“Benjamin!” Julie’s voice came from behind me, followed by Aisha and Arron hurrying over. I rolled over, lying on my back and clutching my chest, gasping for breath. I shut my eyes tight, as though that would help to contain the pain.
“Bahir!” Aisha gasped.
My eyes shot open to see Bahir emerging from my chest and hovering in front of me. His strong body was limp, practically sagging, as he floated next to Aisha. His dark hair was as messy as a bird’s nest, and his previously vibrant face appeared ragged and worn. His chest and back heaved as he panted.
“I had to take a break,” he wheezed, looking from me to Aisha. “I am—”
My brain didn’t register any other words. A black film came down over my vision, the agony in my stomach spreading to my chest and shooting pain through my entire body. I found myself shooting to my feet even in spite of the ache, and the next thing I knew, I’d leapt from the ledge. I dove in a free fall, whizzing past the mountainside, until I landed with as much ease as a cat on a boulder at the foot of the cliff we’d been perched on. I didn’t pause for a second or glance back up at the distance I’d just jumped. All I knew was that I had to escape. I had to get off of this island. I had to…
Visions of a barren land of sharp-peaked black mountains and a red-tinged sky blasted through my mind.
Cruor.
I need to get to Cruor.
I dashed forward over the rocky terrain with lightning speed. My legs assumed a mind of their own. Everything around me was a blur, the wind almost painful as I sliced through it.
Then something hit me hard on the back of my head and threw me off balance. I took a misstep and slipped on a rock. I stumbled, falling to the ground. My limbs, as if electrified, barely registered the fall. I sprang back up instantly and moved to continue hurtling forward.
But I couldn’t. Aisha appeared directly in front of me, holding out both hands. My limbs had frozen, and I couldn’t budge an inch. I tried to shout, yell curses at the insolent jinni for impeding my way, order her to let me pass, but I couldn’t even move my mouth.
And then she ran at me. Her body became translucent at the last second, and she dove into my chest, her body melding with mine as she vanished inside of me. A growl escaped my lips, but as the last of her blue mist soaked into my chest, the pain tearing me up subsided.
It happened so suddenly it came as a shock. My vision focused again and I looked around me at the unfamiliar setting. I could barely even remember how I’d gotten down here.
What just happened to me? Why did Bahir exit me? And now Aisha is inside me?
I caught sight of Bahir and Julie hurrying toward me among the rocks. Bahir reached me first and gripped my arm. Despite his appearance, his grasp still had surprising strength.
“Come with me,” he said.
“What just happened?” I panted.
“Let’s get back to our base first.” His light mist surrounded me and a moment later, he’d transported the three of us back to the ledge, where Arron was standing tensely by the fire.
“What was that?” I repeated.
“I’m sure that Nuriya explained to you that I could only inhabit you and fight off the Elder for so long,” Bahir said. “I was losing all strength. I had to leave you. Aisha has taken my place inside you to continue fighting the battle for me until I have regained enough strength to resume the task.”
“That pain,” I breathed. “It was more consuming than I’d ever felt before. And—”
“Because the Elder is more desperate for blood than ever before,” Bahir said. “He knows he is on the edge of success. You are in the supernatural realm now, closer to Cruor than ever before. He sees this as merely the last stretch before you return to him. He is calling you back, Benjamin, now more than ever.”
Bahir’s words sent chills running down my spine.
Even as I was still registering what had just happened, I glanced down at my chest. Aisha… that girl is inside me now. That was a bizarre enough notion to wrap my mind around in and of itself.
My legs still felt unsteady. Snatching up the brown sack of ingredients I’d dropped to the ground, I re-fastened it to my belt securely and sat down. I was grateful that my three companions gave me space, though I sensed Julie’s anxious gaze roaming me.
Bahir’s relinquishing his hold on me had come when I’d least expected it. I had been aware that he couldn’t keep up the fight forever… I supposed I had just lulled myself into a false sense of security. His leaving me on my own, completely at the mercy of the Elder’s influence, had given me another harrowing taste of what my life would be like if I ever got separated from these jinn. It served as a terrifying reminder of how dependent I’d become, and how close I was to the precipice with every breath I took.
