The pillar had dismantled any script the wall had to keep it intact. Large cracks ran up the side of the wall and the door had been slammed. The pillar had broken into two pieces, one of them so close that he just had to reach out a hand to touch it, angled up against the hole in the wall. When the dust settled slightly he saw the other had landed a few feet away on his other side. The chain had landed in front of him, leaving him in a small empty triangle of floor space. Pieces of pillar and wall fanned out across the floor in front of him.
Which would explain all of the screaming on the other side of the pillar, tinny and odd after all of the noise.
"I'm okay!" Heln managed before he started coughing. He had no idea how much dust he had inhaled. "I'm… I'm less okay."
The dragon had loomed out of the dust, unperturbed by a piece of its neck being torn away by the collar hanging much loosely from its ruined throat. The power core throbbed like a heartbeat. Without the barrier Heln felt the power core at full force, like a spike to his brain, and he couldn't stop coughing.
"Hey! Hey, ugly!" A piece of rock flew out from the other side of the pillar and smacked the dragon in the eye. It must have been Rhyss doing the throwing, even though Bel was the one yelling.
The dragon whipped around to face her.
"Yeah! I'm talking to you, you big undead lizard! Come and get some!"
The next rock was imbued with magic, Heln could see it glowing from where he was standing. That was too much for the dragon to ignore, and it moved towards them. The chain snapped tight and the pillar started to move.
Heln crawled under the links as fast as he could before he really was crushed. Rhyss grabbed his arm and yanked him behind the pillar. She was gray with dust and had lost a good six inches of her braid, the rest coming loose around her shoulders.
"Where's Bel?"
"She's distracting the dragon."
Heln's heart stopped. Maybe the entire world stopped.
"No."
"She's fine, she'll be okay, we need to get you out so I can get her out." Rhyss dragged him to the hole and he stumbled after her.
Heln had never felt so stupidly useless in his entire life.
But this was Rhyss's job, she had trained for it and he just needed to trust her. Maybe if it had just been him he would have, but it was his sister who was putting herself in danger right now.
The door had been knocked just ajar enough that they could get into the area beyond. It was bigger than the size of the door would have suggested. The wall wasn't natural at all. He pulled out his light stick and let the warm light wash over the cold, dark steps.
Rhyss nodded and ran back down the stairs.
He couldn't actually see anything. The door was angled at just the wrong way and the hole from the pillar was a little too high. For all he knew they were both dead and he was waiting in the dark for nothing. The dragon was still moving around, though. That had to be a good sign.
If he was honest, he hadn't given a lot of thought to his father since they'd been down there. What would he do if they never made it out? What if, by some horrible twist of fate, he made it and Bel didn't?
He didn't think he wanted to find out.
Luckily, he didn't have to. Bel crawled through the hole and nearly collapsed on the stairs. She looked up at him, her eyes so wide there was white ringing her irises.
"Are you okay?" She crawled up the steps to where Heln was sitting. She was covered in soot and dust, but she didn't seem to be hurt. She brushed some dust from Heln's hair. That settled it, she was real and alive. "Eleti alive when that pillar fell I thought—"
"You distracted a dragon," Heln blurted out before he hugged her.
Bel hugged him back, too tightly, and he felt every bruise and bump, but he didn't even care. He was probably holding his sister even tighter. She was alive. She was breathing. Well, mostly.
"Ow." Bel leaned back after a full minute and gave him a bit of a grin. She had tears in her eyes and Heln realized that his own were stinging. "Sorry. Had a hard week. You really okay? I thought I lost you."
"When Rhyss said — where is Rhyss?" Heln looked at the door in alarm.
"I thought she was… she isn't right behind me?" Bel's voice cracked and she looked back and forth, her ponytail nearly whipping Heln in the face. She started down the stairs and he grabbed her by the elbow. "Let me go!"
"We need to be smart about this-"
Bel shook his hand off of her arm, glaring at him. "I'm always smart about everything. Let's go save her."
Chapter Fifteen
Rhyss had been right behind Bel. At least, she had been until the dragon forced her to dodge back when it moved suddenly. What mattered was that Bel made it through the door and onto the stairs. She was safe. Safer, at any rate.
Rhyss shoved her hair out of her face, looking up at the dragon. It was more concerned with the doorway for the moment, but any second it was going to try to cook anyone on the other side. Bel and Heln were stupid, so of course they'd still be right there on the stairs. She would have
