Page 32

Even with Draven’s winds keeping the worst of it away from us, the heat that radiates from the fire is still insane.

It fills the cramped corridor like thick fog, so oppressive that it’s almost difficult to breathe.

Sweat slides down my temples and rolls down my spine as I continue to press myself against the wall, trying to keep it from crushing us.

Alistair, who is immune to his own fire magic and the effects of it, just stands there, his spine straight, and continues to pour violet-blue flames straight at the wall before him.

On the ground, Isera seems to be barely conscious anymore. Her chest rises and falls with jagged breaths.

We slide closer towards the middle. Towards the other wall.

I stare desperately at Alistair. This will never work. It will never?—

The stone before him begins to melt .

My jaw drops.

I stumble, almost losing my grip on the wall before I manage to steady myself again. While pushing harder against the wall behind me, I stare at Alistair in shock.

Stone starts dripping away from where his flames hit, creating a hole.

But our walls continue pushing closer.

A strained grunt rips from my chest as I throw my entire weight against the wall, trying to force it to stop. Sand shifts around my boots as I slide steadily inwards.

Panic pulses in Lyra and Galen’s eyes as we are pressed so close to each other that it’s barely more than a few strides.

Draven lifts his legs and places his feet flat against the opposite wall.

With his back bracing our wall, he groans in exertion as he pushes hard with his legs.

Galen quickly does the same from the other side. And so do Lyra and I.

The walls grind to an almost halt.

On the floor between us, Isera is lying on the sand, barely breathing through waves of terror, as her worst nightmare and most terrible fear has become reality.

Then a pair of strong hands grip her shoulders.

I snap my head up.

Alistair drags Isera towards the other wall, where a hole roughly the size of a person is now visible. His face is pale and lined with exhaustion, and he stumbles slightly before he manages to pull Isera out through the hole.

“Go!” Draven snaps at the rest of us.

Lyra and Galen quickly obey, dropping their legs back down to the floor. Then they’re sprinting towards the hole.

The moment they’re gone, the walls start pushing harder against our feet and backs again.

“Now,” Draven growls at me, command pulsing from his voice like thunder.

“You’d better be right behind me,” I snarl back at him. “Or I will come back in here and kill you myself.”

Then I drop from the wall and sprint towards the hole. Draven’s boots hit the ground right after mine.

The walls start sliding faster.

Our feet pound against the sand.

Air saws through my throat as I gasp in desperate breaths.

The walls close in on us faster. Panic lurches inside me as the stone walls brush against my shoulders on both sides.

I dive through the hole.

Sand puffs up in a cloud as I land hard on the ground outside.

A boom echoes through the air.

I whip around, fear turning my blood into ice. Draven. Where is?—

A massive weight lands right on top of me.

I let out a huff as the air is knocked right out of my lungs. But in my chest, my entire soul is vibrating with relief. Because the big lump of muscle on top of me grunts and struggles to get to his hands and knees so that he isn’t crushing me. And then a pair of glittering golden eyes meet me.

Relief shatters through me, and a wide smile spreads across my lips as I hold Draven’s gaze. “Graceful as a boulder.”

He lets out a huff of what seems to be equal amounts amusement and relief, and a smile curves his lips as well. “Shut up.”

After raking a hand through his messy black hair to get it out of his face, he climbs off me and rolls over so that he is sitting on the sand next to me instead.

I sit up as well. Isera is seated by the wall a short distance away, dragging in deep breaths.

But color is once again returning to her face.

Next to us, Galen and Lyra are staring at the hole in the wall with stunned expressions. I shift my gaze towards it too.

The walls are now fully closed, and we can see them pressing against each other through the hole that Alistair created. I stare at that hole, because from this side, I can see how bloody thick the stone wall was. Turning my head, I gape at him.

He’s busy brushing sand off his legs where he’s seated on the ground, so he doesn’t notice our attention at first. Then he looks up as if to say something, but he stops when he finds us all gaping at him. Uncertainty floods his exhausted features.

“What?” he asks, glancing from face to face. When no one states the obvious, he lifts a hand and rubs the back of his neck in a surprisingly self-conscious move. “I’ve already told you. Everything burns if the fire is hot enough.”

“Oh, we know,” Lyra says, watching him appraisingly, as if she’s seeing him in a different light this time.

“I’m sure you’ve melted stone thousands of times too.”

“Well, yeah, but we’re dragons. Like, actual dragons.” She nods towards the hole in the wall. “You, melting a wall this thick, this fast, is impressive as hell.”

He blinks. Then a hint of red creeps into his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Isera suddenly whispers from the wall. “I just…” She swallows, looking like she’s still trying to claw her way out of her nightmares and back to reality. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s—” I begin, but then a startling sound cuts me off.

Loud cheering explodes through the air.

I whip my head around, remembering where we are. Large parts of the crowd are cheering and pointing at us, looking as shocked as we are. They apparently didn’t think we would make it out of there.

Alarm shoots up my spine.

The other teams.

Quickly summoning my magic again, I throw it across the arena. It latches on to twenty-four sparks of excitement. And eighteen of those sparks are just one or two rooms away.

All color drains from my face.

I snap my gaze back to my companions.

“They’re coming.”