“Are you sure about this?” Lengwin asked from horseback as they readied the column to move.
“You will be fine,” Gersius assured him as he stood beside him. “We should be gone no more than five days.”
“But we just started the march,” Lengwin argued. “It seems inappropriate that you're leaving it right as it begins.”
“We are leaving now because this is the least dangerous part of the journey,” Gersius reminded him. “It will be much riskier if we go when we're closer to Calathen.”
Lengwin nodded. “You're right, of course, but can we trust this stranger?”
Gersius wondered that himself. The strange man who delivered the armors never did say who he was. Now they were preparing to chase after a sword solely on his say so. Still, the fact that he had the armor and an almost unnatural knowledge of the order of Astikar marked him as somebody special. Lengwin even commented on the man's description, saying he sounded familiar.
“I can’t help but feel we should trust him,” Gersius said. “Something compels me to believe he has our best interest at heart.
Lengwin nodded and looked down the road. “You will be able to find us when you return?”
“We will fly back to the road and follow it until we find you. We plan to fly through the nights with no stops.”
Lengwin shook his head and glanced at Gersius. “You really don't need to sleep at all?”
Gersius shrugged. “I haven't felt tired in weeks. Lilly says if we stay up long enough, we will feel desperately tired and sleep for days.”
Lengwin smiled and let out a brief laugh. “It is hard to believe the things I have seen in the past week alone. You walked into my temple, and the world completely changed.”
“Hopefully, it will be for the better in the long run,” Gersius said. “Unfortunately, most change comes at a cost, and it is usually paid in blood.”
“We have already started paying,” Lengwin said as he thought back to his assassination attempt, and the innocent men who died.
“Mingfe will lead the order of Ulustrah while we are gone. The priest of Astikar I picked will deal with the militia.”
“Who is going to look after your new acolytes?” Lengwin asked.
“Kilgian is going to watch over both groups and ensure they are behaving. He will make sure they do their chores and help with the camp.”
Lengwin nodded and looked back to him. “Well then, good luck. May Astikar bless your steps.”
Gersius nodded back and walked away. He made his way into the field where Lilly, in her dragon form, waited with Thayle.
“Are we ready, then?” Thayle asked.
“He will keep the column moving while we are gone.”
“How long did you tell him we would be away?” Thayle asked.
“Five days,” Gersius replied. “That should be more than enough time.”
“Assuming we find this cave right away,” Lilly said. “And then it’s not too deep.”
Gersius looked up at her as she towered overhead. “What do you mean too deep?”
Lilly lowered her head to look at him from his level. “Some caves are enormous complexes that stretch for miles. Some dragons dig labyrinths to confuse intruders and hide their true lairs. Some go very deep into the earth where the rock is warm. My mothers is both. Her cave is riddled with dead-end passages, and her actual lair is very deep.”
Gersius glanced at Thayle and saw her shrug.
“I guess I expected it to be a simple cave, but your right, it could be a something much more,” he agreed.
“Well, there is no way to know unless we find it,” Thayle said.
Gersius helped Thayle up into the saddle. In preparation for the long flight, he ran an additional rope through the metal rings around the saddle's edge. This allowed them to brace their legs under the rope to hold them in place tightly. An additional rope ran over the saddle to help pin Thayle to his chest and secure them both. Once they were both secure, he put his arms around Thayle's waist.
“I can feel you over the bind,” he said. “You like this.”
“I have to sit pressed firmly to my husband's chest while he holds me tightly. What's not to like?” Thayle replied.
“You know I held you like this before you were our wife?”
“And If you could have read my mind back, then you would have known I was enjoying it just as much.”
“Hmm,” he said with a smile as Lilly spread her great wings.
Lilly took to the sky with a deep flapping the whole army heard. She was careful not to fly over the horses and panic them as she headed west.
Much of the day was spent watching the land go by as they flew across the endless sky. Below them, the world looked distant and remote. They felt detached from the troubles that plagued its surface.
