Dragon Magic, page 23
part #4 of Ever Witch Series
I had to escape, break out of here, somehow. My arm and back stung suddenly, as if reminding me what happened the last time I tried to make a run for it. Burned. I’d been burned. I peeked through my long locks of dirty, black hair, glaring at the dragon who did it. Traitor. They were all traitors and bastards. We were supposed to be living in peace, and instead, we’d been dragged to this cursed place. I knew what they were doing, knew what the screams meant, but what could I do? I shut my eyes and blocked it all out, the chanting, the blood, the death. I stayed as small and quiet as I could in my cage. Waiting.
I shut my eyes, and though sleep didn’t happen, it didn’t matter. He didn’t come to me when I slept. He came to me when I was in my direst moments. The kind face I’d seen for I didn’t even know how long. Those yellow-green eyes reminded me of happier days in the grass under a bright sun.
The sun was nothing more than a memory now and grass, I never expected to feel it again beneath my feet. I waited patiently, knowing he’d come. He always did, eventually. I hadn’t seen him since the last time I tried to break free. I giggled to myself a bit madly, then clapped a hand over my mouth. He was probably nothing more than a hallucination, considering no one else ever saw him, but if it kept me from completely losing my mind, I didn’t care. I’d lost everything else.
A gentle hand rested on my shoulder, and I smiled, knowing that touch. “Mason.” I lifted my head enough to see a black-haired guy sitting beside me in my cage. He wore all black like always, his eyes vibrant, and his smile kind.
“Emry,” he whispered, then his brow furrowed. “Your arm, what happened?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Those are burns.” He glanced around then stood, pacing around my cage, though we both knew the bars didn’t hold him here like they did me. “Who did it?”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re here. That’s what matters.” I reached for his hand, and he sat back down beside me. I buried my face in his shoulder.He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “How do you feel so real?”
“I am real.”
“No, you’re not. You’re just a figment of my messed-up head.”
He ran his fingers through my hair then tilted my head up so he could look into my eyes. “I’m real, Emry, you just have to get to me.”
“How? I can’t escape. I’m going to be stuck here forever.”
His brow furrowed more, and I reached up to smooth out the lines with another crazed sounding laugh.
“I’ll get you out.”
“You can’t because you’re not real.”
“But I am.”
A guard approached my cage, and he tried to block me from view, but it was no use because despite what he told me all the time, he wasn’t here. He couldn’t be.
“Let’s go,” the guard snapped as he unlocked the cage.
Mason shimmered out of view as I screamed. The dragon reached in and grabbed hold of my wrist. I fought, trying to scratch his eyes out. He grabbed a handful of my hair instead and dragged me out of my cage, shrieking like a banshee. If only I could shift, I would tear him apart, but I hadn’t been able to since I was brought here, and they slapped that damned cuff on my wrist.
The guard hauled me to my feet and shoved me in front of him. Warren waited for us in another massive rectangular room in this maze of a fortress. I flinched at the sight of his hate-filled gaze and the sneer he gave me as he came closer.
“It’s a shame about those burns,” he mused as the guard finally released me.
Legs too weak to hold me up, I sank to my knees.
“You did it to yourself you know.”
I spat at his feet, and he raised his hand. I braced for the hit, but it never came.
“If you would simply come to accept the truth, this wouldn’t be so devastating for you every day,” he went on. “Honestly, you should be thrilled at the future that awaits you.”
“Why? I don’t want another war. No one does.”
“Our leader was destroyed. It’s time we get revenge. You, of all the Black Diamonds, should want it the most. It sickens me that you don’t.”
“He was nothing but a murderous bastard,” I snapped. “I don’t want him returned.”
Warren rubbed his forehead, and a door behind him opened. Men in crimson robes walked in carrying torches. They were already chanting, a low hum of sound that beat at my eardrums. As the light spread around the room, the circle carved into the stone beneath me came into view. Warren laughed quietly when I started to panic and tried to run. The priests all held up their right hand in unison and I was thrown back to the center.
“Where do you think you’re going, huh? It’s time, Emry. He needs you.” He stalked closer, crouching in front of me as he whispered, “Your father needs you.”
I tried to move away, but he snatched my left wrist where the cuff was. As I continued to fight to get away, too weak to do much, he withdrew a dagger from his hip. “No, get away from me, get away,” I screamed. The chanting grew louder, and my screams were silenced. I gagged and sputtered, but no sound escaped.
Out of the corner of my eye, I was sure I saw someone moving around the priests, but I never had the chance to look. Warren brought the dagger down on my arm, as he cut the cuff away, the point dug into my skin. My mouth opened in a silent scream as he dragged it down my forearm. Blood spilled from the wound, then he released me. He held the dagger out and walked around the circle carved into the floor. My blood sizzled each time it hit. I clutched my wounded arm to my chest as the symbols came to life, pulsing red and black all around me.
“Now the real fun begins.” Warren had completed his walk around the circle and was coming back toward me.
Fear had me shaking so hard my body ached. I glanced to my right in time to see Mason grab a torch and wield it over his shoulder like a bat. No one else saw him, and then it was too late. He knocked the torch into the head of a priest. He collapsed and as Warren turned his back to me, Mason attacked another.
“Run, Emry, get out of here,” he shouted.
The priests and Warren stared, confused at the sight of a torch hovering in the air. I scrambled to get to my feet, not wasting another second, and bolted for the door.
Chaos erupted behind me. Warren shouted for the guards to catch me, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins made me too fast. I dodged hands outstretched to grab me, sliding around corners as I aimed for any way out of this place. The cuff was gone. I had no idea if I was strong enough to shift or not, but I had to get out of here. Had to get away.
Mason. If I could get out of this realm, I could track down Mason. He would keep me safe. He could stop this. I had no doubt in my mind he was a great warrior of some kind. If anyone could stop what these madmen were doing, it was him.
The main doors appeared head of me and I lowered my head and aimed for them. The second I was free, I reached for the dragon inside me and felt the change coming over me. But I never made it all the way to my other form. Whatever spell of silence the priests cast on me kept my cry from being heard as I was forced to remain in my human body. I was too weak, and my dragon couldn’t reach the surface.
“After her,” Warren shouted furiously.
They weren’t far behind. I grabbed up a cloak from a tent in the courtyard, pulled it around my shoulders, threw the hood over my head, and ducked into the trees.
The portal. I just had to reach the portal and then I could be free.
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Copyright © 2017 by Kit Bladegrave
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Kit Bladegrave, Dragon Magic
