Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Will didn’t catch me until I was halfway down the garden path where he grabbed my arm. He pulled me around and I could see the worry in his eyes. “You need to stay here,” he insisted.

I set my hand atop his and shook my head. “This isn’t negotiable. Besides, if you kick the bucket what does it matter to me? I’ll be left alone in a world I hardly know.”

“Raines would always look after you,” he reminded me.

I glared up at him as tears pooled in my eyes. “But I wouldn’t want Raines, I want you . You told me yourself that if a dragon lord loses his bride he often takes his own life.” I choked on my words but forced them out. “I couldn’t see any other way out for myself, either. Even if I had a hundred years ahead of me they’d be pointless without you.”

Will studied me with those soft, beautiful eyes of his. He reached up a hand and cupped my cheek in his palm. “I want nothing more than for you to be at my side for all time, but this isn’t safe. The elves would not have used the decrepit old bridge unless they were desperate to avoid detection.”

I stared up into his eyes with a steady unblinking gaze. “I don’t know anything about this old bridge, but I do know I can take care of myself. I need to prove that to you and the only way is to show you, but you’re telling me I need to stay home.”

His thumb brushed against my cheek. “I’m only trying to keep you safe.”

I leaned into his touch and shook my head. “I don’t need that. I need you . Even if it’s dangerous, I still want to be with you and have your back.”

Will pursed his lips before he sighed. “Very well but if I tell you to run then you will run, no matter what. Is that understood?”

I nodded. “Understood.”

He turned away so his back faced me. I started back when his wings burst out of his clothes. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at me. “Climb on.”

I glared at him as I marched up to his back. “Why don’t you just carry me in your arms?”

He shook his head. “You’ll be more comfortable and warmer on my back.”

I had my doubts but stepped up to him. I tried to hop onto his back but the height difference and my really poor attempt at hopping meant I ended up sliding down his back and back on my feet.

Will chuckled as he bent on one knee so I could climb aboard. “Let me help you.”

I quickly climbed aboard and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood and flapped his leathery wings before leaping into the air. I gasped as we took off into the sky. The evening air flew over us and was slightly chilling, showing that Will had been right in keeping me behind him. The warmth from his body beneath me kept me comfortable.

What it couldn’t keep me comfortable from was the heights, particularly as we sailed over the Rohkea Vali. My breath caught in my throat as I beheld the deep gap with its sheer walls. The torrential waters below offered only cold comfort to anyone unfortunate enough to fall into those depths.

Will flew us down but made sure to keep a wide berth between the bridge and us. I gripped tightly to him as we descended into the gap. The weakening sun meant we were quickly hidden in the shadows of the high walls but I managed to see a large shape far below the entrance bridge. This, too, was a crossing but the entrance came out of the stone walls and returned to them on the other side.

Will landed us on the rough stone that made up the bridge and I slid off his back. The rocks flecked beneath my feet and I felt a strange unease inside my stomach.

“Don’t make heavy movements,” Will whispered to me as he grasped my hand. “The bridge has threatened to collapse for a century.”

My mouth dropped open. “Then why are-” I snapped my mouth shut as my words rang out along the canyon walls.

Will pressed a finger to his lips before he used the same hand to illuminate the area around us. I could see more of the bridge and the dilapidated state it was in. There used to be low stone walls on either side but time and weather had worn them down to nothing but smoothed edges. Moss covered much of the surface, fed by the rushing water beneath us. I eased to one side and craned my neck to peer over the edge. The water crashed through rocks just below us, creating a cacophony of noise that was almost deafening and filling the air with its light spray.

Wide and tall doors stood at both ends of the bridge and their huge metal hinges were covered in rust. Will strode over to the entrance inserted into the wall opposite from the city. I scurried up beside him and watched as he trailed his hand down the gap between the two doors.

“Is something wrong?” I told him.

“We must go through this door to follow them,” he told me as he studied the entrance. “Otherwise we won’t know where they’ve come out.”

I blinked at him. “Shouldn’t they come out in the same place?”

He shook his head. “These are enchanted doors. The elves crafted them to confuse their enemies were they to be invaded.” He half-turned and nodded at the opposite door. “That leads to tunnels beneath the city. In case of invasion, the citizens would travel to this bridge and through this door where they would come out at a random location in the woods.”

“Then do the elf troops even know where they were going when they went through here?” I asked him.

He returned his attention to the scrambled doors and nodded. “Anyone with the blessing of the king can control where they come out. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have that blessing.”

My face fell. “So how do we follow them?”

“We force the doors to use the same magic as those who previously passed through their mouth,” he told me.

I lifted an eyebrow. “How do we do that?”

He stepped back and stretched out one hand toward the doors. A bright flame erupted from his palm. “Through threats. These doors have been magicked long enough that they have a slight semblance of sentience, or at least enough to know when they are in danger.”

My mouth fell open. “You’re going to threaten them with burning if they don’t let us through?”

He tilted his head to one side and smiled at me. “Do you have a better plan?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe asking nicely?”

He chuckled as the fire in his palm exploded, casting a bright light over our dark surroundings. “I prefer this method.”

A rattling caught my attention and I looked at the doors. The flame in Will’s hand flickered and danced, but the shifting light didn’t explain the quaking that came from the wood doors. I stepped closer and reached out a trembling hand. My palm touched one of the doors and I jerked it back.

“They’re shaking!” I yelped.

Will held his flame closer to them. “Will you let us through to follow the king’s blessing?” The doors rattled harder and he frowned. “We are friends to your master, whether he knows it or not. Will you let us pass?” Again, the doors shuddered on their hinges.

I stepped up to Will and set my hand on his outstretched arm. “Why don’t we just go through and see where we end up?” I suggested. “What’s the worst that could happen? Wouldn’t we just end up somewhere in the forest?”

He caught my eyes and pointed down at our feet with his empty hand. “Not just there.”

I blinked at him before a horrible realization struck me. “You mean. . .we might end up in the water?”

Will nodded. “Or inside the king’s dungeons, if he has commanded them to do so.” He returned his attention to the doors and his flame danced more lively than before. “That’s why we must convince them to send us through, otherwise-” He raised his fire to the doors and they shivered on their hinges.

“Wait a second!” I shouted as I leapt between Will and the quaking doors. I stretched out my arms and glared at him. “You can’t do that to them! They didn’t do anything wrong! They’re just doing their job!”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “This must be a serious matter if the elves used the old bridge. A serious matter requires serious actions.”

“I can’t believe you’re even suggesting doing this! You yourself said they were alive! You’d be killing them if you set them on fire!”

“If this works it will be worth it to follow the guards,” he reminded me.

I stomped my foot on the bridge. Big mistake. The whole thing shuddered. Some of the color drained from my face and even Will looked unsettled. I gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

He sighed and looked past me at the gates. “There’s no other way than to set them ablaze and hope their empty bodies lead us to the last destination.” The gates rattled so loudly that the sound echoed down the canyon.

I stepped back and pressed my back against their quivering forms. “I’m not going to let you do that, Will.”