The Dark Ones were ahead. I focused on my magic, and blasted a stream of energy at some rocks, so a few crushed them. Suddenly, everything started happening in slow motion. The Dark Ones regrouped; some started leaving the cave, while others kept using their magic to direct their energy against me. A lot of dragon eggs were damaged, broken. I jumped on the edge of the pit where the heat was the most intense. The dragon was massive, and he snarled loudly, seeing me approach. I was very close now, close enough to touch him.

  I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going to become his dinner. My skin was burning; every part of me wanted to get away from the source of the heat. I glanced behind me, seeing that Frederick was doing what I had asked him. He reopened the portal high enough where no one could reach us. Ripley and Harvey were still fighting. Rhian was throwing her last spells on the Dark Ones. More and more of them were still pouring into the cave. We didn’t have much time.

  “Tell him I’m going to climb on his back,” I communicated with Avianna. The dragon was enormous, and it was whirling, twisting around. This wasn’t going to be an easy task.

  “Yes, yes, he wants his freedom,” she told me, flying somewhere near me.

  I took several deep breaths, praying to Quesborth for Frederick to leave that damn portal open for at least a few more minutes. If he didn’t, then I was going to be more than dead. I jumped on the dragon. His scales were warm, and I started climbing higher and higher. He stopped moving then and allowed me to strengthen my position. The Dark Ones were pointing at me now. They must have finally figured out what I was planning.

  Their magic wasn’t reaching me anymore. The dragon must have had some kind of protection spell around him.

  “Tell him I’m going to take care of the chain. Once I remove the spell, he has to fly through the portal ahead,” I shouted back at Avianna. She needed to pass this message to the dragon.

  I climbed higher, panting, until I got closer to the chain around his upper body. Every ounce of my energy was inside me, bouncing through my veins. My heart was jackhammering in my chest. I took the silver that Rhian had given to me earlier out of my pocket. This was a long shot, but I had to try it.

  Enhanced with my magic, the liquid silver could break any spell.

  “Hurry up, warden girl. The Dark Ones are going to close that portal soon enough,” a voice inside my head said.

  I didn’t recognise it. I almost fell, thinking it was Avianna at first, but this voice was different, deeper, and clearer. Was it possible? Was I really communicating with the dragon?

  “I’m going to use silver to break the chain, so hold on. Once the spell breaks, fly through the cave,” I told him, still pretty much in shock. My hands were getting numb, but I found a secure space between his scales.

  “This better work. The Dark Ones are furious with us. We need to get the hell out of here now, although I have never been outside this cave,” he added.

  Somehow, the shock wore off and I kept working. Avianna was mumbling something, but I couldn’t hear her. I threw the flask and watched in slow motion as it broke. Its contents spilled around the chain. My magic started working, too. The chain changed colour, turning rusty. My energy was boiling inside me.

  “Fly, rise up and fly. The chain won’t hold you anymore. It will snap when you pull it,” I shouted at him, not even knowing how this whole thing was going to work. I was praying to the God of the Lower World, asking him to make it happen.

  “Hold on tight then, you little one,” his voice echoed inside my head.

  What happened after was absolutely crazy. The Dark Ones were everywhere, but then the dragon spread his huge wings. Seconds later he moved, and the entire cave shook. I knew that this was going to be the craziest and one of the scariest journeys I would ever experience.

  “We need to pick everyone up on the way, or they will be dead, too,” I reminded him, somehow having a clear head.

  The other dragon followed suit, spreading his enormous wings. The Dark Ones were flinging spells everywhere now, but not one of them were reaching me or the dragons. I saw all my friends staring at me with their eyes wide open, seeing the dragons for the first time in their true form. The dragon I was on approached the pit; he was batting his huge wings close enough for everyone to start climbing on. There wasn’t any other way out of here now. The Dark Ones were surrounding us. Frederick’s portal was shut. The fairy was mumbling something to himself. Damn it, this wasn’t good. I wasn’t sure if he would be able to open the portal once again.

