Chapter 29
The Secret Way In
Charla couldn't believe it. She was the one who had found the door in the first place. She should have been the one to show it to them. And yet they had left her behind. No—they'd refused to let her go with them. Refused, like she was some sort of child.
She snorted and raked her claws on the stone floor. Lance jostled her with a wing.
"Cheer up. They'll be back soon."
"I should have gone too," she grumbled.
It was hard to tell how well the news had gone down. Chelcie's explanation had been brief but charged with excitement, and it seemed to Charla that every dragon in the room had stopped to listen. But reactions had been mixed. Teslan had been very wary, sceptical even, and it was only Jorric's interest and insistence that had swayed him. The two of them had left with Chelcie to check it out—apparently Jorric would be able to 'see' what was on the other side with something Chelcie called 'earthsense.'
When Charla had tried to join them, Teslan had snapped at her. Reallysnapped at her. No one, adult or otherwise, had spoken to her with such anger before. It still made her face burn when she thought back to it—to the cold glare he'd given her and the fury in his voice.
"You, young dragon, will stay here. Where it issafe. And that is not up for discussion!"
She glared at her paws. What gave him the right to yell at her like that? To deny her anything? So what if she'd disobeyed his orders before? Nothing had happened—she'd even found something that could be really important! And yet he treated her like she'd done something horribly wrong.
Lance had told her not to take it personally—that all adults were like that towards children—but she couldn't help it. She felt stupid. Insignificant. Angry.
"Your face is going to stay like that if you're not careful."
"Shut up, Lance."
"I'm just saying."
Charla heaved a long-suffering sigh and raised her head, offering him a half-hearted glare. He smirked and scuffed her horns with his wing. Despite herself, she felt a weak smile tug at the corner of her mouth.
Things had been silent since Teslan, Jorric and Chelcie had left, but there was a new air of nervous excitement among the refugees now that news of the door had spread. They whispered amongst themselves about the possibilities, some as sceptical as Teslan, others hopeful like Chelcie.
Charla and Lance sat apart from everyone, close to the door. The longer they waited, the more on-edge Charla felt. What if the door didn't lead to Old Warfang? What if they couldn't get it open? How were they supposed to get into Warfang then?
She looked at Lance, who had resumed staring pensively into the middle-distance. He wouldn't have the answers, but she had to talk to someone. The questions were burning inside her.
"Do you think it'll work?" she asked finally.
Lance gave her a questioning look.
"The door, I mean," she said. "Do you think it'll get us into Warfang?"
He hummed thoughtfully, his brow furrowed. "Do you want the honest answer or...the answer you want to hear?"
Charla scowled. "I want to know what you think."
His eyes held hers for a long moment, until he sighed and looked away. "I think there's too many 'ifs.' If we can get the door open. If it really is the door to the old city. If it really is connected to Warfang."
"So...you don't think it will work?"
"I think we shouldn't be too optimistic about it," he said delicately, glancing sidelong at her. She huffed. He sighed. "Look, Charla... There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
That made her look up. She raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"
Lance glanced quickly around them, as if to make sure no one was listening, then lowered his head closer to hers. Their eyes met. "Are you sure you still want to go to Warfang?"
"What?" She frowned. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because..." He seemed to hesitate, his eyes flicking away and back again, like he didn't quite have the guts to hold her gaze. "I thought you might have realised by now just how difficult and dangerous it'll be to get into the city. We've already wasted a lot of time here. And..."
"And?" Charla glared at him. This wasn't what she had been expecting. She should have been used to his constant attempts to change her mind, but now? After coming this far? What was he even thinking? "What else is there, Lance?"
"Look, don't just get mad at me, alright? Hear me out."
"If you're just going to tell me what you told me before, I'm not listening." She flicked her tail and turned her face away to glare at something else in the room. She couldn't believe him. "It didn't work before and it's not going to work now."
Lance sighed heavily. "You're so stubborn. But no, I'm not just going to tell you that. There's something else... Another reason. I didn't think you'd understand before, but now..."
