Time passed, and relentlessly, I continued to pull my wrists to no avail, the burnt skin splitting. Blood began an inconsiderate rush to my head causing my consciousness to bask on the edge of oblivion. In between lucid bursts, a montage of David and his minions writing on the floor took place, with what I assumed was some newly acquired blood. They started with a basic circle of runes, followed by another, more complicated depiction, and finished it off with the most intricate. With the completion of each rune, the drawing shimmered with a throb of magic.

Locked into this tiny human form I longed to feel the wind under my wings one last time. I hadn't said goodbye to Willow. Who was going to feed my fish? Even worse would anyone ever find my hoard of gold? My glamour spell might unwind in death leaving it open to thieving hands.

Furthermore was it true? Could I open new portals? Leofstan had said too much power ripped open the mechanisms to other worlds, and after I'd absorbed magic for two days straight, my reserves still hadn't filled. If I kept going would it be enough to channel a portal by myself without combining my magic with his?

I sighed. It didn't matter anyway, I was never going to get the chance to try.

Time crawled by.

All I could do was to watch the magic going in and watch the magic going out. All the little pockets left after spell use were now so obvious, that I was mad at myself for not being able to distinguish them before. It seemed so simple now.

With some awkward propping, I could see my feet. They now appeared to be swelling at a weird rate, considering all the blood was draining to my head. Abruptly, they emitted a soft shimmer. At first, I was completely convinced I'd imagined it, so I stared entranced at my big toe. After the angle became too tiresome to hold, I began to retract.

There it was again! Lunging forward I glimpsed a soft pale green-hued pulse. I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching me.

My source was locked away - whatever runes were written on the shackles contained it tightly - so that only left one place for magic to be gathering from. Clenching my fist, the hard surface of the gem greeted my fingertips. A soft pulse flashed over my hand, a green glistening hue.

The link to Leo.

A surge of energy jolted through me, a pounding of my heart, and the flooding of a weight lifting. I might not be able to use my magic, but Leo's would be quite convenient. Although he had told me to leave the link alone. If I used it, he'd never forgive me. But If I didn't, I'd be dead.

The only problem with the idea was I'd only ever managed to send him my magic and never tried taking his. How did I even find it? When I'd sent it to him before, it was down into the emptiness inside, and that was easy enough to find.

Geesh, magic was much easier when you could resort to blasting stuff. I chewed my tongue, thinking.

Leo had described pulling the wrong source of magic as pressure akin to a rock trying to pass through a cheese grater, nothing a bit of force wouldn't fix. His magic originated from the Earth realm compared to my Fae one.

Maybe if I could see Leo it would help, I usually imagined my source of magic as a round glowy ball, so maybe if I pictured him... Who knew what he was doing right now, probably sipping tea in his room? Tightly, I closed my eyes trying to recall what he looked like.

The first thing that popped into my head was a boring stone I'd seen on the floor, and he certainly didn't look like that. His face was much squishier; more biteable, pink and juicy filled with lots of blood. He didn't have much fat on him. Would most like to be chewy. At least he wasn't too hairy with his light hair tousled, and short neat stubble, he wouldn't need plucking or peeling. He was a good size, tall and wide at the shoulders, so I'd most likely be full for a few days.

At first, I pictured him in his boring suit and then realised the nightmarish buttons would be a pain to pick out of my teeth, but then my mind drifted to when I'd seen him in his long linen cloak, the night I'd witnessed him in the Druidic ritual.

It wasn't too dissimilar to one of the corpses standing about in the cavern.

I opened my eyes searching until I sighted the body that reminded me of him, the figure was about the right height and build too. They were moving at the capped shuffling gait as the rest of the reanimated dead, making their way towards me.

I squinted. Leofstan? I glimpsed a pair of golden brown eyes, observing from under the hood and time stopped. He was truly here, not some figment of my imagination.

It was him. And from the scathing glare he was giving me, he was very much alive.

A smile crept onto my face at the thunderous expression he was wearing, as I imagined him telling me off. He would say 'I told you to stay put!' A knot formed deep in my stomach, which was kind of cold and warm at the same time. It seemed to take up all the room inside me but yet, nothing at all. I drew a breath, but my eyes burnt with tears. Pressing my fingertips into the gem I realised all I wanted to do was escape the stupid sacrifice contraption and just hug him and say thank you. And when I'd say 'thank you', I'd mean it.

Leofstan realised that my gaze was following him, and the glare on his face lifted a little, before giving me a firm smile that twitched into the corner of his lips. Then he promptly frowned at me again, scrunching his nose, and pointing his head towards the surrounding bodies.

