“Let’s do this.” We get out, and everything feels like we’re going in slow motion. Perhaps it’s because of the rate at which my heart beats, or the cold sweat covering every inch of me. The sky has turned an ugly gray, and the looming storm above is a bad omen to the things to come.
I do my best to ignore it and pay more attention on the path before me. We walk in the dirt, so light in color and soft, it’s more like sand. I kick at it, watching the dust fly away in the breeze.
“Where is this tree with the lever I’m supposed to hold down?” Max asks, eyes on his phone.
“Trust me, I will show you the moment we’re close enough. It will be clear when we’re there, but there is a bit of a walk to it. I imagine Séraphin made sure of this because the last thing he wanted was for someone to break through the magic, accidentally or intentionally, and find his secret lair. Once we’re inside, it only takes one person to destroy his entire plan.”
“And what if we don’t succeed?” he asks, finally looking up. “You don’t have a backup plan?”
I don’t want to consider that. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about it, let alone ask. Leave that to Max, the skeptic.
Rohesia frowns her deep frown. “If you don’t want to succeed, you won’t, and there is no one who can help you with that. But if you want it, if you’re willing to fight for it, no one will be able to stop you. Which is the case for you, Max? Are you going to blow it because you don’t believe any of this, or are you going to fight because you love the woman you’re following up this mountain?”
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer.
“I didn’t come this far to give up on Alita.”
I stop walking and turn, letting him run into me. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him with every bit of fire I have in me.
When I finally pull back, I’m grinning. “I love you, Max. I hope you know that. I know this year wasn’t easy, and I’m sorry. But I’m so glad you’re with me here now.”
He smiles at me, green eyes lit up with the sun. And I can’t help it—I kiss him again.
Rohesia clears her throat. “We need to keep going. Make out later.”
She turns and walks ahead of us. I’m pretty sure I hear her mutter, “Or never,” but I can’t be sure, so I don’t reply.
Max links his fingers through mine, and we walk together, no words exchanged. There’s nothing left to say. I feel an overwhelming sadness as it occurs to me that I can’t think of a single thing I want to tell Max before we walk into this situation. What if this is it? The sudden realization that this could be goodbye forever hits me, and I don’t know how to handle it.
I don’t even know why I’m thinking about it. We’re going into this together and we will come out together, no matter what Rohesia said.
Yackros’ words from last night haunt me, though. “There’s a darkness in him.”
I shake my head. I refuse to believe that. I can’t let someone else’s opinion cloud my judgment. Not about Max, who I’ve known for years. He just told me he didn’t come this far to give up on me now.
I just hope those words hold true when he sees Fyazum. How will he react when he finally sees a dragon with his own eyes?
“We’re here,” Rohesia says and ducks, grabbing my arm and pulling me down behind the bush with her. Max crouches down with us.
She scoots closer to Max and points. “Do you see that tree?”
“Yeah,” he says.
“The lowest branch is the lever. As quietly as you can, get to it and await my signal. When the time comes, you are to pull it, wait for the furies to be distracted, then pull it down and hold it. Under no circumstances are you to release it until you see Alita wave from the cave entrance. Do you understand?”
He nods. “Sure. Except I don’t see a cave entrance.”
“Look to the north along the ridge just above this row of trees. You will see it once you’ve done your task. This is how we find it,” she explains.
“And tell me again what you’re going to do?”
“The moment you open that door, three hideous beasts are going to appear, and they will do everything in their power to kill anyone who dares attempt entering Séraphin’s lair. My job is to protect your life and Alita’s, so I don’t think taking on that insulting tone is a good idea. Do you?” Her right brow raises.
Max clears his throat. “I’ll go pull the lever.”
He crouches along the line and disappears into the foliage, where it’s just barely too tall for me to see him. He reappears once he’s reached the tree, his hand on the lever, read to pull it at Rohesia’s signal.
