Fueled by Dragon's Fire (Return of the Dragonborn Book 2) Read online

  She wrapped her arms tight around her waist, hoping no one had heard.

  Chapter Two

  Marvo’s fighters were scattered over the tunnel, sleeping, staring, eating, or finding some small way to pass the time, which was all they’d really had since the group came into the tunnels. Marvo was walking toward her, picking his way through the seated bodies and trying to dole out smiles as he went. He reached her undaunted, even though only one person had smiled back at him.

  “It’s getting harder to keep everyone motivated, Andie,” he said. “A lot of them have already given up, and every day we lose a few more to this depression. We’re dying down here. I think it’s pretty clear now that the only way out is the way we came.”

  Andie stared at him with wide eyes, but in her heart, she knew what he said was true. “If we go back the way we came, they’ll slaughter us for sure.”

  Marvo nodded. “I agree, but if we’re just going to die down here anyway, it’s a risk we need to take. If we’d known this eight months ago, we’d have had no problem fighting our way out, but we’re weak now.”

  “I know. Even with my own healing abilities, I’m finding myself growing weaker by the day. But if we try to face what’s up there, I don’t think we’ll win.”

  “We’d have to approach it cleverly. We do have the element of surprise. They don’t even know we’re down here.”

  “We hope they don’t. But even if we surprise them, we don’t know what we’d be walking into. There could be no one up there, or there could be hundreds. We chose to come here to the tunnels under the University because we thought it was the last place they’d look for us, but that whole plan was contingent on them not knowing we’re down here. If they’ve figured it out, they could just be waiting.”

  “We sent up scouts,” Marvo said, his hands on his hips. “They just got back an hour ago.”

  “What?” Andie asked, excited and anxious at once. “Any good news? What did they see?”

  “Nothing, but they only went as far as the cafeteria to scavenge some more food. They didn’t see anyone at all, and they didn’t hear anything, but that’s not conclusive.”

  “It could be a ruse,” she said, deep in thought. “Make the scouts think everything is okay so that we all go up.”

  “Possibly. But we can’t continue like this. We need to get above ground. We might have won the first battle, but you know that this is far from over. The University has been in power for hundreds of years, and there is no way they’re going to just give that up. If by some chance they go down, they’ll do their best to bring the whole world with them.” Marvo ran his hands through his hair as he spoke, his eyes narrowed in intense desperation.

  “I agree.”

  “You know as well as I do that the lies about your people and their dragons have probably already spread coast to coast. Chancellor Mharú looked like a man on a mission, and he’s had eight months to get his poison into Noelle. Factor in the droves of professors who are just as angry and hateful as he is, and you can imagine what that many powerful sorcerers can do.”

  Andie turned away from him, contemplating. Her mind was racing for a solution, anything that would help her escape having to risk the lives of everyone again. There had been so much death that night. She couldn’t handle anymore. She wished she could find the connection to her people. She knew they would know what to do or even be able to rescue them. But the dragonborn had their own problems, and she and the rest of her party underground were alone.

  “Maybe I can make it to the other side of the cavern,” she said. “I think I could still be strong enough. We don’t know what’s on the other side. It could be our salvation.”

  “Andie, you’re not listening,” Marvo said, gently but firmly taking her by the shoulders. “We have to get out of here. And there is only one way to do that. You know it.”

  Andie looked at him, wanting to disagree, to fight him on it, to save her friends. But she knew he wanted to spare them as much as she did. And she knew he was right about what they had to do. She could see his heart breaking in his eyes. And then it hit her, solidly and without any illusions. The war for the heart of Noelle had only just begun.

  “Okay,” she said with a deep breath. “We’ll all come together, finish the rations, and then leave as soon as everyone’s rested.”

  Marvo nodded in response and then turned to go. He took a few slow steps away and then turned back to Andie, his expression softened into one of compassion. “Hope is not lost, Andie. We still have a chance at survival.”

