Lohikäärme: The Dragon's Descent (Revised)

Chapter XV - Blinding Light

Chapter XV - Blinding Light

I went back to sawing the bars. I had to be out of here before things get worse. I had no sense of time in the cell. It could have been hours, days, or just a few minutes after Sumner left when Remekiah came back.

"Remekiah!"

"I found it, Sssafia. It'sss in that blond boy'sss chambersss upstairsss."

"Remekiah, we fell for it. It was a trap."

"What do you mean? The placcce wasss clear."

The place was clear? Something was really off. Surely, Sumner couldn't have done all of this alone. But who was he working with? Surely, if the magisters needed to take care of me and Remekiah, they wouldn't need to go through such measures. Someone else must be luring the magisters into causing chaos.

He handed me the ring of keys and slinked up into my dress. I fumbled with the keys and tried every key on the lock. What was done was done. Maybe if we left quickly, Sumner wouldn't catch us escaping.

The key didn't fit. The next couldn't turn. It didn't fit. It did nothing. It couldn't turn. It didn't fit. It didn't fit. It didn't fit. Click!

"Come on, Sssafia!"

I pushed the door open and hurried outside, Remekiah slithering ahead of me.

A ball of fire smashed against the ground and threw me onto my back. I coughed in the smoke. Remekiah. Where was he?

"Bloody turncloaks!" the head magister grunted. "What? You thought we'd let you run free after all you've done?" Another fireball formed over her palm, growing bigger and bigger. "After causing the deaths of many, many talented people? After causing our defeat in the Great Insurrection? You think we'd let you run free?"

I hurried onto my feet, coughing, and dived into the smokiest spot where the first fireball had landed. "Remekiah!" I hollered. "Remekiah, where are you?" Colors swirled everywhere. I couldn't see anything. "Remekiah!"

"I'll skin you all first and have you thrown into the crow cages!"

A distinct ball of colors soared past me and shook the ground at its landing. She yelled and screamed about the Great Insurrection, Aethelgard, the talented people, and the monsters the witch brought into the world. I didn't listen to half of what she said. Remekiah. I had to find him. I had to save him.

"Sssafia!"

From behind me? "Remekiah!" I turned around and ran back towards the head magister.

But someone pulled me from the smoke and held me in place. The earth magister. She leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Watch how she kills your precious friend, Safia. Listen to his desperate cries for help as we make him suffer for what you've done."

"Run, Remekiah! Run! Don't fight the magister. She'll kill you!"

"Yes, Safia, scream. Shout. That's what I'd love to hear." Her chuckles echoed in my head. "There is nothing sweeter than reaping such luscious fruits after all the sowing I did."

The ground opened and swallowed my feet. I pulled my legs from the ground, but the ground hardened again. I was stuck.

"Remekiah!" I screamed as the fire magister shot fireballs at him. The flames kept coming, raining down, but Remekiah was fast. He sprang away from the fireballs and slithered closer to Magister Elfreda. "No, save yourself!"

Magister Mitena chuckled. My arm rose to strike her, but the wall reached for my hand and swallowed it. She smiled. Tears poured down my face. "Remekiah, please, go!"

He could easily escape this place. He could leave me here alone.

Alone.

I didn't care. I just wanted him safe.

He snaked towards the head magister and wriggled into her dress. She couldn't throw flames at him because she'll burn too, unless her body could withstand that heat, which didn't seem to be. He hissed. Hiss. Hiss. Hiss. Up her legs, to her waist, and then to her neck. She tried to seize and squeeze him, but he was swift and dodged her hands.

"Do you need my help, Elfreda?"

"No!" shrieked the head magister. "I'll kill this snake myself."

Magister Mitena chuckled at the sight of the head magister filled with fury, clawing at her body to catch Remekiah.

And then he jumped from her collar to her neck, strangling her with his long body. That's right. Crush her neck.

She rasped. "You...bloody...creature!"

A puff of smoke covered whatever happened with Remekiah and the fire magister. I tugged at my arm and legs, but the wall and the ground were stiff as stone.

"Aaah!"

"Remekiah!"

When the smoke disappeared, I saw the old magister pulling Remekiah's body apart. He screamed, but I couldn't do anything. A different color, probably flames, emerged from the fire magister's palms and devoured Remekiah.

I collapsed on the floor, coughing. Too much smoke. I couldn't breathe.

The earth magister pulled me up. "You're going to miss the best part of the show, Safia. Don't fret. You can rest all you want once we're done with you."

A blinding light seeped out of his body. I squinted my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It continued radiating out of him.

"Sssafiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"