Scorched Treachery (Imdalind, #3)(46)

“Ilyan...I,” I stopped Dramin’s words with one stern look, the old man shrinking into the side of the cave as the unbidden power in me escaped ever so slightly.

I knew what Dramin was going to say. I could hear the words on his tongue; feel the doubt in him. But doubt wasn’t going to help us. I had run all other options through my head, each one enacted within my mind’s eye as I watched Joclyn’s sleeping body curled up against the rock.

“When I say go, létat, and don’t stop until you get to Rioseco. No matter what happens, do not stop.” I kept my voice deep, the tones laced with the magic I always attempted to restrain within me.

Each man nodded in agreement, although I could tell that they doubted me. I could see the fear that lined their faces.

“And, Joclyn?” Thom asked, his voice soft.

“I will carry her. She is my responsibility.” I turned to her, sending one small strand of magic toward her, lifting her body into the air and bringing her right into my arms. What would normally only take less than a thought, drained me. So much of my concentration and magic was focused on keeping the boulder, and in turn the mountain, off our backs that the smallest magic use could be felt deep in my bones.

I shook my head, sending my blonde hair swinging, as I focused back on the rock in front of me. I forced my mind off the people I was surrounded by, the people who were now fully relying on me to save their lives. I let the feeling of Joclyn’s skin on mine move into me, the power of her touch lighting my soul on fire as it had always done. The contact increased my energy, the fire within me burning bright enough to take away the aches I had begun to feel.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face at the sensation. The light of the fire spread through my soul, ignited the rest of me, and I couldn’t wait. I replaced one hand on the wall, wrapping the other carefully around Joclyn’s head as I cradled her against me. I hovered my hand over her mark, the dark dragon shape staring at me through the dim light of the cave.

“Nyní!” I yelled the word a second before I let my finger touch the raised skin on her neck, the magical connection between us supercharging what remained of my magic.

I took the surge of power and sent it out in an explosion so great I felt the floor underneath us rock with the energy.

The rock that had lined the exit exploded out in front of us, white snow suddenly visible only a few hundred feet out. Our feet moved before the smoke had begun to clear, I could hear the grunts and pants of Thom and Dramin as we stumbled and slipped on rubble in our desperate attempt to escape.

The cave filled with a loud resonating groans as my magic left the rock above us, the sound extending beyond the blast. The rumble grew as the rock above us shifted, the sound of our footsteps lost in the sound of falling rocks and the groan of death coming down on top of us. Thom and Dramin were ahead of me, their frantic movements coming into sight as the smoke began to clear. The white sheet of freedom was blanketed with rocks from the blast, the rubble heavy between us and freedom.

The deep sound of the mountain grew as rocks just behind me began to collide with the ground, the air thick with the sounds of destruction. There was a heavy crash directly to my left, the impact rocking the ground and sending Joclyn and I sideways toward a wall.

One misstep and I had secured our death. I looked toward Thom and Dramin’s retreating forms for one fleeting second before I pulled Joclyn to me, our bodies still falling toward the wall. I felt the tick of each moment like a death toll in my heart, every footfall ricocheting inside of me.

It was dangerous to take her with me through a stutter again so close to my recovery. I knew that chance of my survival was low, but I held in my arms the one person I would willingly die for, and I would do anything to save her life.

I didn’t think, I just moved us into the heavy realm of the sub-dimension, moving our bodies away from the rock that would otherwise destroy us and, hopefully, into the warm sanctuary of the Rioseco Abbey.





Wyn





Chapter Fourteen





No one came back. Not Sain, Ryland, or even Cail. They all left and they never came back.

It had been at least a week since Edmund had removed the others from our prison and I still lay there, in the dark. At least I think it had been a week. There was no easy way to track the passage of time when you spend all of it, day in and day out, in the dark. I had slept six times, and someone had brought the daily glass of muddy water seven times.

One glass not two, just like there was only one maggot covered loaf of bread.

Just like Talon hadn’t woken up.

A week alone in the dark, with only my husband’s limp hand for company. I slept next to him, my arms around as much of him as I could reach as I dreamed of the beautiful girl and of the Henry the Eighth wanna-be, but never of the torture. I was glad that the dreams of torture had left. I had enough torture in my waking life.

I still hurt from what Cail had done to me a week ago. My joints still ached, and my skin was still tender to the touch. But I could move, although not a lot and not very fast. I could manage to move from one corner to another, it was enough movement to enable me to reach the glass of water and still be able to lie next to Talon, which is where I had spent most of my time.

I clung to him in the dark, pressing his hand against my face, prodding him in the hopes that he would wake up.