Trapped by the Dragon

by Riley Storm

Why do you care? What’s going on with you? You’re stronger than this!

  Perhaps she was, but Natasha’s insides were in turmoil, and she no longer knew what she wanted to do or why she was doing it. Nor did she fully understand why she was suddenly so reluctant to reveal everything Rane had told her.

  What is wrong with me? The churning of her stomach only grew stronger.

  “What else do you have for me?” Loiner pressed. “What is it they’re planning?”

  “I don’t know,” Natasha said helplessly, her fear of Loiner outweighing everything else. “Um.”

  “Nearly a week, and that’s all you can provide me?” Loiner snapped.

  “Oh. The dragons are only going to get stronger,” she said, recalling something else Rane had told her, fear pulling the memory to the front.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Um, we witches, we’re born with a certain amount of magic. We learn how to harness it, but early on we usually know how strong a witch will be. Not so with dragons. The older they get, the stronger they become.”

  Loiner sat back, digesting that bit of information. “So the longer they’re here, the more powerful each one of them will get,” she said, coming to the same conclusion Natasha had.

  “Yes.”

  “What else?”

  Natasha froze. Loiner wanted more from her?

  “I don’t have anything else,” she said, raising her arms helplessly. “I’m sorry.”

  “You have to do better,” Loiner snapped. “I expect more from you, Initiate Celland. You are capable of bigger, better things. I can see that. But you’re going to need to dig deeper, to do whatever it takes to get him to trust you, to befriend you.”

  “I can’t force his trust,” Natasha said, feeling sick to her stomach at what she was doing.

  “Then manufacture it. Fake it. Do whatever you need to do,” Loiner said icily. “I don’t care what it takes, but we must find out what they’re planning, before they follow through on it. People could die for this, Initiate. Do you understand that?”

  Natasha nodded slowly, a few things coming clearer to her as she watched and listened to Loiner talk.

  “I’ll figure it out,” she said, trying to sound far more confident than she felt.

  “You had better,” Loiner said. “Now go. Do whatever you must.”

  Nodding jerkily, Natasha backed away several steps then spun and fled the office. There was no more dignified way to describe it. The second she was out the door, she turned and ran down the hallway, putting as much distance between her and Loiner as she could in case the woman called her back.

  She kept going, heading higher and higher into the building, away from the other people until she could be alone in one of the upper levels that weren’t frequented by many.

  Finding an empty room, she walked out onto the balcony, looking down at Winterspell. The place that had been her home for twelve years. Where she’d grown up, learned the truth of her powers and the world she was a part of.

  Where she’d met Rane.

  “What am I doing?” she moaned into her hands, slumping to the ground, feeling defeated and disgusted with herself.

  Was she making a horrible mistake? And if so, how did she fix it?

  She was trapped.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rane

  “This is perfect.”

  He stared up at the high ceiling, looking down the length of the ballroom. Eight columns lined the main area on either side, arching up into the center of the room where a big bronze dome capped the ceiling thirty or forty feet above him.

  “Perfect? Perfect for what?” the young witch standing next to him asked.

  “Anything you or I can dream of,” Rane said. “It’s just beautiful, is what I meant.”

  He felt bad deceiving the novice, but then again he couldn’t exactly tell the young woman what he was planning.

  “Yeah it’s okay. We use it a couple of times a year,” the novice said.

  Rane was ignoring the way she was looking at him, not the room. Her eyes kept straying to his arms, going wide any time he moved them. She was clearly, thoroughly infatuated with him, and it was beyond awkward.

  “For what?” he asked, genuinely curious.

  “Balls and feasts when high-ranking people from other schools come to visit, mostly,” the woman said.

  “Ah.” So it was perfect then. Which meant they had tables and chairs to accommodate everyone that could fit in the gigantic room. “Who organizes all those things? Chairs, tables, decorations…food,” he added after.

  “I don’t know. People.”

  Rane laughed. “That’s a fair answer. Thank you so much for your help,” he said, extending his hand.

  The novice smiled and shook it. “No prob. Need anything else? I really should be getting to class.”

  “I don’t think so,” Rane said. “Thank you.”

  “Know your way back?”

  He nodded, sighing internally as her eyes went to his arms again. “I think it’s that way, right?” he asked, purposefully using his opposite arm, so he had to cross it against his chest.

  The woman’s eyes went wide as his arm bulged across his chest. Then she nodded. “Okay, I should go.”

  Rane waved goodbye, waiting until she’d left the ballroom before sagging. “They really need to get more men around here,” he muttered to himself, not comfortable with being the center of attention so much. It made him feel like a piece of meat.

  “Room, check,” he muttered to himself. Now he knew that Winterspell had both the space and the equipment to host a party exactly like what they were planning. The tricky part now would be finding out where all the things were located.

  Oh, that and setting it all up without anyone finding out.

  Which meant, next stop for him were the kitchens. He’d only ever eaten in the building that housed the dragons. The main building of Winterspell however, was much larger, and also closer to the ballroom. He began scheming up a way to bribe his way into the kitchens as he exited the ballroom and headed up the hallway toward the exit.

