Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
T he Noble must have ventured into our cave after darkness fell. All I knew was that when Shava, D, and I curled up into our little nest of blankets that night, he hadn’t been inside with us.
But the moans and cries that woke me halfway through the night definitely came from inside the cave.
The moon shone brightly, giving at least enough illumination to see by as it filtered in through the opening in the cave, and several larger cracks in the walls itself.
“Ssh! Shut it! You’ll wake the boy!” Shava whispered fiercely, towards the sound, but D was already up, clutching onto Shava’s arm like it was a lifetime.
“What is wrong with you?”
I got up and crossed the cave. The noble was curled up into a ball, which didn’t surprise me. The full body tremoring however, did. I prodded the man hard, rolling him over to his back.
“Wake up. It is only a nightmare.”
I pushed him onto his back, and what I saw gave me flashbacks to over a year ago.
It was a nightmare, but not the kind I had imagined.
Blazing yellow eyes rolled back into his head, with gray skin that had flaked off into ashes on the surrounding ground.
His skin had been gray yesterday.
Had that been a sign the change was imminent? Was that the true reason he’d been sent to the dragon, and not money, as he claimed? The implications were monumental: did the queen know her Nobles were cursed and was just killing them off as they showed signs of turning?
This was big. This could be the morsel to be held over her head in order to gain protection for myself, and power!
Assuming I survived, as the snarling demon-creature lunged straight for my face.
Shava screamed and raced toward the cave opening.
Not that I blamed her; I’d have done the same if the demon’s weight wasn’t pinning me to the ground as I strong-armed its face as hard as I could to keep its teeth away from my neck.
The mud boy didn’t cry or even look surprised to see a monster in his cave. He picked up one of the small stones lying around and threw it with perfect accuracy, nailing the demon in the eye.
It dropped me and whirled around, looking for its new target. I rolled and got my feet under me, sure to put distance between me and the creature. Not that it mattered, since it had sensed less feisty prey in D, cornering him and advancing as saliva dripped down its nasty fangs.
Indecision froze me. Did I use the creature’s distraction with D to make an escape like Shava had, or did I fight it off?
Then again, what could I do against a monster?
I certainly had done nothing last time; the Fireguards had killed it!
I was stronger and more resilient now because of my rituals, but was under no delusion I could win a one-on-one fight with a demon. And yet …
A large rock sat on the ground next to me. I picked it up and took a half-step forward. I could easily bash the creature over the head, but what if I killed it?
Thankfully, the choice was taken from me.
Shava burst back into the cave. With a scream like a banshee, she punched the demon in the face, grabbing D and hauling him out of the cave before it could react. I threw the rock at its face, nailing it in the temple.
“Come on!” she yelled at me, not that I needed any more convincing. We burst out of the cave and Shava pushed D and me down to the side, out of the way.
“Now! Do it now!”
Zariah stuck his head in the cave’s opening and let loose a torrent of flames.
Disappointment welled in my gut. You couldn’t exactly study a pile of ashes, after all.
SMACK.
I clutched my face, shocked.
“What the fuck was that?” Shava screeched. One arm hugged D to her side, which he seemed quite content with. The angry little face that glared up at me was deserved. I had been debating whether he’d be demon food or not.
Ignoring her question (because I didn’t have an answer that wasn’t embarrassing) I instead turned to Zariah, who shifted back into his human form. If he thought that would keep us from arguing, he had another thing coming.
“What was that ?” I repeated, but directed at him, waving my arm towards the blackened interior of our cave. “Everything was in there! Blankets, food, and the experiment! ”
Zariah scowled and bared his teeth in an animalistic expression. It didn’t look quite right on a little boy’s face .
“So I should have let him eat you?” he growled back.
I grabbed my hair in frustration. “No, not that. I just … sorry.” It slipped out before I could stop it, so I might as well roll with it. “We learned something after all, so it wasn’t all for nothing.”
Zariah frowned, and Shava hugged D closer to her.
“What did we learn, other than that you’re a coward?” she bit out. “That little boy is more of a man than you . You panicked and froze.”
I hadn’t frozen. I had simply been weighing my options. Ignore it. She’s upset.
“Two things: we learned that the change happens quickly, and with little warning. I noticed his skin was gray yesterday, did you? That is an early warning sign.”
Shava frowned.
