Page 70 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

"But--"

"You heard her," Delaynie grits out.

Vengeance rolls out of them, and I shudder as they advance on the fallen soldiers and the faltering witch.

"Good luck," I whisper.

Slipping through the gap they've created, I race my way up the stairs, praying to the gods that they can find another way out.

"The girl," the sorceress cries. "Get the girl."

Her voice cuts off, but she's sounded the alarm. I push myself to a breaking point, my lungs heaving as I climb higher and higher, faster and faster. Soldiers are on my tail, the black stone steps vibrating with the sounds of their footfalls.

I just need to get to the top of the tower. Find the exit. Make my way down to the dock.

And then I'm there, the stairs ending in a great, black, circular room. Through the windows, I spy nothing but sea and sky, and my heart leaps into my throat. I did it. I made it here, to the top of the tower.

But there's no door.

My stomach plunges. I spin around and around, but it's clear. There's no exit, no way out.

I lurch to the walls, scrabbling at the cold stone. I beg the Stone Dragon Jianyu awoke inside of me to find some crag to claw at, some secret gap that I can pull apart, but the rock is as impermeable to my magic as ever. Crying out, I bang my hands on the wall and then on the glass. My bracer crackles, and my palm hits the window again and again.

It splinters. Shards of glass rain down, and fresh sea air rushes in

My head spins. In a dizzying fit, I look down at the world below. A roaring ocean breaks in a crashing mist of white foam against jagged rock. It's at least a hundred-foot drop.

A new jolt of fear turns my skin to ice.

They look tiny from up here, but soldiers are streaming out of the Citadel, their bodies morphing before my eyes. They sprout enormous black wings, their scales glinting in the setting sun. Surging upward, a host of Shadow Dragons assemble into an attack formation, aimed directly at me.

I glance to the side and let out a laugh that's mostly a sob.

There's another tower not a hundred feet away. It's difficult to see, but a stone staircase has been carved into the obsidian rock, spiraling down the tower. At the base of it is a dock, and tethered at its end is a boat.

A single tear rolls down my cheek.

I'm in the wrong tower. I touch my bracer, begging it to make a portal, but the static coming off of it is hollow and broken. I'm out of magic.

And out of time.

Chapter

Seventeen

EMBER

The first soldier to crest the stairs and storm into the room carries a shield the size of his entire body. He's flanked by two mages with purple balls of shadows in their hands. Dozens more pour in after them, moving to surround me on all sides but one. With my back to the shattered window, the roaring wind from outside sends my hair whipping around my face.

I'm fucked.

"Take her alive," a voice growls.

My stomach sinks as the Sorceress pushes her way to the front. A black wound slashes across her cheek, and her robes are tattered and burnt. If I'm not mistaken, she's limping, too, her hands shaking. She curls her fingers into her palm, but only the faintest wisps of black smoke answer her call.

She's as tapped out as I am. Fortunately for her, she has a few dozen friends to back her up.

Meanwhile, I'm alone.

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