Chapter 37 #2
“Do you really think your father is simply going to let us walk right back into the castle after this?”
I twist my lips in thought. If I’m honest with myself… “No.”
“Then maybe we shouldn’t go back at all.”
The idea that he’ll be saying goodbye soon twists a dagger into my chest. Forget whatever is up ahead. I can handle that. “I have to.”
“Why won’t you come with us?”
I won’t tell him. Not when he’s been so adamant that nothing can happen between us. “Many reasons,” I answer, barely above a whisper. It’s not really a lie. I’m still not convinced that searching outside of Ellyar is the best plan.
He pauses for a long moment.
“What about the few dragon shifters who are still waiting for you back at the castle?” I ask him.
“I told a friend that if we’re not back in fourteen days, to pack the rest of us up and go home. I’m sure they’re already questioning them.”
“Probably. What did you tell him, exactly?”
“I told him a distorted version of the truth. That you had a lead on something, and I needed you to show me. They don’t question me too much.”
I halt. “What is that?”
I squint up ahead. It looks like the tunnel narrows…or ends. It’s hard to say for sure.
Daegan steps forward, slightly ahead of me now. “Let’s check it out. Stick behind me.”
I do as he says, no questions.
He walks at a much slower, guarded pace. When we get close to what looked like the end of the cave, I realize it’s not the end at all. Not really.
The vines have gotten thicker, tangling together in the center of the cave in a million knots, blocking the way. It looks like it’s blocking a smaller tunnel entrance.
“How are we supposed to get through that?” my voice echoes through the small cavern.
He doesn’t answer. He’s looking around, his brow lowered in concentration.
“There,” he says, walking toward an open chunk of gray wall that the vines haven’t covered. “There’s writing engraved in the wall.”
“That’s not…” I step closer. “That’s an old, old language. Much older than the curse. I can’t read it. Why would someone use that?”
Feeling disheartened, I glance at Daegan.
He’s smirking.
“Because they only wanted one type of person to see it,” he says with gratification as he glances back at me.
“Can you read it?”
“Only one with the power from whence it came shall earn it.” His grin grows wider.
My face must amuse him. He’s looking at me with pure satisfaction. And I’m simply standing with my mouth agape.
“It’s the old language of the dragons. We were all taught to read and write it. Someone wanted to make sure only we could read this.”
His smile falls, and it turns into a look of awe as he looks at the engraving once more, his hand reaching out to trace a letter with his finger.
“So if the sword is here… they’re telling us that only a dragon can retrieve it. Because that’s where it was forged. In your mountains with dragon fire.”
He nods.
“Okay, then. Let’s not waste more time.” I step toward the tangle of vines.
“Ummm… no.” Daegan smirks as he approaches me, then he stands in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. He gently pushes me back the way we came. Farther and farther, until I’m all the way across the cavern.
“Stay back here,” he commands. “Please.”
As if he doesn’t believe I’ll obey.
“Be careful.”
He dips his chin once, and then he’s approaching the vines again. I hold my breath.
He doesn’t waste any time.
I watch from behind him, squinting at the brightness as a violent storm of hot, red and blue flames shoot violently from him. His fists are clenched so tight at his sides I think he’s probably making himself bleed.
But it seems to be working. The vines make a shrill sound as the flames turn them to dust, and before I know it, the clearing opens.
I drop into a crouch when I realize the flames are traveling along the vines, burning along a dozen different paths back the way we came. I try to throw some water on them, but it doesn’t deter the flames whatsoever. They’re moving too fast.
I look back and see the trail of light grow fainter as it follows the vines, fizzling out where it’s already burned.
Once I turn back around, I find Daegan looking down the tunnel at the retreating flames too, his body moving with deep, heavy breaths.
He looks like the same Daegan. Not someone who shot violent flames from their mouth a moment prior.
I’ve already started walking toward him as he glances at me and nods back at the clearing. He waits for me to reach him, looking over his shoulder a few times, then he takes the lead through the new opening.
It’s narrow for a few steps, then it opens into a large, hollow cavern. I stop and take it in, awestruck.
