Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3)

by Jessica Turnbull

  Jessica Turnbull

  Glass and Ice

  Elemental Dragons Book 3

  Copyright © 2020 by Jessica Turnbull

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  Cover art by Deranged Doctor Design - https://www.derangeddoctordesign.com/

  Editing by Nicola Hodgson - https://www.root-and-branch-editing.com/

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  To my Nan, Margaret Turnbull.

  For supporting my work and staying strong

  despite what life has thrown at her.

  1

  Chapter One

  Wyverns.

  I never thought I’d see a Wyvern.

  Their bodies writhe around in their cage, their thin tongues licking the glass desperately. Their torsos are made up of thin colourful scales and they have thick, stubby tails. Their eyes are like Aqueous’, but with larger pupils, shaped like a deer’s. Two long, elegant wings replace their front feet.

  “Marine.”

  The voice makes me jump, but I’m not surprised to turn around and come face to face with my older doppelgänger. She looks relieved this time, with a hint of a smile appearing on her face. She is no longer covered in Wyrms like last time; her face is clear and glowing a light blue. She’s appeared to me before, but this time is different. She looks ready to say more than she usually does.

  “Save us, Marine.”

  “Save who?” I reply, making Marco jump next to me. He gives me a strange look, staring at Marine. I guess my boyfriend still can’t see her.

  “Us.”

  My heart drops as I realise what she’s been trying to say all this time.

  She wasn’t a vision from Draca. The large dragon lied, again. So many times he’s claimed to help us but more often than not he’s just been a hinderance. He doesn’t know anything more than we do.

  This means the Wyrms had no part to play in the visions either.

  She’s the desperate form of a group of trapped Wyverns.

  “Oh my God.” I stumble back as Marine stares at the caged Wyverns, warmth in her usually lifeless eyes.

  “Haze? What’s wrong?” Marco gently tugs my hand towards him.

  “I…had no idea…” Braith mumbles next to us, her eyes filling with tears. “We’ve been ignoring them this whole time!”

  My friend Braith left Aria soon after I did. She has the same markings, but hers are that of an ice elemental whereas mine are water.

  “Calm down, it’s not our fault.” I wrap my free arm around her shoulders as she trembles, her large eyes locked on the trapped Wyverns.

  “Am I missing something?” Marco asks.

  “You know how Marine kept saying ‘save us’?” I swallow back the lump in my throat as I speak.

  “Yeah…?”

  “Turns out she meant the Wyverns.”

  He furrows his brow. “But we can’t let them out.”

  “Why not?” I explode, attempting to rip my hand away, but he hangs on tighter.

  “Because these dragons are extinct to the world.” He looks at the cage sadly. “If we let them out, God knows what people will do. They will be hunted and caged as trophies, killed for medicine-”

  “I get it,” I cut him off.

  More Wyverns seem to appear in the darkness, clambering towards the glass to look at us. Their eyes are glowing, happy.

  Filled with hope.

  Aqueous, my dragon companion, looks at me with his turquoise eyes. He whines, touching the glass with his nose. A large mossy green Wyvern approaches the glass before tentatively pressing its nose against it. Aqueous turns to me, his nose twitching.

  “Please. Save us,” Marine begs, her face distorting in desperation.

  “How are you doing this?” I ask the apparition. “How can you talk to me?”

  Marine lowers her gaze. “Disgrace…Big disgrace.”

  “What do you mean ‘disgrace’?”

  “Had to save us.” She takes a few steps forward so she’s in my face, her older frame towering over me slightly. “Save us.”

  So, the Wyverns have done something that allows them to communicate with us. But what? And how?

  A loud bang makes everyone jump. Drea, Marco’s dragon, rushes to the door, pressing her bulky frame against it. Bluey, a dragon we previously picked up, quickly joins her as the door begins to rattle.

  “Shit!” I exclaim.

  They’re breaking in.

  “We need to get out of here.” Marco sprints to a set of buttons on the wall, looking for any switches that may lead us out of here.

  Braith stares at me, her face stained with tears. “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We can’t leave them.”

  “I know. But Marco’s right; they might not make it out there.”

  “We have to give them a chance.”

  “Braith-”

  “We have to! Draca lied to me, and I want to know why! Maybe letting them out will get us some answers.” She storms over to the glass, icicles forming in her balled hands. She strikes the glass with one fist, not making a dent in the thick material. Again and again she punches, while I’m left speechless.

  What is the right thing to do?

  I don’t want to be responsible for leaving these beautiful creatures to rot. Dr Gard looked after them; now that he’s gone, they have no-one.

  Before I can decide what to do, Aqueous hurls himself at the glass, shaking his head with dizziness. As he retreats for another strike, I spot a tiny crack in the glass.

  “What are they doing?” Marco calls, pressing buttons randomly.

  “Getting them out. Have you found the right button yet?”

  “Not yet.” He presses a few more, and one clicks into place. “Oh, I’ve done something.”

  Above us, the ceiling rumbles. Dust falls like a waterfall as cracks appear in the metal ceiling. I shield my eyes as light begins to pour in, the metal retracting to a bright blue sky.

