~This continues where the last chapter left of with Emma on Drago's island: Emma is ten, Blaze is sixteen~
*A/N: Also, if you haven't already checked, I added on to chapter 16 a few days ago :) I forgot that Emma can talk to dragons. Well, time to apply that!*
Emma's POV:
I ran down the tunnel as silently as I could. I couldn't believe Eret let me go! It made me feel super happy, but also super terrified. What would I do next? How would I get my brother out without Drago noticing? The tunnel opened up into a large room with the brass dragon cages. A jumble of voices flooded my head: but that was just it - they were only in my head. The voices belonged to the trapped dragons. Yes, you read that right; I can talk to dragons.
::The young human girl is back!:: One dragon said. ::Is she going to get caught?:: another pondered. There were so many voices - I couldn't think!
"Shh!" I demanded, and all fell silent. "I can't concentrate when you all talk like that! Please, be quiet, I need to focus!" I swiftly ran down another tunnel. This tunnel was held up by wooden support beams: two on either side with one at the top. This repeated every 8 ft. or so. There were a few torches here and there, but over all, the tunnel was dim. It felt eerie and wrong. I kept going until I hear footsteps from in front of me. Not again! I looked around: there was nowhere to go! The pounding footsteps echoed just to mock me as I spotted the support beams. I climbed up and sat on top of it as none other than Drago Bludvist came into view below me.
He passed the beam a few steps, heading in the direction that I had just come from. Then, I slipped over the edge, but silently caught the beam with my hands, dangling just behind Drago. If he turned around, I would be right in his face. Thankfully, he kept walking. I forced my aching arms to hold on until I could no longer hear his footsteps, before dropping down, making a thud. I ran down the remaining length of the hall, which opened up into a large room with several smaller rooms in it. My eyes scanned every doorway until I spotted a cell. I rushed over to it.
"Blaze?" I whispered. My brother turned around, before standing up and rushing to meet me at the bars.
"Emma! You have to leave, you're not safe here!" His amber eyes were filled with concern. He wore tattered clothes and had dirt on his face. It killed me to see him like this.
"I'm not leaving without you!" Then, I heard a whizzing of an arrow. I instintively put up a forcefield, the arrow hitting right where my heart would have been before bouncing off. I looked up to see a guard with a cross bow.
"Drago! Drago! Guards!" He yelled. I thrust my hand forward, blasting the crossbow out of his hands. With the wave of my hand, the guard was pinned against the wall. Eret came running into the room to see what the problem was. When I spotted him, I stretched my other hand out, invisible pressure pinning Eret to the other wall. Then, Drago's clacking footsteps echoed throughout the tunnel and he came into view.
I slightly squeezed the hand that was pinning Eret, causing him to groan in pain. "Don't come any closer, Drago, or I'll kill him! Both of them!" Drago grabbed the crossbow and aimed it at Blaze. "Don't!" I yelled. I would have pinned Drago to the wall too, but my two arms were holding the other two. I sueezed my hand slightly harder, causing Eret to cry out in pain as a warning.
Drago's aim didn't move. "I don't care about them, foolish girl. But they do come in handy sometimes. Let them go, or I'll shoot your brother - and you can't stop me - not while you're busy holding those two." I could just let go of Eret and stop Drago. But would Eret turn on me and do the same thing Drago is right now? Before I even finished this thought, Drago started counting down.
He spoke crisply. "Five... Four. Three. Two. O--" I dropped both hands, Eret and the other guard falling to the ground. "Excelent choice. Now, unless you want your brother to endure a slow, painful, death, you will do something else for me."