“How often did you fly for this long?” Thayle asked.
“A few times a year,” Lilly replied. “I would circle over the mountains or go far to the south. When I visited my mother, I often flew for the whole journey.”
“How long did that take?” Thayle asked.
“Five days,” Lilly replied with a glance back.
“Your mother five days constant flight to the east?”
“She is very far away,” Lilly said.
“That has to put her near the ocean and the silver isles,” Thayle said.
Lilly considered it a moment in silence. “I know there is a huge expanse of water almost a days flight further east. I suppose that is a sea.”
“Your mother lairs very close to my homeland,” Thayle said. “But I don’t recall anybody ever talking about a dragon.”
“I doubt anybody would,” Lilly said. “My mother was paranoid about keeping her presence a secret. She made her cave in a mountainside that faces a steep ravine. There are no human settlements nearby at all, and she forbade us to fly in any direction where there were settlements.”
“Why was she so secretive?
“I have no idea,” Lilly replied. “It’s another mystery about my mother I never paid any attention to.”
“We will ask her one day,” Gersius said.
Lilly let out a slight laugh. “I hope you have a strong resolve. My mother is much bigger than I am. She makes me look tiny.”
“I can see past her size,” Gersius said. “If she is your mother, then she is likely every bit as beautiful.”
“Oh, your so sweet,” Thayle said.
Lilly nodded. “I suppose she would like to hear a compliment like that.”
“Every girl likes a compliment like that,” Thayle said.
Lilly felt confused over he bind, and Thayle leaned over to pet her back.
“What’s bothering you, sweetheart?”
“My mother is,” Lilly said. “The more I think about her, the more I wonder.”
“You wonder what?” Gersius asked.
“If she was free of the curse,” Lilly said. “She said things I would never have said while under it. She kept things I would never have kept. She was so specific that we needed to avoid humans. When I was old enough to leave, she told me I needed to go far to the west. She told me where the valley was.”
“Your mother knew about the valley?” Gersius asked.
Lilly nodded her head in flight. “She said I needed to wait there.”
“That sounds ominous,” Thayle said. “Could she have known Gersius would come for you?”
“I don’t see how,” Lilly replied. “And that was over five hundred years ago.”
“I would not be surprised to find out she did. Too much of what we have done has turned out to be part of a larger plan,” Gersius said. “Even the path we are on now is part of that plan.”
“A plan the divines haven’t cared to share with us,” Thayle said. “They will tell us where to go next, but not why.”
“Are we sure we can trust the divines?” Lilly asked.
Thayle and Gersius were silent for a long moment.
“I suppose I never asked myself that,” Thayle said. “To me, Ulustrah always did wonderful things through her blessings. I never saw her as anything but trustworthy.”
“I was the same with Astikar. Not to mention, my family has served him for generations. I was raised on the belief that he is honorable and kind.”
Balisha seemed like she was honest with me,” Lilly said. “But I couldn't help but feel there were things she wasn't telling me.”
“Ulustrah flat out said there were things she couldn’t tell me,” Thayle added.
“There is clearly a larger plan at work, and the Father Abbot and the Doan are somehow a part of it,” Gersius surmised.
“And the three divines are all behind it,” Thayle said.
“I wonder if some of the others are helping?” Gersius mused.
“How many others are there?” Lilly asked.
Gersius considered the answer a moment and tightened his grip on Thayle.
“I have heard it said there are twelve prime divines and one who stands above them all, but I can name at least sixteen.”
“I can name a few as well,” Thayle said. “And I bet I know names you don't. Have you ever heard of Tidus, the ocean father?”
“No, I have not. Have you ever heard of Celestine, the mother of stars?”
“No, but I love that name!” Thayle said. “How about Tempestus, the god of storms?”
“The god of storms?” Gersius mused.
