“Yes, and he’s been absolutely terrified about your role in all that. After all, you’ve heard what your father and I went through. Neither of us wants you to endure those types of trials.”
Since this cave wasn’t going to explore itself, Shasta put her sword back into a proper guard position and continued forward. What was currently a tunnel appeared to open up shortly, and anything could be hiding in the cavern. Not to mention anything that was hiding in there would know she was coming thanks to this never-ending phone call with her mom. “Well, what do you think, Mom?”
“I rather doubt it’s that simple.”
Shasta rolled her eyes. Somewhere Mother Earth was laughing at her. Here she was, sneaking through a cave in search of someone with the power to kidnap a dragon, with her mom on a magical phone, talking about the one subject she’d been avoiding for months. “Oh?”
“It’s nothing really, just missing you.” The dismissive tone was too forced to be natural.
Shasta took a breath, rounded the corner, and blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the wash of light. Compared to the previous sections of the cave, this one was as bright as daylight. There were lights set up all around the room, and there were more objects vying for attention than her eyes could quickly catalog. Unlike the cavern she’d left, this one did have a sourness to the air, one of death, decay, and fear.
“Shasta? Are you still there?”
“I’m here. Can we finish this later?” To her left was a table. On it was a chunk of flesh she didn’t want to think about too much. Next to the table were racks of wicked knives and blood-crusted pliers. There were also several cages of various sizes, with more at the back of the cavern she couldn’t see clearly yet.
“I suppose. I always thought my mom was exaggerating when I moved out, but she was right. I miss the chaos of having you and Victor around.”
Since sympathy in listening hadn’t worked and she really needed to get off the phone, Shasta tried the tough-love approach. “You are the Premier, leader of all the witches. There’s always chaos, people wanting something from you, and a never-ending stream of witches around to help you manage the clans. It’s hard to get more chaotic than that.” The magical phone bobbed along beside her as she strode over to a cage more than large enough to hold a human.
“True, but it’s not the same.”
When dealing with everything else, her mom was the tough-as-nails witch, the one who could quite literally slay demons, but when it came to family, she was sentimental. “And I will be happy to talk to you as long as you want, but not now. I do have classes to teach and dragons to wrangle.” Strictly speaking, neither of those statements was a lie.
Shasta peered into the cage and bit her lip to hold back a gasp. There were bones on the bottom of the cage. From the pelvis to the feet, it looked human, but the bones of the upper body were bent and twisted. What could only be scapulae had expanded and curved. Tiny bones that Shasta was sure didn’t belong to a human body were resting on top the two scapulae.
“Really? I thought afternoon classes would be done by now.”
And that was the sharp mother Shasta had grown up with. She scrambled for something that would get her mom to hang up the magical phone. “We’re running late today.”
Shasta walked past two more cages with misshapen and twisted bones. The third body still had bits of flesh clinging to the skeleton. The bones coming off the shoulders were larger than on the previous two bodies and almost looked like wings. There was a chance whoever had set up shop here was experimenting on avian shifters. There were tons of werebirds, most of them very closely related to a nonshifting species. Though how the werebirds and all the equipment would’ve gotten out here undetected was a different story.
“I’m sure they could use a short break.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Shasta muttered as she walked around a lumpy rock formation.
“So what can you tell me about the current class?”
There were three giant cauldrons nestled behind the rock protrusion, each of them filled with something dark and vibrating with magic. Shasta didn’t need light to know what was in there. That was dragon blood. Not only was it a potent spell component but it had any number of less honorable uses and its sale was usually tightly controlled by dragons. After all, without killing a dragon, you had to get it to voluntarily give you blood, which meant it could decide how much it was willing to bleed.
“Shasta? Are you still there?”
Shasta swallowed and hoped her voice didn’t crack. “They’re good kids. Not the most competent dragons when it comes to interacting with the human world, but they’re learning.” She took a step back, ready to put some distance between her and the dragon blood when she noticed a log-like shape tucked in the very back of the cavern. It could have been a natural formation, but considering what she’d seen, she had to be sure.
“Oh! I forgot to mention, the new variety of the azalea cross-germinated. Your dad’s so happy; he thinks it can project a magical paralytic field. If it works the way he thinks it will, he’s talking about having them put in around the lodge, giving us another layer of security.”
Shasta crept forward, the glowing magical telephone casting enough light for her to carefully walk across the uneven ground behind the cauldrons. Luckily, the topic was so familiar she didn’t have to go far for the appropriate response. “He’s said that at least twice before. I won’t believe it until there’s proof it works.”
Mom laughed. “He is so excited to test it. He’s hoping if he accelerates the growth, he can have some results in a couple of days.”
“You have to let me know how it goes.” Just a little closer and she’d finally be able to see what was back there.
“You’ll be the first person I tell.”