  An escape.

  “Good job!” I squeal, clapping as the ceiling fully retracts.

  The room instantly fills with the warmth of sunlight. Above us the sky is clear and a beautiful shade of blue. A perfect day to escape. The Wyverns stare up at the sky longingly, stretching their wings out and fluttering a few inches from the ground.

  I’m not leaving them.

  “Braith, help me.”

  She turns to snap at me but stops when she sees that I’m creating a ball of water in my hand. The water flows through my fingertips as I aim at the growing crack. Clocking onto my plan, Braith nods. I push the water forward, sending it hurtling towards the glass. Braith steps back and fires an icicle at it, which completely freezes it the second before it impacts the glass. The crack grows larger, but not large enough to smash the glass.

  “If you’re going to let them out, hurry!” Marco clicks his fingers and fire envelopes his hands. He stands by the door, standing guard in case any Wyrms slip past the two dragons holding it shut.

  I fire more water balls at the cage, watching the crack grow slowly. Aqueous a
nd Damayanti, Braith’s companion, take turns ramming the glass, but each strike makes them weaker

  “Why not stop?”

  Those words make us all drop our hands and our bodies freeze up. For a second I’m confused until a snake-like body slithers into view, raising its large head at our tiny group. It looks at the Wyverns in amusement as they start flinging themselves at the glass, their screams muffled by their cage.

  “Fuck you!” Braith spits, wriggling her wrists to try to conjure some ice, to no avail.

  “Ah, ah. I let you get this far. Why not stand still?”

  Shit.

  Now I’m immobilised.

  The dragons hiss as the grey Wyrm approaches them. It rolls its eyes and continues towards the cage, cocking its head to one side.

  “How did you get in?” I demand.

  “A secret vent. My brethren are unable to find it. For now, at least.”

  “Why didn’t you tell them?”

  “Because, you humans intrigue me.” The Wyrm slithers around me, its body squelching disgustingly as its drags across the floor. “Despite everything, you keep going.”

  “You expect us to stop?”

  The Wyrm’s laugh booms in the empty room, making me cringe.

  “No, I like watching you succeed. It will only make you tastier when you are ripe enough for me.”

  “We’re not going to give you the chance!” Braith snorts.

  “We’ll see. I look forward to facing you one day. You will be formidable opponents.” The Wyrm looks at the cage once more, whipping its tail at the crack and shattering the glass.

  The Wyverns waste no time in flying away, clambering and clawing at each other to reach freedom. Several pairs of wings stretch out in anticipation before launching into the sky over our heads. The Wyrm smirks as they fly out into the real world, screeching at the Sun.

  “You can thank me when I next see you, children of nine.”

  Children of nine?

  “Why are you helping us?” Marco demands, a threatening edge to his voice.

  “Like I said,” the Wyrm snakes towards a small vent behind the cage. “It will make you tastier when you are ripe.”

  As the Wyrm disappears into the vent my body relaxes. My muscles ache from being so tense, but I ignore it. We’ve got bigger problems.

  Screams of rage make me whirl around in time to see a Wyrm poke its head through the crack in the door. Drea bites into its neck, pulling it through to our side to toss it around like a ragdoll.

  “Drea, time to move!” Marco shouts over the chaos.

  There’s a sickening crack and the Wyrm droops lifelessly in the white dragon’s jaws. She dumps it on the ground and allows Marco to climb on to her back. Bluey chirps by my side and kneels so I can climb on, much to the chagrin of my companion. The green Wyvern from before circles the open ceiling, crying out to our dragons below it. Aqueous looks up at it and shakes his head. I wish Marine could translate for us, but she must have dissolved when the Wyrm entered the room.

  “Hazy, come on!”

  Braith’s shout snaps me out of my thoughts and I clamber onto Bluey’s cold body. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I squeeze my eyes shut as he leaps into the air, shooting past the Wyvern. Cold air blasts my face as we zoom out of the laboratory into freedom.

  “Follow Damayanti!” Braith calls as her companion flies after the Wyverns gathered outside.

  Bluey doesn’t need to be told twice, and he catches up to Damayanti with ease. Aqueous hangs behind him, keeping an eye on the ground below. Outside of the laboratory are several grassy hills with radio towers on top, so it isn’t the most conspicuous place to put a lab holding Wyrms and Wyverns. I’m surprised no-one accidentally stumbled across it in all this time. Screams of anger below signal that the Wyrms have spotted our escape, as well as the Wyverns. They must want them caged up; otherwise they would have told Dr Gard to let them go.

  Grass and trees zoom past below us as the Wyverns pick up pace, heading for the mountain range. Bluey flaps harder to keep up with them, grunting in disapproval. Some of them drop back, circling our companions and nipping at their hides. At first, I thought it was malicious, but it looks more playful than anything. An orange-red Wyvern approaches Bluey, sniffing at my legs dangling from his back. It looks up at me with big blue eyes, curious but thankful at the same time.

  “Haze! Where are we going?”