  Thankfully, the rules essentially confining the dragons to their quarters had been lifted after the battle at the portal, and he would no longer get in trouble for wandering the halls outside of their allotted area. Planning something like this would have been impossible otherwise. He still garnered more than his fair share of looks as he passed, however, and moving in secret was impossible. Which meant he needed to have other reasons at the ready for his presence there.

  Reaching the entryway, all thoughts of partying left his mind, however, as he saw Natasha emerge from a hallway off to his left. He raised an arm to wave, but she didn’t see him. Instead, she crossed the open area and took a staircase, headed upward.

  The kitchens were somewhere back where she’d come from, Rane knew that much. But he’d seen the set of Natasha’s shoulders and the clouded look on her face. Something was bothering her.

  Putting aside his duties for the moment, Rane went after her. He wasn’t sure what good his presence was going to do, but perhaps he could cheer her up a bit or help her out with whatever was wrong.

  He followed her up the stairs, opening his senses to his dragon, letting it test the air as he followed her scent up, and up, and up. They were heading into the highest levels of the main building. Rane had never been up here before, and still they went higher, leaving everyone else behind.

  Slowing his pace as they neared the top, Rane listened, hearing her say something to herself. He paused, suddenly reconsidering whether or not he should be doing this. It was obvious from where she had gone that Natasha wished to be alone. He should respect those desires and leave.

  A heavy sigh reached his ears, and before he knew it Rane was taking the last few steps and following her into the room she’d entered.

  He found her slumped against the balcony railing, head in her hands.

  “Natasha?” he asked, slowing his approach. “Everything okay?”
<
br />   Her head came up instantly, eyes wide. “Rane? What are you doing here?”

  “Uh, I saw you come out the hallway downstairs,” he said, pointing back the way they’d come. “Then the stairs. I came up, you were here, then I almost didn’t, but I…” he shook his head. “You seemed sad. I…I thought maybe I could help?”

  Was it his imagination, or did she look more distraught at his presence than she had before?

  “Thought you could help…” she echoed. “That’s really kind of you, Rane. You’re a nice person.”

  He blinked. “I…try?” It wasn’t the sort of response he’d really expected. What was he supposed to do now?

  Natasha just smiled wistfully.

  “Can I…have a seat?” he asked, pointing next to her.

  She waved at him silently. Rane walked over and sat down, resting his back against the stone wall. They sat in silence, neither of them speaking.

  “Listen,” he said. “Are you in trouble? If this is about the other day, on the wall. Did you get in trouble for not waiting? I don’t want you to be in trouble ‘cause of me,” he said.

  “What makes you think this is about you?” she asked in a tiny voice.

  “Ego, mostly,” he said, acknowledging her point. “And also because you seem smart and driven, and I can’t see you getting in trouble for any other reason. Which means it must have been me.” He frowned. “Unless…is this about what happened after…after we defeated the gremlins.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, looking at him.

  Rane dipped his head forcefully. “You know. When we…”

  “Nothing happened,” Natasha said strongly. “Remember?” Her eyes flared.

  “Right. Of course. I just, wanted to figure out what was the problem. That’s all.” He scratched the back of his head, unsure what else to say.

  Why was it he always seemed to lose his composure around her? He never seemed to know what to say or do around Natasha and it was getting annoying.

  “But if it was about me jumping off the wall, or you following, just tell me who’s yelling at you. I’ll go talk to them, take the blame. I don’t want you in trouble, or mad at me for it.”

  “That’s not it at all,” she said. “It’s fine, Rane, really. It is.”

  He didn’t buy that for an instant. “What’s the matter then? You can tell me.” Rane wished she would open up, so that he could help her. He didn’t like seeing her like this. “I just want you to be happy.”

  It was true, he realized. That was what he wanted right then, more than anything. To make Natasha smile, or laugh. Something to bring her out of the mood she was in. Rane disliked that someone had done this to her, had brought her down.

  “Who did this to you?” he snarled, suddenly overcome with anger and a need to throttle the person that had made her feel this way. The air around them filled with energy as he inadvertently called upon his powers.

  Natasha leaned away from him even as he recovered, stunned at his own outburst.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I have no idea what came over me there.”

  “What was that all about?” she asked quietly once he’d fully calmed.

  Rane shook his head. “I don’t know. I just don’t like seeing you like this. It was nothing though, won’t happen again,” he said with a laugh.

  “Are you okay?” Natasha asked, focusing her attention on him for what felt like the first time since he’d arrived up there. “You look…stressed, Rane. What’s bothering you?”

  “You first,” he joked. “But really, it’s nothing. Just a lot on my mind. A lot to think about, and things to do, you know? Busy, busy.”

  Natasha shook her head. “No, I don’t know. What exactly do you dragons do here that keeps you so busy?”

  “Sorry,” he laughed. “That part’s still a secret for now. Can’t tell you.” He winked.

  To his surprise, instead of smiling and understanding, Natasha seemed to grow distant. Almost cold.

  “Okay,” she said, pushing herself to her feet. “Well, as long as it’s no big deal. Though if it’s not a big deal, I don’t see why you couldn’t tell me. But still.”

