Dammit Nikolai. You’ll bring the whole mountain down on us. Or up beneath us. Is this not a volcano?
Volcano? Crap.Aria, ever succinct.
I—I’m trying.Nikolai’s mindvoice staggered.But he is damned strong.
We will get you out, Lucas.Aria sounded determined.We will come up with a plan.
Lucas rubbed his face with a trembling hand.So long as it’s better than my usual attempts. Although entertaining, it isn’t what we’re going for here.
It will be. Just hang in there.
He glanced through the entrance and down the tunnel.Well, hurry it up. As accommodations go, this one is wearing rather thin.
* * *
Aria stood beside Nikolai with her hand buried in his mane and tried to still her thundering heart.
The link she now experienced with the big Liberi was a potent thing. It zinged through her entire body, making her excruciatingly aware of him, of his thoughts, his emotions, and every move he made.
We have to get Lucas out of there. Nikolai’s mindvoice was strong, but strained by the battle he fought with his father. Between the crazed wind and the energy flying around, his mane writhed like a living thing. To each side of him, the Watcher’s eyes glowed as vivid a blue as the power that danced around them.
The link vibrated with that power, but there was little she could do to help them. She sensed the unseen battle—Galeran fought bitterly to re-establish control over Nikolai, reaching time and again for the core, only to have Nikolai push him back. The Watchers worked to block Galeran’s access, but the Bellati was powerful. As long as he was tied to the control runes, he had authority over Nikolai.
Galeran’s runes. Lucas had seen them. If only there was a way to get to the Bellati, and disable them.
But to do that, they needed to get a Dragon close to Galeran.
Every time Galeran broke through to the core and Nikolai fought back, the world heaved and roiled around them. Lightning forked across the sky and struck the rock, and the mountain—volcano, she reminded herself—rumbled like an old man waking from a long sleep.
The wind shrieked at hurricane force. It might stop the Dires hiding in the cliffs from hitting anything with their darts, but it also brought the Dragons to earth around them lest they be dashed into the stone. They and the Sabres hunched among the boulders, awaiting instructions.
You have to get to Lucas.Nikolai’s mindvoice was hoarse with effort.We need to stop Galeran. Disable those runes. I can’t fight him forever, not without taking the realm down with us.
As if summoned, two large humanoid forms wove toward them through the snow. Tyrez, and his brother, Razir. Another joined them—a heavily muscled man a little shorter than them, with gold and brown hair. A Sabre?
Nikolai’s eyes rolled to her.Go. Be the warrior you were born to be. I will be with you.
Tyrez gestured to her. She left Nikolai and joined the big Dragon shifter in the lee of the wind, pressed against a boulder.
Razir squinted at her through the snow. “Tyrez says you are in touch with the Morph inside the cave?”
Aria nodded. “Yes. He is safe at the moment, but pinned down.”
Razir’s lips pulled back from his teeth. “We need to get there. Ash has a way in.”
Aria’s eyes widened. “Another entrance?”
“Not so much an entrance, as an opportunity,” Tyrez corrected. “We are not without resources. But having eyes on the inside is helpful. Do you know where Galeran is?”
Aria nodded. “He’s gone back to the main cavern.” She crouched and drew in the snow. “I don’t know the full scope of the cave, but Lucas has seen some of it, and Nikolai has too.” She drew the entrance, the main tunnel, the central cavern, and the two tunnels she knew about. “Galeran is here. Most Bellatis will probably be there.” Her fingers drew an X. “Lucas is here.”
Razir considered. “That is close to where Ash says we can break through.”
Aria regarded him with alarm. “You’re going to blast your way in? It might bring the cave right down on Lucas.”
Another form appeared from the snow. Much smaller, and slender.
“I don’t blast,” Dani said. “Imove.”
