Robin’s people walked us to the end of the tunnel and showed us the way out, until we were outside back on the streets of Draconia. When I took a deep breath into my lungs, I felt like I didn’t want to leave them. They were part of my family, and I was so glad that Robin, along with his people, had saved me.

  “So, your mother is the famous Sienna Sinclair? Who would have thought such?” Idris said as we were walking back through the streets of Draconia. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to accept everything I heard about my family. My head was overloaded with information.

  “Have you heard about her? I thought you didn’t know anything about Draconians,” I said, even more shocked that Idris knew who she was. In the past, my friends had spoken about the league as some sort of secret society or myth, but Sienna’s name was never mentioned.

  “You need to remember that I’m much older than you. My father used to talk about her with hatred all the time. I was only a child then, but I remember it quite well. I’m surprised you didn’t hear about her as a thief.”

  I felt stupid. Yeah, why hadn’t I heard of her before? Tears forced their way to my eyes, but I refused to cry now. Idris was back with me, and that was the main thing. We were both a little bruised, and a few wardens were staring at us; they were shocked to see me walking with a Dark One who wasn’t in his true form. I wasn’t worried. Now we had the Revolutionary League on our side, and all the Dark Ones were probably called back to the council after the explosions. The streets seemed deserted. I felt empowered that my mother was like me; she didn’t want to be oppressed. I grabbed Idris’s hand just before we walked inside his father’s house.

  “Listen, don’t say anything to the warlocks about the league. They don’t need to know that the league is still active. I have a feeling Ripley is using his magic to manipulate all of us for his own benefit. He introduced me to my father earlier on, but I didn’t think he did it from the goodness of his heart,” I said. “I’m pretty sure he has his own agenda.” Idris’s eyes shimmered in the sunlight. He looked tired. Well, we were both exhausted. It had been a busy few days.

  Then he brought his tender lips to mine and kissed me. For Quesborth, I missed this. By the time he pulled away from me, I was breathless and had forgotten about all the aches in my body.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word. You’re right,” Idris agreed. “Ripley is following his own agenda.”

  We reached Mangus’s house and, as soon as we opened the door, someone grabbed me, screaming in my ear. It took me a few seconds to realise it was Rhian. Avianna was flying around the large kitchen, screaming inside my head that she was worried, that she thought I was dead.

  “For Quesborth, we were so worried about you. What the hell happened to you out there?” she asked, finally letting go of me. Avianna landed on my shoulder. Her claws were very sharp, so I had to push her off me instantly. I had a feeling that she had grown overnight. She was huge.

  “There was an explosion in the area where the two of you were supposed to meet,” Nicolas said, staring at me with concern.

  “Yeah, we ended up in the middle of the explosions, but luckily someone saved us,” I said and looked around. “Where is Harvey and Ripley?”

  Rhian folded her arms over her chest and exhaled sharply.

  “Not sure, Ripley announced he was leaving with Harvey and that silly Fairy boy,” Rhian said. “They have been gone a day, and they haven’t come back for the night.”

  “Okay, so that’s a good thing. Let me get you all up to speed with everything that happened last night,” I said, thinking it was strange that the warlocks left without letting anyone know what they were planning. I hoped they weren’t doing anything behind our backs. Idris and I started explaining what happened after we reached the old mill. Rhian began pacing around once I got to that part where the explosions happened. I wanted to have a shower and sleep for a little bit, but I stayed, answering all their questions.

  “For Quesborth, of course. I knew you looked familiar. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up on it earlier on. I’m so glad Sienna’s legacy survived. It’s just so unbelievable that the league is still active. This is wonderful news, Francesca,” Rhian said, clapping her hands. She looked emotional, too.

  “Well, it was a hell of a shock for me, too, but don’t say anything to the warlocks,” I said. “Less people know about the league, the better. They are going to help us, but the Dark Ones could mobilise their forces after this attack.”

