Chapter 9 Caves & Chemistry
Chapter nine
Caves & Chemistry
Mei
“Where exactly is this cave supposed to be?” I grumbled, stumbling over yet another root.
Though we had started our hunt in the early morning, the sun was now high in the sky, and even the shaded forest floor had warmed up.
Fortunately, Nalini had agreed to cover my morning shift today. “We’ve been looking for ages!”
“It would have been nice if the vampire had been a little more specific.” Yuri had insisted on wearing his pristine vest and jacket, but even he was starting to perspire.
“This would be so much easier if we could find it from the air.” I wiped my brow.
“We’d never spot it, not through all this thick foliage.” He glared at the colorful red and gold leaves around us that clung stubbornly to their branches, as if they had hung on with the sole purpose of inhibiting our search.
“Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way—we need to think like Glacius would have. Where would an ice dragon make his den?” I paused, bracing one hand against a tree.
“For starters, he would have wanted to put a fair amount of distance between himself and the vampire colony.” Yuri folded his arms over his chest, the motion pulling the fabric taut around his biceps.
“I’m guessing he would have headed due north or maybe west, right?” I tugged my gaze away from his arms and instead turned in that direction.
“Undoubtedly.” Yuri walked up beside me. “Are there any cliffs or swatches of barren hillside in this forest?”
I had to think about it for a moment. “There are a couple of places I know of that fit that description—I’ve seen them from the air. But I don’t remember seeing any caves.”
“Then let’s fly there—give our legs a break.” At my nod, Yuri unfurled his alabaster wings, crouched and launched above the treetops. He circled, waiting for me to join him.
I stretched out my ruby wings and joined him in the sky. The brisk breeze in my face was a welcome relief, and when Yuri’s wingtip brushed mine, a pleasant chill skittered over my skin. After taking a moment to get my bearings, I gestured to Yuri and began flying northwest.
After only a few minutes, I spotted a barren little hill, on which no trees or flowers grew.
It was decently steep, and although it could have provided an easy landing site for a dragon, I had never touched down there.
Something about the place unsettled me, and the pervasive sense of wrongness it emanated made my skin crawl.
Yuri studied it closely, but shook his head. “Something sinister happened here. No dragon would make a den in a place like this.”
“Let’s try the other one, then.” I was happy to turn tail and soar in the opposite direction of that mound, and felt relieved when its wrongness faded behind me.
The briny scent of the sea soon teased my nose, and the cliffs that bordered the beach soon came into view.
The waves glittered a deep sapphire blue, and it was hard to imagine that a kraken had once claimed this hidden bay as its territory.
Though I had never been beneath the waves myself, I knew a pod of mermaids and selkies lived there now.
“This looks promising,” Yuri called over the wind.
“To you, maybe.” I shivered as the breeze picked up. “A fire drake wouldn’t last a week this close to the water.”
“Good point. But I bet the vampires wouldn’t have come here either—no cover from direct sunlight, except at night.
And their smaller wings would have struggled in the nighttime wind that rolls off the ocean.
” Yuri dipped low on the other side of the cliff, flying close enough to the rocks that I started to worry a sudden gust might smash him against them.
“Be careful!” I called, hovering in place a safe distance back.
His slitted eyes dilated. “These winds are nothing compared to what I’m used to.”
Yuri returned to scouring the cliffs that made up the crescent moon-shaped bay, but even with my superior dragon sight, I didn’t see anything large enough to house a dragon.
“I think I found something!” Yuri cried excitedly.
He landed on a sand dune at the base of the cliff about a third of the way down the beach. Sunlight bounced off bits of sea glass that were scattered in the sand, but I ignored their alluring shine as I carefully landed beside him and tucked in my wings.
But the sand beneath my foot gave way, and I lurched forward. Yuri lunged to catch me, and for the second time, I found myself in his arms. My breath caught at his nearness, and my gaze fluttered between his eyes and his lips.
He chuckled, the low sound rumbling in his chest. “I’m getting a bit of déjà vu here.”
I flushed scarlet. “Thank you for catching me…again.”
“Anytime.” His lips curved up in a smile before he seemed to remember himself, and his cool expression slid back into place.
He helped me to my feet, and I finally noticed what he had.
The part of the cliff face directly in front us was a slightly different color than the rest of it.
Not only that, but the air in front of it seemed to shimmer, as if the sand beneath it were burning hot.
It was definitely warm, but far from hot enough to cause that sort of effect.
Yuri stepped forward and reached one scale-covered hand towards the cliff face…and went right through it. My jaw dropped at the sight of Yuri standing with half his arm submerged in solid rock.
“It’s a mirage, a glamour. There must be a sea cave here where Glacius stayed while he competed with the vampires,” Yuri explained.
I furrowed my brow. “Ice dragons can use illusion magic?”
“No. I have a feeling Glacius had acquired a grand warlock-made scroll, which allowed the holder to cast a certain number of glamours. He must have felt fairly threatened if he used one here.” Yuri stepped back out of the mirage, and then walked straight through the cliff face. “Come on, Mei!”
I hesitated, my fingers hovering just shy of the magic-laden air. I didn’t like the idea of walking into the den of an ice dragon, whether he was heroic or not. “What if Glacius left traps for intruders? For non-ice dragon intruders?”
“I doubt it. Should I be calling you a chicken instead of a dragon?” Yuri’s voice echoed, as if he really were standing inside a cave.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Never one to back down from a challenge, I took a deep breath and stepped inside.
My eyes quickly adjusted to the dim interior, which was indeed a large, dragon-sized sea cave. It appeared to extend a fair distance back into the cliff, and towards the far wall I could see a giant nest of sticks and sand. I even spotted a glint or two of silver from its depths.
