Keller didn't understand, and her brain was too fuzzy to deal with it. But just at that moment, she noticed something else.
Movement behind the dragon. The figures that had been lying on the ground were stirring. And they were doing it stealthily, in ways that showed they were awake and with their wits about them.
They were alive. She could see Galen's head lift, with moonlight shining on his hair as he looked at her. She could see Winnie turn toward Iliana and
begin to crawl. She could see Nissa's shoulders hump and then fall back.
Later, when they were asked, they would all say the same thing had brought them to awareness: a deep rumbling sound that vibrated in their bones. The dragon's roar.
Or, at least, three of them would say that. Galen would always say that all he heard was Keller's scream and his eyes came open.
The surge of hope she felt made Keller's heart beat hard and wiped away the pain-for the moment, at least. But she was terrified of giving the dragon some clue.
She didn't dare look at Galen any longer. She stared at the dragon's black stone eyes and thought with all her strength, Get away.
Get away, take the Jeep, take Diana. He may not be able to follow you. Run.
"Your time's over," she told the dragon out loud. "The shapeshifters don't want you anymore. Everything has changed."
"And it's changing again," the dragon said. "The end of the world is coming, and the beginning of a new one. It's time for everything that's sleeping to wake back up again."
Keller had a horrified vision of hundreds of dragons being dug up and brought back to life. But there was something going on in the clearing that was even more horrifying to her.
Galen wasn't getting away. He was slithering on his stomach toward her.
And Winnie, the idiot, was beside Diana nowbut
she wasn't dragging her to the Jeep. She seemed to be whispering to her.
Keller felt a hot wave of utter desperation.
What can I do?
If the dragon sees them, they're all dead. There's nothing any of them can do against him. Galen's not a warrior-he can't change. Nissa looks too hurt to move. Winnie's orange fire won't even singe the dragon. And Diana will get swatted like a butterfly.
They can't do anything. I have to.
She was so tired and hurt, and her claws were much less lethal than in her full panther form. But she had to do it, and she had to do it now.
"Go back where you came from!" she shouted. She bunched her muscles and jumped.
Right for him. Straight on. That was what took him by surprise, the sheer insanity of the attack. He threw the black energy at her, but he couldn't stop her leap.
Her claws ripped into his forehead again, and then she fell back.
The dragon's scream split the heavens. Dizzy with pain and shock, Keller stared at him, hoping desperately...
But she'd taken only one horn off. He still had two.
He thrashed around in wounded fury, then threw the dark power at her again. Keller shuddered and lost her balance. She crashed to the ground and lay there, limp.
"Keller!" The scream was full of such raw anguish
that it hurt Keller's throat to hear it. It made her heart throb hard and then fall in sick dismay. Galen, no, she thought. Don't bother with me. You have to get Iliana away.
"Keller!" he screamed again, and then he was beside her, holding her.
"No . ? ." she whispered.
She couldn't say more than that. She looked at him pleadingly with the eyes of a dumb beast. If he died, too, it would make her own death meaningless.
The dragon was still screaming, both hands to his forehead. He seemed to be too angry to attack. "Keller, hang on. Please, you have to hang on." Galen was dripping tears on her face.
"Run..." she whispered.
Instead, he did the most gallant thing she had ever seen.
He was already holding her, his shaky hand stroking the hair off her face, brushing one of her tufted ears. Now, suddenly, he gripped her hard, and his expression changed.
His jaw tightened, and a white line showed around his mouth. And his eyes... seemed to darken and glow red.
Too late, Keller realized.
He was taking her impression. Learning her shape.
No. You were meant to be something gentle.
Galen stood up.
And changed.
But something was a little off. Maybe it was the fact that he had to hurry when he took the impression, or some extra twist from his own genes. Because, instead of becoming a soot-black panther, he became a gleaming golden leopard.
The same animal. Different colors. This leopard was the dark rich gold of Galen's hair, and its eyes were the incredible green of his eyes.
He was marked with perfect black rosettes, each with an even darker gold center. His body was sleek and supple and almost seven feet long with the tail. He was a big leopard, at least a hundred and sixty pounds.
And before Keller had time to think, he was in motion.
A good spring. Untutored but full of the real killer instinct. The coughing yell he let out as he jumped was the kind a cat makes when its fury is too great to hold in.
The dragon whirled to face him. But it was too late. Once again, the crackling dark power hit but couldn't stop the rush. The dragon's human body couldn't fend off a hundred and sixty pounds of solid feline muscle.
Keller saw Galen swipe.
The dragon bellowed, clapping a hand to his head.
And Keller wanted to cheer.
She couldn't. She didn't have the strength left. But her heart was singing inside her with sheer pride. You did it. Oh, Galen, my prince, you did it.
She saw his body falling, struck by the black energy. She saw it hit the ground and lie still.
And she was sorry that they were both going to
die. But with the dragon dead, too, and Iliana alive, there would still be hope. There would be people to carry on.