As much as she wanted to ignore him, his words sparked a new curiosity inside her. She half-glanced at him but looked quickly away again. Another reason? Was this why he didn't want to go to Warfang? Was he finally going to tell her?
"I need you to look at me, Charla."
She twisted her tail around her paws and looked up at him, unable to help herself. No matter what he said, she told herself, she wouldn't let it sway her decision. She was going to Warfang, whether he wanted to or not.
Their eyes met again. She felt tension in the air, like electricity.
"Warfang is a true dragon city," he said slowly. "It's not like any place you've been to before. It's full of dragons—dragons like us, and like Teslan. And if you think Teslan's attempts to control us are bad, you need to prepare yourself for the worst. Dragon cities are all about order and control. As soon as you set foot inside those walls, you become part of their system, and they will do with you as they see fit."
Charla frowned. "What are you getting at?"
"Charla..." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, and fixed her with a fierce, serious look. "If you make it into Warfang, you won't be getting out again. At least, not for a very long time."
Charla just stared at him, her mind blank. His words bounced around in her head.
"I don't understand…" she said slowly, cautiously.
"Of course you don't." He scowled, but it didn't seem to be aimed at her. "You've never been to a real dragon city before. But I know. I know that if you go to Warfang, the authorities will shove you into a random orphanage and never let you out. And I know the city wall isn't just for keeping enemies out—it's to keep the citizens in, to keep them safe."
"But—"
"And I know," he interrupted, raising his voice a little, "that you're not going to listen to any of this. Right now you're probably thinking no one could possibly keep you contained—that you'll find some way to sneak out. You are, aren't you?"
Charla shut her mouth and said nothing, her cheeks burning. He'd never told her he could read minds.
"Listen to me," Lance insisted, lowering his head again so that their eyes were on the same level. "You've already seen how Teslan acts around us. In Warfang, it'll be ten times worse. They'll never let you do anything, let alone leave the city."
She swallowed. "So that's it? That's the only reason? There's nothing else? Nothing to do with you?"
He stared hard into her eyes for a long moment. "Any personal issue I have with Warfang is my own business."
Charla took a deep breath and looked at her paws. So there was something else. She'd thought so. And he still wasn't going to tell her.
What a ridiculous reason, though… There was no way it could be as bad as he said it was. And even if the dragons at Warfang did try to stop her from leaving, how could they? She'd escaped from the Well of Souls. She could escape from Warfang.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked quietly, looking back up at him. "Why make up all those other excuses?"
"Those 'excuses' were reasons too—reasons I thought you'd understand," he said, frowning. "But I knew you wouldn't understand about Warfang—I knew you wouldn't listen to me if I told you that. I can tell you don't believe me now, even after seeing how Teslan treats you."
She shuffled her paws and didn't reply. She wanted to listen to him, to believe, if only to make him feel better. But she couldn't. She couldn't believe that getting into Warfang meant she'd never get out. Warfang was her only chance of finding a map to the Well of Souls. And she had to get to the Well. She had to, for Jayce and for Silverback…
"Charla, look at me."
Charla raised her head and met his eyes. He was pleading with her, wordlessly.
"We can go now, before Teslan gets back—no one here is in any shape to stop us. We can head towards Pyreflight, maybe find a few apes to interrogate and tell us the way. We don't have to go to Warfang."
She held his gaze but said nothing. There was hope in his voice, and in the strangest way it made her angry.
"Please, Charla."
"I can't," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I need to—"
"You don't need to," he hissed back, and she had never heard him sound so desperate. "Charla, please, listen. If you go in there, you won't come out. No matter what you think or how you feel, trust me when I say you don't need to go to Warfang."
Charla closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, Lance was so close that she could see flecks of silver in his iron-grey eyes. A strange calm washed over her.
"But I want to go to Warfang."
Silence fell between them.
Lance swallowed visibly, his throat bobbing, and his expression turned impassive. He closed his eyes and turned his head.
"Fine," he said in a breathy, quiet voice. "Fine. I won't try to change your mind again."
