The Oncoming Storm (The Baiulus Series Book 2) Page 7

  “Let's get to safety and then we'll talk about it!”

  Rox nodded and looked around to the woods. The people were rushing around securing the crates that were covered in earth and the helicopters were moving back into position. A fierce anger rose in the black rabbit. Her son was safe and so was Ellie, but now her partner was missing and the rest of her warren were being taken away by force.

  Storm gave her daughter a sad smile.

  Okay, Malachite. Time to go.

  Malachite thrust against the air with all his strength and opened the door to a dragon portal. He grinned and they all vanished from sight.

  The Institute

  Rather than the chaos that had ensued no more than thirty minutes ago when a green dragon appeared in the village, total quiet reigned over the operations room when seemingly the same dragon emerged from the depths of the hill and disrupted the ground operation. Video feeds went down immediately as the helicopter pilots were forced to take evasive action away from the site. Ground teams were pummelled by earth and rock that smashed cameras, equipment and quite a few bones. Their radio network was still up and Sloan listened calmly to the terrified cries and screams as his agents watched a dragon chase away their air support and then set course for the hillside. It was all over in less than two minutes, and Sloan realised the calmness he felt about him was actually numbness. His people were shocked by the day's events, which took a more dramatic turn for the worse when the team from the park entrance reported in. Their position was compromised. A magical attack had left them without transport. He ordered them to strip the vehicles of any identification and equipment and report to the team at the warren.

  “Bring all the teams back home as soon as possible.” He instructed. The last half an hour could be viewed as quite a mess by anyone's account, but not by Sloan. Their main target, the warren, had been taken down and the animals would be en route to a holding facility soon. The village though, that might take some time. Video would need to be studied again and again. Identifications would have to be made of the people involved and then handled accordingly once the police were out of the way. But one thing refused to leave his mind. When the dragon had first appeared and protected that girl, the cameras had briefly caught her face. The team would be working on who she was, of course, but it bothered him as she seemed so familiar. He shook his head while he watched the video feeds come back up one by one. He was not a man to ignore such a feeling; he would find her, and that dragon would be his.

  Sloan glanced over at the now empty desk previously occupied by Cassandra. She'd clearly been in contact with whatever was in the village. Was it the girl, or did something else exist in that village? Obviously she would have to be questioned. The twins would be of no use. Their mental skills wouldn't penetrate a mind like Cassandra's, or anyone with magical ability. It was another reason the twins were invaluable: if an agent or renegade tried to penetrate their security and had a magical talent, the twins would know immediately. Anthony came in extremely useful in situations like this. Sloan strode to the exit and beckoned both his bodyguards to follow him out. It was time to have a little chat with Cassandra.

  Epilogue

  The amount of traffic on the roads was enough to make Fern take to the fields. There was no telling which human vehicles belonged to the ones who tried to catch him, so he decided to take a cautious approach to the village. It would take longer but he would get there, he had promised Rox.

  *

  Night had fallen and the woods sang with the summer song of insects, bats and owls. A groan from underneath a bush caused an inattentive owl to jump into the air and seek another branch to rest before its hunt began. The bush crackled and leaves rustled as something noisily and aggressively pushed its way out silencing the song. After a few moments of quiet, the song of chirps and hoots began again. A fox padding close by caught the scent of a nice meal. It slowly stalked over to where the smell emanated from and crouched, ready to leap.

  “Don't even think about it, furface!” Plume pointed his staff right under the fox's nose. The fox's eyes rolled quickly right and left, seeking escape. It gave a small whine and bounded off into the dark woods.

  “Bloody foxes.” Plume sighed loudly and moved slowly towards the warren, his head still feeling light and woozy. He didn't know why he was still here. He remembered two humans staring at him before he slipped into blackness, but that was it. Plume reached the treeline and dropped his staff in shock. The hill; at least half of it was gone. There was no sign of any activity. The warren was gone and there was no sign of his partner or son. Plume reached down and clutched his staff tight enough to hurt his paws and draw blood.

  “No!” He said angrily.

  End of Book Two of the Baiulus Series

  Join Ellie in Book Three and discover who or what

  The Baiulus Institute are and learn more of Ellie's mysterious past

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