The only thing that mattered was finding Slade.
In a blink, I slashed the knife down the dragon’s arm, and his eyes widened in surprise as blood pooled through the deep gash. Jared silenced him right before he opened his mouth wider to yell in pain.
“Everest,” Amelie whispered behind me, but I ignored her, watching that blood pool and soak into the fabric. It was beautiful in a strange way.
“Where did they take Slade? Answer me, or you might start losing fingers.”
“Everest, really?” Amelie muttered, but I didn’t turn around.
Jared nodded to me, and he let the dragon speak.
At first, all he did was curse and spit at us, and I raised the knife, slashing down his other arm. His blood dripped to the ground at his feet, coloring the leaves and when I glanced over at Jared, I saw his face mirroring mine. He was enjoying this as much as I was. It should’ve worried me, but I needed answers. Besides, this was a one-time thing. We weren’t going to go around and start torturing the enemy.
Why the hell not?
I flinched at the words in my head, but the dragon was nodding his head as if he was ready to talk.
Jared allowed him to speak again and he mumbled something about the encampment.
“What encampment?” I snapped, pressing the blade against his throat hard enough to draw a fine line of blood. “Exact location.”
He rattled off coordinates, and Amelie had her cell out, punching them in.
“A few hours from here,” she said.
“And are they still there?” I asked, digging the blade in harder when he didn’t answer right away.
Amelie grabbed my shoulder.
I shrugged her off. “Are they or not?”
“No! They’ll be taking them to the Fell Gates.”
“No,” Jared whispered horrified, but the words meant nothing to me. “You’re lying.”
“No, no I swear it,” the dragon pleaded as Jared’s magic constricted around him. “That’s where they’re taking all the sacrifices.”
“Sacrifices for what?” They were going to kill Slade. I knew it.
My chest grew so tight I almost couldn’t breathe, and the blade pressed even harder against the dragon’s throat until Amelie was hissing for me to let him go before I killed him. I pulled away, slightly, and waited for the dragon to answer me.
“The Blood Moon Priests,” he muttered, “they’re doing some sort of ritual, and they need the blood of the chosen. That’s all I know, I swear it.”
“And they’re going to these Fell Gates,” I repeated as he nodded. “How do they intend to get there?”
“Portal, at the encampment. It’s the only way, but it’ll be guarded.”
Of course, it would be. I shoved him backward and paced around the small clearing, wiping the blood from my knife on my sleeve before I shoved it back in its sheath at my side. “What are the Fell Gates?” I asked Amelie.
She swallowed hard, and her hands shook. “I thought it was just a legend, but I guess not.”
“What is it?” I asked impatiently.
“It’s where the Blood Moon Priests were said to have come from,” she answered. “It’s another dimension, one like the Council lives in. The only way to reach it is a portal, like he said.”
“And this ritual, blood of the chosen? What is that about?”
“I don’t know, we didn’t exactly cover blood magic back at school,” she bit off harshly.
I let her glare at me, taking her anger. If it was someone she loved in peril, she’d be acting the exact same way as I was, that’s what I told myself at least.
I nodded to Jared, expecting him to knock the dragon unconscious and we could get moving to this encampment and find a way through the portal.
I turned my back, and Amelie gasped in shock before she covered her face with her hands and turned away. At the same time, a sickening crunch sounded, and when I turned, the dragon lay in a broken heap on the ground. Dead. Jared had killed him with his magic.
“What… what did you do?” I hissed, backing away from the dead dragon.
“Cleaning up a problem,” he said like it was nothing. “We couldn’t leave him alive. He’d tell them where we were going.”
“We could’ve tied him up or something,” I argued, feeling sick to my stomach.
We’d tortured a dragon and Jared killed him. The others we’d attacked had been attacking us, and there was no real thought put into my actions, but this… this was completely different.
You had no choice. Do what must be done and don’t look back.
I wanted to believe the words, but how could I? I wasn’t a killer.
You are a Descendant, and you make the hard decisions, just like we’ve always done for centuries. There is no guilt, no regrets. Only moving forward.
“You’re right,” I whispered aloud, and Jared frowned at me. “You’re right,” I said louder. “We had no choice, and no we have to get moving before they find the body. Amelie, you have the map ready?”
Her back was to us, and her shoulders shook.
“Amelie?” Jared asked worriedly and went to touch her shoulder.
She flinched away from him and slapped him hard across the face.
I stared in shock from her to his confused and pained look. The tension rose between them, and I wondered if I shouldn’t give them both a moment alone, but then he hung his head, and his cheeks reddened, more with her slap, as if he too just realized what he’d done.
“Here,” she said as she shoved her phone into my hands. “It’s about a four-hour walk.”
“Then let’s get moving,” I said. “You two going to be alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” Amelie assured me, but kept glaring at Jared.
He nodded at me, but his shoulders were hunched, and he seemed to be having the same inner argument I just had with myself.
