Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
LYRA
Horror lanced through me as the dragon spewed his fiery breath, and for an instant, I was blinded by the flames. My skin burned. My mouth went dry, and my heart felt as if it might punch through my ribs.
When the spots finally cleared from my vision, I saw Kaden emerge from a wall of shadows, and I nearly sobbed with relief.
“Playing with fire?” he asked, his eyes sparking with a challenge.
Eckoghari snapped his jaws, the horrific sound echoing through the cave. “You insult me, demon.”
“I assure you, that was not intentional,” said Kaden, shaking sodden locks of hair out of his face.
It was then that I noticed that Eckoghari’s fire had melted away a chunk of the icy ceiling, soaking Kaden in the process.
“The little brute escaped, and we . . .” Kaden spread his palm toward the ceiling. “Well, with the fate of the realms hanging in the balance, we really could not delay.”
The dragon’s low growl rattled my bones, his throat glowing with fire once more. Another stream of flames shot out, and this time, Kaden barely managed to block it in time. His shadows roiled over the flames, dampening their heat as more water dripped from the ceiling.
“Insolent fool,” Eckoghari snarled, smoke curling around his magnificent head as his nostrils flared. “You dare trespass in my home and attempt to deceive me?”
His next rumbling snarl shook the ice cave, and I eyed the enormous icicles warily. I threw myself to the ground just as a thick column of flames shot out of Eckoghari’s maw.
I felt a tremor of panic jolt down the bond a split second before cool, dark shadows washed over me. They devoured Eckoghari’s hungry flames, tempering their heat.
Cold water sliced at my cheek, and when I dared raise my head, I saw that I was lying in a puddle of melted ice.
“You will pay for this, demon.” Another burst of flames.
This time, I felt the heat through my leathers, and I realized Kaden’s shadows were weakening.
Limbs shaking, I rose to my knees and started crawling around the side of the pool, but a flash of darkness caught my eye. Kaden had burst into the air, wings outstretched as his sword glinted in the dim light.
“Let us settle this, then,” he growled, more shadows leaking from him and curling around the steam wafting through the air.
“Your arrogance astounds me, demon.”
Eckoghari thrust his head forward with a snap of his jaws, nearly cleaving Kaden in two. The prince flitted out of the way just in time, slashing wildly with his blade.
A tremendous roar shook the cavern, and a trickle of blood bloomed along the dragon’s jaw.
More movement caught my eye, and I looked over to see Adriel and Sorsha flanking the beast, their swords raised. A gout of flames shot toward Sorsha, but Kaden’s shadows blocked them before they could reach his sister.
The royal guard flew up behind the dragon, but Eckoghari must have sensed him. He snarled and tossed his head, sending another torrent of flames spraying wildly around the cavern.
This time, the movement was too erratic for Kaden to predict, and my stomach pitched as Adriel roared. My stomach dropped as the royal guard plummeted through the air, hitting the floor of the cave with a thud.
Sorsha gasped, but I was already running toward him, slipping and sliding on the half-melted ice. Flames burst in my periphery, and I smelled singed hair, but Kaden had blocked the worst of them.
I slid down beside Adriel, whose flesh was blistering and peeling before my eyes. His dark wings lay crumpled beneath him. Angry red burns spread along one cheek and down the side of his neck, though his leathers seemed to have protected his body.
“Are you all right?” I huffed.
“Never better,” he groaned, wincing as he sat up.
Above, Kaden and Sorsha were still taunting Eckoghari — attempting to keep the dragon’s attention.
Deafening shrieks echoed off the walls, and Eckoghari’s heavy footfalls shook the ground. Flames spewed in every direction, and then I heard a mighty crack.
Following the noise, I looked up to see the base of an enormous stalactite crumble before detaching from the ceiling. It pitched through the air and shattered on the ice, sending shards skittering across the cave floor.
“He’s trying to provoke him,” I muttered, looking from the spot where the stalactite had fallen, to Kaden, who’d narrowly avoided the dragon’s flames.
“What?”
“Kaden,” I hissed. “He’s taunting Eckoghari to make him spew fire. He’s trying to collapse the cavern.”
“Brilliant,” Adriel grunted. “If we weren’t trapped in here with him.”
My stomach twisted. He was right. If Eckoghari managed to bring down the icy cavern around us, we’d all be killed or trapped inside.
“Maybe not such a great idea,” I agreed.
“Well, it’s the only one we’ve got,” said Adriel, hoisting himself to his feet. “Mundane steel blades can’t penetrate a dragon’s scales. Not even Drathen steel.”