“I suppose when you live on an island, you know about the divines related to the oceans and storms,” Thayle said.
“So, there could be a lot more divines?” Lilly asked.
“I suppose there could be many more,” Gersius said. “I know that almost every culture has a divine or two that is almost unique to them.”
“Ayawa's people worship the earth mother,” Thayle pointed out. “She isn't even considered a divine. She is something of a different order.”
“Many people from my homelands don't believe the earth mother is real,” Gersius said. “But when I met Ayawa, I changed my mind.”
“She is very committed to the belief,” Thayle said. “and awfully stubborn about Lilly.”
“What do you mean she is stubborn about me?”
Thayle shook her head. “Ayawa has deep concerns about what your relationship with Gersius might mean. She and I argued about it several times. She accused me of meddling in your relationship when it was in turmoil.”
“We have spoken about this before,” Gersius said. “Ayawa's people have a history that dragons destroyed the culture they once were. It happened because men and dragons formed some kind of union.”
“Could that have been back when Balisha first sent them to speak with men?” Lilly asked.
“For all we know, it was Ayawa’s people they first went to,” Thayle said.
Gersius nodded. “Her people's belief now focuses on the natural order as represented by the earth mother. They believe she caused the destruction because men and dragons violated her natural order.”
“So, she is afraid that will happen again?” Lilly asked.
“Her people lost so much of their history they can hardly claim to be ancestors of the ones who came before,” Gersius said. “It is hard to say what they are truly afraid of. All they know is a disaster came on them that nearly exterminated them, and they are still recovering from it to this day.”
“A disaster related to dragons,” Lilly reminded him. “I can understand why she is concerned, but she did bless our union.”
“That’s right,” Thayle said. “She gave you a crown.”
Lilly nodded. “So whatever she fears, she wasn't strong enough to keep her from wishing us well. That has to mean she has a loving heart and wanted to see us happy.”
“How does she always see the good in things?” Gersius asked.
“She is gifted with love because she is a love dragon,” Thayle said as she rubbed Lilly's neck.
“I am an ice dragon!” Lilly corrected firmly. “I only love my chosen few.”
“For now,” Thayle teased.
Gersius shook Thayles waist a little, and Thayle turned to smile at him.
They spent the rest of the day and night flying to the west in search of the mountain range. When the morning's light began to awaken the world, Lilly still flew searching for the distant peaks.
Thayle was turned to her side and curled into Gersius's chest, sleeping. He held on to her firmly as he watched the horizon for changes. The sky was choked with billowing clouds that Lilly flew well under. In many places, blue sky could be seen between the towering masses.
Gersius rested his chin in Thayle's hair and closed his eyes as sh breathe din her scent.
“You love her so much,” Lilly said silently over the bind.
“Of course I do. Look what she is doing for us. She is going to give us children out of her love for you and I,” he silently sent back.
Lilly glanced back at him before turning her head forward.
“Do you love me any less because I can’t give you children?”
“Not one bit less,” he said so firmly it echoed in her head.
“But you were so angry the day you found out,” she insisted.
“Lilly, I was surprised. I had a wife. I was thinking ahead to a family. I have to admit I had my doubts already. You were a dragon, but I was trusting that your human form was human enough. When I found out, I was angry that I thought you were hiding it from me.”
“I wasn’t hiding it,” she said.
“I know, you and Thayle told me. It makes sense you wanted to be sure before you told something that might be very hurtful.’
Lilly was silent for a moment before she continued.
“But, what if I could give you children? Would you love her any less?”
“No. Why would your ability to have children change how I felt about Thayle?”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Lilly turned her head so she could see him with one eye. “I worry. I don't understand human emotions fully. I feel like our need for children was a big part of why she is our wife. I sometimes wonder, if that need changed, would our relationship change?”
“Of course not,” he said. “And what a silly thing to worry yourself over. We already know you can't have children. To make yourself upset over what might happen if you could is pointless.”
