Page 32 of Guardian's Dilemma

“That’s where my power lies.”

We reached the end of a long corridor and I saw that it was a dead end. Huh. Looked like we’d make our last stand here then.

I considered. It was a wide corridor, which would give Glimmer room to shift, if he needed to. That was probably why he’d left his clothes off. No point in restricting himself. And now I had access to my magic, I could offer some help. It was a shame I didn’t have my sword, because I used it like an extension of my arm and I’d be disadvantaged without it.

I moved into the centre of the corridor. “I’ll draw their fire. You stick to the edge.”

He gave a weak chuckle. “You’re not fighting them.”

“You think I’ll join them now? After what I just learned?” I couldn’t read Glimmer’s expression and he was still unnaturally pale. I wished I could see whether he was healing or not but his hands were spread over the cut so I couldn’t. “Why did you free me if you thought I’d kill you?”

He gave a soft smile at that and my stomach swooped in a way that was entirely unfamiliar.

“I’d rather be killed by you.”

“You won’t be killed by anyone.” My voice was hard and I began to draw my magic to me, gathering it into my fist, ready to strike. I might not have the power of dragon’s blood on my fingers but I wasn’t exactly a weakling, either. Glimmer had somehow survived an attack by fourridireso if anyone was going to make it through alive, it would be him.

“There’s a way out.”

That drew my attention. “Where?”

He slid across to what appeared to be a random part of the wall and pressed it. The wall opened, revealing a secret passage.

I gestured at him to go through but he shook his head. “I have to stay. I have to make sure they don’t get out.”

“Then I’m staying with you.”

He tilted his head again, the way he had when I’d first seen him. It was as though he couldn’t work out what was happening.

“I need to make sure they don’t get out, too. I can’t have corruptedridireloose in the world. They need to be stopped.”

“They will be.”

“Sure,” I said, and raised my fist. The fact that the team had gone silent at the end of the corridor was enough to tell me that they knew where we were and they were about to round the corner.

“I’ve rigged the whole place to blow up,” said Glimmer. “It’ll crush anyone inside.”

“Including us.”

“No. That’s why I led you here. If you follow this passage, it’ll lead you out. Right near the edge of the territory. You’ll be able to get out, just stay low and keep an eye out for any dragons patrolling. Don’t hurt them.”

“You need to come with me,” I said, and no, I wasn’t going to examine why that was suddenly important to me.

“I’ve got to make sure they don’t get out.”

I shrugged, turning away from him to face the firstridirewho rounded the corner.

Glimmer pushed, “Kingsley, you need to get out.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re my mate.”

I ignored him. If that were true – and I wasn’t saying it was – then it was all the more reason for me to stay. We went together or we stayed together. That was it.

Tworidirerounded the corner and flung spells at us and I managed to raise a shield just in time. I was surprised by the way they ripped through it and shards of spells sizzled against my skin like acid. That had never happened in training.

Of course, my opponents hadn’t had dragon’s blood inside them during training, I reminded myself. It was going to need more power than I usually used.

---