by Dyan Chick
Silent nods came from my friends. I took a deep breath. "Good luck."
26
You do realize we could have all gone together, don't you?" Tavas asked. "Did you just want some alone time with me?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I said.
"There's something you're not saying," he said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
We'd been walking uphill for nearly ten minutes. I stopped and put my hands on my head, taking a moment to catch my breath and look around. All I could see was grass, and stubs, and trees. Nothing that looked like the entrance to a mine. "How are we supposed to find it out here?"
"You know what I'm talking about," Tavas said, ignoring my question. "You split up the group so you could look for James, didn't you?"
"Of course I'm looking for James," I said. "I'm looking for all the missing people."
Tavas shook his head. "Remember, I can read your thoughts. You're hoping they'll do the other job, so you can get your dragon safely."
Guilt twisted my insides. That was exactly what I was hoping. And in my head, it was a perfectly reasonable idea. Send half the group to rescue the missing mages, and the other half to find the dragon-in-distress. Though I wished Tavas couldn't read my intentions. "Just help me find this mine so we can get this over with before the crazy Dragon-Bloods can perform that stupid ritual."
Tavas shook his head. "You're going about this all wrong, you know that?"
"Your helpfulness never ceases to amaze me," I said.
"Look, you're a mage, right?"
I stared at him, lips pressed together in an annoyed line. Why hadn't I sent Tavas with someone else?
"Why are we looking around here when we both have magic?" he said. "Don't you know any detection spells?"
"None that I can do without knowing more about what I'm looking for," I said. "I'd need a personal item to find someone or some sort of talisman or something I can use to guide me. I can't just make magic happen out of thin air."
"That's true, for mages, but not for dragons. You and James, you think that emotion you feel for him is based on lust alone?" Tavas asked.
Surprisingly, I managed to keep my mind blank in response to Tavas's question. Unfortunately, the flush on my face was giving away my feelings. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for Tavas to continue.
"You and James spent time together, you're both dragons," Tavas said, as if that cleared everything up.
"And?" I was getting impatient. Was Tavas just trying to distract me? Was he playing me again?
"That means you have a connection that mages don't have, that humans don't have. It's a dragon thing, I'm not sure how it works, but I've been around enough dragons to know that they can find their mate even after years of separation," Tavas said.
"Mate?" My eyes widened. "We just met. There's no mating."
"But you have feelings for him, right?" Tavas insisted. He seemed concerned and frustrated.
"Just tell me what you want me to do, Tavas."
"Find him," he said matter-of-factly.
Eyebrows raised, I blinked at Tavas. "Find him?"
Tavas grabbed my elbow and guided me toward a bench near the trail. "Sit down. Close your eyes."
"You better not be fucking with me, Tavas," I said. "Seriously, there are people's lives on the line here, you know that, right?"
"I know that. And no, I'm not fucking with you. Will you just let me help you? Isn't that why I'm here?"
Relenting, I sat down on the bench and closed my eyes. "Now what?"
"Try a location spell, see if you can find James," he said.
I opened my eyes and looked up at Tavas.
"Just try it, please, what's the harm if I'm wrong?" Tavas asked.
My brow furrowed as I looked up at Tavas's green eyes. He was acting almost like a friend. He wasn't flirting with me or saying anything inappropriate. He wasn't flashing that cheesy smile of his. In fact, his flawless face almost looked worried. Maybe he did care about James. And he was right, there wasn't any harm in trying. Well, aside from him taking off on me while my eyes were closed.
"I'm not going to run off on you," he said. "And believe it or not, I do care about saving James. You were right about one thing, I don't have a lot of friends," Tavas said. "So I need you to just find him, okay?"
"Okay," I said, closing my eyes again. I focused for a moment, recalling all of the variations I knew for detection spells. A seeking spell would be ideal, but the magic needed to find someone over long distances without a talisman or personal item was far too powerful for me to do alone. That was why I'd needed the other mages to help me. But a detection spell might work. It had to.
As soon as I started thinking about the spells, a rush of power surged through me. As if I'd already cast something, without even saying a word. At first, the magic startled me and I almost let it go, then I remembered how I was able to call fire without words. Was this how doing magic would be now that my dragon blood had been awakened?
Instead of focusing on a spell, I held on to the charge of magic inside me and coaxed it along. James. Where was he? Would he be able to contact me again? Could I find him the way one would find a missing object? Where are you?
Something pulled inside me, causing me to lunge forward on the bench. I opened my eyes and stood, facing the direction of the tugging sensation. Silently, I took a few steps toward it and as I did, it continued, rather than fading like I thought it would.
A smile filled my face and I looked over at Tavas, too happy to care that I didn't like him. "This way."
Jogging, I followed the internal guide as it pulled me off the path, up the mountain, and over a pile of rocks. We crossed a small stream by jumping over it and I was grateful that it wasn't the rainy season right now.
After a few more twists and turns, I lost all sense of where I was or where we had come from. Right now, that didn't matter, what did was finding James and saving him before it was too late.
