Page 64 of Doyle

Was that the kidnapped shifter? Ivan was about to step forward, but I grabbed his shoulder.

We didn't know how many we were up against. We saw only two figures, but there could be more.

The environment wasn't ideal for us either. Shifting to our dragon forms in these tunnels was a disaster in the making.

Then the same voice screamed again.

"Ivan," I hissed, trying to hold him back, but he didn't listen to me.

He ran up ahead, leaving me behind. Swearing under my breath, I ran after him, pulling out the gun I brought.

We burst into a larger chamber, dimly lit by flickering torches.

Two witches stood in the center, with the young shifter restrained between them.

The boy looked terrified, eyes wide with fear. Ivan charged ahead, ignoring the potential danger.

"Ivan, wait!" I shouted, but it was too late.

The witches smirked, chanting in unison. The ground beneath us began to tremble, and I realized we had walked right into a trap.

A barrier of magical energy erupted around us, trapping Ivan and me inside.

The air crackled with dark energy, and the walls of the chamber seemed to close in on us.

Ivan cursed under his breath, realizing his mistake too late.

The witches advanced, their eyes glowing with malicious intent.

"Foolish dragons," one of them sneered. "Did you really think you could outsmart us? Liliana is going to be so pleased we managed to trap two of you.”

I aimed my gun and fired, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off the magical barrier.

We were trapped, and our options were running out. Ivan and I exchanged a tense glance, knowing we had to act quickly.

"Stay close," I ordered, moving to stand back-to-back with Ivan. "We need to break this barrier."

Ivan nodded, and we both focused, trying to come up with a way to find a weakness in the witches' spell.

I reached for my inner dragon and felt him respond with a growl. He was still there.

Shifting wasn’t an option though, because if either Ivan or I shifted, we’d bring this entire tunnel down on all of us.

I summoned my dragon fire and shot a small fireball as an experiment at the barrier. It flickered for a moment.

Ivan, taking my cue, did the same. I started pouring all my strength into breaking it.

The witches' chants grew louder, and the energy around us intensified.

Just as the barrier began to crack, one of the witches hurled a ball of dark energy at us.

I pushed Ivan out of the way, taking the brunt of the attack.

Pain shot through my body as the dark energy seared my flesh, but I gritted my teeth and held on.

Ivan growled, his eyes flashing with fury. He lunged at the witches, his movements swift and deadly.

The barrier shattered, and we were free. I staggered to my feet, my vision blurred from the pain.

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