Dragons of Marak: Book 1, Wings & Sword

#25

 The gurdra and the boardra flew above their carriage. The driver spurred the alpacas forward, the crowds of people dispersed and quieted as they moved on. Ana kept to herself for a little while, thoughts whirling about in her head.

How many dragons were like the sparkdra, wandering the streets of Tekor now that she'd freed them?

She cringed as she thought of the people that those loose, wild dragons might hurt. She should have thought further ahead, before setting them free. She'd known some of them could be wild, but she'd been focused on the fact that they were wrongfully being kept in the distorted realm.

She peered out of the dark window. Even in the low light, she could see the Obelisk up ahead. It was as if it sucked the light from everything in its vicinity.

Leti and Taea were equally quiet. Her friend had this look on her face, it spelled fear. Ana tried not to look in her direction, or else she feared she'd become scared too. Their mission was clear enough. The gurdra and the boardra could only help. Still, it was daunting to think of breaking into her father's workplace.

Before they'd loaded into the carriage, they'd learned the new dragons' names. The gurdra was Cole, the boardra was Bak. Cole had been going through a midlife crisis when he'd come to the Obelisk the first time. Bak had been setting out on his own, after an argument with his parents. They had both been fooled by the Obelisk's promise of giving them a partner. They'd spent a couple days sleeping there, and then they'd been seized by her father's dragonbounds in the night.

Both seemed to have been minimally affected by the distorted realm. They must not have spent much time in it.

As they closed the last of the distance to the Obelisk, Ana fretted about their plan. Was it really feasible to cut through the elevator, climb or fly up the shaft, and then cut through the door to the appropriate floor? At any point, something could go wrong. If things didn't work, they would have to call it off and regroup. Ana wanted for them to have a backup plan, but for the life of her she couldn't think of one. As far as she knew, the elevator was the only way to get all the way up to her father's facilities, at the very top.

"You don't think we're being too hasty, do you?" Ana said as the carriage rattled up the last little bit of the way to the Obelisk.

She already knew what Cee and Leti would say, but she wanted to hear what the others thought.

"What do you mean?" Luka's mother asked.

"I mean maybe we should try this during the day," Ana said. "Take some time to plan it out better, and get a good night of sleep."

Luka's mother shook her head. "No. Luka's in there."

Leti also looked determined. Whatever fear had been on her face a moment ago, it was gone now.

"Agreed. We need to get him out as soon as possible," Leti said.

Ana glanced over at Sil.

"And you, Sil?" she asked.

The white girl looked up, eyes going wide.

"Me...what?" she said.

"Do you think we're being too hasty?"

Sil frowned. She stayed quiet for a long time.

"Sil?" Ana said, repeating herself.

"Excuse me, Ms. Perez, but I have no opinion."

Ana frowned. "Surely you have to have an opinion?"

"No. I have no opinion."

Those words stuck in her head for a little bit. The carriage doors slid open, and Ana decided that they had to go for it. Now that they were here, they had to try to rescue Luka and Jack. Whatever they did, though, she determined that they would try to keep it low key as long as they could.