The Writer's Escape

12. The Lair

Lillian's voice rang over the mountaintop, clear and loud. She raised her arms as she spoke, dust whirling around her, power radiating from her.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose," she said, and dozens of reptilian eyes turned to her. "In your own world, you would have withered away in the mountaintops. The few of you that would have braved the mountains would have been slain by dragon-hunters systematically stamping out the last remnants of the dragon-shifters. But my sister and I have brought you to this world, where you will thrive and fulfill a greater purpose. In return for my generosity, you will follow my orders, or you will perish. Those who are obedient will be rewarded. Those who are not will be swiftly cut down."

Daria walked closer to the dragon-shifters. "Yes, in the words of my mother, we have brought you into this world and we can take you out of it."

Lillian continued speaking. "Now, you will follow me to my fortress, where you will be fed and equipped for battle." 

She swept away, and to Serena's amazement, the dragon-shifters followed without question. In the Dragon's Heart trilogy, the dragon-shifters wouldn't follow a human so easily— but then again, these shifters wouldn't know their own culture and customs, having grown outside of the influence of the true dragon-shifters. And they had been summoned here by the sorceresses, so of course they would follow. 

Serena watched them stretch their limbs and amble after Lillian. Those sharp claws would be able to cut her to ribbons with one swipe.

When they had gone, Daria muttered an order to one of the demons, who approached Patrick. Patrick shrank back, but the demon grabbed him impatiently and began dragging him back towards the fortress. He cast a desperate look back at Serena.

Tell Berry about everything, Serena mouthed. He nodded, and then was dragged away.

Daria approached Serena. "Well, well," she said with a smile. "I didn't expect for you to survive that ritual, to be quite honest."

"You made me do it, even if you knew it might kill me?"

Daria was unfazed by Serena's anger, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "If it makes you feel any better, you were much more skillful than expected."

"It does not." She folded her arms across her chest, partially to guard against the cold from the nightfall blanketing the desert, partially to regain some small feeling of control. "How did you even know about the dragon-shifters, anyway? Or about what would happen to them if you hadn't called them here?"

"I read your book," Daria said matter-of-factly, as if was the most normal thing in the world.

"You— what?" Serena stared.

"I thought it was quite interesting," Daria continued. "A shame how that love interest turned traitor; I think he would have been much better for Amaris than that knight. And may I say that I loved that final fight scene? So deliciously bloody."

It was something Serena would have expected a fan to say to her on a message-board, not a red-eyed sorceress with black magic swirling around her hands. "I— thank you," she managed to say, dumbfounded.

"You didn't happen to bring the first two books with you, did you?"

"I— uh— no. Sorry." 

Daria sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped. Very well then, follow me. It's time to tell me everything you know about Redhaven's defenses, because that's where you and I and my lovely sister and that beautiful dragon-shifter army are heading next." She nodded over to a demon, who headed over to release Serena's chains and escort her to the castle.

*     *     *     *     *

Serena told herself she didn't have a choice.

That didn't make it any easier to sit at the end of a war-table with Daria with an unfurled map of Redhaven and point out all the secret passageways, all the weak points. 

Of course, she could have lied. But she didn't like to think of what the sorceresses would do to her once they arrived at Redhaven and discovered she hadn't been truthful. And even if she did, what would that help?

She was stuck in a story with two sets of antagonists and no protagonists. Even if she sabotaged their battle against Redhaven, they would still win— it would probably just be a bloodier victory. 

She tried not to think about Berry and Patrick crammed into a dark, dank cell somewhere as she helped destroy their world. Or about the army of dragon-shifters she had unleashed into their world. Or about Lord Tyrus, secure in his stronghold with no idea of the imminent attack and no clue how to defend against dragon-shifters.

She didn't know where the dragon-shifters were now, but a few of the sorceresses were in the war-room with her, paying her no attention as they chattered and practiced spell-casting. 

Serena's gaze was drawn to them, fascinated. They seemed as close a group as the Wild Sisters. In her outline, she'd described most of their eyes as red, but now she saw most of their eyes were closer to mauve. She made mental notes of the metal jewelry that dangled from their ears and laid draped over their necks, the way their white-ink tattoos snaked around their arms, storing all the information away for later. 

When I finally get out of here, she thought, I will be able to accurately describe them before I have the Wild Sisters grind them into dust. It was this thought that she clung to as she marked up the map of Redhaven, Daria watching her intently."When is the attack?" she asked Daria, her throat dry.

"Tomorrow. Why, do you have plans?"

It was just as well. The sooner the attack, the sooner the story would come to a close, and the more certain Serena's return to her own world was.

A scrap of paper drifted down in front of Serena, settling gently on the map. Her heart jumped and she snatched it up. Was it midnight already? "This is why," she said, twisting the paper between her fingertips.

Daria held out her palm with a dangerous smile that warned Serena to cooperate, and Serena relinquished the paper to her. Daria unfolded it and read aloud: "Three days left." She frowned.

"It's how many days I have left to resolve the story before I'm trapped in this world," Serena explained.

"Hm. You weren't lying."

"No, I wasn't," she said evenly. 

Daria flicked the small piece of paper away. "Enough with the map. Tell me everything you know about Redhaven's defenses."

*     *     *     *     *

Eventually the sorceresses dismissed her, and Serena was blindfolded once again and dragged to the dungeons. Back in her cell, she braced herself for Berry to shout at her, to yell and kick and demand an explanation for what had happened and why she would side with the villains.

But when Serena was thrown back into the cell, Berry did not raise her voice. In fact, she didn't speak at all. She wouldn't even look Serena in the eyes, and somehow, that was worse.