Free Dragon Sleeping (The Dragon Circle Trilogy Book 1) by Craig Shaw Gardner

bird took flight, his wings even darker than the clouds above.
    “Come, friends,” the Oomgosh urged from where he stood behind them. “It is for all our benefit.”
    Todd glared at the sky as he broke into a trot. Bobby and Jason scrambled to catch up, as if they both had elected Todd their leader. They all followed the path indicated by the low-flying Raven, which led from the clearing back into the forest. Nick started to run; too, afraid he’d get left behind. The rain was getting heavier. Nick blinked the water from his eyes.
    Lightning flashed before them. Charlie barked at his heels. Nick’s dog had never much liked lightning.
    Nick waited for the great boom that always followed. There was nothing; no thunder at all.
    “Come now!” the bird cried over his shoulder. “Keep up with Raven and we’ll all be safe and dry.” He cawed loudly as he flew, warning away the storm.
    A second shaft of lightning crashed down in front of them. It was much closer than the first. The air smelled like something was burning. There was no thunder this time, either.
    “Perhaps, O Raven,” the Oomgosh called from where he took up the rear, “it would be better to take a less direct route.” Raven spread his wings and banked around before them.
    “For once in his overgrown life,” the bird called down as he flew overhead, “the Oomgosh might be right.” He turned again, and flew a bit to the left of their earlier course, toward another opening in the surrounding woods. “Come on, my people! What say we outwit this storm?”
    All four of them followed the Raven’s lead, with the Oomgosh following them in turn. But Nick was finding it harder and harder to run. He had trouble breathing in the humid air, and the rain had soaked through his clothes. His jeans seemed heavier every time he lifted his legs. And the water kept falling straight down, a solid downpour, without any wind at all, as if the clouds overhead might stay there to unleash their torrent forever.
    Lightning smashed into the trees directly in front of them, maybe a hundred feet away. One of the tree stumps that remained caught on fire, the flames sizzling beneath the rain.
    “The storm does not wish us to go this way, either,” the Oomgosh declared, his voice rising above the noise the rain made against the leaves.
    Nick thought about Raven’s saying he would outwit the storm. Maybe a storm that held no wind or thunder really could think, too. Maybe that kind of storm used the lightning for its fingers, for Nick felt as if those crooked lines of electricity were reaching out for all of them. “So what will Raven do?” the bird shouted as he hovered overhead. “Perhaps it is time to challenge the clouds!” Still, as boldly as he talked, he made no move to fly up toward the thunderheads.
    “The Oomgosh has had a thought!” the green man called from the rear.
    “Another wonder in a world of marvels!” Raven chided. “Does the Oomgosh wish to share it with us?”
    “We have said that one of the young men here with us is important to Nunn,” the Oomgosh said with a grin so broad it threatened to split his face in two. “And Nunn has the storm throw lightning to send us back the way we have come. No doubt he wishes us to march back into the willing arms of his soldiers. But if these fellows are so important, the lightning cannot touch them. He can throw down all the slashing fire in the world, but it will be no more than a threat!”
    “You mean this Nunn doesn’t want to kill us?” Todd asked incredulously.
    “Nunn doesn’t dare kill you!” Raven cackled. “The lightning is nothing more than a sham, to lure you into his trap!”
    Raven cawed loudly. “He is certainly the most excellent
    Oomgosh!” He swooped above the green man, and then fluttered his wings to gain altitude. “Of course,” the bird added in a quieter voice, “Raven would have thought of that as well, had he not been so busy leading us all from danger.
    “Most assuredly, my