Then he turned his body away from her and sat down again, wings tense and eyes blank. Charla stared up at him, her heart thumping. That was it? No more arguments?
"Lance?" she whispered, but he said nothing—just closed his eyes, as though trying to block her voice out.
Charla's shoulders slumped and she stared at her paws. "...Sorry."
A sigh was his only answer. She knew better than to try again.
When Chelcie returned, she was bouncing. She shot in through the door like a fired arrow, a grin on her face and springs in her feet. As soon as her eyes fell on Charla, she made a beeline for her.
"I was right!" she crowed, and everyone in the room stopped speaking abruptly. "I was right!"
Charla, who had been so deeply sulking that she'd forgotten to be excited about Chelcie's return, came back to earth with a bump. "Huh?"
"The door!" Chelcie exclaimed, grabbing Charla by the shoulder and shaking her. "I was right!"
"Y-y-you g-g-got—" Charla wrenched herself free and staggered back a step. "You got it open?"
A murmur of interest had started up around them. Chelcie seemed to deflate slightly.
"Well, no," she said, "but Jorric used his earthsense and he says there's definitely some huge expanse on the other side. And I don't know about you, but that sounds like—"
"Chelcie!" Teslan's roar cut her off so abruptly that she seemed to choke.
Charla jumped and whirled around as he and Jorric came striding into the room, their wings still half-furled, like they hadn't yet had time to fold them. He looked as furious as he had when he'd left.
"I have told you before and I will tell you again—do not go racing ahead on your own! For ancestors' sake, listen to me!" He stomped across the room towards them, nostrils flared, but Chelcie just rolled her eyes.
"We were just coming back here!" she argued. "It's not like I was racing off into unknown territory or something. Get a grip. Besides, you weren't that far behind."
Teslan's nostrils flared wider, and a few bright sparks of electricity leapt from them, but he didn't get a chance for rebuttal. A nearby ice dragon called his name, and he turned his head.
"What did you find out there?" the ice dragon asked. "Judging from your niece's outburst, I assume good news?"
Teslan grunted. "Yes, well... Jorric, do you mind explaining? We'll have to discuss this with everyone..."
Jorric nodded, and Charla leaned closer to Chelcie to whisper, "Discuss what?"
Chelcie lowered her head. "Well, the door is..." She paused and looked at Lance, who hadn't reacted at all to their entrance and had been staring impassively ahead the whole time. "Hey, earth to Lancey. What's eating you?"
"Nothing," he grunted without looking at her.
Charla scowled at him. He hadn't spoken to her since their ill-fated conversation earlier—just sat there with that blank, vaguely unhappy look on his face. At first she'd felt guilty, but that had soon faded into annoyance. If he was so upset with her, why didn't he just say so?
"Uh-huh," said Chelcie, wrinkling her muzzle at him. "Whatever you say, sunshine." She lowered her head next to Charla's and whispered, "What's with him? You two didn't have a fight or something, did you?"
"No," said Charla, jutting her lower jaw out mulishly.
Chelcie raised an eyebrow.
Ignoring the look, Charla waited for her to continue where she'd left off—but, by then, Jorric had already started addressing the crowd. The two of them fell silent to listen.
"So, this door... We're pretty sure—we'll, I'm pretty sure—that it's the door to Old Warfang, like Chelcie thought." Jorric hesitated, his eyes darting around the crowd. Everyone was fixated on him, waiting with baited breath and hopeful eyes. He seemed nervous. "I could sense that there's some kind of expanse on the other side—maybe what felt like buildings, too. It definitely felt big enough to be the old city, or at least some of it."
Whispers of hope and excitement rippled through the crowding dragons. A few voices called over the noise.
"What about getting it open?"
"Can you open it?"
"Do you think you can—"
"I'm getting to that," Jorric said hurriedly. "It looks like a pretty typical city door—elemental runes and all—but it's not in top shape. Many of the runes are worn down or eroded completely. I can't open the door on my own, but I think, with enough elemental power, we could overload the runes and break the seal."
