by Lily Velez
The goddess only shrugged. “A problem that’s easily solved.”
Relief surged through my chest at once. “How so?”
“We simply kill the demon.”
My thoughts came to an abrupt halt. I couldn’t even manage a response.
“If he’s dead, there’s no one to present the sword to,” Morrígan explained. “Your bargain is no longer binding. Unfortunately, the boy’s debt would still be outstanding, as it’s tied to the Dark Lord himself, and to a prophecy at that.”
Kai’s wisps of smoke had darkened, so that they looked like poisonous vapors. He’d tensed all over, neck and jawline so tight it was any wonder his veins didn’t burst.
“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?” I asked. “Surely there has to be another way.”
“I’m afraid there isn’t,” Morrígan said. “I certainly have no intention of entrusting the Sword of Light into the hands of a bastard demon prince. What should it matter to you what becomes of him? You’ll have everything you could’ve ever wanted: your father, the boy you care for, and freedom from the destiny that awaits you. In the grand scheme of things, is this one, lowly sacrifice not worth it?”
My heartbeats felt like thunder in my chest. I could practically feel my blood move through my veins as Morrígan awaited my decision. Her words frothed in my mind until I was nearly dizzy with them.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. I’d known my answer all along.
“I can’t accept,” I said. Kai’s head snapped to me, but I didn’t meet his gaze. I only continued to watch Morrígan, whose eyes flashed dangerously. Her crow cawed twice, the sound icing my heart.
“You’d be wise to reconsider,” Morrígan warned, her face hardening. “I won’t extend this offer a second time.”
“I’ve already made my decision.”
She made a sound of revulsion. “All this for the Dark Lord’s bastard? You ignorant, reckless girl. Mark my words: you’ll regret this. You’ll regret it the moment you face your upcoming trial.”
I shored up my courage and stood my ground. “We’ve already conquered the first two,” I said. “Why should this one be any different?”
42
Scarlet
“You spectacularly idiotic witch,” Kai proclaimed as he stalked down the same corridors that had taken us to Morrígan’s throne room.
“Excuse me?” I came to a halt, grabbing his elbow to roughly turn him around. My chest burned, and adrenaline shot through my veins at his lack of appreciation. “In case you missed it, I kind of saved your life back there.”
“And excelled at lacking any sense of self-preservation whatsoever.”
I stared at him, jaw slack. Unbelievable. “That’s really what you’re going to focus on? You would’ve rather I take her offer?”
“What does it matter? I’m beginning to think I’ve been cursed to chaperone reckless witches for the rest of my immortality. Jack, you. Someone could’ve at least provided sacramental wine if this was to be the means of my repentance for my many sins.”
I took a moment to better study him. His strands of smoke calmly trailed up and down and around his body. His garnet eyes were a few shades darker than usual but not necessarily hostile. His face was stern but mostly a cross between being bored and being tired.
He wasn’t angry. Annoyed perhaps that he was indebted to a witch but not angry.
I crossed my arms. “I think you’ve spent a little too much time in the forsaken lands. Expressions of gratitude tend to have less bite.”
“Oh, but biting’s infinitely more fun.” A lazy, wicked smirk twisted the corner of his mouth, a glimmer flickering in his eyes.
Definitely not angry.
I rolled my eyes and marched off.
Morrígan and her guards delivered us to the site of the third trial.
The third and final trial.
My heart thrilled at what it meant. We were one step closer to possessing the Sword of Light, and once we did, we’d be able to stop Alistair and prevent the very prophecy that would transform me and Jack into mortal enemies.
Having refused Morrígan’s offer, defying fate and the gods and everything in between seemed more possible than ever. I felt empowered in a way I never had before, as if I were truly taking charge of my life and deciding its course for the first time.
“Your final challenge,” Morrígan announced, “is to slay the beast that calls the lair beyond its home with the weapon it guards.”
“What kind of beast is it?” I asked.
Morrígan’s smile was serpentine. “Best wishes, Daughter of Brigid. It truly has been a pleasure.”
It was clear what the words were. A goodbye. Despite how much we’d surprised her thus far, she didn’t expect us to survive this trial. I ignored the way my pulse stuttered at that and schooled my expression, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of momentarily rattling my nerves.
Once the goddess and her guards left us, we continued down the path they’d indicated. At one point, I reached for Jack’s hand, and he immediately threaded our fingers, giving a reassuring squeeze. I’d told him what Morrígan had revealed about our being Fated, and unsurprisingly, the knowledge brought us even closer, giving meaning to what it was we already felt, that ever-present hum warmer and brighter and stronger.
When we reached the end of the path, it deposited us into a wide canyon with towering walls of spotted jasper on either side of us. I dragged my hand across the coarse exterior of the rock and marveled at the glittering freckles on its surface. Above, sloping trees formed a makeshift steeple over the space, and through the gaps in their canopies, sunlight filtered in, creating a latticework of soft, honey-colored beams that crisscrossed in any number of directions. For a lair, it seemed such a peaceful place, like a piece of paradise tucked away in a corner of this strange world.
