41. Forty-One

Forty-One

I had killed a High Priest.

Blood dripped down my face as I took in the three mangled bodies that lay in front of me—flesh torn from their bones, limbs sprawled around the room.

I pushed myself from the floor, gaping in the scene.

I had done this.

I had killed them.

Bile rose up in my throat, burning its lining as I pushed it back down.

I had to leave. I had to leave now .

I rushed over to Cai and Calista kneeling down in front of them.

They weren’t moving—weren’t breathing.

Their eyes were frozen open in horror.

My eyes frantically searched them for wounds, praying to the Gods I hadn’t hurt them.

What had I done? What magic was this?

I reached forward, gently touching Calista’s face and, like the room had stopped holding its breath, she gasped.

Shards of glass and splintered wood crashed to the ground. A warm breeze flowed through the shattered window as I reached for Cai. Her lungs filled with breath as she crawled away from me, pulling Calista back with her.

“What have you done!” Cai’s scream was muffled by her golden mask.

“We need to leave.” I grabbed the bedside table with bloody hands, pulling myself to my feet. Smears of crimson liquid stared back at me from its surface.

A warning.

A promise that if I did not find a way out, it would be my blood spilled across its surface next.

“Y-you—” she stammered. “You killed our master,” Cai said, staring blankly at his disfigured body.

Calista dragged Cai from the ground, wiping the splattered blood from her face with her apron before tearing it off and tossing it to the side.

“What should we do, Miss?” Calista stepped forward as I paced back and forth in front of the mangled bodies.

I didn’t know.

I had no answer for her.

“Does your master have horses?” I asked.

“No, but he has dragons,” Calista said quickly.

I whipped my head in her direction. “Do you mean Tragi?” I took a step toward her. Calista stood firm as Cai scurried behind her.

Cai was still so pale. Her eyes wide like she had been stunned—she was going into shock.

“No, Miss. I mean dragons. He breeds them to sell to Ammord,” Calista stated as the distant sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor.

We were losing our window to freedom.

I locked my eyes with hers and she stared back at me.

“Take me to them.”

She grabbed Cai’s hand and dragged her toward the fireplace on the opposite side of the room. Weaving through the bodies I had left dead on the floor.

I followed, then stopped and turned back to the High Priest. The footsteps and yelling grew closer—louder.

“Miss, we do not have much time.” Calista’s words were frantic as she reached for a golden statue sitting on the mantle and pulled it forward.

Stone grinding against stone rang out into the room as the wall opened itself to reveal a servant’s passage. I knelt down, searching the High Priest’s pockets for my necklace.

Something told me since getting his hands on it, he went nowhere without it.

I was right.

I pulled it out of the inside pocket of his tunic and draped it around my neck. I pushed myself from the ground, swiping the sheath of daggers from his guard and sprinted to the hidden stairwell.

I slammed my back against the door, using all of my strength to push it closed behind us, then ran.

We weaved through underground tunnels that lead from the House of High to the dungeons; stones falling around us from the stomping of the guards rushing to my chambers above us.

By the time we had reached the dungeons the House of High had come alive.

I used my shadows to conceal us in the darkness as servants rushed by us, whispering the news of their dead master.

Soldiers were arming themselves, running toward my quarters, unwittingly leaving their greatest assets unprotected.

We watched as the last of the soldiers charged down the winding tunnels towards the High Priests fortress.

For a few breaths, we waited—waited for silence to settle in, then stepped into the dimly lit cavern of gated prison cells.

“He keeps them beneath the prison,” Calista said in a hushed voice.

She lifted a hand, pointing a finger to the singular door directly across the large opening.

It had been five days since I had stood here, begging my family not to forget me.

Surrendering to the death I knew was coming for me.

Now, standing here again, I had a chance.

A chance to get back to them.

I draped us in a cloak of darkness as we hugged the side of the dungeon wall, staying as far from the light as possible as we made our way to the locked door. Alarm bells were going off now.

A warning to the city—to the realm.

They were under attack.

I sent a thin tendril of shadow through the heavy lock on the door and it clicked open. The sound echoed through the noiseless pit, and as I pushed the door open, a wave of heat billowed out from behind it. I looked over my shoulder at Calista, who was now supporting the full weight of Cai, and gestured to her to follow.

We were walking straight into the devil’s den.

The further we descended into the ground the hotter and heavier the air became, threatening to rip the oxygen from my lungs.

We rounded a corner and then I saw them.

They were glorious; like nothing I could have ever dreamed. Five of them loomed before me, their scales shimmered in hues of emerald and obsidian, catching the dim light with a mesmerizing iridescence. Their wings, vast and leathery, unfurled through the bars of their prisons like darkened sails, each membrane veined with a network of silver threads as they pressed against the cold metal of their cages. Their heads were adorned with sharp, ebony horns that swept back like a crown as their eyes shimmered, wild and untamed, like molten gold. Their barbed tails thrashed against the iron bars, adding to the haunting melody of alarm bells ringing in my head.

Heavy chains fell from the ceiling and wrapped around their necks.

They were prisoners, held like Ata had been—scars covering their scaled bodies. Some looked like the spikes had been severed from their backs leaving stumps of infected flesh.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat and stepped into view.

Five pairs of eyes snapped to me and I forced myself to stand still under their gaze. A thunderous roar filled the room mingling with fire from the mouth of the center dragon.