Chapter 23: Ben
Bahir hadn’t been able to follow what had happened since we’d left The Oasis. He said that the strain of remaining inside me and stifling the Elder’s influence hadn’t left him with the energy to pay attention to what was going on outside. He had many questions, so I gave him a brief overview of everything that had transpired since he merged into me back in the desert. After I’d finished my explanation, the next few hours passed in silence until the early morning hours arrived and Arron indicated that we should head to the entrance of the tunnel.
I was so used to having Aisha by my side, out of instinct I found myself looking around the ledge for her, only to remember that Bahir would assist me now. He transported us away from our camp and made us appear right outside the dark entrance of the tunnel. My pulse quickened as I gazed into its shadowed depths.
“Are you certain there is only one dragon living here?” I asked Arron in a whisper.
“I am not sure of anything,” Arron replied curtly. “But based on the rumors I’ve heard, Breccan lives here by himself.”
I entered the crevice first, walking slowly along the gravelly ground and trying not to crunch too much. The tunnel was narrow, forcing us to walk in single file. I wondered whether there was any entrance in these mountains big enough for the shifter to squeeze into as a dragon. If not, Breccan must’ve changed back into his humanoid state when entering and exiting his home.
We reached a fork in the path. I glanced at Arron for his opinion. He nodded to our right. Since I had no idea, we went with the Hawk’s suggestion. This tunnel was longer, more winding, and sloped gradually downwards. As we descended, the heat that emanated from the walls, ceilings and floors of the tunnel intensified.
I kept my ears peeled for any sound of life. All the while, we looked out for any scales that could be lining the ground, although it was highly unlikely that we would find any in this tunnel. It was far too narrow for the shifter to fit in whilst in his dragon form. Still, it didn’t stop our eyes from roaming.
As we descended deeper, I began to hear what I was both hoping for and dreading. A deep, rumbling noise that vibrated the ground beneath our feet.
At least we were heading in the right direction.
As we turned a particularly sharp corner, we met a heavy iron door. My skin broke out into a sweat, something that rarely happened to me as a vampire. As I reached out a hand and brushed it against the iron entrance, it felt like the door to an oven.
Still, we had no choice but to enter. I looked toward Bahir and whispered, “We can’t risk opening the door.” First of all, it might be locked, but secondly and more importantly, I was sure that it would make a horrible creak that would echo right through the mountain.
Bahir nodded, and it unnerved me how unsettled he looked. He, a jinni.
His veil of smoke fell around us and before I even had time to prepare myself for what might be on the other side, my feet planted on the ground again. A dense fog of dry heat engulfed us. It was like being in a sauna with the heater blasting at three times its maximum temperature. My throat felt so raw, I was practically panting like a dog. I had to blink constantly just to keep my eyeballs from drying out.
We had entered a ma
ssive cavernous chamber with a circular border and high rocky ceilings. Along its border was a wide raised platform lined with beacons of fire. Below were wide stone steps leading down to the center where, curled up on a heaping pile of furs, lay a sleeping dragon. Fearsomely beautiful, his scales were a brilliant magenta peppered with speckles of bright yellow. Even while sleeping, the beast exuded an impossible heat.
I forced my eyes away from the stunning creature to look more carefully around the vast cave.
A scale.
We need a scale.
I was desperately hoping that we would find one on the ground in what was apparently his bedroom—where he moved and slept in his dragon form. If we didn’t find one here, I didn’t know where we would. And if we couldn’t find a scale that he’d already shed, we’d have only one option left. Something told me that this dragon would not be as amenable as the wolves to relinquishing a piece of his body… It wasn’t like I could use the Novak card this time either. Our island was allied with dragons, but they were dragons of The Hearthlands. If anything, mentioning Breccan’s compatriots could just make the situation worse after he’d been exiled by them.