  Marvo’s words filled Andie with a flicker of hope, but she dared not hold onto it for risk of setting herself up for disappointment. She knew their chances of survival were slim to none, but she supposed she could offer him what little faith she had left. When Andie finally nodded in agreement, Marvo turned again and left her to her own thoughts.

  Andie spent a few more moments at the precipice before she came down to be with her friends. Scenarios of their escape ran rampant through her mind, none of which featured a desirable outcome. Still, she trusted Marvo’s instincts. If he truly believed they had a chance, she would do everything in her power to make sure it happened. Andie closed her eyes and let out a deep breath she had been holding, the cool breeze that blew up from the depths of the chasm offered her a moment of peace. Finally, she opened her eyes and turned to gaze out at those who remained of their party.

  Raesh was over with Kristole, talking something over vehemently. Carmen had begun stirring, possibly from a bad dream or the pain in her ankle. Yara was waking up, and she smiled when she and Andie made eye contact. Yara beckoned her over, and Andie went to join her friend. She and Yara had grown close over the past eight months. They had been friends at the University too, for sure. But something changed when they embarked on their journey underground. The two had grown closer than sisters, and Andie always relished the moments they shared together, no matter how brief.

  Yara offered Andie one of the last pieces of stale bread from their stores, but Andie refused as she sat down next to her friend. Yara shrugged and nibbled on the bread, and from the expression on her face, Andie imagined it hadn’t kept all that well in the damp cavern. The two chatted quietly between themselves for some time, about nothing and everything all at once. They strengthened each other while Andie told Yara about the new plan. Yara seemed as uneasy about it as Andie was, but she knew what needed to be done. Perhaps that was why Andie had grown so close to her. She was always the first to act when anything was needed, and she supported Andie in all her decisions. She was the rock that grounded her.

  Not too long later, Marvo made the announcement to everyone. There wasn’t much of a reaction from the fighters. Like Marvo had said, they seemed to have given up completely. Raesh did what he could to rally them, but they mostly just sat down to eat and then drifted off at their own paces. Hardly anyone seemed to even listen or care. They were defeated, and Andie’s flicker of faith began to go out as she looked on at the faces of the men and women around her.

  “I know what this looks like,” Marvo said loudly when it became clear his troops weren’t responding to his announcement. “It must seem like suicide. Like we fought all those people and sat through all those nights of planning just to die here, in the dark. But that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid. We can’t stay here anymore, not if we ever want to see our families again. There is no way out of here, no back way, no secret passage, no magical tunnel waiting to be revealed.”

  Marvo’s fighters began to stir. Andie listened from a distance with a small smile on her face. She was the reason they were all down there, and it was her duty to lead them to safety. But these were Marvo’s men, and she knew only he could be the one to truly convince them of their strength.

  “The only way out is back where we came in, and we all know what is waiting there,” Marvo continued. “But I’m not scared. How can I be? We beat them once, and we’ll do it again if necessary. Fortunately, it’s unlikely that the
y even know we’re down here. I wish I had something better to say, but the time for grand speeches hasn’t come yet. All you need to know is that I’m going up there and I’m leaving, no matter what I find.”

  Andie walked over to join the fighters, the Council, looking up at Marvo and thinking that what he was doing was brilliant. He knew as well as she did that the fighters were tapped, borderline hopeless, and trying to rally them in any traditional sense was futile. But everybody loved Marvo, and the easier, better option was to inspire them not to believe in themselves but to believe in him. Give a soldier orders and someone to look up to and their path becomes clear.

  “I think they believe him,” Yara said as she joined Andie among the now livelier-looking crowd.

  “I hope so,” Andie replied, threading her arm through Yara’s extended elbow. “Whoever we find up there isn’t going to be happy to see us. If we can’t muster the courage to take them on, then we’ll die in this tunnel. In the dark.”