She’s disappeared from my side. I look up and realize she’s approaching the rock wall. I switch positions, unable to hold still, waiting for my cue. When it comes, I’ll have to run like my life depends on it. If one of the furies goes after me instead of Rohesia, I don’t have a weapon to defend myself.
Not that I know how to use one anyway. Why doesn’t high school teach anything useful, like sword fighting or knife throwing or something?
Rohesia raises her hand, holding her sword high.
She cuts down, and Max heaves down on the branch. The face of the mountain shimmers, opening up to show a crack, and part of the stone falls away, revealing a cavern entrance. Nothing stirs for a moment, then three monstrous bats coming screeching out.
Not bats—hags with bat wings. Their hair is a mass of snakes, hissing and stretching and snapping, and the hags themselves look like they’ve been raised from the dead. Twice. After a year in the ground.
Rohesia raises her sword just in time to meet the first one. I take off, hoping Max knows when to pull the lever again.
I put all my focus into moving forward. I forget about everything but the need to get to the crack in the mountainside before one of us gets hurt. Or worse.
My shirt catches on the prickly brush and bushes. There are cuts all over my uncovered skin, though admittedly, the pants I’m wearing don’t have a scratch. My lungs are on fire, and there’s a desperate need for water. I can’t stop short. I can’t slow down. I must be as strong as my companions.
“I’m coming for you, Yackros.”
Only feet away, my foot catches on a rock, pitching me forward. I skid on the rocky ground, rolling into the shadow of the cave entrance. I’ve made it, though only barely. I get up again, looking around for any way to force the wall to remain open.
I don’t know what I’m looking for or where it’s located. But there’s nothing in plain view. I search, kicking up dust, tripping over myself. I feel along the walls, search the floor, but everything is flat. There are no obvious buttons or levers.
I look out the entrance. Blood covers Rohesia’s arms and face. She’s fighting, pushing on, screaming a war cry. Max holds the lever with both arms, his face scrunched up from the pressure. And here I stand, completely useless.
“Come on, Alita.” I put my hands on my head, applying pressure to my temples. “Think.”
How would Séraphin ensure that he could get out if he needed to and not lose his own cave? There’s no way he does it with magic; Rohesia said magic wasn’t his strong suit.
I look around just outside the cavern, and a sudden screech spikes my heart rate. I turn to face the oncoming fury, her mouth wide as she yells, her eyes black holes. Arms raised, nails forward.
I duck down, picking up the largest rock I can throw, and putting all my power behind it as I aim and launch. It hits her shoulder. A nasty tearing sound follows and she falls to the ground, her wing broken and coming apart from the shoulder socket.
Falling to my knees, I want to vomit. I need to vomit. But I can’t focus on that. I turn away, horrified at what I’ve done, but also proud of defending myself rather than running away in terror. Until that moment, I really didn’t know how I was going to react.
Right before my eyes, in the corner of the cave entrance, is the oddest little rock. It seems to be shaped into some kind of pedal. I lunge forward to pres
s it, backing up at the sound of cracking stones.
I don’t know if that keeps the entrance open, but it’s my only guess. I jump to my feet, turning around. I wave my arm wildly until I know Max saw.
Rohesia is swinging at the fury flying toward her. The one I hurt is still down, and I don’t see the third one. I hesitate, not wanting to go on, but knowing I need to trust her. She told me what to do, so I’m going to listen. The last thing I want is for one of us not to return because of me.
Max nearly barrels into me, though luckily I step to the side in time to avoid the collision. He leans over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
“That lever got heavier every second. I can’t explain it, but now I feel like rubber,” he mutters, sweat pouring down his forehead.
“I know, and I’m sorry. But we’ve got to go.” I take his arm, pulling him up until he’s standing straight. “Come on.”
I kick the pedal stone, and it releases the door behind us, the stones grinding together and sealing out every bit of sunlight.