He spread his wings experimentally, wincing as the far edge of his left struggled to expand. Shaking his head, he alighted, soaring into the air to join Kaden and Sorsha.
Eyeing the ceiling, I tried to identify any weak points and imagine how we might lure Eckoghari into one area and collapse it without becoming trapped ourselves. But when another stalactite detached and landed in the pool with a mighty splash, I realized it might be too late.
Melting ice rained down, soaking my hair and leathers.
Kaden’s eyes still gleamed with that same cockiness as before, though I could read the tiredness in the lines of his face.
His shadows, too, seemed thinner than before, and I realized that Eckoghari was regenerating fire faster than Kaden could summon his shadows.
When the dragon swiped at him with one enormous forepaw, Kaden scarcely changed direction in time and caught the edge of his wing on a protruding clump of ice.
He swore, darting to the side and narrowly avoiding another falling stalactite.
All around us, huge chunks of ice were careening from the ceiling, crashing into the pool and sending water gushing onto the cave floor. The slick surface glistened in the wavering glow of flames, and I was struck by a sudden idea.
If Kaden could not bring down the cavern around Eckoghari before it collapsed and buried us all, perhaps I could use my magic.
I’d never practiced a rune designed to melt ice, only to freeze it. But suddenly, a plan took shape.
It was a long shot. Maybe even insane. While the freezing rune had been the first Coranthe rune I’d mastered, I’d never used it on this scale.
Still, I had to try. Kaden’s shadows were growing weaker by the second, his movements slow and sluggish. If we didn’t find a way to end Eckoghari soon, I didn’t think we’d make it out of here alive.
Closing my eyes, I pulled myself back in time to the airy chamber in Adraeis where I’d trained with Gaeldric. If I concentrated, I could almost smell that laurel-scented breeze and hear the old witch barking at me to concentrate.
Focusing every fiber of my being on my intent, I summoned the rune in my mind’s eye. Golden threads formed a lattice of loops, with interlocking triangles at the center. My skin tingled with magic, and I felt Kaden’s attention on me as I drew that power into myself and channeled it into the rune.
A shrill shriek made my eyes fly open, and I looked up just in time to see ice crystalizing all over Eckoghari’s body, crackling as the moisture froze on his wings.
The dragon screeched, flailing them uselessly as the weight sent him plummeting like a stone.
Water lurched over the side of the mineral pool as he landed with a splash, and I gritted my teeth and focused once more on conjuring up that rune.
Magic danced over my skin as I concentrated, teeth grinding together as I poured my intent into every line of the rune.
Sweat beaded on my temples, and my palms were already slick.
Ice cracked and groaned as the dragon roared, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that the pool had frozen over, trapping Eckoghari within.
A second later, a huge chunk of ice fell from the ceiling, shattering into a million pieces.
Shit. While I might have frozen the water around Eckoghari, the rest of the cave was still collapsing from the heat.
Just then, a dark blur appeared in my periphery, and my breath left me in a whoosh as Kaden swept me into his arms. We careened out of the cavern and into a dark tunnel, huge chunks of ice falling around us.
A frightened whinny echoed off the cavern ceiling, and I felt a pang of remorse.
The horses.
There was no way they’d make it out of here. Not at the rate the caves were collapsing. But then a falling hunk of ice clipped Kaden’s wing, and all thoughts of horses flew from my mind as we pitched toward the ground.
I cried out just before Kaden righted himself and clung tighter to his neck.
Shouts echoed down the passageway, and a shudder of relief went through me when I realized the others were behind us.
A deafening rumble shook the walls, and Kaden increased his speed. I could feel the strain of his muscles everywhere we were touching as he worked his wings in a frantic rhythm.
More chunks of ice fell in my periphery, my shoulder smarting as one struck me. Hard. Wheezing through the pain, I glanced behind us and saw Adriel and Sorsha careening down the tunnel, the princess’s faelight bobbing erratically.
More ice rained down from the ceiling, blocking my view as white clouded my vision.
I didn’t know how Kaden could see where he was going. There was only an avalanche of white.
We weren’t going to make it.
Eckoghari’s roar shook the tunnel, but I couldn’t tell if his cry was one of pain or victory. I’d successfully trapped the dragon in his own lair, but perhaps he’d realized we were going to die in here with him.
Then I turned my head and was immediately blinded by a brilliant flash of light. Flakes of ice and snow glittered in my vision, clinging to my lashes and partially blinding me.
For an instant, it felt as though I were crashing through a dream into another world. A world of ice and snow and glittering splendor. But then I realized what I was seeing.
A flicker of daylight beamed up ahead, beckoning us out of the tunnel.