Broken Skies: Dragon’s Gift: The Storm Book 4

by Douglas, Veronica

  I couldn’t get the image of the burns out of my head and cutting through the second shackle while my mom attempted to hold back tears was the worst thing I’d ever had to do.

  Finally, after two short breaks to cool off the metal, I burned through the last of the brass.

  My mom gasped, and her signature surged around me. Scents of clover and the taste of licorice. The feel of soft sheets.

  I fought back the tears that sprang to my eyes. It was like getting kicked in the chest. I’d forgotten my mother’s signature. If asked, I might have said licorice, but nothing like this. I wrapped my arms around her and breathed in as much as my lungs could hold.

  I ended up coughing on the dusty air and laughing.

  This was the magic that had followed me around the house as a child. Watched over me at night, held me when I’d cried. My mother ran her blistered and scarred hands through my hair, muttering thanks.

  Finally, she turned to my father, and magic sparked in her hands. Her pupils dilated. “Oh honey, it feels good to have my magic back.”

  He held out his wrists, his blue eyes raging like the sea. “What are we waiting for?”

  My mother helped by casting freezing spells as I worked on cutting through my father’s magicuffs. I knew so little about her and her powers, and my heart leapt at all there was to learn. There was so much I didn’t know about them both.

  Halfway through, the combination of my fire and my mother’s ice shattered the metal. The second cuff came off just as quick, leaving only minor blisters on my father’s wrists.

  As soon as his second cuff split, my father’s signature washed over me. It was faint. As a half-djinn, his power was repressed in the Realm of Earth just like mine, but I could still pick out all the once forgotten notes.

  His magic was tart, like ripe lemons, and sounded like trees swaying in the wind. It smelled like crisp clean paper. This was the magic of the man who’d tucked me in at night and read me stories of far-off lands, deserts, and genies. A deep ache lodged in my throat as the memories came flooding back.

  I finally understood why I felt so at home in the Archives. So much of what I’d become and what I’d been was wrapped up in these two signatures. And now they enveloped me in a warm cocoon of long-forgotten memories.

  I grabbed my parents and hugged them to me, drawing strength and joy from their magic. I knew the moment couldn’t last, but I drew it out, breath by breath, for as long as I could.

  Finally, I broke away from their arms. “Okay, let’s get practical. How do we get out of here?”

  My father squeezed my hand one last time before letting go. “The Illumined One has shielded the mines from teleportation magic. That way, no one can teleport in, steal gems, and teleport out again. However, there are portals to the other realms in the Merchant Town outside the City of Light.”

  “Okay, what’s the City of Light and how do we get there?”

  “The City of Light is the Illumined One’s lair—a massive cavern with a city built inside. It’s also shielded from teleportation, but there is a gateway to the Merchant Town. We’ve never been beyond the City of Light, but I know there’s a lot of traffic coming and going,” my mother said.

  “That’s right.” My father rubbed his hands together thoughtfully. “Our overlords turned the upper tunnels into cells like these as well as shanty towns, where we used to live. Currently, we’re in the mines, but not too deep. We’re close to the exit, so that’s good news.”

  Fewer maze-like passages was always good news. “Right. Step one, we get the heck out of these mines.”

  Spark dimmed his glow, and we snuck to the entrance of the cell block. Unfortunately, the door was bolted shut. Spark turned into a bobbing light and slipped through the tiny window.

  No sentries out here. There’s another lock, but I think I can melt it.

  I peeked through the tiny window. Spark shifted back to a dragon and blew a jet of flame on the padlock. The door slowly began to glow red until the fire cut through the lock. Spark slid the deadbolt back, and the door slowly creaked open.

  My parents instinctively jumped back at the sight of the glowing dragon on the other side, still unsettled by his form.

  Waiting a beat to be certain there was nobody ahead, I crept into the corridor and motioned for my parents to follow. Instead of lights and torches, the passage was illuminated by a fluorescent purple fungus that grew along the walls, giving everything an eerie pinkish glow.

