is under my control. Fear has kept her from the light, and I intend to keep it that way.”
Chapter 1
RETURN OF THE DRAGON
Dragon riding isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Ashley grumbled. As she retied her hood, a thick cloud bank enveloped her in white mist, dampening her coat sleeves and drawing a shiver from her chilled arms. She clutched Thigocia’s protruding spine with a gloved hand and slid forward, ducking under the streaming fog as she reseated herself. Wearing long underwear and thick denim jeans turned out to be a lifesaver. After over a thousand miles of flying, dragon scales felt like broken concrete under her backside.
She lifted the GPS locator in her palm and brushed a layer of mist from the display with her thumb. On the playing-card-sized monitor, a red dot pulsed in the middle of a blue splotch on the map. Each beat of Thigocia’s enormous wings jostled the screen, but she managed to hold the unit steady enough to figure out their ground position as they flew a few thousand feet above Montana’s highlands.
She swung her head around to the pair of teenaged passengers seated behind her and shouted through the whistling wind, “I think we’re right over Flathead Lake!”
Thigocia dropped suddenly through an air pocket.
“Whoa!” Ashley yelled, squeezing her legs tightly around the dragon’s neck.
Finally, Thigocia caught stable air with her powerful wings. “Sorry about that!”
“No problem,” Karen shouted. “I lost my breakfast an hour ago!”
Walter pulled down the bill of his baseball cap and regripped the spine between him and Ashley. Scrunching his thick, wet eyebrows, he peered down into the blanket of clouds. “Any sign of attack jets coming to greet us?”