Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Chapter Sixteen: A Short Exploration of a Suspicious Cave

Sora ran over to the spot where they'd vanished, eyes wide as her hands clawed at the marking in the grass. The twins were gone, swallowed up by the ground which had soon repaired itself – the only sign of what had happened being the fourth glowing marking in the field. Her heart stuttered in her chest. Just what was going on? "What the hell?" she muttered. "What the actual hell?"

"Tch. Imbeciles... it's probably part of the test," Silver said, folding her arms as she looked haughtily across the field. "It has to be. That's the only explanation for what's going on here."

Raelynn looked around, her gasp pulling their attention onto the small rockface in front of them. It was a dull, dark grey, some shades looking closer to black the further down it went. What really caught the eye though, were the two jade green orbs seemingly looking at them from where they were embedded in the dragons head carved into the wall. The snout protruded from the rockface, jaw wide open, providing an unhindered view of the black space in between the thick long teeth.

A passageway.

"Is it me," Raelynn began with a shudder, "or is that statue thingy really really creepy?"

Silver rolled her eyes. "Idiot."

"It looks way too real though! Sora, back me up here," she pleaded, brown eyes boring into her green ones. "What if it's, like, a stone dragon or something?"

Silver rolled her eyes all the harder. "Stone dragons don't exist, you utter imbecile."

"I was just checking!" Raelynn folded her arms, glaring at the silverette for what must've been the hundredth time that day. "By all means... get eaten by a weird dragon next time."

"Dragons don't tend to eat people, especially not around these parts," Silver said, looking exasperated as she strode confidently into the grass. "Besides, we should probably look for more weird markings on the ground. This is a test, in case you dolts forgot that fact."

"Sure thing," Sora mumbled, biting her lips as she watched her two teammates go out into the grassy field. One which could swallow the pair of them up at any moment... but like Silver said, it was probably the test. The older dragon riders wouldn't leave anything which could hurt them out in the field, would they?

"Found one!" Silver's shout had her running over the grass, uncaring of any other marks which might potentially swallow her up.

"Don't step on it!" Sora called, hurrying over to her, eyes narrowing as the other girl placed her foot over the small sigil on the ground. She skidded to a stop, a scowl flickering across her face before that was replaced by confusion.

Nothing was happening.

The ground didn't react – didn't swallow Silver up, even as Raelynn wandered ever closer. "Huh?" Silver pulled her foot back, leaning down to eye the marking, and Sora soon joined her. It looked like a dark ring, inside of which seemed to be a crude, ancient drawing of a flame. "What's with this stupid thing?" Silver muttered, glaring at the earth, as if that'd make it open up and swallow her. "Is it defective or something?"

"Oh, so that's a defective one?" Raelynn drawled, leaning over both of their shoulders.

"Perhaps it's a fake?" Sora suggested.

Silver shrugged, shoving the lump on her back off, uncaring as she fell. Raelynn winced, back slamming into the dirt, a loud crack rending the air. Ground crumbled under her weight, rocks skittering beneath her as she fell down into the darkness. Sora blinked, arm snaking out to try and catch her falling teammate, but the vines curling around her wrist stopped her midway.

"Imbecile!" Silver yelled, moving towards the new hole in the ground, but she wasn't quick enough. Earth regrew, smoothing back over, concealing the gaping gap in the ground, and the sigil lit up like a firework.

Sora swallowed. "I guess it's just us then..."

"Obviously, idiot," she scoffed, flipping her silvery locks over her shoulder as she walked away. "Let's just find the last two sigils and get this stupid test over and done with. I've had enough of this place already."

"OK." Sora nodded. "Let's do—"

The sound of ground crumbling had her eyes shooting over to where Silver had just been, a scowl painting her lips as she noticed the absence of a certain silver-haired girl. She'd been ditched. She'd totally just been ditched. Frantically, she glanced around, praying she'd see another strange marking marring the ground, but no matter how hard she looked there was nothing to be found.

"What?" she hissed, clawing at her hair as the panic inside her chest rose. She was meant to be there, right? She was supposed to belong... even if she had a weird colour of magic and an egg which was too light. "Dammit..." She was the team leader, only now she didn't exactly have a team to lead. She'd failed already. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

Wind whistled through the trees all of a sudden, blowing towards the rockface as though to answer her question. The gusts were strong, ridiculously so, and she turned to stare at the dragon's head carved from the stone in front of her. Drum beats met her ears, the rhythmic pounding matching the increasing thud of her heart as the entryway burst into a flaming archway – as if to welcome her.

"So this is my way in..." she whispered, feet edging forwards like metal to a magnet. Sora wanted to go in there. She had to. Her whole body was all but too happy to obey those desires, pulling her ever closer to the stone fangs. "You can do this, Sora," she breathed, taking a deep breath before she hurried inside the passageway.

Stone grated on stone loudly, the carved dragons' teeth behind her slowly sliding shut, sealing her inside the darkened entryway with a small snap. She swallowed audibly, silently reminding herself there was nothing to be scared of. It was only darkness... but anything could be in there. Sora stepped towards the blackness. There was no way back now, so her only option was to plough on forwards, no matter what lay ahead.

Her foot inched down the single step, a small sigh escaping her lips when she felt solid ground under her shoes. Light flared on either side of her head, square sigils lighting up in an amber glow, and Sora startled. They clicked on one after the other, lighting the way through the corridor, as if trying to show her there was nothing to fear. Didn't make her any less terrified. The end of it was barely in sight, the sheer length of the passageway making her shiver. Something was down there. Something was waiting for her. She could feel it, like the anticipation right before a fight, though she hoped the so-called test would be anything but that. She was not in the mood to beat anything to a bloody pulp. Especially nothing of the magical sort. Those were far too hard to beat up even on the best of days.

She didn't do particularly well with jump scares either, especially when her nerves were on edge. She'd be more likely to scream. It was one thing to be prepared for an ambush, but another entirely to be prepared for what that ambush would consist of. At least Tabitha and her cronies had been consistent. Her footsteps echoed off the walls, heart thudding in her chest as she hurried down the corridor. She wanted to get it over and done with. The longer she took, the worse her nerves would get, and then she'd start panicking. Nothing ever went well when she started panicking.

The end of the tunnel was there, the archway flaming just like the previous one had as if to welcome her. This was it. This was her test. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, freezing as she stared around the small circular room. Long purple drapes covered most of the pale brick walls, a strange scent lingering on her tongue, mixed with the overpowering smell of lilies. Her throat felt dry all of a sudden. There weren't any exits in sight. She was trapped.

Swallowing audibly, she eyed the room's sole other occupant, taking in the wrinkled leathery dark skin and the long frizzy white hair clinging to her scalp. She looked frail, almost skeletal, her face sunken, wrinkles fierce. Her eyes were closed, the movement of her chest being the only tell-tale sign she was alive at all. Sora edged closer, cautious, freezing on the spot when her boot hit a lone piece of fragmented tile – sending it skidding across the floor with an all too loud sound. She swore under her breath, heart beating a mile a minute as the air in the room seemed to shift. Milky white eyes flickered open, glancing straight at her despite the lack of any visible pupil, and Sora could feel the shivers run down her spine. She knew... she just knew things weren't going to end well, and the little old lady's words only confirmed her suspicions.

"I've been expecting you for quite some time now, Sora," she said. "Don't you know how rude it is to keep an old woman waiting?"