Page 41 of Prison Moon
She lowered her arms and stared out into the jungle. Marcy was gone and finding her would be next to impossible.
Toren crossed to the fountain that still trickled water but he bypassed it and headed to the entrance of the underground chamber she’d wanted to explore when she and Marcy were there. It was still dark and when Toren disappeared inside the doorway, she started after him, looking back toward the jungle beyond the crumbling walls as she crossed the space. She didn’t see any of those orbs flying which meant they were probably safe for now.
Sara stepped inside the cool, dark interior on the other side of the doorway. Toren’s voice startled her when he said, “Stay there. Do not move or you’ll fall from the ledge.” When she nodded at him, letting him know she understood, he turned, the sound of him shuffling down stone steps the only thing she heard. Long minutes later, something that sounded like rusty metal echoed, then faint light lit the chamber. She sucked in a breath.
This chamber was deep, much deeper than she would have imagined. Toren stood by a large disk, tilting it as the room flooded with sunlight that bounced off others she could see scattered around the room. Taking a step closer to the edge of the stairwell, Sara peered down into the silver-flecked light below. The chamber was enormous. Toren jogged back up the stairs and took her hand before leading her down.
“This is where I was when I first saw you.”
He was here. “I knew it!”
“You dropped a rock on my head.” He looked back at her and smiled. “It took me a few minutes to realize what woke me and as I was staring at that rock in front of my nose, I heard your heartbeat.” He stopped to look at her and grinned. “My first thought was to eat you.”
She laughed. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.”
“I caught your scent a few moments later.” He leaned in, nuzzling the side of her neck. “It wasn’t as strong, but that musk between your legs was enough to make me raise my head.” He playfully bit her neck and continued down the steps. “I was able to see you out the doorway, walking back and forth and it took me a moment to realize what I was seeing.” They reached the bottom of the steps and Sara gaped. The floor was covered in coins and glittering rocks she assumed were more jewels. The space was certainly big enough for a dragon, the ceiling soaring high above. What had this place been used for? He’d called it a temple in an earlier conversation. The dragon statue they’d seen in the upper chamber made her wonder if they worshiped dragons. If they ever found Toren a translator, she’d ask.
She dropped his hand and stepped into the hoard pile on the floor. The air smelled of dirt and mold but above all that, the faint scent that clung to Toren’s skin. He’d definitely been here. The entire day she and Marcy had spent here, Toren was down here, watching her. A shiver raced up her spine. She looked at him, naked and beautiful. “How long were you down here?” Knowing he didn’t understand her, she pointed to him, then the chamber then did it again.
He nodded. “Yes, I was here.”
He didn’t understand. She held up her hand and ticked off days with her fingers and then shrugged.
“Counting?”
She smiled. “Yes, counting.” She pointed at him, then the chamber, and ticked off days again with her fingers, then pointed at him. The game lasted until she was able to get him to think of her fingers as days by gesturing to the sky and the sun rising and setting. With narrowed eyes, he watched her as if she was crazy, then suddenly straightened.
“How long was I here?”
“Yes!” She nodded and laughed. “How long were you here?”
His smile was short lived. “I don’t know exactly. After the war, most of my people were hunted and slaughtered for no other reason than we were Draegon and capable of fighting back but we weren’t prepared to fight machines that fired streams of light hot enough to burn flesh and sever limbs. I was spotted but was able to hide in the jungle in this form. When I found the temple, I came down here. I didn’t think anyone would look for me and those that did didn’t last long. I only ventured out once to eat and many things looked different, more so when I followed you out.” He looked around the chamber and shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say a few centuries.”
“Centuries?” The word rattled in her head repeatedly as she looked at him. “You’ve been alive for centuries?” When he said nothing, she pointed at him, then to her fingers, ticking off days again. He understood what she meant that time.
“I hid here in my two hundredth year. I’m not sure how many have passed since then.”
Her knees buckled. Toren caught her as she went down. “You’re over two hundred years old!”
“What is it, Sarra? Why do you look so surprised?”
She shook her head. “I had no idea you were that old. How long does your kind live?”
He smoothed her hair from her face, settling into the hoard pile to sit beside her. “I wish I could understand you.” He brushed the back of one finger against her jaw. “If I were to guess, I’d say I’ve been down here a few centuries so best guess would be four hundred. Maybe, five. It’s hard to tell.”
She was gaping at him, she knew she was, but she couldn’t get her mouth to close. He didn’t look a day over thirty-five, if even that, so thinking of him as hundreds of years old was just—
“I am young for one of my people. Neetrius, our wisest elder was closing in on his twelve-hundredth year when the war started.”
Sara stared at him but finally managed to close her mouth. Dragon’s lived to be a thousand years old? The moment the thought entered her head, she stared at Toren and wondered if he’d be able to understand her charades hand language if she tried to tell him she wouldn’t live nearly that long. Somehow, she didn’t think so. The thought was a bit depressing, too. He’d told her he’d given up hopes of finding a mate. He’d been over two hundred years old when he came down here and before then, in all those years, he’d not found any girl dragons to set up house with?
He was watching her as he usually did. His attention to her made more sense now. He’d been alone when he found her and now, he’d get nothing more than a good twenty to thirty years with her before she’d start getting old and wrinkly. Yeah, their situation was definitely depressing.
He moved over to the wall, braced his back against it, and held out his arms. She slid closer to him and crawled into his lap, then snuggled in best she could. The muted amber light in the cavern made her current mood a bit more somber. They were on borrowed time because one day, she’d be gone and Toren would be alone again.
Tucking her head up under his chin, they sat in the silence until she dozed off. She didn’t know how long she slept, or what woke her up, but blinking to try and clear her vision, she noticed the light in the chamber was a lot dimmer than it had been before. The sun must have been setting.
The refracted light cast weird shadows along the walls and had she not still been in Toren’s lap, his arms draped loosely around her, she might have been startled enough to be scared. She’d never been a fan of the dark. Being on this alien planet? The dark was terrifying. The noises alone were enough to send chills up your spine. Not knowing what might be out there making those noises nearly paralyzed her with fear. Had she still been alone, she’d probably be dead by now.