Fury of the Dragon Goddess by Sarwat Chadda

Author:Sarwat Chadda [Chadda, Sarwat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2023-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

MY EYES TWITCHED AS RAIN splashed on my face. A breeze blew across my sodden, mud-caked body. I reeked of foul, stagnant water. Why did my mouth taste so disgusting? What was that hideous squawking sound? I blinked and got the answer to the last question first.

Rabisu was running along the muddy bank, chasing a seagull. “Come here, breakfast!”

Breakfast?

It was a wet gray dawn. Seagulls hopped along the exposed low-tide bank, looking for breakfasts of their own.

A pair of boots came into view. Brand-new Burberry ones. “Daoud?”

“Let me help, Sik.” He put his arms under me and pulled me up. The mud was reluctant to let me go. “I found him, Mo!”

My brother ran up and embraced me in a squelchy hug. He knew exactly what I needed.

“Come back!” yelled Rabisu to the fleeing bird. “Huh. I wasn’t hungry anyway.”

I coughed violently and spat out a wedge of gray-green river gunk. “We got away from the monsters?”

“Some of us did,” said Mo.

I wiped the mud out of my eyes. It was then I saw Daoud had a dirt-splattered Kasusu in his hand. “Belet?”

Daoud shook his head. “We’ve searched this bank. Dumuzi and his pals are searching the other.”

She’d be fine, I thought. Belet always came out on top. I didn’t have to worry about her. She’d take care of herself. Then my guts surged and I vomited a bucket of river water.

Mo cleaned my face with his sleeve. Just like he used to when I was little and I’d made a mess with the tzatziki. “You had a rough night, Yakhi.”

“Rough? More like apocalyptic.”

We stood in the squelching mud of the Thames, four or five hundred yards downriver from Tower Bridge. Or what was left of it.

The southern tower had been crushed. There were giant claw marks on the stone walls, and the road itself had collapsed into the river, where it sat half-submerged, like an asphalt reef. The north tower leaned perilously to the side—one loud sneeze and the whole thing would tumble. Dumuzi’s camper van bobbed in the greenish water. Police sirens cried louder than the seagulls, and the streets were closed off with blockade fences and flashing lights. Despite it only being dawn, a crowd had collected along the main barriers, and there were a few camera crews eager for the scoop. No one was paying attention to us wading in the mud.

Mo cupped my chin. “You okay?”

“I lost my shoe,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“Can you walk?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t say any more. It was taking all my strength not to cry.

Mo put his arms around me. “It’ll be okay.”

You try and hold it together. You face down gods, monsters, beasts out of nightmare; try to be strong because you don’t want to let people down. I wasn’t hurt—I was immortal! But standing there, wet, cold, and covered in mud as the sirens blared in the distance, I felt a total failure. I’d tried, and it hadn’t been good enough. I’d always been told that if you just put in the effort, you will get what you want.

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