Fort Morgan by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

soothing and filled with
enchantment. Paddie moved to tap the Sword of Truth, but Jill
stilled his hand. The magic began to fill the entire bowl. The
serpent weaved back and forth as if he were drunk.
    King Manannán shifted closer to Fin. As if
to test their heft, the men bounced their swords in their hands. A
gorgeous, magically enhanced woman appeared next to the serpent.
The image of her large breasts and delicate features seemed hazy,
like heat waves rising off pavement in the desert.
    “ Celeste,” Tanesha said
under her breath.
    “ Sir!” one of Alex’s men
yelled.
    He pointed to Alex’s feet. Alex was sinking
into the ground. Perses, Hera, and Heather were slowly being
absorbed by the earth as well. Sandy, Jill, and Tanesha were mired
in the amber sand up to their knees. The humans, the Olympians, and
the Titans were all slipping into this version of the Sea of Amber.
Only the fairies remained standing on top of the amber sand. Abi
touched Tanesha and she shrank to her fairy corps size. Tanesha and
Abi flew above the crowd.
    Alex slipped the USB drive into Sandy’s
hand.
    “ On guard,” Alex said in a
low voice. Her team seemed to respond.
    For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
The serpent was motionless. Even as she slipped into the earth,
Hera’s spell continued to swell. The military team and the fairy
army stood at the ready. No one seemed to breathe.
    “ NO!” Celeste
screamed.
    She pushed the serpent, who woke up from his
enchantment. He lurched forward toward Hera. King Manannán swung
his sword.
    “ Don’t do it!” Jill and
Sandy screamed in unison.
    “ No!” Heather and Tanesha
yelled.
    King Manannán lopped off the head of the
serpent. The serpent’s head bashed against the jagged rock edges of
the bowl, and a high hysterical laugh came from Celeste. Thousands
of baby serpents streamed from the wound. Unlike the babies in
Sandy’s salon basement, these small serpents were immediately able
to fly. The tiny serpents immediately sought human hosts. They
bypassed the Olympians and Titans and flew at the humans. They
zoomed through the ranks of the fairy army looking for the human
fairy hybrids.
    Alex’s team attacked with the flame
throwers. Soon, the entire area reeked of baked serpent. But the
baby serpents kept coming.
    “ Sandy!” Alex
yelled.
    “ How?” Sandy
yelled.
    “ With Paddie!” Alex
yelled.
    “ Paddie?” Sandy
asked.
    Up to her knees in the amber sand, Sandy
turned to her right where Jill still held Paddie and Katy.
    “ What does she want?” Jill
asked.
    “ She was told that my
mother’s symphony would help,” Sandy said with a shrug.
    “ It’s our only chance!”
Alex yelled.
    “ How?” Sandy yelled to
Alex, who was caught up in a fight with a particularly aggressive
baby serpent. The serpents wanted inside Alex. She was fighting for
her life.
    “ I know how,” Katy said in
Jill’s ear.
    “ Go ahead,” Jill
said.
    “ I want hairspray!”
Heather yelled. “Hera! Abi! Someone!”
    A case of hairspray appeared at Heather’s
feet.
    “ Hey Alex!” Heather
yelled.
    She threw a can to Alex. She threw one to
Jill, which Katy caught. Hera picked up a can.
    “ And this
will . . .” Hera asked.
    “ Look!” Heather
said.
    Alex Hargreaves had lit her hairspray and
was burning the tiny serpents that had surrounded her. The humans
were turning the tide against the baby serpents.
    “ Go ahead, Katy-baby,”
Jill said.
    “ Ok,” Katy said.
“Paddie?”
    She gestured for Paddie to hold his sword
out.
    “ Auntie Sandy?” Katy
asked.
    Sandy was fighting the tiny serpents with
her hairspray flame thrower. She glanced at Katy.
    “ Put that thing on
Paddie’s shiny sword,” Katy said.
    “ But . . .”
Sandy burned the tiny serpent in front of her.
    “ Do it,” Katy said with a
nod.
    Sandy threw down her hairspray flame thrower
and took out the USB drive. The tiny serpents were on her. Perses
used his sword like a bat to knock them away.
    “ Go