The murmuring grew louder and Charla looked up at Chelcie in confusion. Elemental runes? Seal?
Chelcie caught her look and seemed to understand. She lowered her head and whispered, "Remember those runes around the edge of the door? They're elemental runes—they absorb elemental magic to protect the door. Kind of like a shield."
"What does he mean by breaking the 'seal?' " Charla hissed back.
"He means the seal the runes make. Seal, shield, same thing. If you hit a shield with enough force, it'll break, right?"
Charla's eyes widened. "So...we need to blast the door with elements to make it open?"
"Basically." Chelcie grinned.
"Quiet down; quiet down, please." Teslan half spread his wings, ushering silence upon the chattering crowd. "Let Jorric finish."
Jorric cleared his throat and shuffled his feet as everyone's attention turned back to him. "Yes, well... The plan, I suppose. I'm going to need as many dragons as I can get who can still use their elements—and don't bother volunteering if you think you've only got a little left in you. We're going to need a lot."
"What about everyone else, then?" one dragoness called, a bite of defensiveness to her voice.
"What is the plan, exactly?" another dragon added. "And is it going to get us into Warfang?"
Jorric hesitated for a moment too long, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly, until Teslan came to his rescue.
"That is the intention, yes." He looked around at the hopeful sea of faces. "As I have already discussed with Jorric and Chelcie, we have very little options available to us. This door, if we can open it, offers us a potential safe route into Warfang—and perhaps the only one we are going to find."
"That's a lot of 'ifs,' " one dragon muttered, and there was a worried murmur of agreement around him.
Teslan fixed the speaker with a stern look. "And yet we have no better option as of this moment. I would not be suggesting this if I didn't think it was our best course of action. We must get into Warfang, as soon as possible, if we are to avoid the Dark Army and save our wounded."
A few dragons among the crowd looked anxiously and sceptically at each other, but there were no more objections. Teslan took a deep breath. Charla held hers.
"For now, the plan is this: Jorric will take a team of able dragons ahead to open the door. The rest of us will follow along the canyon floor. The wounded will be flown up as needed. With any luck, we will enter the old city without alerting the Dark Army to our presence." His eyes roved over the crowd challengingly. "If anyone has any objections or suggestions, now is the time to voice them."
At first, everyone was silent. Then a yellow dragoness raised her wing and called, "What if they can't get the door open? Shouldn't we wait here until we know it's open?"
"We don't want to get stuck down in the canyon," said the red dragoness beside her.
"We will get the door open," Jorric shot back, frowning. "I'm sure of it."
"Remaining here until the door is open may waste precious time," Teslan added, his voice level. "And there is every chance that the act of breaking the elemental seal may alert any nearby apes—if you've ever heard one break before, you'll know how loud it can be. We must be ready to move, just in case."
"Better to be stranded in the canyon than trapped in here," Chelcie piped up, and several dragons voiced their agreement.
"This sounds like a big risk to me," someone in the crowd murmured.
"It is," Teslan agreed grimly. "But so is staying here. Sooner or later, the Dark Army will find us. We must get into Warfang."
Everyone was silent. After a long moment, Teslan took a step back to appraise the crowd. "No more questions? Good. Jorric, form your team. Whoever thinks they have the energy left for one more grand feat of elemental magic, step forward."
There was much whispering and murmuring among the crowd, and slowly, a few dragons began to extract themselves. As they gathered before Jorric, Charla counted four earth dragons, two each of electric and fire dragons, and only one ice dragon. Then a thought struck her and she slunk around Chelcie's legs to get to Teslan.
"I can still use my element!" she said, and he looked down at her in surprise. "Please, let me go with them? I want to help open the door!"
Really, what she most wanted was to see the door open—but if she could help, too, that was even better.
Teslan eyed her impassively. "I was going to suggest you join Jorric and his team, regardless. You and Lance both. They'll be in a better position to protect you if we do encounter the Dark Army."