  “You found your mama? That’s great. Oh, my. Maybe I can find mine, too. I don’t want to be an orphan.” Avianna’s voice rang in my head.

  “It’s more complicated with you,” I muttered, knowing it was going to be almost impossible to track down her dragon mother.

  “It’s good to see you in one piece, Fran. We were all worried,” Nicolas said, patting me on the back. This was awkward, because then he glanced at Idris and added, “That wound looks nasty, mate. Avianna should heal it for you.”

  I was so shocked to hear that Nicolas actually cared about Idris. Then I noticed a huge burn on his leg. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed it earlier. Seconds later Avianna was healing him. He wasn’t too fussed, saying he wasn’t in any pain. Avianna was too excited to do anything else, so I left them to it.

  “Come on, there is a letter for you in the kitchen,” Nicolas told me, handing me a large yellow envelope. I ripped it open straight away, sensing magic enveloping my fingers. The waves were strong, and it was like a breath of fresh air again. Avianna was the reason I instantly felt better since returning home.

  It was from my father.

  “It’s from Timothy; he wants us to meet in the tunnels tomorrow morning. He’s promising to take us to a nest of dragons,” I announced, moving my eyes over the paper.

  “This is all happening very fast. The warlocks might not be back until tomorrow,” Nicolas said. He was right; we couldn’t just wait around for them to include us in their plans. We needed to rescue Ally, and I had to speak to Idris about her. We had been here for days now, but we finally had a real chance to start the uprising. Dragon magic could help so many wardens. I was certain if I could help them, they would join us in this revolution.

  “Well, we are going to go with Timothy. I’m not waiting for the warlocks. They chose not to involve us in their affairs. This is important,” I said, and then went over my plans with everyone. Rhian clapped her hands. She was ready for action, along with Nicolas. Even Idris looked buzzed up about this idea, especially now that we had the whole league behind us. I was feeling good about this, and I knew we could succeed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The final straw

  Avianna was growing way too fast, and I was so lucky that Rhian was with us; otherwise I wouldn’t have had a clue of what to do. She managed to brew the potion that made Avianna invisible. She even went out to get the rest of the missing ingredients. We all knew that we couldn’t leave a baby dragon in the house alone. We all needed her magic, and she was the only one who could lead us to the nest of eggs. I didn’t fully trust my father. He promised to help, but after meeting Gregory, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have anything to do with his side of the family.

  Also, I knew that at some point, the league would need to at least attempt to free Sienna. My heart kept whispering that she was most likely already dead, but I hoped this wasn’t the case. I sent Nicolas to deliver a message to the league, because I promised that I would keep them up to speed. They could help us get inside the Dimond city.

  “Come on, let’s go to bed, little one. We have an early start tomorrow,” Idris said, placing his hand on my arm when I sat in the kitchen, barely keeping my eyes open. I was worried about the fact that both warlocks just left, not leaving a note or anything. Harvey was all right, but Ripley was way too smart for his own good.

  “All right,” I agreed, yawning loudly. I was exhausted.

  “I’m so excited, Fran. Hopefully I can see my brothers and sisters soon,” Avianna told me when I got up.

  “Let’s be positive; we will free those eggs,” I assured her.

  Mangus’s house was huge, but most of the things in the kitchen were broken. Even Idris said that the house needed extensive renovation. I was happy that we had hot water. Idris ran me a bath. Once I undressed and immersed myself in the hot water with bubbles, it was bliss. This whole day was surreal. I still couldn’t believe that I was back in Draconia, trying to remove the Dark Ones from power. This task was almost impossible, but I was determined to give power back to Draconians. Idris was fast asleep when I came back to the room.

  I needed to feel normal for a change. Ally was out here somewhere, and we were going to free her as soon as we had the eggs. Nicolas came back an hour later with good news. Apparently, Cole got my message. I wanted the league to take a step back for now. We all needed to move the eggs to a safer place and protect them with magic. I was afraid we might lose, or even damage the eggs if the league interfered, and they accepted it—for now.