Lilly nodded her head and went back to looking forward.
“I think I see mountains,” she said.
Gersius had to squint to see anything. There on the far horizon was a change of color that looked like a blurry white line. As the hours drifted by, the line grew, becoming a tremendous jagged band of white peaks.
Thayle awoke with a yawn and looked out as they flew alongside the steep faces of rocks.
“How long was I asleep?” she asked when she noticed the distinct change in scenery.
“Eleven hours, maybe,” Gersius said.
“Eleven hours!” Thayle repeated. “Why would I sleep so long?”
“You probably needed a long dragon rest,” Lilly said. “You and I spend too many nights awake together.”
“That's because you like to kiss and snuggle instead of sleep,” Thayle teased.
“I sleep sometimes,” Lilly argued. “But when you're in my arms, I just want to have you.”
Thayle smiled at that thought and looked around.
“So is the mountain range we were looking for?”
“We think so,” Gersius replied. “We are looking for the broken peak the stranger spoke of.”
Thayle looked out over the snow-capped spikes to see if she saw anything.
“This mountain range is huge,” she said.
“It is the range that splits the northern wilds from the frontier,” Gersius replied. “People won't settle this far north because of the threat of elligor or giants.”
“And yet we plan to land in it,” Thayle said as she looked around.
“Just in one cave,” he corrected.
“Because elligor and giants don't live in caves,” Thayle teased.
“We will deal with the dangers as we meet them,” he said.
“I think I see our peak,” Lilly said, interrupting them.
They turned to look over Lilly's long neck to see a large mountain with a top that sank in at the middle, creating a bowl shape depression. There was a shallow snowy slope on the side that ran up a sheer rock face. There in the face was a dark opening about twice the size of Lilly.
“That has to be it,” Gersius said.
“Thank goodness it is small,” Thayle said.
“Why do you care what size it is?” Gersius asked.
“It proves the story of the leviathan isn't true,” she replied.
Gersius laughed. “After all the things we have seen so far. You are going to say that one can’t be true?”
Thayle shook her head as Lilly began to descend.
“Please can one story about the horrors of this world just be a story,” she said.
Lilly landed in the slow a good hundred paced from the cave and folded her wings.
“Should I get closer?” Lilly asked.
“No,” Gersius replied. “Let us get our armor on, and then put the saddle out here.”
“Why leave the saddle out here?” Lilly asked.
“I don't want you to have it hindering you if you have to move around in narrow tunnels.”
“Is it safe to bring her into such small tunnels?” Thayle asked.
Lilly peered across to the opening, her eyes narrowing as she studied it.
“It’s only a little smaller than my tunnels in the valley, and it might get wider inside.”
“What if it gets tighter?” Thayle asked.
It was Gersius who answered her. “I will take her dress from the saddle and carry it in my backpack. If it does get tight, she can change and go on with the dress.”
“I hate to think of her having to face something horrible in a dress,” Thayle said.
“We don't know what is inside,” Gersius replied. “For all we know, the cave is empty.”
Thayle looked to the distant tunnel and sighed. “Well, let’s get dressed.”
The put on their armor and set the saddle aside. Gersius led the way with Thayle at his side and Lilly right behind watching from overhead. There were no tracks or disturbances in the snow, and the walls of the cave were icy for a good thirty feet. It made an uncomfortable steep descent down a twisting tunnel that seemed unusually round. After many minutes of walking, it opened into a larger chamber.
This was an egg-shaped room with a domed ceiling and a small pool of water at one end. There appeared to be three tunnels out of the room. One was a shaft that went nearly straight down. It was narrow enough in places that Gesrsius wondered if he would fit through it. Another was a little smaller than the tunnel they came down. It twisted away just past the water into the darkness beyond. The last tunnel was slightly larger, with a ceiling that once had stalagmites. The points were broken as if something scraped them off the ceiling, and laying on the floor as rubble.
