Chapter 4
Lightning flashes, and seconds later thunder cracks in the distance, a low rumble promising a rain that hasn’t reached us yet. The island rises on the horizon: our destination.
A pang twists my stomach as a dragon with blue and green scales circles its rocky hill, flapping its wings calmly, looking like a bird from this far out. A long way to swim.
I take a ragged breath, asking Vigorlu to give me strength.
Another flash, another distant crack of thunder. I force myself to breathe.
“Ready?” Alayel asks as he tightens a rope around my waist. That way, we’ll be together, and he can pull me if needed, which I’m hoping won’t happen.
I nod. My throat is so closed I’m not sure if I can make any sound.
He then turns to the smugglers. “Tomorrow.”
Felien raises a corner of his lips. “We’ll be here.”
The canteen holding my contract is latched to my belt. Alayel’s bag is bound tight against his body, carrying fresh water, bread, the dragoncurse bottle, and a net for the eggs. Everything in it will be soaked through, except the bread, which is sealed in waxed leather.
The rain still holds off, even as thunder rumbles again and thick, gray clouds smother the sky. The green dragon still flies around the hill, and my entire body feels rigid and odd.
And then Alayel’s descending a side ladder toward the turbulent ocean. I follow, my hands slick on the rungs as a wave crashes against the boat, spraying me with cold mist.
How did I ever convince myself this would be safer than prison? Did the cell’s stench get to my brain? Or did I just want to follow the good-looking recruit or instructor or who knows what? There’s no time for an answer; the water is waiting.
When I jump in the never-ending waves, saltwater covers my body and weighs down my shirt, and even though the air is warm, my skin prickles with cold. The rope around my waist tugs me forward, and there’s no choice but to swim and hope that we’ll reach the island while it’s still raining.
I’ve swum before on the Outer Beach, past the savage waves kissing the sand, to find the calm up and down of the ocean, but I never had to get anywhere fast. I kick and paddle, a frantic churning against the steady tug of the rope, but Alayel’s speed is far greater than mine.
He’s bigger, stronger, and I suppose better trained than me, so it makes sense.
At least I can swim, and he didn’t even check that before bringing me.
Rain finally reaches us, but not in thick, fat drops—just a thin drizzle. The dragon is still circling the island. Coldness sets in my stomach, as I fear it’s going to find us and torch us.
The rope tugs me and I swim, careful to keep my feet low under the water. On my right, the boat is already gaining distance from us. More thunder cracks, and slowly, the rain thickens.
I no longer see the dragon, but I no longer see anything under the barrage of water falling on us. Even though I’m swimming as fast as I can, the rope is what’s pulling me, Alayel doing the work for both of us.
A loud thunderclap booms, and I hope no lightning will fall near us. I also hope the thunderstorm lasts long enough to provide us cover. As the rain thins, my heart makes a racket in my chest—but we’re close, and the thunder hasn’t stopped.
Alayel swims faster than before, until angry waves push us to a small beach on the little island. The sand is rough and hard, and the rain covers our tracks. Except that the rain’s thinning too fast, and if we don’t find a place to hide, we’ll be dragon barbecue.
My gaze darts along the base of the rocky hill, searching for any kind of cover.
Alayel points up. “There.”
A dark slash in the rock, barely visible twenty feet up the cliff face. He climbs first, finding holds in the wet stone, and then reaches out a hand to haul me up. The cave is a tiny fissure, the entrance barely enough for a person to go through while crouched.
Perfect. No dragon could follow us. Inside, jagged walls press in, forcing us to sit with our legs tucked in, occupying all the space within. This is going to be a long, uncomfortable night.
But we’re here. Right as we settle in, the rain softens outside, and even the thunder stops. The ocean’s roar against the island is the only sound around us. It’s so loud that it could muffle our voices, but we agreed to remain silent, just in case. Still, I feel as if my heart’s shouting.
And now we wait.
Silence is an uncomfortable blanket, prickly and wrapped too tight. My body hurts after sitting for a couple of hours, my back against the cave rock. I just hope my legs will still work when it’s time to get the eggs.
Night falls outside, and when the sunlight coming from the opening is almost completely faded, Alayel opens the bag and gives me some bread.
Something must have gone wrong, since it’s soggy with seawater.