We rounded a corner, and I stopped, the breath pausing in my lungs. Countless rays of sunlight fell upon hills and hills of gold. Actual, real gold. Gold bricks, gold coins, gold goblets, gold statues. Jewels and crystals as well, their many-faceted faces glimmering in the light like sequins on a party dress.
“Morrígan’s true treasury,” I whispered, awestruck. And at the far end of the canyon, trapped within the ribcage of an ancient, twisting tree was a sword floating in mid-air. It was a call back to the night of Morrígan’s fête, when we’d happened upon the decoy Sword of Light in a similar state. The only difference was that this was the real one, the weapon we’d come all this way for.
“Are we meant to just take it?” I asked, my fingers already itching for it. “Just like that?”
“It must be what we’re meant to slay the beast with,” Jack answered. “Morrígan said to use what the beast guards.”
“But I don’t see a beast anywhere. Is there one even here?”
As if to answer my question, the hills of gold suddenly began to shift, a metallic waterfall of treasures clinking down each slope, raining against the hard ground in an angry, metallic beat. Jack threw out a protective arm to push me behind him, but just over his shoulder, I still saw.
I still saw the way something emerged from underneath those hills, like a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis.
I still saw gold coins slide off fern-colored scales as a monstrous body unfolded and rose higher and higher to its full height, wings stretching from one end of the space to another.
I still saw the gleaming honey eyes, the sharp teeth that were long enough to dwarf me, and the powerful claws which made the ground convulse as they fell upon the earth.
This was the beast we were tasked with slaying, and as I stared at it, I was paralyzed with fear.
Because it was no ordinary beast.
It was a dragon.
43
Scarlet
I couldn’t shake the paralysis.
The dragon was as large as a city building. When it bellowed, everything shook, entire trees plummeting from above as the ground shuddered, making us fall. The d
ragon’s massive wings were equipped with spikes along the edges, and they scraped against the walls surrounding us like nails on a chalkboard. I cringed.
With hands pressed to the sides of my head, I watched as the dragon approached, floored by my proximity to such a formidable creature. Its olive scales glistened under the intersecting beams of sunlight, which slanted into the space like swords at rest. When the dragon stepped directly into one of those beams, it revealed a foreleg that seemed to be deformed in some way, the scales there gray and hardened, as if affected by disease. Despite this impediment, the creature moved with unimaginable speed, speed it had no business possessing.
What most caught my attention was a red, teardrop-shaped jewel embedded into the dragon’s chest, right over where its heart would be. The twin to Morrígan’s ruby. Kai had said the dragons were bound to the goddess by magic. Judging by the way the jewel’s colors pulsed and sparked, that had to be the source of their connection.
“I didn’t exactly learn how to slay dragons back at my old school,” I told Jack and Kai, “so if either of you have any ideas right now, I’m all ears.”
Jack kept his eyes on the dragon as he spoke. “You’re the only one who can touch the sword, so you have to be the one to claim it. Kai and I will distract the dragon. Once his attention’s fully on us, make a run for it.”
Before I could say anything, Jack took off. He brandished one of the measly weapons with which we’d been equipped, and I frowned at how little defense it offered against our current opponent.
Muttering a curse in his native tongue, Kai unsheathed his own sword. “When all this is said and done, I truly hope I never see another witch for at least a thousand years.” Snatching a goblet from one of the neighboring hills of gold, he slammed his blade against its rim repeatedly in an effort to steal the dragon’s attention with the noise.
I watched breathlessly as they moved along a far wall, getting the dragon to turn around until it was in profile. The beast swiped at them with its talons. It snarled and darted forward, snapping its jaws. Somehow, Jack and Kai evaded every attack. Nonetheless, my lungs were tight, my heart lodged in my throat as I anticipated one delayed move, one mistake that would be to their detriment.
We had no time to waste.
My eyes flicked to the Sword of Light.
I beelined for it.
I weaved around the numerous hills like a thread in a loom, curving around them one by one as I cut a path toward the sword. My legs felt like pistons in a machine as I pumped them harder and harder, throwing all of myself into my mad sprint. Over the pound of my feet, I could just barely make out the racket Jack and Kai continued to make, the shouts they released to keep the dragon’s attention on them.
Almost there…
The hills of gold were more concentrated the closer I came to the sword, their bases blending together so that I could no longer move around them. I’d have to climb over them. I advanced up the nearest slope, carefully testing its durability as coins shifted under my footfalls. Once I was confident it could hold my weight, I charged up the incline, reached its top, and raced down its slope.
I repeated this for the next three hills that came after.
While ascending the fourth hill, my eyes slid to the dragon, needing to place the creature’s whereabouts. Its back was still to me, and a daunting back it was. Two rows of massive, kite-shaped plates ran down the length of its spine, and its tail ended in a club the size of a boulder. Once I claimed the sword, I’d have to slay this fearsome creature in order to complete the final trial. I had no idea how I was supposed to do that. At least not in a way that allowed me to remain alive and intact.
Distracted, I tripped over a gold scepter protruding out of my current hill and crashed hard, sliding halfway down the slope, coins and other treasures spilling down with me in a loud clamor.