I wanted to be that friend who could say something and make him feel better, but what was there to say? And our time was growing shorter every second we wasted here.
Phone in hand, we set off into the trees and made for the encampment of the Black Diamonds.
“That’s a lot of dragons,” I whispered, peeking through a bush.
The encampment had been cloaked by some heavy-duty magic, but between the three of us, we managed to break through the invisibility charm and had dove out of sight.
I was certain the necklace had something to do with helping us in that last push, but said nothing about it warming as it had right before we fell through.
We’d nearly walked straight into the camp and probably right to our deaths. The place swarmed with Black Diamonds and men in red robes, just like the ones Fredwin had on before he took off. I kept a careful eye out for him, but there were so many moving bodies, it was hard to keep track of anything.
“Where do you think the portal is?” I asked.
Amelie said nothing. Not a word since we started our journey here. I’d heard Jared apologizing to her, but she’d said nothing in return, or at least nothing I could hear. I didn’t want to tell them both to get over it, we had more important things to worry about, but if this was going to affect us finding the portal and rescuing Slade, I would do what I had to.
“There,” Jared whispered, pointing towards the eastern side of the camp. “Wait for it, you’ll see a flash.”
With my focus glued in that direction, I waited and after a few seconds was rewarded by the flashing white light of a portal being used. A few minutes later and several Black Diamonds came walking from that direction, looking as if they’d just arrived, carrying leather bags of supplies and not showing a speck of mud on their clothing.
“How are we going to get over there without being seen?” Jared asked me. “There’s too many.”
I considered stealing armor and passing ourselves off as Black Diamonds or Shadowguards there, but our eyes were too obvious and would give us away. And any Blood Moon Priests down there would probably pick up on the use of magic to
cloak ourselves.
I grinned as an idea popped into my head.
“Wait here,” I told them and made my way towards the camp.
Several tents formed the perimeter, and I carefully lifted the underside of the first to find several dragons inside. I dropped it just as quickly, swearing they would hear my heart pounding in my chest, but no alarm was sounded, and I moved to the next one and the next until I found one empty, and containing exactly what we needed.
With the bundles in hand, I hurried back to Jared and Amelie’s hiding place, where they waited with their heads close together, whispering. I paused, considered waiting a few more seconds, but then she said my name and I acted like I hadn’t seen anything.
It appeared times of war really did bring people together.
“These,” Jared stated as he held up the item of clothing. “Seriously?”
“They keep their hoods up,” I said. “No one will see our eyes, and if you noticed, no one seems to like approaching them. It’s our only chance.”
Jared was still cursing as he donned the red robe of the Blood Moon Priest and the three of us adjusted our hoods to ensure no one could easily see our faces. Before we set off on the part of the mission that would most likely get us killed, I used Amelie’s phone to text Davis back at the Underground. I let him know the three of us found an encampment, gave him the coordinates, and then added where Slade had been taken.
Amelie turned it off when I gave it back to her, and after one more look over, we turned towards the camp.
My hands were sweaty and my knees like jelly, but I managed to keep my shoulders thrown back as we walked in single file into the camp. Several dragons passed us, but none stopped to see who we were. The portal wasn’t far off, and I aimed directly for it, fighting the urge to break into a run to get out of this place before we were caught.
“You,” a grumbling voice snarled, and the three of us halted. “Where are you headed now, huh?”
I hadn’t seen any female Blood Moon Priests and mentally cursed. We never went over what to do if someone did stop us.
“We are going to the Fell Gates,” Jared replied, making his voice deeper and angry. “The ritual is to start soon, and we are needed.”
I barely lifted my eyes enough, so I could see without giving myself away. The Black Diamond had his hand on Jared’s arm and didn’t appear so willing to let him go.
“Is that right? Why don’t any of your kind ever stick around for the fighting, huh?”
“We will join the fight when the time is ready,” Jared muttered darkly. “Remove your hand, or you will lose it. Perhaps you too wish to be made a sacrifice. You appear to be one of the chosen, do you not?”
The dragon gulped and let go as if burned. “No, no. I enjoy being right here.”
“Good, then I suggest you remember your place.”
That was a little much. The dragon glared at him, but then Jared was walking, and Amelie and I followed right behind him. We passed a large tent and there before us were three portals, guarded by ten dragons. They looked the same to me, but when the dragons saw us coming, they immediately bowed their heads at the one to the right and took several steps back.
The light surrounded us as we stepped through and came out the other side to find ourselves on a dirt road in what appeared to be a desolate valley. We had no choice, but to keep walking down the road since there were guards on this side of the portal, too.
Thankfully, no one came towards us, though far ahead I caught glimpses of more figures in red robes. After another three tense hours of silent walking, my legs started to tire, and my stomach was in knots, the three of us too scared to talk and give ourselves away, I had to remind myself this wasn’t the first time I’d seen the gates, and to not stand there gawking in the middle of the road.
