“Shit,” I say, about to follow her before Marco pulls me back.
“Why don’t we stay here?” he asks, looking in my eyes pleadingly.
“We can’t let her go alone; you can stay if you want. Keep an eye on the Wyverns, maybe.”
“Haze, we haven’t spent any alone time together in a while,” he admits, dropping his gaze.
“I won’t be gone long, then I can come back and make it up to you, okay?” I give him a quick kiss on the cheek before running after Braith.
Braith pauses to let me catch up, grinning. “Switching sides, Hazy?”
“Nope, just don’t want you to go alone.”
“Don’t get my hopes up,” she jokes, smacking my shoulder playfully. “Come on, there must be a house or something somewhere.”
We trudge through the layers of wheat, following the route that the dragon flattened. Its footsteps are huge, easily engulfing one of my feet. We soon come across patches of partially melted ice, which makes my stomach drop.
The man’s body is probably around here somewhere.
Braith clearly thinks the same thing. “Let’s keep an eye out. If you spot him, we’ll go back, okay?”
I nod wordlessly, following her lead. We soon come across a small cottage, with marble grey walls and flowery pink windows. A set of garden chairs are outside, along with a small wooden doghouse and a rose bush covered in white flowers.
“I think Gloria did all the decorating,” Braith jokes, motioning towards a set of matching glittery flowerpots.
“We didn’t find him.”
Her smile drops. “Maybe he got knocked a bit further away. It’s probably for the best, anyway. I didn’t want to see it.”
I mumble my agreement. A part of me is glad we didn’t come across him, but another part of me is worried. Where is the body, then?
Braith walks up the wooden deck carefully, cringing as it creaks underneath her feet. She approaches the door and carefully nudges it open, mouthing that it’s unlocked. I silently follow her in, conjuring a ball of water in one hand just in case.
Inside the house is just as colourful as the outside, with glittery photo frames and bright furniture. As we creep around, my chest tightens; it still looks lived in. It feels as if the man and his wife could come home any minute and find us snooping around. They had a quiet life until we came along. It’s as if we corrupt everything we touch.
“There’s the kitchen! Wait here, I’ll grab anything perishable.”
The sound of Braith shoving food into her backpack makes me jump, but I soon regain my composure and keep an eye out. We don’t know if Weir is still out there, after all, and Gloria probably had a dragon too.
Speaking of Gloria, where is she? There’s no sign that she’s here, could the dragon have gotten her too?
Outside looked immaculate; no signs of the dragon landing and attacking her. Maybe she was out in the field when it happened? But wouldn’t we have come across her body too?
The thought makes my heart skip a beat. This makes no sense: bodies don’t just disappear, unless something takes them.
Something big enough to eat them.
“Braith!” I hiss. “Hurry up!”
“I’m going as fast as I can!”
My anxiety grows with each second. That dragon could come back; it could be taking the bodies. “I don’t like this one bit!”
“Calm down, I’m almost done…. Oh, shit.”
“What?” I hiss, but she doesn’t reply.
My blood runs cold. She’s seen something.
Slowly poking my head around the door, I see Braith frozen in the middle of the kitchen. Spotting me, she raises a finger to her lips and points to the left, where a large shadow has fallen over most of the room.
That dragon is outside.
A loud crash makes me jump, but I’m able to keep quiet as the dragon wanders around outside. It must be able to smell us.
Braith tiptoes slowly towards me, clutching her backpack. My heart is in my throat as she knocks the door with her elbow. The small sound is enough to get the dragon’s attention. It growls and makes its way around the house. Braith and I press on each side of the wall, out of sight from the living room windows. A tapping on the glass makes me bite my tongue. That thing is right outside.
I poke my head around to get a look. The dragon has pressed itself belly down on the ground outside to peer in, its lifeless eyes scanning the room and fogging up the glass. Slowly I pull back, motioning for Braith to stay where she is. We both stand absolutely still as the ground shakes slightly outside, meaning the dragon must be standing on its hind legs once more. If we are quiet enough, we may be able to sneak away.
