by Shea Berkley
It came right up to my face, its breath a hot sulfur, its scales a shiny purplish-green reflection of the water. My fingers grazed the hilt of the dagger hidden in my trews, the thin blade hardly adequate to kill such a beast.
The large head tilted from side-to-side so its yellow eyes could examine me. I felt insignificant–a morsel not worthy of its interest, yet here it was, sizing me up for its next meal. As we continued to stare at each other, the whirl of fear I felt slowly faded. We stood nose-to-nose for a moment and then the beast lowered its head, resting it on the sand, and opened its jaws.
A long rumble came from deep within the dragon, a gentle sound almost like a purr. My mind refused to register what I knew it wanted. I stared past the rows of sharp, jagged teeth and into the pitch blackness of its throat.
“She cannot be serious,” I said on a shaky breath.
I was to enter the dragon? It was a prospect that paralyzed me. I couldn’t. No sane person would do such a thing. My fingers brushed against the necklace at my throat, feeling the smooth stones, and I realized the full extent of my dilemma. If I did not enter the dragon, Ryne was lost to me forever. But if I entered the dragon, I would most assuredly die.
The dragon stirred and moved ever-so-slightly forward as if to urge me inside its gaping jaws.
I had no choice. If I could manage to stay in the mouth, I had a chance of survival. But how? As my mind searched for an answer, I felt a strange movement along my arm. I glanced down and saw the golden bracelet grow. It slithered into my hand and lengthened into a whip thin rope.
That was it. With shaking fingers, I grasped a pointed tooth, secured the rope between it and the tooth next to it, and gingerly climbed inside. The tongue felt spongy under my feet. I tried not to think of where I was or what a reckless thing I was doing. This was the only way to Ryne.
As soon as I was completely inside the mouth, the dragon’s jaws snapped shut. Without me even saying a thing, the rope twirled around my arm, clinging to me as much as I clung to it. My racing heart gave one frantic beat before the dragon spun around and flew into the air.
My feet flew out from under me and the rope lengthened as I dangled freely in the darkness, live bait for the taking. I could feel an intense heat swirling near my feet. I unclasped my cloak and let it fall, hearing it flutter downward. In a shock of light, it suddenly burst into flames and for the briefest moment, I saw my surroundings. The tongue writhed, flicking at the rope in an effort to loosen its grip and spur my body toward the back of the throat. I tightened my hold, grabbed the knife and jabbed at the tongue. It lashed back at me, knocking me to and fro. I cried out, and the golden rope bit harder into my arm.
Suddenly the dragon rolled into a dive. I tumbled toward the jagged front teeth, but before I hit, I was quickly thrown back toward the yawning gullet again. The force of the dive pulled at my skin and shuddered through my body. When we slammed into the water, a heavy spray rushed into the dragon’s mouth, soaking me.
The force that had kept me toward the back of the throat immediately abated, and I slammed against a row of front teeth. Their jagged edges cut into my skin and caused a bump to swell on my head. The arm on which the rope had tightly coiled itself ached along with my shoulder. The smoldering heat that had been walled far down the throat slowly crept closer. I began to sweat. My lungs burned from the rising temperature and the infusion of sulfur.
Eaten or slowly roasted alive. My future did not look promising. The darkness was oppressive. The stench overpowering. I felt sick. My head began to spin. But then the heat and sulfur smell suddenly lessened and in the next moment, the jaws opened and a wall of water rushed into the mouth. I gasped my last breath of life before being overtaken by the flood. I used the rope to pull myself out of the dragon’s mouth. A dim sliver of light outline the body of the nix. The rope released its hold on the teeth, winding itself around my arm the moment the nix seized my hand and tugged me forward. I was quickly towed out of the nightmare I had placed myself in and into a watery tunnel.
