Page 40 of Prison Moon
Chapter Fifteen
Toren was nearly to the lair when he saw the sun glinting off something a few feet above the entrance. He banked left so the angle of the sun would shift and growled deep in his throat when he saw it was another of those weird structures that broke into pieces.
Lifting his wings, he climbed into the air, soaring across the sky. He was halfway there when he saw the smaller pieces start breaking away from the larger one and descending the mountain toward the entrance of the lair. He didn’t see Sara. Was she deeper inside the cave or had something taken her?
The thought no longer entered his mind when he saw her step closer to the entrance, something in her hand. One of the small pieces lowered and hovered right in front of her, a few more joining it a moment later before she twisted, whatever it was in her hand connecting with one of the shiny orbs. It exploded in a spray of glass. Several more of them broke away from the larger one to join those in front of Sarra. They were attacking his mate.
Fire filled his chest, his throat scorching as it tried to crawl free. He swept high to where the larger prism-shaped orb hovered and what looked like hundreds of the smaller ones broke off and came toward him. The moment he was close enough, he roared, the fire bursting from his mouth to burn them from the sky. The pieces charred black and fell in quick succession, the largest one, the hive that held the smaller sections shot into the sky before darting across the mountain.
Toren headed for the entrance and shifted as he reached the rock shelf at the edge of the lair and landed with a hard thump, his knees going out from under him as he dropped the teshen and the water skins. He stood quickly, his breath panted out as he looked at Sarra. Her eyes seemed too large for her face, the stench of fear seeping from her pores as she said his name and dropped the piece of wood she held. He grabbed her, ran his hands over her arms, then up to her head. “Are you hurt?”
She opened her mouth and babbled off a long string of words and shook her head, no. She kept talking and their lack of communication was enough for the dragon to scream to be let out again. As Sarra continued to talk, her words grew softer as she stepped closer and leaned her head against his chest. She was shaking.
A look around the cavern and he knew why. Several of those orbs lay in pieces around the lair. How long had she battled these things? He clenched his jaw in frustration. It didn’t matter how long they’d been here. The ones who controlled this world knew they were here now. The lair was no longer safe. They couldn’t stay.
Kissing Sarra on the top of the head, he headed to the baskets and shoved everything into the largest one. Sarra was speaking again, the scent of her fear not as strong as it had been. “We cannot stay here.” Her shoulders dropped.
He looked out the entrance. He didn’t see any more of the orbs but he knew it was only a matter of time before they came back. Or the wyvern did. Thinking of them made his chest burn, his muscles tense. He looked to the crevice that led to the pool. They could go deeper. The floor around the pool was uncomfortable but they’d be safe there. He ran his hand through his hair. That would be foolish. Although there were trails all through the mountain, it would take time to climb down. They’d have little to no food and he’d not risk Sarra’s life like that.
A small buzzing noise caught his attention moments before he saw one of those smaller pieces not far from the entrance. More joined in a moment later, the reflective surfaces catching the sun and shooting a rainbow of color against the cave walls. A dozen now hovered outside and at Sarra’s sharp intake of breath, he joined her at the entrance. Hundreds of them filled the sky above the entrance, two of the larger pieces hovering above the mountain. How long before the wyvern arrived?
Grabbing Sarra he held her chin and turned her head so she’d look at him. “We cannot stay here.” She looked back out the entrance and nodded. The teshen and water, their basket of supplies—he couldn’t carry it all. Leaving it would mean starting over but if Sarra were not safe, those things would be of little use.
“Let’s go.” Tightening his grip, he lifted her off the ground, hurried to the entrance and tossed her out of the lair.
* * *
Had she known Toren was about to throw her out of the lair, she would have dug her heels in and tried to claw his eyes out. Instead, she was screaming, the sense of deja vu strong as she tumbled in the air, especially when she saw Toren jump from the ledge, that big blue dragon bursting from his skin and chasing after her. When he was close enough to touch, she reached for him, grabbing hold of his outstretched foot as he enfolded her behind his taloned toes. The moment she was secure, she clung to him and screamed, “Don’t you ever do that again!”
She made the mistake of looking down. The world below flew by in a blur of fast moving shapes and closing her eyes made her head spin a bit. She had no idea where they were going, nor did she miss the fact Toren left all their things behind. They had nothing now but the clothes they wore. Well, what she wore. Toren would be back to walking around naked. Normally not a problem but being alone with him naked and running from others with him naked were two very different things.
More of those strange prism-shaped orbs flew back into her line of sight. They hovered close and darted around Toren’s head, then lowered. He pulled her close to his chest, his head rearing back before he belched out a blast of dragon fire. The cameras sizzled and popped, charred black before dropping from the sky. Long minutes later she felt them descending. She stretched and tried to peek over his foot. The orbs were gone and the jungle she’d run into with Marcy came into view. Toren swooped low over the trees. All it would take would be an outstretched hand to brush the green leaves and vines crawling here.
She saw the crumbling remains of some sort of ruins in the distance. Her heart leaped. Was this where she and Marcy had been? Was he taking her back there? When the cliff she fell from came into view she screamed, “Marcy!” knowing full well her friend wouldn’t hear her. No one stood on the cliff and if Toren was taking her back to the ruins, she hoped Marcy had gone back, too.
Toren landed a few feet from the temple ruins and set her on the ground. The moment her feet touched, she was running toward the crumbling walls. Before she reached it, Toren shifted and grabbed her, one strong arm banned around her waist, and swung her around to face him. “Let me make sure nothing is here.”
Oh, right. Anything could be in there. She nodded her head and looked around the empty chamber beyond the crumbling wall. Toren cocked his head as if listening and stepped over a fallen section. After a few moments, he turned back to face her. “I hear nothing. It is safe.”
Sara began calling out Marcy’s name but she never answered. Her shoulders sagged, Toren’s hand running over the back of her head. “She’s not here.”
“Why do you look so sad, my Sarra? What is it you search for?”
How did she explain? Thinking for a few moments, she finally pointed to herself, then pointed to a spot beside her, stepped over, pointed back to herself, then the spot beside her before stepping back to where she’d originally been.
His brows lowered as if he was thinking. She did it again and held up two fingers and pointed to herself.
“There are two of you?”
She nodded. “Yes, me and another.” She pointed to her hair, the length of it falling just to her shoulders. Then to the spot beside her before tugging on her hair while making a gesture of it going down her back. She looked around her and after a few moments, picked up a bit of the dirt on the floor and held it next to her hair. “Brown.” She pointed to herself. Tossing the dirt, she picked up a piece of the wall, the red clay brick not exactly the same shade as Marcy’s hair but close. She pointed to the spot beside her, then to her hair and the broken shard of rock.
He studied her and the brick and when he looked at her and smiled, her breath caught.
“The other female?”
“Yes!” She laughed and flung her arms around his neck. “Marcy. Her name is Marcy. She was on the cliff when I fell.”
He looked around the ruins, then wrapped his arms around her. “I did not see her after you left the ruins and ran from the others. Once I saw you fall—“ He sighed. “I am sorry, Sarra. I do not know what became of her.”