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Alone, with my body shutting down.

A man near me cackled with excitement as he cut a thin line underneath my shoulder blade, cutting deep with precision. I wanted so badly to headbutt him away, but I couldn’t move. The energy that had once been in my body had been completely drained, almost non-existent. My eyes were squeezed shut. I didn’t want to die while watching them make me bleed out.

I teetered on the brink of unconsciousness when a jarring noise rattled my senses. An outbreak of commotion disoriented the event, and everyone was at a loss for where the banging was coming from. My foggy perception also attempted to look for the source.

The noise echoed around the cold and unyielding concrete, all of the scraggly men pivoting in every direction in search of the origin.

The older fisherman at my arm held his cup tighter, knowing that whatever was behind the wall would disrupt his opportunity to clean me dry. His wrinkles scrunched tighter, his eyes bulging, the blood vessels a deep and nerve-wracking red.

Movement stopped in the bar, all eyes on the side wall, watching it as it shook with uneven tremors.

BANG.

There was another hit. Dust and debris fluttered through the air as it reached the floor.

BANG.

All the men moved slowly toward the opposite wall, anticipating the wall to crumble down.

“Take me out!” I begged, my voice harsh and scratchy. I feared what was on the other side of the wall, trying to get in. I had been sitting in this chair being sucked dry for hours. My muscles ached and were weak. Moving the chair wasn’t an option, either, since it was bolted to the floor.

BANG.

The wall started to crackle, and the floor rumbled beneath our feet.

I attempted to move my hands again, pushing through my soreness and lack of energy.

Nothing.

BANG.

It was getting louder. The wall shuddered and fissured, the smooth and seamless surface producing a jagged crack down the center. The split of the wall scattered along the area of the wall, shattering small pieces of concrete into the audience. The sound rippled in the air. Who was trying to break in? What were they doing to break down a pure wall of concrete?

BANG.

My heart stopped in place.

There was one last bang before the wall collapsed on itself. On the opposing wall, a wave of panic swept through the room, sending them into a frenzy of panicked bodies.

The wall crumbled, large shards hitting the ground and sending smaller pieces flinging through the air. There was a heavy whoosh sound, and something started to barge in. Her name filled every whit of my body and my senses.

Wait.

Flew in.

Once the smoke and debris died down, I saw her flying through the bar.

“Belle!” my parched voice shouted through the chaotic room. The panic and tension were palpable as screams and urgent shouts were released. Bodies flew in every which way, trying to get away from the dragon soaring through the small room.

“Damian?” I heard myself ask out loud. He was soaring on Belle’s back, his face in vengeance, scrunched up in hatred. A sigh escaped my lips, my heart in shock and in awe.

He came back.

My heart fluttered at the thought. They came back to rescue me.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I would not be caught up in the trade of Scalebornes. Adrenaline surged through my nearly lifeless body, providing hope. Molten currents of energy raced through my veins, as if a volcano was erupting within me. The golden blood that was left coursed with strength.

I was going to be able to find the egg. And, hopefully, before anyone else did.