In the Wake of the Wicked (Veridian Empire #1)

67. Rose

67

Rose

S leep brought with it dreams of being in Leo’s arms. Of his warmth encircling me, embracing me, heating me to my core. The novelty of the step we’d taken was welded into my skin, like molten lava coursing through my veins, almost hot enough to actually burn?—

Something scorching licked at my feet.

I inhaled and immediately coughed. Opening my eyes, I gasped and scrambled to my knees, choking on thick, black smoke.

The cave was on fire.

“Rose! Leo!” Lark cried from across the cavern. Rissa, still in her fox form, tugged at Lark’s gown with her teeth, her red fur standing up straight.

Leo was already on his feet and pulling me with him. I coughed again, doing my best to cover my nose and mouth with the fabric of my sleeves. I could barely see through the smog that enveloped the stone cave, the occasional flash of flames catching my eye. How could this have happened? The fire had been almost extinguished when we fell asleep, and Horace had been on watch?—

“Where’s Horace?” I called in between sputters.

“He must be stuck outside,” Leo said. “Go with Lark and Rissa—I’ll get him.”

“Wait— Leo!” I tried to protest, but he let go of my hand and disappeared into the gray haze. Seconds later, the fire roared, violent red and orange flames bursting to the ceiling. Leo cried out and emerged from the smoke with his arm smoldering.

“The fire is blocking the entrance. We have to go through one of these.” He gestured to the other three tunnels leading from the cave.

“What about Horace?” I asked.

“If he’s on the other side, he can get out the way we came. We’ll find him later. Right now we need to move .”

As if on cue, the fire at our backs swelled and crackled. With a whoosh , it shot out at our feet, making me yelp and jump backward. Still, it grew, pushing us further and further toward the tunnels.

I tried to cross over to Lark and Rissa, but the flames seemed to be alive, their blazing fingers unfurling and snapping at my arm. They quickly crawled across my path, blocking Leo and me from our friends.

The inferno flared up again, almost catching Rissa’s tail on fire. Lark cast me one final look of terror, my name on her lips before a coughing fit overtook her and the two of them were forced down the closest path right as the fire consumed their side of the cave.

My heart raced with adrenaline and fear and confusion. Eyes watering, I let Leo grasp my hand and drag me into the nearest exit.

“My magic, it—it’s still not working,” I rasped out as we stumbled down the dark path. Shadows flickered ahead of us. I craned my neck to look behind me and found flames following us into our small tunnel.

“This must be the fire portion of the trial,” Leo said, his voice scratchy as he tried to clear his throat. “Normal flames don’t act like this. It’s like it’s leading us to something.”

“Or just trying to kill us.”

“Always the optimist.”

I shot him a wry grin, his level-headedness giving me courage while the blaze at our backs bore down on us. My breaths were labored as we ran, both from the smog and the incline of the tunnel. We were gaining elevation inside the mountain. Leo was right. The fire was leading us somewhere. Leading us up .

But what was at the top?

The path curved sharply, causing me to ram into the sidewall. Dirt and rocks embedded themselves in my skin as Leo helped me regain my footing, but those precious seconds cost us. With another surge of power, the blaze nipped at our heels and elbows. Sweat dripped from my forehead, my dress clinging to my skin like paste.

A fork in the path appeared ahead. Leo yanked me away from the flames and toward the left side, but his grip on my hand slipped. I called out his name and fell forward in an attempt to grab onto him, our sweat-slicked skin making it impossible to get a good hold.

My knees hit the floor as another coughing fit overtook me. Smoke flowed around us, so thick I couldn’t even see him anymore. Soot clogged my throat. My eyes were heavy, my hands blackened, and the roar of the fire drowned out any sound of Leo’s voice.

Flames erupted from the spot he’d stood moments ago. I let out a scream that felt like nails clawing at my neck.

“Rose!” shouted his distant voice. “Get out of here, Rose,” he said. “I’ll find you!”

The fire ripped past me and down the left tunnel, the one he’d been aiming for before we got separated. In a haze, I pushed to my feet and staggered down the right side, away from the inferno.

I was alone. No magic, no friends, not even a weapon—Horace hadn’t given me back my dagger from when he gutted the pheasant.

There was nowhere to go but up.

