“Your father was Soulbound to your mother?”
“Yes. When she died, it nearly killed him. Maybe that’s why he has such a jaded view of the world.” He sat still, lost deep in thought for a time. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he met her gaze once more and smiled as he said, “I don’t know about you, but I’m famished.”
Sera laughed at such a normal remark, her amusement echoing around the room. The darkness stole into the cave, signalling the late hour. The flames from the torches threw patterns of light across their faces as they ate dinner together, Arius remaining in human form.
Pausing mid-meal, she asked him, “What happened after I passed out on the plateau?”
A look of consternation crossed his face. “Desamor was all for killing you while you were unconscious, but my father put a stop to that. He allowed me to fly you back here and said we would meet tomorrow morning to discuss your future. I think Aliah was hoping to sway him towards leniency.” He sighed. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Finishing his meal, he folded his hands behind his head and asked, “Would you care to share my bed tonight? I’m not asking for anything more than that. I would just like to be close to you and for you to be comfortable.”
He watched her closely, gauging her reaction. Her heart faltered at the idea of his body lying against hers. Her cheeks flushed, and she berated herself for her bashfulness.
Don’t be coy. You just shared your blood with each other. Your souls are bound together in some weird God-approved dragony way. Pretty sure you’ll have to get used to touching him.
Aloud she queried, “I thought you struggled to maintain human form for long without sapping your energy.”
“It’s strange,” he replied. “After the binding, I feel… stronger, somehow. I would like to try to sleep beside you. If I can’t maintain this form, I’ll just transform back and sleep out there.” He nodded towards the outer cave. Pausing uneasily, Arius fidgeted before saying, “I’m just so afraid of what tomorrow will bring. I want to share one night of peace with you if I can.”
Casting her fears aside, she whispered, “I would like that.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The feel of his lean body enfolding hers through the night on the mattress had delivered her the best night’s sleep she’d had in over a week. Upon waking from her deep slumber, Sera found the bed empty and cold. Her heart ached from the dragon-shaped hole that had been carved into it. Disorientated, and unsure if it was daylight yet, she stumbled from the dark room and blindly followed the tunnel to the main cave. There she found Arius cooking breakfast over the fire in human form. Relieved, she ran to him and threw her arms around him.
“Good morning,” he murmured into her hair as he returned her embrace. “I trust you slept well?”
“Amazingly.” She grinned at him, unbridled joy making her chest feel like it was too small to hold so much emotion.
The weak sunlight filtering through the clouds was unexpectedly blotted out by a dark shape that filled the cave entrance. Desamor’s body landed heavily on the rocky floor, his claws grating against the stone. Arius let go of her and moved forward. As she watched, his body writhed and he fell onto all fours as wings burst from his back, spikes erupted along his spine and scales covered his body.
His massive dragon form erupted forth and he bared his teeth in warning at his brother. “Why are you here, Desamor?”
Desamor snorted. “I’ve come to make sure the human hasn’t decided to sneak off. I don’t trust you to obey our father’s orders.”
“As you can see, she is still here, as per his request. You can leave now. You are not welcome in my home.”
Desamor raised his snout, flaring his nostrils. “Some home. It even smells like—” he stopped mid-sentence as he sniffed the air and his pupils dilated. “You have bound your soul to her?” he hissed. “Traitor! Defiler! Worm!” He roared his fury. “How dare you dilute the sacred blood of our mother. You desecrate the name of our family. Indeed, you violate the very word dragon. You will die for this! But you will see your little pet be ripped apart first!”
He lunged toward her.
Arius met him head-on and the crash of their two bodies colliding sent a shockwave running through Sera’s body. The sound echoed through the cavern, reverberating off the rocks. She watched in horror as the black dragon sunk his claws into the coppery shoulder of Arius and gnashed his teeth at his wings. The thin membranes had never seemed so delicate. In retaliation, Arius raked his talons along Desamor’s underbelly, trying to hook a claw around one of the plates while his jaws tried to break through the obsidian armour. It looked an even fight; both dragons were of a similar size, although the older brother appeared more muscular. Arius may not have the bulk behind him, but he was nimble. They broke apart and both uttered a battle cry. The explosion of sound within the confined space left Sera deafened and reeling. She fell to the floor, hands clasped to her ears, and waited for her equilibrium to return before struggling to her feet once more. A blast of flame hit a stalagmite beside her and singed her hair. The rock formation melted like wax under the intense heat. In her shock from the turn of events, she felt detached from the clash of the two dragons and observed the changes curiously.
So this is how the stalagmites were so smooth in my cage. Who knew a dragon’s fire melted stone?
A black wing struck a stalactite above Sera’s head and she snapped back into focus as she bolted away to avoid the falling structure. Chips of stone struck her back, slicing through her skin. Arius swung his head toward her, desperate to ensure her safety, and Desamor took advantage of his exposed neck. Charging forward he bit down on his jugular.
“No!” Sera screamed and whipped out Firinne, unsure if the short blade would pierce Desamor’s hide, but willing to try if it meant saving her dragon.
