But it was hard not to. I thought about the swarms of sparrow harpies, the horde of doppelganger goblins, the wraiths, and the devastating magical storms with black lightning that froze the earth. And those were only the omens of the Sable Dragon, not the beast itself.
Putting aside the fact that we would have to battle Millennia if she’d managed to reach the egg, we still had to defeat the dragon without the Kiss. And now without a mage to help us. Neither Zach nor I had talked about what we could do, because deep down we realized there was nothing to do except wait for the egg to hatch then defeat the dragon somehow. Even if that meant collapsing the whole mountain. So how could we possibly survive?
With a terrible clench in my stomach, I realized we probably wouldn’t.
Two hours later, we approached the entrance of the cave. We paused and looked over the edge of our climb. From this angle we could see the vast distance we’d traveled over the past few days—the deep ravine and the stone valley far off to the south and, at the very edge of the world, the trees from the Galedral Forest and beyond. The sight was breathtaking. If we didn’t succeed, this entire world and all its people would be nothing but seas of ash. That was why we had to win. Why we had to fight.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Lair of the Sable Dragon
Entering the cave was like driving a blade into my chest. The darkness hit my Sense so powerfully that I fell to my knees, clutching my shirt and fighting for a breath. I’d never felt evil such as this. Tangible. It hung in the air and entered my lungs with each breath I drew.
Zach and Brom both dropped next to me. I waved them away. “I’m fine,” I wheezed.
“Clearly, you’re not,” Brom said.
Now that I knew the darkness from the cave was reacting with the darkness that was already inside my blood, it wasn’t sheer will that allowed me to push down the Sense, it was anger. I wasn’t going to let this stupid curse slow me down. I wouldn’t let that old crone turn my own body against me.
Squeezing my shirt in my palm, I opened my eyes and got to my feet. “Let’s go.”
Zach took my hand. I glanced at him, and we shared a smile.
The cave was dank and dark and curved to the right, the tunnel disappearing into the darkness. It didn’t matter if there were intricate tunnel systems in this cave, because I’d be able to find the egg regardless. The problem was getting back out.
“Plan ahead,” Brom said, as if reading my thoughts. He took out bright red berries I hadn’t even noticed him gathering along the way and smashed them against the cave’s walls, leaving a crimson stain.
We lit a torch, the dry wood bursting into orange flames, creating flickering shadows that reached into the tunnel’s depths. With a stab of pain that had nothing to do with my Sense, I missed Millennia. She would’ve been able to light it with just a wave of her hand.
We carried on for some time, occasionally coming to forks in the tunnel. Brom smeared more berries, and I pointed us down the path that brought more and more pain to my chest.
As we walked, I watched the shadows dance across the walls, remembering the way the firelight and smoke drew Zach and me into our own mystical dance the night at the Romantica camp. How the same intoxicating feeling had consumed me when he kissed my neck and shoulders out on the rocks. My heart pounded from the memory.
How could I know if this was Lust or Love? All I did know was that I never wanted to let go of his hand. I wanted our time together to stretch for eternity.
I sucked in a breath.
Brom and Zach stopped. “What?” Brom asked, his voice taut with tension.
“Nothing, just the pain,” I lied.
I wiped my brow with my other arm and concentrated on my breaths. In and out. Pushing down the Darkness. Focus on what is important.
…
Finally, we came to a halt when I couldn’t stop a fit of coughing. I let go of Zach’s hand, covered my mouth, and coughed and coughed. I’d never coughed so hard before in my life, hacking as if there was something in my lungs that needed to come out. Suddenly it did. I drew my hands away from my mouth and caught sight of what looked like ink.
It was as though I had coughed up darkness in its liquid form.
“Fields of Galliore,” Zach whispered. “It’s killing you.”
“It’s because we’re here.” Brom touched his torch to an extended ledge on the cave wall, and a spark ignited. As the purple flames rose, my stomach lurched painfully, remembering the fire that had danced across Millennia’s shoulders and had separated me from Zach and Brom.
The purple fire spread through the cave, following the ledge that encircled the large cavern. From where we stood, the flaming ledge extended all the way to the other side, engulfing the room in purple light. Ominous shadows flickered in the gigantic domed ceiling. In the center, seated on a round slab of rock like an altar, carved with special symbols of the language of the dwarves, was the egg.
“Fields of Galliore,” Zach repeated.
It was gigantic, rising maybe thirty feet tall. Its shell was a swirl of purple, black, dark blue, and gray, resembling the marble in the Hall of Ancestors back in Myria Castle. We stared up at it, entranced by its beauty, yet terrified of the horror within. Then my gaze dropped to the stone altar and what lay before it.
I recognized the altar immediately. It was the same one where the dwarves had cut out Myriana’s heart, the same one where the first girl had received the Heart. I also recognized the heap of azure robes at the altar’s base.
Millennia.
I started to cough again, the fear of seeing Myriana—of being too late—escalating as I coughed up more black liquid. But the egg’s shell was intact. If Myriana had released a five-ton dragon, surely we would’ve known by now.
We slowly drew our weapons. Brom notched an arrow into his crossbow then withdrew a silver dagger. Swords out, Zach and I crept forward.
“Millennia?” I called.
The pile of robes didn’t move. I shot a look at Zach. He frowned and gripped his sword, the leather grinding in his tight grasp.
“Millennia?” I tried again as we inched forward. Every now and then I’d glance up at the giant egg, hoping for some clue—some sign as to what was going on.
No movement—from the egg or Millennia. Could she be dead? And if she was, did that mean the Evil Queen had died, too? Or simply moved on to her next host?
When I was about twenty paces from her, something glimmered at my feet, catching the light of the purple torches flickering at the perimeter of the room.
It was a piece of mirror drenched in blood.
The shard I’d driven into her thigh. I bent and picked it up with trembling fingers.
“I had hoped that mirror had been lost to time.”
Startled, I dropped the shard, and it shattered.
Millennia lay on the ground, facing me, with her head resting on a pile of her gorgeous black hair. Her eyes were wide open, but they were not blue as I’d hoped they’d be. They were violet.
“But I should’ve made sure of it, just as I should’ve made sure you died in that cave.” Her lips moved to form the words, but her voice was not Millennia’s. It was Myriana’s. Stronger. Deeper.
Whatever happened to her between the last cave and this one, her possession had gotten stronger. But she was still too weak to attack us yet. That much was obvious from the body lying twisted on the ground.
I looked to Zach, and he nodded. Swords drawn, we raced toward her. Halfway there, we hit an invisible wall and flew backward, skidding across the cave floor. Rocks and loose pebbles cut into my skin. The two of us groaned and blinked through the dust at the shimmery purple dome surrounding Millennia’s body, now visible.
I cursed. A protective Illye circle.
She moved her head toward her dragon egg and laughed. “Give it time, my dear descendant. I’ll be ready to fight you soon enough. Thanks to your little move with the mirror shard, I had to heal this leg.”