The Writer's Escape

16. The Dragon

Serena waited, kneeling, on the floor, as the sorceresses began to chant. She held her beaten-up paperback novel in one hand, and her leather bag, which the sorceresses had finally returned, in the other.

Their magic flowed through her, and hot, burning pain seared through her. Serena squeezed her eyes shut as the world around her blurred once again to black and she entered a new one. 

The chaos of the desert world faded to a stifled silence broken only by gurgling lava pools. Once again, she smelled sulfur and felt fat ash flakes brush her skin. Around her, the mountains sat in a yellow haze, a few sparse trees bending in gales of wind that whipped Serena's hair into her face and blew her robes about. 

The sorceresses' song drew the spirits back, dragging them through the earth to their world. Serena walked across the rocky landscape, pulling them with her.

Not yet, she thought as they clamored at the edges of the world— not here. Her legs ached as she clambered over the rocks. 

She walked all the way back to the caves, stooping to walk through the twisted tunnels. In the room with the broken eggshells, she knelt and closed her eyes. Now. 

Dark shapes swirled around her and magic surged through her. The spirits roared in her head and rushed back to their own world. She waited, a dull pain pulsing through her skin. Back in their world, the dragon-shifters twisted and shrank and then disappeared.

Serena opened her eyes to find a cavern of dragon eggs before her, the smooth silvery-blue shells unbroken. They glowed faintly. She ran her fingers over the cool, smooth surface of one of the eggs, and smiled.

Around her, the chanting trickled to nothing, and Serena opened her eyes to find herself back in the throne room, doused in cold sweat. She wheezed in a breath and released the book, sinking to the ground. She stared at the floor as she tried to regain her breath.

"Well, I hope you're happy," Lillian sneered, walking closer until Serena could see the tips of her polished black boots. "Of course, I am still in control of Redhaven." She pulled Serena to her feet.

"And as for your fate," added Daria with a sardonic smile, "I wouldn't place any bets on you getting back home in one piece."

Serena swayed on her feet slightly from the effort of the summoning, and she placed a hand on the wall next to her to steady herself. Dread curled in her stomach, and she couldn't say anything, couldn't even plead for her life. She just stood there, staring at the sorceresses. Would this really be how it all ended?

Then a screaming, cursing shape lunged at the sisters. Knives flashed and sank into Lillian's chest.

"Berry!" Serena had never been so happy to see someone in her life.

Berry turned to flash her a grin before slashing her knives through the air. Daria drew her own weapons, but Berry was faster, and the twins were weakened and distracted from the summoning. The fight was over in a few seconds, a flurry of metal.

Daria charged at Berry with her sword, but Berry parried deftly and plunged a knife into her side. Then she hit the sorceress over the head with rhe blunt end of her knife, and Daria slumped to the floor.

Berry sheathed her knives.

"Thank you," Serena said, sagging in relief. She tried not to look at the twin sorceresses bleeding out on the marble floor.

"Anytime, princess."

Then Patrick barreled through the door. His face was covered in dirt and sweat, robes torn up and splattered with blood, but he was grinning triumphantly. "I did it!" he said. "I told them who I was and I shut down the defenses. What do we do now?"