“We need to go down this tunnel,” Gersius said as she looked down the wide passage.
Lilly walked up behind him and sniffed the air. “Something smell off with this tunnel.”
“What does off mean?” Gersius asked.
“The air is different. I can't say what it is, though.”
Gersius glanced at Thayle, who only motioned with her head to the tunnel.
He led the way, stepping over the broken spikes. Thayle followed right behind, and Lilly brought up the rear. The tunnel made a gradual spiral down for nearly five minutes before it caused them to stop.
“Are those pillars?” Thayle asked.
At the end of the tunnel stood a pair of marbled stone pillars made of gray and black stone. They rose floor to ceiling soaring up to well over four times Lilly's height. Beyond them, the tunnel ended in a rectangular opening.
“Who builds all these structures in mountain tops?” Thayle asked as they got closer
Gersius put his hand to one of the pillars and looked up its length.
“It has to be dragons,” he said. “I can not imagine humans building something like this here.”
“But why would dragons build this?” Lilly asked. “My mother never mentioned dragons building anything.”
“I don’t know,” Gersius said. “But Numidels temple was built by dragons. So maybe this is another temple.”
“Lilly reached her long neck high and looked out the opening. “There is a room with stonework inside.”
Gersius walked through the opening into what could only be described as a gigantic hallway. It was ten times Lilly's width and five times her height. Every fifty feet or so was a buttress of stone blocks that soared to the ceiling, and then an arch reached out, meeting a matching one from the other side. The floor was made of stone tiles five paces across laid out in a staggered pattern.
“This space was made for dragons to walk through,” Gersius suggested
“I wish I had kept the saddle,” Lilly said. “I have plenty of room to move around down here.”
“I wonder how many dragon ruins are hidden in the world,” Thayle said.
“The world was much larger back then,” Gersius said. “The whole of the north was once kingdoms. I can't imagine what is buried under the forest.”
Lilly took another deep sniff. “That scent is much stronger in here.”
“I can smell something now,” Thayle said. “It’s a sort of sour smell.”
Gersius looked down the tunnel that stretched in both directions. He decided to go right for a lack of any clear direction. They walked for several minutes before they finally found something of interest.
The floor was cracked by a fissure and inch wide. It ran up the wall splitting the base of one of the columns that held an arch above.
“It will not take much to bring that down,” he said as he looked at it.
“Let’s hope the tunnel isn’t collapsed ahead,” Thayle said
He nodded and led on in the darkness.
“The smell is getting stronger,” Lilly said.
The tunnel arrived at a series of stone steps that led down in slow rings. These were designed for the larger feet of a dragon and twisted slowly to the right. As they descended, they found an unpleasant surprise.
It looked like a dust-covered lump against the wall, but the empty sockets of a skull gave it away.
“That's a body,” Gersius said as they drew near. He knelt beside it and picked over the dusty remains. It had no weapon and seemed to have died slumped along the wall. It wore a metal armor made of plates bolted to what might once have been leather. It was clear that its right arm was broken, and so too were many of its ribs. Whisps of brown hair clung to a skull that stared into oblivion.
“So people did come here,” Thayle said.
“These are very old,” Gersius said. “The leather has broken down.” He looked up at Lilly as a question came to his mind. “Could this be a dragon in human form?”
“I guess,” Lilly said. “I assume if I were killed in human form, I would stay human.”
“Why would it have armor on if it was a dragon?” Thayle asked.
“I sometimes think we should get Lilly armor,” Gersius said.
“Why would I wear armor?”
He looked up at her. “Your dragon from can't go into castles or tight spaces. Think about the battle at Lengwin's temple. If you had armor, you would not have been stuck outside.”
“I don't know if I would like to wear armor,” she said and then looked down the tunnel. “I think this is what I am smelling. The air is stale here like it hasn't moved in a long time.”
“So, you smelled this one old body?” Thayle asked.
