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Char guessed they walked for an hour in silence, although it was difficult to judge time in the endless darkness. Iris held tight to his hand and kept up with Rath’s pace, tension written in every line of her face, and Char was glad she couldn’t see their expressions. Rath’s frequent glances back down the tunnel were unnerving, especially since Char still didn't know what had his brother spooked. And the fairies still hadn’t caught up to them.
“Do you smell that?” Rath finally asked.
Char sniffed and nodded. “Fresh air.”
“Yeah.” Rath exhaled in a loud whoosh. “We should be safe now, but the sooner we can get above ground, the better.”
“Safe from what?”
“Ah, well, I don’t know what it’s called. Father and I ran into one once. It just looks like a dark cloud, but it moves, and if you get stuck in it, you’ll suffocate.”
“But—you sent the fairies into it!” Iris exclaimed.
Rath shrugged, although she couldn’t see it. “Well, they wouldn’t have gone if they’d thought it was dangerous to them…”
“They’ll do anything for Iris,” Char reminded his brother, frowning, but Iris pressed her lips together and shook her head.
“No, he’s right. They need convincing sometimes, but they didn’t even hesitate when he asked.”
Char squeezed her hand. He could see her worry in the tightness across her shoulders and the nervousness in her eyes, but there was nothing else he could do until—if—the fairies returned. Nothing except ply Rath for more information.
“I don’t remember you or Father talking about anything like that.”
“We… may have cut that one a bit close,” Rath admitted. “He didn’t want to worry Mother, especially since it was one of the first times he took me anywhere. You were still in flight school at the time.”
“What happened?”
“Uh… Well… I passed out, so I don’t really know all of it, but Kelnor was yelling at Father when I came to.”
Char raised an eyebrow. “Kelnor bailed you out?”
“Yeah, maybe.” Rath gave him a sheepish grin, and Char shook his head.
“What was he even doing there?”
“It was actually a mission assigned to him and Father, but Father thought it was going to be an easy one, so he asked me if I wanted to come along. Of course I said yes. We took off before he was supposed to meet up with Kelnor.”
“Wait. The Black Mountain mission?”
Rath nodded, grimacing. “That’s the one.”
“That thing,” Char continued, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, “is responsible for what happened at Black Mountain?”
“Not that particular one, but yeah.”
“What happened at Black Mountain?” Iris asked.
“Unexplained disappearances and mass nightmares. It kept getting worse until the order came down for everybody to evacuate. It’s been under guard ever since. Nobody’s allowed in,” Rath replied. “I don’t know how Kelnor got us away from that thing, but we would have died if he hadn’t shown up.”
“A team went there after Father and Kelnor’s mission failed, with a mage for extra support. They never came back.” Char paused, staring wide-eyed at his brother. “You saved our lives.”
Rath shrugged again, grinning. “It’s a little early to say that. Hey, I think I see light up ahead.”
Char saw it, too. Iris squinted into the darkness, and then her eyes widened, and a smile broke out on her face. “I see it, too.”
They hurried toward the small patch of light, but it grew little as they approached. Char felt disappointment and a twinge of concern as they realized it was nothing more than a crack in the cavern ceiling, too small for anything larger than a fairy to pass through it.
Iris’ face fell. “I guess we’ll have to keep looking.”
“Nope. We’ll make this work. Char, you start carving. Iris, come over here with me.”
Rath took her by the hand and led her a few feet away, and Char studied the crack, dubious.
“I’ve never done this before.”
“Neither have I, but you have more magic than I do, so it’ll probably go faster if you do it.” Rath released Iris’ hand and leaned back against the cave wall, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking back down the tunnel. Iris stood by his side, hugging herself.
Char knew how to do this, in theory. It was supposed to be the same as transformation, except he needed to force the ice out of himself instead of through his veins. He’d never tried it, though. Dragons of old had carved out all the mountains and caves inhabited by present-day dragons, so there was no need for most to learn. There wasn't even a practical lesson for stone-carving in flight school anymore.
He took a deep breath and reached up with both hands. His fingertips just brushed the crack. Another deep breath, and he summoned the ice, pushing it through his fingers and into the stone.
It began to melt away.
He grinned. This was easy.
He directed the magic outward and upward. Water dripped from the edges of the opening like icicles thawing at the beginning of spring.
“Hey, Iris, how surprised would you be if I told you Kelnor and my father were best friends?” Rath asked her.
“Very surprised. Kelnor seems like such a hard, no-nonsense guy, and your father sounds like he was a lot like you two.”
“That’s what Kelnor is like now, but I hear the two of them used to cut up worse than Char and I ever did. They met in flight school and ended up joining the army together.”
Water hit the stone floor in a steady pitter-patter. Char tried to ignore the conversation and keep his focus on carving, knowing Rath was trying to keep Iris distracted. He couldn't afford to be distracted, though. They needed to get out of here and away from whatever that thing was, fast.
“Should we move back more?” she asked.
“It’s dry right next to Char. Anyway, the really funny thing about Father and Kelnor is they competed over Mother.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. Mother says they were constantly at each other’s throats for a while there.”
“I can imagine. But it sounds like they stayed friends, or they at least made up eventually, right?”
“They stayed friends. As Father put it, Mother was quite a catch, so they had to work together to stay ahead of the competition. Kelnor ended up being their best man at the wedding.”