Suddenly, the feeling vanished. I stopped and looked around, expecting to see some sign that we were in the right place. There was nothing but trees and rocks.
"Everything okay?" Tavas asked.
"It's gone," I said. "What happened? I was being guided and then it stopped."
"We must be in the right place, the entrance has to be around here somewhere," Tavas said.
Behind me, a branch snapped. I turned to look and my mouth dropped open in surprise and I let out a scream. Looking down at me was a ten foot mountain troll.
The creature was the color of gray stones, with mossy green hair. Its skin was rough and had the texture of pebbles. A brown loincloth covered the area between its legs, which made me guess it was a male troll.
Hands the size of trash can lids were pulled into fists and the monster let out a roar that would put a lion to shame.
Terrified, I stood there for a moment, unmoving. What was it that we were supposed to do if we ever saw a troll? A million things raced through my mind at once. They were territorial creatures, usually avoided all contact with the outside world. They liked to be alone and would defend their homes with a vengeance.
Taking a few tentative steps backward, I tried to smile at the creature but I had a feeling it came out as a grimace. "Sorry to bother you, we'll be on our way."
The troll grabbed hold of a nearby tree and pulled it from the ground, roots and all, then held it like a club.
"I don't think he's going to let us go for good behavior," Tavas said.
"You think?" I screamed as I jumped away from the tree that was swung at me. Diving to the ground, I rolled away from a giant foot just as it tried to stomp on me.
"Any bright ideas?" I said.
"One," Tavas said. "Run."
I didn't need to hear it twice and took off through the woods. As soon as I started running, pain exploded through my head and the world began to spin, stopping me in my tracks. A huge gray hand knocked me to the ground and out of the corner of my eye, I saw
Tavas fall next to me.
Breathing heavy and dizzy, I fought against the urge to vomit. One gray hand held me to the ground, the other had Tavas pinned. "What now?" I wasn't sure if I actually said the words out loud or if they were only in my head.
The troll squeezed his hand around me, picking me up so I was vertical now, feet hanging in the air. I wanted to say something or do something but my brain was too fuzzy to process a complete thought. The only thing I could think of was that I needed to fight the urge to sleep but my eyes grew heavier with each rocking step the troll took. Then, the world went black.
27
Morgan."
From somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard my name, but that wasn't possible. I was alone, in my bed, in my room, wasn't I? But why did everything hurt?
"Morgan."
Head pounding, I opened my eyes slowly as I realized I wasn't at home. The last thing I remembered was being taken down by a troll. This day was not off to a good start.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, the events of the last week came rushing in all at once. The dragon, Jimmy, Tavas, the troll.
Closing my eyes again, I wondered how many times I was going to have to remind myself that this was my life. That this was real.
"Morgan."
For the first time since hearing the sound, I realized who the voice belonged to. My heart raced and I steeled myself against disappointment, not trusting my own ears. "James?" I said his name before I opened my eyes again, afraid that if I opened them, he wouldn't be there.
"I'm here, but I wish you weren't," he said.
At that, my eyes snapped open and I forced my aching body to sit. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I realized I was sitting on dirt and the walls around me were made of rock. We were in a cave. "James?"
"I'm here," he said.
Slowly, I turned to look behind me and as soon as I saw him, my chest tightened in a mixture of relief and fear.
James's arms were bound by chains, suspended above his head. His face was bruised and bloody, one eye swollen shut. His dark hair was matted and dirty.
Suddenly, my own pain seemed like nothing. The cave was too low for me to stand, so I crawled over to him, stopping next to him. "What did they do to you?"
He didn't look this bad in the vision when he came to me. Whatever they'd put him through had been recent. The wound on his cheek was fresh, not yet fully closed.
I reached up to touch his face and he turned away from me. "You shouldn't be here. You were supposed to go find the others, not me."
"Did you think I wouldn't come?" I lowered my hand and locked my gaze on his good eye. "You gave up everything to help me. It's my fault you're here in the first place."
He smiled. "That's true, but I still didn't want you to come. I didn't want you to end up in here with me, and look at us now."
"It wasn't just me," I said, brow furrowed. "Tavas was with me. And my friends were looking for the missing mages." I looked behind me, half expecting to see them sitting behind me.
"They didn't bring Tavas or anyone else in here," James said. "But they have no reason to have a Fae. They just want dragon blood."
My stomach twisted. "What does that mean? Do you mean they..." I couldn't finish the sentence. If they were only keeping me because of my ancestry, and they were willing to be this violent with James, someone they needed alive, what chance did Tavas or the others have?
My hands were shaking now. "Did I send all my friends to their death?"
"I don't know," James said.
I knew going in that this was going to be dangerous, but I really thought I could pull it off, though I couldn't explain why I thought it was possible in the first place.
Feeling frustrated, I pressed my fingertips into my temples, trying to ease up some of the throbbing in my head. There had to be a way out of here.
Dropping my hands, I pushed myself up onto my knees and reached up for the chains on James's wrists. The metal was duller and coarser than steel or iron usually was but a simple lock spell should do the trick. "I should be able to get you out of here."
