Page 31 of Lightningborn

That sounded ominous. The pirates left the cavern, following the rogue mage into the hut. Remy waited until he was sure every pirate had left the room before shoving away the stone and wriggling out of the tunnel.

Storm followed, chirping wildly. Ignoring him, Remy hurried across the cavern to the remains of the shattered door. There were no pirates that he could see or hear, so he started to creep down the tunnel.

He nearly fell as a scaly body pressed close to his legs, curling a tail around his ankles. Wincing, he looked down at his dragon.

“Storm.” Remy knelt and put a calming hand on the scaly head, feeling horns through the mane. Storm trilled and gazed up at him, almost in accusation. “I have to see what they’re up to,” he told the dragon. “Bart might be in trouble. Stay here. I promise I’ll be right back.”

The dragon whined but sank back and put his head on the ground, flattening himself to the floor. Remy swallowed and crept into the tunnel, making his way through the corridor until he reached the curtain hung over the entrance.

Pushing it aside, he peered into Bart’s shack, and his heart plummeted.

Straight ahead, through the open front door, hovered a sky ship. It had black sails, and the ship itself had been painted to resemble a terrible, giant shark swimming through the air. But that wasn’t what caused Remy’s heart to freeze in terror.

Along the sides of the ship, portholes were slowly opening, the black mouths of cannons poking through. Pointing straight at Bart’s house.

Oh no…

Remy spun, bolting back down the tunnel, as behind him the shout of“Fire!”rang into the air. Reaching the cave, he snatched Storm off the floor and flung himself to the side as something whizzed by in a black streak, slamming into the cavern wall.

With deafening roars, a volley of cannonballs smashed into Bart’s house, snapping timbers and punching through walls. The cavern shook, rocks, pebbles, and dust raining from the ceiling. Storm howled, digging his talons into Remy’s skin, but his voice was lost in the cacophony. Remy staggered to a corner and pressed himself to the wall, keeping his body hunched over Storm as stones fell around him, bouncing painfully off his back.

For a few seconds, cannons boomed, the walls shook, projectiles roared as they smashed into everything, and it felt like the world was breaking apart. But then, as suddenly as it had started, the noises ceased. The rumbles faded, the ground stopped shaking, and calm descended once more.

Remy peeked up, blinking dirt out of his eyes. Storm trembled violently against his chest, sharp claws digging through his shirt into his skin. The cavern was smaller now; rocks and boulders had been shaken loose with the cannon barrage and were scattered everywhere across the floor. Dust hung thick in the air, turning everything hazy and choking. Remy coughed, then started picking his way across the floor, avoiding the boulders and easing around the jagged stones that had fallen.

Another tremor went through the ground, but this time, it was far stronger. The earth heaved under his feet, and he lost his balance, stumbling back and dropping Storm. The dragon gave a bleat of fear as he landed, making Remy wince.

“Sorry, Storm,” he panted. “Come here, I’ll pick you up.…”

He reached for the hatchling, but the dragon suddenly let out a terrified cry and bolted away from him. Shocked, Remy watched Storm scurry across the floor, scrambling over rocks and stones toward the back of the cavern.

He bit his lip. The wall that held the tunnel to the other cavern had been blasted apart by the cannonball, and a giant crack split the rock in two. Storm frantically clawed away a mound of rubble, revealing the mouth of the tunnel, then vanished into the gap.

“Storm! Hey, wait!”

Remy hurried after the dragon, wriggling through the passage one more time. As he heaved himself from the hole into the other chamber, the cave trembled. More rocks fell, clattering to the ground, and centipedes crawled frantically over the walls. Waving away the dusty haze, Remy gazed frantically around for his dragon.

Storm stood in the middle of the room, neck craned back and staring up at the ceiling. At the cluster of crystals attached to the roof. As Remy followed the dragon’s gaze, his heart dropped to his toes and stayed there.

One of the crystals was flickering, like a candle left out in a strong breeze. A terrible crack ran from where it connected to the ceiling down to the tip of one of the shards, the crack starting wide and then branching out like spiderwebs.

The storm crystal flickered again, and the island trembled in response.

Remy felt cold. His chest was tight, but he staggered across the floor and gathered Storm in his arms. The hatchling shook violently, and Remy held him close, feeling the dragon’s heart racing beneath his scales.

“It’s okay,” he whispered into the dragon’s mane. “We’re okay, Storm. We’re fine. It’s just a crack. That doesn’t mean the island is going to fall.”

The ground rumbled under his feet, seeming to challenge that statement, and his stomach twisted so hard he felt sick. “Come on,” he told the dragon, staggering back toward the tunnel. “We have to get out of here. There’s nothing we can do.”

He crawled back into the cave, then carefully picked his way to the shattered door once again. Creeping down the passage, he peered out into Bart’s cabin.

There was no more cabin.

Bart’s house was gone. A scorched, empty cliff face was all that was left of the house that had been perched precariously against the rocks. Only the walkway and a few beams clinging to the side of the cliff remained. The pirate ship had vanished, leaving the air outside the shack empty, but the damage had been done. The hut was completely destroyed.

Storm, peering around his legs, gave a sad chirp, and Remy clenched his fists. Bart’s house was gone, but Jhaeros and the pirates were on their way to the tavern, looking for him. He had to reach Bart and warn him before the pirates got there, but he couldn’t take Storm topside. Jhaeros would see him for sure.

Turning, Remy knelt and stroked the dragon’s mane, making the hatchling gaze up at him questioningly. “I need you to stay here, buddy,” he whispered, and Storm immediately squeaked in protest. “I have to warn Bart about the pirates, but you can’t follow me up there. There’s too many people looking for you. You have to stay here and wait for us. Will you do that? Please?”

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