Sleepwalkers sanctuary, p.23
Sleepwalker's Sanctuary, page 23
She and Ember flew over the building, circling and looking down at the people on the ground. Reg could see Davyn, but not Chevy. The police and fire engines arrived, even though there wasn’t much left for them to do. Few people seemed to see the dragons gliding overhead. Only those who believed that such a thing could exist would see them. Those who didn’t believe would simply not see them. Their brains would shut the image out or replace it with birds wheeling overhead or something else that made sense in their reality. There was plenty else that was interesting to watch and distract them from any reality that they were not ready to accept.
Reg spotted a car she knew coming down the highway toward town, going a little bit faster than recommended, taking the curves recklessly. She floated down toward it and tracked it as it approached the town and then pulled into the grocery store’s parking lot. The police were trying to manage the people and traffic, but hadn’t completely cordoned the area off. Reg saw the white-haired man get out of the car and look around for his partner.
Ember dove down at Julian, making him jump away, startled. Then he laughed. “You get me every time, don’t you, Ember?”
He was remarkably comfortable around Ember now. Funny to remember how floored he had been when he had first seen the hatchling not that long ago. Reg dived toward him on the other side, and this time, Julian’s eyes went wide.
“Another one? How could there be…?”
Davyn had seen them and broke away from the crowd milling around the grocery store, taking pictures of the devastation. He greeted Julian with a quick squeeze around the shoulders and took in his astonishment at seeing a second dragon.
“This is Reg,” Davyn explained.
Julian looked at her with his mouth hanging open. Davyn gestured to the gym bag dangling from Reg’s claw. “Is that everything you took from the building?”
Reg appreciated that he had not just grabbed it without warning. Making a sudden movement toward a dragon was not wise, and she didn’t know if she would have been able to school herself and avoid reflexively ripping his arm off.
She dropped the bag on the pavement in front of his feet. With his skinny human fingers, Davyn easily manipulated the zipper and opened the bag to see what was in it. Right on top was the poppet of Reg with long red braids and one of Davyn, with a face and black beard hastily scribbled on with black marker. Davyn moved them carefully to the side without comment.
There were a number of other poppets in the bag as well. Reg sniffed, recognizing Marta’s scent among them. And Damon’s. But where were they? Were they all at the cat sanctuary? And if so, where was it?
There were other pouches and jars of herbs and other ingredients in the bag, various raw materials for making the poppets; fabric, needle, thread, and markers. Some googly eyes purchased from Amazon. Reg pushed her snout into the bag and sniffed around, investigating more closely. The poppets were not just stuffed with cotton wool; there were other ingredients inside as well. Magical elements, poppets with pieces of their owners incorporated into them, whatever incantations and enchantments Chevy had put on them… it was hard to believe that so little was required to create a spell that would allow Chevy to steal powers from people just like Corvin. If there was anything more evil than a warlock with Corvin’s curse, it was someone who chose to do what Corvin was compelled to.
She pulled her nose back out and sneezed. Davyn chuckled.
“All done?”
Reg nodded. Ember pushed forward and wanted a look at the bag too. Davyn stood patiently and allowed him to examine it.
He was a good dragon dad.
Eventually, Ember pulled his nose out and also sneezed.
“Did you see where Chevy went?” Davyn asked.
Reg shook her head. She flapped her wings and rose a few feet in the air. She tried to send Davyn a picture of them getting an aerial view so that they would better be able to find Chevy and scout out the area. She wasn’t sure whether Davyn’s mind would be able to receive this vision. Normally, she was the only one who could receive and interpret Ember’s visions.
She didn’t know whether he received the vision or understood the point of her lifting off but, looking at her with narrowed eyes, he asked, “You want to fly and get a better view?”
Reg nodded and lifted higher.
“Let’s get in,” Davyn told Julian. “We’ll do our best to follow on the ground.”
The two men climbed into the car and the two dragons flew higher. Reg tried not to get too high or to go too fast, to give the humans a chance to follow them.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
She and Ember flew side by side, looking for any sign of Chevy. But Reg couldn’t see or smell him. He had probably had a car in the parking lot and had driven away as quickly as he could from the burning building. The vehicle and its stinky exhaust would help to cover his scent and keep her from following his trail.
After circling a couple of times to find him, Reg gave up on the search. He would show up again sooner or later. And now that she knew who the leader—or at least one of the members—of the cabal was, she would be able to find him again, and she and the cats would put a stop to his exploits.
She doubted that Chevy was as important as he made himself out to be. He was more likely to be the most junior member of the cabal than the leader. But she didn’t care, as long as by following him, she could bring down the group that had been trying to steal her gifts and those of her friends.
Reg turned her mind to her companion and pictured Starlight, Horace, and the other cats wandering among the trees, with some ancient buildings to shelter in, the same picture he had shared with her previously.
Ember blinked large eyes at her and looked around at the scenery below them. Reg searched for some sign of the sanctuary. It was well-hidden. She looked at Ember, waiting for him to take her there. Of course, there was no guarantee that the sanctuary Starlight had been going to was local. Horace could travel through space. He could have taken them all to Egypt, a country Merneith had ruled anciently and knew well.