On the ceiling, a thousand different veins travel through the hard, rocky surface, glowing a brilliant, sparkling white.
The room seems to hum with an eerie buzzing sound, almost like something is alive.
I follow the trail of veins down the wall on the far side until they stop.
At the end, something shiny sticks out of the wall.
“Daegan,” I whisper.
He nods, noticing the same thing. He takes a tentative step closer, and I follow. Then another, and another. And not for the first time, it feels like fate has brought us to this moment. We’re nothing more than vessels, tossed around by the storm of this grand plan.
It’s the hilt of a sword sticking out. I know it.
When he’s standing directly in front of it, he stops, looking at it reverently.
The buzzing seems to be vibrating in my skull now.
I look closer and find the image of a dragon along the handle, crafted in metal. It dances around a red gem.
“Take it,” I say quietly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Obviously.”
He takes a deep breath, reaches out, and wraps his fingers around the handle.
With the pull of his hand, the sword remains. He pulls again.
Nothing.
Dropping his hand in defeat, he looks at me with some of the hope stolen from his eyes.
“Can I?”
“Be careful,” he whispers.
I place my hand on the sword. It feels cold, yet there’s a mysterious sense of life in the sword. As I expected, nothing happens when I tug.
“Shit,” I curse. “What do we do now?”
Daegan looks deep in thought, so I let him ponder while I look around, hoping for another clue.
There are none.
“Stand back,” Daegan finally says. He shrugs at me. “Worth a shot again. Forged in dragon fire…”
I squint as he makes a much smaller fire this time, aiming directly at the sword and the chunk of wall holding it prisoner. Nothing seems to happen as the flames meet the sword and the wall.
He stops, and we both still as we wait in anticipation. The sword is orange from the heat, but nothing else happens.
And then it starts to travel. From the first vein in the wall that extends from the sword, the orange color travels slowly, turning all of the glowing white veins orange. I tilt my head back in awe as I slowly walk closer to him again.
The cave is glowing in brilliant shades of orange, all traveling in jagged lines along the ceiling.
Once it covers every last trail, it finally sizzles out.
I hold my breath as Daegan reaches for the sword once more.
“Don’t burn—” I stop. He grabs the hilt, showing not one sign of pain, and slides it from the wall with ease.
The veins, as if dying, begin to turn dark gray and dull, starting from the same spot as before.
Daegan turns, looking at the sword in wonder. It’s no longer glowing. It looks like any other sword, but I know in my soul that it isn’t.
We lock eyes from a few steps apart, and it’s like time freezes here in our cavern away from the world, the two of us the only people to exist for a moment.
He takes two deliberate steps toward me, and for a moment, I think he’s going to kiss me. His hand even lowers, as if he’s ready to drop the sword.
But he doesn’t. Something flashes behind his eyes, then he clears his throat and flicks his gaze to the sword.
“We did it,” he says reverently.
“We did,” I whisper, trying to remain excited and push past the disappointment from whatever that just was.
His smile grows as he studies the sword.
“Let’s go,” I breathe, looking away from him and leading the way out.
“Don’t you want to see it?”
“No,” I reply as I continue walking. “We need to get back to the others.”
“Right.”
We walk for a while without talking, with me leading the way at a brisk pace, on a mission to get out of this damn cave. All the vines that clung to the walls on the way in are now gone. The only evidence they were ever here is now piles of ash on the ground.
The longer I walk alone with my thoughts, the more irritated I become.
I’m mostly mad at myself for becoming so enraptured with a guy who’s not interested.
Finding the sword is an exciting moment I’ve waited half my life for, and while I am thrilled that we actually succeeded, I can’t stop thinking about that very obvious pause from Daegan.
How he looked at me with so much intention in his eyes, then thought better of it and pulled back.
Because I’m an elf, I guess. The farther I walk, the madder I become.
Bastard.
“Elle,” Daegan starts after a while. I already know from his tone that he’s going to try to talk about it. There’s no pretending that awkward moment didn’t happen between us.
“Don’t,” I snap.
“We should talk about it…”