But then I look towards the open door. Weir is staring right back at me, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
Shit.
Weir lets out an enraged roar and charges into the hallway. This alerts the dragon outside, who roars in return and punches through the window with an arm.
“Run!” I scream, pushing Braith back towards the kitchen.
As soon as we’re both in, I slam the door shut, but Weir charges into it and breaks through the wood, snapping his teeth at us. We dive under the kitchen table as the wood splinters around the angry dragon. Braith clutches my arm as he breaks through further. Now his shoulders are through; he can reach in and swat with a clawed foot. We sink lower to the ground as he desperately swipes at us, missing us by inches. But slowly, the door starts to give. The wood splits around the doorframe, enabling him to snake ever closer.
“What do we do?” Braith hisses, creating a ball of ice in her fingers.
“We have to fight him off.”
“But what about our friend outside?”
Weir breaks through the doorway fully, his mouth drooling and full of his own blood.
“Let’s worry about him first!” I squeak as Weir limps towards us, his eyes burning with rage.
He won’t let us go unscathed.
Just as we plan to fight back, the window shatters above us, and an amber arm snakes in, grabbing Weir by the head. The green dragon screeches in fury and attempts to paw away the hand gripping him, but the dragon pulls him towards the window. Weir’s claws drag across the floor as the dragon pulls him ever closer.
“Let’s go!” Braith hisses under her breath.
“We can’t just leave him!”
She sighs and shakes her head. “If we help, that dragon will know we’re here. Not to mention that Weir might attack us again anyway.”
She pulls me with her as we creep across the kitchen floor, trying to stay as low as possible. Weir screams in pain behind us as he’s pulled through the shattered glass.
The two of us make it to the front door before my friend abruptly stops and turns to face me. “Once we get outside, we have to run like crazy, okay? We can’t take this thing on if it notices us.”
“I wasn’t planning on having a nice scenic walk on the way back anyway.”
She smirks slightly before slowly rising to her feet. We both dash out the door, rushing into the field of wheat. Dry, yellow stems brush against me as I push through them, desperately trying to keep sight of Braith just in front of me. I don’t want to be alone with that dragon around. I don’t want to be its next meal. A jutting rock in the ground catches me off-guard, and I smash into the muddy earth. Braith doesn’t notice ahead me, disappearing deeper into the field.
“Shit,” I mutter, clambering to my feet and wiping sludge off my shirt.
Rustling behind me makes me jump, and I whirl around, ball of water in hand to face it. But instead of Weir or that dragon, a white head pops through the yellow crop, looking at me as if I had two heads.
“Don’t scare me like that, Drea.”
The white dragon smirks and trots towards me, snorting at my dirty clothes.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. We need to get back, quickly. That dragon is back.”
Drea stands on her hind legs to peer over the wheat before quickly ducking down, a she
epish look on her face.
I roll my eyes. “It saw you, didn’t it?”
Rumbling answers my question, and I take off running into the wheat once more. I’m not sure if I’m heading towards the cave anymore; there are no landmarks apart from more wheat. The tall crop scratches me with every strand I pass, catching on my clothes and hair as I run. Who knows where I could end up? Drea trots behind me, growling underneath her breath and puffing fire out of her nostrils. Finally, the wheat seems to thin out a bit, and I’m relieved to dash out of the field.
Taking a minute to catch my breath, I take in my surroundings before groaning.
I’ve gone in a fucking circle.
The cottage is in front of me, with several windows smashed and various lawn ornaments trampled. A trail of blood leads towards the doorway, or rather away from it.
“Fuck.”
The dragon rises from the wheat behind me, locking its beady white eyes on me. I can feel my markings glowing as I stare at this creature. It definitely escaped from the lab. Drea steps in front of me, baring her teeth. The amber dragon takes no notice of her and continues to stare at me, its gaze lifeless and unnerving.
