The ground suddenly heaved under her feet and her knees buckled. Pressed against the vehicle, she clung to the Earth as it shook. A roar cracked the air. She crawled on her hands and knees. Her heart triple-flipped with joy, yet it wasn’t red wings flying above. Black ones beat the ashy air.
His mother? Sandra flattened her body to the ground. Things were worse than she’d thought. What if she was too late? What if he was already dead and gone to the grave thinking she didn’t love him?
The earthquake stopped and she rose to her feet. What if his mother was hungry?
Weaving through the air like a drunken flier, the black dragon almost collided with the mountainside.
Sandra gasped at the almost hit, then saw small creatures clinging to his mother’s back. She was under attack. That meant the gate had been breeched. Sandra spun and searched the empty streets. They’d evacuated the island under the guise of an eruption, but she knew there were powerful forces in her world that worked with the gatekeepers. The evacuation was also for possible invasion.
Fuck. And she stood in the middle of it.
Another roar caught her attention. Ishi’s mother crashed not far from the farm. Clods of dirt and plants rained on Sandra’s head. Ducking, she missed getting brained by flying debris. Without a rational thought, she raced toward the dragoness. As she jumped the wooden fence, she watched the dragon tear the last moving dwarf apart and add his body parts to the carnage around her.
Her gaze swiveled toward Sandra and pierced her soul.
She froze.
His mother moved so fast that even if Sandra had tried to escape it wouldn’t have mattered. With her bloodied hand, his mother grasped Sandra’s body. “You? Where have you been? He keeps calling for you.” Not waiting for her to answer, she took flight.
Caged in her claws, Sandra had to contort her body to avoid being pierced. Ishi’s mother’s rough handling made her miss his gentler grip, but her heart still rang with clarity.
He was alive.
Sandra clung to Ishi’s mother’s fingers until she dropped her on the ledge. Not waiting for the battle-crazy dragon to land, Sandra charged inside the den, leaping over half-charred carcasses, discarded weapons and a crazed donkey braying as it ran in circles. She entered his bedroom.
Ishi lay on the bed. Blood soaked through his clothes; a broken arrow shaft protruded from his stomach. His skin appeared waxy.
Quietly, she hurried to his bedside and caressed his face. “Ishi?” He felt cold and clammy under her fingers.
Flicking his eyelids open, he tried to focus. “Am I dead?”
“No.” Not yet. She forced a smile on her face. “I came back. I–I…” Just say it, dumbass. She’d traveled thousands of miles into a battle zone only for her tongue to tie in knots.
“Sandra.” He spoke her name as if it was a magical love spell. “It’s not safe.”
“No, shit. We need to get you some help.” She searched the room with her gaze. Not sure how to call Outremer’s version of nine-one-one.
Heavy boots clopped into the room. His mother in her human form filled the doorway. Her black hair was twisted into dreadlocks and fell past her shoulders. The darkness in her gaze would send any sane person away screaming. “He’s refusing to be healed.” She pointed in the direction of the treasure room. “The dwarves stole some of the outer chamber’s treasure where he kept his healing items stored. There’s nothing left for me to use. Every time I try to transport him to Outremer, the fucking gate calls him back. Those little dwarven buggers are smart. I’ll give them that.”
They were using the gate against him.
She bent over to rest her head against his, but something poked her in the side from her pocket.
The saji.
Standing, she pulled it out of her jean pocket and showed it to him. “It worked. My sister’s cured, but it’s out of magic. How do I recharge it?”
“We only need to bring it back to Outremer. The magic in our realm will automatically regenerate the spell in the spoon.” Ishi’s mother crossed the room and clasped her in hug so tight, stars flashed in her vision. “I’ll go right away.”
Ishi groaned and arched his back before vanishing from the bed.
“Mistress! Mistress!” Urgle scrambled into the bedroom and groveled at the black dragon’s feet. “They’re coming through the gate.”
She swatted him across the head. “Tell me something I don’t know.” Unsheathing her sword from her back, she ran from the room.
Sandra stared at the empty bloodstained bed. The gate was killing him. Every time someone crossed it, Ishi was summoned. Injured or not, the gate wanted him to fight until he was dead. And the dwarves knew it.
With the saji back in her pocket, she grabbed Urgle. “Let’s arm up. We have a mission.”
The gate appeared in his sight, replacing the vision of Sandra. An army of dwarves marched through. Funny how the mind could play tricks, summoning one’s greatest desires and most horrid nightmares within seconds of each other.
He laughed at their stunned expressions as he materialized in their path, a bloody apparition. More ghost than reality at this point. “Beware. All ye who cross will not return. Heed my warning!” He wailed in his best impression of a phantom as his knees gave out.
“Put it out of its misery.” The leader pointed to one of his soldiers and shoved past Ishi.
The soldier raised his axe over Ishi’s head. Their gazes met like lovers gone bad and the dwarf grimaced. “It’s for the best. Yer dead either way.” The dwarf’s eyes widened and glazed as the axe slipped from his fingers.
Ishi cocked his head to the side. That wasn’t how to behead someone.
Falling to his side, the dwarf landed next to him with a dagger in his chest. He recognized the hilt. He’d given that dagger to his mother ages ago.
She swept into the room, a hurricane of blades and molten magic sweeping across the intruders. “Get off your ass, son.” She tossed him a blade.
By reflex alone, he caught it and swung at the soldiers pouring through the gate. The blade cut right through them like butter, and the momentum swung him around. He raised his head and his gaze rested on Sandra.
She skirted the edge of the battle with Urgle at her side. Cast iron frying pan in one hand and a short sword in the other, she fought toward him.
The veil of weariness lifted from his heart and soul. It wasn’t a dream. He watched as she pounded the pan across one dwarf’s head and Urgle defended her back. His worst nightmares had come true. He’d failed the gate. An invasion had broken into Inverness and his Sandra was caught in the center of it.
Worse, his mother had to rescue him like he’d just broken from the egg.
Ignoring the pain in his gut, he called to the volcano core, to the deep lava rolling in its heart. He unleashed all his draconic magic, not restraining an ounce of it, and pulled it to the surface. The ground shook and the mountain groaned, but he waited. He needed Sandra to be safe before unleashing the might of Earth and fire on his home.
Sandra traveled toward the gate, Urgle not far behind.
He knocked away anyone stupid enough to break his concentration, and waited until she faced the gate, then he called forth the power of his people. Shifting, he lunged forward. The ground cracked and bucked. Poisonous gases poured into the room, followed by the sweet bliss of lava. Clasping both Sandra and Urgle in his claws, he crossed the gate to Outremer.
With a cry, he dropped them before he crushed their bodies with his poor landing. On his side, he faced the gate and watched his mother step through the magical veil, a thick coat of lava on her flesh. It wouldn’t harm her, but it would cook the invading dwarves. Sadly, it would also destroy his hoard.