“See? That wasn’t so hard.” Yuri propped a hand on his hip.
No sooner had the words left his lips, than a sharp twang filled the air, and before I had time to react, I was pelted with projectiles.
Yuri blanched, scales covering his skin as he threw himself in front of me protectively. A few more bounced off his tough scales before the attacks fizzled out. When they did, he turned to me with panicky, slitted eyes.
He grabbed my face in his hands and demanded, “Mei, are you hurt anywhere?”
I was momentarily taken aback by the intensity of his reaction, which he took to mean I was mortally wounded. Without preamble, he tore off my top to reveal…a torso covered in ruby scales.
“Yuri!” I shrieked, coming back to my senses and covering myself. “What are you doing?!”
“You’re not…hurt?” he asked dumbly, his eyes riveted to mine even as his cheeks colored.
“I am perfectly fine. You told me to always keep my armor on, remember?!” I gentled my tone at the look on his face.
Yuri stared at me for a long moment, before he threw back his head and laughed. It was a rusty sort of sound, as if it had been ages since it had last been startled out of him. I watched him, agape.
Once the laughter became low chuckles, Yuri removed his outer blazer and draped it around me. “I’m glad you remembered.”
“That makes two of us.” I drew the fabric closer, surprised by the warmth it contained.
He sobered, apologetic eyes meeting mine. “And I’m sorry for not taking your concern seriously. I should have.”
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not,” he growled, running a hand through his hair. He began to pace, three steps right and three steps left. “I, of all people, should have known better.”
“What if you hadn’t—” The temperature around him dropped, snowflakes forming on his eyelashes and drifting down to the sand. His movements became more agitated, sharper and more precise, with every pass.
His breathing sounded rough, and I could hear his heartbeat picking up.
Was he having a panic attack?
Was that how he had recognized it in me? Why he had been so quick to act?
If that was the case, then hopefully, I could distract him the same way he had distracted me.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed his face and kissed him. His slitted eyes went wide, before his pupils dilated so far they nearly eclipsed his blue irises. He closed them and wrapped his arms around me, melting into my touch.
Everything else faded into the background, as his lips on mine became the focal point of my world. And based on the way he pulled me close, I was hopeful it was the same for him, too.
He swept his lips against mine, seeking entry. I granted it, and nearly gasped as our magics collided. Frost shivered along my scales and steam flushed his almost pink.
When we finally broke apart, he pressed his forehead to mine. Our breaths mingled in the space between us, mixing magic I never thought could be mixed.
“Feeling better?” I asked, mimicking what he had once said to me.
He smiled. “Much better.”
I wanted to stay like this, and pretend the Feast, the diner, and all of my problems didn’t exist.
But ignoring my problems or running away from them would only transform a problematic snake into a raging dragon.
“Did you find any traces of Glacius before I triggered the trap?” I asked reluctantly.
“Not yet.” Though Yuri moved back a step, he laced his fingers through mine.
“Maybe I should wait outside the cave while you search, just in case that wasn’t the only trap.” I kicked at a few of the wooden bolts—or stakes—at my feet. Had I been a vampire, getting one of these straight to the heart would have done me in.
He scowled. “What if I covered you in a thin layer of my frost magic? Then any remaining traps would perceive you as an ice dragon.”
I hesitated. Too much magic of an opposing element could harm the fiery core of my magic. Did I trust Yuri to only use a little, and to promptly remove it after we left? As I gazed into his solemn eyes, I knew my answer.
“Only if it’s extra thin,” I agreed.
He brought my hand to his lips. Frost magic whispered over my skin from the point of contact, rapidly expanding until it covered me completely. I shivered. Was this what it felt like to be cold? To my utter surprise, I found I didn’t entirely hate the sensation.
“There, that should do it.” Yuri lowered my hand, but kept a gentle grip on it. “Now, shall we explore a little?”
I nodded, and Yuri led the way deeper into the cave. I doubted he needed to hold my hand to keep the layer of frost active, but I was happy when he didn’t let go.
The cave itself smelled strongly of the briny sea, and the soft sand beneath our feet soon gave way to pebbles. Sea glass glinted in the gaps. Perhaps that was what had attracted Glacius’ interest in the first place.
We approached the large nest that sat at the back of the cave, since neither of us spotted anything out of the ordinary near the entrance or along the walls—other than the traps, of course. More crossbows lined them at varying heights, all loaded with wooden stakes.
“See anything?” I asked after we had clambered up into the nest. All I saw were a tangled bunch of branches, their leaves long gone, and a few silver platters and goblets that the vampires had probably given up looking for long ago.
Yuri shook his head, his disappointment clear in the slump of his shoulders. “Nothing that could prove it was Glacius who was here, and not any other dragon of the last millenia.”
“Can you put up an ice wall around the nest? A thick one?” I glanced at Yuri.
He looked confused, but he did as I asked. Once it was in place, I concentrated, and summoned a small flame in the center of the nest. Immediately, I heard a series of cracks as a barrage of stakes came flying at us, but Yuri’s wall held.
Now that we had more light, we could see what the shadows had hidden even from our dragonsight.
“Could this be…?” Yuri breathed, crouching to pick up a pearlescent, teardrop-shaped scale that was wedged in between two big branches.
“Is that one of his scales?” It had the same color and sheen that Yuri’s did.
I squinted at the area where he had found it, and noticed a handful of other scales.
Some were as wide as my hand, while others were as small as a thumbnail.
A trace of frosty magic clung to them, like a magical finger print unique to the owner.
“I think so.” A smile slowly brightened his face. “Do you know what this means?”
“Tell me.”
“I can finally, beyond a shadow of a doubt, prove that Glacius stopped here during his journey. I can prove to my fleet that I was right all along!”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who wanted to make my parents proud.