Chapter 106
The roar hit like a physical force.
The air itself seemed to shudder as dust rained from the ceiling. The dragon surged to its feet, ancient chains dragging behind it with a deafening screech.
My instincts screamed one very intelligent suggestion: Run.
Unfortunately, the stone door had already closed.
"...I suddenly miss breakfast," I muttered.
The dragon lunged.
"Cassiane, stay behind me!"
Rhaevan's voice cut through the chamber. Before I had even processed the words, he stepped between us, one hand sweeping through the air. Dozens of silver sigils bloomed before him, weaving together into an intricate defensive array.
The dragon's foreleg slammed into it.
The barrier held for exactly half a second before exploding into a shower of light. The impact threw Rhaevan backwards; he landed in a crouch several metres away, one hand skidding across the stone to steady himself.
The dragon roared again. Without hesitation, Rhaevan retaliated. A dozen lances of compressed light erupted from the circles forming around him, streaking through the chamber with frightening speed.
Every one struck.
Every one.
The dragon didn't even flinch. The magic simply dissolved across its scales like rain striking polished stone.
Rhaevan's expression didn't change, but I saw the realization hit him: his magic wasn't working. He didn't waste another spell.
The instant the dragon charged again, he moved sideways. Its claws crashed into the stone where he'd been standing a heartbeat earlier, cracking the entire floor beneath the impact.
Rhaevan never stopped moving. Every step was deliberate, every dodge calculated. He was reading it.
When the dragon swept its tail across the chamber, Rhaevan vaulted over it, using one of the fallen chains as a foothold before landing lightly on another section of the floor.
A jet of white fire-so bright it hurt to look at-burst toward him.
He thrust both hands forward, the air rippling as the flames split around him, carving molten trenches into the stone on either side. Heat washed across my face.
"...Okay," I stared at the enormous creature. "...that's officially the largest thing I've ever seen."
The dragon turned again. Its movements were powerful and relentless, yet something felt wrong.
It never chased Rhaevan beyond a certain point. Every attack ended with the chains snapping taut, the enormous creature jerking violently backwards-almost pulled by an invisible force-before lunging again.
Rhaevan noticed it too. I could tell by the brief flick of his eyes toward the chains before his attention returned to the dragon. He was thinking. Of course he was.
The dragon lunged again. This time, Rhaevan didn't evade immediately. He waited one heartbeat, two. At the very last instant, he pivoted aside, carrying the dragon forward on its own momentum.
The chains wrapped around a towering stone pillar and tightened. The dragon roared in fury as it tried to pull free; the pillar groaned and stone cracked.
Rhaevan watched, studied, and measured. Then, the dragon wrenched its body sideways, shattering the pillar into chunks of black stone that crashed across the chamber as the chains tore free once more.
For a brief moment, their eyes met. Not man and beast, but warrior and warrior, each trying to understand the other.
Rhaevan's breathing remained steady, though his robes were torn and a thin line of blood traced its way down one forearm where flying debris had caught him. The dragon roared and charged again.
This time, Rhaevan smiled. He'd learned something. I had no idea what, but whatever it was, he was about to use it.
He drew the dragon away, weaving across the chamber, around broken pillars, and over the scattered chains littering the stone floor. The dragon followed with terrifying speed, every thunderous footstep shaking the mountain beneath us. My eyes darted between them, trying to keep up.
Rhaevan wasn't winning. He wasn't even trying to. He was buying time.
"...Come on..." I whispered.
Another blast of white fire erupted through the chamber.
Rhaevan rolled beneath it, the flames scorching the stone above his head before exploding against the far wall.
The dragon twisted with surprising agility for something so enormous, its claws slashing downward.
Rhaevan narrowly escaped, one foot pushing off a fallen pillar as he vaulted clear and landed lightly.
The dragon lunged, and again, it stopped-not by choice. Its neck jerked violently backwards as the chains tightened.
I watched the dragon. The creature roared, but this time, it wasn't with rage. It was with pain.
I frowned. Pain? Where did that thought come from?
Look closer.......
Huh?!
I watched more closely as the chains scraped against its scales.
Wait.
My eyes followed the ancient metal. The chains hadn't merely been wrapped around the dragon.
They had sunk into it. Over ages-God knew how long-the scales had grown around the iron, trapping the ancient restraints beneath layers of living flesh.
Every violent movement drove the chains deeper. Every struggle hurt it.
My heartbeat quickened. I looked at the dragon again. Its eyes weren't focused on Rhaevan. Not really. They were... disoriented.
I blinked. Something covered them-a thin layer of dark yellow crystal stretched across both eyes, as though something had fused them shut long ago.
My breath caught. The dragon wasn't seeing him. It wasn't even seeing us. It was striking blindly, guided only by instinct, as if it had been sealed inside this chamber by something it could neither understand nor escape.
My gaze travelled across the chamber. The creature never crossed a particular line. Every charge ended at almost exactly the same place before the chains dragged it back.
It was trapped here.
The realization struck me so suddenly that I forgot the battle raging only metres away.
"...Rhaevan!"
He didn't look at me. He couldn't afford to. "What is it?"
"I have a plan. Can you keep it occupied?"
"What do you think I'm doing?" The dragon's claws swept toward him. Rhaevan ducked beneath them.
"I mean-" He rolled aside as the claws smashed into the floor. "Can you hold it still for a little while?"
Another swipe forced him backwards. "Really, Cassiane?" he shouted, dodging again.
"Just-just trust me this one time!"
That made him look, only for a fraction of a second-long enough for our eyes to meet. I nodded towards him. The creature roared again, shaking the chamber.
Rhaevan glanced at it. Then at the chains. The crystal sealing its eyes. The invisible boundary it could never cross.
"What do you need?" he called.
I looked at the dragon, at the chains, and then at the compass glowing brilliantly in my hand. "I don't know," I admitted.
His expression tightened.
"But I think..." I swallowed. "I need to get close."
For the first time since the battle had begun, Rhaevan hesitated-not because he doubted me, but because he knew exactly how dangerous that was.
The dragon charged again. He made his decision.
"Thirty seconds."
Before I could ask what he meant, he sprinted straight toward the dragon.
Silver circles flared beneath his feet as he accelerated, drawing the dragon's attention completely onto himself.
At the very last instant, he twisted aside, seized one of the immense chains with both hands, and poured magic into the ancient links-not to destroy them, but to move them.
The dragon's own momentum did the rest. The chain whipped around a towering pillar. Then another. Then another. Each furious struggle only wrapped the ancient restraints tighter around the beast.
The dragon thrashed violently, the entire mountain shaking with its fury. But for a few precious moments... it could no longer advance.
Rhaevan looked at me across the chamber. His breathing was heavier now, and blood ran freely down one sleeve. Still, he gave a single nod.
Go.
I tightened my grip on the satchel.
Then... I ran toward the dragon.