AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once Jari didn’t think his limbs were about to fall off, he righted himself to tread water and keep away from the Mist. His left arm was in terrible pain, and a slash the length of his back burned from the salt. It was worth it to see the dragon drift closer and closer to the Mist.
Jari’s last trick, and something Elira hadn’t done. Assuming the Mists existed back then, she wouldn’t have been able to haul Mammon over and toss him through. He noticed something white snagged on the hook at the top of the dragon’s arch.
The pack with the melted items.
Half of Mammon’s face was in the water, and he only had one nostril free to breathe.
“Don’t move,” whispered Jari. “Don’t move.”
The wing twitched a couple of times, and the pack remained stuck. The gold eye stared up at nothing.
“Stay still. Don’t move.”
The dragon slowly entered the Mist, and the gold of his scales dulled. Jari almost expected some terrible beast that was bigger than Mammon to appear out of nowhere and swallow him in one gulp. He went in a little further and thrashed for a second. The control was slipping. Shit. He was fighting.
Instead of swimming or flying out, the glint of his golden body continued to fade, and he was soon nothing more than a vagueshape. The control snapped entirely, and Mammon gave a last, faint roar as something painful yanked on Jari’s brain.
Saltwater burned in his lungs, and he flailed. His head broke the surface, and he realized he’d blacked out for a second.
“Don’t move,” he sputtered.
Nothing tugged on his brain. No glee filled him, and the Mists seemed empty. Not a single sound came from beyond, no scales glinted, and no dragon swooped back out with a roar and golden flames fanning the air before him.
He was gone. The bit that lodged into Jari’s brain had left him, and he made a sound like a laugh and a cry. Aurelius had to be free of it too, right? Dear Elira, please let him be free.
He turned toward the shore and blinked. Shit. He was so far out. He started to swim at a painfully slow pace as his shoulder complained. The cut on his back must've been pretty bad, but he’d surely be fine. He had to go find Aurelius.
His progress was so slow, he was sure he wasn’t getting anywhere for a bit. Far, far down the beach, what was left of the ship smoldered. Gullveig must have come in it with someone. Jari would ask Aurelius what all happened later. Thankfully, the youngest Prince had seemed pretty dead, not that Jari had been particularly concerned about him earlier.
When Jari was able to put his feet down, he could have wept. Finally, his limbs could rest. His left arm would surely fall off if he had to keep using it. Gritting his teeth, he finally crawled up the beach. The waves tried to snatch at his hands and knees, and he made his way to drier sand.
“I will never take dry land for granted again.”
He was so tired, and his head was too light. If he tried to stand, he wasn’t sure if he could do it. Even his eyes were tired and burning from the damn salt. He’d close them and rest for a second so he could make the walk back to the cave and get Aurelius.
Just a second.
Chapter Nineteen
Aurelius felt along the wall. Jari wasn’t dead, and he’d gotten out of the dragon’s mouth, but Mammon wouldn’t forget about him for long. Whatever Jari had done, the dragon sounded like he was in pain. The hall sloped down, and his legs shook as he tried to hurry without slipping.
Maybe he was hurt, and if there was a way out on this side, Aurelius could get to him, although he wasn’t sure what they’d do after that. Everything seemed to be prolonging their inevitable death.
Mammon roared, and Jari shouted at him. Aurelius wished he could see because whatever was happening out there didn’t sound fun. If the dragon attacked Jari again and ate him that time…
Aurelius found a few flat lengths, and the hall seemed to keep leading him down. With absolutely no light, he had trouble finding his way around a corner. Was this supposed to be for Innogen? Did Mammon think it'd be fucking fun to let her run around a maze?
Jari insulted the dragon, because only he would call it a lizard, and Aurelius finally spotted light. The dragon roared, and he heard wings beating the air.
Aurelius hunched by the edge of the gap. What was left of the bed was right below him. When it was whole, Innogen could have dropped down onto it, and it would have acted like a cushion. Aurelius would hurt himself now if he hopped through the hole, and he made a frustrated noise as he slowly climbed down and had to hang from his fingertips. He safely dropped on the moldy remains of the blankets and crouched to look out. The cave was empty except for the hoard and Gullveig’s corpse.
Where the fuck were Mammon and Jari?
The items and Aurelius’s pack were gone too. He inched out and looked up at where the dragon must have flown. Jari, the fool, had probably been holding onto him. No, no, no. Stone scraped, and Aurelius whirled to see the entrance slowly closing.
“Fuck!”
He grabbed his lantern and raced toward it. He grabbed onto the stone that was sliding up, swung himself over it like a fence, fell like a fool, and hurried for the other one which was closing too. He flung the lantern through and had to struggle to pull himself up. The space grew so narrow, he expected to get stuck and crushed.