  We were all up at five a.m. the next morning. The warlocks hadn’t returned, and that worried me slightly. They weren’t sticking to our previous agreement.

  Avianna became completely invisible once she drunk Rhian’s potion. I told her to keep flying high and not to cause any trouble. It was still dark when we left the house. The sun was going to rise very soon. I panicked when I couldn’t see her anywhere near me. I had to ask her several times if she was close. This was nerve racking, but we didn’t have any other options. We met my father outside the entrance to the tunnel. He stood dressed, wearing the same clothes he wore when I met him for the first time. I was very apprehensive about him being involved in this whole operation, but now it was too late to back away.

  “Timothy, this is Idris, Rhian, and Nicolas. Avianna is around, too, but you won’t see her. She’s invisible,” I told him, when we all approached. He moved his gaze over everyone, stopping at Rhian.

  “Lady Midnight. Well, well, well, who would have thought you’d decide to join the dark side?” he asked with a hint of sarcasm.

  “I have always been on the other side,” she barked. “I never agreed with my brother’s methods, so shall we all skip the small talk for now? Just take us to the eggs.”

  I wanted to laugh when Timothy looked slightly taken aback by her snappy comment. Rhian liked putting people in their places. I had no relationship with that man, and yet he was helping me. All this time I thought I would hate him. He convinced the woman he loved to abandon me.

  “I need to change your appearances into Dimond city workers. The nest is on the other side, and it’s difficult to get there through the tunnels,” he muttered, glancing at Idris like he was measuring him up. We all agreed and started moving. It took us another twenty minutes to go through the entrance to the tunnel. A few wardens were staring at us when we moved past them, entering the tunnel. Timothy told us that we couldn’t stop and had to keep moving. We didn’t want to bump into any Dark Ones around here.

  “Have you heard from Ripley? He has vanished, along with the other warlock,” I said to my father, wondering if Cole and Gregory sent someone to follow us. I had asked them to keep their distance for now—for a reason. My brother detested my father, and we didn’t want anything to go wrong, especially now.

  “No, I owed him a favour, but my debt is all paid up. He has no reason to get in touch with me,” Timothy replied and then urged me to keep going.

  Later on, when he started using his magic, I felt odd sensations around my spine. I felt connected to him on so many different levels. Our magic was similar, and the way we moved, too. Only now I started noticing these other similarities, and they slowly started freaking me out.

  “Avianna, are you all right out there? It’s tight, be careful when you’re flying around the wardens. They cannot sense you. I mean, some of them might be getting a lot of strange vibes, but it’s because you’re healing them, pumping them with magic. They aren’t used to it,” I explained.

  “I know, I know, Fran. I just can’t wait to see other dragons,” she replied.

  There were a lot of wardens in the tunnels, and everyone was rushing to start their workday in the Dimond City. Most of them looked stressed out and anxious. It was the beginning of the week, so everyone was rushing to earn enough to pay all the bills on the outside. I never worked in the Dimond City but heard that it was the place where wardens could earn the most Draconian coins.

  We turned to the right when everyone carried on walking toward the entrance to paradise. This tunnel began to narrow, and Avianna complained that she was really behind. Then it was so dark that we couldn’t see anything in front of us. The temperature had dropped below zero degrees.

  “Are you sure this is the right way? Last time we were here, the eggs were gathered behind the prison,” Rhian said to Timothy. We all stopped then, and something heavy fell on my arms. Avianna’s claws nearly ripped my shoulder. She was way too heavy for me now.

  “The location changed. The Dark Ones always move them around. They don’t want to keep the eggs in the same place,” my father explained, sounding annoyed. I felt the magic moving around, dripping off me. Something felt off or wrong, I wasn’t sure. Avianna didn’t like being in such a confined space.

  “I swear to Quesborth, if you’re trying to fuck us over, I’m going to burn you with my own hands,” Idris snarled.