“Sounds great.” The light fell across the shape, revealing a large, dirt-encrusted bone. Shasta’s stomach clenched. She had a feeling she’d found what was left of the missing dragon. Whoever had captured the dragon had completely harvested it for parts. That meant they were likely using some form of blood magic, and not only could that take someone magically inert and turn them into an extremely powerful sorcerer, but it put them in a class of evil Shasta wished didn’t exist in this world.
“Are you listening to me?”
Since she had no idea what her mother had been saying, she couldn’t very well say that she had heard her. “Mom, I’m working. I need to go.” She didn’t expect to be lucky enough for her mom to take the hint, especially not when she was staring at a pile of dragon bones.
“There’s one more thing I want to tell you.”
“I’m all ears.” Shasta slowly made her way out of the room, ignoring the torture and dissection paraphernalia and the twisted remains in the cages.
“Victor is talking about staying in New York for a few more weeks. He’s had some other contracts offered to him, and he thinks with a little tinkering, they might be able to make the spell work and be able to ward entire cities.”
“That’s exciting. Have you been keeping up with the spell progress?” While Victor took more after their mother, Shasta was surprised that her brother was there alone. Usually with a spell of that magnitude, Mom would want to be involved and therefore in New York.
“He’s sending regular reports. I might take a trip in a few weeks.” A soft rustling of papers drifted across the magical phone line. “Which reminds me, your reports could be a little more verbose.”
Shasta walked into the tunnel leading back to the rest of the cave, her sword back in low guard. “I’m training dragons. What more is there to say?”
“Cord manages more. He told us about individual student progress, how the two of you are doing, and about life out there. Your last report was exactly three sentences. ‘Six students graduated with full marks. As that was the entire class, I have now started teaching a new group, which just graduated from Cord’s class. Cord and I are doing well and enjoying our time in the Dragon Lands.’ That’s not
a report but a memo. I thought I taught you better than that.”
Shasta reached the mouth of the tunnel, stopped, and scanned what little she could see of the area. The path reconnected with the one she’d been on before, and as far as she could see, there was no one around. She stepped out of the tunnel and headed for the path that descended deeper into the cave.
“Mom, I promise my next report will be full of information. It’ll take you days to read, and I’ll detail every moment of my life.” Assuming she made it out of this cave without ending up like that dragon, there would be plenty to talk about.
“Excellent.” A phone rang in the background. “Well, I need to let you go. But be safe. Your father and I love you a lot, and that next report better be everything you promised.”
“Oh, it will be.”
Her mom laughed, and the blue orb vanished.
Shasta breathed a sigh of relief and kept descending into the cave. Ahead, the path appeared to make a large S curve. Shasta took first one hand off the sword and wiped it on her pants, then the next, though that didn’t stop her palms from continuing to sweat. This had been foolish enough when she knew someone was capable of snatching a dragon out of the air. Now any element of surprise was completely gone thanks to the incredibly lengthy phone call with her mother. When she added in the evidence that there was some type of blood magic being used, this was beginning to look like a suicide mission. But the spell that had been guiding her to Matilda and pulled her in this direction was still active. Even though it was fading away, she had to finish searching for Matilda. She was the dragon’s best hope for escape. With a little luck, not that her family was known for having an abundance of that, Shasta could still get both of them out alive.
Her sword now held in dry hands, Shasta continued down the path. The air changed, picking up a familiar scent she couldn’t quiet identify. She inhaled again, but either her nose had numbed to the scent or it had dissipated. After a wary scan of the area, she continued moving.
Now the path was starting its long S curve. A few steps farther along, a scrap of wind brushed against her, bringing with it a stronger whiff of the scent. Shasta sniffed. It wasn’t a pleasant odor. Musky, acidic, and—she sniffed again—with hints of coffee? Matilda had downed a vat of coffee that morning, and this would be about the right time for her to have terrible coffee breath.
Shasta hurried forward. If she could smell Matilda’s coffee breath, the dragon couldn’t be far away. She peered into the darkness on each side of the path, unable to see more than a few feet. It felt like there was plenty of room for Matilda to be on one side or the other of the path, but then she couldn’t see that far, so it was hard to be sure.
Another wave of coffee struck her. The dragon had to be close. Shasta looked to the left and saw nothing but a few feet of stone and then complete darkness. However, to the right, relative flat ground was illuminated by the closest light. With the way the path had curved away from the cave wall, odds were there was a large area over there, and given the direction from which the stale, coffee-soaked air had been hitting her, that was her best bet for Matilda’s location.
Now that her mom’s spell was gone, she needed some source of light. She pulled the flashlight out of her pack and flipped it on. Nothing happened. She poked the button again. Still nothing. She shoved it back into her pack. That was just typical.
With an aggravated sigh, she paced back to the last torch. Like the others, it wasn’t really a torch at all but more of an electric lantern on a stick. It was even set into a circular base. Shasta put one foot on the base and jerked the light out. With her sword in her right hand and the torch in her left, she took a deep breath and left the path.
