I grunted as I spied what I’d landed on. Luru, who hadn’t fared as well as I had. He lay with a cracked skull and a chest glistening with blood. Something must’ve broken internally and punctured his skin.
Govam pulled me back to the wall at the other side of the landing, forcing me to step on my injured leg and nearly dragging a strangled cry from my throat.
“There, see?” Govam said as the second demon, a broad-faced creature with a wide nose, stepped in front of me and looked me over.
Broad Face zeroed in on my ankle, held off the ground and throbbing. “She’s fucked up,” he confirmed.
“Ah, well. She’ll heal. When their magic isn’t suppressed, dragons heal quick.”
“What’s to stop her from shifting? I never had the guts to ask the higher-ups on the way here. Seems stupid to let a dragon shift. They’re enormous and mean.”
“This particular one hasn’t ever shifted before, I guess. She’ll need to be guided through it or she could die, from what I understand.”
“What about the dragons in the dungeon? How are we going to stop them now that the magic has been released?”
Govam, more human looking than the other but with slightly gray skin, scratched his chin. “Only some of them are from her kingdom. From what I’ve gathered, the suppression magic is gone, but they still need their alpha to draw out their animals. They won’t get any shifter benefits until that happens. She may smell like the alpha, but she’s not him. And even if she could free their dragons, they’d still be trapped in the dungeon, and we’d have them killed before they made it far. They aren’t indestructible.”
I stayed very still and ensured I had an entirely blank face. They’d just confirmed there were dragons in the dungeon. The ones from our kingdom must have been taken without Nyfain’s knowledge. That or he hadn’t been able to tell me because of the magical gag woven into the curse. Regardless, this meant I had help. It meant I’d have allies.
Broad Face shook his head, eyeing my body and then my face. “It’s going to take an awful lot to clean this thing up. She’s a mess.”
“Not our problem, like you said.”
Legs appeared in the blackness crowding the stairwell, the magic hovering like a blanket. Jedrek came into view with a fresh welt on his cheek. He’d probably tried to resist, and they’d slapped him around. The magic above must’ve deadened sound, though, because we hadn’t heard any of it.
The leader, Ressfu, emerged on the stairs, his hand on Jedrek’s shoulder. His gaze darted around the landing, pausing on Luru’s broken body. Panic crept into his expression before easing into plain anxiety. He must’ve realized who it was. The next moment, his gaze hit me and a look of relief followed. He’d clearly regretted giving in to his stupid impulse. That was good. I hoped a lot of them gave in to moments of stupidity. Dumb creatures, even if they only acted foolish sometimes, were easier to fool.
The rest of the demons followed Ressfu, a good few of them looking me over for damage as they descended. When Ressfu reached the bottom, he reached for me.
“Her ankle is messed up,” Govam said, still holding me up. “Like her face and a handful of other issues from her fall.”
His voice didn’t hold accusation, but Ressfu bristled all the same.
“She’ll heal,” Ressfu said, grabbing me and jerking me toward the tunnel. I tried to step-hop, but to keep from falling, I had to put weight on the bad ankle. Agony blasted through me, and I couldn’t stifle a cry as I hopped on the other foot, trying to keep from going down. But I could already tell it was too late.
As I pitched forward, I threw out my hands to catch myself—just as a strong arm wrapped around my middle and pulled me up and against a chest.
“Fucking idiot,” Govam mumbled softly, holding me so I could put my good foot on the ground. “Denski, get her other side. Let’s get this done. I’m sick of this journey.”
A thin demon emerged from the gathering, his smell suggesting his power was about the same as Govam’s, which was higher than that of Broad Face and probably Ressfu, though it was hard to tell with so many of them gathered around.
They each took hold of one of my arms, and I hop/hobbled with them down the corridor, the sound of shuffling feet behind me indicating the others were coming along.
We followed the curve of the hallway, everyone obviously able to see in the darkness except for Jedrek, who stumbled within his captors’ hold. The curse’s suppression had been lifted from him, just like the rest of us from Wyvern, but I hadn’t used my power to help yank his animal out of the darkness. I was worried he’d freak out and try to shift.
Up ahead, the low-hanging domed ceiling had an opening at the top that let in a slice of dusty, crimson-tinged white light. I looked up as we passed, but couldn’t see anything through the hole. Onward we walked, darkness crowding in once again.
A bit farther in, the tunnel narrowed slightly, seemingly ending at a set of bars, the gaps between them slightly illuminated in that same reddish light. Through them were more rough-hewn walls, no difference from the hallway we’d walked down.
Govam stopped before it, saying nothing. In a moment, Ressfu walked around us, a key in hand. He glanced down at my feet before unlocking the door. He gave Govam a hard look, then headed through the opening and turned right.
Govam and Denski started forward in unison without so much as glancing at each other. I hobbled between them, my ankle pounding and sweat coating my skin despite the chill.
Torches lined these walls, few and far between, but they cast enough light for me to see without my dragon’s intervention. I had no idea why torches had taken the place of the electrical or magical light in the previous area. At a crossroads we turned right, only to reach another one, where we turned left. I noticed subtle variations in the walls that would help me find my way back, and my dragon cataloged the various smells. After one more turn, the hall ended at a giant skull, the top of its head dusting the ceiling and its chin resting on the ground. Its cheekbones spanned the width of the hallway, and its eyes glowed a sparkling red. Each tooth was pointed in its slightly ajar mouth, giving it a more sinister look and feel.
Ressfu walked right toward it. Once there, he reached to the side and opened it like a door. I belatedly realized it was flat, only giving the illusion of protruding into the hallway.
“Cool,” I said softly as we passed through.
The demons beside me acted like they hadn’t heard.
On the other side, the smell intensified until it felt like I was swimming through it. The pungent aroma was equal parts musty and acidic, perfumed with sweat and death and decay. Its thickness coated my tongue and made my eyes water. My dragon recoiled within me, our senses blasted.
An orange glow filled the hall up ahead before it opened up into a large room. A suspension bridge spanned a chasm full of what looked like molten lava, glowing oranges and yellows and reds oozing and shifting. No heat rose, but the air shimmered with it.
“She’ll need to be carried,” Denski said as we stopped before the bridge.
Ressfu continued across, holding the chains on either side and making the bridge swing slightly with his movements. His clothing rippled with the air currents.
“I’ll do it,” Govam said. When Denski stepped away, Govam addressed me in a low voice. “Now, dragon, I know that you are hurting, but you have been on your best behavior. Now is not the time to act up. There is nowhere you can go. If you try, you won’t get far. Killing us both on that bridge will serve no purpose. You’d best stick with good behavior. Do you understand what I’m saying?”