Page 27 of Inferno

After several silent minutes, a small beach appeared between the foreboding cliff faces, a tiny strip of sand that was the only break in the seemingly endless wall of rock. We drove the raft onto the shore, hopping out to pull it onto the sand. After we’d dragged it out of reach of the waves, I straightened and looked around. About a hundred yards up the beach, dense jungle formed an ominous barrier between us and our targets. If anyone shipwrecked on this tiny beach, they’d have no clue that a huge, multi-million-dollar facility lay beyond that menacing tangle of vines and trees. Though I had no doubt the jungle was the least of our obstacles. The real security would be farther in.

“Wes,” I said quietly into my throat mic. The hacker was back with the ship, huddled over the map on his computer, tracking our movements. “We’ve landed.”

“Hang on,” Wes muttered in my ear. “Just trying to pick up your location. Okay, I’ve got you. Can you hear me, Lieutenant?”

“Loud and clear,” Martin replied.

“Looks like you’re about two and a half miles from the first fence line,” Wes continued. “Head northwest and you should reach it.”

“Roger that.” I nodded once and turned to Mist. “Okay, Mist. You’re up.”

She gave me a tight smile, took a few steps away from the soldiers and began to change. Her black Viper suit seemed to melt into her skin as the girl’s body stretched and shimmered, unfurling into the sleek, silver-white dragon that was her true self. I kept a careful eye on the soldiers as she changed, hoping none of them would forget themselves and start shooting. Their eyes were wide as they stared at her, and I realized none of them had likely ever seen an actual Shift before. A couple, I saw, gripped their weapons tightly, as if fighting their instinctive response to kill any dragon they saw.

Mist ignored the soldiers, nodded at me and glided up the beach toward the jungle. Without so much as a rustle, she vanished into the shadows and undergrowth, where she would scout ahead, silent and deadly, to warn us of any potential guards, patrols or ambushes.

“All right, people.” Martin’s voice cut through the stunned silence. “Get it together. You’ve all seen dragons before, so wipe those vacant looks off your faces. Remember, this is recon and rescue, not assault. Be on your guard, and don’t shoot anything unless I give the order. I don’t care what it is—unless I tell you to kill it, I’d better not hear youthinkingabout pulling the trigger. Let’s move.”

The soldiers snapped into mission mode. Dragons or no dragons, this at least was familiar to them. Flipping our tac lights on, white beams cutting faintly through the grasping shadows, we crept silently up the beach and pushed our way into the jungle.

It closed around us, thick and menacing. The branches blocked out the sky and what little light there was, so the shadows beneath were nearly impenetrable. It was also ominously silent, much like the jungle in Brazil had been when we’d approached Ouroboros’s domain. Except for our own footsteps and the rustle of vegetation as we pushed through, this jungle seemed eerily empty of life.

About ten minutes into the trek, we discovered why. The trees opened into a large clearing. A wide strip of open ground, probably fifty yards across, stretched away to either side, seeming to form a ring around the inner island.

Crouching at the edge of the trees, I scanned the clearing warily, searching for patrols and hidden sentries. But the open space was empty and still, no guards, towers or anything as far as I could see. So why an open area smack-dab in the middle of the island? Something wasn’t right; I smelled a trap, even though I couldn’t see one.

“Thoughts?” I muttered to Martin, crouched a few feet away. The lieutenant shook his head.

“I don’t like it. But I don’t see anything, either.”

Mist glided out of the trees, silent as a damned ghost, appearing next to me without a sound. “There are no patrols or guards on either side of the perimeter,” she announced. “It’s clear.”

“How certain are you of that, dragon?” Martin asked.

Mist frowned. “Very,” the Basilisk answered. “Unlike you, Lieutenant, I can see in the dark. I can also smell a human from a great distance if the wind is blowing right. There are no signs that anyone has been in the vicinity for a very long while. There are no tracks, no patrol paths, no disturbed vegetation. No movement. I know how to do my job, human.”

“Easy, dragon,” Martin said quietly. “Not questioning your abilities, but this seems suspicious because it’s so out of place. And I don’t like being out in the open.”

“Well, we certainly can’t sit here all night,” I said, and rose to my feet. “Mist, keep scouting ahead. The rest of us will follow.”

With Mist leading the way, we started across the open field. And for the first minute or two, everything was normal. I was beginning to think we’d actually reach the compound without too much trouble, but of course Talon never made things that easy.

“Oh, no,” I heard the Basilisk whisper from up ahead, before whirling around. “Stop!” she hissed. “Everyone, freeze!”

We froze. A couple of the soldiers raised their guns, glancing around as if expecting an attack, though the night remained silent and still. “Mist,” I said in a low voice, feeling my heartbeat roar in my ears. “What’s happening?”

“I just figured out the reason this place isn’t guarded,” Mist said. She stood like a statue in the long grass, wings half-spread, tail held stiffly over the ground. “It doesn’t have to be. Look down, Cobalt, about twelve inches from your right foot. Carefully.”

I followed her instructions, and my stomach gave a violent lurch as I saw a glint of metal in the weeds. “Shit,” I breathed. “This is a fucking minefield.”

The soldiers, who were beginning to relax, went rigid again. Martin took a quiet breath and looked at Mist, frozen in the same spot. “Can you lead us through it, dragon?” he asked in a low voice.

“I think so.” Mist looked around, narrowing her eyes. “If we move very slowly, I can tell where the mines have been buried. For the most part. Step exactly where I step, and we should be fine.”

“Single file,” Martin told the soldiers beside us, and they moved, very carefully, into position. “No one goes forward unless the dragon tells us to.”

I pressed close behind Mist, and we inched our way across the field. It was an agonizingly slow crawl, with Mist staring hard at the ground in front of her, sometimes standing motionless for long periods of time while she debated whether or not to go forward. Every time I moved or put my foot down, I held my breath, hoping I wouldn’t step on a hidden mine and trigger an explosion.

Finally, after several tense, heart-pounding minutes, we reached the other side of the clearing. As we stepped into the tree line, I collapsed against a trunk in relief, as a couple soldiers did the same.

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