Slowly, I back away towards the house, stumbling on the first step up to the door. The dragon stares at me, with no indication that it might move. When I reach the doorway, however, and slowly nudge the door open, it springs into action. With a roar, it charges at the cottage. I rush down the hallway back into the kitchen. The house shakes as the dragon slams into the doorway, tearing plaster and bricks away from the walls. It reaches an arm down the hallway to grab me, but the kitchen is just out of reach.
Drea appears in the window behind me, growling and motioning for me to crawl through. Rolling my sleeves over my hands, I crawl through the carpet of glass towards the shattered window. The white dragon nudges the last few bits of glass away, grabbing the hood of my jacket gently to lift me out.
To my surprise, she lowers herself to the floor, letting me climb onto her back. Once I’m on, she dashes into the forest, glancing behind her every few seconds, but it doesn’t look as if the dragon is following. Once we’re a safe enough distance from the house, she launches into the air, swirling towards the grey clouds in the blue sky. I cling to her neck; her flying is a lot more erratic than Bluey’s.
We can see the house. The dragon is still at the front, with one arm destroying what’s left of the cottage while the other sifts through the rubble, presumably looking for me. Drea soars overhead and then heads towards the cave.
The Wyverns have gathered outside.
This can’t be good either.
“Drea!” Marco waves his hands on the ground, calling out to his companion.
The white dragon lands gracefully next to him, rearing her hind legs to eject me off her back. I land clumsily on my ass, ignoring the pain in my back as I stand.
“Has Braith made it?” I ask him as he scoops me up in a hug.
“Yeah, she came ages ago. I thought you’d-” he cuts off, his voice cracking.
“I’m fine. It’s gonna take more than that to take me down.”
“I don’t want anything to take you down.” He brushes my hair out of my face and plants a relieved kiss on my lips.
“Besides, Drea rescued me.”
He turns to his companion, patting her cheek as she presses into his palm. “Thank you.”
“Hazy!” Braith barrels into me from behind, winding me for a few seconds as she crushes me in a bear hug.
“I’m fine, honest.” I manage to pull away from her grasp. “I accidentally looped back. That dragon is more pissed than before now.”
“No-one is to go back to that house now, okay?” Marco says sternly.
Braith opens her mouth to argue, but I shrug. “There’s nothing left of it now; it’s tearing it apart looking for me.”
“No! There was still cans in there!” Braith whines.
“We have enough. If not, we can always go back to the city.” Marco crosses his arms, though his hands are still shaking.
“What’s going on with the Wyverns?” I change the subject to avoid any arguments. “I saw them all outside while Drea was flying.”
“See for yourself.” Braith nods towards the cave.
Furrowing my eyebrows, I head towards the cave, pushing through the wheat once more. When I enter the clearing towards the cave I’m greeted by several Wyverns. They surround me, their mouths open in a hiss.
“They want to speak to Marine,” Braith scoffs, rolling her eyes in irritation. “They won’t speak to me for some reason.”
The Wyverns hiss at my friends, who back away a few steps. Marco looks reluctant to let me go, but simply holds his hands up. “Be careful.”
“Careful is my middle name.” I flash him a cheesy grin.
“Oh really? I thought it was Matilda.”
“Shut up.”
The Wyverns leave me an opening towards the cave, but none of them look happy to see me. Aqueous, Bluey and Damayanti are outside the cave as well, their eyes large with worry as I approach.
“You okay?” I ask my companion, rubbing his cheek.
He growls something in reply, pointing towards the cave with his tail. Taking that as my cue, I clamber up the rocky slope towards the cave entrance, which is simply lit and damp. Inside the walls are covered in scratch marks from the Wyverns, and I’m hit by the smell of faeces. Rubbing my nose to try to rid myself of the thick, hot smell, I trudge further in. Aqueous follows me closely, his tail wagging as the Wyverns nip at his hide.
The smell gets stronger, until a pair of green eyes suddenly appear in the darkness. A dark shape lumbers towards me, balancing on its wings as its front legs. The Wyvern stops in front of me, and I squint to try to get a better look at it. Its scales are a dark grey, and its body seems to be covered in scars that are still healing. Its tail is also shorter than the others’; it looks as if it has been removed.
