Chapter 110
A shadow swept across the cliff. Something enormous passed overhead, and a gust of wind slammed into us hard enough to nearly wrench us apart.
I looked up.
Two golden eyes stared down at us.
The dragon.
For one glorious second, I felt nothing but relief.
Then it spoke.
"I leave you alone for what..." It tilted its head. "...a few moments?"
Its gaze moved from me to Rhaevan, then to the collapsing mountain behind us.
"...And this is what you do?"
"Shut up, you moron! Get us out of here!" I screamed.
The dragon sighed. "You are terrible, foul-mouthed explorers."
"WOULD YOU HELP?!"
"Hah..." It sighed again. "All right, all right..."
One enormous claw reached down.
Rhaevan shifted his grip on me, preparing to release the cliff. "Cassiane, hold tight!"
The dragon caught us both.
The sensation was considerably less graceful than I would have preferred. One moment, I was falling; the next, I was dangling several metres above the ground inside a massive claw, pressed against Rhaevan as the dragon pulled us upward.
I shut my eyes.
"Please tell me we're going up."
"We are."
"Good." I paused. "Because going down would be extremely inconvenient right now."
A quiet laugh escaped Rhaevan.
I opened one eye. "Did you just laugh? Like, right now?"
"No."
"Are you insane? You idiot!"
"Why are you getting angry at me?"
The dragon looked down at us. "Do you two intend to continue this conversation while dangling from my claw?"
"...No."
"Good."
It carried us upward. The mountain continued to groan behind us, chunks of rock tumbling into the depths below and sending thick plumes of dust through the air.
The dragon beat its wings once, the force nearly knocking the breath out of me, before depositing us carefully onto a broad stretch of rock near the upper slope.
My knees immediately gave out, and I sat down hard.
For several seconds, I simply stared at the ground and breathed.
Alive.
I was alive.
I looked at the dragon. Then at the mountain. Then at Rhaevan. Then back at the dragon.
"You pathetic, scaly beast!"
The dragon blinked.
"You left us in a collapsing mountain!"
"You knew the ruins would collapse once the fragment was displaced!"
"I might have... suspected."
I stared at it in disbelief. "You are the worst guardian I've ever met."
"I have been awake for approximately ten minutes after maybe a millennium. I needed a break."
"That isn't an excuse."
"It is an excellent excuse."
Rhaevan, meanwhile, had slowly pushed himself to his feet and rushed toward me. He crouched in front of me, his expression tight.
"Cassiane. Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine."
"Your shoulder?"
"Fine."
"Your head?"
"Still attached."
He gave me a look. "I'm serious."
"So am I."
He carefully checked my arms and shoulders, his expression tightening whenever he found even the smallest scrape.
"I'm fine, Rhaevan."
Finally satisfied that I wasn't seriously injured, he slumped down beside me. I looked at him, and my gaze dropped to his arm.
Blood was running down it.
"You're bleeding."
He looked down. "It's nothing."
"That's what injured people say before doing something incredibly stupid."
"It's a scratch."
"You're still bleeding."
I pulled my kerchief from my satchel. Rhaevan started to protest, but I ignored him.
"Hold still."
I wrapped the cloth firmly around his arm. He watched me quietly.
"There." I tied the knot. "Try not to bleed on the random artifacts next time."
A deep, amused rumble came from behind us.
"Awww."
We both froze.
I slowly turned.
The dragon was watching us with unmistakable amusement.
"Young love."
My face immediately heated.
"What?"
The dragon's golden eyes gleamed. "Nothing."
"You abandoned us to die! You have no right to open your mouth!"
"I told you to try not to get yourselves killed."
"Shut up, you fire-spitting fly! You could have stayed!"
"I had been imprisoned for centuries." It stretched one enormous wing. "I wanted some air."
I stared at it.
"You left us hanging off a cliff so you could have some AIR?"
"I returned, didn't I?"
"After we nearly died!"
The dragon gave me a perfectly calm look. "Calm down. You're alive, aren't you? And yet here you are, complaining instead of thanking me. Humans are exhausting."
I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again.
Rhaevan looked away, his shoulders shaking.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Are you laughing?"
"No."
"RHAEVAN!"
"I assure you-"
"He is," the dragon interrupted.
Rhaevan finally gave up and laughed.
I pointed accusingly at both of them. "I hate this expedition. And I hate both of you!"
My frustration finally boiled over. I grabbed my hair and screamed at the sky.
"Aaarrrgh! Stupid mountain! I HATE MOUNTAINS!"
The dragon looked at Rhaevan, then leaned slightly closer.
"You've got yourself a weird one. You may want to reconsider."
"I heard that!"
The dragon immediately straightened.
"And no, we are not a thing!" I shouted.
Rhaevan's laughter only intensified.
