Somewhere Up North

Saffra gnawed on her lip, waiting. The cold dread of worry seeped into her bones as quickly as the chill in the cavern. The black surface of the lake, shrouded in darkness, left her itching.

For long minutes she waited, resisting the urge to jump in. Then, finally, a ripple. She blew out a breath, her shoulders relaxing as Bedelth's head breached the surface. "Oh, thank the gods," she muttered. He began swimming for shore. "Anything?" she called. Her voice echoed off the cavern walls. She winced at the sound of it.

"No," he shouted back.

Her stomach plummeted straight to her feet. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive," he managed before wading out of the water. He muttered a word and the heat from his hands dried his clothing.

They'd agreed he would be the one to go into the freezing water. With his dragon fire warming him from the inside out, he wouldn't succumb to its frigid temperatures. Still, it had been near torture waiting for him. Not knowing what lurked beneath the surface. Anything could have swallowed him up, like a giant fish. Did they exist down here?

Bedelth knew exactly what to look for. She'd used their connection to share images of each stone's hiding place, careful to include every detail. He knew what was waiting at the depths of this cavern lake. Still, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you check the whole lake bed, just to be sure?"

"I checked everything, Saff. There was no sign of it. The place it used to be was empty. We are too late."

Her legs wobbled and she sank down onto her bottom, onto the shale beach. Too late. Again.

The first failure might have been a fluke. After searching north and east of Zaikar's lake, they'd come up empty-handed. The green stone hadn't been there, though there'd been signs of it. She'd almost felt its power, remnants of it soaking into the land where it had rested for months.

"The blue stone should have been here," she whispered, biting her lip. It was impossible to ignore the sense of dread settling over her shoulders. The sense of failure. Her breaths came faster and faster until tears clouded her eyes.

"We should leave," Bedelth said, a warning. There were things lurking in this deep cavern that frightened even him. But...she hardly heard him.

"What's the point of it all," she demanded. "Why would the gods show me a vision when it comes to nothing? Maybe it was meant as a warning, not a call to action. Maybe all I've done is send us on a wild goose chase."

Her stomach knotted. Just another bad decision. Like the one she'd made that had gotten Claire kidnapped and sent back through the gate.

Would their absence cause something bad to happen in the capital? Something they wouldn't be there to stop. "Oh, gods."

"Saffra, come. We need to leave."

"What's the point?" she cried again, this time slamming her palm down onto the shale beneath her, hardly caring that it cut into her skin.

Bedelth swore under his breath. "All right, enough of that." Before she could blink, he scooped her up and marched them out of the large cavern. She managed to regain her footing and they walked the remainder of the way out of the tunnels. She blinked against the sunlight.

"Do you need a minute, or are you ready to go?" Bedelth eyed her warily.

"I...go where?"

"North, obviously. For the red stone."

She snorted. "Like it will even be there."

"Saffra," he warned. She heard the years in his voice. It made her feel young, childish. But, could he blame her? They'd been traveling for weeks now, searching. Searching. Days spent studying the terrain, pinpointing iconic places in the landscape to narrow down each stone's location. They'd never had a fighting chance, had they? Kane knew exactly where the stones were because he'd put them there for safekeeping, and it had taken him no time to retrieve them. He was probably ten steps ahead of them already.

"We should just go back."

"We are not. We have a job to do, and we are here to do it."

"Claire and Talon could already be home by now."

"That does not matter to this mission. We fly north, to the ruins you saw, the edifice in the mountains."

She suppressed a shiver. They had left that one for last because it frightened her the most. An abandoned fortress deep within the northern mountains, its ramparts crumbling, its walls all but haunted. "What if we fail?"

"Then we fail." Bedelth shrugged. "At least we did all we could." She looked at him, admiring the steel in his voice. He wouldn't blame her for this, but that didn't stop her from blaming herself. As if sensing her thoughts, even though their minds were not melded, he said, "You need to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" she snapped.

"Self-sabotaging. Taking the weight of things that go wrong. Claire's disappearance—"

"Don't, Bedelth. Just, please don't." She couldn't go there right now. She wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering against the cold.

Bedelth sighed, then pulled her against him. He held her there for several moments, resting his chin on her head. The feel of him calmed her. He took her hair in his fist and gently tilted her head up to look at him. "We do the best we can, and nothing less. That's how we live with ourselves. That's how we sleep at night."

Her chest fluttered, struck by the way he looked at her. The fire in his gaze. The sincerity. The love. Her worries disappeared, replaced by amusement. "That's not exactly how I sleep at night."

"No?" He lifted a brow. A blush crept up her neck. "You sleep because once my fingers are finished with you, you've no energy left for anything else."

"Bedelth," she gasped, swatting at him. Her skin turned hot enough she expected steam to roll off her. He merely chuckled and stepped away, taking her hand and leading her to a safe place he could transform. He was right, they needed to finish this. Even if it ended in failure.