As she’d expected, the ground was mostly level with strips of sand between bare rock. Over her footsteps, she thought she could barely make out a whoosh of air through draconic nostrils. Another wave of stale coffee washed over her. She was heading in the right direction; now she had to find Matilda.
The ground angled down again. Underfoot was a mix of sand and rock but no hint of water in the air. Shasta suspected this area had once been a pond, though the torch didn’t emit enough light for her to get a good view of the area. Then she heard it, a soft wheezing inhale and a whoosh of air, followed by the worst coffee breath she’d ever had the misfortune of sniffing.
Abandoning what little stealth she’d managed to reacquire since getting off the magical phone with her mom, Shasta trotted forward. The light revealed a claw. Shasta held her breath, hoping that it was still attached to the rest of Matilda. She edged forward until she could see an amethyst-scaled foreleg. Overall, the leg appeared to be in good condition, though there was a bloody patch where several scales had been ripped out of Matilda’s flesh.
A thick metal band encircled the dragon’s leg above her paw and attached to an equally sturdy chain that was somehow bolted to the floor. It pulled the leg out at an angle that made Shasta wince. She held the light out farther. Both the iron band and the chain had runes, powerful symbols that could form spells, etched in them. Under normal circumstances Shasta wouldn’t believe a chain, no matter how sturdy it appeared, could hold a dragon. For one, it was metal and most dragons could breathe plenty enough fire to melt it, and two, dragons were strong. Really strong. In this case, whatever spells the runes created were what held the dragon in place. Given enough time, Shasta could read them and figure out exactly what the spell was, but for now she had to see if the rest of Matilda was here and why the dragon hadn’t said something to her.
“Matilda, can you hear me? It’s Shasta. I’m here to rescue you. If you can say something, please do.”
The only response was another dragon-sized wave of stale coffee breath. Taking it as a really good sign that Matilda was still breathing, she followed the leg to Matilda’s shoulder where yet more scales had been removed. After drawing in a steadying breath, Shasta went to the dragon’s neck, where she found yet another rune-etched band attached to the ground by chain links that were the size of Shasta’s torso. If the rest of her limbs were bound the same way, not only were her legs stretched out at painful angles but Matilda was unable to so much as lift herself off the ground.
As she walked closer to Matilda’s head, she kept up a soft stream of chatter. “Don’t be alarmed. It’s Shasta. I’m here to help you.”
Where neck became head, she saw yet another band and chain but thankfully didn’t see any blood. However, this band was different. There were smaller chains branching off it in the direction of Matilda’s face.
After taking a moment to study the web of chains, Shasta forced herself to continue her mantra. “It’s me, and I’m gonna get you out of here.”
The light finally fell across Matilda’s head. One eye was open, locked firmly on Shasta, but the rest of her was a network of chains. They crisscrossed Matilda’s face, some encircling different parts of her snout and even attaching to the ground. The ones around her muzzle were wrapped so tightly that the flesh was puckered up on either side. There was even a set of chains that went from Matilda’s lower jaw to the tips of her horns. To speak, she’d have to break her horns.
Shasta bit her lip. Even if she could get through the spelled metal, releasing Matilda was going to take quite a bit of time and cause more than a little pain. But there was an order to these things. She looked Matilda in the eye. “Blink once if you know who I am.”
Matilda blinked her eyelid.
Shasta breathed a sigh of relief. “I am going to get you out of these chains. Do you know if there’s a key?”
This time Matilda blinked twice.
“Well, it was worth a try. Have you seen the person who took you?”
One blink.
“Any idea where that person is now?” Shasta momentarily wondered why she bothered to ask. It wasn’t like the tied-up dragon could actually tell her where the person was even if she knew.
Two blinks.
“Well, hopefully they’re far, far away. I’m going to wor
k on these chains.” As soon as Matilda blinked her understanding, Shasta crouched down near where a smaller chain attached to the floor.
All around the dragon’s head were metal plates bolted into the rock of the cave. In the center of each plate was a loop to which a chain was attached. At first the bottom chain links looked lumpy, but Shasta put the light right next to it. It was one of the links with the side that could be unscrewed. Shasta reached toward the chain but hesitated. Some of the runes etched in the metal could create spells specifically designed to hurt anyone who was not keyed to the spell. In that case, it would try to hurt her when she touched it. Unfortunately, she was out of magic, so she couldn’t simply probe it to figure out what it was, and with the number of runes on each piece of metal, it would take her hours to figure out the spells. That would have to be plan B.
Dismissing her sword, she laid the electric torch on the ground and reached for the link in the chain. She touched one finger to it. It didn’t feel hot, but some of the worst burns came from things you couldn’t feel, at least not right away. When, after the count of three, her finger still felt perfectly normal, she grabbed the link with her left hand while quickly retracting the movable part of the chain with her right. Bit by bit, the link opened up until the gap was finally large enough to allow another link to pass through it. Shasta twisted around, slipping the remainder of the chain out. Releasing one chain didn’t free Matilda, but it was a start.
Earth Born (The Earth Born Cycle Book 1) Page 11