  I considered bringing a sample back to my friends at the Field Museum, but then thought better of it.

  We wound our way through the claustrophobic tunnels. The air was stale and heavy with dust, and every breath was a struggle. I couldn’t get out of there soon enough.

  Left, right, left. Left. My brain hurt, but my parents knew the mine well…I hoped. I was certainly lost beyond all comprehension.

  Thankfully, I didn’t have to do this alone.

  The sound of stone dragging against stone tore me from my reverie.

  Two hulking terracotta warriors swung into the corridor in front of us. They had clay armor, demonic faces, and sharp spears. Before I could cry out a warning, my father whipped his hands up and a weak gust of wind shoved one of the warriors into the wall.

  A thin crack spread along the warrior’s right shoulder, then he flung his spear forward with surprising speed. The feathered shaft whistled in the air, and the tip grazed my father’s face.

  The other warrior hurled his spear at my mother. She yelped as it whizzed past her head. Thrusting both her hands out, she began reciting a spell. Crackling lightning leapt from her hands and cascaded across the body of the warrior. My mother gritted her teeth, and her signature surged. With a thunderclap, the sentry exploded into a cloud of dust.

  My father toppled the other guard with a well-placed gust of wind. Its clay armor fractured as it crashed to the ground.

  I was on it in a flash.

  Kicking the spear from the sentry’s hands, I summoned my khanjar and rammed it into one of the narrow cracks. Using my weight to lever the blade, the fracture widened, and then with a sudden release, the warrior’s clay body split in two.

  Everything was still.

  I collapsed against the wall, completely out of breath in the suffocating realm.

  “Oh, that felt good!” My mother beamed.

  “Yes,” my father said, dusting off his hands. “A lot of fun, but it also made a lot of noise. This place will be crawling with clay heads soon.”

  I nodded. “Then we’d better make a run for it.”

  8

  Damian

  Lily’s finger had landed on a point labeled the City of Light located in the Realm of Earth. None of us had ever heard of it.

  Neither had anyone at the Order.

  Every part of me wanted to planes-walk there immediately, but we would need some idea of what we were getting into, so Rhiannon and I called every researcher we knew and set them on the task.

  Finally, one of the imps at the Archives texted Rhiannon back with a snippet.

  She grimaced as she read. “Entrance to the City of Light is impossible. It’s ruled by some sort of god-like being known as the Illumined One. There is, however, a town on the outskirts where merchants from the other planes meet and trade in the city’s great wealth in gemstones and precious metals. There are portals there.”

  She looked up. “That’s all.”

  “Great. Another mysterious forbidden city. Well, if we got into Helwan, we can get in here. Sounds like our access point is the merchant bazaar. You’re coming, I assume?”

  Rhiannon nodded. “If I could planes-walk, I would have left you here already.”

  I liked her fire. “I can use the Atlas of the Planes to get us there. Ready?”

  She nodded.

  I looked back to Lily. “Thank you, for everything. My people will reach out to you shortly to settle up.”

  Lily smiled. “Good luck, you two.”

  I grabbed Rhiannon’s
arm and placed my other hand on the book, focusing my mind on the City of Light. While the map of the Realm of Air had shown hundreds of floating islands, the map of the Realm of Earth showed a web of cities connected by winding passages.

  The Atlas tugged at me, pulling me forward, and the taste of dust filled my mouth as the City of Light zoomed into view.

  The city was blocked by a teleportation barrier. Drawing my mind deeper, I focused instead on the little village beside the City of Light—Merchant Town.

  A storm of sand whirled up around us. The sudden vortex of magic tore at every fiber of our being, threatening to rip Rhiannon out of my grasp. I tightened my grip as we rocketed through the cosmos, spinning and whirling until we slammed down in the middle of a crowded square.

  Rhiannon staggered forward, and I caught her. She was pale and unsteady.

  “Holy shit.” She wheezed. “How do you guys not hurl every time you do that?”

  I shut my eyes and ignored her, focusing on Neve.

