“You're a cool chick, Sammy, I mean, dragon.”
She giggled and quickly wiped away the tear that rolled over her cheek.
“Don't change anything and have faith, okay?”
She grabbed me tightly around my neck. “Just come back, please.”
“Good luck, Elena.” George grunted. He still sounded pissed.
I gave him a soft smile. “Take care of my girl, okay?”
Becky turned her back to me.
“It is going to take a miracle for you to make it out alive,” Blake said, and sighed. “But if you do, you'll have my respect.”
I was stunned by his words and huffed.
“I guess Brian will see how right Master Longwei was about Elena's mark.” Brian chuckled.
I smiled and shook my head.
“You're one crazy chick for doing this, and it's driving Brian nuts,” Brian said.
“Brian!” Lucian and Blake scolded him.
“What, it's the truth.”
I just stared at him. Guess I would never know how bad he really wanted my virginity.
“Good Luck,” Tabitha and Arianna grunted.
Blake called the dragon back, and we bowed again as he landed. He boomed in Latin, but I still could not understand a single word.
Blake asked him something and the dragon kept quiet for a brief period. Then the strangest thing happened; the next time the dragon spoke, it was in English.
“Did you understand him, Elena?” Blake asked carefully.
I nodded slowly, not sure what was happening.
“Thank you, great keeper,” Blake said.
Lucian tapped me on the bum, and as I looked at him, he was staring up at the dragon with tears in his eyes. It was my cue to get up.
“What's your name?” the dragon asked me.
“Elena Watkins.”
“Elena Watkins, are you ready to face the consequences if you fail to complete what the Cavern holds.”
“Yes.” A shiver ran up my spine. For the love of blueberries, I might be stuck in there forever.
“Good, let the games begin.” He flew away.
A big shudder that felt like an earthquake made all of us lose our balance. When it stopped, one of the wooden doors was halfway open.
Lucian hugged me again before he let me go. “Come back to me,” he whispered fervently in my ear.
We shared a passionate kiss, and I had to break away, biting my lip to keep my tears from cascading down my cheeks.
Well, Elena, you wanted this. So move your ass.
I reached the door in what felt like a heartbeat.
Don't look back.
“Elena, wait!” Becky shouted as I went to slip through the opening.
Her eyes sparkled with tears. “You know I would do this if I could, right?”
I nodded and fresh tears wanted to emerge. Stay strong.
She grabbed me around my neck. “You kick some ass, and you come back to us. I'm so sorry about earlier.”
“It's okay, Becky. I'm sorry too.”
She held on a little longer before letting me go.
I slipped through quickly. “Wait for me two days, please. If I'm not out by then, go home,” I said as the door closed behind me with finality. Lucian yelled something, but I didn't hear what it was.
“Please, just get me through this,” I begged out loud inthe darkness. I didn't know if it was to God or the Queen, but she’d appeared in my dreams, so she’d better be listening too.
Gathering my courage, I opened my eyes and turned around carefully.
Let the games begin.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A faint burning smell drifted from the glowing lanterns mounted on the walls. In the front of the cave was a drizzling waterfall sending a misty spray into the air. The cave rumbled as a square stone hoisted from the floor. I wasn't sure at this point what I was supposed to do.
This was a bad idea. Taking a deep breath, I stepped towards the stone and words magically appeared on the wall to my right. "A challenge you have to complete in fifteen beats." I read the first words out loud, hoping it would help me make sense of them.
They do love their rhymes. The first two sentences disappeared.
“Paegeia is enchanted with dragons, shifts, and nymphs hidden behind a wall. The most important one is not one, but them all.”
They have nymphs too.
I frowned, already confused, as the words swirled in my head.
C'mon, Elena, you have to think fast. The most important one? The only thing that I could think of was Blake's words. I would have his respect when I exited those doors.
Not one but them all, Blake! The riddle was about the Rubicon.
I ran to the stone and found a puzzle. It looked ancient, and the blocks I needed to move were huge. This kind of puzzle was my favorite as a little girl, so this should be easy.
Ten square disks stood in front of me, and only one square empty space. I was allowed fifteen moves to get them into the right places. Each square disk had the sign of a different dragon embellished on it. I knew immediately that it was Blake's sign. I closed my eyes, imagining the order,as I’d intended to draw this on T-shirts for extra money but hadn’t had enough time. The Fin-Tail was first and then the Copper-Horn; next was the Swallow annex sign. The Crown-Tail and the Fire-Tail after that. That was the first five Metallic dragon signs. Then came the Chromatic dragons; the Snow dragon followed by the Moon-Bolt, the Sun-Blast and Green-Vapor. Last was the Night Villain. I had the final picture of Blake’s sign fresh in my head.