  “Personally, I’m more concerned about what comes after that. Not only do we have to make it through the city and find somewhere safe, but we have to fight the lie. By now everyone up there thinks that your people are dangerous, evil. They must be so afraid, and you know what people are capable of when they’re afraid. What kind of horrors are waiting for us up there? What kind of world are we going up to?”

  “I don’t know, but I suspect they won’t be welcoming us back with open arms anytime soon. I just hope my people have managed to escape. I can’t imagine how much this world has changed since their time. Everything must be so different to them now, and they have no one to trust. I just want to see them again.”

  “You will. Soon,” Yara said, leaning her head against Andie’s. She then gave her friend a brief hug and left to go help Carmen recover their packs and get ready for their journey back up to the surface.

  Within an hour, everyone had rolled up what few things they had and was ready to go. Raesh seemed hopeful, or at least was trying his best to look so. Marvo now looked sullener than he had before, and Andie knew the toll all of this was taking on him. Just as she worried for the dragonborn, she knew Marvo worried for his fighters. They had risked so much in coming there to her aid. There were no speeches or last looks at the dark, cold place that had been their makeshift home, just a high signal from Marvo and then the moving of feet. Andie was the only one to look behind her and stare off into the deep dark of the cavern one final time.

  The journey was slow, measured. Everyone was thinking the same thoughts and feeling the same fears, but it was eerily quiet as they walked. Carmen and Yara walked a few paces ahead of Andie, who walked side by side with Raesh, though even they were quiet. Andie nodded to both Kristole and Murakami, who had held up well even though they were the two oldest members of the group. Andie looked around her, took a serious look at the state they were in for the first time in a while.

  They were thin, haggard, the men unshaved and the women’s hair pulled back in loose, rough ponytails. All of the fighters wore black, but their clothes were horrendously dirty, frayed, and threadbare. Everybody walked slightly bent as if the invisible weight of the world was pulling their shoulders down. And although she couldn’t see it with her eyes, she knew that they were all hungry and worn out inside. The battle at the University had been one fight, and living underground had been another. And, as much as it hurt Andie to think it, these fights were only just the beginning.

  They may have won some battles, but they were still far off from winning the war.

  Chapter Three

  It only took a few hours before they neared the surface. A muted, warm light flooded in from before them, and Andie could sense everyone’s spirits rise immediately. Raesh had been sent ahead to scope out their exit, and Andie stood strong before the rest of the party, soaking in what little sunlight she could. Even the faint glow on her skin revitalized her, and she felt stronger than she had in months.

  “It looks clear,” Raesh said when he returned. “I didn’t see or hear anything, but I don’t like this at all. It doesn’t feel right.”

  “I agree, son, but we don’t have a choice. There’s no way we can go back.” Marvo paced back and forth as we all stood ready, waiting for his orders. Andie had stepped back and allowed Marvo to take over command. There was no one better than he to lead the group to victory, but she remained ready to step forward when the time came. Marvo turned back to face everyone and gave his commands. “Raesh, you stay up here at the front with me. I may need you and your pearlblood magic to blast through some things.”

  “Or some people,” Raesh grinned. He looked like he was actually having fun, and Andie couldn’t help but laugh. Raesh winked at her when he caught her staring, and a slight blush crept up her cheeks. She feigned a cough and turned the other way. It was definitely not time for flirting.

  “Andie, I want you and Yara to bring up the rear. We don’t need anything surprising us from behind. Carmen, you stay in the middle and try to be as light on that ankle as you can. Everybody stay in tight and stay ready. We’re only going to get one shot at this.”

  “What do you think this is?” Yara asked.

  The group looked around at one another, waiting for someone to answer. Andie rubbed her neck and let out a loud sign. “A trap,” she finally said.

  Silence swept through the tunnel at her words, but soon after everyone fell into position as Marvo directed. The fighters formed into a loose phalanx and Andie and Yara kept their heads up, looking for anything and everything. Andie had great instincts, and everything inside was telling her they had walked into something strange. It was simply too easy.