“Run!” Arius yelled at her before his words cut off into a gurgle as his brother’s jaw tightened around his throat. Rivulets of blood trickled down his neck, staining his scales a bright red.
“I won’t leave you!” she yelled as she sprinted towards the two writhing forms.
“You must!” He swung his wing like a club into Desamor’s head to loosen his hold before sweeping his tail towards Sera to halt her dash.
Sobbing, she leapt out of the way of the swinging tail and landed in the stream that ran through the cavern. The surprise of the freezing mountain water made her pause. Logic seeped back into her brain. Her dragon would be more likely to get hurt trying to save her than if he could give his full focus to the combat. Turning away, she raced towards the dark hole in the wall from where the creek sprang. Arius managed to twist away and give a powerful beat of his wings, throwing dust up into the other dragon’s eyes, allowing Sera to scramble into the tunnel, away from the fatal teeth of Desamor.
Hunched over to avoid scraping her head on the low roof of the passage, Sera followed the stream. The awkward position she held herself in wasn’t helped by the darkness, and she kept catching her shoulders on the sides of the channel. The water flowed just below her knees, the dampness spreading up her trousers as she splashed onward. Every time she tripped over a hidden rock and caught herself, she felt the grazes on her hands deepening. She focused on the sting of the fresh injuries in the hopes that it would stop her worrying about what was happening back in the cave.
I couldn’t bear it if something happened to him because of me. Think, Sera, think! She had to figure out a way to help Arius. She refused to consider what might happen to her if he died in battle. But what could I do? I’m stuck in this tunnel right now, with no idea of who is winning. At least she knew he was still alive as their deafening roars reverberated through the stone.
She kept moving forward, away from the sound of the dragon fight. Crashes still echoed through the space that seemed to shake the very foundations of the mountain. Sera was petrified that the natural corridor might collapse on her head. At that thought, she felt a tightness in her chest, and her b
reathing came in short, sharp pants. A faint blue light glowed up ahead, so she followed it, scrabbling desperately up the incline as the passage narrowed, adding to her claustrophobia.
Heaving herself through a tight spot, she burst out onto a dimly lit ledge. Her mouth dropped open as she drank in the sight before her. The shelf she was perched on was a few metres above the floor of a grotto that was mostly taken up by a clear pool. Bioluminescent fungi decorated the walls, their flat caps emitting the pale glow, while thin roots snaked down the walls. She assumed this was the spring that fed the stream but gaped in bewilderment as she observed the direction of the current.
It’s flowing UP! That’s impossible!
As it left the spring, the water climbed the wall below her and rushed up and over onto her ledge. She shook her head, astounded. Her skin prickled, the magic that filled this cavern palpable. Sera’s eyes were drawn inexorably down into the depths of the pool. Leaning further out she noticed a strange shimmer at the bottom. Carefully, so as not to disturb any of the glowing mushrooms, she swung her legs over the edge, turned so she faced the wall and lowered her body down. She hung from the rocky outcrop for a moment, glanced down to check her trajectory, then let go.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bending at the knees, she allowed her hips to absorb the impact of her landing. Straightening slowly, she cautiously approached the abnormally still pool. She flinched as a massive boom rocked the ground. Small fragments fell from the grotto’s roof and split the perfect reflection in the water, creating multiple fractured images of herself standing in front of the glowing fungi. The images warped and shifted into the likeness of another woman. Dropping forward on to her hands and knees, she peered at the vision in the water that was both the same and different from her. The figure in her reflection did not mimic her movement.
Sera stiffened, eyes darting over the woman in front of her, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The image was ethereal. She hesitantly touched the surface of the water only for her hand to pass through the woman. Ripples distorted the vision for a moment, and when they stilled the woman’s face zoomed into focus. Sera froze, mouth agape, as she recognised the face. It was her mother.
Elisabeth. The woman who had birthed her, who had willed her knife be gifted to her at graduation, who had died and left her and her father alone when she was just a babe.
How is she here? What is this place? “Mum.” A whisper was all Sera could muster.
The version of Elisabeth in the pool didn’t react to her words and turned her face to the side and murmured to someone. Sera gasped as revelation struck. This was a Seeing Pool. They were incredibly rare. She had never seen one in person before and had only read about them in class at MINATH. They were said to offer insights into the past and prophesies of the future. Eagerly, she leant forward and listened closely to her mother’s words, desperate to hear the voice she hadn’t heard for twenty-one years.
“Darling, I must speak with you.” Elisabeth’s eyes were tight as she spoke softly to the shadowy figure at the edge of the pool.
“What is it, my beloved?” a male’s voice responded.
Sera frowned. That’s not Dad’s voice.
“I have Seen a prophecy of the future. Of our future.”
A sharp intake of breath was all that greeted her words.
“We will have a child together. It will be a girl…” Sera’s mother lowered her eyes to her clenched hands and took a shaky breath.
“That is our deepest wish, my beloved. Why do you seem unhappy?” he asked gently.
“Her name will be Seraphina.”
A knot coiled in Sera’s stomach. This can’t be right. My father is Allen. And this is not his voice.
“It doesn’t have to be,” came the snarled reply. “You’ve said yourself, these visions are not set in stone. We can choose another name.”