  My father went pale, and he swallowed hard. I was ready to end him here if he planned to screw us over.

  “No, this isn’t a trap. The eggs were moved to the other side of the Dimond city. Why would I want to lead you over to the Dark Ones? I’m done with this system,” Timothy argued with desperation in his voice. Seconds later, we all felt a strong current of energy that nearly swept me off my feet.

  Smoke spread, filling the tunnel very quickly, causing havoc amongst other wardens. I wanted to shout at everyone to stay calm, because we didn’t know what was going on, but someone pushed me. I lost my balance, and Avianna was panicking. She kept saying that she was scared of the darkness.

  “Don’t be frightened, creatures; it’s just us,” said a familiar voice. For a second, I thought that this was some kind of a joke, but then Ripley, his fairy lover, and Harvey appeared through the smoke.

  “And where the hell have you two been?” I asked, suddenly angry that we were wasting valuable time.

  I had no idea how they found us, but I was ready to punch Ripley. I was furious that he just vanished, and he didn’t even care to let us know that he was all right. The underground tunnel ran around the whole city. Some wardens called it a maze, because you could easily get lost in there. Obviously, the warlocks must have used other spells to track us down.

  “We had some stuff that needed to be taken care of, but don’t worry, warden girl. You will thank me later,” Ripley assured me, but I only rolled my eyes. Nicolas and Idris didn’t look too pleased that we had to carry on walking with warlocks now. “I see that Timothy is keeping to his end of the bargain.”

  “There you go, then. I’m telling you all that the Dark Ones keep moving the eggs,” Timothy growled, and I felt a little silly. All right, maybe deep down he was scum, but he was helping us. I had to put my other issues aside.

  Avianna was getting impatient; she kept blowing fire around us, and in such a tiny space, this wasn’t safe at all.

  “All right, we believe you, but we have to keep going unless the warlocks have another plan?” I said, having an odd feeling in my gut. The warlocks must have sensed that masses of energies were in front of us. I felt stronger with every passing second.

  “No, the eggs are in the cave. We found out that several Dark Ones are guarding them. Frederick will release a Fae poison, so that should take care of them,” Harvey explained, obviously having his own agenda in mind. “We can only transport several eggs at once, but we need to see what kind of condition they are in first.”

  Well, we didn’t think about that, but the warlock was right. We couldn’t just carry the eggs out through the tunnels. I remembered how difficult it was to run with Avianna after I had stolen her from the wealthy warden’s house. We carried on walking through the tunnel that was spreading wider and wider as the time went on. Avianna kept talking to me, and it was helping me with negative thoughts. Timothy was at the front, leading us toward the nest. We were in that tunnel for another forty minutes before we came out into a large space that had obviously been created by magic. My heart shuddered in my chest when we saw a large whole filled with hundreds of golden eggs. Then a very loud snarl spread through the cave.

  Two huge dragons were chained to the rocks. They were entwined with each other, but now and again, they tried to separate from one another. It was the most depressing- and sad-looking thing that I had ever experienced. Obviously, these creatures didn’t belong here, but they had been living in these conditions most likely for years. And on top of that, wardens had been told over and over again that all the dragons had been killed.

  “For Quesborth, this can’t be real,” Rhian whispered, bringing her palms to her mouth. I felt sick to my stomach watching them, but then I realised that Avianna was seeing it, too.

  “Avianna, are you all right?” I asked her, using my internal ability.

  “They are suffering, and they are calling me. We need to rip their chains off,” she said, and I sensed that she was flying around. I could hear how she was batting her wings.

  “You can communicate with these dragons?” I asked with disbelief.

  “Yes.”

  “All right, step away from there. The Dark Ones already sense us, but I can easily take care of them,” Frederick, the annoying fairy stated, spreading his arms. Idris and Nicolas both stood, transfixed. This was amazing and yet sad. These creatures needed their freedom, and they had probably never experienced flying.

 

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