Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41518 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
“Something’s happened. I have to get home.” Argenis threw the words over his shoulder as he ran for a clearing.
Shifting into a dragon, he launched himself into the air. A flash of emerald green told him another dragon was coming with him in case he needed back up.
Someone has taken Ciel, he mentally sent to Khadar.
A flash of anger that rolled through his mind was the only response Argenis received. He agreed with that completely. Whoever had taken her had just sealed their fate.
The dragons landed behind the house and Argenis raced toward the last place he’d heard her call. They scoured the area along with staff members. Retracing his steps repeatedly, Argenis found nothing.
He stopped and tried to think. Khadar joined him as well as a ring of others. “Her voice stopped mid-thought. She either was gaggled or shielded from connecting with me.”
“What would interrupt your connection?” Khadar asked. “A thick barrier?”
“It would have to be made of a solid material.”
“We build our lairs into the side of the mountain to protect from fire but also so we can not be spied on,” Khadar suggested.
“Or even have someone know you existed,” one man suggested. The townspeople were still astonished that they had no idea about the dragons other than the statue in the square.
An image of the used tools flashed into Argenis’s mind. “They’re inside the mountain.”
“There’s no way you didn’t hear them excavating your mountain,” Khadar scoffed.
“Unless they only worked when I was out. Put one man on my staff for a look out and they would know when I appeared and flew out immediately,” Argenis said, feeling the anger build inside him.
Khadar’s expression hardened. “That would work.”
“There are caves in several places but three main entrances. I have barricaded all with boulders,” Argenis reported. “Let’s check those openings.”
He divided the men in two, before waving them in opposite directions. Khadar joined the smallest group to reinforce them. On his own, Argenis headed down the hill. As he passed the cheese makers’ new building, a woman called out.
“Thank Ciel for us. She could be a master craftswoman.”
“Ciel was here?”
“Yes. She was wonderful.”
Argenis immediately ran for the last entrance. The boulders were all still in place. There was no way anyone had moved those massive pieces of rock without having machinery or dragon power. He would have noticed both.
He slammed his hand into a large jutting section of stone. She couldn’t just disappear. He paced further down the slope. A flash of silver caught his eye. Racing down to investigate, he found Ciel’s sandal. He’d noticed it this morning, approving of her choice of colors. She needed to wear more silver.
Scanning the ground, he saw a patch of grass raked and torn. There was nothing else except the craggy rock that formed his mountain. Wait! There! A patch of rock lay scattered by a jagged section.
Argenis rounded the protrusion and found it. He visually traced the jagged crevice running vertically at the back of the jutting section of rock. It had been widened, just wide enough for a person to squeeze in if they went from a certain angle.
Khadar, I found where they took her.
Go! I know where you are.
Bring the men here to guard this entrance.
Chapter 16
Forcing himself to stop and listen, Argenis detected the sound of one man’s breath. He zeroed in on the sound to find his location. He’d apologize to Ciel later.
Whack!
The flat sandal smacked the man’s torso as planned. When the guard stashed at the entrance swung his shovel downward to bash anyone who tried to follow inside, Argenis dodged the blow easily and ripped the man through the entrance. Luckily for the bad guy, he struck his head on the jutting rock as was out completely.
Argenis tossed him to the side as Khadar, and the other men reached the entrance. “Stay out here and deal will the trash I toss out to you. Don’t let anyone get away.”
“On it, sir. You can count on us,” his supervisor promised.
“Thank you, Albert.”
Listening again, he heard nothing. This time, he slipped through the opening. His bulk challenged the narrow opening. Argenis tore chunks of rock away to make room.
The entrance was the only source of light. Argenis paused to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The darkness would be a challenge for his foes as well. With luck, they didn’t know the talent of a silver dragon.
When the passageway branched off in two directions, Argenis eliminated one by smell alone. The stench of fear was coming from the right side. He continued that way.
A narrowing made him hesitate. Argenis wrapped his hand around the wall and discovered the bottleneck led into a wider section. It would be the perfect spot to jump someone. If they weren’t a dragon…
Using his senses, Argenis pinpointed two people in the room. From the sound of their racing hearts, he knew they were on the edge of panicking. He blew a long stream of warm air into the room, heating it. Now he could smell them sweating. Their hands would be slippery on their weapons now. Laying his hands on the rocks, Argenis pumped heat into the stone.