Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

Will said while Tessa watched intently. "The bolt lies here in the groove." He slid in the sharply pointed, ugly-looking missile. "Keep your fingers clear of this." He pointed to a firing mechanism. "This is a short-range weapon--it's best to wait until your target is close, but it fires true and can pierce armor at fifty yards.
    "Unlock this only when you're ready to fire." He indicated a small wooden catch. He put the crossbow in Tessa's hands and guided the padded end to her shoulder. "Aim along the body and release this trigger to unloose the bolt."
    "Okay," said Tessa, feeling her hands quiver. She frowned, straightened up, tightened her hold and sighted along the path of the bolt. "Like this?"
    "Good." Will nodded.
    She took the extra bolts from him. She didn't have a belt, so with a shrug she tucked them into the embroidered sash at her waist.
    "Okay," she said with a satisfied nod. Then, sensing Will watching her, she looked up at him. "Do I scare you?" Tessa asked coolly. She wasn't sure why. Maybe to provoke him, to make him feel as unsettled as she did. Though he didn't look afraid, Tessa decided.
    "You always have," he murmured.
    They climbed the stairs to the battlements of the guard tower. They could see Gray Lily standing on the grassy slope, about a hundred yards distant. She began to walk toward the castle. Tessa squinted against the bright sunlight.
    The old woman advanced to the grass near the edge of the moat and peered up at the battlements. She was dressed in a long gray dress and cloak.
    "You! Girl! Send down the young master," she called imperiously, "and you can go back to your world unharmed. I only want my unicorn."
    Will snarled a curse.
    "You thought this would be a quaint, pretty place, eh, girl?" Gray Lily went on. "Welcome to reality. Actually, reality would be much worse. Now send down the young master," she growled. "Or I will come fetch him."
    Tessa and Will looked at each other. Something strong and sure passed between them in that moment. Something that didn't require words or promises. Tessa grinned. She was suddenly stupidly happy.
    Will gave her an answering smile, then nodded and turned to Gray Lily. "Be on your way, old woman," he shouted. "Perhaps you can peddle your wares farther down the road."
    Gray Lily let out a slew of profanity in reply. But she didn't leave. She pointed a finger toward the distant horizon and began to speak. The sound was horrible. Tessa stepped back from the castle wall.
    "I think we should get inside," she whispered, reaching for his hand.
    "No," said Will, watching Gray Lily's motions. "Best to know what we're dealing with."
    Tessa peered into the distance. A tiny dark thing fluttered against the blue sky. "I've seen that before," she said, frowning. "In the tapestry. It's only a bird."
    The bird flew closer. It was odd, Tessa thought. Usually you couldn't hear birds flapping like that. Whoomp. Whoomp . She stared with horrified fascination as it got bigger. "It's not a bird," she whispered nervously. "Is it?"
    "It's the dragon," Will said.
    It flew closer, its long body writhing in a serpentine trail across the sky. It looked like a giant snake on which someone had sewn gargantuan, floppy-jointed bat wings. As it swooped closer, the wings unfolded like huge, veined fans and blotted out the sky overhead. The wings could have touched both goalposts of the Prescott High School football field, Tessa thought. A gust of foul wind knocked her and Will backward as the creature hurtled past. It screamed. It was a deafening, almost human-sounding scream except for the sibilant ending--a hiss, like whistling steam.
    "Dragon! Why didn't you tell me there was a dragon?" shouted Tessa, against the roar of the wind.
    "I didn't think it necessary," Will shouted back, helping her to her feet. "It has never troubled me before."
    The dragon flapped closer. Tessa saw a cerulean eye and the shutterlike flick of a membranous lid--the dragon was watching them as it lifted past, flying nearly straight up in the air.
    "I think it wants to make up for lost time," Tessa muttered.
    The creature soared upward, its long body undulating, its spiked tail whipping the clouds. Its searing breath quivered the air into heat waves and left in its wake a blackened double contrail that looked like train tracks against the blue sky.
    "Right." Will swallowed. "I believe we've seen enough. Come on." They scrambled back, running into the central tower just as a wall of fire blistered the