Without having asked me, my eyes fled from the rock to Joclyn’s still body that I had nestled into the rock.
She looked so peaceful. For one moment, her body didn’t twitch, and her shoulder didn’t bleed. Although I was sure the horrors she was trapped within were still a terrifying prison, right then she was peaceful, beautiful. Just looking at her set the beat of my heart into a steadier rhythm.
I needed to get her out of here.
I knew what needed to be done. I always did, from the moment I sensed the boulder above our heads, I knew. But as with all right decisions, there was a sacrifice to be made, wrong steps to take first. There always was. Making the right choice was never easy. But making it was required, and it was what I was raised to be.
A King, a leader to my people.
“I am going to blow the rest of the cave open,” I announced, my voice loud above the incessant growling of the cave. I could see Thom and Dramin’s heads turn to me in a panic, but I didn’t acknowledge them. “I will be able to hold the ceiling for enough time for us to get out of the jeskyně.”
“Ilyan...I,” I stopped Dramin’s words with one stern look, the old man shrinking into the side of the cave as the unbidden power in me escaped ever so slightly.
I knew what Dramin was going to say. I could hear the words on his tongue; feel the doubt in him. But doubt wasn’t going to help us. I had run all other options through my head, each one enacted within my mind’s eye as I watched Joclyn’s sleeping body curled up against the rock.
“When I say go, létat, and don’t stop until you get to Rioseco. No matter what happens, do not stop.” I kept my voice deep, the tones laced with the magic I always attempted to restrain within me.
Each man nodded in agreement, although I could tell that they doubted me. I could see the fear that lined their faces.
“And, Joclyn?” Thom asked, his voice soft.
“I will carry her. She is my responsibility.” I turned to her, sending one small strand of magic toward her, lifting her body into the air and bringing her right into my arms. What would normally only take less than a thought, drained me. So much of my concentration and magic was focused on keeping the boulder, and in turn the mountain, off our backs that the smallest magic use could be felt deep in my bones.
I shook my head, sending my blonde hair swinging, as I focused back on the rock in front of me. I forced my mind off the people I was surrounded by, the people who were now fully relying on me to save their lives. I let the feeling of Joclyn’s skin on mine move into me, the power of her touch lighting my soul on fire as it had always done. The contact increased my energy, the fire within me burning bright enough to take away the aches I had begun to feel.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face at the sensation. The light of the fire spread through my soul, ignited the rest of me, and I couldn’t wait. I replaced one hand on the wall, wrapping the other carefully around Joclyn’s head as I cradled her against me. I hovered my hand over her mark, the dark dragon shape staring at me through the dim light of the cave.
“Nyní!” I yelled the word a second before I let my finger touch the raised skin on her neck, the magical connection between us supercharging what remained of my magic.
I took the surge of power and sent it out in an explosion so great I felt the floor underneath us rock with the energy.
The rock that had lined the exit exploded out in front of us, white snow suddenly visible only a few hundred feet out. Our feet moved before the smoke had begun to clear, I could hear the grunts and pants of Thom and Dramin as we stumbled and slipped on rubble in our desperate attempt to escape.
The cave filled with a loud resonating groans as my magic left the rock above us, the sound extending beyond the blast. The rumble grew as the rock above us shifted, the sound of our footsteps lost in the sound of falling rocks and the groan of death coming down on top of us. Thom and Dramin were ahead of me, their frantic movements coming into sight as the smoke began to clear. The white sheet of freedom was blanketed with rocks from the blast, the rubble heavy between us and freedom.
The deep sound of the mountain grew as rocks just behind me began to collide with the ground, the air thick with the sounds of destruction. There was a heavy crash directly to my left, the impact rocking the ground and sending Joclyn and I sideways toward a wall.
One misstep and I had secured our death. I looked toward Thom and Dramin’s retreating forms for one fleeting second before I pulled Joclyn to me, our bodies still falling toward the wall. I felt the tick of each moment like a death toll in my heart, every footfall ricocheting inside of me.