Page 52 of The White Dragon Revealed

Do you sense anything, Iolaire? Can you, uhm, sense bombs? Like maybe smell them?Caden asked, knowing that was hugely unlikely.

Iolaire responded in the negative. Not at this distance at least. But maybe if it was nearer they could. Yet between them and the filing line of Faith that were flowing into the Below, there were thousands of people. How could they get close enough to them without crushing people?

His gaze swept the crowd, looking for Valerius for a third time, but the cloaked and hooded figure of the massive Black Dragon King wasnot anywhere to be seen. He half expected to see Kaila dancing out into the crowd regardless of the Faith. But she was not there either.

Where are they?

But then he realized that even if he could find them, Valerius and Kaila acting against the Faith would be a bad thing. Unless it was done really carefully.

Caden looked down and saw Marban speaking furiously over his bluetooth device. He still had a smile plastered on his face, but it fit tight across his tense features. Through the roar of the crowd, Caden heard the words, “Faith”, “round up”, “block off”, “sniffer” and “now, absolutely now!”

Rose was trying to interact with the kids with that bright and sunny expression from before but her eyes were tracking the crowd worriedly. She glanced up at him and mouthed, “Faith.” He gave a brief nod to show he understood.

Once more his gaze slid towards the crowd. He saw Shifters moving through the people towards the Stairs, but there were too many people in their way. Some of the Shifters were totally blocked from moving forward. They started to shove, but there simply wasn’t room for the people to go. They were not going to be in time to stop the white robed figures of the Faith from fanning out into the crowd.

What if one of them has a bomb?Caden thought again. He remembered the explosion and a flash of white and Iolaire’s voice. There had been no pain, but his heart beat faster and his breathing increased.They have to be stopped.

He looked down at Marban and the Swarm Shifter caught his eye. He knew in that instant that Marban understood that his people were not going to get to the Faith in time, not in their human forms anyways. But swarms of rats, snakes and insects appearing in the middle of the crowd would cause a huge panic. People could be injured, or even killed, as they raced for the exits and some ended up getting trampled or crushed against walls. The news people would record it all and what had been a wonderful moment for the Below would become yet another tragedy. Marban knew this too and he looked almost defeated at that moment.

It was then that Iolaire sent him an image of them hovering over the crowd in front of the Faith. There was plenty of room in the air.

Yes! Perfect, Iolaire! Let’s do it!

Caden had Iolaire shake their head violently at Marban to indicate he shouldn’t give the command to shift. Not yet anyways. Then it was with incredibly gentleness that Iolaire sent the children sliding off of its tail and back, only to be caught by surprised parents. Iolaire flapped their wings then. People put hands up to block their eyes as gusts of wind whipped up snow and dirt from the ground. Soon they were hovering ten feet above the ground then twenty. There were ooohhhhs and ahhhhhs from everyone. They had no idea why he and Iolaire were doing this other than to show off some of their flying.

Iolaire glided towards the platform at the bottom of the Stairs where the Faith were gathering and about to stream out into the crowd itself. Most everyone was gazing up at Iolaire in awe. Caden looked for those whoweren’t. He figured if he was carrying a bomb, he’d be more intent on that then even watching a Dragon hovering over him. But the wind from Iolaire’s wings was flattening the hoods against the members’ heads and it was hard to tell who wasn’t looking because of guilt and who wasn’t because it was impossible to do so.

We can’t stay up here, Iolaire!He told his Spirit.We need to get down there! We need to block them!

Iolaire started to lower them to the ground. It wanted to be between the crowd and the Faith. This would be close enough to see if it detected any chemicals that might mean there was a bomb on one or more of the Faith.

What if they detonate the bomb now?

Caden’s gaze skittered over the white robed figures. He figured if they did that they would use their massive body and wings to block the blast from reaching the majority of the crowd. People were, thankfully, scattering as Iolaire made this unexpected landing. They settled down in the half-moon space.

Be big. Be bad, Iolaire. We need to impress them. Pretend you’re Raziel!Caden told the Spirit.

Iolaire twittered that they only needed to be themselves, but theWhite Dragon Spirit did have them “puff” up so they looked even bigger than they were. They sat up on their haunches. Their wings were spread wide. And then Iolaire breathed on the steps between the Below and the Faith until they were covered in a sheet of ice. No one was easily getting down those without falling on their asses.

Good idea, Iolaire!

The crowd had gone very quiet. News crews who had been filming the scene from the far edges of the Below now had a perfect view of this confrontation up close and personal.

He heard a male reporter breathlessly saying, “Iolaire has turned the steps to ice. One would almost say that it is trying to keep the Faith out of the Below. But why?”

Why indeed? No one is going to easily believe that the Faith could be behind these bombings!Caden thought with a touch of dismay.

A woman, the leader of his mother’s sect, came forward with a beatific smile on her face. She seemed completely unaware of the possibility that the reporter had voiced that they were keeping the Faith away from everyone else as best he could. The leader--he thought her name was Joanna--stopped about two-feet from the iced steps and raised her arms. This caused the Faith to break out into a soft and moving melody that seemed to float up in glorious waves to the ceiling. Caden only winced when he listened to the lyrics.

“Oh, White Dragon. Oh, Ninth Dragon. Oh, Ice King or Queen. We call to thee for guidance and morality--”

Who thought up those lyrics, Iolaire?Caden groaned.

But he quickly shook off any interest in the song and looked at the people. Those damned hoods were blocking faces. Everyone was singing in unison, making these arm movements in a coordinated effort that reminded him of a combination of Walk Like An Egyptian video and Irish dance. It was more polished than their usual stuff, likely because they knew they were going to be on television.

Iolaire, we’ve got to make sure that none of these people have any explosives on them!Caden reminded his Spirit.

Iolaire twittered its understanding. Immediately, it lowered their head to the leader. Her smile widened as Iolaire pressed their snoutto her chest and breathed in. She clasped their head in an awkward embrace, singing loudly of her joy.

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