Charla opened and closed her mouth, stunned. She'd been expecting an argument, not an instant agreement. "O-oh... Okay."
She scampered over to join the group around Jorric but paused halfway. Turning her head, she found Lance still sitting in the same spot, but now he was looking intently at her. She stared back, trying to resist the temptation to stick out her tongue. What was that look for, anyway? For once, she was doing what Teslan told her to do.
"Lance!" Teslan called suddenly, and Charla flinched. "Come over here. You'll be going with Jorric."
At first, Lance didn't move an inch. Then, without taking his eyes off Charla, he stood up and stiffly walked over to her. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop looking so grumpy, but he didn't stop when he reached her. He walked straight past and stood with the adults around Jorric without even acknowledging her. Charla glared at his back.
"C'mon," Chelcie said quietly behind her. "Let's see what Jorric has to say."
"Chelcie," Teslan interrupted, and both of them turned to look at him. His eyes were stern, but strangely apologetic. "I want you to stay with the rest of us."
"What? Why?!" Chelcie whirled around, flicking her tail defensively. "I can help open the door! You can't keep me behind just because I'm grounded!"
"No, it's not about that." He waved her down with a gentle paw. "I need you with me. We're going to need some dragons to help with the wounded and protect everyone who can't fight while we're in the canyon. I know you're capable of anything I ask of you—and I'm asking you to help me. I can't lead these dragons alone."
Chelcie's face twisted with indecision, and Charla could tell that she longed to help open the door. But then she heaved out a sigh and her shoulders fell. "Oh, alright. Helpless old drake..."
Teslan smiled and his eyes twinkled with good humour. "Good dragon. Off you go, Charla. Make sure you do exactly what Jorric tells you to."
And the two of them turned away, leaving Charla to join Jorric and his group on her own. She sidled up beside Lance after a moment of hesitation, but he gave no hint that he'd noticed her presence.
"I think this'll be enough..." Jorric was saying, perhaps more to himself than anyone else. He looked around at the small crowd and seemed relieved to see Perun, who had also joined the group. "Okay, let's get going. I'll explain more when we're there."
He ushered them all towards the door, and Charla fell into step beside Lance. There was definitely something troubled about his expression, she thought as she took a peek from the corner of her eye. But why did he have to sulk?
"We'll be right behind you, Jorric," Teslan called. "We're counting on you to get that door open."
Jorric just raised his wing in acknowledgement.
The door looked exactly as it had before, but Charla admired it with new eyes as they landed. That door was going to get them into Warfang, one way or another. She couldn't wait to see what was behind it.
Everyone who hadn't seen it before—that is to say, everyone but Charla, Lance and Jorric—crowded around the door with hushed whispers of awe and wonder. Jorric ushered Charla back and jostled his way to the front of the group. Turning his back on the grand door, he faced them.
"Okay, here's how this is going to work. Group yourselves into your elements, would you? Kids, you can join in if you want. Every bit helps." He looked specifically at Charla, and she wasted no time in joining the other two fire dragons in the group.
Lance, on the other paw, made no move to join the earth dragons.
"Alright," said Jorric when they'd all settled. "Here's the thing. Once we break the seal, we're going to need a bit of earth power to actually open the doors. So you guys"—he nodded at the four earth dragons before him—"try not to exhaust yourselves just breaking the seal. Everyone else, give it everything you've got."
"So, what, we just use our strongest elemental attacks on it?" asked the fire dragoness beside Charla.
"Well, I mean…don't throw yourself at the door or anything. You don't want to hurt yourself." Jorric gave a wry grin. "And I wouldn't suggest using your fury, either. But anything else goes."
Several of the dragons snorted with amusement. Jorric turned to face the door, settling into a wide-legged stance. The earth dragons on either side of him followed his example. Charla braced herself.
"Ready? Now!"
Charla almost leapt into the air as the fire dragons let loose twin streams of flame so hot she felt her scales curl. At the same time, tongues of crackling electricity arced from the jaws of Perun and the yellow dragoness at his side, and the single ice dragon hovered above them, thick waves of icy wind gushing from his open maw. The earth dragons didn't seem to move. They stood rigid, muscles rippling under their scales, and Charla felt the earth tremble under her paws.