The mountain rumbled ominously behind us, and I slowly turned back toward it.
"Can we at least leave before the rest of it falls on us?"
The dragon glanced toward the collapsing entrance, considering it.
"Hm. That would probably be wise."
I stared at it.
"Probably?"
The dragon smiled.
"Come along, terrible explorers."
With that, it lowered one enormous wing toward us.
We didn't argue.
The dragon carried us far from the mountains before finally descending. Below us, the landscape shifted from black volcanic rock to a dense forest, tall trees stretching across the valley with canopies thick enough to hide the ground beneath them.
The dragon circled once before landing in a wide clearing surrounded by trees, then lowered its wings.
I slid carefully to the ground, but the moment my feet touched down, my legs wobbled beneath me. I staggered and ended up dropping onto my ass.
Rhaevan landed beside me, steady as ever.
I glared at him.
He looked at me, confused. "What?"
"Stop showing off!"
"I didn't do-"
I shot him another look.
He looked down at me, completely clueless as to why I was angry, then sighed.
"Sorry."
The dragon folded its enormous wings and looked around.
"Good. No one appears to be here."
It turned its head toward us.
"Now. Show me the map."
My hand immediately went to my satchel.
"No." I tightened my grip around the strap. "You've already tested me, nearly roasted me, abandoned us inside a collapsing mountain, and then dropped us into a forest."
"I rescued you."
"After abandoning us."
"That is a surprisingly persistent complaint."
"I'm holding onto it."
The dragon rolled its eyes.
"I am not interested in your map."
I stared at it suspiciously.
"Then why do you want it?"
"Do you want the second clue or not?"
I paused.
"...I do."
"Then show me the map."
I hesitated. The dragon sighed dramatically.
Very slowly, I pulled the living map from my satchel and unfolded it across a flat rock in the clearing. The parchment shimmered faintly beneath the daylight.
The dragon leaned closer.
"Place the compass upon it."
I looked at Rhaevan.
He nodded.
I removed the compass from my satchel and carefully placed it at the centre of the parchment.
The moment it touched the surface, silver light spread across the parchment. The mountains we had just left appeared in greater detail before the lines shifted, revealing a brand-new section of the map.
The dragon watched without speaking, its expression turning strangely serious.
Ancient words began appearing across the parchment, and the dragon lowered its voice as it recited them:
"When the first flame is reclaimed,
seek not the heights where fire once ruled.
Turn from the mountains and follow the path
where silence drinks the sky.
Look not to rivers that rush,
nor seas that rage,
but to waters that keep what heaven leaves behind.
Where roots drink from the drowned earth,
and moonlight rests upon unbroken glass,
where stars seem to sleep beneath the surface-
there waits the second fragment.
Let only the steadfast proceed."
The final words settled into the parchment as the map changed once more.
The mountains faded behind us, replaced by a dense forest. Deeper within it lay a vast body of water whose surface was almost perfectly still.
I stared at it.
"Could you perhaps make ancient clues slightly more convenient?"
"No," the dragon said.
"Why?"
"Because then they would not be ancient clues."
I sighed.
Rhaevan was already studying the newly revealed section of the map.
The dragon turned away, stretching one wing.
"Well. I suppose I should be going."
I looked up.
"Already?"
"I have approximately a millennium of catching up to do."
It spread its wings.
"Summon me when you need me, and I shall answer when the time is right."
I frowned.
"What does that mean? And how will I call you?"
The dragon looked down at me.
"You will know in due time. And I shall answer to Pyrethrus, the Ancient Guardian of Ardentia."
"I'm Cassiane. And do you have something shorter? Like... a pet name?"
The dragon slowly turned its head.
"A pet name?"
"Something easier to remember." I pretended to think. "Like... Toasty."
Silence.
Rhaevan immediately looked away.
The dragon stared at me with an expression of profound offense.
"Toasty?"
I nodded.
"Very memorable."
The dragon's voice dropped into a dangerous growl.
"I am Pyrethrus. And I shall answer only to Pyrethrus. Do not dare to call me by that filthy pet name you have just invented."
I raised both hands innocently.
"Of course."
The dragon continued staring at me. It narrowed its eyes, then-apparently deciding I was beyond saving-spread its wings.
A powerful gust swept through the clearing, sending leaves spiralling into the air. The dragon rose from the ground, circling once above us before disappearing between the clouds.
I watched until the dragon disappeared from sight, then crossed my arms and raised my chin.
"That is one arrogant dragon. I don't like him, and I absolutely will not call him. Dumbhead!"
Rhaevan chuckled as he secured the map and compass inside the satchel.
"Stop laughing!" I snapped, stamping my foot before turning and marching ahead.
"As you wish, my lady," he said, still smiling as he caught up with me.
I shot him an irritated look, but he only looked more amused.
One fragment down.
Two more to go.