Chapter 44 #2
My heart pounds so loudly that I can’t even hear the thudding of my own boots against the ice floor.
The entire palace is in chaos. Servants and messengers are running up and down the hallways, barely glancing at the people they meet.
I still keep my head down and my hair covering my ears so that they won’t realize what I am.
Skidding around the corner, I have to throw out a hand and brace myself against the cool ice wall to stop myself from crashing right into a side table. My pulse thrums as I push off from the wall and take off along the corridor.
There should only be three more corridors between this one and the stairs to the dungeons.
The dungeons are situated far below, inside the roots of the mountain, but I should be able to make it down there and back up again before fifteen minutes have passed.
Unless there are still guards down there.
My breath saws through my throat as I sprint the final distance to the door that leads down into the dungeons. It’s not guarded up here at least. So far so good.
Yanking it open, I start down the stairs with quick steps while shoving my magic out in rapid bursts.
I aim at different emotions each time in an effort to estimate how many people are down there.
As far as I can tell, there appears to be four people down there.
However, I have no idea if they are prisoners or guards.
And since my magic doesn’t appear to work properly on Lavendera, I can’t know for certain if she is down there or not.
Since I don’t have time to sneak, I jog down the steps as fast as I can without tripping. My boots thud with each stride, and the sound echoes between the stone walls. The temperature plummets with every step. This deep under the mountain, the air is cool even though it’s summer.
“Who’s there?” a male voice calls up from the dungeons.
A jolt shoots through me. Oh, shit. There is at least one guard down there then. While drawing in short tense breaths, I summon a massive flame of fear as I continue running down the steps. This will only work if I’m fast enough.
I still don’t know if it’s because it’s impossible for the body to handle two flames of the same emotion or if it’s because the heart simply cannot handle being hit with that much fear that fast. But every time I have done this, it has worked.
However, if the guard manages to attack before I can hit him again, I’m screwed.
With tension crackling inside me like a storm, I run down the final distance while searching desperately for any sign of the guard who yelled earlier.
Once I reach the final ten steps, a dragon shifter in silver armor suddenly becomes visible on the ground below.
I slam the fear into his chest.
His eyes widen, and he opens his mouth as if to scream.
Panic shoots through me.
Yanking up a second flame of fear, I shove it into his chest.
He gasps. Terror crashes over his features, and the hand that was reaching for his sword instead flies up towards his heart.
Then his eyes roll back in his head and he collapses down on the ground.
“What was that?” another male voice calls from farther down the hallway.
From my last visit to this place, I know that the guards have a room down there where they play cards to pass the time. Apparently, the guy I just killed wasn’t alone down here.
I suck in short shallow breaths as I leap over the guard on the floor and skid into the section that houses the cells. Running from one side to the other, I search them all for Lavendera.
“Dude, did you hear me?” the second guard calls. “Was someone coming?”
My pulse thrums in my ears as I cast a panicked look in his direction.
Snapping my gaze back to the iron bars in front, I search the final cells for Lavendera.
She isn’t there.
But someone else is.
Shock and confusion hit me like a slap as I reach the final cell and find a stately man in elegant green robes sitting against the rough stone wall inside the iron bars.
His turquoise eyes are wide, and he just keeps raking his hands through his blond hair while shaking his head.
He is looking in my direction, but it’s as if he’s staring straight through me.
“No, no, no,” he repeats, his voice hoarse, as if he has been screaming.
For a moment, all I can do is to stare at him in disbelief.
Because this is Kander von Graf. Leader of the Green Dragon Clan.
What in Mabona’s name is he doing here?
Then I suck in a sharp breath as I remember what happened outside the Green Clan’s mountain a few weeks ago. Lavendera showed up with all of those elite soldiers. And Kander refused to open the door. Is this how they punished him for that insubordination?
“Hey, did you hear me?” the second guard calls again. “Is it von Graf again? I swear if he starts screaming again, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.”
His voice snaps me out of my stupor, and I whirl back towards the guard I killed. After closing the distance to him in two quick strides, I crouch down and unhook his keys from his belt.
“Do we need to come out and help you?” the guard yells.
I sprint back to Kander’s cell and shove the key into the keyhole before grabbing the bar so that I can yank it open.
A hiss rips from my lips as my naked palm meets the iron bars. It immediately cuts off the flow of my magic and almost sends me to my knees. Ripping open the door, I yank my hand away from the iron as fast as possible.
Magic flows back into me, but even that brief contact added to the already building exhaustion inside me. I need to get out of here. Now. If I have to fight two more guards, I might not make it out of here at all.
