Chapter 57 ESCAPE FROM DRAKAR
Chapter 57 ESCAPE FROM DRAKAR
ESCAPE FROM DRAKAR
SERAPHINE'S POV
Azrath was slowly passing away. I had to make my choice. If I remained, his people would find me and accuse me of killing Azrath even when the cause of his death was obvious.
I stood up with all the strength I had and ran without looking back. I did not look back when the chamber doors lay shattered behind me and Azrath’s massive body remained unmoving on the stone floor.
I did not stop when my lungs burned or when my legs shook so badly I nearly fell. I ran because if I stayed or if I hesitated even once, I knew I would either kneel beside him and never leave again or turn back and finish what the gods themselves had started.
The narrow tunnels beneath Drakar swallowed me whole. The air was still damp and thick with ash. My bare feet slapped against stone slick with old water and older blood. Every sound was echoing too loudly while my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Then the bond began to tug at me.
It was a violent, twisting sensation deep in my chest, like a hook sinking into my ribs and yanking hard. I gasped and slammed my hand against the tunnel wall to keep myself from collapsing.
Pain that didn't belong to me flooded my mind. Azrath’s pain.
The sensation hit me so hard I cried out, clutching my chest as if I could tear the bond free with my fingers.
“No,” I whispered fiercely, forcing myself forward. “Don’t do this to me.”
The bond answered anyway, speaking through feelings.
I staggered as another wave of his pain crashed into me. My knees hit the ground and for a terrifying second, I thought the bond might drag me back or might turn my body around and march me straight into his arms whether I wanted it or not.
I bit down hard on my wrist until I tasted blood. The sharp pain anchored me, but I pushed myself up and ran again.
The tunnels split ahead into three paths branching into darkness. I hesitated only a moment before choosing the narrowest one, trusting my instinct over logic.
My senses were too aware. I could hear distant roars echoing through the mountain, dragons crying out in fury and confusion. The coup had torn Drakar open, and the entire mountain felt like it was screaming.
I skidded to a stop just as a dragonkin guard stepped into the tunnel, his scales blackened and cracked. When he smelled blood on me, instantly his lips curled back from his teeth.
“There,” he snarled. “The wolf.”
I did not think before I reacted.
Fire surged through my veins, I threw my hand out, and a burst of flame exploded from my palm, slamming into his chest. He screamed as the fire consumed him, his body hitting the tunnel wall before sliding lifelessly to the ground.
I stared at my shaking hand in horror.
I had not meant to kill him. The realization struck hard, but there was no time to process it before I heard more footsteps echoing behind me. I began running again.
The tunnel sloped downward sharply, forcing me to half-slide, half-run. The rocks cut into my feet while my breath came out in sobs, tears blurring my vision.
The bond flared again, almost pleading this time. I felt his body try to rise and fail. I felt the panic he would never show anyone else.
Then the tunnel shook violently, causing dust to rain down from above. A deafening roar split the air, close enough to make my ears ring. A dragon’s head burst through the stone behind me, his jaws snapping shut just inches from where I had been a moment before.
I screamed and hurled myself forward as the tunnel collapsed behind me, sealing the dragon away in the rocks.
The path ahead opened suddenly into a wide cavern. An underground river of lava flowed through the center, casting long, twisting shadows. The heat was unbearable on my skin, but I forced myself onward, skirting the edge of the molten flow.
Another tug from the bond nearly sent me stumbling into the lava. I cursed Azrath underneath my breath.
“Stop it,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “You don’t get to care now.” I said as though he was standing right beside me and listening
At the far end of the cavern, I spotted a narrow opening, barely wide enough for me to slip through. I could smell the freedom that lay beyond it. I was almost there.
A massive shadow dropped from above.
I barely had time to throw myself aside as a dragon landed between me and the exit. This one looked larger and far older than other dragons. It seemed like an elder, judging by the scars on its scales.
“You are not leaving to anywhere,” the dragon rumbled. “The king will want that you returned.”
Rage exploded out of me, fueled by fear, betrayal, and the unbearable pull of the bond.
“I am not his to keep,” I shouted.
The dragon seemed infuriated by my words and lunged itself at me. I met it head-on.
The fight was brutal and fast. I felt something inside me snap open further like power pouring out in wild, uncontrolled waves. With a final scream, I drove a spear of burning light straight through the dragon’s chest. It collapsed with a thunderous crash, lifeless.
I stood over the body, trembling, horrified by what I had become and too exhausted to care.
The bond screamed again, Azrath was slipping.
I felt his consciousness dimming. Panic surged through me despite everything. I pressed my hand to my chest, gasping as his pain wrapped around my heart.
“Please live,” I whispered fiercely. “You don’t get to die after doing this to me.”
I stumbled through the narrow opening and into the night.
Cold air slammed into me, shocking after the heat of the mountain. Snow crunched beneath my feet as I ran dow the slope of Drakar, the massive fortress looming behind me like a wounded beast.