Ember changed direction, taking the lead.
Reg relished the freedom of flight, the sound of their wings flapping or the air skimming over their surfaces as they glided. After a few minutes, it was clear that Ember was searching for the place in his memory. Things had changed since his ancestor had been there. The trees were older and the town closer to the sanctuary than when it had just been a village. There had been no highways the last time a dragon had visited the sanctuary.
Eventually, Ember started his descent. Reg followed him. She scanned the highway below for Davyn’s car, wondering whether he had been able to follow his airborne guides. She could see it poking along on the highway. Sooner or later, they would make it to the sanctuary. If they lost the dragons in their descent, Reg would go out looking for them and bring them to it.
Reg followed Ember to the ground, and they approached the sanctuary on foot, slinking quietly toward it. The air smelled green and earthy, so delicious Reg could almost eat it. She had never been so enthralled with the outdoors before. She liked her creature comforts. Or the water. But as a dragon, her senses brought her so much more information about her surroundings, she was enthralled.
She could smell and hear the cats before she could see them. And the humans were even smellier and noisier than the cats. Reg took the lead, since Starlight was her cat and Marta and Damon were her friends. They would be faster to recognize her than Ember. She entered a large clearing in the trees and looked around. It was remarkably similar to what Ember had pictured. Unchanged by the generations of cats and humans that had passed by during the interim.
One of the humans in the clearing let out a yell upon spotting the two approaching dragons. The humans moved quickly away, retreating to the other side of the clearing, some of them running away into the trees. They were a strange assortment of creatures, dressed in nightgowns, shorts, and worn old t-shirts, as if they were having a pajama party. Because they had all been taken at night, Reg realized. They had each been asleep when Horace had come for them. That was how he had been able to enter their homes. Through their dreams.
Only this time, he was no longer a draugr controlled by the Witch Doctor with an instinct to lie on their chests to smother them, but inhabited by Merneith, who was apparently more friendly toward humans, willing to help the cats save the victims of the cabal from a fate Reg considered worse than death.
Reg stopped advancing on the humans and sat on her haunches, trying to look non-threatening. Ember stopped beside her and looked curiously at all of the people who chose to inhabit a cat sanctuary. A few cats crept into the clearing, jumping down from trees, climbing down from the ruins or out from behind rocks and gullies where they had been watching from. Reg recognized the largest of the black cats as Horace. But she didn’t rush forward to meet him. Horace-Merneith should still be able to touch her mind and recognize her, but she would wait for that recognition rather than advancing toward him.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
A woman broke away from the group huddling together on the other side of the clearing. This one braver than most. She was wearing a nightgown, but Reg quickly recognized Marta by her smell even before she could see her clearly.
“Ember?” Marta asked, “Is that you?”
Of course she would recognize Ember before Reg. She had seen him a couple of times since he had hatched, though he’d probably been much smaller when she had seen him last. But how many young dragons were there around Black Sands? The dragon population had doubled with Reg’s transformation.
Ember took a step toward Marta and, following Reg’s example, did not move too quickly toward the human, but allowed her to come to him.
The cats were taking up defensive positions, apparently not very happy with the invasion by the two unfamiliar dragons. Cats and dragons might not be enemies, but they were not exactly friends, either. Reg didn’t know whether cats had generational memories like dragons, but some, like Starlight, had lived lives that stretched far back to ancient times.
“Ember?” Marta repeated, moving slowly toward Ember with her hand held out. “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything to give you. If I had crackers or some change, I would give you that. But they took us in our pajamas, and I don’t exactly keep snacks and change in my nightgown.” Marta gestured down at her filmy white dress, looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.
Ember sniffed the air as Marta approached him. Eventually, Marta was within an arm’s reach and stopped, her hand held out in offering, not trying to touch Ember. Ember bent his head forward and touched his nose to it. Marta scratched the finely scaled skin around his nose and then reached up to scratch his ears as well.
“What are you doing here?” she mused. “Does Reg know you’re here? Did she send you?”
Ember turned his head and looked at Reg.
“And who is this?” Marta asked, observing Reg but not reaching out to touch her or offer her hand as she did to Ember. Wisely not assuming that every dragon was so approachable.
Reg tried to send Marta pictures of herself and to describe the transformation to her, but Marta was not psychically gifted and did not receive them. Ember nudged Marta toward Reg.
Reg heard a yowl she recognized, and she turned to see her tuxedo cat stalking into the clearing, looking like he was ready to take a piece out of the dragons.
Reg sent her thoughts to him, reaching out and touching his mind, trying to soothe him before he got too far. He stopped and stared at her.
It’s me, Reg told him, trying to communicate clearly with him. They’d always had a good psychic connection. His eyes riveted on her and he cocked his head, paying close attention.
Reg couldn’t tell him all that had happened to her since she had been taken from the house. It was too complicated. Instead, she tried to communicate that she was there to help and that the cabal was still out there, the withered paw in hand.