  “Come on, guys, we need to get out of here, quickly!” I shouted as, one-by-one, they started to climb onto the dragon’s back. The spells were shooting past us.

  “This is crazy—how are we going to escape? We are underground!” Ripley shouted.

  “Frederick needs to reopen the portal again, but this time, high above so the beast can fly through it,” I shouted, but Frederick looked like he was just about to faint. Ripley shook his head, but he climbed on along with the others. He struggled a bit, probably because of his weight.

  “Harvey, come on. It’s time to go,” Ripley shouted. He was still throwing spells around him, but I noticed that his magic was becoming less and less effective. He finally jumped on, and I grabbed him, but one of the Dark Ones’ spells must have hit him. His body went rigid, and he looked at me, then screamed. A second later he passed out. The dragon rose up, and I held onto him, gritting my teeth.

  We flew through the cave that now seemed smaller and smaller. The dragon circled around for a bit until it rose higher and higher. Soon, he was going to be trapped; we didn’t have much time.

  “Now, Frederick, now! Open the damn portal!” I shouted at the fairy as we were getting closer and closer to a dead end.

  The fairy was shaking his head, looking frightened. We could only stay in here for so long. I was already counting the seconds in my head. Ripley slapped him hard, and my jaw dropped, then he shouted,

  “For fuck’s sake, do what you’re told for once; otherwise we are all going to die in here!”

  He finally snapped out of it. The energy moved through us all in an instant. Frederick spread his arms, and the magic exploded. We looked up as the dragon roared, releasing fire, as the end of the cave opened up. The portal was there and, a moment later, the dragon flew through. I shut my eyes, seeing stars everywhere. Then we were blinded by the light, and I felt like I was almost burned by the amount of magic that was pumped through me.

  “Freedom, freedom. It feels so good to be able to spread my wings so wide open.” The voice inside my head echoed.

  Then I opened my eyes, seeing that now we were flying in the navy sky over the city. The other dragon was right behind us. He was all white. I looked down, taking one deep breath, as the wind nearly blew me off the dragon’s back. I was still holding on to Harvey.

  The dragon was flying so fast. I had never experienced anything like it. Everyone was holding on tightly. Avianna was somewhere behind us, too. She was screaming with joy inside my head. This was the craziest ride of my life. We were saved from the Dark Ones, and we escaped with the eggs. It was a miracle.

  “Where to now, warden girl? You all are a bit heavy sitting on my back. The Dark Ones won’t let us be free for long.” The dragon was telling me as he circulated over the city.

  I looked down below, seeing wardens running out onto the streets. They had never seen dragons before.

  “We jump off somewhere on the outskirts of the city. We need to get back to the eggs and make sure they are safe. You two should head over to Sepculrum. It’s much safer there. Don’t get yourself caught. The Dark Ones won’t stay in power for long. I promise you that,” I explained, using my internal voice.

  I still couldn’t believe I was communicating with a real full-grown dragon. I kept complaining that Avianna was big, but now I could see what size she could actually grow into.

  The dragon agreed and then he started lowering himself over the tall buildings. We were in the poorest part of the city, almost near the wasteland. The wardens here were too scared to come out, and most of the land was deserted.

  “Fran, this is crazy. I can’t believe we made it out alive,” Nicolas whispered to me when the dragon touched down on the ground. The Dark Ones most likely sent others after us. They were able to communicate with each other using magic. Our options were limited. We couldn’t expect the dragons to stay with us. He and his companion needed to find somewhere to hide for now.

  I was still shaking. I was sure everyone was still pretty much in shock. My legs and hands were stiff. Harvey was unconscious, but Ripley and the fairy were already looking after him. Rhian was pale as chalk, and she was holding her chest. For a second, I really thought this was the end for us.

