Page 34 of The Dragon King's Curse
Too late. The hardheaded dragon ignored me, strode right through the circle of mushrooms, and grabbed hold of the door knob. With one wrong move, he foolishly played right into the hands of the forest.
This was a fae trap.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
NOXX
I shoved the door open as Feryn shouted at me to stop. A thick purple fog rolled out of the doorway. I coughed and gagged, backing away as it flowed toward me.
The fog was suddenly everywhere. Coming from every direction. So thick I could barely see. I rushed back toward Feryn, grabbing hold of her hand before the fog separated us. I should’ve listened to her. Not that I would admit as much.
“It’s a fae trap,” she explained. “A trick. You’re never supposed to open a door in the woods or climb any stairs. Have you never heard this?”
“Apparently not,” I snarled. “Can you make it stop?”
She vigorously shook her head, covering her nose and mouth with a hand. “We need to get out of here.”
A strange whistling noise seemed to echo all around us. Like an eerie song. It made my skin prickle.
“Do you hear that?” I asked. For just a moment, I could’ve sworn I heard the roar of a dragon’s death cry.
Feryn stared off into the distance despite not being able to see through the fog. “I hear Miranda. She’s calling me. It can’t be real. It’s the fog. We need to get away from here.”
“Where are we supposed to go? The forest is taking us in circles.” We didn’t seem to be hearing the same things. I didn’t like this.
As it grew increasingly harder to breathe, I began to feel lightheaded. The urge to sink to my knees and succumb to the fog’s effects hit hard. Feryn jerked hard on our joined hands.
“Come on. We’re going to find the river. I think it’s our best way out of here.” Determination flashed in her violet eyes. Refusing to let me fall victim to the fog, she reached out with her free hand, feeling the environment. Then she dragged me behind her as she hurried us along.
We couldn’t see a damn thing. I trusted Feryn to lead us as we blindly trudged through trees and brush. More than once we walked into a tree and tripped over fallen logs. None of it deterred Feryn. She kept us moving.
“Do you hear that?” she paused, listening intently. “It sounds like water.”
I listened hard, detecting a faint gurgle of water rushing. “How do we know it’s not some auditory hallucination?”
“We know the river is here. We’ve already seen it.” Jerking on my hand again, she urged me to keep up as she hurried toward the noise.
The fog followed us. Every breath felt painful and forced, like I couldn’t possibly get enough oxygen. Feryn didn’t seem to feel it the way I did. Perhaps because she was an elf, so similar to fae. Or maybe it was her sheer grit and will to get us out of there alive.
Nothing slowed her down. Even though we were both huffing and puffing by the time we reached the river, Feryn never faltered.
“Get in the water. We’ll let the current take us away. Once we’re clear of the fog, we’ll try to get out on the other side and find the border.” There was such strength in her command.I didn’t dare question her as she led me to the shoreline and together we leapt into the rushing water.
The river was wild and strong. Throwing us about as we struggled to hold onto one another. Nothing would make me let go of the princess. We moved swiftly, easily travelling several miles by water. It didn’t take long to leave the fog behind.
We were repeatedly dragged under, having to fight against the current to rise to the surface. Thankfully, we were both relatively strong swimmers. A few times we were thrown against rocks, almost knocked unconscious. I tried to take the brunt of the blows, but it was impossible to navigate.
“Don’t let go,” I shouted when we were almost pulled apart.
The further we travelled down the river, the stronger the water seemed to be. It roared loudly in my ears, making it almost impossible to hear myself. Feryn spat out a mouthful of water. She clutched desperately at my clothing, doing her best to stay close.
That’s when I realized we were coming up on a waterfall. I tried in vain to swim for the shoreline. The current was too strong. We were going over that waterfall.
Feryn seemed to realize it right then as well. Her eyes widened, and she frantically tried to swim for the shore. We were too far away. The water was too strong. All we could do was cling tight to one another and brace ourselves.
The river shoved us quickly to the falls. Then we were falling, plummeting down with a torrential downfall of water. For a moment, it felt like a free fall, like we were caught in limbo. Then we hit the water on the bottom hard. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs. We were ripped apart, flung about by the rapid waves.
I caught sight of Feryn swimming hard for the opposite shore. I did my best to follow. The river would have none of it. Itforced us back, throwing us out onto the shore on the same side we’d previously been on.
