CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Inside the mountain, Jimmy saw nothing. The black was so complete it ate the light from the other side of the stone door. It didn’t feel like night, or even the lack of light. It was more oppressive, like a living, breathing, arcane aura.
As Jimmy’s eyes adjusted to the dark, he took a tentative step inside, then another. They echoed through a great room, bouncing off walls far to each side of Jimmy, and up ahead. Below, the floor sounded hollow and his steps called back to him many times.
With the loss of sight, vertigo struck Jimmy and he stumbled backward, grabbing at the wall to steady himself. Wet slimy stone met his touch, not a welcoming sensation at all. He felt around for something to take hold of, and found what felt like a wooden handle, lumpy and firm. He didn’t let go.
Something moved behind him and he jumped.
“It’s just us,” Rowan whispered. Jimmy reached out toward the sound of her voice and felt a hand. A large, long fingered, boy hand. He dropped it.
The heavy door slid closed, plunging them into pitch black.
“I told you to stay outside,” Jimmy whispered back, although he was so glad they didn’t.
“What is this place?” Isaac asked. It unsettled Jimmy that the boy with all the answers had none.
“I don’t know. I still can’t see.” He stomped on the floor and a thousand replies came from all directions. “But it sounds big.”
Rowan and Isaac tested the ground and a stampede of stomps rang out from above and below. “Are we in the middle?” Isaac asked.
“Seems like it. So which way do we go?” Jimmy asked back.
“Can you feel Ash?” Rowan joined in. “Can you tell where he is in here?”
Jimmy reached out with his magic bond.
As he did so, his eyes finally began to work again. The wooden stick he had in his hand belonged to a torch, only, this torch gave off darkness instead of light. Every sliver of pale white that shone through a crack in the wall, the black flame atop his torch snuffed it out.
Jimmy saw a long line of similar torches lining the wall of this large room, which he could now tell was a circle. Tiny strips of light ran down the walls like slow lightning, only to be hunted by hundreds of black flames.
“Cool,” Isaac said.
Jimmy tried again to feel Ash’s presence, but something was blocking him. He felt a tug on the magic link, but not from Ash. Something bigger and powerful, and it was trying to sever their bond.
“We need to hurry.” Jimmy took Ridire-solas from the side of his shorts, again wishing he’d never traded clothes with Rowan, and held it up in the other hand as a torch, letting go of the dark one.
“Knight Light,” Isaac chuckled, then groaned in pain as Rowan shut him up.
“He’s very sensitive about that subject,” she warned.
Ridire-solas lit up pale yellow at Jimmy’s touch. It helped enough to see a foot or so ahead. The black flames attacked. Ridire-solas fought them off, warming in Jimmy’s hand.
Jimmy walked quickly through the room, trying to decide whether to go up or down. There was a long spiral stairwell along the wall straight ahead. Jimmy went to it, all the while feeling his sword’s struggle to stay alight. He had to choose now.
A loud roar pierced the night, like nothing Jimmy had ever heard before. Being inside the mountain with the beast felt like being in its belly. Its angry cries came from every direction at once, but a part of Jimmy knew it was above them.
“Let’s go,” he motioned toward the upper stairwell.
“Um, toward the monster?” Isaac didn’t move. “You know this is how every horror movie ends, right? Going toward the scary noise.”
“Come on. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this light.” Ridire-solas wavered and dimmed momentarily.
They still didn’t follow.
“It’s okay. It’s Ash’s mom. We have to go to her.”
Rowan stepped toward the upper stairwell. “I hope you’re right.”
The low rumble of animal noises grew louder as they wound up the steps. With no rail to protect them from a steep fall, Jimmy hugged the stone wall with his back.
“I don’t like this,” Rowan said what they all were thinking.
When they’d climbed multiple stories, the stairwell branched out in three different directions, left, right, and farther up.
“Should we each take a different one?” Rowan asked, about to head left.
“I don’t think we should split up.” Isaac shook his head.
Jimmy agreed. “Y’all need to stay close.” He waved Ridire-solas in the air to remind them that he had the only light source.