The minerals in the rocks mirrored back light. My lungs, already bruised by the journey and poisoned by the sulfur, screamed for fresh air. When I saw the light grow brighter, I yanked my hand from the nix and bolted forward. I crested the surface of the pool and was greeted by a cavern and Ryne, huddled in the corner, bare-chested and shackled to the wall. Though his legs were free, his hands were cruelly manacled together in front of him.
He looked at me as if he were seeing a ghost. Weighted down by chains and exhaustion, he struggled to his feet, and staggered forward. “Nari?”
21
Ryne tripped over the chains and fell to his knees, but his attention was still solely focused on me. “Get out,” he rasped.
He wanted me to leave? But I’d just found him.
“Get out of the water. Now.”
His gaze shot over my head. Horror leaped into his eyes. I glanced behind me and into the angry face of the nix. Panic flooded my blood. I floundered back, but when I turned to swim away, the nix had zipped behind me, forcing me to come up short. I could feel her angry breath, see the hard, unforgiving glint in her eyes.
A deadly smile creased her dusty rose-colored face. Slowly, as if a watercolorist used a broad brush, midnight blue lines crept over her skin, spreading out until her whole body flushed darkly. A malevolent laugh burst from her throat. “You are a fool.”
She suddenly sank in the water, instantly blending with its darkness. Ryne’s hoarse warning sounded right before I was yanked under.
The water rushed over me too quickly, and the air I managed to take soon grew useless as I hit the bottom of the cave’s pool. I pushed at the bottom and began to rise toward the surface, hitting at anything that threatened my safety. But I fought a shadow. Her skin was so dark, she blended in with her surroundings. I popped to the surface, took a quick breath and was yanked under again. She attacked before I could find my bearings. Toying with me, she darted here and there, attacking, then retreating. Several more times she allowed me to gain the surface, but each reprieve was just long enough to gasp a lungful of air before she pulled me under again.
It felt as if she had six grasping, hurtful hands. Her nails, sharp and biting, darted toward the necklace. Each time I managed to fend her off. Her anger heated the water and her intent switched from grabbing the necklace to inflicting as much pain on me as she could. The sting of each cut delivered along my arms and legs made me jerk away. I fought toward the surface, sputtering when I reached the top. Ryne’s yelling collided with the roar of panic flooding my ears.
I was weakening. I had to get out of the water. I was in the nix’s element, her domain. Her place of power. She would win if I couldn’t reach dry land. I whipped my legs into a frenzied churn, and raked my arms through the water, terror driving me toward the cavern’s shelf. I had to get out. Now.
Suddenly, my head arched back as the nix grabbed my hair and yanked me under. I twisted around and grabbed hold of her arms. Face-to-face, I saw the hate radiating from her glowing eyes. If only I could stop her from attacking me. Somehow hold her still.
The unsaid desire caused the golden rope to slither down my arm and wind around the nix’s torso, clamping her arms to her body. The nix let go of me and struggled against the bright coil, but the rope only tightened its grip. Free, and with the nix bound, I rose toward the surface, praying the rope would hold. When I crested the water, I climbed awkwardly onto the shelf.
My chest felt heavy, each breath an ache as I dragged in as much air as I could. Water cascaded from my fingertips, rolling down my body to the uneven ground. Ryne knelt motionless before me, shock rippled over his beloved features. But not for long.
“Nari.” Ryne regained his feet and struggled forward; his gaze would not leave the water. “Where is she?”
I glanced behind me, not really sure, just grateful to get away. “I-I don’t know.”
He thrust the heavy cuffs forward. “Hurry. Set me free.”
I rush
ed forward, my hands shaking when I touched his face. “I thought I would never see you again.”
I placed a kiss on his mouth, but he pulled away, his voice abrasive, “There is no time.”
His gaze was still latched onto the water and a deep foreboding shone from his face. I clasped the cuffs that kept his hands imprisoned together, feeling the jagged iron bite into my hands. Muscles straining, I tore the pin out and ripped the manacle off his right wrist. He sucked in a painful gasp as it fell away, but immediately turned his attention to the other manacle now that one of his hands was free.
