The School for Good and Evil Prequel The Never Prince (fanfic)

Chapter 23

DOWN THIS PATH AND THEN ANOTHER

THROUGH BLAZING FIRE AND IRON JAWS

LIES THE GRAVE OF SILENT LOVERS

The bloody message replayed in Edward's mind for the hundredth time. He had been walking down the same hall for at least ten minutes and had found no paths diverting from it or hit a dead end. So all he could do was figure out what he was going to face or think about what the others might be doing.

Considering the situation he was in right now, being separated from the others, he was sure Stephan wanted to decrease their numbers. The less people to fight, the greater the chance of winning. And if Garth really was his nemesis, then Stephan would split them up until he only had to deal with the newly discovered prince. Garth didn't stand a chance.

With this in mind, Edward walked faster, knowing he had to find Amanda as soon as possible. He had to get back to the main passage and help Garth immediately.

Finally, after seeing nothing but walls, Edward found an opening leading off to the right. He stared down the path, holding his torch in front of him. Pure darkness. He put a hand on his hilt and moved forward, stepping quietly.

The hallway gradually widened as he kept moving forward. It got to the point that Edward just stopped walking, feeling like the walls were miles away. He turned in a circle, holding the flame of his torch out to the sides of what he believed was a large room.

He immediately stopped, hearing the clink of chains. It continued, growing louder and more chaotic. Muffled shouts followed.

"Amanda?" he called, stepping toward the sound. The clatter of chains continued, louder than ever before. "Amanda, is that you?" he questioned the noise again, walking toward the sound. The flames of his torch reflected off silver chains bolted to the floor. Amanda came into view, a gag in her mouth.

"Amanda!" The prince ran toward her, the girl struggling against her bonds and shouting through the gag. He pulled the gag out of her mouth. "Are you-"

"Edward! Behind you!" she shrieked. Edward turned around only to see the giant claw back-hand him. He launched back into the wall, dropping his torch. His head throbbed as he stood up shakily. The torch lay in front of Amanda, lighting up her fearful face. It also cast an eery green glow on the scales of a giant dragon, its jaws slowly opening.

"Iron jaws," he breathed. The dragon roared, a stream of fire coming right at him. He rolled to the right, dodging the flames. "Blazing fire," he gasped. He should have seen that. Blazing fire and iron jaws were both characteristics of a dragon that ate princes for midnight snacks.

The dragon shot another blast of flames at him, Edward dodging again. The flames dissipated immediately, leaving him in the dark. The only light was his torch, sitting at Amanda's feet. Behind the fire-breathing dragon.

Edward was starting to question his decision about going in here alone. He wasn't exactly the best fighter and had never come into contact with a dragon until today. The only thing he knew was that he couldn't get anywhere near the flames.

Sidestepping another stream of hot flames, Edward tried to use his limited light to observe the beast. Large snout, scales, yellow eyes. Basic dragon characteristics. Nothing very special about it, no obvious weak spots.

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind as he noticed the chest of the dragon after another blast of heat. Something he had read in one of the old storybooks. One with a witch who turned into a dragon. The prince had pierced the dragon's heart and had killed it. Why couldn't it work now?