“Then which way do we go?” Rowan still moved toward the left stairwell.
Jimmy felt along his bond with Ash, but there was still something blocking him. He got a faint nudge forward, and decided to go with it. “This way.”
Two more turns around the mountaintop, the corridor became narrow, their rotations tighter. Jimmy turned to say that he thought they were at the top, but a noise stopped him.
Aside from the growing rumble of what he hoped was Ash’s mom, there came a steady back and forth of two voices. Jimmy shushed Rowan and Isaac, although neither of them made a sound. They heard it too.
Isaac, then Jimmy, put their ears to the wet stone wall to hear what was going on in the room before them.
“Yes, Master Adriel, sir.” An old man’s voice barely broke through the wall. It was too low to make out all the words.
“You promised this would work.” The other voice sounded closer, more clear, and familiar. Jimmy would never forget it as long as he lived. “I gave you ample opportunity to prove yourself worthy, Angus.”
Jimmy tightened his grip on Ridire-solas and clamped his other hand over his mouth. It was the shadow man who stole Ash.
Of course, Jimmy had fully expected to find him here, but the reality of doing so sent shocks of terror through him.
“Please, just a bit more time, Mhaighstir.” The other voice pleaded, trembling. “Ye dinna want to rush the wee creature.”
A faint squeak escaped Rowan’s lips as recognition dawned on both of them at the same time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Jimmy turned on Rowan and brandished Ridire-solas. “Get behind me, Isaac.”
“Wh-what’s going on?” Isaac stuttered.
“Now!” Jimmy yanked Isaac’s arm and stepped toward Rowan.
“I don’t…” Rowan took a step, hands out in supplication. Jimmy swung at her.
“Whoa, are you nuts?” Isaac pulled Jimmy back.
“Explain!” Jimmy whispered vehemently.
“I…” Rowan couldn’t find her words.
Jimmy glared at her. “Traitor!”
“Guys, please.” Isaac tried to get around Jimmy to stand between them but there was no room to move. Jimmy threw out his other arm to block him just in case.
“That’s her grandfather!” Jimmy’s voice rose. He closed his mouth, waiting for the sounds of footsteps. Then, “start talking.”
Rowan burst into silent tears, choking back words Jimmy couldn’t make out. They all came at once in a flood, drowning her. “My family… brothers… threaten… all gone,” were the bits Jimmy caught.
“Oh, Rowan,” Isaac made another move to pass Jimmy. “I’m so sorry.” Jimmy tried to hold him back but Isaac barreled past him and embraced a sobbing Rowan.
“You knew. All this time you were pretending. Your grandfather tricked Grandpa into thinking he found a friend from the old country. How dare you? How dare both of you?” Jimmy’s whole body trembled with rage.
“I tried to help you. I tried to teach you to fight, to prepare you for…” Rowan’s sobs took over again. “I tried,” she whispered into Isaac’s shoulder.
“I can’t even look at you.” Jimmy turned away and inched closer to the doorway. He gripped the sword as if, at any moment, he would use it against her. He so wanted to, but first, the man who helped capture A
sh.
Their voices were clearer, the closer Jimmy got to the edge of the wall.
“I shall have what is rightfully mine. She belongs to me and now, so does this one. And he’s yellow! This changes everything. We must mark him right away.” Master Adriel paced back and forth, his words receding and growing stronger.
“Yes, master. I will make it so, I promise. But, mayhaps there is another way.” Rowan’s grandfather sounded beaten down, a shell of a man. Jimmy didn’t let that sway him. Then the old man continued. “The poor thing is so weak, it may not survive the ritual.”
Renewed hatred for both men, and Rowan, flared up in Jimmy’s gut.
“I cannot come into my full power until I control both factions. He is the key to that, but he’s useless to me now. Fetch the branding staff.”
A moment passed with no movement from Rowan’s grandfather.
“Perhaps you need another reminder.” Adriel’s voice changed to a menacing growl.