***

Bedelth's scales weren't hot enough to eliminate the frigid chill that settled deep in her bones. The fortress was exactly as she'd seen in her dreams, a dark crumbling thing, sick with rot and decay. The red stone was hidden deep within.

It had taken three days to find this place. It was Bedelth who'd spotted it, with his keen eyesight. She almost wished he hadn't.

He circled, looking for a safe place to land, then descended, talons clicking on the ancient flagstones.

She slid off his back and pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders. Her body shivered anyway. Bedelth was beside her in seconds, looking out over what was once a vast courtyard. One side was a sheer drop straight off the mountain, the walls crumbling into nothing. The other was a curve, cut into the mountain's side.

"What is this place?" she breathed.

"If I had to guess? A stronghold that belonged to ancient dragons."

"You think?" That jolted her.

"Look at the doorways, the openings. Those aren't built for humans. They're ten times the height and width. I could wander its halls in my drengr form, if I wanted."

She expelled a breath. "It might be safer if you did."

"I would, except we would have no way to communicate." He threw her a look, brow arched.

"Oh. Right." They were not yet bonded. Months ago, she'd dreaded the idea. Now, she was eager for it.

She took several steps forward, studying the doorways. Four dark yawning mouths leading into the foreboding edifice. There was no telling which to take, so she started forward towards the one closest to them. Bedelth reached for her wrist, halting her. "I go first," he warned. She would have challenged him, were it not for her racing heart.

She licked her lips, then nodded.

They entered using orbs of light, dimmed to a dull glow. It would not do to disturb the things that slept in this place. The corridor was wide enough for a fully grown drengr, larger even, to accommodate the massive dragons of old.

The air was cold enough to burn her lungs and smelled like rot. The walls were blackened with mold. Some dripped moisture.

Bedelth set a slow, careful pace. The deeper they went, the more she felt the pressure of the mountain. The corridor sloped downward, then disappeared. A staircase, massive enough for a dragon. Each step was several feet wide as it was tall.

Bedelth stepped off the first, dropping down with a quiet thump. He turned and lifted his arms. She regarded him, then looked down. "I'm aware that you can jump," he drawled. "But there are twenty of these. Perhaps save your strength?"

"Good point."

She let him take her waist and lift her down. They carried on like that. Bedelth dropping to the next step, reaching for her waist, lifting her down. When they came to the bottom, she tilted her head back to see the top. The climb up looked daunting.

"Come along." Bedelth took her hand for a brief moment, giving her a tug, then continued on ahead, ever the gallant knight.

The tunnel curved and dropped deeper into the mountain. They passed doorways leading elsewhere. Many into what she believed were private accommodations, massive rooms that once housed individual dragons.

They wandered for hours, until it felt as though they'd descended into the very depths of the earth, deep below the mountains. The air turned stifling. She no longer huddled in her cloak, but let it trail behind her. Even Bedelth's forehead gleamed with perspiration.

The corridor opened wide, spitting them out into a cavernous chamber. She gasped. Their orb lights only illuminated a small section, but she knew exactly where they were. She'd seen it in her dreams. Seeing it in real life was completely different.

The ground was soft sand. Her boots sank several inches. The heat radiating from it made her feet nearly uncomfortable. She barely noticed, too distracted by the sea of colorful fragments, like broken glass. Like someone had smashed thousands of vases.

"Dragon eggs," Bedelth murmured, awed. "Just like the hatching grounds at Irelia Island."

She'd never been to the island, but had heard stories. She blinked, taking it in. Her feet became uncomfortably hot and she was forced into motion. She shed her cloak, leaving it for later. They lumbered through the sand towards the middle of the vast cavern. The crunch of egg fragments beneath their feet was unavoidable.

In her dream, she'd seen the red stone on a square plinth in the middle, protected by a glow of magic. There was the plinth now, cast in dim light. But...there was no stone upon its surface.

She didn't feel even a prickle of disappointment. She'd already known it wouldn't be here. Had already prepared herself. Still, they stopped before it. She pressed her palm to the surface. A faint buzz of magic met her skin. "It was here...not long ago." When she opened her eyes, it was to find Bedelth's gaze on her, his lips pressed together. "We failed."

"There is still hope," he said.

"Is there?"

"The stones in the forest remain protected. He will not have all five and can do nothing against us until and unless he does."

Her shoulders fell. "Still, it would have been a massive victory."

"I know." He reached out and brushed his fingertips over her cheek. A tear. She hadn't even realized she was crying.

The whisper of sand made them freeze. Their gaze held for an instant. Bedelth's eyes went from soft to wary. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted. They whirled, turning towards the darkened cavern. Bedelth's hand went immediately to the hilt of his sword.

She muttered a word, sending their orbs flying high and wide.

Something moved in the shadows.

"Stay close," he warned, making her heart take off in a gallop. "Draw your blade."