I’m glad I brought my phone. I turn on the flashlight and light the way. We walk cautiously because we don’t know what to expect. I’m half thinking Séraphin will step out of the shadows at any minute, corrupted pearl in hand to announce that it’s too late.
What if it isn’t Séraphin at all? What if it’s some magic army? Followers ready to keep us locked up here with Fyazum—or kill us on sight. We’ve been preparing to face one enemy. What if it’s someone else? Someone we don’t know anything about?
Suddenly, I find myself hoping it’s just Séraphin.
With every step forward, I hold my breath, waiting for something horrible to shoot out of the walls, a hole in the walkway to open up, or a giant ball to come rolling toward me. Not knowing if something else is going to come flying toward us is worse than actually having it happen.
Once again, I realize just how wrong Rohesia was. We should have weapons. We don’t know if she’s going to make it in here with us. How long will it take her to bring down the last fury?
And what if she can’t? Is she just going to keep fighting until we come flying out of the cave with Fyazum?
I remind myself repeatedly that she said to stop for no one. I must continue forward no matter what happens or who it happens to. I look at Max, taking his hand for comfort. He looks at me, meeting my gaze, and nods like he understands what I’m feeling and I’m not alone in feeling it.
It’s exactly what I need. I accept that bit of comfort and continue forward. There’s a tiny sliver of light at the end of this winding tunnel. I hide my phone just long enough to make sure that’s what I’m seeing before holding it out again.
When we reach the end, there’s a small opening with just enough room to make it down three steps. I climb down first, really hoping this isn’t the moment I die. I’m not ready for that. Once I’m down on the next platform, my heart sinks.
There are easily a hundred thousand pearls in this room. The walls are encrusted and there are at least twenty on pedestals, highlighted by a dim overhead light shining down on them.
“We have a problem,” I say, looking around. I was expecting one pearl, not a million. Without knowing what I’m looking for, we could be here forever trying to find the right one. And I’m bound to a dragon, so I could actually live that long.
“Yackros?” I call out in my mind. It’s a long shot, but I need him now more than ever.
“What are you doing? Grab your pearl thing and let’s go.” Max grips my shoulder.
“Shhh!” I try to listen deeply, hoping Yackros can respond, or even hear me.
But all is silent. I close my eyes.
“I need you, Yackros. I know it hurts to communicate from where you are. But if you can muster the strength to say just one thing, let it be something to tell me what kind of pearl I’m looking for. Without help, there’s no way I’m going to find the one we need. Séraphin foresaw an invasion on his plans. He prepared for it.” I wish I could project the scene before my eyes into his mind. Alas, it’s a magic art I don’t yet know.
“Blue. Teardrop.” His words are broken, distorted, and a sharp pain fills me to my core. That pain was his. The magic over him in his prison is getting a stronger grasp on him.
“Thank you. Don’t say anything else. I felt your pain.” I wipe the sweat from my forehead and get down from the platform, stepping onto the pearl-coated floor.
“We’re looking for a blue teardrop pearl.” I put my hand in a bowl of pearls, surprised by how smooth they are, the comfort of feeling so many at once, how fun it is, and how calming. I bring up handfuls to look through.
“Do you realize how many blue and teardrops are here?” Max gawks.
“My guess is that Séraphin only has one that is both blue and teardrop-shaped. Even he runs the risk of losing it among all of these. It’s going to be somewhere obvious to him, and unclear to anyone who doesn’t know his mind. So if you were a dark dragon rider, bent on ruling the world of dragons and man, where would you put it?” I pose the question only to immediately regret it because Max answers without pause.
“There.” He points to a pedestal.
“Are you sure?” I approach the pillar. It’s just another bowl of pearls. I don’t see any blue teardrops.
“I’m sure,” Max says. He crouches down and reaches forward, hooking his fingers into a crown shape that I’d thought was just an engraving in the stone. He pries it off. A single blue teardrop-shaped pearl is set in the middle, surrounded by shimmering scales.
“Wow,” Max breathes, his eyes bright. His jaw hangs slack.