“That’s true. But there was something about this one…”
“I will not allow you to name our daughter after a damned dragon!”
“I’m just telling you what I saw.” Elisabeth smoothed her ginger hair back into a bun, the hairstyle severe. “There’s something else.”
“Out with it then,” came the curt response.
“She will change everything. She will save us all from a path of destruction. But… if she’s told about her true heritage, she will die and all will be lost.”
“What do you mean, her true heritage? Are you saying she can’t know that we’re her parents?”
Elisabeth paused briefly before she said, “Something like that, yes.”
Sera sat in shock at the prediction. Could it be true?
Elisabeth touched the blade that hung at her side and rubbed the staghorn handle. She recognised Firinne now, although it felt strange to see her knife at someone else’s hip, even if it was her mother’s. Sera cocked her head as she studied her. If she was anything like her daughter, that subtle habit suggested she wasn’t telling the whole truth.
What is she hiding?
The blurred figure off to the side moved forward, closer to her mother. Sera strained her eyes, desperate to see who this man was.
“Well, Eli, we’ll just have to be careful not to fall pregnant until we understand this prophecy a little better.” The man’s voice was a caress now, the earlier aggression carefully hidden. Sera didn’t trust him.
Her mother reached a hand toward him as she said, “I know, Mal.”
Mal? Who in the Four Gods’ names is Mal?
His face would be revealed at any moment as they moved toward each other in the vision, each step bringing his features further into focus. Until an explosion rent the air and a rock crashed down into the pool, shattering the image. Cringing away from the splash, Sera tore her eyes away and stared horrified at the broken ledge behind her. Dust billowed out of the tunnel as the ceiling cracked. The dragon’s battle had caused a cave in. There was no way out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bounding away from the falling debris, utter panic clouded her mind. Fear closed its grip on her soul, crushing her lungs with its force.
I’m going to die here.
The tightness in her chest made breathing a challenge. The grotto rocked again with another boom and more chunks of the ceiling splashed into the pool. Wayward shards grazed her body as the boulders ricocheted off the walls. Amidst the destruction, Sera’s instincts took over, reverting to the Tracker training that was as much a part of her as Firinne was. She concentrated on slowing her racing heart as she tuned out the chaos surrounding her.
I need to find a way out. There’s always more than one option. I can’t just stay here and wait to be buried alive.
On a whim, she cast her mind out. She noted the nearby auras of tiny insects that lived in the mountain, scurrying away from the commotion. She sensed the two dragons grappling together back in the cave. Pulling back closer to herself, she grasped a vague sense of sentient life dotting the walls around her. Frowning, she trained her focus on the fragile auras and realised it was the fungi. They whispered to her in a strange language. While she couldn’t understand their words, Sera received an impression of cold darkness and narrow spaces. Confused, she glanced around the cavern, trying to see if there was another exit that she’d missed in her first assessment.
As her eyes swept the room, one of the glowing mushrooms gleamed brighter. As soon as her eyes landed on it, its light dimmed and the one below it shone out. When her eyes moved to the new light, it too dimmed and the one below it lit. This continued as her eyes followed the light trail that disappeared into the Seeing Pool. Others lit up underwater, their glow illuminating a submerged tunnel that until then had been shrouded in the darkness.
Not my favourite idea of escape, but better than waiting here to be crushed by the mountain.
Taking a deep breath, Sera gritted her teeth and dived into the freezing water.
Mushrooms lit her path as she swam away from the ruined grotto. Rock enclosed her on all sides, and s
he felt the tightness in her chest again as the already narrow space seemed to shrink around her. She kept holding her breath and used her arms to pull her body through the space and her legs to kick her forward.
I hope the mushrooms know I need to breathe soon. A dreadful idea consumed her thoughts. What if I escaped being killed by the cave-in, only to drown in this tunnel? The knowledge that she could die in here when she ran out of oxygen just made her more determined to escape. I refuse to let my fear defeat me. If I die, I need to know I did everything I possibly could to save myself.
The tunnel tapered even further, and her hips stuck between the walls. The feeling of constriction filled her with dread but she wriggled from side to side, peeling skin from her body with every movement. Her lungs were burning. With a violent kick, she squeezed through the narrow passage and shot out the other side. The blue light of the mushrooms shone a trail that led upwards. Hope bloomed in her chest as she pushed all her remaining energy into powerful strokes, ignoring the flare of pain in her hips as she followed the glow. With one last kick, she broke free of the water and rattled in a lungful of air. Wheezing, she pulled herself out of the water and flopped onto the floor of another small cavern. Rolling onto her back, she rested her hand against the wall and gently stroked the top of the nearest mushroom.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
A tendril hanging from the mushroom wound around her finger for a moment and squeezed as if in reaction to her words before releasing her. As she lay there catching her breath, she realised the blue glimmer of the fungi wasn’t the only light in this place. Tilting her head, she spotted a soft greenish-grey glow above her. Carefully, Sera turned onto her side and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
A Dragon's Mind: A New Adult Fantasy Dragon Series (The MINATH Chronicles Book 1) Page 12