“No, please, Master Adriel. She’s just a wee’un. I’m going.” MacLauren’s footsteps receded to the far side of their chamber. When he came back toward Adriel, Jimmy heard him speaking again. “If you let them see each other…”
No sooner had the words left his lips, a great bellowing roar rattled the torches along the corridor. Heavy boulders tore from the outer castle walls and tumbled down the mountain.
“She is too strong, yet, the willful thing. And now,” a pause as Adriel moved away, “she’s pure mad. Having him here has touched her mind. I fear she will not do much longer. I must transfer my power into him. Make haste.”
Jimmy strained to hear them over the increasing wails from above. He stepped closer.
A bolt of yellow energy pulsed from Ridire-solas, stretching high into the air and leaking around the corner.
Jimmy thrust the sword behind his back but it was too late. A flurry of footsteps rushed toward him. Jimmy turned to run and a cold hand clamped down onto the nape of his neck.
As their skin touched, a blinding flash of black pain tore at Jimmy’s mind.
He was transported to a large room with high dark walls, much like the ones in the entryway. Yet this room was grand. Yellow and green filigree creatures were etched into the walls and door frames. Obsidian tree trunks grew out of the floor, arms outstretched to the ceiling, which was painted with horrifying scenes of what Jimmy imagined hell looked like. High above that, skylights filled with pitch black and twinkling constellations Jimmy didn’t recognize.
Every ten feet, in perfect sync with the trees, were thick iron Knights. Each held a different weapon. Jimmy recognized a few from the books in Grandpa James’s barn, lances and swords he knew the names of. So many more, vile and menacing, he did not know the names of, yet their purpose was clear.
Ornate Renaissance style artwork hung from the ceiling with wires, swaying in a frigid breeze along each side of him. More scenes of carnage and destruction were depicted on each one, making Jimmy want to look away, but he was drawn to them.
Jimmy’s gaze followed the path the paintings wove through the vast room. A plush velvet carpet, a shade between green and yellow that Jimmy had never seen before, climbed a set of four steps up to an elevated area.
On that platform sat a high-backed dark gold throne with the same greenish yellow fabric. Intricate designs lined the framework of the throne, carvings of dragon claws and snakes with two heads.
On the golden throne sat Adriel, hands wrapped tight over the armrests. He was dressed in silken robes of green and yellow, and that in between color. His long fingers tapped a slow sinister rhythm. His head bore a crown of black with seven jagged prongs, pointing inward. Somehow, Jimmy knew they stood for the seven kingdoms under his rule.
The centerpiece of the crown, to which all the edges pointed, was an iridescent pearl with a smoky center. The pearl nestled in a skeletal claw, like that of his dragon key.
Before King Adriel, stood a bone thin peasant in rags. His hands worried at a threadbare hat, twisting and turning it in a way that might produce a drop of water if he tried hard enough. “Please, your Highness, I’ve traveled all kingdoms in search of work. A little mercy, sir?” The peasant’s voice was hoarse, as if his throat were full of sand.
“And what of it? Shall I bestow mercy on every man in Valonde who comes to me empty handed?” King Adriel raised one hand slowly. The peasant’s eyes followed the movement, as did Jimmy’s.
Behind Adriel, stood a mighty beast, with outstretched wings the size of houses, claws that could rip a man in half without a thought, and the same sad yellow eyes Jimmy had come to love. His horn nubs, once adorable, now jutted angrily out of his head, impossible curved spikes.
Full grown, Ash had to hunch forward to fit into Adriel’s castle. There were no chains binding him to the cramped space, or to Adriel, and yet he stayed.
Jimmy searched for their magic link and found none, only darkness. A green-black electricity blocked his attempts to communicate with Ash, to beg him not to do what he was about to do.
“Please your Highness.” The peasant’s voice quivered. “I cannot provide for my family.”
Adriel’s lips contorted into an exaggerated grin. “Then they shall not miss you.” With a snap of a finger, dark swirled markings on Ash’s shoulders glowed.
The dragon reared back his head, closed his watering yellow eyes, and incinerated the peasant.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Jimmy came to with a start, glad it was only a dream. His heart thudded in his chest and he couldn’t catch his breath. When he did, the stench of death and wet stone filled his lungs.