  “’Cause I can’t tell you,” he said, not appreciating her constant efforts to pry. “Dragon business.”

  “Right. Dragon business.’

  Rane wasn’t sure where the ice between them had come from, but he could sense it now in her voice and in the cold shoulder she was giving him.

  “I really should be going,” she said quietly.

  “Oh. Already?” he asked, wishing he could keep her around, to try and puzzle out just what was going on between the two of them all of a sudden. Why did she care so much about what he did in his spare time? It was not like she was his boss or anything.

  “Don’t be late tomorrow,” she said, then disappeared back inside in a flash of red hair and gunmetal-blue eyes.

  “Am I in trouble?” he asked the empty air after she was gone.

  Rane had thought that he and Natasha were growing closer. Becoming friends.

  But now he wasn’t so sure of anything. Had he been imagining it all?

  Chapter Twelve

  Natasha

  Rushing down the stairs, she paused, listening to hear if he was coming after her.

  No sounds reached her ears, so she quickly dashed across the hallway and out onto another balcony. She couldn’t stay here, not right now. Her head was too confused, too overwhelmed by everything going on.

  It’s not just your head though.

  She pushed that thought aside, not ready to face what it meant. She wasn’t strong enough for that at the moment.

  The air shivered next to her as she focused her thoughts and power, swirling and growing blurry until it resolved itself into a horse, the magnificent wind steed standing still, waiting for her commands.

  Natasha hopped on its back and reins materialized in her hands. A second later, it galloped to the edge of the balcony and leapt into the air, wings sprouting from just behind her legs as they soared high into the sky.

  The wings weren’t necessary, neither was the running start. The creature was technically a creation of pure wind, and could move as such, but imbuing it with familiar and expected characteristics helped her feel more natural riding it and commanding it. It was human nature after all, to give things traits they didn’t actually possess.

  And sometimes Natasha needed a little reminding that all her vaunted powers didn’t make her that much different. She still had very human-style problems.

  She moved slowly through sky, the wind tearing at her eyes. They were narrowed to slits to keep open as best as possible, but Natasha hadn’t planned on running away and so her mask was back in her dormitory. The cold dug in through her robes as well, but she paid it no mind. A simple spell once she reached her destination would take the chill off. She could manage until then.

  No, it wasn’t her physical body that was the problem. That, she could mostly control. If she could figure out how to stop it from growing heated every time Rane was around, that would certainly help, but Natasha was confident in her ability to keep her urges to herself.

  Her course took her high into the mountains, to a particularly high point, where she could look down upon a valley that stretched out wide in front of her.

  “This is a whole lot comfier in the summertime,” she muttered to herself, landing on an outcropping of rock high on the tallest part of this particular peak.

  Not that the Appalachians had true peaks. On one visit to Europe she’d seen the Alps. Now those were mountains.

  Still, the sight below her was beautiful, in summer or in winter. A long oblong valley stretched out in front of her, bordered by two ridgelines that swept out into two other mountains several miles away. Trees stood tall in a soft arc, with an obvious divot carved out of them by a large landslide two springs earlier that had toppled many of the old trees.

  Natasha sat on the ledge, using her magic to warm her body
and cast off the cold. She loved coming here.

  It’s just so peaceful, quiet, with only the call of nature and—

  Her eyes focused on the downed trees from the landslide, many of the trunks still visible under the winter snow.

  “What the hell…?” Standing up, she called upon her mount once more.

  There was no way that many trees had fallen in a straight line, arrayed like pencils on the ground. That wasn’t natural. Something had done that.

  Leaping into the sky, she flew above the valley cautiously, trying to get a better look. Her keen eyes picked up a well-worn trail from the trunks back up the side of the mountain.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” she said, pulling out her wand. The trail led to a cave mouth that must have been revealed when the land fell away. Natasha had thought she knew all the caves in the area, but this one was hidden in a tangle of fallen trees and piled rocks.

  Dropping lower when she didn’t see any activity outside, Natasha came to a slow halt, pausing in mid-air. Whatever was in there had to know she was here by now. If she went back to Winterspell, whatever creature it was from the Abyss would have moved on. No, now was her chance to strike.

  Focusing her energy, she cast a spell aimed to keep herself protected. Then she landed outside the opening and headed toward it, wand at the ready. No creature that would hide out in the mountains like this should be a threat to her.

  She noted the burnt refuse outside the cave mouth as she approached. Whatever was inside was using the trees for fire purposes, it would appear. What manner of creature was this?

  Prepared for anything from a goblin horde to a demon, Natasha entered the cave mouth, her senses tingling as she passed her already cast spell.

  The interior was dark but surprisingly spacious. Wary about her surroundings, she entered slowly. A whispered spell lit the tip of her wand.

  “Oh. Shit.”

  A dozen pairs of eyes swiveled to meet hers, all of them human.

  “Begone!” she shouted, casting the first spell all witches learned. Purple light bathed the inside of the room, blinding all the occupants who hadn’t thought to close their eyes—which she hoped was just herself—and also destroying any guises the monsters from the Abyss had managed to use to hide their true nature.