  My dragon sense roared, and fire filled my veins. Our connection was back, an anchor cable screaming and shaking under the strain of the sea. It was so strong I jerked forward. “She’s here. Far away, but here.”

  Rhiannon clenched her fist. “Hell yes! But where are we?”

  The square we were in was crowded with merchant stalls and marketgoers. We caught a few odd glances, but most had ignored our arrival. Neve and I had received a similar reception in the Realm of Air.

  Our modern clothing would be a problem. From the discordant display of styles, I assumed there were many travelers, but we would still stick out.

  Rhiannon looked up. “I think we’re in a cavern, but I can’t see the ceiling. Fates, this place is huge.”

  I understood the map a little better now. “I suspect most of the realm is solid rock. The cities occupy caverns connected by tunnels.”

  “One giant, freaking ant colony,” Rhiannon whispered.

  Perhaps.

  I started pushing forward in the direction of Neve. “Let’s go.”

  People cleared a path around us as I let my aura flare. As a FireSoul and fallen angel, with a mix of stolen efreeti powers and ice magic, my signature was probably overwhelming. Nature’s way of saying do not touch.

  Three elaborately carved stone gateways flanked the square—open portals to the Realms of Air, Water, and Fire, glowing white, blue, and red, respectively. At least that gave us an exit if we couldn’t planes-walk out of the City of Light.

  “You know where we’re headed?” Rhiannon asked, close at my side.

  “No, but my magic is pulling me straight toward her.”

  I pointed to a massive gateway in the distance flanked by two fearsome dragon statues. Sentries checked people as they passed through. “Unfortunately, we have to find a way through that.”

  Neve

  Light.

  My heart thundered with hope.

  Could this be the end of the mines at last?

  It had taken us two hours to get through. The distance hadn’t been far, but we’d picked our way slowly and taken time to avoid as many sentries as possible. Despite my parents’ deep-seated desire for vengeance, we didn’t want to raise any alarms by leaving a trail of destruction in our wake.

  Spark had been able to scare off most of the mine’s human denizens by taking the form of a glowing crystal dragon. It had pretty much the same effect on them as his original appearance had on my parents. Sheer terror.

  And now, we were almost out.

  Thank fates my parents knew where they were going. I would have been five miles in the other direction or tricked by an evil demon sprite by now if I were on my own.

  The brightness at the end of the tunnel was almost overwhelming, like driving into the sun. I shielded my eyes, barely able to make out the forms standing along the walls.

  Dread bore down on me. More terracotta warriors, maybe ten along each side.

  I returned to my parents, who were crouched down about twenty feet back, just around the curve. “Good news—I think we’ve found the end of the tunnel. Bad news? The exit is blocked by about twenty clay heads.”

  My mother’s eyes twinkled. “That’s all very good news. Sentries mean we’re at the exit. The City of Light is just beyond. Hopefully, once we get past the clay warriors, we can slip unseen into an alley.”

  “Getting past being the key,” my father muttered.

  My mother rubbed her hands together. “I’m more than happy to start blasting them.”

  My father shook his head. “Too many, love. Even with the element of surprise, we’d be instantly overrun. We need to lure them away or at least reduce their numbers.”

  “Spark, can you make a distraction? Lure them off?”

  Yup, he said.

  I nodded. My parents couldn’t hear him, of course. Nobody could, in fact, except Damian.

  My chest tightened at the thought of him. I didn’t understand why he could hear my familiar.

  My mother pursed her lips and tapped on the wall. “If your dragon can lead them down the passage past us, I can conceal us in darkness. We can hide in one of the side tunnels back there.”

  Time was ticking. This was our best chance. “Let’s do it.”

  Spark turned into a little bobbing light and drifted ahead while we scuttled down the hall and veered right into an empty side passage.

  My mother moved her hands, and the licorice and clove scent of her magic filled the air. She spun shadows like cloth and pulled them around us, cloaking us in darkness. My heart clenched with memories. Was this how she put me to sleep at night? I barely remembered that.

  We waited in darkness, holding our breath.

