Page 5 of Cursed with the Dragon Prince
Reality tugs at me, lifting me from the dream. My feet hurt again. Only the pain isn’t as bad as before, and thedream’s aching sense of safety continues to sate me. Idofeel reinvigorated.
Instinctively, I open my eyes, forgetting that there is nothing to see… Except somethinghaschanged.
Tiny white lights spark farther down the tunnel—fireflies. They swarm and expand, their lights shifting on and off. Each one moves unpredictably, but together, they’re lighting my way.
Light
Reina
The fireflies lead me to the end of the tunnel. The walls, ceiling, and floor meet, forming a barrier that blocks my way. Then they fade, leaving me at a dead end.
Darkness returns, and with it, my panic. Each fear that haunted me during my long walk returns.Am I trapped? Will the dragon fae give chase? Can I find water?
The vanishing light makes everything bleak, and I groan, a desperate, frightened plea.Why me?
My body gives way to violent shaking as my fingers scurry, searching the walls.
There has to be a way out.
My fingers don’t find the exit, but as my eyes adjust to total darkness, I see a faint new light. There’s another much smaller tunnel, and light leaks from the other side.
I shimmy my body into the crevice and barely fit, the rocks pushing against me. I’m afraid of being buried alive, but the light encourages me, and I crawl forward.
My fingers curl around a rocky edge as the tunnel opens up.
The light remains faint. This exit hasn’t led me back to the beach, and instead, I enter a gigantic cave.
I didn’t know this was possible, that mountains could be hollow, forming a chamber this large.
The rock floor is so smooth it’s reflective, and the ceiling stretches above, barely visible in the low light. Dull fae lights, steadier than candlelight, are built into the walls.
Long tables and benches fill the room, reminding me of the community hall in the village—where we gather, staying warm during the worst of the winter’s storms. The dim lights cast much of the large hall in shadow, but best that I can tell, the cavern is large enough for a moderate population.
It’s empty now, but the sense of life lingers—faint scents of cooked meat, empty glasses left on a table. This is the dragon fae’s great hall—they live within the caverns of the volcanoes.
I’m lucky nobody is here.
A fresh burst of fear drives me to scurry back into the crevice. I hide myself while I continue to study my surroundings.
My gaze locks on to the throne at the far side of the cavern. The large golden chair rests upon a jutting dais of obsidian. It seems important—it also seems abandoned. All signs of activity are on the opposite side of the hall.
The throne has the air of being unkempt, diminished and dull. And it also… seizes my attention.
Now that my gaze has locked upon it, it’s hard to pull myself away. It beckons me, asking me to come closer. It reminds me of the white dragon…
I’m about to leave the cave, but hearing footsteps, the sound of low voices, I halt, shimmying deeper into the cave instead.
Drakon
“A human? Are you sure?” Kaliyah asks.
Our clan’s elder is the only one I’ve told what happened—she’s the only one I trust.
The human escaped, slipping into the isle’s cavernous system. Lava tubes weave throughout Wisp, forminglabyrinthine tunnels within the isle. Some, like the one she slipped into, aren’t easily accessible.
I am furious to have lost her. The rush might have passed, but my irritation remains.
Kaliyah walks beside me, her gait unbalanced as she favors her better hip. Even with the assistance of her cane, she moves slowly, but I let her choose the pace, thankful that despite the late hour, she responded to my pleas for advice.
