Enoch's Ghost Read Online Free Page B

like black papier-mâchéplastered on an inflating balloon. As it grew, limbs emerged—four legs, a wing, then another wing, and finally a long, spine-covered tail.

Chapter 2
    Falling
    Karen grabbed Walter’s sleeve. “It’s a dragon!”
    Walter stepped between her and the fountain of sparks. “It’s definitely not a fireworks show.”
    With the smoke decreasing, Thigocia lowered her wings and shuffled back to join the others. “Its size would indicate a male, but I do not recognize him. He is covered with residue, and his form is indistinct.”
    “I assume the source of the danger has arrived,” Ashley said.
    “Definitely. But it is a strange sort of danger. It does not seem ready to attack and kill. It is more subtle … much more subtle.”
    Walter set Excalibur’s beam directly over the dragon’s head. “Stay where you are!” he shouted. “Or this beam will turn you into dragon bacon!”
    Amid the dying sparks, the dragon shook his body and cast off his black coat, revealing shimmering red scales. With its mouth wide open, its broad head shot forward. A flaming rope reeled out and snapped across Walter’s arm, a fiery bullwhip that cracked like a rifle shot and shook Excalibur from his grip.
    Walter lunged for the sword, but the dragon spewed out another fiery rope and popped the whip near the hilt as it lay on the ground.
    Karen dashed forward and, sliding through the grass feetfirst, kicked Excalibur over to Walter.
    “Way to go!” He snatched it up with his uninjured hand.
    Karen leaped to her feet and rushed back to Ashley, calling out, “Fry him, Walter!”
    Ashley wrapped her arms around Karen and kissed her on the head. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”
    Shaking his wounded wrist, Walter took a step closer to his attacker. “What do you say, lizard? War or peace?”
    “You do not need a weapon,” the dragon growled. “I will not harm you.”
    Ashley pulled on her mother’s wing. “Do you know him? Can you fight him?”
    “I …” Thigocia stumbled backwards. “I cannot believe my own eyes.”
    A smile spread across the dragon’s scaly face. “Surprised to see me, my long-lost niece? Or have you simply forgotten your beloved father-in-law after all these centuries?”
    “Father-in-law?” Ashley squinted at the huge red beast. “Arramos?”
    Arramos bowed his head. “At least my granddaughter knows who I am, and she has never met me before.”
    “If you mean harm to these children,” Thigocia said, baring her teeth, “I will fight you to the death! If you are who you claim to be, then you know I am a warrior to be reckoned with. Even if I cannot defeat you, I will exact a toll from your flesh.”
    Arramos let out a deep-throated chuckle. “Now, Thigocia,” he said, in a condescending tone, “this is no time for theatrics or modern trash talk. I have come to bring enlightenment, not harm.”
    “Impossible!” A shower of sparks flew from Thigocia’s nostrils. “My danger sense has never been wrong.”
    “You sense danger because you fear what I have to say.” Arramos swept his spiny tail across the old foundation. “When you saw my familiar shape materializing, the sight of me chilled your heart, because you sensed that I would bear a message that would crumble the basis of your faith and plunge you into a chasm of doubt.” His eyes flamed red as he edged closer. “Thigocia, what you fear is the truth.”
    Thigocia backed away a step. “I do not fear the truth! I came here to learn the truth, to find clues to what happened to my husband and my son.”
    Arramos seemed to glide toward her, closing the gap. “But have you forgotten your daughter? Why do you not seek for her?”
    Thigocia blinked. “Roxil? She is alive?”
    “Indeed, she is. Why have you forsaken her?”
    “I … I never forsook her.” As Thigocia backed away again, thin smoke rose from her snout. “I thought she was dead.”
    For every inch Thigocia retreated, Arramos advanced two. “You