Page 79 of Stolen By Dragons

"Is he... is he still alive?" Chris asked.

Elowen's face tightened with pain. "We can't confirm that. The Void is beyond our sight. We can only hope."

The uncertainty of Eirian's fate hung over us, a grim reminder of the power we were up against. The Void wasn't just a threat – it was a force that could snatch away even the mightiest among us in the blink of an eye.

"He was the only one we lost," Elowen continued, her voice steadying with effort. "But his loss makes our mission even more critical. We must train our dragons with renewed vigor. More Dracarians have arrived at the Keep – high-borne and soft-bloods alike – to bolster our defenses. We'll be ready if another attack comes."

As the shocking news sank in, the infirmary door swung open. A Dracarian healer stepped out, his face weary but his eyes bright with cautious optimism.

"Lydia has pulled through," he announced. "Her own accelerated healing, combined with the fae magic, saved her life. She's still unconscious, but she will recover. She just needs rest now."

Relief washed over me, so intense it made me dizzy. Chris let out a shaky breath beside me, and I felt Zephyr's hand squeezemy shoulder. The news was a beacon of hope in the darkness that had settled over us.

Elowen thanked the healer, who added, "She's unlikely to wake until tomorrow. You should all get some food and rest. It's been a trying day."

We nodded, the adrenaline of the past hours finally giving way to bone-deep exhaustion. As we made our way towards the dining hall, my legs felt like lead, each step an effort. The events of the day played on repeat in my mind – the terror of the attack, the fall of Lydia, the loss of Eirian. It all seemed too much to process.

Was Eirian even alive? What had become of him?

Elowen had remained with the healer after sending us on our way, promising to let us know once Lydia woke.

I shuddered, a chill prickling across my skin as the air before us shimmered and darkened. A shadow creature materialized, its form writhing and undulating in a way that made my stomach churn. The sight of it, here in what we thought was a safe haven, sent a fresh wave of terror through me.

“Run!” Chris snarled as he stepped in front of me, his dragon roaring as it launched into the air.

I spun around, only to come face-to-face with another shadow creature.

No.

Before I could even cry out, I felt its cold, insubstantial grip close around me, and then I was being pulled away. My dragon screeched, clinging to my shirt as we were both dragged into the darkness. The cold of the Void seeped into my very being, a chill that went beyond the physical.

"Aria!" Chris's anguished cry echoed in my ears as he shifted, his wolf form lunging towards us. The desperation in his voice tore at my heart. Zephyr's hands glowed with magic, his dragonjoining the fray with a burst of wind. But their efforts seemed futile against the overwhelming power of the Void.

I reached out desperately, my fingers brushing Zephyr's for a brief moment before the darkness engulfed me completely. The last thing I saw was Chris's wolf eyes, wide with terror and fury, before everything went black.

The void swallowed me whole, a suffocating darkness that seemed to press in from all sides. My dragon's warmth against my chest was the only reminder that I wasn't alone in this terrifying nothingness. Fear unlike anything I'd ever known gripped me. This wasn't just darkness – it was the absence of everything, a void so complete it threatened to erase my very existence.

As consciousness began to slip away, one thought echoed in my mind: This was what Eirian must have experienced. And now, like him, I was being dragged into the heart of the Void. The realization brought with it a new level of terror.

The darkness deepened, and I knew no more. My last conscious thought was a desperate plea – for Chris, for Zephyr, for anyone to find me. But as the void claimed me, even that hope began to fade, replaced by the terrifying certainty that I was now at the mercy of a force beyond our understanding.

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