  Suddenly, a crash of shattering clay echoed through the hall. Moments later, a translucent flaming dwarf ran by waving its arms like a lunatic.

  Spark.

  That was one weird distraction.

  His voice rang in my mind. Knocked them down like dominoes. Left a couple for you. I’ll catch up.

  I smiled as Spark did a backflip and ran off as half a dozen statues charged down the hall after him.

  As soon as they passed, I summoned my khanjar, and we darted out of the shadows.

  Green magic crackled around my mother’s hands. “Showtime.”

  We whipped around the bend, and I slammed straight into one of the guards. Shoving it back with a burst of wind, I rammed my khanjar into its chest. Damian’s signature tugged at my senses as the magic blade sliced into the terracotta, and the sentry’s torso shattered.

  Even if Damian wasn’t here right now, the feel of his magic in my khanjar calmed me. Had he known it would have this effect on me when he forged it?

  A large crash—the sound of pottery breaking—sounded on my right as my mother blasted another guard. I ducked as he exploded outward in a cloud of dust and crackling green magic. Stone shrapnel ripped across my skin, and I grimaced.

  Before I could recover, a spear whistled through the air straight at me. A sudden blast of air knocked it away, and I nodded thanks to my father.

  The clay warrior ahead of me drew a curved blade from his sheath, and I charged. Using a burst of air to boost my momentum, I slammed my shoulder into his chest. Pain ricocheted through my bones as the warrior reeled backward and shattered against the ground.

  My mother dispatched the last warrior with bolts of crackling blue lightning. Man, she was loaded.

  I sucked in a breath of stale air and gagged. “That’s all, I think.”

  A pile of broken statues lined the far wall like fallen dominoes, just as Spark had said. He got four or five for sure. Clever sprite.

  My father sucked his teeth. “I’m afraid I’m not much help in a fight.”

  I grabbed his hand. “I would have been a shish kabab without you. We’d better go before the rest come back.”

  We stumbled out of the mouth of the tunnel into the blinding light. It took my eyes a second to focus.

  The gateway to the mines was carved like a dr
agon’s mouth with pillars like bared teeth. We rushed out of the jaws onto a monumental stairway. Below us, a small city of two- and three-story buildings filled an impossibly large cavern. At its center, there was a light so blinding that I had to look away almost instantly.

  Black shadows swam in front of my eyes.

  “Quickly now. We need to get into the cover of the houses. He can see all that is illuminated with his light.” My father took my arm, and we scrambled down the stairs, across an open square, and into the winding back alleys of the city. Thankfully, the square around the entryway was deserted.

  We turned left and right until I was completely lost, and hopefully, any potential pursuers were lost as well. We wound our way through a dark alley. The light at the center of the city was like a spotlight, with little diffusion. Everything was either bathed in brilliant light or left in deep shadow.

  “What is that light? It’s so bright,” I hissed.

  “The Illumined One,” my father whispered. “His body is made of pure crystal, and his heart glows like the sun. He sleeps atop a hoard of gems and precious things piled in the center of the city, hence its name, the City of Light.”

  I craned my neck upward and a moment of vertigo twisted through my body. The sides of the cavern were a vivid green. Plants of all types draped down from caves and recesses in the rock, and the scents of flowers and fruit trees overwhelmed my senses. “And all these plants grow because of his light?”

  “They are the best source of fresh produce in this realm. He guards his orchards jealously, and his agents trade the harvest at exorbitant prices.”

  My mouth watered at the scent of oranges. Their aroma was intoxicating, and my mother followed my gaze and rested a hand on my arm. “Thieves get their hands cut off and their tongues pulled out.”

  My stomach churned. What a horrid place to live, surrounded by piles of treasure you could never own and the perfume of fruits you could never taste.

  We maneuvered through the back alleys of the city, staying out of sight, keeping to the dark shadows. My mother used her magic to extend them, cloaking us in darkness as we moved. Everything around us was cold, lifeless stone. We saw few people and spoke to no one.