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“And the windows are open, or I’d be roasting here. I guess you don’t mind the heat, but I do.”
Naia smiled at his attempt at levity. To be fair, she usually felt just as hot as anyone else, except when it came to her own fire, or maybe even other dragons’ fire, except that she had never experienced it. Now the body was gone, something that wouldn’t be possible with a regular human or animal body, and she knew how long a wild pig took to roast. Odd magic.
“Can we go?” Her father asked.
That would be wise, before the guards opened the doors, although they weren’t even attempting it. Something then came to her mind. “Why do you think he was up here? It’s as if he wanted to see something.”
“Maybe. I think we can leave now.”
Naia looked out the window at the cliff surrounding the castle and, further away, bare plains with no houses or people, unsure of what anyone would expect to find. Or it could be something in the sky. Dragons? Or something more sinister?
“Yes. Let’s go.”
She took his hand and felt that strange darkness involving her. One thing she knew: this wasn’t over.
* * *
Fel took a deep breath,almost regretting having contacted his sister, fearing she’d do something reckless. He was glad to see Leah, but also horrified that she was now sharing his fate, trapped here.
She had her eyes closed, thinking, then stared at him. “I can feel it. My magic. I think I can get you out.” She glanced at the others. “We can return with help.”
“See?” River was standing near them and chuckled. Hopefully nothing inappropriate was going to come out of his mouth, but Fel doubted it. “Look at what the need for privacy does to people.”
Fel wanted to tie the fae’s horns together.
Tzaria was standing close to them as well, and whispered, “If you do manage to leave, find it.”
The egg, she meant. “How?” Fel didn’t think he would be able to find anything in this gigantic castle.
“Wait,” River said. “It has to be here, at least not far. There’s a dragon to mask its magical signature, there’s a magical trap to ensure anyone who comes close can’t do anything.” He turned to Tzaria. “How big is a dragon egg?”
She shook her head. “We reproduce in human form. A dragon egg is a magical encasement for the dragon form.”
“How big?” River insisted.
“I’ve never seen one,” the woman said.
River frowned. “And yet you were sure you could find it.”
She shrugged. “I can sense dragon magic.”
Fel and Leah exchanged a glance, as she seemed to realize that finding this egg would be next to impossible.
River then got close to Fel and whispered, “It’s under our impaired friend, Kaneyo. There’s a compartment there.”
“How do you know it?” Fel asked.
“I… sense it, not know it. But we’ll need our magic. Yours, to reach it, and maybe mine, to ensure the dragon won’t try to stop us.”
From the corner of his eye, Fel saw a blast of fire coming in their direction. He barely had time to push Leah away. The blast almost hit River, but now the fae was standing still, staring at the dragon, who didn’t try to burn him. At the same time, a host of sensations came back to Fel. The room came alive with an energy he knew well: metal magic. He pulled back his hands.
Meanwhile, without moving his stare from Kaneyo, River said, “Now. Go, Fel.”
“I’ll get the egg.” Then a new clarity hit him. “Naia is after Cynon.”
River stared at Fel wide-eyed. “She what?”
At that same moment, another blast of fire came towards River. Fel pulled a panel from the wall, but couldn’t move it fast enough to block the fire. Horrified, he watched the fae engulfed in dragon flames. Fel looked again, unsure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. River was not burned or hurt. He stared at the dragon, and said, “Go. I’ll keep him still.”
