Lohikäärme: The Dragon's Descent (Revised)

Chapter XIII - Visions

Chapter XIII - Visions

Dante was gone.

How could he leave so quickly? There was no window to jump from, and the door was never opened. How could he have left?

"Sssafia?"

"He was here just a moment ago, and then..."

His tail pounded at the table. Tap. Tap. Tap. "Sssafia, lisssten!"

I looked around. Dante was here. He was just here. Where did he go?

Tap! Tap! Tap! "Sssafia, we have to ssstop wasssting time!"

"Stop it!"

Tap! Tap! Tap!

I gripped him by the neck. "Tell me, why did he leave when you called my name? Answer me!"

"I...wasss..."

Squeezing his neck, I shook his body to get the answers. "Why did you need to wrap yourself around me and tighten your hold whenever Xamira talked to me? Why? Why? Why?"

"I...wasss...calling your name...all the while!"

His body dropped on the floor.

"Li...Lisssten. We can't wassste any more time." He panted. "I won't let you. We have to...We have to find out what...the magistersss...are planning." He slid into my shirt and urged me to stand up. "Can't you see? This hall is the torture chamber, and this room is where they keep the tools!"

He explained the rest as I sneaked down to the inner castle yard. Magister Xamira had been spying on us. Master Cato must have found out about the prophecy and told the magisters about me. Maybe they planned to use me against Remekiah or Dante. Whatever it was for, we had to stop it from happening. Hurrying to escape without knowing what they planned to do was stupid, I had convinced him. It would give me more time to wait for Kosh.

Remekiah refused to talk about Dante, but he did tell me that he was never there. He was, I knew it. Maybe Remekiah just didn't see him. I still couldn't understand how that could happen, but that was the only explanation I had.

The crowd of students swallowed us as soon as I finished the stairs. That was good. Our only problem was sneaking up to the High Council's solar without looking suspicious.

No one was there at the right drum tower of the castle. With small, careful steps, we reached the solar. I held my ear against the wall and looked for the spot where I could hear their conversation.

"You've endangered Aethelgard! Do you realize that, you bloody idiot?"

"Elfreda's right, Xamira. We don't know how long they've been planning their attack. They could be watching us now, waiting for the right time to attack."

"Oh, you can shut up! You also voted for an extension bloody moons ago instead of telling the truth that no herb, no honeywater, no milk can cure her because she's not sick. No, you let her stay in that..."

The castle walls brightened. They turned into moldy, wooden boards with holes through which light seeped. The place smelled like how soil and grass smelled after a rain. It was so quiet. The only thing I could hear was the sound of someone weeping.

"Carina, please," someone pleaded.

I stood up and turned around. On the ground kneeled a woman with her dress spread around her. Her face was full of despair. She didn't frown nor cry, but I could feel it. The despair. The agony. A man kneeled beside her, stroking her back gently. But the woman didn't seem to feel or hear what the man was doing, she just stared at me, her face devoid of expression. No. She wasn't staring at me. Her eyes were distant, unfocused.