At the noise, the dragon instantly swerved its long neck around. Seeing me, it bared its teeth, steam curling out of its nostrils. Its tail rose from the ground and reared back to deliver a blow. I scrambled to my feet and ran. I didn’t even know what direction I was going in. I just knew I needed to get out of view as quickly as possible.
I was too late.
A blur of green scales filled my vision, and then the next thing I knew, a powerful force clobbered me in the middle, as if someone had swung a tree trunk at me like a bat.
For several seconds, I was airborne, flying over scores of hills until I finally connected with the ground. My lungs caught on fire as my diaphragm contracted and screamed with pain. I desperately needed air, but I couldn’t get the appropriate muscles to work the way they should. I ached everywhere, my head swimming, throbbing, splitting in half. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to vomit, cry, or simply pass out.
“Scarlet, get up!”
It’s a big enough chore to keep my eyes open!
Tiny black circles floated in my vision as I did my best to keep down the bile rising in my throat. I supposed in some respects, I was lucky. I hadn’t been hit by the tail’s club. A blow from a weapon like that would’ve struck me dead instantly.
“Scarlet!”
Finally, my lungs remembered how to operate, and I gulped down breaths as I slowly sat up, my midsection aching. As I righted myself, palms flat to the earth, I realized the ground was trembling, the vibrations humming in my bones.
I looked up. A pair of feral, gold eyes were fastened on my person as the dragon stormed toward me. It parted its jaws, ribbons of smoke curling out as a ball of fire crackled in the back of its throat. The glowing orb grew brighter and brighter. Though the dragon was still a ways off, I could feel the heat of the fire from where I sat.
In about five seconds flat, I was going to be incinerated.
I bolted to my feet and leapt out of the way just as a powerful stream of fire charged out of the dragon’s mouth, completely scorching the place where I’d been only a second ago.
The dragon spun around in an attempt to keep its eyes trained on me. As it did, its tail swiped across the hills surrounding us, sending coins and other treasures flying in the air so that it was raining gold. I took cover behind the nearest slope to catch my breath, my eyes darting around the canyon to chart a new path to the Sword of Light.
Sprays of gold coins burst into the air in every possible direction all the while. The dragon was still searching for me. Beside a far-off hill, Jack waved his hands to get my attention. Once he had it, he beckoned me to him, indicating the coast was clear.
I raced for him.
He held out his arms toward me, hands outstretched to pull me to safety the moment I was close enough. I kept my focus on nothing but his face, increasing my speed the closer I got to him.
In a split second, his eyes flew away from me to something high above. I saw his lips begin to form the shape of my name.
I threw myself behind a hill of gold to my right just as a river of scalding fire rushed past me.
“Jack!” I screamed from my hiding place.
Had he moved out of the way in time? I couldn’t check. The dragon had caught my last-second movement and was barreling for me, knocking away all the surrounding hills in powerful blows from its claws and tail. It flapped its wings, dislodging tree branches and boulders from above. One particularly hefty rock landed square in my path, the fall hard enough to leave an indentation in the ground.
As I fled, my eyes scanned the rubble around me for some kind of weapon with which to protect myself. I’d lost the one I’d come here with when the dragon had struck me, though I doubted a flimsy sword would’ve done me any good anyway. Neither would any of the scepters or goblets or gilded frames I came across.
But then, one thing did inspire a spark of hope in my chest. A golden shield. I yanked it out of a pile of treasures and held it over my head to guard me from all the falling debris. Then I skidded to a stop, plumes of dust flying from under my shoes when I came to a dead-end.
No.
My heart cartwheeled as I twisted around jus
t in time to see the dragon cornering me, an eager gleam in its eyes. Its salivating fangs made it clear it was already relishing the crunch of my bones and the taste of my flesh.
As before, smoke filled its mouth, dancing in curling motions like streamers in the wind. The dragon widened its jaws as the fire at the back of its throat built and raged. Before I knew it, a current of blazing hot flames rushed for me.
I threw up the shield, crouching in hopes of fitting my whole frame behind its breadth. The onslaught of fire crashed into the shield like a comet, the impact so jarring my entire skeleton rattled within my skin. I gritted my teeth, pouring all of my strength into my defense.
I couldn’t believe the shield was holding up against the fire. I’d half expected to be scorched alive. Perhaps, seeing as it belonged to a goddess, it was somehow enchanted to withstand more than the average weapon. But it still wasn’t enough.
Within seconds, the shield became unbearably hot, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold onto it for much longer. Its form was already softening, hot gold dripping onto the ground and sizzling. A few drops landed on my forearm, and I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out.
Suddenly, the fire stopped.
Shaking all over, I peeked over the edge of the slightly warped shield. Jack was underneath the dragon, where he’d driven a sword into its belly. The dragon roared, thrashing its head and tail as it spun around to locate its attacker.
Jack started to race back to a suitable hiding place, but the dragon’s tail swung out at just the right moment, knocking him down, and before he could right himself, the dragon was on him, pinning him in place between two enormous talons.
Snarling, it lifted its free claw and brought it down in a rush of air, in what was sure to be a death strike.