As he worked, his face bore a deep, disturbing paleness I hadn’t noticed before. Multiple slashes of dried blood flaked against the cuts on his skin, while purple bruises flared under the silvery moonlight. I cupped his cheek. “What you must have suffered.”
He cursed at the rusted iron and glanced over at me. “You should not have come. If she harms you...”
I put my finger to his lips. “I do not care. I am with you and that is all that matters. Here. Let me try.”
I grasped the other manacle and forced the corroded pin out, and just as the cuff popped open, a noise unlike any I’d ever heard rumbled through the cavern. We both turned toward the water. The surface began to bubble and steam, and the water became incandescent. Dead fish floated to the surface. The mica embedded in the rocks glowed brightly as something orange gurgled upward.
Ryne suddenly grabbed me and threw me to the ground. He curled his body around me, shielding me as the fire burst from the water and leapt toward us. I could hear the flames sizzle against the water, smell the scorching of cloth and feel the rock around us heat up. The skeleton chained lopsided to the opposite wall burst into flame, the old, dried clothing and leathery skin a perfect torch. Sulfur coated my throat and stung my eyes. I knew that smell and that bitter taste. The nix was loose and she had commanded the dragon to burn us alive.
The flames flickered close, arching over our heads to blacken the walls and ceiling. The fire raged for so long I feared my lungs would turn to dust if I drew one more breath. But then the flames receded, and I pulled away, coughing and gagging, miraculously unharmed.
Ryne moaned, rolled off me and staggered to his feet. Facing the water, he rasped tensely, “She’s coming.”
I glanced at Ryne, fearing the worst, but his skin held only the faintest trace of pink, not a blister or scorch mark marred him. The fire had risen far above us and the heat had only singed the tips of his hair.
He became a man possessed. Grabbing the base of the chains, he tugged, but the peg embedded in the wall held tight. “Help me get this out.”
I grabbed a portion of the chain and pulled. Nothing happened. Not even a slight nudge. With a growl of frustration, Ryne pushed me away and lifted the chains. He ran his fingers along the links until he found what he was looking for. His arms bulged as he tried to separate the weakened iron. Ever so slowly, they creaked apart until he held a large portion of the chains in his hand with the thick manacle dangling from the end.
Two specks of light slithered in the water.
He pushed me behind him. “Get back.”
I flattened myself against the rocks as he hefted the chain above his head, and swung it in a tight, fast circle. The manacle clattered as it flew, like an angry, snapping jaw waiting for its prey.
His chest labored for breath. He had grown weak from lack of food and little rest. He grimaced as he concentrated on the nix slithering toward us.
When she finally surfaced, his face grew taut, and his eyes hard. With a sudden explosion of energy, he threw himself toward her and let the manacle zip downward.
Water flew forward to intercept the manacle, and a massive wave rose, lifting the nix high and dropping her on top of him. He fell to the ground sputtering like a landed fish. She grabbed his hair, twisted his head back and hit him in the chest. I thought I heard a rib crack.
She stood, a beautiful creature bent on revenge, and turned her hate-filled eyes on me, but my eyes were only for Ryne.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. As the nix stepped away, I saw a knife—the very one I’d brought to kill the nix—protruding from Ryne’s chest. I didn’t need to check to see it was gone. I must have dropped it as I entered the tunnel. Why only now did I feel its absence?
Ryne’s face contorted in pain; his body writhed against the agony. The nix smiled and backed further away as if to enjoy the spectacle of death.
I ran forward and fell to my knees. “Ryne. Oh God, please, no.” I wrapped my fingers around the crude wooden hilt and pulled the knife free, dropping the hated thing to the ground.
He gasped. His eyes locked on mine.
“Don’t die,” I ordered, willing him to live. My will did not matter. His eyelids slowly fluttered shut, obliterating the life that was once in him.
