Darkness & Light: Book 1: Shatter Our Fates [COMPLETED]

28 - Hayley

I follow Drecca and Lilith deep in the dark, sandy world. As I walk along, my cane sliding a bit in the sand, and I try to keep steady. But then, the ground shakes. I gasp, looking down at the sand as it shifts and churns.

I cry out as a massive dragon bursts free of the scarlet sands, and a massive, black scaled beast snarls at us, its gold eyes shining as it roars. Drecca draws twin blades, and Lilith readies her magick.

The dragon doesn't attack, though. She speaks to us in a deep, husky voice.

"Why do you tread on these sacred, hallowed grounds?"

"Dear dragon, what is your name?" Lilith asks.

The dragon unfurls her massive, black and gold wings. Her gold eyes shine as she lowers her head toward the ground, toward us. She snarls.  "You tread on my home's sacred ground. Do not think you can ask such things of me, children of chaos."

"Dragon, we are just traveling," says Drecca.

"Prince of Hell, I assume you would know where you walk. You do not lurk in your domain anymore. You are in mine."

"We are just trying to pass through."

The dragon laughs.  "As if your kind know how to pass through without causing any trouble."

"If you'd let us go, we will be on our way," says Drecca.

The dragon lowers her head, snarling in his face. Drecca does not back down, though. He stares right at her, his fierce expression showing no emotion. She chuckles, and stands up once more, rising to her full height.

"You do not know the lengths I have had to go through in the past to prevent your kind from wreaking havoc on my home."

"We won't hurt you. Or your home," Lilith promises.

But the dragon remains unconvinced. She stamps her feet and causes a blast of scarlet sands to hit the three of us. She then flares her wings out, roaring loud enough to wake the dead.

Suddenly, the air shifts, and I feel a bit weird. Seconds later, Aldrea rises.

"Something big is coming your way. Bigger than the dragon you see before you."

"Uh, guys? We need to go," I say.

Drecca looks at me like he might snap or something, but when he sees the look on my face, he relents. We back away from the dragon, but one ferocious snarl from her has us halting. She steps closer to the three of us, and just as we are about to be backed into a corner, something massive flies overhead. I look up, my eyes wide as a pair of dragons flies over us, and they land on either side of the first dragon.

"Hayley! Get out of there, now!" Aldrea roars in my mind.

"How?!" I demand aloud, making both demons and dragons look at me like I've lost my mind.

"Have Drecca and Lilith cleave a hole through the rock behind you, the dragons won't be able to follow you through there. But if you don't hurry, you'll find a new view — one from the inside of those beasts."

I look at Lilith. "Hey! Tear a hole through the rock!"

"What?" Drecca asks.

"Oh, right. We must hurry," says Lilith. She whirls around and swings her fist, which glows bright silver, slamming the glowing fist into it over and over again. Drecca then joins her, and before too long, they've made a narrow tunnel. But the dragons are pissed now.

A powerful roar fills the air from the one who'd spoken to us before, and she lunges forward, but Drecca is suddenly there, and he shoves me into the tunnel behind Lilith. I fall flat on my face, but as I struggle to get back up, I hear Lilith screaming in front of me.

"Drecca!"

I turn, spitting out some dirt, and hear the dragon laughing. Lifting my gaze, I gasp in horror.

Drecca is halfway in her mouth, his body half concealed by her jaws. She tosses him up into the air, and her jaws snap closed around him. I scream, too, as does Lilith.

The dragon swallows Drecca whole.