Char was making good progress, though the strain of using this untapped magical ability was making him sweat. It wasn’t as easy as he thought; at least, keeping it up wasn’t easy. But he’d almost reached the surface now, and he needed to widen the gap more. Much more. They would have to fly out.
“Did he ever get married?” Iris asked.
“No, he’s still got a thing for Mother. It’s kind of sad, actually. She hasn’t really recovered from Father’s death yet, so Kelnor hasn’t made a move, but you can tell when you see them together. Hey, Char, hurry up.”
“Trying,” Char grunted.
“Try harder.”
“Is it coming?” Iris asked.
There was a heartbeat of silence. “Yeah. How do you do this?” Rath asked, entering Char’s peripheral vision.
“It’s like you’re transforming, but make the magic go outward,” Char said, breathless.
“Easy enough.”
Rath took a deep breath, reached up, and the stone began melting faster. The rain became a waterfall, splashing off of the stone floor and soaking their shoes and pants.
A sudden chill permeated the air. Char felt Iris step closer to him.
“I can feel it,” she whispered.
“It’s moving faster,” Rath said. “Iris, now would be a great time for you to throw up a shield.”
“I-I don’t know how—not without the amulet.”
“Figure it out!”
Under normal circumstances, Char wouldn’t have tolerated Rath shouting at Iris like that, but these weren’t normal circumstances. He was nearing the end of his strength; he wasn’t even sure he could transform anymore. The cold was fast approaching, crawling across his skin, freezing the sweat on his face—
And then the light vanished.
He couldn’t breathe.
It felt like a pair of hands were at his neck, taking their time to close around his neck and cut off his airway, as if to prolong his suffering as much as possible before his inevitable death.
Rath swore.
An icy wind blew through the tunnel, driving the darkness back for just a moment. Char heard Rath roar, felt the stone shudder and crumble. Sharp talons just missed him, but he couldn't move, couldn't stop carving the stone. Rath was twisting and struggling in a space far too narrow for his body, adding blood and scales to the rain. He twisted his neck enough to grab Iris with his teeth, and with a shriek, she was airborne, tossed up and out of the hole. Char pushed harder, keeping the waterfall going, widening the exit—
The light vanished again.
The hands returned to his throat.
He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t feel the magic—
Sharp teeth snatched him up and tossed him into the air.
The hands left his throat. Char braced himself for the impact, and then a flash of blinding white light forced him to squeeze his eyes shut. He hit the ground hard, hard enough to knock the wind out of him, but he forced his eyes to open. Rath shot out of the hole and into the sky as another flash of light sealed it off behind him, just missing his tail. Iris was on her hands and knees at the edge of the giant white shield.
They'd made it.
Char closed his eyes, gasping for breath. Dry grass crunched under approaching footsteps.
“Are you okay?” Iris brushed his hair back from his face. Her fingers felt cold.
“Yeah. Are you?”
"Yes, I'm fine. Rath—"
An earth-shaking thud interrupted her. Char felt the frigid blast of wind and opened his eyes, pushing himself to his feet. Rath stood, bent over with his hands on his thighs, chest heaving for air. Sweat dripped from his ashen face. Blood soaked his clothes in spreading splotches.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” Char shouted, storming toward his brother.
“Char…” Iris put a hand on his arm, but he brushed her away and punched Rath in the jaw. Iris gasped as Rath hit the ground.
“That’s what you get for nearly getting yourself killed!” Char yelled. “If you try a stupid stunt like that again, I’ll beat you to a pulp!”
“Char,” Iris pleaded.
Rath was slow to sit up. He massaged his jaw, and the opposite corner of his lip quirked. “You have a wicked right.”
“You’re such an idiot.” Char sat on the grass beside Rath. “I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself like that, got it?”
“Turns out I didn’t have to, because you and Iris came through.”
Iris sank down to the ground next to Char, her brown eyes wide. “You were…”
“Yeah. The hole wasn’t wide enough for him to get out, but he transformed anyway so he could get us out of there.”
Rath shrugged. “Something like that. But I knew Char would figure out what I was doing and widen the hole in time, and you can’t sit back and watch somebody get hurt, so it was a pretty safe gamble, actually.”
Char snorted. “Since when do you gamble?”
Rath set both hands behind him and leaned back, a smug smirk on his face and a bruise already forming on his jaw. “Since about five minutes ago. Hey, Iris, that was a nice bit of magic there.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She gave him a small smile. “I didn’t control it very well, though.”
“You’re telling me. My rear’s still tingling from that explosion.” He looked at Char, the light returning to his blue eyes with his smirk. “It felt like she shot me out of a cannon.”
“Somebody probably saw that,” Char muttered.
“Yeah, probably. Give me a few more minutes and we can go.”
“Or I could set up a barrier, like I did when we were camping,” Iris suggested. “Since I figured it out. And maybe I should try healing you?”
“No thanks. Unless we’re in a situation like that, I’d rather you practice your magic somewhere away from me.”
She bit her lip. The corner of her lip turned up. “Too late.”
“What do you—”
Dozens of golden orbs surrounded them, spinning and twirling, darting in front of them and zipping away, shooting up and dropping back down. Iris watched them, her bright smile reaching up to her shining brown eyes. Char grinned and found her hand on the grass between them.
Rath flopped back and interlaced his hands behind his head as he watched the show. “Told you they were fine."6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBbEMg3HCb