“Ryne?” He couldn’t be dead. A wealth of tears welled and spilt freely onto him, washing his body with grief and disbelief. He couldn’t be dead. I couldn’t bear to think I would never feel his arms around me or feel his lips on mine. I had just gotten my best friend back. I couldn’t lose him again. “Don’t go. I am here to rescue you.”
In my grief, I didn’t notice the nix had come up behind me until her fingers slid within my hair and twirled around a long lock. With a persistent tug, she pulled me to my feet. When I was exactly where she wanted me, she let go. I faced her, condemning the cruel senselessness of her evil. Her dark skin shone blue, then red, and then lightened to a dusty rose. “And so it finally ends. The boon is fulfilled, the bargain met. Yet what should I do with you?”
An empty deadness suddenly flattened my soul. I gave up. I would willingly hand her my own heart, anything to stop the pain of Ryne’s loss.
“It doesn’t matter,” I rasped. I didn’t care what happened to me. Ryne was dead.
She cocked her head, and her gaze swept me. “I once loved a man.”
At my silence, she smiled. “Yes. I have loved. But it was not worth the pain. You should thank me. You are better off without love.”
“You are wrong. I am better off for knowing love.”
She didn’t acknowledge me, only hissed her evil to the rock walls. “The man I loved betrayed me. I could have given him anything his heart desired, but he turned from me.”
“Maybe he saw the hate lurking within you?” I challenged.
“I never knew hate until him.” She said it so quietly. Her eyes were focused far away as she returned to another time. “He killed our baby as if she were an animal, and then he hunted me. They all did. From that day forward, man called me monster.”
“And you proved them right.”
Her eyes snapped to mine, the remembrance of long ago shuddered behind them once again. “It is too late to free you now. The die is cast. Your soul shall wander these waters with the rest of them.”
I stood tall, unafraid of anything this creature would do. I let a confident smile touch my lips. “I will be in good company, then.”
“You are brave, but still a fool.”
A movement caught the corner of my eye. The nix must have seen it too for she turned, and a snarl of outrage fell on her beautiful face. Her anger roused my alarm. I fell back just as Ryne lunged forward and plunged the dagger into her heart.
The nix cried out. Shock rocked her backwards. She clawed at the hilt protruding from her chest, astonishment shattering her perfect features. Her gaze rose to mine. Confusion mingled with fear. “How can this be? I am the nix. I have always been.”
I didn’t know what to say. I turned my face away as she lay down, unable to watch her die as she had so many others. I heard the clatter of the dagger as it hit the ground, yet when I looked back, she clutched the knife to her chest. The glow of her eyes faded. “He has finally killed me. My beloved’s blade, the one of my child’s doom, has found me.”
The light behind her eyes that pierced the darkness of the deepest waters grew dim and died. Her skin cracked, and she withered into a pil
e of bones. Only her hair lay thickly round her. Like a dark silk veil, it cradled her body.
My limbs began to shake and I collapsed to the ground. I pressed my fingers to my mouth, unsure why a scream fought to be free.
Ryne knelt before me and reached out his hand, but I reared back. The shock of seeing him alive was almost too great. “H-how can you be alive? I saw you die.”
“It is a miracle. One brought on by your tears.” He showed me the area where the knife had been, but not even the slightest scratch could be seen. His whole body looked perfect. Completely healed.
I touched the area, felt the warmth of his skin and burst into tears anew.
“Nari.” My name fell softly from his lips. He slipped his hand against my cheek and whisked away the falling tears with his thumb.
His gentleness was my undoing. I threw myself against his chest. I wouldn’t believe he was real until I felt his arms around me. And when he cradled me close, I finally let myself breath. The nightmare was over. Ryne and I were both alive.
“We did it, Nari. We are free. Forever. No longer will I fear the lake. No man will.” He kissed my cheek and spoke of his love…but my gaze fell on the nix. She lay at rest on the ground, but not at peace.
I pushed away from Ryne, a sudden urge consuming me. “She said something about a child. Her child. It died. Murdered, I think.”
Ryne stilled. “I found a tiny skeleton.”
