Page 113 of Chaos and Destiny
“Something’s happened. He would be back by now.”
I reached for his hand. “Let’s give him a bit more time. Maybe he had to wait to get through.”
He nodded, but I could feel his hesitation. We waited even longer, but after an hour had passed, it was obvious something had gone wrong.
“I’m going to have to go get him.” Fen clutched the back of his neck, muscles strained.
“What’s our plan?” I asked.
After several moments of careful silence, he looked at me, took my sword and set it with his against the wall, then took both of my hands into his, leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “I won’t pretend the thought of you in danger doesn’t terrify me too. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will be.”
“We’ll have to get out of this crack and around the corner before we can make a real plan. I’ll use magic to keep our scent hidden. Whatever you do, Ara, do not make a bargain with them. No matter what they promise, it will never be worth it.”
“Fen, I’ll be fine.”
We grabbed our weapons, and he carried his in front of him as I strapped mine to my back.
“You might want to keep that out.”
“What’s a sword going to do against one of those things? I bet it wouldn’t even penetrate their scales. We’re going to have to be a lot more creative than that.”
He let out a deep breath but kept his weapon in front of him as we inched ourselves around the wall.
“Watch out for those guys.” I pointed to the airborne ones.
He nodded, and we continued at a snail’s pace while taking everything in. It looked similar to the other side of the gap, only this side had one massive green-and-blue-marbled beast sleeping with his long, spiked tail wrapped around him. With each snore, he exhaled a plume of smoke that filled the air above him. Beyond him were several more reptilian bodies. The head of the sleeping dragon would have taken me several minutes just to walk around quietly.
I could feel the steady air moving around us as Fen used his wind magic to create a seal of our scents and any accidental sounds. We crept forward, trying to hide behind the southern wall as we moved. We came around the curve, and I saw them instantly: Kai was pinned to the ground with a dragon’s sharp talon holding him and Greeve was trapped by another. I surged forward. I didn’t have a plan, but they had minutes until they were lunch.
“Ara!” Fen snapped from behind me.
I was filled with a foreign rage. I looked back to the prince only long enough to see the murderous glare on his handsome face.
“Ara, no,” Greeve called. “They have magic.”
Still, I thought if I could distract the beast holding Kai down, he could pull himself free long enough to make it to Greeve, who could then cleave them through the Gap while Fen and I ran behind them. But I was wrong. So wrong.
I hadn’t noticed that Greeve was cuffed until I was closer to them. The moment I could reach Kai, the dragon holding him down took in a deep breath, turned to me, and exhaled just as Fen threw himself and his magic in front of me to shield us both. He was furious, wouldn’t even look at me, but still, he saved my ass. I got up, and we ran toward Greeve.
“I’m cuffed. I can’t touch my magic.”
Four treats,a voice hissed.
I slowly turned to see a giant yellow snout inches from my face.
Fen reached for my hand, but before he could pull me away, cuffs identical to Greeve’s locked around his wrists. He gasped, and I knew the void from his magic had hollowed him.
A cage appeared around the three of us, and we watched in horror as Kai remained pinned to the ground. The dragon dug his claw into his shoulder, and he screamed in agony as we all held onto the metal bars and watched his ruthless torture. Without Fen’s magic, the temperature dropped, and if we stayed here long, we’d freeze to death. Fire-breathing dragons or not.
“Now would be the time to access your magic,” Fen breathed into my ear.
“Why didn’t they cuff me?” I whispered back.
“Because you haven’t given them a reason to.”
I nodded, closed my eyes, and tried like hell to push my magic forward. I envisioned it coming from my core and out of my fingertips. I imagined the heat from the dragon’s breath as my own as I pushed and pushed.
