Arwick (A Light Of Roria Sequel)

Chapter Seventeen

"What has happened?" Agatha asked, her face riddled with concern.

I gasped for air before jumping into action. There was no time to waste. I needed to get to the dragon before the events of the night could take place. "Agatha, I need your help," I said with desperation.

"Anything," she replied, reaching for my hands. Her eyes never left my own while she waited for my request.

"Are there special passageways directly for servants? I need to find my way to wherever they keep the dragon and without being seen. I want to bargain with him so I can try to escape."

Her eyes grew large for a moment as a smile began to take form on her thin face. "I have always believed Divinity had created me for something important, and it seems that time has come." She paused, pulling me into a warm hug. "A single guard stands at the entrance to the servant passages. Outside this room and down the hall, there is a latch on the floor. If you follow the ladder down, it is there where the servant passageway lies." Turning her back to me, her finger tapped her chin in thought before continuing. An idea became present in her eyes before she pointed to the rug in the center of the floor. "If we enlist the help of my brother Paul, the two of us can carry the rug, as if it needs to be mended." She turned to me for a moment before continuing. "Would you cut one of the woven knots?" Nodding, I moved toward the rug, instantly forming a blade in my hand before tearing a small slit in a single knot as she requested. "Fantastic!" she exclaimed as she marveled at me for a moment. "Forgive my excitement, but I have never had the pleasure of witnessing fairy magic until you."

"I'm used to it." I grinned.

"Now I will fetch my brother from the hall. We can both carry the rug while you crouch beneath it. It should give you enough time to attack before he has the chance to realize you are there," she told me, moving fast. "Wait here, Addisyn," she finished, turning for the door, shutting it gently behind her.

Placing a hand on my forehead, I released a sigh of relief, grateful I'd been given a chance to escape, only hoping the plan would unravel without a single hiccup. "Make me fast and accurate," I said aloud to divinity. The sound of the door opening was faint as Agatha came inside with her brother close behind.

It was the young man I'd seen a few times who sat on the floor in the hall. He was thin like Agatha, with the same fair skin and hair color. His eyes beamed with delight before he spoke. "I never thought I'd live to see the days of the great prophecy, and yet here I am, ready to ensure it takes place. It is my honor to assist you."

Biting my lip, I fiddled with a strand of hair that had fallen from my loose braid. I knew how much these people yearned for the light of Roria to be found, but being admired so much still felt so strange. I had gone from a quiet life in Ontario, Oregon, completely sheltered from most of the world by parents who had done everything they could to keep me safe from what they knew was to come, to being a fairy capable of using pixie dust that could create shimmering weaponry with a single thought and destined to save their world.

"We must hurry," Agatha said, grabbing an end of the rug with both hands. "Grab the other side, brother."

Quickly moving toward the rug, he grabbed the opposite end before they lifted it from the ground, and Paul turned to face me. "Once you've entered the servant passages, there are no lights to guide you. Servants must count their steps from our living quarters to our assigned areas of duty. The dark is meant to keep us from wandering down paths we are not already familiar with, but I have taken many messages to the guards who stand watch over the entrance to the dragon's lair."

The two of them began heading toward the door while Paul continued to speak. "Use your divinity to light the way. Once you've taken a hundred and fifty steps, turn to your left. Continue eighty-five paces before reaching another hatch on the ground. Fifty steps down a ladder and you will have reached the bottom." Pausing, he gave me a stern expression. "It is important that you do not use your divinity to provide light as you make your way down the ladder. For when you reach the bottom, you will find that it is a short turn, not three feet ahead of you, before the hall turns to the left. It is just as dark down there as it is in our passageways, and the sudden light could alert the single guard that watches over the entrance. Strike him down, take his key, and the dragon will be just beyond the door."

Nodding, I repeated some of what he said. "A hundred fifty steps and I take a left, then eighty-five before I open the hatch, fifty steps down a ladder but can't use Divinity. Got it."

"And most importantly kill them quietly," Agatha added.

