knights.
Over the sounds of the battle, Lily heard the music of the plants, louder and clearer than ever before. The notes tumbled over her like a waterfall. She thought of Mom's piano playing in the lobby of Vineyard Club. Mom had been playing
'Tye?' she whispered. Her throat hurt, as if she had swallowed flames.
'He's toying with them,' Tye said grimly.
The swords ricocheted off the dragon's scales. He breathed fire, and a knight screamed as orange flames engulfed him. He dropped to the ground, and other knights piled on top of him, trying to smother the fire. The dragon soared back into the air, out of reach.
'It'll take the Air Force to bring him down,' Tye said. 'And then ... the secret will be out. Despite everything we did ... this is it.'
She looked up at the dragon. 'But we have our own air force.'
Tye frowned at her.
Jumping to her feet, Lily grinned. She felt magic vibrating inside her. Her bones sang with it. 'Come on—ride a dragon with me?'
Quickly, Lily and Tye crossed to the magic world.
The tiger man was in the yard, coordinating the aftermath of the battle. He listened to Tye's explanation and then ushered them to the concrete stadium across campus.
A few minutes later, Lily was ready. She was strapped to a ruby red dragon's back with leather belts, and she held reins in her hands. On the back of a second dragon, Tye signaled that he was ready too.
Tye's father yelled to them, 'Keep them over campus! We have to limit exposure!' He slapped Tye's dragon on the leg. 'Now, fly!'
The two dragons flapped their enormous wings and then leaped into the night air. Pumping, they shot upward. Lily felt the wind hit her face, and the trees' song fell away. Flanked by griffins, the dragons flew toward the gate. At Nassau Hall, the griffins peeled away, leaving the two dragons with their riders alone for the final approach.
Tye's dragon flattened his wings, extended his neck, and tucked up his talons. He shot down toward the gate. Lily's dragon dove after him.
Seconds ahead of her, Tye's dragon bashed through the iron decoration, sending the Princeton seal spinning through the air.
Lily's dragon flew right behind him. She felt the impact as the dragon's flanks scraped against the stone pillars. The pillars cracked. White light flashed. And then they were through.
On the other side, the dragons veered up over Nassau Street, silhouetted against the backdrop of the starry sky. Lily spotted the Chained Dragon instantly. He was weaving between the chapel spires, a gray shadow against the dark blue sky. 'There!' Lily shouted, but the dragons had already seen their kin.
Talons extended, the Chained Dragon dove toward the plaza. Lily screamed. Her dragon echoed her scream with a trumpeting roar. Below, she saw figures: Grandpa, Jake, other Old Boys. All of them were looking up at the three dragons.
The Chained Dragon broke his dive. Rearing back, he rose in the air in front of one of the chapel's stained- glass windows.
Lily's dragon took the lead. Blasting flame from his jaws, he seared the air in front of the Chained Dragon. Lily felt hot wind on her cheeks. Dodging, the Chained Dragon fired back a burst of orange red flame.
Shooting fire back and forth, the three dragons spun in a spiral higher and higher over the chapel. Lily saw stars spin above her, streaking into circles of light. Suddenly, the Chained Dragon broke out of the spiral and shot away from the cathedral plaza. Lily's and Tye's dragons chased him.
They flew over the classrooms, the gardens, and the dorms. Ahead, beyond several fields, Lily saw a string of car headlights on Route 1, the highway that marked the border of campus. She thought of the tiger man's warning. They couldn't let the dragon leave campus.
Red sparkles burst over a soccer field. A stream of silver white chased them.
As they flew over the field, the sky lit with umbrellas of silvery sparkles. Fireworks whistled and screamed. All three dragons veered away.
Lily yanked on her dragon's reins. 'Listen for the whistle, and watch for the streaks!' she shouted to her dragon. She pointed toward a thin strip of sparks that then exploded into a white burst of light. 'Drive him toward those!'
Tye followed. Together, they chased the Chained Dragon over the soccer field. Using the reins, Lily guided her dragon around the about-to-explode fireworks. With no one to help him watch for the telltale streaks, the Chained Dragon spun erratically through the air, twisting and turning to avoid both the two dragons and the umbrellas of embers and hot ash.
As the Chained Dragon flailed in the air, Tye and Lily circled around him and began to drive him back toward the chapel. A crinkling sparkle of white yellow light singed one of the Chained Dragon's wings. He screamed and dipped, and the two dragons closed in.
Talons extended, the two dragons flew above the Chained Dragon's back. They forced him into a descent. He twisted and spat flame at Lily. Lily's dragon veered away, skimming the tops of the trees. Song from the trees burst into Lily's head.
She had an idea.
'Drive him toward the gardens!' she shouted to Tye. Snapping the reins, she urged her own dragon faster. They overshot the Chained Dragon and beelined for Prospect Gardens.
As they flew, Lily unhooked the harness belts from around her waist and wrapped them around her arms. Taking a deep breath, she leaned over the side of the dragon's neck. She reached out one hand and touched the treetops.
Leaves brushed her palm, and she felt song crash through her so loud and strong that it felt as if the notes were ramming themselves directly into her veins. She put a picture in her mind of the Chained Dragon and of the trees reaching up to him. 'Grab him!' she ordered the trees. 'Bring him down!'
Approaching rapidly, Tye's dragon rode above the Chained Dragon, driving him lower and lower. Circling the gardens, Lily slapped at treetops, repeating her command until every tree she touched now strained toward the stars, branches reaching.
Just before the gardens, Tye's dragon slammed down hard on the Chained Dragon's back. The Chained Dragon jolted lower. As he hit the top branches of the evergreens, the trees snapped together. They knocked into his wings, they battered his stomach, and they caught his legs.
The Chained Dragon tumbled out of the night sky.
'Land!' Lily cried to her own dragon.
Her dragon abruptly dove. He skidded to a landing on the walkway outside the gardens. Lily was tossed forward into his neck. Tears sprang into her eyes as her chin smashed into a scale. She didn't let it slow her, though. She flung herself off the dragon and ran into the gardens.
Above, in the treetops, the Chained Dragon thrashed. Lily heard the trees scream.
Dropping to her knees at the base of the trees, she plunged her hands into the ivy that wove between the evergreens. She pictured what she wanted: vines growing and wrapping themselves around the beast's legs. 'Grow to him,' she ordered the vines. 'Tangle him.'
Obediently, the vines stretched and wound their way up the trees toward the suspended dragon. The ivy snaked around the dragon's body as he opened his jaws and spurted fire. The nearest trees burst into flame.
Lily grabbed more vines. 'Smother the flames,' she commanded. Again, she formed the clearest picture she could in her mind: the vines weaving into a mat and blanketing the fire. She didn't wait to see if they succeeded. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the trunks of the trees that held the dragon. She threw her arms around the closest tree. 'Pull him down!' She repeated her order with all the nearby trees. 'Capture him!'
Mimicking the image she had sent them, the trees began to enclose the dragon's legs in bark. As the bark thickened, vines crept around his torso. The tree trunks creaked as the dragon fought.
Lily ran to the flower beds. Bending down, she touched the tulip petals with her palms as she ran through.