I threw up my shadows, closing my eyes tightly and praying the flames would not touch us.

Behind me, I heard Cai’s stifled scream.

My hands trembled uncontrollably as fear penetrated my veins.

I was all I had now.

I was all we had now.

There was no one coming to save us.

I sucked in a sharp breath and stepped forward. “I need your help.” My voice trembled as the dragons flung their sharp tails against the iron cages.

I took another step forward, tilting my head back to look up at them. The center one’s eyes locked on me, watching every step I took with curious, deadly intent.

I forced my voice not to waver, taking another step closer to this magnificent beast. “We need your help.”

Smoke billowed from its nose as it huffed, then lowered its snout and sniffed at me.

I took one last step, placing myself just outside its cage and knelt before it.

I bowed my head in submission and extended both hands toward it, my palms facing toward the sky.

An offering.

A plea that it would see I meant her no harm.

Calista gasped as she watched my hands slip through the bars. A low threatening grumble bubbled out of the dragon, silencing Calista then turning back to me. I could feel the warmth of its breath caressing the tips of my fingers.

My heart thundered as its nose pushed against my hand, taking in my scent. I clenched my eyes shut, waiting for its jagged teeth to come crashing down around my wrists and drag me to my death.

I waited, but it didn’t come.

Carefully, I opened my eyes, tilting my head up to see its golden stare on me.

Our eyes locked into place and the room melted around us, blurring at the edges as an otherworldly stillness settled into my bones.

The realms have been waiting for you, child.

My eyes widened as a deep, melodic female voice filled my head.

I stumbled backwards on my hands, crawling away from the cage, shaking my head frantically.

A soft chuckle reverberated in my skull and I gasped.

“Are you . . .” There was no way. This wasn’t possible. “Are you speaking to me?”

She growled, bearing her daggered teeth as she pushed her nose against the iron bars.

Get to your feet child , she hissed.

I sat there, frozen in place. Too stunned to move—to speak.

Get up! The words boomed in my head and I scrambled to my feet at the command. Y our time is running out. You must leave. Now. It was a demand, and I would not question it.

“I need your help. I don’t know how to tether and I am not fast enough to outrun an army.” I could feel my heart pumping my blood at a rapid pace; the sound of its beats pulsing in my ears.

Unchain me , she commanded. I took a step backward, locking my shaking hands behind my back.

“H-how do I know you will not kill us?” I stumbled over the words as my eyes shot to the entrance of their lair.

Voices were shouting just outside the door.

They were closing in on us.

Unchain me, you insolent child , she growled.

This time, without hesitation, I listened.

I shot my shadows toward the ceiling, wrapping tendrils around each of the five chains then focused all my strength and pulled. I jumped backward, flinging my arms around Calista and Cai as earth and stone collapsed to the floor. The chains banged loudly as they met the iron cages.

“Are you alright?” I asked Calista. She nodded up at me with wide eyes, dirt caked to the blood that still lingered on her skin.

She held Cai to her chest, protecting her from the chaos around us.

Daggers of dark matter shot from my back toward each of the cages, destroying the locks as I pulled the girls to their feet.

The dragons leaped from their cages releasing cries that threatened to collapse the walls of earth around us.

I hauled Cai and Calista toward the beast. She dipped her neck low enough for Calista to grab hold of her scales and climb toward the center of her back.

“How do we get out of here?” My question was frantic as the door at the top of the stairs flew open.

Arrows began flying down into the chamber. The yelling and footsteps of the guards grew louder with each second.

A sharp hiss like a serpent’s warning rushed past my ear and an arrow collided with the dragon’s scales. It clattered to the floor, failing to pierce her flesh as I threw up a black shield round us.

We go up . She lowered her neck to me, and as I climbed on to her back, she rose to her full height.

Calista caught me by the wrist as I lost my footing from the movement. Swinging her other arm around my waist she pulled me up the side of the dragon. I clutched onto the dragon’s spine, wrapping my shadows tightly around the three of us to hold us in our places.

“What the hell do you mean ‘up’?” I screamed.

The army was here, flowing in through the entrance like a broken dam as arrows flew through the air. Some men fled when they saw the dragons, pushing themselves back up the stairs, against the current, as the dragons breathed hell onto them.

I mean up , she roared as she pushed us from the ground and flew directly for the domed ceiling.

She was going to kill us.

She was going to leave our crushed bodies splayed out on the ceiling.

I slammed my eyes shut and prayed to the Gods as she thrust us into the apex of her prison.

But instead of pain, wind crashed into my body.

I gasped, looking back to see nothing but stone as we soared out of the pit.

The ceiling wasn’t real.

It was a glamour.

The hysterical laugh that burst from my lips turned to an ear-piercing scream as we shot into the open sky, and four dragons broke through the ground behind us, setting fire to everything in our path.

Blood splattered from my mouth into my hand as I gagged against the pain.

Someone was screaming, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying through the static in my head.

My heart was killing me.

With every beat I could feel poison pump through my veins.

My vision blurred as the wind whipped curls across my face.

Liquid was leaking out of me, I could feel it pouring down my legs.

That’s when I felt it, the stray arrow piercing my abdomen.

With the last of my strength, I snapped off the fletching. And as I pulled the arrow through, the world below transformed into a stunning, burning canvas of destruction.