Page 29 of Ties of Legacy

He shouted in alarm, backing away as unreasoning panic set in. Long before he’d started traveling at fourteen, there had been a cave system near his hometown. The local children had all been fascinated by it, but the older youths had loved to regale them with tales of the fire-breathing dragon that lived inside and ate children for breakfast.

He stumbled backward, his eyes fixed on the miniature dragon in front of him. The one in the cave had been rumored to be the size of a bull, while this one was closer to a large dog. But childhood terror was crowding out rational thought, and he only wanted to get away from the creature.

The pastureland changed, beautiful flowers filling the field and catching his eye with bright colors in every direction. It wasn’t enough to break his terror, though. Even Avery’s distant shouts couldn’t do that.

“Elliot!” she cried, her voice becoming more and more alarmed. “Elliot! What are you doing? Stop! Stop!!”

Dimly he was aware he was making a fool of himself in front of her, but he couldn’t seem to stop his feet. The dragon lunged forward, and he stumbled backward with several rushed steps.

His foot came down on an uneven bit of ground, his heel sliding away from him. He cried out, thoughts of the dragon consumed by more immediate panic as his arms pinwheeled in an attempt to catch his balance. But it was too late. Dirt slid out from under him, and he fell backward off a precipice.

Chapter 11

Avery

“Elliot!” Avery shrieked, dashing toward the flower-covered field. Had the man lost his hearing and sight? How could he stumble backward through a flower field, of all places?

Her heart thundered as she sprinted forward, trying not to think how high the cliff might be. She clutched the strap of her satchel as it bounced awkwardly against her side. She had only followed him in the first place to keep him from going too far from the lamp. In his initial indignation, he had clearly forgotten about his need to stay close to it.

Now she could only be glad she had followed. She just hoped it wasn’t too late…

She dropped to her knees beside the crumbled section of cliff where Elliot had gone over. She held her breath as she peered cautiously over the side.

Please be alive. Please be alive,she chanted in her head.

Her breath whooshed out when she saw the slim gorge was only two body lengths deep. Elliot sat at the bottom looking dazed, his head in his hands.

“Of all the foolish things,” she called down to him, relief giving way to amusement. “Don’t you know better? Didn’t you see the flowers?”

Elliot looked up at her and winced. From his expression, his pride was hurt worse than his body.

“Flowers? I was too busy looking at the dragon!”

“Dragon?” Avery stared at him before glancing reflexively over her shoulder.

The two mice must have been off enjoying their ill-gotten meal, but the lizard had laid himself out on the rocks to sun. She looked back down at Elliot.

“Are you talking about the lizard? I thought you were planning to settle in Sovar. Don’t you know they have enormous lizards as well as enormous mice? You should have known that if there were two mice around, there was probably a lizard hidden somewhere nearby. They’re usually found together.”

“Lizard,” he said slowly. Groaning, he dropped his head back into his hands.

Avery knew she shouldn’t enjoy his discomfort, but she couldn’t help her lips twitching. “And what about the flowers? You can’t have thought they were natural!”

She glanced around at the incredible display around her. The bright colors of a multitude of different flowers shone in the sun, clustered together in this spot although there were none in the surrounding grasslands. It was a classic display by the Sovaran Legacy. But in Sovar, unnaturally beautiful spots were always accompanied by a cliff. Avoiding those areas was one of the first things she’d learned from her parents as a young child.

“I barely noticed them at all,” Elliot admitted.

“Can you climb out?” Avery asked.

Elliot pulled himself to his feet, and she surreptitiously watched as he checked himself over. He seemed to conclude that he was, indeed, unharmed, and she breathed a soft sigh of relief.

He reached up, trying to find purchase on the sides of the narrow gorge. But as soon as he caught hold of anything, it crumbled at his touch, as it had under his foot at the top. After several tries, he gave up with a grunt and looked up at Avery.

“I don’t think I’m getting myself out of here.” He sounded rueful. “Can you fetch a rope?”

Avery nodded. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She crawled backward away from the edge before scrambling to her feet. The last thing they needed was for both of them to end up down there.

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