  Even being so close to the beast was making me a little nervous. The other dragon was still circling above, but I figured he was much bigger and just wanted to be in the sky.

  “Thank you again for everything that you did for us. Stay away from the Dark Ones. Maybe we will meet again,” I told him.

  “Yes, we will. That baby dragon still needs to be tamed. I have lived in that cave since I can remember. It’s going to be difficult to get used to being free,” he admitted.

  Then he spread his wings again and rose in the sky. The ground shook, and we backed away from him. It was impressive to keep watching him. Avianna was flying close; I could hear the batting of her wings.

  Soon enough, we were all watching as both enormous dragons, that were not supposed to exist, flew away, leaving us alone. The silence stretched for some time as I looked around. We were far away from Mangus’s residence, and we needed to get back there as soon as possible. Finally, Harvey was coming around. He looked like the last spell had injured him pretty badly.

  “Can you get us home, Frederick?” I asked him. “It’s too risky for us to walk through the city. I bet there are Dark Ones everywhere.” He looked at me and nodded. For some reason right then, I was very, very glad he was here with us. It was time to get back to the eggs.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alert

  Frederick managed to use his magic to get us home safely. For a moment, it was hard for me to believe we weren’t walking into another trap after everything that went on in the cave. Luckily, we ended up in our living room, falling over each other, trying to avoid the golden eggs that were lying around everywhere. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Idris sitting amongst them.

  I ran into his arms and hugged him hard. I was so glad to see him, so glad that he was all right.

  “Little one, I was so worried, but you’re all right,” he whispered, inhaling my scent.

  “We need to move Harvey upstairs. One of the Dark Ones must have caught him just before he climbed on the dragon. Frederick is going to put him back together with a potion.” Ripley was saying. His whole face was red, and he looked stressed out. Nicolas offered to help them to transport the warlock upstairs. Timothy looked lost, and he had a nasty burn on his cheek. Rhian seemed all right, and Avianna kept asking me to make her visible again.

  “Have you counted them?” I asked Idris, already getting excited about the possibilities. I suspected that the whole city was on alert. The Dark Ones had lost their eggs, and we had to hurry. Sooner or later, they were going to start searching for them.

  “There are over one hundred and fifty here. Some are damaged but should still hatch. The energy here is very strong. The eggs are catching up to every living being inside this house, but we need to think about a plan and fast,” Idris told me. He was right. There was no time to even digest it all. We needed to figure out our next move.

  “All right, in that case, we have to inform the League. They can help us spread the word on the streets. We need all the wardens to join us,” I said. It was the middle of the night, and we had to rest at some point, but the shock and adrenaline from earlier on still hadn’t worn off. Avianna was flying around the house, excited because she just met other dragons.

  “The League—what are you talking about?” Timothy asked, sitting down on the chair.

  “Right after meeting you, we were ambushed in the old mill and saved by the Revolutionary League. They told me all about Sienna,” I said, knowing how that news was going to affect him. Apparently, he and Gregory didn’t get on.

  Right now, we needed all the help we could get. My brother wanted to get involved. We still had to save Ally, and at least attempt to see if my mother was still alive. I was worried about Ally, but there were so many things going on all at once.

  “They can’t be trusted,” Timothy spat, and Idris chuckled.

  “Funny, because they said the same thing about you,” I said. “And I met my half-brother.”

  “Gregory hates me, but I can’t change the past. We need to hurry with these eggs. The Dark Ones will discover our location sooner rather than later. The warlocks and I can only do so much to protect the house. I bet the council is already panicking,” Timothy said. He sounded like he was amused by it.

  “I suggest we all rest until morning and start early. Once the word on the street spreads, the wardens will be united against the Dark Ones,” I said, and he seemed to agree with me. The eggs were beaming with energy. I was already feeling much better.