I bite my lip, tempted to snatch it away from him, although I couldn’t give a specific reason why. Even without holding it, I can feel the power coming off it in waves. There’s so much sadness. The edges are blackened. I take a step forward, a crunch beneath my shoe. I look down, noticing the pearls crumbling.
“We need to get out of here.”
I have to grab his arm to get him to move. When we make it to the wall, the outlines of a door appear. We step onto a long narrow bridge, the room behind us turning to dust and disappearing in a breeze that shouldn’t be possible.
Max stares at the empty space of where we just came from.
“This is too easy, Alita. This thing is real. I feel it. But I won’t even leave my wrestling trophies where my foster siblings can see them—there’s no way anyone would leave a trophy like this just sitting in the open.”
I shake my head, unable to give him a good response. I don’t understand it either.
But I’m also concerned about something else.
“The moment you touched the pearl, Fyazum should have gone free. That’s what Rohesia said. So where is he? Where’s Séraphin? And how do we get out of here?”
“We go forward,” Max says, looking at the nothingness where we once were. “Because there’s nothing behind.”
He brushes past me, which is terrifying given how narrow the path is, and marches onward.
We loop around, stuck on what feels like a never-ending path hundreds of feet up, black nothingness below. I consider my fear of heights at a healthy, normal level, and this is nerve-racking. What if I came all this way just to fall to my death in some cave?
But I follow Max, glad he’s taking charge for a moment. I’m tired of making the decisions. Of being strong and keeping my head up.
We finally reach a wider path that feels like we’re back on solid ground again and the blank nothingness disappears behind, just as the room of pearls did.
There is only one path. We enter a room that seems far too bright given it’s inside the mountain. A large dragon, his scales shining silver, his eyes molten gold, stares at me. He lifts his head, intensity in his gaze.
“Holy—” Max starts, eyes wide and face colorless.
Loud clapping calls my attention to the other end of the room.
“Congratulations, little wingless human. You got the pearl. And here I was, all concerned about the ru
ckus my furies were making. So really, I’m impressed. You knew exactly who to distract me with while claiming the one possession I need most.”
The man stepping forward is tall, at least six and a half feet. His hair is dark and curly, similar to Max’s. His eyes, the same dark green shade.
A horrifying feeling overcomes me as I begin to realize why Yackros and Rohesia linked Max to darkness.
Séraphin smirks. “But I stole something of yours, too.”
He yanks a struggling form forward—and I see the tears in Rohesia’s eyes as he drags her by the hair.
My heart stops and begins hammering twice as fast in an instant. Her hands are tied behind her back. She has a black eye and multiple cuts on her cheeks and forehead. She’s mouthing something to me, but I can’t make out what it is.
“Let her go, Séraphin!” I shout, stepping forward. “This is a battle you cannot win. You won’t come out ahead. There are three humans and one dragon against you. What do you think your odds of winning really are?” My voice cracks, and I don’t dare look at Rohesia as I speak.
In a fight, I am useless. Beyond useless. Rohesia somehow thought my magic would be enough. My nonexistent, non-manifesting magic that Yackros and Rohesia insist I have, but I’ve never seen evidence of. And looking at this guy, there’s no way he couldn’t just hit me and knock me out completely, no magic required.
“Dear Little Wingless,” he says, baring his teeth in a smile. “How wrong you are.”
“How do you know my name?” It’s worse than my name—only Yackros has ever called me Little Wingless, and I never even told Max or Rohesia that.
“Tell her, Max.” Séraphin gestures between the two of us. “I know the infinite knowledge of the pearl calls to you. Imagine what you could know if you seized control of it.”
I glance at Max, but he’s already watching me. His brows furrowed. Looking at me for answers.
Séraphin chuckles. “Try it, Max. I know there’s a question you’ve always wanted to ask. Hold it in your mind. Demand it from the pearl. The answer may be . . . closer than you think.”
Dragon Wings Page 18