Lainey woke cold and hungry. She felt for Dakari, found nothing, reached for the food and came up empty handed. She saw a faint light and moved towards it. Down the path she found him sitting up gorging on a chicken leg. He had conjured a ball of fire and it lit the passageway, offering warmth and making it look as cozy as the skiing lodge her parents favored. He smiled at her and offered her the bucket of chicken.
“Do you have any idea where we are?” He asked between bites.
She grabbed a wing, and looked up at him. “I know that the cave faces west, because I could see the sunset as I scrubbed the entrance.” She bit into the heavenly food
What would you do for the cameras?
Dakari opened his eyes and saw Lainey’s concerned face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out on you. Werecats can send mental messages to each other even when we’re not in feline form. I was letting my sister know everything you have told me so far.” “Will they come for us?” Lainey asked as they began to make their way down the passageway. It was so much easier with Dakari’s light. What had taken her half an hour now only took a few minutes. “They can’t pinpoint where we are by the descriptions just yet. They are on alert, awaiting any more news from us.”
From the ledge they were perched on, Lainey could see the water rising quickly. She turned to Dakari but he was frantically searching for a higher landing. As the water crested their ledge the waves ceased to crash outside on the cliffs as the water levels inside reached the height of the water level outside. The eerie silence, coupled with the lack of sunlight caused Lainey to start to lose hope. Had they really come all this way to be drowned so close to freedom? She felt Dakari tap her shoulder, the only light the red glow of the crystals. His strength was waning but he grabbed her wrist and whispered.
Brilliant reds faded through pinks and oranges to an almost eerie golden yellow as the sun let its grasp of the day weaken and die. The glorious cover of night spread and the last of the water receded. Waves again raged war with the cliffs and on a night like thousands before, the cliffs stood firm. Before he conked out for good Dakari had broken off a stalactite and charmed it into a magic flashlight. It’s light was enough for Lainey to see and placing it between her teeth she began to climb. Higher and higher she climbed until she reached the location she thought she had seen the large crevice. The darkness was too dense even with the light to see the size of the breaks between the rocks of the cliff and she found herself feeling her way. The roar of an incoming wave sounded like a stampede of horses and she held on tightly as t
Lainey found it much easier to climb back up to the ledge in the light from the crystals. In no time she found herself eye to eye with Dakari. He was laying on his side, eyes open but only somewhat coherent.When he saw her he jumped. His eyes opened wide and a huge grin replaced the vacant stare of a moment before.“I thought you didn’t make it. I thought somehow you fell off the ledge and drowned.” Dakari gushed, “I’ve never been so happy to see someone.” He pulled her the rest of the way up, and gave her a warm hug. She didn’t realize she had been so cold and wet until she felt heat radiate through her, and for the moment her clothes were dry.Lainey was touched.&nb
Lainey’s eyes opened abruptly and the nightmare stopped. In the dream she had been running from something and tripped just before she made her escape. Looking around now and realizing where she was, she hoped the dream wasn’t a premonition. Still snuggled into Dakari’s side for warmth, she turned to survey their current situation. Still on the side of the cliff, tucked back into a natural recession in the rock she looked across at three islands, one far larger than the other two.“I forgot about those islands when I described what it looked like out here.” She thought and turned to see if he was awake yet.Lainey giggled some at the sight of Dakari, eyes closed, murmuring to himself. Remembering his description of mental communication, Lainey
Dakari took the amulet into his hands and closed his eyes. “It is being called, I can feel it trying to answer. Can you feel it?” He said, sounding very much like one of those television preachers that preach late in the night. Lainey looked at him like he had grown another head. “What do you mean? How can rocks be called? That doesn’t make any sense.” Remembering that humans would typically have closed minds when it came to things like this, he attempted to
“There must be twenty dragons flying around out there, we are never going to get out of here alive,” Lainey cried. Dakari looked out between the rocks, the kaleidoscope of colors on the dragons was brilliant and would have been a delight to see if they weren’t all hell bent on finding and killing him. A bright red dragon seemed to be in charge as he soared the highest and appeared to be supervising the others. “That’s Essam,” Lainey said following his gaze. “He’s the alpha. He’s smart and super mean. The others are all afraid of him.”
Lainey held on for dear life to the nothingness under her. She could feel coarse fur but could see nothing. Unparalleled awe struck her when she realized she couldn’t see her own hands or arms either. Soaring through space at dangerous speeds, hurtling towards the unknown had Lainey’s heart going into overdrive. Without warning her invisible transport banked right and began a downward glide. Underneath her she could make out trees and what looked like a little pond. Lainey hunkered down and held tight. They must be getting ready to land. The whoosh to her left terrified her. Before she could turn her head she smelled the ghastly sulphuric stench of her scaly captors and knew the nightmare wasn’t over.