But if I can rescue the leader of the Green Dragon Clan, he will be in my debt. And that is going to be crucial to winning this war.
“Let’s go,” I hiss at Kander.
“No, no, no,” he just keeps mumbling while staring right through me. “I felt it. I felt it fall. It’s all over.”
Horror washes through me as I stare at him.
The Icehearts must have tortured him extensively to turn him into this blabbering mess.
Fear suddenly grips my heart. What if he won’t be able to help us anymore?
What if they’ve tortured him so much that his mind has snapped?
Then he might not even remember how that partnership between fae and dragon shifters works anymore.
Goddess above, we need that information.
“I felt it,” he continues mumbling. “It’s—”
“Kander!” I snap, dread still gripping my chest.
He starts slightly and then blinks hard. At last, his eyes seem to slide back into focus. His gaze darts from me, to the dead guard, and then to the open cell door. My heart stutters as a burst of hope flickers inside me. Did he recover? Is he back to normal? Please, Mabona, let his mind be intact.
I jump in surprise as he suddenly leaps to his feet and runs towards the open cell door.
“We need to—” I begin.
But he doesn’t stop.
He just sprints right out the door and starts hurtling up the steps. A low growl escapes my lips. He could’ve at least waited for me.
Spinning around, I hurry back into the hallway.
“You!” a male voice screams.
My heart leaps into my throat, and I whip around to find two dragon shifters in silver armor staring at me in shock from the other end of the corridor.
“Mabona’s fucking tits,” I growl.
They scream as they charge towards me.
Summoning my magic, I shove a massive violet flame of pain into the first guy’s chest.
Pleasure floods my body. But so does exhaustion. I’ve used a lot of powerful magic in a very short time, while also sprinting across the entire city. Twice. And touching iron.
The first guard goes down screaming on the floor as I increase the flame of pain in one sharp yank before cutting it off.
His sudden collapse makes his friend slam into him from behind.
It almost sends him tumbling down on the floor as well and buys me enough time to whirl around and take off up the steps.
Air rasps through my throat as I drag in desperate breaths while sprinting up the stairs.
Two seconds later, boots start pounding against the stone steps behind me.
A noise of pure desperation rips from my throat. I don’t have time or energy to fight this guard right now. Lavendera isn’t here. We need to find her and get the hell out of here before Draven and the others are forced to shift and put their lives in danger.
Pounding up the steps, I run with everything I have.
The back of my neck suddenly prickles.
On instinct, I leap into the air above the next step.
A sword whooshes through the air barely a second later. It slams into the stone wall on the other side of the narrow stairs with a metallic clashing sound.
Landing on the step again, I twist with the motion and swing my leg through the air.
My boot cracks into the side of the guard’s face.
He grunts in pain, and his head snaps to the side from the forceful kick.
I reach for my magic, aiming for that spark of pain since it will consume less energy than creating one out of nothing.
But before I can shove my magic forward, the guard launches himself at me.
Still off balance from my kick, I topple backwards as he slams into my legs, tackling me down on the steps.
Pain shoots through my spine as my back hits the edges of the steps. Gasping, I try to concentrate enough through the pain to summon my magic again, but the guard has already yanked his sword back.
Ripping out my dagger, I stab it towards his face.
He jerks back, evading the hit, but the move also forces him to abandon his own strike.
While still blinking my eyes into focus, I reach for my magic again and shove it at him right as he uses his grip on my legs to yank me down the stairs. My stomach lurches and my leather armor scrapes against the stone steps as I’m hauled downwards.
A moment later, my magic slams into the spark of pain in his chest.
With a scream, I pour a torrent of magic down it while stabbing my knife at his face again.
He screams in agony as I force his pain into a searing wildfire.
His sword wavers in the air.
And my dagger sinks right into his eye.
Another cry of pure agony tears from his lungs. The sound echoes between the cold stone walls so loudly that my ears hurt.
Ripping the knife out of his eye socket, I kick my knee up hard. He rolls to the side, still screaming in pain while reaching for his bleeding eye. I knee him in the face and then haul the rest of my body out from underneath his with a cry of desperation.
Screams of pain echo between the walls from the guard on the steps as well as the guy on the floor down below, who now has a massive flame of pain stuck in his chest for the rest of his life.
I drag in deep breaths while my vision swims from exhaustion.
Staggering to my feet, I wipe the blood from my dagger and ram it back into its sheath.
The guard throws his other hand out, aiming for my ankle.
I increase the pain in his chest in one massive burst that makes him scream his lungs out.
Then I cut off my magic and hurtle up the steps.