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“It is the end,” I say, feeling along the wall and sides of the tunnel for any mechanism that will open a door.
The tunnel cannot end like this. I cannot have led us to a dead end. It makes no sense. Unless they did not finish the construction. Uncertainty gnaws its way through my thoughts when at last I find a switch that I can press.
The smooth wall swings open and reveals the jungle outside. It is dark and raining. The females gasp but I do not move forward, suspecting trouble. Nothing is obvious but none of this is making sense. There is a wrongness that makes my scales itch.
I poke the bushes and growth with my lochaber, hoping to tease out whatever might be hiding before I emerge or put the females at risk. The broad leaves of the plants shift and dump pooled rainwater onto the jungle floor with a soft splash.
The patter of the rain and the shifting of the foliage is the only sound. In the rain the insects are silent and there are none of the animal sounds that fill the jungle when it is dry. While this is all normal, it feels off now. I strain my ears and all senses but find nothing.
“Are we going?” Charlie asks and Belle shushes her.
“Wait,” I order.
I step out of the door, muscles tense, ready for an attack from anywhere. Nothing happens, but I do not act quickly, looking carefully around and poking my lochaber into every bush to make sure nothing is hiding or that there is no trap waiting for us to move ahead.
When I turn back to the door, it is clear that this is a hidden entrance. Heavy overgrowth covers the cliff wall and I am sure that once the door is closed it will blend in perfectly. Right as I am about to motion the females forward, I hear a snap. I raise my lochaber and point it towards the sound.
“Hello Bahr.” My hearts stop, recognizing the voice. “Unfortunate we had to be reunited like this.”
“Kirmanda,” I growl.
The Eye steps into sight standing above the door on top of the cliff. He is dressed in his colorful ceremonial robes and is standing alone, which means that—
I swing my lochaber up, arcing it over my head and around in a circle without taking time to look. It clashes against something hard and metal. The steel rings, the clarion call of battle engaged even as the females give voice to their own fears. Turning into the arc, I lock eyes with Zirthoan. He smiles and shakes his head.
“Well played brother,” he says. “Good to see you have not gotten soft.”
“I will kill you.”
“You will try,” he says agreeably as our weapons fly.
We block one another easily, strike after strike, metal ringing on the wood of the shaft vibrates with the force of impact. I attack with all the rage and anger that I have been struggling to contain. He is part of this outrage. Having at last a target, the dragon surges and with it comes the red of the bijass.
Fighting requires a heightened state of awareness. It is as if I am outside my body watching the conflict but also knowing all that is around me. Except my knowing is too slow. I miss Jkaran slipping out of the Jungle. He has Belle and Asia before I can intervene.
I strike for Zirthoan with all the force I can muster. He barely manages to block the blow with his own lochaber.
“Stop,” Jkaran says.
I glance and see he is holding two of the females protectively in front of himself.
His clawed hand is around Belle’s throat. My blood turns cold as I freeze in place. Zirthoan laughs, an evil sound and my dragon roars. Jkaran’s face is bruised, one eye swollen shut, and when he smiles there is a missing tooth, but that is secondary.
Belle. He is touching Belle.
His filthy, nasty, dirty hands are on her skin. Her eyes are wide but there is a look of confidence on her face. She is not afraid; she knows I will save her. And I will. She is mine.
Zirthoan steps to my side and I lower my lochaber. He takes it then moves away. Jkaran has Belle and Charlie. Zirthoan grabs Asia and stands beside his brother. As I stare at them a sense of calmness washes through me.
The dragon is raging, roaring, and rattling at a cage but it does not affect me. I study the scene, noting the stance of each of the warriors. The bend in their knees, they are off balance, not expecting me to act. I wait, lulling them into distraction.
“You surprise me Bahr,” Kirmanda says, his voice drifting down from the cliff above. “I did not expect you to return, but you have brought us a gift. It is most appreciated, and I will put them to good use.”
I do not take my eyes off the two warriors, but I watch Kirmanda in my peripheral vision.
“You are mad.”
“Mad?” Kirmanda scoffs. “I am sure you see it this way, but if not for me, our entire race would be gone. Do you truly think that is the will of Tajss?”
