Chapter 37 #2
The cave curves, and the lights behind us disappear—throwing us into pitch dark. Nicole opens her palm, and a flame the size of a teardrop flares to life, reflecting off the water streaming down the limestone walls.
The passage tightens, and the ceiling lowers. My breaths grow shallow—my tongue like cotton as the path narrows farther and Kressa presses herself in front of me.
“Nearly there,” she whispers.
I drag my fingertips along the wall, steadying my pulse as the walls close in, skimming the curve of my shoulders. The breeze grows stronger and tosses my hood off, whipping the hair around my face.
A faint glow appears in the distance, and the path widens out again. Kressa slows, her steps silent as we come to the mouth of the passage. A second cavernous space stretches out before us, and she throws an arm out in front of me.
I freeze, my heart pounding in my ears.
No more than ten feet ahead, the path ends at a cliff.
A red glow emanates from the depths, and I inch closer, bracing my hand against the side wall as I peer over the edge.
Kressa throws out an arm. “It’s too—”
A figure spears through the night.
I stumble, and Kressa pulls me into the shadows as a wyvern shoots upward and releases a bellowing roar.
The air in the cavern trembles, and a crackling comes from the creature’s throat as it spews fire.
The wyvern shoots past the cliff’s edge—its belly so close it knocks a handful of rocks into the abyss below.
It tucks in its wings and falls back on itself, tumbling downward. Another blast of fire billows through the cavern, lighting every corner of the space as if it were daylight. Rock formations jut from the wall like gnarled teeth, and stalactites cling to the ceiling.
And tucked within them—
I stop breathing.
Wyverns line the walls, clinging to crevices, while others rest, curled up on small cliff edges like the one we’re standing on.
“Why did you bring me here?” I breathe, stepping back.
An ear shattering roar rockets off the walls—one I’ve heard enough over the last few days to know which creature it comes from.
My legs threaten to give out. “We need to leave, right now.”
Kressa wraps her hand around my upper arm and holds me in place. “Take your gloves off.”
“Are you crazy?” I rip out of her hold and shake my head. “You saw what those things did to the castle—the buildings they destroyed. How they nearly set your ship on fire and killed us all. I injured that one, Kressa. It’ll want revenge.”
“That’s exactly the point.” Nicole steps closer.
“There’s an ancient fable within the Fire Court.
It’s said that when the earth began, the wyvern would attack our villages relentlessly—killing tens to hundreds of people each time.
In those times, my people weren’t at war with other humans, but the creatures that terrorized them.
” A roar echoes from deep within the mountain, and she shivers, but continues.
“However, it’s said that one person was brave enough to use fire against fire.
And when they injured a wyvern with a blast of flames, that’s when Serinos granted my people with power.
Since then, whoever managed to land a blow to a wyvern, using fire, formed a connection with that creature. ”
Her words filter through my mind, tumbling over themselves. “You think I have a connection with that monster?”
“It’s a fable.” She shrugs. “There’s nothing to substantiate it, and academic sources found that it’s not why Serinos granted us power, but it’s worth a try.”
I scoff. “You want me to risk my life because of a fairy tale?”
Kressa steps in front of me, her face cast in darkness.
“This passageway didn’t exist until we arrived in Ignata a week ago.
” She points a finger down the path we came from.
“The people in Amoren have no idea the wyvern are back, or that they’ve left the mountain and have carried out attacks.
But every single day, this passage becomes larger.
If we don’t try something, it could get big enough for the wyvern to escape and decimate the population within the mountain. ”
A lump forms in my throat, but I swallow it down and turn to Nicole. “It sounds like something you should take up with your goddess. Or the leaders you elect. This isn’t my problem to fix.”
“Please,” Kressa says, her gaze wide and pleading. “You’re the only one who has managed to hit one of the wyvern with fire. You could very well be our only hope.”
“Is this why you want to keep me alive?” I curl back my lip, gesturing to the cavern yawning open below us. “So I can be your experiment?”
“No, Briar. I’m sparing your life because I can’t envision my world without you in it.”
My breath catches, and Nicole swings her gaze away, pressing her hands into her pocket.
Kressa lifts my hand in hers. “I’m asking this of you because I care about the Fire Court, and I believe in time you will, too.
If you truly don’t want to do this, I understand.
But you saw how many children there are within that community.
If the wyvern escape, they won’t stand a chance.
” She eases the glove off an inch. “Please.”
I stare off into the distance—the pit below us that widens like the maw of an ancient beast. Kressa brought me here without mentioning what she’d be asking of me, or the risk I’d have to take.
But if I listen to her and take off the gloves, the wyvern could kill me, and I’d never return to Delterran. Or reunite with my crew.
There’d be no reason for Golan to keep them alive.
The Sea would tumble into the hands of Callum, or whoever else would be power hungry enough to take it.
In a perfect world, I’d agree to her terms. But we’re living in the midst of a war, and every act I take to help another court is a step farther from aiding mine.
I take a step away from the edge and shake my head. “I won’t do it.”
Kressa curses under her breath and turns on her heel, putting her back to me. She whispers something to Nicole that I can’t hear.
Nicole shakes her head. “She has to be willing, otherwise the connection won’t work.”
A moment passes by, and rumbles filter through the air, coming from the creatures below. Kressa faces me, but she can’t quite meet my gaze. Sour disappointment flows through the bond, and I bite into my cheek, forcing myself not to acknowledge it.
“Let’s go back to the castle,” she says.