I cringed at her words. I still hated the idea of taking someone's life but wouldn't forget the right to protect my own, and those guards wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they saw me. "Er, okay, I'll be as stealthy as a Navy SEAL." They both gave me curious expressions before I waved them off. "Never mind," I said as Agatha shook her head humorously before motioning me to move underneath the rug.

With my knees bent, I remained low to the ground, making sure my head never touched the rug above me as the two of them kept a steady pace down the hall. I kept my eyes on Paul's legs, watching his steps carefully to stay in perfect rhythm with him.

As soon as the adrenaline hit me, I reached for divinity, ready for it to provide me with pristine accuracy and incredible speed.

"Pardon us, sir," Paul started, "but the master's rug needs mending." His words were loud and drawn out, like he was giving the signal to make my move before the guard had the opportunity to look down at their feet.

Flinging my body to the right, I threw a small blade while still in the air, sending it soaring toward the guard's throat. Just as I'd hit the wall, the blade landed deep within his neck, making only the handle still visible, leaving his face frozen in astonishment before dropping to his death.

"Go, Addisyn," Agatha said. Her eyes pleaded for me to move quickly as I jumped to my feet, racing for the latch on the ground and prying it open.

"May divinity guide you," they both said, hugging each other's sides before I began my descent down the first ladder. My heart filled with sorrow, realizing what helping me escape might mean for them. It meant they had both risked their lives so I could get to the dragon. A wave of guilt stung my chest. Holding back the urge to cry, I made my way down the ladder. I didn't feel my life was more valuable than theirs, but I knew if there was a chance I could save them, it meant I had to reach that dragon.

When my left foot first touched the ground, I hadn't expected to reach the bottom so quickly, causing me to stumble. I jolted around, keeping my hand against the wall for fear of tripping in the dark. The air was cold and smelled stale, and the silence was deafening. At a slight jog, I tried to move as swiftly as I could without causing my feet to pound against the stone floor, keeping count of every step.

At a hundred and thirty, I began to slow down, ready to take the first left just as Paul had said. "One fifty," I said aloud, my hand grasping air when the wall ended. Taking the first left, I maintained my original pace, using my sense of touch to navigate since sight wasn't an option in such darkness. "Forty-three." With every step closer to the latch, my heart quickened its already fast pace. Everything inside me was beginning to respond to the idea of how close I was to this fearsome beast. If he didn't agree to my terms, my risk of meeting him would be in vain, and I for one did not one to be cooked to death by dragon fire.

"Eighty-five," I said anxiously. Letting go of the wall, I reached both my hands to the floor, tapping around until I felt the latch within my grasp. "Right on the money, Paul." I smiled gratefully. Exhaling, I began to pull it open. "Here we go," I whispered, slowly making my way down the ladder. When my feet finally touched the ground, I held my breath, fearful the guard not far from my position would hear me. Reaching for the wall, I pressed my body against it, edging across until I could feel the corner with my hand.

It's time, Addisyn, I told myself before forming a bow and arrows. Rounding the corner, I launched an arrow at the single guard who stood before the doorway. With a long wheeze, he hit the ground, giving me the chance to snag his key. A small peephole produced the only light inside the tunnel, and I looked inside with anxious curiosity, but the dragon was not visible. Pulling back, I closed my eyes. "You can do this. Divinity's going to help you," I whispered in self-motivation.

Unlocking the door, I pushed it aside, entering the grand room with wide eyes. The ceiling, made of jagged rocks, stood high above my head. Unlike Ahab's castle, with its extravagant rooms and man-made structures, the dragon seemed to be kept inside a vast cavern. Just several steps ahead, the ground came to an abrupt edge. Moving toward it, I caught sight of the sudden slope that curved down, zigzagging along the edge of the rocks before reaching the bottom. It was flat and barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, but if one were careful, one could navigate the walkway to get below.

Drawing a sharp breath, my heart seemed to stop, my gaze falling upon the menacing, but magnificent dragon chained to the ground far below my feet.