I looked toward my companions, who were also scoping out the room. We split in two directions; Bahir and Arron went right, Julie and I went left. We all moved as noiselessly as possible, keeping to the raised platform that lined the edge of the cave—as far away as we could from the dragon. Julie and I searched in every shadowy corner we came across, every tucked-away crevice, every inch of the ground, but by the time we met up with Bahir and Arron again, we’d found not one single scale. Neither had they.
I turned my focus back on the center of the cave. Previously I’d been so occupied with staring at the dragon, I hadn’t noticed a pile of armor near his bed—armor that would only fit him in his human form, being clearly made for a man. Gem-studded helmets, silver chest plates, golden sheathed swords and wide, diamond-encrusted shields were just some of the objects I recognized. Then, also near his bed, there was a wide pit filled with gleaming jewels. Perhaps these were possessions he’d taken with him when he’d left The Hearthlands. The only possessions… Other than the cluster of armor and the jewels, the chamber was quite empty.
My heart catapulted into my throat as the dragon’s spear-like tail moved. It extended past the furs and outward to graze the stone floor.
I feared for a moment that we had made too much noise and had woken Breccan. But then the tail settled, the dragon’s breathing returning to its previous slow rhythm.
Bahir gripped my shoulder. Leaning closer, he breathed, “Arron and I will search the border once more for a shed scale, just in case we missed something.”
They left Julie and me alone. My mind worked furiously as I tried to think what our next move should be.
“What now?” Julie mouthed, the beacons’ firelight dancing in her hazel irises.
My throat tightened as I glanced back at the dragon. I was beginning to believe that we would have no choice but to attempt to pluck a scale directly from his body, when I caught sight of something on the bed of furs, just beneath his right hind leg.
I thought my eyes might be tricking me as I took a step closer. No. There it was. A small pile of dry scales, discolored compared to the rest of his skin. I couldn’t see them before because his tail had been covering them. It was as if he was hoarding them for some reason. From where I stood, each of the scales looked bigger than my hand, but we only needed one of them. And now that Breccan had shifted…
I moved forward, gesturing for Julie to stay where she was. I descended the steps toward the dragon’s bed, all the while keeping a close eye on the beast’s lethal tail, which, at least for now, seemed to be remaining dormant. I paused when I reached the beginning of the fur spread. I’d miscalculated the distance from the pile of scales to the ground. The many layers of the thick fur propped the dragon up so high that, as tall as I was, I wouldn’t be able to reach the scales without actually stepping onto his bed. I didn’t dare to do that in case he sensed the movement.
I should leave this task to Bahir. He could float noiselessly and pick up one of the scales. I turned my back on the dragon so I could scan the borders of the cave. Bahir and Arron were just finishing their second circuit around the chamber. I caught the jinni’s eye and beckoned him over.
“Watch out!” Julie hissed to my left.
I spun around, expecting the dragon’s tail to have shifted again. Instead, as I twisted it was to face a snake. A monstrous cobra, its scales green as ivy. Its head reared and long fangs bared, it towered above me. The creature must have been twenty feet long.
Everything that happened next was a blur. I lunged for the snake, attempting to slice off its head before it caused a commotion and woke the dragon, but it was too late. Julie’s warning had already done that.
The dragon let out a deep grumble. Throwing caution to the wind, I leapt for the pile of scales and grabbed one, tucking it into my belt before turning round to fight off the snake. As it sprang toward me, I latched onto its head with my claws. Now I became so preoccupied trying to stop the cobra from biting off my face as it engulfed me in its coils that I wasn’t able to raise my head to see what the dragon did next or why Bahir hadn’t immediately come to assist me. But as the temperature in the room spiked, I soon realized.
Bright flames engulfed the atmosphere. Breccan bellowed. Desperately, I fought with the snake as it continued to wrap itself even more tightly around me. I didn’t know exactly where the dragon was—only feet away by the sound of it—and now flames impaired my vision. All I knew was that I had to get out of his path. This snake’s skin was tougher to claw through than I’d expected and I couldn’t afford to stay where I was.