“No,” Lilly said, looking down the tunnel. “I think there are a lot more of them ahead.”
Gersius stood and led on to find what awaited them ahead.
The tunnel twisted around, and just as Lilly predicted, they began to appear. Bodies littered the steps where they fell untold ages ago. Some of them were torn in two, and others crushed nearly flat. Old pitted spears and bent shields were scattered all over.
“What did all this?” Thayle asked.
“This as a last stand,” Gersius said. “These men were in a line.”
“A formation against what?” Thayle asked, growing more nervous.
Gersius looked at a crushed body and then looked at Lilly.
“Could a dragon have done this?” he asked.
Lilly looked at the body and then put a clawed hand over it. “I suppose it could be.”
“There could be another dragon down here?” Thayle said as she looked around.
“It is a good lair for a dragon,” Lilly replied.
“If we run into a dragon, can you reason with it?” Gersius asked.
Lilly tilted her head to the side. “I don't know. If we run into a dragon in its lair, it is likely to attack immediately. I would have.”
“So, there nothing you can do to get it to listen to us?” Thayle asked.
“If it's female, she will assume I am here to steal her hoard. If it's a male, I could offer to breed with him,” Lilly said. “But I don't want to do that.”
“No,” Gersius said. “That is not an option.”
“I wouldn’t be happy with that either,” Thayle said.
Gersius let out a sigh and started walking again. As they traveled, they saw more and more scenes of death. There were groups of bodies scattered about the steps. Most of them were crushed or badly battered. In places, they found gouges that Lilly put her claws inside, and they could see if she was a little bigger, they would fit perfectly.
“It has to be another dragon,” Thayle said.
“You two need to remember if these marks were made when these humans died, then this dragon is likely bigger by now.”
“Well, I don't feel any better,” Thayle said. “Maybe we can get me a sword someplace else.”
“We keep going,” Gersius said. We have seen nothing but bodies. There is no reason to fear the dead,” Gersius said.
“Tell that to the wraiths,” Thayle said.
“Now those really are stories,” Gerisus replied.
“My people would argue with you on that.”
“What’s a wraith?” Lilly asked.
Gersius looked up at her as he walked. “I person who died with a sort of magical curse on them. For some reason, they remain even after death as a sort of shadow.”
“So they are dead?” Lilly asked.
Thayle sighed. “They died, but somehow their spirit remains. It can be terribly angry and harmful. My people have stories of wraiths haunting old ruins from before the breaking of our island.”
“My people have old stories, but nobody has seen a wraith in hundreds of years,” Gersius said. “If a dragon is rare, a wraith must be nearly unique.”
“You need to visit the silver isles,” Thayle said.
“We will go visit your family when time permits,” Gersius said as he smiled at her. “I want your mother to see what you have become.”
Thayle smiled a as they started walking. They went around a corner and stopped for a new surprise.
“That's a plant,” Gersius said as they stared at a growth of vines crawling up the walls. The leaves were pale green, and here and there, it had small yellow flowers. It reached all the way to the ceiling and started to crawl across it.
Behind it was another large chamber alive with vines, molds, mushrooms, and even sickly looking trees.
“This is impossible,” Thayle said. “Even with a priestess to bless plants daily, they won't grow in the dark.”
“This isn’t another one of those creeper vines?” Lilly asked before she stepped over it.
Thayle scanned the room and saw no sign of the sickly petals, but she did see a strange purple light near the far wall.
“What is that?” Thayle asked as she pointed.
Gersius strained to see it through the growth, but Lilly lifted her head high.
“Something is giving off light,” she said.
They crossed the room, carefully approaching the source of the glow. The plants seemed to grow healthier as they got closer until they finally arrived at a sword.
It hovered in the air with it's point an inch from the ground. It had a shining silver handle with a carved rose for a pommel. Its wrap was black with golden lace, and the crossguard resembled leaves. It had a long thin blade that curved slightly at the end. The metal was a deep green color marbled with veins of silver.