Oh right! I tried to look as melancholic as possible staring off into the distance, wishing I wasn't about to die. No matter how long I tried to keep my gaze away it was always pulled back each time Leo passed one of the bodies too closely, or he seemingly moved too quickly. I held my breath every moment I wasn't checking.

Eventually, he grew close enough that the shadows of the candlelight flickered across his face, and I glimpsed the markings positioned over his skin. Several more runes peeked under his cloak, drawn over his arms and down through his torso.

Leofstan stood calmly at the first ring of bloody marks placed upon the floor, glancing out the corner of his eye as he evaluated if anybody was close enough in his vicinity to pay any mind. Coast clear, he slowly knelt to press one finger at the very edge of a line, before deftly wiping it away.

Painstakingly measured, he stood and moved to the next ring. This time he took longer, waiting and observing several marks below him. This time he used the edge of his cape to wipe off a complete drawing in a swift movement.

Leo didn't go unnoticed by the body closest to him, which rotated to stare at him with hollow sockets. Delicately Leo tilted his head so that his hood covered his features. The body lingered for a moment more, and the figures which hadn't moved throughout the hours seemed to take notice.

It wasn't as if I could shout at him in warning that he was lacking subtly, so instead I clenched my teeth hoping it was merely an ill-timed coincidence.

Suddenly all the bodies began to move as one, triggered by an unseen cue, each stepping in time with the last until they arranged in a line staring at me. Leo stuck out like a sore thumb. He jolted into the same position, arms rammed straight by his sides.

The decomposing lines stepped aside as David made his way back to the front. Still smiling he grinned like a schoolboy with a haul of candy.

"It's time." He chortled with joy. Keeping my attention on him, and not on Leofstan was proving to be a challenge.

"Then it's your last chance to let me go," I replied steadily.

He simply snorted. "Let's Begin."

His puppets began to disperse, taking a space around the circles. Leo took the opportunity to inch back to hide behind one of the columns in the cavern, and I just about caught sight of his cloak disappearing around the corner of the stone.

David moved before me, his hand clasping a sharp curved blade already coated with the rusty tinge of dried blood. As he raised his hands, the room illuminated in a blaze of colours creating a blinding show.

Power flowed from the dead bodies into the floor and ended with David, where his magic source became muddied with the copper of dirty browns. Anytime now Leo! Pulling at the binding on my wrists I frantically tried to see what he was doing. His head popped around the corner, eyes wide.

"Wait!" he mouthed, holding up a steadying hand. I growled, frowning. I didn't want to wait! Whatever was happening, I didn't like it one bit. Why wasn't he doing something? This was ridiculous. I was a dragon. I didn't get scared! I was a mighty hunter!

The power in the room continued to build in the atmosphere, sending my hair to the edge and the room buzzing. Power swirled in the darkness of the ceiling and the runes upon the floor grew brighter. My heart reached an aching tempo as it tried to beat out of my chest. I clenched my face taking a deep breath, trying to do as Leo had said, and just wait.

"Sotoulan!" David spoke in the old language calmly, raising the blade to caress the tip of my neck. A giant crackle split into the room, and then, like a switch of a lightbulb, there was only silence.

Squinting, I swiftly evaluated the room, only to find David rushing off. "What did you do you morons!" He roared to some of the dead.

Leofstan didn't waste a second, using the opportunity to move from the pillar and sprint his way over to me.

"The distraction won't last long!" He hurriedly whispered, studying the shackles at my feet.

I really wanted to escape, and say thank you. Also, I was curious if he'd found Grahame. But this might be my only chance to tell him the most important thing on the list. "I did it Leo!" I urgently whispered back. He paused confusion evident on his face. I rolled my eyes. Of course, he'd be confused. "I figured out how to see remnants of magic." I expanded upon it.

"What?" He hissed.

"You were right, I just had to stop looking." I hurriedly told him, wiggling my limbs.

"Shhhh." he urged, pressing a hand over my mouth as he crouched to look at the bindings on my wrists. "This is not the time!" he chastised, slightly smiling. He drew his eyebrows together suddenly, face growing serious again. "I told you to stay in the room, and you promised!"

I did nothing of the sort. In fact, I was only asked not to mess with the door charm, which I didn't.

"Seriously Leo, I'm about to die if you're giving me a lecture?" I snapped incredulously.

"Well when you end up in the underworld, I hope you remember that I told you so!" he shouted back. Neither of us was paying attention to the room anymore. We both jumped at the proximity of the voice.

"And just who might you be?" David snarled.