Isaac stood over him, holding his wrist to check for a pulse. Jimmy snatched it away and tried to sit up. Was he on the floor?
“Oh, you had us worried,” Isaac waved for Rowan to come to them but she shook her head and stayed. She cowered further into the corner across from Jimmy.
“Where am I? What-” Jimmy’s head felt like it was in a vice and he leaned back over. He almost threw up but willed it back down.
Isaac slapped the concrete floor which Jimmy did, indeed, lay. “The dungeon.”
Jimmy groaned. “How did I get here?” His mind had gone blank, an eerie feeling he did not want to repeat.
“When the scary guy touched you, you just went limp. I thought for a minute you were playing possum, but then you didn’t wake up. He made Rowan’s… uh… the old man… carry you in here. We came along to make sure nothing happened to you.”
Jimmy cut his eyes over to Rowan, still trying to disappear into the wall. Without thinking, he reached for Ridire-solas, but came up empty. “Where’s my sword?” He frantically felt around the dungeon floor.
“I hid it,” Isaac nodded his head toward a different corner of their cell. “They were so worried about you. It was easy.” Isaac shrugged.
Jimmy glared at Rowan. “Give it to me.”
“Uh, I think I’ll hold onto it for now.” Isaac helped Jimmy to his feet. “We have more important things to worry about.”
“What?” Jimmy’s head pounded and he nearly lost his balance. When the stars stopped twinkling before his eyes, he saw what Isaac meant.
On the other side of their cell door, huddled in a quivering heap, slept Ash. At first, Jimmy almost didn’t recognize him. He’d grown so much in the… however long they’d been trapped… But it was him, alright. He had the same dark yellow scales as when Jimmy watched him hatch from that egg, and as he’d watched him light that poor villager on fire.
Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut to get rid of the image.
When he opened them, Ash still hadn’t moved. Jimmy called for him down their magic bond, but he didn’t stir. Instead, the beastly roar came from above, only much farther away.
Isaac saw the confusion in Jimmy’s eyes. “Dungeons are always on the bottom floor.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Jimmy walked toward Ash, keeping hold of the iron bars for support. When he got anywhere near Rowan, his body radiated hatred,
enough to make her move to the other side of the cell.
As he neared Ash, he didn’t need Isaac to explain. Midnight green shackles clasped around Ash’s wrists and ankles. A larger, heavier iron brace wrapped itself tight around his neck, weighing him down. Massive chain links coiled at Ash’s feet. They were attached to a circular screw head dug into the wall.
The whole apparatus glowed with the shadow man’s electric magic.
“We have to save him.” Jimmy slammed his fist against the metal bars. He pulled and twisted them, trying to find a weak spot, but came up empty.
“We’ve been at it for hours,” Isaac said. He showed Jimmy his blistered and bleeding hands. He nodded toward Rowan, as if saying ‘her too’ but Jimmy didn’t bother to look.
Hours. He’d been unconscious for hours.
Jimmy looked around for something, anything, to help.
In the corner, the one Rowan currently occupied, there was a chunk of rock the size of a basketball. Rowan, after seeing what he was thinking, moved along the far wall, back to her original corner.
“You know she’s sorry-” Isaac started but Jimmy cut him off with a firm head shake and stalked toward the large rock.
After many minutes of struggling, it took both Jimmy and Isaac to carry the boulder to the cell door. First they banged it on one of the horizontal bars, figuring to loosen it would free up the vertical ones to bend. When that didn’t work, they smashed it directly onto the inner lock mechanism. Finally, they ran full speed and battering rammed it into the door. On their third attempt, the heavy rock slipped out of their hands and nearly landed on their feet.
“What’s all that racket?” Rowan’s grandfather appeared out of the blackness. He walked slowly, with a limp, which was new. Jimmy eyed the old man, hoping for more egregious injuries and found him favoring his left side. Either the arm or the ribs, Jimmy couldn’t tell, but paid attention. These weaknesses would be perfect targets when he escaped.
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