I still didn't appreciate all the dragons, and the fact that Ariannahad come along with us. Why did Lucian tell Blake about this? He made me so mad sometimes, and I didn’t want to be angry at him. The fact that he’d brought Brian was the cherry on top of this whole crappy sundae.
As we flew, curiosity dwelled in my mind. How had Lucian convinced Blake to come on this trip? A small part of me was glad the Rubicon was with us, but not enough to forgive Lucian yet. If we did get caught, which was likely to happen, the punishment wouldn’t be as severe because of Blake. They would see it as him living up to his expectations, and nobody would suspect it was in fact me behind this crazy adventure.
I felt my legs cramp as I clutched onto Sammy with all my strength. How far is this stupid place?
“Are you okay?” Lucian asked, concern filling his voice.
“Just a cramp,” I said, my eyes still closed tightly.
“Where?”
“Left thigh.”
I felt as his hand touched my leg and started to rub the cramp away. My eyes flew open, because he was supposed to hold on to Sammy for the both of us.
I gasped as my brain tried to take in my surroundings.
We glided on a bed of clouds. The stars were bright with the moon shining full in all its glory. Beautiful.
I looked to my left and saw Becky on top of George. Arianna held on to her, but not the way I clung to Lucian. They made it look so easy. The other dragons were far out in front. I got a glimpse of Blake, or I assumed it was him, because the dragon was gargantuan with his wings stretched out. I turned my focus onto his massive dragon body and knew when he descended, we’d be almost there.
“You chose a perfect night for this, Elena. If there weren’t so many clouds in the sky tonight, we wouldn’t have made it,” Lucian said.
I nodded, not really processing his words.
He chuckled. “You're afraid of flying?”
“Shhh.”
“That's so ironic.”
I didn't say anything. He was right about the ironic part. I felt his hand on mine and my eyelids felt heavy, but my fear of heights forced my body to stay awake. I held on tighter when Blake started to blur. I kept staring at him until the first ray of sun made its appearance on the horizon.
I noticed instantly when Blake finally started to descend, which meant only one thing; our destination was not much farther. Sammy followed his lead, and I grabbed Lucian tighter. When we exited the roof of clouds, I saw plenty of open land and mountains. My head spun and I closed my eyes again. The cold air helped with the hot flashes, and after a couple of minutes, I opened my eyes again. In the distance, I saw a large castle.
“My dad is so going to kill me,” Lucian said as we turnedtowards the mountains and away from the castle. It was the first part of Paegeia I’d seen, and I couldn't believe that none of them wanted to fight for it.
An hour later, Blake landed near the woods on top of a mountain. All the dragons followed him. Sammy landed last and almost fell over.
“That's it, girl, you did great.” Lucian tapped her. The other dragons disappeared into the woods. Becky struggled to take the saddle off George's back as Lucian ran over to help. He kindly lifted her up so she could reach the buckle.
Why on earth she had brought the saddle with her? No one knows.
Sammy didn't go into the woods, but asked for a towel. As she stood in the clearing, I was finally able to examine her in her dragon form. She was beautiful with sweeping wings that lifted from her shoulders and continued down her tail, ending in an elegant flourish. Compared to the other dragons, her lips were lush and full, as defined facial bones highlighted her fiery eyes. Her amber scales glistened in the setting sun, and I could catch all of the colors of a brightly burning ember radiating around her body. She was simply the most magnificent creature I had even seen.
When she changed, she barely had the strength to cover herself before she fell.
Blake appeared out of nowhere and caught her right before her head slammed into the ground. She must have been really tired.
“Dad's going to kill me for letting you come with us,” he scolded.
“Dad's not here, so shut up.” She giggled, sounding out of it, too tired for anything else.
The corner of Blake's mouth curved up, and he shook his head. He led her to a tree close by, and she sat down, exhausted.
All the dragons quickly retrieved their clothes from the backpack Arianna carried.
“We need to rest.” Blake spoke for all the dragons.
Lucian nodded. “We all have to rest, Blake.”
It wasn't long before all the tents Blake carried in his large pack were transformed into a makeshift camp. The boys were really handy, and Brian made a fire in no time. I guess it was easy when he had the ability to breathe on top of a couple of sticks and they would burst into flames. Arianna and Tabitha went to look for more wood while George went hunting. Becky sat with Sammy. I really wanted to speak to Becky, but she made a point not to even look at me, so I left it for now.
“Elena, you need your rest,” Lucian called from inside the tent we shared.
I crawled in, trying to hide the fact that I was concerned about Becky being so upset with me.
For crying out loud, I have too many things on my mind already. Doesn't she care about that? She's so selfish, a spoiled brat. I felt bad the minute I thought it and struggled to fall asleep.
We will go to the Sacred Cavern tonight, mythoughts prophesized. So many things popped in my head as I considered what the cave hid in its inky black depths. Why hadn’t the five women ever revealed what had been inside? I dozed off with images of bats and dragons hiding inside the cave, and I having to kill each and every one of them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Queen Catherine appeared in my dreams again, and I noticed that the woods she pointed at looked similar to where we were. I knew now why I'd been dreaming about her. She had prepared me for the decision I had to make. The dream changed from her to the Book of Shadows. I saw my foretelling, and the words were red.
The smell of a strong woody and sweet essence filled my nostrils, and I opened my eyes. Lucian just smiled as I looked at him. He looked so beautiful when he woke up. Not like me, hair a mess and eyes thick from sleep. The tent was barely lit. When we crawled out, I saw the sun had finally begun to set. We found four rows of small skinless animals spiked on sticks, roasting over an open fire. I gawked at the amazing survival skills these guys had.
When the meat was done, we all ate in silence. I didn't think that they were very happy to be here, but I knew it wasn't for nothing. I needed to know whether the sword still existed, and if so, where it was hidden.
After dinner, Lucian took me to wash up by a nearby river. I grasped his hand to steady myself on the moss-covered rocks that lined the riverbed. Away from the campfire light made it difficult to find my way around, and I had to rely only on my sense of touch. When I gathered enough courage to jump into the inky depths, the water felt like ice cubes, but it was just what I needed.
On our way back to the camp, we saw a dark figure heading our way.
“We need to talk about what it is we are going to do.” Blake's voice was right in front of us. I lost my balance and slipped on the smooth rocks.