It’s still food, I guess, and considering how many years I spent eating gallonfish stew, I shouldn’t complain.
Darkness wraps us. Despite the ocean roar, I hear wings flapping outside—thankfully, at a distance. A scent drifts in, reminiscent of Auranius but fresher, wilder.
More dragons. Surveilling the island.
We could face a whole horde of them tomorrow. I press myself against the rock, hoping the ocean salt is enough to scour our scent from the air.
Alayel is silent beside me. There’s an odd intimacy in spending so much time close to someone, amplified by the silence, since words can’t create a veneer of cordiality. It’s just us.
As the night breeze reaches us, my body trembles with the cold, even though my clothes have been dry for a long time.
An arm around me brings comfort, and Alayel tugs me in closer. I lean on him, my head between his chest and the crook of his neck, his scent a relaxing, inebriating essence surrounding me.
From here, I can even hear his heart, and I mentally tell mine not to dwell on his arm around me. I wish it didn’t feel good, wish it didn’t make me want to be held like that for real. But I don’t even want that.
I don’t want to place my life and happiness in someone else’s hands, fall into despair when he rejects me, smile when he loves me.
I don’t want to be so weak that my joy depends on a man’s whim.
But there’s nothing to fear, as I doubt Alayel will hold me again like this once we get back. If we get back.
For now, I can enjoy not being cold and not leaning on the rough rock. It doesn’t need to mean anything. And despite my worry for tomorrow and my fear that more dragons might ambush us, his soothing touch manages to lull me into an erratic slumber.
I wake up still in his arms, as faint sunlight peers into the cave.
When I look up at his face, I meet his dark eyes, watching me, as if he cared, as if…
My heart stumbles, and all I can do is move away from him and look outside, as if I could spot anything from our small opening.
Alayel then pulls his bag, from where he takes more soggy bread and the water canteen.
I don’t know if I’ll ever complain about gallonfish stew again.
As the hours pass, my thoughts drift. I see my brother’s face, pinched with worry over the note I left.
The image dissolves into my mother’s hands as she crochets a headband for me by a rain-streaked window.
Then I see Marcus, walking away. Odd, disjunct memories crossing my empty mind. A void drawing my anguish.
A hand touches my shoulder, and I look at Alayel, staring at me as if checking if I’m all right.
I nod, and he smiles, his eyes bright. For a second, it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time again, wondering what it would be like to feel his skin against mine.
I look away, hoping I wasn’t staring at him as if he was a juicy shrimp.
I wouldn’t mind some shrimp. Some food, in fact.
I turn my thoughts to Vigorlu and again ask him to give me strength.
I want to rely on myself, on my abilities.
Opulencia, as the goddess of riches, isn’t too helpful for this mission.
Cardiana is for love. Her festival is quite popular, but she’s not who I need right now.
Foros is too unreliable, so I don’t pray for him.
And then there’s Thantos, the god of the endless cycle of birth and death. I hope I don’t meet him today.
Time crawls like a snail, but eventually, the first crack of thunder echoes in the sky.
And I make a decision.
“I’ll go alone,” I whisper as quietly as I can.
Alayel frowns, seemingly confused, and I continue, “You smell. Not bad, but your scent is stronger. Signal to the boat, and I’ll get the eggs and come down. Trust me.”
His chest moves up and down as he stares at me, calculating, thinking, but then he nods and passes me his bag with the net and the dragoncurse bottle. My heart beats wildly as I take it and wrap the strap tightly around my body.
Another thunderclap roars in the distance, like an ominous bell announcing that the time is near. The time for me to risk my life. Alone. But it’s my choice, and it’s safer. The storm will provide me with cover.
I barely have time to adjust to this new plan, to breathe and get mentally prepared, when heavy rain falls outside. The time is now, and I can’t waste another second.
“May Foros bless you,” Alayel mouths.
I nod, then climb out of the opening and jump onto the sand. My body is stiff from nerves and from hours of stillness. I can’t even see the top of the hill, with so much water falling all at once. And I’ll need to figure out where the nest is.
My bare feet search for purchase on the slick rock as I find a path up, hoping the cave with the eggs will be somewhere I can reach.
The rain hitting the ocean and rocks is so loud that I can barely hear the thunder, even as lightning cracks the sky.
At least there’s a trail going up, thin and slippery, but wide enough for me.