The Lost Hero

THEY SPIRALED THROUGH THE DARK in a free fall, still on the dragon‘s back, but Festus‘s hide was cold.
His ruby eyes were dim.
―Not again!‖ Leo yelled. ―You can‘t fall again!‖
He could barely hold on. The wind stung his eyes, but he managed to pull open the panel on the dragon‘s
neck. He toggled the switches. He tugged the wires. The dragon‘s wings flapped once, but Leo caught a whiff of
burning bronze. The drive system was overloaded. Festus didn‘t have the strength to keep flying, and Leo
couldn‘t get to the main control panel on the dragon‘s head—not in midair. He saw the lights of a city below
them—just flashes in the dark as they plummeted in circles. They had only seconds before they crashed.
―Jason!‖ he screamed. ―Take Piper and fly out of here!‖
―What?‖
―We need to lighten the load! I might be able to reboot Festus, but he‘s carrying too much weight!‖
―What about you?‖ Piper cried. ―If you can‘t reboot him—‖
―I‘ll be fine,‖ Leo yelled. ―Just follow me to the ground. Go!‖
Jason grabbed Piper around the waist. They both unbuckled their harnesses, and in a flash they were
gone—shooting into the air.
―Now,‖ Leo said. ―Just you and me, Festus—and two heavy cages. You can do it, boy!‖
Leo talked to the dragon while he worked, falling at terminal velocity. He could see the city lights below
him, getting closer and closer. He summoned fire in his hand so he could see what he was doing, but the wind
kept extinguishing it.
He pulled a wire that he thought connected the dragon‘s nerve center to its head, hoping for a little wakeup
jolt.
Festus groaned—metal creaking inside his neck. His eyes flickered weakly to life, and he spread his
wings. Their fall turned into a steep glide.
―Good!‖ Leo said. ―Come on, big boy. Come on!‖
They were still flying in way too hot, and the ground was too close. Leo needed a place to land—fast.
There was a big river—no. Not good for a fire-breathing dragon. He‘d never get Festus out from the
bottom if he sank, especially in freezing temperatures. Then, on the riverbanks, Leo spotted a white mansion
with a huge snowy lawn inside a tall brick perimeter fence—like some rich person‘s private compound, all of it
blazing with light. A perfect landing field. He did his best to steer the dragon toward it, and Festus seemed to
come back to life. They could make this!
Then everything went wrong. As they approached the lawn, spotlights along the fence fixed on them,
blinding Leo. He heard bursts like tracer fire, the sound of metal being cut to shreds—and BOOM.
Leo blacked out.
When Leo came to his senses, Jason and Piper were leaning over him. He was lying in the snow, covered in
mud and grease. He spit a clump of frozen grass out of his mouth.
―Where—‖
―Lie still.‖ Piper had tears in her eyes. ―You rolled pretty hard when—when Festus—‖
―Where is he?‖ Leo sat up, but his head felt like it was floating. They‘d landed inside the compound.
Something had happened on the way in—gunfire?
―Seriously, Leo,‖ Jason said. ―You could be hurt. You shouldn‘t—‖
Leo pushed himself to his feet. Then he saw the wreckage. Festus must have dropped the big canary
cages as he came over the fence, because they‘d rolled in different directions and landed on their sides,
perfectly undamaged.
Festus hadn‘t been so lucky.
The dragon had disintegrated. His limbs were scattered across the lawn. His tail hung on the fence. The
main section of his body had plowed a trench twenty feet wide and fifty feet long across the mansion‘s yard
before breaking apart. What remained of his hide was a charred, smoking pile of scraps. Only his neck and
head were somewhat intact, resting across a row of frozen rosebushes like a pillow.
―No,‖ Leo sobbed. He ran to the dragon‘s head and stroked its snout. The dragon‘s eyes flickered weakly.
Oil leaked out of his ear.
―You can‘t go,‖ Leo pleaded. ―You‘re the best thing I ever fixed.‖
The dragon‘s head whirred its gears, as if it were purring. Jason and Piper stood next to him, but Leo kept
his eyes fixed on the dragon.