Ronan

Chapter Forty-Nine

Ronan shot back up, all intent of napping disappearing.

The roaring sounded again.

He zipped his trousers up, rushing to a hasty stand. His shirt laid wasted on the ground. He'd have to go without. Damn it, this wasn't good. He offered his woman a hand, pulling her up with him.

"Shit, shit, shit."

They could just about see the peak of a high tower over the trees.

He gave Rosa a push forwards. Then the running started.

"What happens to Triumph if a dragon blasts it all with hellfire?" Rosa asked, darting through the stream.

"I don't know. Hopefully it burns then regrows."

How permanently would hellfire damage this land? It didn't follow the normal rules of a realm, rebuilding much more easily than the likes of Proelii. But there was no telling how something as historically permanent as hellfire would strike magic down.

"What happens to you if Triumph gets blasted with hellfire?" Rosa demanded.

The realm wasn't exactly normal. The land mirrored Ronan—did that mean Ronan would mirror the land?

"I don't know. Let's hope it doesn't happen."

"Can't you just teleport us there? I've seen you do it before."

"That only works inside of the castle."

"Damnit." Rosa had been able to hear activity of the dragon from her bedroom, but she'd never been able to hear it from outside the castle walls. So why was it that they could now?

"Could the dragon have gotten out?" She asked, pumping her legs faster. "This reshaping of Triumph has probably reached the castle too. Maybe that's how it's gotten out."

"I doubt it," He bit back, both of them panting. "It's possible, but physical changes or decisions ought to stay the same. Theoretically. I don't know. This hasn't happened before."

"I can run faster than you. I could go ahead and—"

Over his dead body.

"Don't you dare." He grabbed her arm, stopping any stupid ideas from coming to her head. "If the dragon's on the loose, you're not risking a hellfire blow."

They reached the edge of the treeline, staring directly out onto the castle.

To say it had changed was an understatement.

The gothic look was gone completely.

Last time she'd been here, the windows had been boarded up to stop her...escapades. Now, those windows stood proudly, creating prisms of light where the sun hit them.

The castle sat on the edge of a cliff. The water from the lake fed into it, running beneath it and around, like a moat. Behind the castle was a drop, water spilling there in the thick cascades of a waterfall.

Her footing stuttered, breath taken away. "Oh my—it's beautiful. Just—just look at it."

She was helpless but to stare at it in awe.

Ronan tugged her arm. "Dragon, Rosie, come on."

"Right—yeah! Dragon."

Another shock hit her square in the face when they made it inside.

Hallways. Several of them. Gone was the need to trace her fingers along the walls in search of the castle's secrets. Now, they all laid out before her. She could explore them to her heart's content.