Part of the cavern collapsed.
Hurry, hurry, hurry. I ignored my hand and thrust my senses down… down… heat called to me, sang into my heart. I used the crystals in the rock to extend my reach and… there, not too far under the hot springs, I found it: molten rock.
I pulled, dragging lava up the spidery crystal paths. Rock oozed—it gathered speed as it found Thorkel’s cracks. I nudged it, just a little to the right…
Thorkel’s eyes widened. “What are you—”
Lava burst through the ground under his hand.
I watched, detached, as a fountain of glowing orange swallowed the shrieking man. The quaking ceased. The last bits of rock trickled from the ceiling.
Hand still pressed to the ground, I used the crystals between the fountain and me to take hold of the lava’s heat. With a single, focused burst I shoved the heat upward and out.
With a roar that made dragons sound meek, the air rushed out. The thick double doors incinerated. Behind the wave of superheated air, the lava fountain instantly hardened into crystallized rock. Terrible, beautiful. It only vaguely resembled a man.
I removed my hand from the floor. “I… did it.”
Cool night air felt freezing after so much heat. A tendril of hair floated and stuck to my sweaty face. I tried to wipe it away, but my left hand wouldn’t move. I couldn’t even raise it.
“But I did it,” I whispered to the lifeless hand. It was over. Across the cave, Merram still breathed. A half laugh, half sob caught in my throat.
*It’s over!* I called to Mettalise. The bond was still there, so she still lived, but I didn’t know if she heard me. I didn’t care. *Thorkel’s dead!*
That’s when the blood-red dragon landed on the platform.
Chapter Forty-One
Thorkel’s dragon barreled toward me. I dodged, but I tripped on the battered cavern floor. He didn’t bother with flame—a mage who had defeated his bonded would be prepared for that. Instead his nose scraped me off the ground and he hurled me through the air.
When I was thirteen, an ox startled by lightning had tossed me over a field. Back then, I’d landed on soft, tilled earth. I’d been bruised where the ox hit me, but I had lived.
Thorkel’s dragon struck with rage. My body smashed into the cave wall. Black sparkles filled my vision, but I didn’t pass out.
I couldn’t move, either. I couldn’t think. Pain heated my every muscle, and I might have thrown up. The sparkles began to fade, and I saw the dragon drawing closer.
*Mettalise.* Did I call for her? How did telepathy work? It didn’t matter. The dragon was bending over me. Zoland, he said… The first step in fighting a dragon is to run. Let your bonded fight.
I started to laugh. The dragon’s eyeridges lowered. A blur of motion—the tail smashed into the wall right above my head. Rock fragments dusted my face. I laughed harder when I realized that I could itch while in excruciating pain.
That must have really angered him, because he extended a single claw. Slowly the dragon stabbed my good shoulder and dragged it through my flesh. I screamed in agony.
Don’t let him kill you. Was that my thought? Mettalise speaking to me? I really wanted to pass out. Adara, fight back.
The command tore through the pain. The dragon withdrew his claw and I did the first thing I thought of. I flung myself at his snout.
The dragon reared, and I discovered vital flaws in my non-plan. My left arm, the battered one, didn’t obey. It flopped uselessly against the dragon’s snout. The other arm, the dragon had mauled. The pain from trying to hold on made me gasp. I was falling…
Did I pass out this time? No? Pigshit. I stared at the dragon chuckling above me. The dagger trick. I can do the dagger trick again. My Gift only affected the dagger, the dragon’s magic barrier wouldn’t stop it, and if I aimed for an eye—
No dagger. It lay in a pool of blood beside Thorkel’s severed hand.
The dragon stopped chuckling. His shoulders relaxed, his tail flicked. Maolmuire behaved the same way when he held someone in contempt.
The crimson dragon was done with playing. I closed my eyes. First One— What did one say in one’s dying moment? My ears rang so loudly it was difficult to think. First One, help Shamino find happiness… I faltered. My last moment was taking a long time. I opened my eyes.
No dragon loomed over me. I turned my head to the side.
Mettalise. Silver and red circled each other, teeth bared in silent snarls. Mettalise’s left wing dragged on the ground, the strips of flesh painting bloody lines on the floor. The red dragon already bore wounds along his back. He hissed with fury.
Mettalise’s haunches tensed. The enemy’s tensed as well. Mettalise feinted a tackle and lashed with her tail.
The dragon ducked, barely, thrusting his own tail where Mettalise would need to shift to keep her balance. But Mettalise was quick, one of the most agile dragons in the Kyer. She clamped her jaws on his tail just above the barbs, and he roared. I heard the sound, dimly, but it meant my hearing was returning.
The enemy breathed fire at Mettalise. Dragonfire couldn’t hurt another dragon, but it did obscure vision. I held my breath as the flames died away, and my heart leaped into my throat when I saw the enemy with his jaws on Mettalise’s neck.
She twisted and failed to dislodge him. His grip wasn’t in her flesh—teeth were slipping on her hard spines—but his claws raked her back. She bashed him with her tail, ripping open his side, but he didn’t relent.
Do something, I ordered myself. The stunned pain was fading as fear for Mettalise shot energy through my body. I stood. Swayed. How could I help? No weapons. Rock? I needed to hit the red dragon only, not Mettalise, and the two entwined like fighting dogs.
*Mettalise, jump away!* I called. No answer.
The red dragon lost
