Page 65 of Prince of Storms
I tried to ease my way forward, away from the wall, but cold, icy tendrils wrapped around me, the monster shoving me back. I tried to resist, but I couldn’t fight its strength.
Light exploded around me without warning. I shrieked in a mix of surprise and pain as my eyes were immediately overwhelmed. The cold disappeared as the monster was yanked away. Something hit the ground hard nearby, and the force of the impact was strong enough to spill me from my feet.
I cried out as I landed. A furious bellow echoed my shout, coming from farther away than I’d expected. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the image of a dragon, its jaws open wide, lunging toward a murky black shape.
Then darkness swept over us again, the light going out. I huddled down, only able to listen, not participate. Several moments later, more lightning flashed, that time way off to my left. My head snapped around just in time to see the giant dragon bowled over by the enemy creature, extinguishing its light once more. A cry of pain went up.
“Tor!” I screamed, fearful that I’d just witnessed his death.
Another angry roar sounded in the dark, and something smashed into the wall again. Dust and debris rained down, forcing me to cover my head with my hands after getting plunked in the head by a few unpleasant knuckle-sized rocks.
Lightning flashed, and I saw another snapshot tableau of them fighting. Then again. And again. They moved across the cavern. First, Tor would have the upper hand. Then the monster. Then they would be even. My eyes were dazzled, and tears fell, but I forced them to remain open. I had to see what was happening. I had to know if Tor fell …
A cry of pain stabbed at my eardrums, and lightning showed the monster pinning Tor to the ground, something having ripped open his chest, leaving a gaping wound. The dragon struggled, but the light slowly faded, and they disappeared into the darkness.
“Tor! Get up, Tor! Don’t you dare let it win!” I bellowed.
It started so slowly that, at first, I didn’t even notice the increasing glow. It moved like a snake, crawling across the floor in an arc. As it grew brighter, I realized it wasn’t moving, but rather, it was making its way up Tor’s tail. It pulsed, growing stronger until I could see Tor’s snout, his teeth bared at the creature.
A weirdthrumnoise sounded with each pulse, rattling off the cavern walls as it built in time with the power Tor was summoning.
With a mighty snarl, Tor got to his feet, flinging the monster back into the darkness—and spitting it with a lightning bolt, the physical, cackling, jagged line of lightning erupting from his mouth to pierce the creature and nail it to the wall.
“Yes!” I shouted, clapping my hands as the creature sagged, its body drooping in what I assumed would be death. The lightning bolt faded, and the monster dropped to the floor.
He’d done it. Tor had done it! He’d won. We were safe.
I gasped as the light from Tor also faded, leaving me with an image of him falling to the ground.
“Tor!” I screamed, stumbling forward, my hands in front of me, my feet shuffling across the uneven surface.
I tripped and fell, scraping the skin from my palms, but I didn’t let that stop me. I got to my feet and kept walking. My only thought was to get to Tor.
He can’t be dead, I told myself.There’s no way he’s dead. He has to be alive. Pretty please. Don’t be dead!
My shuffling was the only thing that stopped me from dying. I planted my left foot, and my right moved forward—but only encountered air.
I teetered for a moment, nearly going over the edge, but I managed to pull myself back, away from the lip, falling hard onto my rump. In the darkness, I hadn’t noticed the chasm, and without any light, there was no way I could find out if there were a crossing.
“Tor!” I called. “Please! Get up! You have to be okay!”
There was no immediate response.
Pulling my knees to my chest, I fought back tears. What would I do? I had no idea how to get out of the cavern. There was no light anywhere. Nothing to show me the way out. And even if I did get out, how was I supposed to get home? Everything had happened so fast, and I’d barely been able to see much anyway.
I was trapped in a place I didn’t know.
Off to my left, a dull light appeared, faint enough that I thought I imagined it at first. A hallucination in the dark. But it continued to get brighter until I saw the outline of a shadow moving. A person. Walking.
Could it be?
He approached the chasm, which I could see now, and deftly leaped the six-foot distance, landing with a slight bend of his knees.
“Mia,” Tor said, emerging from the darkness as his light banished the shadows. He bent down and scooped me up without asking, holding me tight to his bare chest. “I’ve got you now. You’re okay.”
“Tor,” I whispered, burying my face in his neck. “You’re okay. Oh, my god, you’re okay!”
“So are you,” he said.