I forced the snake and me to roll across the floor toward the pit of gems. The ground disappeared as I tipped us over the edge. We fell sideways onto the lumpy bed. More flames erupted overhead as the snake’s jaws extended wide. Grunting, I managed to position my claws beneath the snake’s soft throat and dug into it. The reptile’s hold on me loosened and it began writhing as blood spilled from its throat, spraying my face and clothes.
I heaved its thick body off me, leaving it to die as I sat up. All I saw surrounding the outside of the pit was a solid wall of flames. I had no idea what had happened to the others. But wherever they were, the whole room appeared to be ablaze. I coughed and choked. The lack of oxygen was beginning to suffocate me in this low pit.
I couldn’t see where the dragon was through the flames, but I could hear him continuing to roar and release more fire. I reached for my gold band and brushed my thumb against the snake’s head.
“Come on, Bahir. Come on,” I breathed.
Where was he? He should have rushed to me the moment he saw the snake attack me. Could he have gotten caught up in the flames?
The dancing wall of fire encroached further around the pit. Soon flames had reached the edge and began to lick the sides of the walls, scorching my face and stealing my breath. My skin felt like it was starting to melt.
Aisha couldn’t help me even though she was inside me. She was too preoccupied with the Elder to be aware of what was going on outside. That much I already knew.
I was going to have to jump into the wall of flames and hope the fire didn’t reach my heart before I arrived at the exit. I couldn’t afford to wait any longer for Bahir.
It felt like suicide, but if I stayed here any longer, the flames would take my life anyway. It was better to go out while trying to escape.
Steadying my feet, I was about to plunge into the fire when a figure clad in armor leapt through the burning wall and clattered down on the gems a few feet away. When the helmet was removed, I realized that it was Julie. Her hair was soaked with sweat, her face singed as she thrust a wide, heavy shield into my hands.
“Come,” she said breathlessly. “We must hurry!”
I held up the shield in front of me as Julie grabbed my hand and we leapt headfirst into the inferno.
> Chapter 24: Ben
Even with the armor and our supernatural speed, I thought we would be consumed. The entire room was flooded with flames, and the dragon was still rampaging what sounded like only feet away from us, filling the chamber with yet more heat—apparently the temperature hadn’t quite climbed high enough for him.
I kept the shield firmly in front of me. Since I didn’t have a helmet as Julie did, she was my eyes. She led me forward, darting between the pockets in the room that hadn’t yet been completely scorched. I still had no way of knowing what had happened to Bahir or Arron as Julie and I reached the iron door. I breathed out in relief, only to realize that it was locked.
A deafening roar sounded, followed by a gust of hot wind. The dragon’s breath. I looked up to see him standing ten feet away, visible through the haze of flames and smoke, his yellow eyes gleaming with fury.
His tail lunged toward us. Julie and I flung ourselves in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding being pierced. The dragon was going to stake us before burning our corpses to ashes.
“Duck!” I yelled to Julie as the tail swished toward us again. It clinked against my shield with such force, the shield went flying out of my hand.
“Why are you here? And whose blood stains your skin?” Breccan boomed down at me. His hand shot out, motioning to grab me by the waist. I dodged him, only to find myself stuck in a corner. His plan, I was sure.
“Tell me,” he continued. “Did you murder Lambas?”
Lambas? Despite my panic, I was momentarily taken aback by the question.
“Answer me!” he roared, scorching my eyeballs with his breath.
Maybe that cobra was Lambas. I just murdered his pet.
His jaws opened, revealing layers of razor sharp teeth.
“You killed her!” he repeated, his voice dripping with rage. “Didn’t you?”
A pointed object flew from my left toward the dragon and struck him in the eye. Breccan bellowed in pain and staggered back. I looked up to see Bahir hovering overhead. I was shocked by his bedraggled appearance. His skin was singed almost black. Of all of us, I hadn’t expected him to get injured by the flames. I could only think that he’d gotten caught by some before he’d managed to vanish himself.
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