She was no good with a blade—not like Claire, anyway. Her skill lay with a bow. But Bedelth had insisted she bring one, a long knife the length of her forearm. The slide of metal sounded as he drew his sverak. She did as ordered.

Another twist in the shadows made her breath catch. A soft, hissing laughter floated out over the sand. Her stomach dropped.

"He knew you would come," a voice whispered. This time, from behind. She whirled, squinting into the darkness.

"Show yourself," Bedelth commanded. They stood back to back now.

More quiet laughter, hissing over her skin. Her heart pounded in her chest, sending a roar of blood past her ears. The shadows moved again, this time materializing into dark figures gliding towards them.

"Oh, gods," she breathed, dread settling over her. "I thought Claire destroyed them."

"She did," Bedelth said.

"She destroyed many of our kind—your bitch queen. But not all of us." They glided closer. "Plenty of us still live to be summoned. Now that she is gone, our master has begun again."

There were four...no, eight. Terrible odds against the two of them, especially when she was no help whatsoever with a blade. Who knew how many more lurked in the shadows, waiting. Bedelth muttered several words, making their orbs flare brighter. The vodar wraths were brightly illuminated. They hissed, faltering for just a moment. The light was not enough to deter them.

"You are too late," they hissed. "But our master knew you would come. He knew you were hunting the stones. He sent us to deliver a message."

"Saffra, you are the light of my life. You know this, yes?" Bedelth's words were urgent, his voice pitched low. Why was he saying this to her now?! Did he think they wouldn't make it? "We have no choice but to fight our way out of here. Can you protect yourself with magic?"

"I..." Her lashes fluttered.

"You will not leave here alive," came another hiss.

"I can," she told Bedelth, steeling her nerves. If she was his light, then she intended to live so that he could say more things like that to her. To the vodar, she hefted her blade and said, "What's the point of delivering a message if you're just going to kill us?"

"Your death is the message," they hissed, then surged forward. She had barely a moment to begin chanting before dodging the nearest wraith. Her words set upon her a protective barrier like an invisible second skin. She dropped and rolled out of reach, continuing her incant. Light burst across the hatching grounds as Bedelth locked swords with a group of wraiths. The others fell upon her.

She fired off a handful of fireballs. Flames struck and exploded against their invisible protective shields. She cursed under her breath, firing several more. They moved closer, forcing her back, away from Bedelth.

"Stay close!" he shouted, but it sounded too distant.

Panicking she glanced around the cavern. Using words for wind, she called up a small tornado of sand around herself, blinding them to her exact location. It didn't matter. Blades pierced the sand cloud trying to swipe at her. She cried out, jumping and dodging. Slowly, she worked her way back towards where Bedleth should be.

The sound of their battle echoed off the walls. Metal clashing, magic sizzling, earth rumbling. The air smelled like sulfur and melting glass.

She moved through tactics, alternating between fireballs and bursts of sand, trying to distract and even blind the wraiths. Bedelth was within reach now. He flowed like water, swinging and dodging. She'd never trained for magical combat. Not like him. He sent pulses of charged lightening to get in close—close enough to kill. With every head that rolled, there was one fewer wraith to fight.

Sweat dripped down her skin, making her clothes stick to her body. Restricting her movements. She turned sluggish. Each incant took a little something out of her. Her breaths became wheezing gasps.

They were down to three now, between the two of them. Her magic was failing. A sword came from overhead, swiping down to cleave her in two. She lifted her own blade, managing a bone-jarring block. She cried out, whirling away, tripping. A hissing laugh sounded. She scrambled backwards on the sand. The wrath stalked towards her. It lifted its sword, swiping downwards. She cried out and rolled, felt the force of the blow graze her skin, graze the barrier she'd put in place. It flickered, but held.

Blow after blow rained down upon her, weakening her magic, then shredding it. She didn't have the time to get up. She could only roll, dodge. Her shield vanished, her magic spent.

She scrambled backwards, swallowing down air, choking on it.

"He will be so pleased when I tell him of your death," the wraith hissed. Its sword came down again and she managed to kick out, surprising it. But the blade grazed her bicep. She screamed, the sound raw and jagged.

A massive blade arced through the air. The wraith's head was removed at the same instant its body disappeared. Everything fell silent. She was too shocked to move. Bedelth stood, his chest rising and falling in heavy bursts, staring down at her with wide eyes.

Gods, she'd never been so relieved to see him.

There were beads of sweat coating his bare arms, his forehead. "Battle rage looks good on you," she blurted, just before a surge of pain exploded up her arm. She screamed again, looking down at the black line that oozed blood and smoke.

Everything went dark.  

💕❤️💕Don't forget to heart this chapter!❤️💕❤️

Dear Reader,

I kind of feel bad for these two. On the one hand, they're getting time together to get to know one another. After everything in the last book, I think they deserve that. On the other, they just went on a wild goose chase and for what?!?

Okay, next week we are FINALLY heading back to Earth. The chapter will be from our baby's POV. Talon!!!!!

See you then!

--Mel