Page 19 of I Dream of Dragons
Giving herself a little shake, she straightens and pries the flag from my hand. A twisted piece of metal dangles at its end. “What is this?”
“Either some form of sacred, insane art,” I say, “or?—”
“A key,” she whispers.
“A key?” That honestly hadn’t occurred to me. It doesn’t look like any key I’ve ever seen. “Are you sure? Opening what?”
“See these notches? It has to be a key. My father was a key-maker. I’d bet my pretty eyes on it. Speaking of eyes…”
“What is it?”
She tips her head. “Are you seeing that?”
I turn and stare. A round platform is rising from the sea—rising and rising, like a mountain in the middle of the arena. Water is sluicing down its sides in rivers, and the surface looks like lace, like a hive, hollows carved with caves and tunnels, and inside them creatures are writhing.
Wyrms?
“What are they expecting us to do?” I breathe.
“Climb up there, I’d bet,” Amaryll mutters.
“And then?”
She glances at the palace. Then back at the platform that is now level with the lowest palace terrace. “Find another dragon to ferry us over, as we did in the first trial?”
This is the trial of air. It’s as if they expect us to sprout wings and actually fly over there. Here I can’t even sprout fins, let alone turn into a bird. But if we had draks to ferry us…
“Could it be that simple?” she mutters.
“Simple?” I frown. “What are you thinking?”
She clutches the key to her chest, eyes narrowing. “A key. The harnesses need a key…”
The harnesses need a key? Has she hit her head too hard? I glance again at the platform that has stopped rising and seems to have stabilized… when warm air wafts around me.
No, not warm. Hot, laced with a stench of sulphur, rot, and acrid smoke.
Oh no…
“Draks!” she yells, “Fire, fire?—”
Grabbing her hand, I yank her to the edge of the tower base and together we jump back into the infested sea.
CHAPTER SEVEN
RAE
We swim underwater for a long moment, the cold blue soothing my jagged nerves, until I realize Amaryll is struggling to escape my hold, writhing, bubbles bursting out of her mouth and nose.
Shit, I’m drowning her.
With a silent curse, I pull us back up to the surface where she splutters and coughs. “Hells!”
“Sorry,” I offer.
Her pale eyes are wild. She jerks away but I keep a grip on her arm so she doesn’t sink. “You tried to kill me!”
“No! I was waiting for the draks to pass.”
