The dragon veered in front of them, blocking their path. An arrowhead tail swung for Sable’s head, and she ducked, rolling over coins and bones before springing back to her feet. She struck, aiming her sword for a muscled thigh, but the beast dodged it.
She swung again, this time aiming for a wing, but the dragon knocked her aside, where she crashed into goblets and crowns. Treasure showered around her, half-burying her bruised body. Sable launched back to her feet, kicking crowns aside, and held her sword aloft.
She felt it then—Killian’s Shield. He cast the magic outside of his body like a net, and when it rippled over Sable, the sounds around her became muffled. Distant.
A ringing began deep in her ears as the magic solidified—as the invisible bulwark snapped into place. She could sense her brother testing his work for weak spots. Blood dripped from her nostrils as raw magic pulsed through the reeking air, singing an ancient and wordless melody.
Light streamed through the cramped space. Against the smothering black that blinded them, it hurt Sable’s eyes. She hissed, flinging up a hand to block it. Peering through the spaces between her fingers, she gasped in sheer horror as she realized—
The glow was coming frominsidethe dragon’s abdomen, radiating beneath onyx scales as it traveled up the strong column of its throat. It rippled as it gathered at the base of that throat, and as the dragon’s jaw opened, Sable gaped at the crackling flame within.
Killian was gifted in his own remarkable ways, but he had not been cursed with the magic Sable had been afraid to use since she was a child. The dragon’s fire…it would kill him. If the Shield could not hold out against the extreme heat, it would be torn to shreds—along with her brother. And Sable had spent so many years being afraid of herself and of her magic that she had no idea how to protect him—how to savebothof them.
Fire could not harm her. Food had never burned her mouth; the flames of campfires had never bit her fingers. She’d once extended her hand over the flames roaring in the hearth at the House of Ice, and when she had removed it, there wasn’t a single mark to tell of the ten minutes she’d held it there, watching as it licked across the back of her hand and wove between her fingers.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would’ve thought it impossible. But she was starting to realize that impossible was nothing but a word. And if she could burn through the skin and bones of guards at five years of age, then she could save her brother tonight.
She broke into a sprint, barely remembering to remove her iron necklace. She stuffed it into her pocket, praying to every old god and the new that she and her brother would be spared.
Only several feet separated them, but the overpowering magic of Killian’s Shield made her clumsy and slow. With the slender iron chain no longer in contact with her skin, her brain swelled against the inside of her skull. All her brother’s focus was spent on holding the Shield in place, so he was entirely oblivious to Sable as she launched herself at him.
Fire and smoke exploded around them. Sable felt them—the weak spots in the Shield that Killian had missed. The weak spots that would’ve spelled death for them both. Heat instantly knifed through the slits, and Sable collided with Killian. The two of them went soaring into a mountain of treasure—through smoke and bright, unending fire.
Sable’s own fire was a stranger to her, so she had no idea how she kept the undulating flames of another creature at bay in that moment, holding it far enough away from her brother and herself that neither of them felt anything. Killian’s Shield flickered as he struggled to hold it in place, but he eventually winced and fully lost control of it.
Sable kept holding on, and as she held on, she also held her breath.
Rivulets of sweat ran down her temples. The heat pressed in on her, torrid and endless.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the fire receded at last, and then they were on their feet again. The dragon roared in anger as they ducked under its thrashing wings and vaulted over the tail that struck like a whip, again and again, as they ran like hell for the cave entrance. It was impossible to see in the dark, but the slightest trickle of fresh air filtering from the south indicated that they were going the right way.
At last, a winter twilight spilled through the mouth of the cave. The sight of it had Sable sobbing in relief.
She had almost reached the edge of the waterfall when she realized Killian was no longer behind her. She whirled on a heel and shouted out her brother’s name. With a shuddering breath, she raised her sword, bellowing a battle cry as she ran back into the cave—
A blast of fire and smoke—and something else, something dark and uncertain—filled the cave again, and Sable was thrown off her feet.
She hit the wall beside the cave entrance so hard the air was knocked out of her lungs. She fell to the floor, and her kneecaps crunched as they struck the stone.
She whipped her head back, braid swinging behind her. “KILLIAN!”
Her legs shook as she forced herself to stand again, her knees barking in pain. She swore she heard her brother’s voice as another wave of fire exploded.
This time, that obscure, nameless power was stronger—an untamed blast of magic accompanied by a light so bright it stung her eyes.
The blast threw her so far back that she cleared the edge of the waterfall.
Suddenly, she was airborne. Wind scraped along her skin, her cloak thrashing around her as she tumbled into the twilit mist.
To the swift death awaiting far below.
~
Nothing except fear existed.
Fear—and the cool mist she spiraled through, blinding her from the cruel end awaiting her.
There was another flash of light behind her. Brighter than the setting sun.
