The Unmaking (The Last Days of Tian Di, #2)(48)

The dragon spat feebly at her again. There were pools of green fire burning in wounds in its neck. She wetted the charred blanket in a muddy puddle and approached the dragon, steering clear of its great snapping jaws. The thing thrashed, terrified, as she tried to douse the green flames, but the marsh water and the blanket had no effect at all. She made her way back to the helicopter and Ander, who was looking around at the devastation in the marsh, dazed.

“Is there rope in the helicopter?” she asked him breathlessly.

“Rope?”

“Yes! Rope! What’s the matter with you?”

This seemed to shake him out of his reverie.

“What’s the matter with you, running around like that? We dinnay know who did this, what’s going on. We should be getting out of here, not checking the place out.”

Nell did not say the thing that was darting through her mind like poison, the sickening thought she could not catch and still – My friend might be in there. She said, “There’s a dragon trapped by the house. I think it’s a baby, aye. If we can pull off some of the roof beams it should be able to get free.”

Ander squinted at the burning mass. “There’s rope in the lifeboat,” he said.

Nell looked at the compact little helicopter in surprise. “What lifeboat?”

Ander opened the pilot’s door and pulled a big tarpaulin square out from under the seat. This he let fall into the marsh. It was still linked to the helicopter by a thin rope, which he yanked. The tarpaulin square began to unfold and then inflate until a round rubber dinghy lay before them. He opened a flap in the dinghy and pulled out a bag of supplies. There was a knife, a flare gun, water-resistant matches, a tarpaulin for shade, whistles and a coil of sturdy rope.

“We need to tie this around the main supporting beam that’s right across the dragon’s back. Pulling that one aside should roll the others off, aye, and the dragon should be able to move,” said Nell.

Ander glanced at the burning heap again. “Those are bones?” he exclaimed. “Lah, I hate to say it, my girl, but I’m just a policeman and I dinnay have superhuman strength. I’m nay going to be able to pull one of those off.”

Nell rolled her eyes at him in exasperation and he said, “Oh, aye.”

She set about tying one end of the rope firmly to the skids of the chopper while Ander started it up.

The helicopter rising into the air and settling very close by, agitated the poor trapped dragon terribly. It belched out smoke and fire and twisted its neck about in vain. Nell took the other end of the rope and raced in among the flames. The heat on her skin was scorching but she managed to climb up on the mound of bone and mud without actually touching any of the flames and fixed the rope around the largest of the roof beams. She ran back a safe distance and waved her arms at Ander. Her face felt hot and dry and she examined her clothes anxiously for any green fire but found none. Ander took the chopper slowly upwards. The mound of burning house began to shift. The great roof beam, perhaps the thighbone of a very large dragon, came loose and was pulled into the air by the helicopter. The other bones tilted and tumbled away. Nell had expected the trapped dragon to immediately take off, but it was slow to move. When the weight pinning it was lifted, it thrashed about a bit before dragging itself away from the burning rubble, then collapsed again. Nell approached cautiously, still keeping a safe distance from its head. The poor thing was covered in little pools of green fire and one of its wings was nearly torn from its body. Its leg, too, was badly broken. The creature was clearly in pain and very angry.

Nell circled the heap of burning rubble, more spread out now that the roof beams had rolled to the base of the mound. She took up a long yellowed tooth, half her own height, that had been part of the fence. She poked at the heap of flaming mud and scale with the tooth, but she knew she would not be able to properly excavate it. She saw a battered cauldron, half-melted, and bits of weapons. Swarn had not had a great many possessions. There were no signs, at least, that anyone had been inside. Alarm followed fast on the first rush of relief. There was no way to find them, now. Without them, there was no way to get back to Di Shang, unless they began to offer up memories or hopes or other parts of themselves that, she knew from experience, were too precious to part with. She looked at the dragon again. It lay in the marsh and clawed at the mud. Ander had landed and was untying the huge bone from the helicopter.

“Lah, we’re done!” he shouted. “Let’s get out of here!”

“We have to help it,” she said, joining him by the helicopter.

“Only way I can think of is shooting the poor creature in the head,” said Ander. “Though a gun wouldnay be much use against a dragon, come to think of it.”

“If we can heal it, I’m sure it could lead us to Swarn,” said Nell. “It looks as though she wasnay here when Nia came through. This must be Nia’s doing, nay?”

“Who?”

“The Xia Sorceress.”

“Oh, aye, you and she are on a first-name basis, are you?” Ander gave her an incredulous look. “I cannay tell if this is her handiwork or not.”

“Who else would be strong enough to slaughter a marsh full of dragons?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Lah, it doesnay matter who did it. We need to find someone who can heal this dragon.”