Chapter 31 Calder
The fear in his voice chills me to the spine.
Zaries turns suddenly, slamming me into Oberon and knocking us both to the hard ground as he pins us down. I’m pushing Zaries off, cursing under my breath, when I hear it.
The screech of a dragon, the inhalation of breath, the beating of massive wings…
I look up just in time to see the black dragon fly over us and spray molten fire on the fortress above.
Everything happens so fast.
The donkey’s bellow.
Alicorns taking to the sky for battle.
A horn blowing loud and long, signaling the attack.
Calder screams.
I watch it unfold like a nightmare in slow motion, yet it's happening far too fast to process. My donkey rears, eyes wild and braying in sheer terror as the dragon's tail whips by us. The dragon circles back, her massive wings sweeping against the side of the mountain, sending a deadly rain of stones cascading over us.
Calder reaches for the stem of the rose just as the donkey's back left hoof slips on the loose gravel. The creature brays again, frantic and failing to find stable footing.
"Calder!" I scream, my voice raw with panic. My hand stretches out helplessly as the donkey loses its balance completely, teetering on the edge of the cliff. There’s no time to react, no time to save him.
His eyes lock onto mine, wide and terrified, a silent plea for help.
Yet I can’t stop the inevitable.
The path beneath them crumbles like fragile parchment under the combined weight of the donkey and Calder. The donkey falls first, its agonized bray fading into the depths below. In a heartbeat, all that’s visible of Calder is his hand, white-knuckled and straining, clinging to the jagged edge of the mountain.
"Anara!" he cries, his voice a mix of fear and desperation. His fingers dig into the loose rock, but I can see he’s losing his grip. The sound of stones breaking away fills the air, mingling with the dragon’s relentless above.
I try to scramble toward him, my heart pounding in my ears. "Hold on!" I shout, though my words feel empty against the enormity of the moment. I’m struggling to get up, struggling to untangle myself from Zaries and Oberon to help him.
“Anara, you can’t!” Zaries says, holding me down.
“Hang on, kid! We’ll get you!” Oberon roars, but it doesn’t matter.
The rock that Calder is holding onto shifts, splits, and shatters.
Calder disappears. He screams.
And screams.
And screams.
“No,” I whisper, staring at the spot he was just clinging to in disbelief. “No!” I cry. Finding strength I never knew I had, I fling Zaries off me and crawl forward on my hands and knees to the edge of where the path used to be.
Someone grabs me, maybe both of them, and tries to haul me back, but I can’t stop. My frozen fingers grip the edge of the path and I pull myself forward.
Calder has to have found another grip.
He’ll be there, hanging on, and I’ll be able to pull him up!
I look over the edge and see nothing but white, churning clouds.
“No…no, no, no..”
There's a ledge he could have caught just below me, but the only thing there is the golden rose he lost his life for. I reach out and grab it, squeezing so hard that the sharp thorns pierce through my gloves and stab into my palm.
“No, please,” I beg, searching the nothingness below as my body begins to tremble uncontrollably.
The dragon above screams, almost seeming to laugh at what she’s done. I turn my eyes to the sky and watch her fly away as if she has no care in the world. As if this is fun for her.
Thundering wings get louder, but this time it’s feathered ones and not scaled. The armada of alicorns close in around us, a few landing behind, one landing on the other side of the path.
I pull myself to my knees as the first wailing sobs escape my throat.
A jet-black pegasus with a shining obsidian-colored horn faces me, its wings fanned out. It turns, snorting in fury, and reveals its rider.
“The mountain has taken its toll,” Thorne says grimly. His face is turned to me, his eyes still blindfolded, but I know he’s looking straight at me even if he isn’t blind. “Someone always dies. The path is paved in blood.”
A bitter sacrifice of one so young.
I weep with you, Anara.