“Is that it?” Gersius asked.
“It must be it,” Thayle said.
As they got closer, they stopped once again as they noticed the strange writing. Written in the stone around the sword were purple glowing runes. They were enclosed in rings that seemed to have been burned into the rock.
“It is warded,” Gersius said.
“Who would have warded the sword down here?” Thayle asked.
“I do not know, but I wish Tavis was here.”
Lilly reached her long neck out to study the strange runes.
“What are you doing?” Gersius asked.
“I can read some magic,” Lilly said.
“You can?” Thayle asked.
Lilly sighed. “I told you both that female dragons like magic. My mother taught me some.”
“You can weave?” Thayle asked. “And you accused me of keeping secrets!”
“I told you I could a long time ago!” Lilly protested. “You two never paid attention to it.”
“Can you read this?” Gersius asked.
Lilly squinted at the runes.
“I know this word says dragon,” she said, pointing to one of the symbols. “This one is never, and this one is undone.”
“Well, that's three out of thirty symbols,” Thayle said.
“I never paid attention,” Lilly said angrily. “I never paid attention to anything my mother said.”
“Don’t get upset, sweetheart. I didn’t mean it to sound like I was disappointed.”
Lilly lowered her head. “I'm sorry. The more I grow with you two, the more I realize my mother was trying to teach me, but I wasn't listening. I am a terrible daughter.”
Thayle put a hand to Lilly's leg. “Love, lots of people make that mistake. You at least have a relationship with your mother. When we go see her, you will get to have a conversation with her like never before.”
Lilly looked at Thayle with a sigh. “Then, I'm not a bad daughter?”
“No,” Thayle said. “You're pretty normal by human standards.”
Lilly rubbed her nose on Thayle's chest and looked back to the sword.
“So, this must be the sword then?” Lilly asked.
“It has to be,” Gersius said. “It is like no sword I have ever seen before.”
“Then let’s take it and go,” Lilly said as she reached out for the blade.
“Lilly, no!” Gersius yelled as she grabbed at the handle.
There was a snapping sound, and Lilly shook for a second. The purple runes pulsed brightly, and then Lilly started to scream. Her skin misted over as if she was trying to transform and then flailed about as her mists suddenly swirled around her. In a flash of light, the sword clattered to the floor alongside an unconscious Lilly.
“Lilly!” Thayle cried as she fell at her side.
Gersius was there in a second unable to accept what he was seeing.
“Lilly?” he whispered.
“She still has an aura, but it's in turmoil,” Thayle said as she put her hands to Lilly. She started to sing Ulustrah's healing song, but nothing happened.
“She is not physically injured,” Gersius said. “This was purely a magical attack. We need to get her back to camp.”
“How do we do that?” Thayle asked. “Lilly flew us here! It will take us over a week to walk back, and twice that if we have to carry her.”
“We start by getting her outside,” he said. “Maybe she will wake soon.”
“My sweetheart,” Thayle cried as she cradled Lilly to her chest and rocked her.
“Thayle, give her to me,” Gersius said as he reached out and took Lilly from her arms. “Get the sword. Whatever that ward was meant to do is spent. Let's get it and get out of here.”
Thayle nodded and reached for the sword. She wrapped her hand around the blade, and the ground shook.
“What was that?” she asked.
Gersius looked around as he held Lilly in his arms. The ground shook again, and they heard a rumbling growl from deep in the darkness. They looked down a far tunnel as two blue light appeared.
“Run!” Gersius said as he bolted off with Lilly.
Thayle ran after him as he raced to the tunnel entrance. They heard a terrible roar, and the ground shook as the stomps of a dragon echoed from down the corridor.
As they climbed into the tunnel, Thayle turned to the vines and began to sing.
“What are you doing?” Gersius called as he stopped to watch her.