I climbed higher and higher, looking back every few seconds to see if the blaze was catching up to me, but it seemed to have stayed where it was. If it wasn’t chasing me, it was probably chasing Leo. The thought made me sick to my stomach. My lungs were filled with smoke, my vision swimming and pounding.

He would be fine. We would all be fine. I just had to keep going.

My thighs burned from the exertion of moving uphill, but I couldn’t slow down. I skimmed my hand against the tunnel wall, both to keep myself going straight and to prevent me from falling.

Right as I thought I couldn’t possibly move another foot, that there couldn’t possibly be more to the path, I caught sight of the end of the tunnel.

But it wasn’t an opening. It didn’t lead to fresh air or a way out.

It was a dead end.

“ No, ” I called out weakly, slumping to the ground.

This was it. The only way back out of the mountain was down the path I’d come.

Why would the trial have led me here only to force me back? If it was going to kill me, it had its chance. Was there something I was missing? Or perhaps it was to mess with my head. The Fates only knew Gayl loved to do that.

A cool breeze brushed against my hot neck. I let out a sigh and leaned my head back, welcoming a reprieve from the sweltering heat.

My neck snapped forward.

How was that possible? Where was the wind coming from?

I scanned the ceiling for cracks, but there wasn’t so much as a sliver for the wind to get through. All that stood before me was a solid wall.

Like in the arena with the creature.

That had been a solid wall, and yet we’d walked right through it. An invisible portal masked to look like stone and rock. Could it be that simple? Another portal?

I felt along the ground for a rock and pulled one free, taking a deep breath to calm my thundering pulse as I threw it against the wall.

It disappeared.

I smiled. “Found you.”

Getting a running start, I launched myself through the portal.

And then, I was free falling.

The first rays of the sunrise were blinding after hours in the dark cave. I blinked against the light and the rush of wind, a silent scream choking me as I fell, and fell, and fell. The tip of the mountain grew more and more distant. Hair whipped around me, blocking my vision, strangling me. I flailed through the air and tried to twist to get my bearings, but all I could think about was the contents of my stomach lurching up my throat and the impending death that awaited me at the end of this.

A sound broke through the wind. Something almost rhythmic. Like a pounding or beating of drums, only slower, and growing louder…

I managed to move my hair out of my face enough to see a dark mass flying on the horizon.

Flying toward me .

I squinted as it drew closer. The sound…it was wings .

Midnight blue and silver scales shimmered in the light of the morning sun, almost as if they were drinking in the rays. When the creature beat its magnificent wings, I saw veins of silver running through the translucent underside. An enormous tail slashed from side to side. The tip of it was like a jagged spike, sharp enough to flay skin. Four legs, each five times as thick as my entire body, stretched toward me as my gaze reached its head. It loomed large, long and angular, with curved horns shining like molten silver framing its face.

It can’t be …

A dragon.

It flew directly overhead, its vast body blocking the light. The ground raced up to meet me and I closed my eyes, preparing for the crash.

But it never came. Instead, sharp claws encased me.

I screamed and opened my eyes to stare at the underbelly of the beast. It craned its neck to look at me, nostrils of its long snout flaring and a gleam in its silver eyes that was wholly disarming and somehow…familiar.

With a powerful flap of its membranous wings, it lowered us to the ground and released me from its grasp. I reeled backward, barely noticing the sand beneath my feet and the beach we had landed on.

Dragons…they weren’t real. They were a myth . And yet that was the only thing this massive beast before me could be. It looked like the paintings in fairytales, with its ferocious maw and serrated teeth, its glistening scales and wings that could level an entire house.

The dragon was the width of my apothecary and twice as tall, its elongated neck reaching up so high I had to crane my neck to see its head and sharp horns. It looked down at me as I backed away, trying to put as much distance between us as possible—although I supposed no distance was too great for this creature to travel. It could snatch me in its jaws before I had time to breathe. But it simply stared at me, and for a moment, it almost looked as if it…it smirked .

Could dragons smirk?

Fates, I was losing it. I had to get out of here. I had to find Leo and the others and?—

In the blink of an eye, those navy and silver scales disappeared, the monstrous body shifting into a sleek black button down shirt and pants, with dark blonde, wavy locks blowing in the wind as he rolled his neck.

Nox winked at me.

“Hello, darling.”