If they were somehow going to force the Old One to return to its dimension, they’d have to get it back here and through the portal, which presented a big problem. Obviously he couldn’t close the portal now, or they’d be trapped with the dragon on Earth. But if he left it open, there was no telling what might come through. The Old Ones had to be almost to Dragon’s Teeth, and it wouldn’t take them long from there to find out what had happened to the Dracsi.

“We’re going to have to guard the portal until I bring the Old One back,” he told the others.

“What?” Rachel shouted. “Did you lose your mind like that elf? The Old Ones are coming! You think we’ll be able to stop them from walking through this thing?”

“That’s why I need to get the dragon back in it before they arrive,” he said. “There’s no time to argue. I’m the only one who can teleport it back here, so I’m going after it. Rachel, you and Gabriel should stay here—”

“No way,” she said. “You won’t be able to fight that thing without me.”

“If it comes to fighting it, we’ve already lost,” he told her. “It can freeze us in place. No, you need to stay, because you’re the only one who can collapse this place and bring a ton of rock down on top of anyone who tries to come through.”

She growled, but nodded. “This is all on you, Fort, from start to finish. You need to fix this!”

Fort turned to Gabriel, thinking he was going to object to being left behind, but he just nodded and put a hand on Fort’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure she’s okay,” he said. “Good luck with that dragon.”

Happy to not have to argue, Fort nodded. “Jia, I’m going to teleport you and my dad to the school’s hospital, then see if I can find the dragon. If it did go through the teleportation circle, it shouldn’t be hard to find. If not, I’ll just turn on the news.”

“Of course,” Jia said, moving to pick up his father from Gabriel, with Fort helping. “I’ll call Dr. Ambrose in too.”

“Thank you,” he said, knowing the words weren’t enough, but they were all he had. “Be back soon,” he told Rachel and Gabriel, then opened a circle in front of him, and together with Jia, carried his father through.

They found two doctors in white coats staring at them as they emerged, one already on the phone for the guards. When they saw Fort’s unconscious father, both immediately moved to take him, gently carrying him to one of the free beds.

“What’s his situation?” one of them asked Jia.