“Buying us some time!” Thayle cried. She sang louder, and the vines began to move. They grew and twisted, spreading out and beginning to seal the tunnel.
“I don't have the strength to do it all,” Thayle said as she glanced at Lilly. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. I need your help.”
She tried not to cry as she reached over the binding link to Lilly and tapped her weakened power. With a surge of strength, the vines began to grow in earnest. In seconds, they created a twisting barrier over the tunnel.
When the tunnel was closed, Thayle ran after them, and they hurried up the steps.
“How long will that hold?” Gersius asked.
“A minute, maybe,” Thayle said. “Unless it uses fire, then maybe less.”
Gersius nodded. “We are running uphill. We will not make it out before it catches us.”
Thayle understood. She felt the strain in her legs already as they struggled to climb the oversize steps. Around them lay the dead bodies of the previous victims lending credence to their plight.
When they finally reached the hallway, they heard another terrible roar.
“It’s through the vines,” Gersius said as they ran down the tunnel.
They began to feel the ground shaking again as they ran for their lives. The reached the fissure in the floor, and Thayle turned to Gersius.
“I have an idea that might stop it!” Thayle cried as she ran to his side.
“Whatever it is, do it quickly,” he said.
“Put Lilly down there and come help me,” Thayle urged.
Carefully he set Lilly down and raced to Thayle, who stood by the broken pillar.
“I need you to use wind razor to cut a wedge out of the base of this pillar,” she said.
“That will topple the pillar, but it won't block the tunnel,” he said.
“I am going to stand behind another pillar so it won't see me. I will put a shield disk in the gap and hold it until the dragon is under it,” Thayle said. “With any luck, it will drop on its head.”
Gersius saw the logic and quickly took out wind razor. “Dassk” he said, causing the blade to glow with a blue light.
“Are you ready?” he asked as Thayle got into place.
Thayle nodded as the floor began to shake, and dust began to fall.
Gersius struck the base of the pillar, cutting a swath of stone free. He struck it again, and a wedge of stone fell away, causing the whole pillar to move. A green disk of light formed in the gap, and the pillar stopped moving as the shield braced it in place.
“Go!” Thayle cried. “Pick up Lilly, and move away.”
Gersius sheathed wind razor and ran to get Lilly. His heart lifted when he saw her raise an arm as she stirred.
“Lilly!” he cried as he reached her.
“What happened?” she asked with a weak voice.
A roar echoed from behind, as Lilly struggled to sit up. Gersius threw her over his shoulder and ran down the hall.
Lilly looked up to see the tunnel shrouded in falling dust and debris. She saw two blazing blue eyes coming through the mist, and then everything started to crumble.
Thayle let the disk go just before the dragon passed. The pillar shifted and toppled, falling into the beast that she could finally see clearly. It had scales as black as midnight and a shorter but wide neck. She only caught a glimpse before the pillar toppled, bringing with it the arch ve and some of the ceiling.
Thayle turned to run as the tunnel filled with choking clouds of dust. She looked, and her heart skipped a beat to see Lilly reaching out for her from Gersius's back. She reached back as if to take Lilly's hand a tear falling from her cheek.
Lilly watched in horror as the dragon was buried in the debris. The weight caused the floor underneath it to buckle and break as it collapsed into a deeper tunnel. Thayle reached out her hand as she ran from the falling stones. Lilly screamed, but her voice was drowned in a terrible roar as the collapsing tunnel spread, and the floor beneath Thayle's feet vanished. All Lilly heard was Thayles terrified scream as her voice faded away into the darkness.
“Thayle!” Lilly cried as Gersius turned around to see what happened.
He saw walls beginning to break and buckle all around him as more of the tunnel collapsed. Thayle was nowhere to be found, and she felt like she was moving away from his rapidly. The tunnel was lost in a cloud of choking dust a moment later, and he realized he had no choice but to run.
“Noooo!” Lilly cried as he carried her away.
Book 3 The End.