Starlight hissed, making Reg laugh. She puffed out smoke and a bit of flame. Marta took a step back, looking alarmed.
Starlight started to pick his way across the field toward Reg. The other cats watched. Marta didn’t try to stop Starlight or tell him it was dangerous. At least she was smart enough to know that the cat had a better handle on what was going on than the humans, with their meager sense of smell and psychic abilities.
Starlight stopped in front of Reg and stood on his hind legs, looking at her. Reg wasn’t sure whether she should try to pet him or not. He might object to being touched by a huge lizard. She held out her clawed forepaw, palm down, curled inward, knuckles toward Starlight.
Rather than rubbing against her or nipping at her fingers, both of which were equally likely, Starlight jumped onto her arm and scaled it to her shoulder. He sat there, looking down at everyone else.
She assumed he could communicate telepathically with at least some of the other cats, but none seemed inclined to come forward and meet and greet the large dragon sitting at the end of the field. The humans watched in stunned silence. It was strange to see a group of people without phones raised to take pictures of such an unusual sight, but Reg realized they had been taken in their sleep, and none of them had phones with them. She could only imagine how difficult a time the ones who had been there for more than a day or two were having. Reg didn’t think she could manage to go a day without her phone. What would she do? What would she watch?
Marta stared at Starlight and Reg. She looked like she had an inkling of what was happening, but wasn’t quite ready to talk to the dragon stranger and risk sounding like a fool.
Reg cocked her head as she heard a car turn off the highway onto the worn path leading from the thoroughfare to the sanctuary. It wasn’t an actual road, not even graveled, but there was a worn spot in the grasses and other plants that had been traveled over the years. Had it all been trampled by cats? Or were there people who knew about the sanctuary and came out there regularly? Maybe not all of the people who were there now had been brought by Horace while they had been sleeping. Someone might come out with cat food or veterinary services for the animals who lived there.
Reg kept watching, her head turned to the side so her eye was toward the highway. In a moment, the car came into view, going slowly over the bumpy ground, and she saw that it was Davyn and Julian. They had managed to follow her and take the proper turnoff, even though it wasn’t marked.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Davyn reached them first, with Julian trailing behind, his eyes big, looking at everything. For someone who worked for the magical endangered creatures division, he always seemed very surprised and excited to actually run into any endangered creatures in real life. And Reg seemed to be his favorite endangered creature, always providing him access to something else he hadn’t seen before. Now, that something was her, yet again.
“Marta,” Davyn called out to Detective Jessup when he saw her. “I’m glad to see you here! Everything is okay? You’re unharmed?”
“Yes.” Marta looked as if she thought it was some sort of trick. “I’m fine.” She raised her brows. “You don’t seem too surprised to see Ember’s new companion. That must mean that you’ve already met?”
Davyn put the gym bag down at his feet between himself and Reg, smiling. “You’ve met her before too. Multiple times, I might add.”
Marta looked at Reg again, sideways, as if she might be something different from when they looked the last time.
“Is it…?”
“This is Reg,” Davyn confirmed.
“And… how did that happen? Did they put a spell on her?” Marta looked a little anxious. “Is that what they were planning to do to all of us? Turn us into dra—into other things?”
“No. What the cabal was doing had nothing to do with dragons.”
“The cabal?”
“You hadn’t figured out the details? The Cabal of the Withered Paw. I assumed that since you brought Reg the Withered Paw…”
Marta frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Davyn shook his head, frowning at her. “You were raised in a magical home. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the Cabal of the Withered Paw.”
“Well… I mean, away at camp and stuff like that. Scary fireside stories. But… what does that have to do with anything? I mean, we’re not here to tell each other ghost stories.”
“The Cabal of the Withered Paw is real. Or if the stories themselves were not real, then the idea has been resurrected for real by a group in Black Sands who is determined to steal the powers of practitioners.”
“The attacks? The attacks at the harbor were by the Cabal of the Withered Paw? That’s crazy. They don’t exist. They don’t… really, do they?”
“You had the paw in your hand. You don’t believe that it existed?”
“I… thought that was just a lucky rabbit’s foot. I didn’t think it was an actual relic of any importance.”
“Whether that is what it was initially or it has just been pressed into service as one really doesn’t matter. They believe it works to repel cats and keep them from interfering with the cabal’s operations.”
“The cats.” Marta looked around at the cats sitting around the circumference of the clearing. She should certainly have figured out at least part of the story when she ended up stuck in the sanctuary with the victims of the attacks and a horde of cats.
A horde? That wasn’t right. Reg turned it over in her mind, trying to remember and make sense. A chowder? A crowd? It was going to drive her crazy all day.
“The cats brought you and the others here to protect you from the cabal,” Davyn pointed out.
“The cats did?” Marta shook her head. “I’m sorry for sounding like such a dunce. But we just… sleepwalked here. We woke up and had no idea how we got here. Or why we had been abandoned at a cat sanctuary.”