“And the other thing?” Zariah asked, curious.
I gave him a serious look. “The queen knows about it, and is sending you Nobles about to turn to clean up the evidence.”
Shava’s jaw dropped, then her face hardened. “That frigid bitch. I knew it.”
She whirled around to Zariah. “And you’re just … doing what she says and killing them?”
Zariah glared and bared his teeth, but it wasn’t nearly as impressive with him out of his dragon form.
“I have to obey her. It’s … hard to explain. It’s a compulsion.”
Interesting. Was it magickal, perhaps?
Shava frowned, not buying it. I had an inkling of what he meant, though.
Similar to my need to continue to do rituals, it wasn’t something that was entirely voluntary.
Growing the latent magick inside my veins was an addiction—something I had no choice over now that I was aware of it. Perhaps it was similar to that .
Shava didn’t look impressed.
“It’s been a long night. Why don’t we get D settled?” I suggested, shifting her attention back to D.
Zariah jumped up. “I will scavenge for more blankets and materials, and we need more water. I’ll be just a moment.”
He shifted into his dragon form and took off into the air, his wings lifting the hairs on our heads as they beat furiously.
“I don’t need anything. I just want to sleep.”
D’s quiet voice was barely audible despite the heavy silence that fell over us. He cuddled into Shava’s side, shaking a bit.
“Might as well get comfy here, and wait until morning to survey the damage,” she sighed.
I nodded, seeing nothing wrong with that. It was a clear night, and the rocks were still warm from the day’s sunlight.
Shava sat against the cave wall, legs bent. Her arm went around D, who already snuggled into her side and resting his head on her breasts.
A kernel of irritation welled in me at that.
“I’m going to inspect the cave.”
Shava waved me away dismissively.
My lip curled, but instead of responding, I let the charred remains of the cave swallow me.
Black. It was just all … black. The moon only shone so far into the cave.
Well, at least I know there’s nothing alive inside.
That was the thought I carried with me as I stepped inside.
Ashes kicked up against my feet, giving me the sensation of something crawling against my ankles.
I ignored it and pushed forward, going until I hit the back wall of the cave and spreading my palms against the rough texture of the stone.
Closing my eyes, I ran my hands along the back wall, using it as a guide to explore the cave.
And nearly toppled head over ass when the rock disappeared under my hands into a giant crevice tucked into the back wall.
Where did it go?
I hesitated to explore a dark crack in an already inky abyss of a cave, alone and with no weapons or fire.
“What did we learn, other than that you’re a coward?”
Shava’s words rang in my ears, and a hot blush burned my ears and down the side of my face. I wasn’t a coward. I’d explore this crack.
Into the abyss I went.
For as monumental of a decision as it felt, it was anticlimactic. The crack was small and narrow, forcing me to bend and contort to fit through. But once I did, I emerged in another chamber of the cave that felt much larger than the first, if the cooler air was anything to go by.
Drip. Drip.
Water?
Be careful. Don’t want to die from water in a desert.
I didn’t know how to swim, exactly, but I’d been in the bathing chambers often enough with their deep pools to know how not to drown.
The further in I went, the lighter it became. Small holes and cracks in the cave ceiling and walls filtered in slashes of moonlight; not a lot, but enough to see the two large hot springs sitting in the darkness, small pockets of air bubbling up from the bottom.
I’d read about hot springs, but never thought I’d see one in person. It seemed too good to be true.
Crouching to the side, I cautiously dipped my fingers into the water.
Warm .
Was it safe to drink?
I couldn’t think of a reason it wouldn’t be.
My books told me that stagnant water was dangerous, but this water wasn’t entirely still.
I heard running water coming from somewhere, so I had to assume it either came from within the mountain itself, or bubbled up from the earth.
I couldn’t see the harm in either of those things.
Coward.
I wasn’t a coward. I’d show her.
Before I could think about what I was doing, I bent down and scooped up a generous amount of the warm water in my hands, and brought it to my face to drink.
Drinking hot water was a new experience, but it tasted good; not dissimilar to hot water at the palace before the tea was added.
I drew back, wondering if I’d just killed myself. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Where the queen, a dragon, and blood magick failed, Zephyr the bastard prince was taken out by water.
The bastard prince.
I rather liked the sound of that.
Waiting a few minutes, it became clear I wasn’t dying or about to die.