  In a matter of moments, everyone had cleared the edge of the tunnel, and they were above ground for the first time in months. But the farther they moved, the less sure Andie was. She tried to convince herself that their plan had worked, that the University had never known they were down there—after all, that was the point of their plan in the first place.

  “Yara, how do you feel?”

  “Like I’m going to be sick. My stomach is in knots.”

  “Good. Something isn’t right. Don’t do anything sudden, but get yourself ready. If they’re going to attack it’s going to be soo—”

  Just as the words were leaving her mouth, a spell came from somewhere in the grand hallway and shattered the wall above the entrance to the tunnel. The debris fell in over the entrance and blocked it completely. Suddenly, people began to appear out of nowhere. Professors, Searchers, and some new adversary wearing all silver. Where before there had only been space and passageways, there were now dozens of enemies. They had apparently been using an invisibility spell. Andie looked in every direction, panic forming at the pit of her stomach. They were surrounded.

  Time slowed for Andie. Suddenly she was thinking about all the questions she’d never have the chance to ask about her people. For all she knew they were dead already, and if they weren’t, then it wouldn’t be long before there was all out war. A thousand regrets passed through her mind as she gazed out at their enemies. They looked strong, fearless. She and her supporters were no match for these hateful people.

  One of the silver-clad people moved forward, and Andie took a small step back. But as it came closer, Andie realized that it wasn’t, in fact, a person dressed in silver at all. It looked to actually be made of silver. It wasn’t human. It moved sedately, almost like a specter, yet it radiated danger and death. Andie could feel its magic radiating off it, an electric sting over her pale skin.

  It moved to within a few feet of her and became still. Too still, as if all life had left it. Its mouth opened so wide that the rest of its face slid to the back of its head. Andie stood, paralyzed, staring into the blackness of the thing’s mouth.

  Its voice was metallic and void of all emotion. She had never met anything so inhuman in her life. “I am one of the twelve Sentinels. Forged in the furnaces of the Old World and reawakened now to restore peace.”

  The words were monot
one, yet oddly hypnotic, no doubt spelled to mess with the mind of anyone who heard it. The thing that was hardest to comprehend was that as it spoke, its lips didn’t move. It didn’t even have lips. The sound simply came up from the center of it through its mouth. It was terribly unnerving.

  “You and your fellow anarchists have been deemed enemies of the state, and it is only by your capture or execution that the land of Noelle may return to peace. You should choose your next step wisely.” The mouth closed and the sentinel moved back to its post.

  Andie tried to look to Marvo for a plan, but she couldn’t see him. It didn’t matter. She knew they didn’t have time to compare notes and draw up a plan, but she did have her dragon magic. There was no point in hiding anymore since they were staring right at her. Quicker than the enemy could react, Andie raised her hands and pushed her magic out through space. She harnessed all the power she could muster, drawing on the energy she felt from the sunlight. Two great walls of lavender magic raced out to either side of her, crushing everything in their paths and destroying the walls of that room and the next three as well.

  As the bodies flew and the dust and debris began to cloud the air, the Council began their attack. They erected shields to block the incoming hexes and created gaps through which they could cast in retaliation. The professors and Searchers hid behind the stone of the passageways and ducked the onslaught of magic. Raesh and Yara, despite how tired they must have been, cast furiously. Even Carmen pulled her strength together to fight.

  They were making excellent progress, slowly continuing to inch forward as the spells flew all around. Andie, however, was barely able to stand. She hadn’t quite noticed just how weak she was. Never realized how much the dragonborn needed warmth and sunlight. She had so much to learn about her people. The cold, damp, dark of the tunnels had been the worst possible place for her. The environment had sapped her even more than the constant hunger. The massive spell she had just done had taken a tremendous amount of what little strength she had left; it would have been nothing to her on a regular day, but now she felt weak, lightheaded. Yara sensed that something was wrong and caught Andie under her arm to support her.