  Marco tears my gaze away from the Wyvern. “Wherever they’re going, I guess!”

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “Who knows? It’s better than back there!”

  He nods in agreement, flashing me a flirtatious smile.

  Despite me being upset that he followed me out of the camp at first, I’m glad he’s here. I didn’t mean to kill Jason, but I had to leave. I would have been punished severely whether it was an accident or not. I’m a commoner, and commoners are not supposed to hurt anyone in a higher class than them. Who knows what they would have done to me?

  I take a few seconds to watch the horizon behind us, full of the tall concrete buildings of the city. I’m glad we aren’t going back that way.

  But now that we have freed a group of Wyverns, it won’t take long for someone to discover them.

  Then what?

  2

  Chapter Two

  “Looks like we’re stopping here, guys!” Braith calls from up ahead, pointing downwards.

  The Wyverns start dropping from the sky, effortlessly spiralling to the ground. The place they have chosen to land is the base of one of the mountains. It’s a large cave spilling into a field of mature wheat. The wheat seems to stretch for miles, which makes my stomach turn.

  Someone must be tending this wheat.

  This doesn’t seem to bother the Wyverns, however: they land neatly on the soft crop, balancing on their wings as if they were arms. Some breathe deeply and take in the sight, while others roll around and kick their legs in the air.

  They’re clearly enjoying their freedom.

  Bluey lands clumsily next to the orange Wyvern from before, who smiles at him with a set of yellowing teeth. As I slide off Bluey’s back, the Wyvern stares at me, its blue eyes burning with hostility.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, hoping that Marine will appear and tell me.

  The Wyvern hisses and stalks away, using its wings as its front legs. Bluey flattens his ears next to me, snorting in disgust. The Wyvern pays no notice and returns to its clan, joining in the celebrations.

  “What’s up with them?” Braith slides off Damayanti’s back to stand next to me.

  “I dunno…. It just hissed at me.”

  “Maybe they don’t trust us. After all, it was humans who locked them up.” She brushes her hair out of her eyes as a strong wind picks up. “Maybe they just need time.”

  “We’re staying?” Marco calls out from behind, his face creasing with worry.

  “They must be what we were looking for,” Braith argues, pointing to the previously extinct creatures. “Why else would Draca send us there?”

  “He wasn’t happy when we wouldn’t leave, though. Maybe he didn’t want us to find them,” I muse.

  “But why would he do that? He’s helped us so far.”

  I shiver as I think back to the dream I had in which he attacked Braith and me. The last Primordial Dragon has secret intentions; I’m smart enough to know that. I just don’t know what those intentions are.

  Or what they have to do with us.

  Aqueous barks wildly next to me, pointing to the horizon. Squinting, I can see a greenish-red blob lumber through the tall stems in the field of wheat. Next to it is a man carrying what looks like a thin icicle carved into the shape of a spear.

  Shit.

  “Get the Wyverns inside the cave!” I hiss to my companion.

  Nodding silently, he creeps through the tall field, keeping low to the ground as he approaches the Wyverns. The group give him a quizzical look as he growls at them urgently. Thankfully they get the message quic
kly, as they drop low to the ground and back away towards the cave mouth.

  “Marco, how good are you at hiding in the shadows?” I turn to my boyfriend, who rolls his eyes, irritated.

  “I’ll have you know that I’m very good,” he smirks, creating a shadowy ball in his palm and waving it in my face.

  “What about if you hid two others as well?”

  My boyfriend’s face drops as my plan clicks into place in his mind. “Oh. I’ve never tried it.”

  “First time for everything!” Braith hisses between her teeth as the man and his hulking dragon get closer to our hiding spot.

  “Close your eyes. This will feel weird,” he warns, taking both our hands.

  As I squeeze my eyes shut, he steps backwards, dragging Braith and me with him. The step back kickstarts his shadow trick, as cold air seeps into my bones. The air becomes tight and thick, making Braith gasp in shock.

  “Oi, you lot!”

  Shit.

  “Sorry,” Marco murmurs, letting Braith’s hand go.

  “No, it was my fault. I shoulda held my breath too.” Braith rubs the back of her neck sheepishly.

  Now what?

  The man, maybe in his thirties with a thick wiry brown beard, points his makeshift spear at us, his eyes narrowed. His dragon’s eyes are locked on the cave, its nostrils flaring.

  “Um, hello.” Braith grins at the man, but he glares at her in return.

  “What are you doin’ on my property?”

  “We’re just passing through,” I step in as Braith’s mouth opens and closes like a fish. “Just on our way now.”

  “You look too young to be out here,” the man warns, taking a few steps forward until the tip of his spear is pressing into Marco’s chest.

  “Thanks, we uh, use anti-ageing cream?” Braith jokes, though humour seems to be lost on this man.

  “Weir, go get the police.”

  “No, please! We’ll go!”

  The man chuckles, his icy spear growing into two more sharp points to press against mine and Braith’s chests as well. “No way. You’ve destroyed my property, an’ you’re escapees. You ain’t goin’ nowhere.”