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2
Darkness engulfed us instantly, and an eerie cold captured my being when I looked behind us, finding the four-headed beast rearing back. He halted his advance in front of the entrance of the tunnel, unable to enter. His roar made the cave tremble around us.
Soon, the sight of him vanished behind me, but the image of the evil Sorcerer remained. He stood on the monster’s back. His eyes still glowed green like I had seen before, but hatred contorted his features. One of his hands held the broken staff, while the other gripped the demon mask. His bald head was fully visible, but it was the true sight of him that shocked me even more than his horrid mask had.
Half his face was disfigured by fire. Not the one Vyper had inflicted on him—as the searing along his arms showed—but one that had receded long ago. It reminded me of my scars.
I feared the image of him like that would never leave my mind.
A cooling breeze swirled around Evie and I, and my attention returned to the front.
“It’s over. We are safe,” I whispered against her ear while soothingly caressing her back. I had no notion of how I knew that Raithian and his monster couldn’t somehow follow us another way, or end up on the other end of the tunnel, but I was certain of it.
Gentle fingers reached for her temple, and I brushed her hair back to uncover her cheek, placing a kiss on it. My lips continued along her jaw, and I felt her stir in my arms, leaning away enough to look at me, except it was so dark we couldn’t really see each other. Our foreheads rested against the other, seeking comfort.
“I can’t believe you came for me,” Evie breathed, her heart still slamming against her chest so harshly that I could feel it on my skin. “You went against the Warlock King, against Azazel all on your own, without weapons, without army, not even knowing—”
My mouth closed over hers, swallowing her words, and she eagerly responded to me. Our lips danced together urgently. A hand cradled the back of her neck, my fingers tangling in her luscious strands as I deepened the kiss, needing to convince myself that she was indeed okay, and safe in my embrace.
“I wasn’t alone,” I whispered once the kiss ended. “I had Draco and Vyper with me.”
The kids yelped, as though saying‘That’s right!’and we both smiled. Brushing our noses together, I kissed her once more, enjoying the taste of her on my tongue. She was intoxicating.
I loved that she was straddling me and holding onto me like I was her hero. Although, the way she had fought the Warlock King—as she called him—said she needed everything but that. Evie was more than capable of defending herself, but I would take this moment anyway and enjoy it, because never in my life had I imagined that when faced with such danger, I would risk so much for someone.
Yet, I had done that for her.
Perhaps it was stupid of me to even think so, but I was proud of myself for helping her escape.
The more I kissed her, the deeper she seeped into my being, but then she was pulling away, and rearranging her position.
“Aah!” Evie squealed when Draco took a sharp turn, tensing in my arms while we swayed to one side. Her hand went to her side.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, remembering her harsh landing.
“A little, but I’m fine.”
I could sense the pain in her voice, so I carefully brought her closer to me after she settled sideways on Draco’s neck, nestling between my legs as she leaned fully into me. Her face hid in my neck, and I hugged her to my chest, holding the harness and allowing the kids to guide us out of the tunnel.
What felt like hours later, the pin of light appeared before us, growing the closer we got, until we came out to an open landscape. Unlike my vision had shown, the light of day didn’t fully illuminate the landscape before me, but the moon glowed so powerfully in the clear sky above us that it might as well have been morning.
I had never in my life seen a moon shine so brightly.
Millions of stars shimmered in the night sky, not a single cloud to be found. That should have been enough to capture my amazement… and then I looked down.
Crystal clear waters that allowed me to see through their depths even in the night, extended as far as my eyes could see. What seemed like prehistoric coral reefs, as giant as the Dragons in this world sprinkled the sea in a multitude of majestic colors. Some rose above the surface like trees, but instead of leaves, sea flowers adorned their multi-leveled tops. In bluish and purplish tones, their thick, hair-like petals swayed in the breeze as though they were still under water.
“Wow,” I whispered, truly taken aback by its beauty. I was certain that writers or poets would have done this place far more justice than I with their words, but wow was pretty much all I was able to say.
Evie stirred against my chest in that moment, and my gaze lowered to see her on the brink of waking up. She had fallen asleep in my arms while we flew through the network of underground tunnels. My arms tightened around her, not wanting to let her go, and a slow and indulgent hum rumbled through Draco’s body. It was as though he could sense my emotions, and was as pleased as I was in that moment.
My body protested once more and I adjusted my position on his neck, but it didn’t really help. The aches travelled up my spine to weigh down on my shoulders and the back of my neck. I had been sitting like this for too long; I needed to stand and stretch my legs. We all did.
Leaning forwards as close as I could to Draco’s ears, without waking up Evie, I prepared to ask him if there was a place around here where we could rest for an hour or so before continuing to where their home was. My mouth opened to speak, but before I could, he swerved to the right—his wings starting to descend. Vyper followed.
Okay, that confirmed it. They could actually feel my emotions and needs. How?
Sighing, a disconcerting feeling filled me. There was so much I needed to learn about this world that was somehow mine too. So much I still had to uncover about my parents after Evie confessed they were from here too. And yet, my every instinct told me that I had everything except the time needed to do that.