"Don't bother," James said. "It's Fae Iron. Magic won't work on it."
Dropping down, I looked at him. "What is Fae Iron?"
"Just like it sounds, special iron from the Fae Realm. It's toxic to the Fae and can't be broken by magic."
Pursing my lips, I looked back at the chains, then rose back up to my knees. Before James could tell me to stop, I murmured the words for an unlocking spell. It was a simple enough spell that had remained in regular rotation for me when I wanted to investigate things at estate sales. Sometimes, old jewelry boxes or other items were sold while still locked, the keys long gone. It was a spell that worked for me every single time without fail. Until now.
The lock didn't budge. I sat back down, resting my rear on my heels.
"I told you," James said. "I'm stuck here. But you should look around the cave. I've seen a few mice, so there might be a way out somewhere."
I shook my head. "I'm not leaving without you."
"You have to," James said. "You don't know what these people are capable of. There's no way I'm making it out of this alive. The least you can do for me is try to save yourself."
"Did you really think that speech would work?" I asked. "I came here for you."
"Please, Morgan, don't make this harder than it already is," James said. "Go. Maybe you can stop your friends before they end up in the same position."
"I can't," I said, unable to explain why I felt so protective of James. As I'd been telling my friends over and over, we hardly knew each other. But I knew I couldn't leave him here. And as much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I'd sacrifice all of my friends to get him out of here alive. The thought pained me, and confused me. Why was I so drawn to him?
Before I could stop myself, I straightened up so my face was level with James's, then I pressed my lips against his. He kissed me back with a hunger that went straight to my core, sending heat into every inch of my being. I moved closer to him so our bodies were touching. The tip of his tongue slipped into my mouth and I matched him with mine, licking his lower lip before biting down on it. He pressed back harder, matching my intensity. My whole body felt like it was on fire. Then, he pulled his head away, breaking the kiss, resting his cheek against mine.
Panting, heart racing, I closed my eyes and focused on the moment of intimacy we were sharing by simply being next to one another.
"You shouldn't have come." James sounded just as breathless as me. "But I'm glad you did."
I couldn't help but smile at him, despite the fact that we were both locked in a cave. Carefully, I traced the tip of my finger around his injured eye. "How could someone do this to another person?"
"Don't worry about it," he said.
"But you said they need you alive, why risk hurting you?" I asked.
He leaned his head down so his forehead touched mine. "They caught me talking to you."
"They did this after you came to me?" Once again, James put himself in danger for me. He stared at me and I knew that he felt the connection between us. We needed one another and the Dragon-Bloods were threatening that bond.
I leaned back so I was looking at James. He seemed so fragile right now, chained up like a wild animal, it was something I never thought I'd see. When we first met, he'd had so much strength, so much power.
Anger flashed through me like a wildfire and my jaw tensed. I had to do something. There was no way I was going to sit here and wait until our captors came for us. Both the Oracle and Tavas had mentioned that the ritual would result in the death of the captured. I wasn't going to get this close just to lose everything.
"I know that look," James said. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that there has to be a way out of here." Crawling on all fours, I explored the dim cave. Behind us, the cave narrowed until it reached a natural wall that closed us off.
I turned around and crawled the opposite direction,
expecting to find an entrance guarded by Dragon-Bloods or sealed off with a door or bars. Instead, I found more walls. My throat tightened as I realized we were surrounded by stone. There was no way out. Had they sealed it with magic? If so, there had to be a spell I could do to get it to open.
"How the hell did we get in here?" I asked.
James lifted his chin and I followed his gaze. Above us, there was a narrow oculus in the ceiling that I hadn't noticed before.
I crawled to the space right below the opening and peered upward. There was a column of darkness that extended above us. It was the only place in the entire room that was high enough for me to straighten to my full height. But the opening was narrow, too small for me to fit more than my head inside, let alone James.
"How? What spell did they use?" I said the words more for myself than anyone else. Growing up around magic, there was little that I deemed impossible. But I didn't know any spell that could make stone shrink or grow or move without serious consequences. If you altered the structure of a place like this and didn't do it correctly, it was possible the whole thing could cave in.
Ducking down, I walked back over to James. "That's it, we're teleporting out of here."
I wasn't sure why I hadn't thought of it before. I should be able to focus the spell so that I teleport him out without the chains. It should work and it was worth the risk if the alternative was death.
James shook his head. "It won't work for me, Fae Iron." A sad smile tugged at his lips. "But you should go. You can get free of this place, go home, have a life."
"You know I won't do that," I said. "Besides, Tavas made it sound like there won't be much of a life to live if these Dragon-Bloods get what they want." I settled on the ground, cross-legged, next to him.
"That's true," he said.
"Is this why you were hiding?" I asked.
"They needed the blood of an elite for their ritual," he said. "I'm one of the few that remain. And one of the few who oppose their cause, so I'm an ideal sacrifice."
"What's going to happen? They won't kill you in here, right?" Prickles of fear traveled down my spine as I resigned myself to the possibility that I wasn't going to survive this. The only chance we might have was if they removed us from this cave for whatever was needed for the ritual.