The Wyvern looks at me, its mouth opening and closing, and cocks its head to one side. I realise that it is looking behind me at Aqueous. My companion keeps his gaze cool and stony but refuses to move any closer.
“Marine.”
The voice makes me jump as the older me, Marine, appears. Her skin is still clear of Wyrms, but her eyes are not as welcoming as they were last time.
“You’re the one who wanted us to save you.” I look back at the Wyvern, who nods slowly.
“Leave,” Marine says in her deadpan voice.
“Leave? You want us to leave?”
The Wyvern nods, curling its lips to reveal its teeth.
“Scum.”
“Scum? What do you mean scum?” I demand, though the Wyvern looks amused by my anger.
“Egg stealer.” Marine wanders over to Aqueous, who growls and backs away slightly.
“I haven’t stolen any of your eggs!”
The Wyvern smirks and approaches Aqueous, who lashes his tail in return. The Wyvern looks between him and me.
“Egg. Stealer,” Marine repeats, pointing towards my companion.
Aqueous wasn’t stolen; he was given to me by…
Camp.
They’ve been stealing eggs to give to children. The thought makes my head spin. I never thought about where the eggs came from; I was just excited to have a dragon.
“I didn’t know.” My voice comes out as barely a whisper.
“Scum. Egg stealer. Leave.”
Aqueous growls and barges past the Wyvern to stand beside me, puffing his chest out. His turquoise eyes are hard and steely, glaring at the Wyvern and Marine’s apparition.
“How can you talk, anyway?” I demand, ignoring their orders. “The Wyrms can talk, Draca can talk, and you can talk. How?”
Marine and the Wyvern drop their gazes. “Disgrace. Big disgrace,” Marine replies, shaking her head sadly.
“What kind of disgrace?”
“Save. Only way. Save.”
The fact that she’s talking in riddles pisses me off. How come the Wyr
ms and Draca can speak so fluently, but they can’t? What’s different?
What’s missing?
The Wyrms can talk because they…
Ate batches.
The batches of kids that the scientists experimented on – they ate them to get their powers. That’s why they want me so badly, for my power, when I’m ‘ripe’.
“You ate kids.” The words taste like bile in my mouth. “You ate them.”
The Wyvern is unable to meet my gaze. “Only way,” Marine mutters.
“Only way to what?”
“Save.”
It all clicks in my mind at once. Maybe Dr Gard was neglecting the Wyverns. Maybe he didn’t bring them enough food. Maybe they ate whatever they were given. Aqueous looks sickened next to me, curling his tail around my feet and hissing threateningly at the Wyvern. The Wyvern snorts and shakes his head, growling to my companion, who barks harshly in reply. My companion must be worried that it will eat me to gain more power. But if they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have let us leave the lab with them.
“Egg stealer,” Marine repeats.
“Don’t throw that back at me. You’re just as bad, if not worse, than I am. I raised Aqueous; I didn’t eat him.”
This makes the Wyvern growl and hop towards me on its wings. Marine follows it, her gaze as cold as her dragon counterpart’s.
“Egg stealer. Return egg.”
“I can’t return the egg; he’s already hatched,” I hiss back, patting my companion’s neck.
“Return. Egg.”
I shake my head, tears forming in my eyes. “No. You aren’t having him.”
“Return egg!” Marine screams, her face distorting as blue Wyrms crawl all over her.
“Why don’t you let him decide?” I stand on my tiptoes to glare at the Wyvern. “It’s his choice, not ours.”
The black dragon looks surprised, but he rests his head on my shoulder, his eyes shining defiantly.
The Wyvern screeches in fury, but Aqueous doesn’t budge.
“See? He’s made his choice. Is this all you wanted? To make me feel bad for something that I didn’t do?”
“Leave!” Marine screeches, the Wyrms growing thicker and more prominent on her face.
“With pleasure.” I stick my middle finger up at her and storm out of the cave, shutting my eyes to adjust to the light.
Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3) Page 3