  They were everywhere, and we had to be careful not to damage any of them. I suspected that the Dark Ones had more of them hidden in a different part of the Lower World. Rhian had vanished in her room, she needed to recover, and she told Idris to leave her alone when he tried to check on her. I suspected that she was using potions to gain strength for tomorrow.

  Once the exhaustion hit me, I didn’t want to move from the bed. I had used a lot of energy tonight, and even with eggs, I needed some time to recoup it all. We needed at least a few hours of sleep. What happened in the cave made me realise that we didn’t have much control over anything. The Dark Ones were still in charge of the Dimond city, but we could change that, now that we had the eggs. I fell asleep in my clothes, not even wanting to take a shower, still thinking about Baxley. He most likely survived yet again. Avianna protected me from him. Idris whispered to me that I had done well.

  Then we spooned, and the world around us was all better.

  When the alarm went off at six a.m., I could barely roll out of bed. My bones, my muscles, everything ached, but I had to ignore the pain. We had a lot of work to do. Apparently Frederick managed to put Harvey back on his feet. The warlock was still slightly pale, but he was moving on his own. I had a feeling that the dragon eggs helped him to regain his strength.

  Everyone seemed very alert when we met downstairs later on. I felt instantly better and was certain that the eggs had just healed me. I was silly that I hadn’t believed in these old legends before. The eggs had these incredible abilities, magic that could heal and fix any living being that was near them. And now we were all witnessing it.

  “I will find my old buddies in the city and they will inform the league. You get in touch with other warlocks. I believe there might be a few here in the city living undercover. We need to start bringing as many sick wardens here as we can, and those without magic, too. One at a time. We need to work fast; the Dark Ones are regrouping,” I said, looking around the kitchen table. Everyone was here now, staring at me and chewing on their toast that Rhian made earlier.

  Idris had to get back to the council at some point. He told me that if he stayed away for too long it would be too suspicious. Baxley wasn’t dead, but he was in Draconia now, so that complicated things.

  “Maybe you’re right, but we will call the ones from London. We shall see how many are going to show up now that we have the eggs,” Ripley muttered.

  “All right, so I’m going to see my old buddy in the city. Rhian, I think you should stay here to make sure the eggs are protected,” I said, and Idris’s aunt nodded. “Nicolas, do you want to come with me?”

  He nodded and I was glad. Idris needed to get back to the council.

  “We need to let all the wardens in the city know what we are planning,” Timothy said to me. “And we have to get as many here as we can within the next twenty-four hours, before the Dark Ones figure out what’s going on here.” I knew what he was talking about. We all had to work as a team. The Dark Ones were everywhere, and they were probably leaving the Dimond City in high numbers. And on top of everything, many wardens were dying from Dragon Fever.

  “All right. Idris has to leave, so I will go with him and Nicolas. I still have some contacts in the city. Is everyone clear on what they need to do?” I asked the people gathered around, staring at Nicolas and wondering if he was up for it. He nodded.

  “I’m coming with you, right? But at the same time, I really want to stay here with all these baby dragons. Maybe some of them will start talking to me,” Avianna interjected in my mind.

  “Just come along, I don’t want to leave you with the warlocks. I still don’t trust them,” I told her.

  “Well, warden girl, I underestimated you. Things are looking up. If everything goes according to plan, maybe soon, you will have the whole Lower World under your feet,” Ripley stated, and Fredrick looked at him like he had lost his mind. I felt a little uncomfortable being the centre of attention. I wasn’t their leader. I just wanted to avenge my friend and stop the oppression. That was all I cared about. They were the ones who created the disease and were ready to end the population of wardens. It was inhumane and unjust.

  “All right, I’m not planning to take over power or anything. We will do the democratic referendum, so the wardens will choose their leader. Anyway, there is no point talking about this now. We haven’t won yet, we are not even close; there are hundreds, if not thousands of Dark Ones all over the Lower world,” I said, raising my voice.

  The eggs were sitting in the living room and kitchen. It was very early in the morning, but I was no longer tired.

 

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