Far ahead of us, lit by torches and burning braziers was a massive gate, glowing a fierce red in the dim lighting of this dimension.
An eerie howling echoed around us, and I knew without having to ask what caused it. Souls, damned and lost souls of all those the Blood Moon Priests had killed over the years. Before we caught up with the other priests, we ducked into the trees and out of sight.
I threw back my hood, sagging against a tree as Amelie sank right to the ground, holding her head in her hands.
“How did we just pull that off?” she asked with a nervous chuckle.
“No idea, but thankfully, one of us can lie,” I said as Jared nodded in agreement. “And no one else tried to stop us.”
“You’re welcome, though I’m not sure we’re in a better spot yet.”
We shed the robes, but Amelie balled them and shoved them in the bag just in case they’d come in handy later.
I moved through the dead and brittle trees, so the gate came into view again. “What’s behind it?”
“I don’t know,” Amelie said with a shrug. “We were always told this place was just legend.”
“The stories only ever talked about the gate,” Jared added. “Told us what it was made of, but I grew up on those stories being told to scare us as kids.”
“Do I want to know what it’s made of?” I asked, and they both shook their heads. “So, we get to find our way through the gates, and I guess finally get to see what’s actually on the other side of them. Should be fun.”
“Yeah,” Amelie mumbled, “so much fun.”
I turned around to face them both. “Look, you guys got me this far, but this is where you should stay. Wait for me here and if I don’t come back in what, a few hours? Get out of here and go find the others.”
“Seriously?” Jared huffed. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
“For what? Trying to keep you both alive. You said it yourself, we have no idea what’s beyond that gate.”
“And your idea is to storm it alone and then get Slade out alone?”
“I never said it was a good idea,” I scowled at Amelie.
“We’re going with you so shut up and lead the way,” Jared informed me. “And stop arguing with us or worrying about us. We’re here because we want to be. You’re our friend, Everest, and Slade has done so much for his clan. It’s our chance to do what we can after what our people did.”
Amelie bobbed her head. “He’s right. We’ve spent so much time hating the Shadowguard clan and look at where it’s gotten us? It’s time for a change and saving Slade, well, it’s the least we can do.”
I had nothing else to say, so I hugged them both.
Amelie squeezed me, and Jared lifted me off my feet making me laugh. I felt our friendship at that moment. They’d stuck with me so far, and I knew then our bond was much deeper than just school friends. This fight had opened all of our eyes, and no matter what happened, we were in this together.
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and glared at the Fell Gates waiting for us. I just hoped we didn’t all die in there together.
Twelve
Slade
The second we rose to the top of the hill, and the road ahead became clear, I knew what dimension we’d been taken to and prayed Benji was too young to know the stories about this dreaded place. I prayed it was nothing more than a legend, even after we found out the Blood Moon Priests were alive and well.
But then we passed through the gates, and I heard the cries of the dead, the ones murdered and sacrificed here throughout the centuries of time and there was no other option.
The Fell Gates.
We’d been brought to the home of the Blood Moon Priests, and all who passed through these gates never left again. At least not as a living person. My last bit of hope at being rescued disappeared as I realized there was no way I was getting out of here, me or Benji.
“Slade,” he whispered from his cage beside mine. “What are they doing?”
“I don’t know, kid,” I replied honestly, peeking through the bars.
Our convoy had come to a stop outside a massive obsidian and marble-faced fortress complete with towers and turrets that would ma
ke it extremely hard for any army to breach. If they managed to get past the Fell Gates of course. Once sealed, I had no doubt those were writhed in magic and would stop an army dead in its tracks.
Nikolai and Fredwin were talking to another Blood Moon Priest wearing red and black robes, I assumed the black meant he was higher up. I hated my lack of knowledge in this area and could only watch and wait.
“I’m scared.”
I wanted to lie and say I wasn’t, but no words came out. I was failing this kid, just like I’d failed my clan. My clan. Not anyone else’s responsibility. Only mine and I’d failed them all.
“Take them inside,” the priest yelled, and the dragons came back to us, unlocking Benji’s cage first. He fought against them, but they smacked him upside the head, and his small body went limp. I yelled at them, but I was ignored.
If only they knew who I really was, then they would listen to me.
And then I’d get myself killed faster, no doubt.
Five dragons, as well as Nikolai and Fredwin, stood by as I was removed from my cage, my hands bound immediately, and a gag shoved in my mouth.
I growled continuously, but Nikolai grinned right back until I was shoved forward into the fortress. The foyer was massive and lit by iron chandeliers as well as wall torches.
Black Diamonds stood sentry every ten feet and when I turned around to see the door’s fortifications, I cursed. If they closed them and threw that heavy bolt, I’d never get through them on my own. Everywhere I looked stood a Blood Moon Priest or a dragon. I was going to die here in this dreadful place, and my soul would join the ranks of other lost ones crying and wailing for all eternity.
Dragon Guard Page 12