And then she stared in amazement at the doors, because the runes around its edge had begun to glow—first red, then yellow, then blue, then green, and cycling through again so fast she couldn't keep track. But there were large gaps, she realised as she stared—spots where there were no runes, or where the worn outlines of faded runes failed to glow like the rest.
She was so fixated that she almost forgot she was supposed to be helping, too. She drew in the biggest breath she could muster, grasped for that glowing spark in her chest, and let loose. Her stream of fire was tiny and weak beside the blazing columns from the other fire dragons, but she poured everything she had into it—every ounce of magic she felt inside her.
Her eyes quickly started to water in the haze of heat, so she shut them. Then her tongue and gums began to tingle, and she had to remind herself to breathe through her nose. Fire licked around her fangs; she felt the heat on her facial scales and strained to keep going.
Soon, every breath she drew in through her nostrils was choked with heat and smoke. She screwed her eyes shut harder and forced herself not to stop. She could feel it weakening, feel her magic running thin, like drawing water from a dry well. There were tears streaming down her cheeks: her nostrils burned, she couldn't breathe…
It was too much. With a choke and a gasp, she cut off her fire and staggered back a step, gulping at the fresh air. As the tears were dashed from her eyes, she stared in amazement. Everyone was still going, their eyes screwed shut with determination. But what amazed her more were the runes.
They were no longer cycling rapidly through a rainbow of colours. Instead, they had settled on one—a bright, vibrant purple that lit up the door with an eerie, ethereal glow.
Charla stared, mesmerized both by the purple lights and the chaotic clash of elemental magic that all but obscured the door from view. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lance sitting rigid, watching, and wondered if he regretted not lending a paw—or an element, as the case was.
But was it even working? The streams of elemental magic were starting to weaken; Jorric was trembling from head to tail, and the fire dragoness beside Charla looked almost in pain. The door stood firm, undamaged.
Were they even doing anything to it? Was the seal weakening at all? What if—
CRACK
Charla yelped like a death hound pup, and if there had been a roof she most surely would have hit it. The dragons around her broke off with startled gasps and cries of shock. As the dust from their elemental storm dissipated, and Charla returned to earth, the door swam back into view. Charla gaped.
Deep, jagged cracks had split open in the door's stone face, cutting clean through every rune, slicing them in twain. They were no longer glowing.
For a short, breathless moment, everyone stared at the door. Then—
"Earth dragons, push!" Jorric roared, and lurched forward with such force that the ground cracked under his forepaws. The earth dragons resumed their stances with equal ferocity, and Charla watched in amazement as their scales began to glow with green light.
The door didn't move. Charla held her breath.
And then, before her eyes, it edged free from its frame and groaned inwards. With a great, rumbling groan, the huge stone door spread open, its face glowing with green elemental energy. Dust rained from the roof of the frame, a delicate curtain that failed to mask the great black expanse that was steadily revealing itself before them.
Then, with one last grumble of stone-against-stone, it was still. The earth dragons stumbled forward, gasping, and Jorric all but collapsed where he stood. Everyone stared in silence through the open door.
"I'm okay," Jorric gasped as Charla hurried to his side. He pushed himself up on shaking legs and gazed into the darkness. "I can't believe that actually worked..."
"Didn't you say you were sure we could get the door open?" said the older fire dragoness, fixing him with a narrow-eyed stare.
"Well, Teslan wouldn't have gone along with it if I'd said otherwise," Jorric replied with a nervous sort of grin. When her eyes narrowed further, he added quickly, "But I had a good feeling about it!"
"No harm done, I suppose," said Perun, who was approaching the open door. "Now we just need to figure out if your hypothesis was right."
"It's so dark," Charla said, creeping forward as well. Perun unfurled a wing and ushered her back, earning himself a glare.
"A bit of light wouldn't go astray," Jorric said.
"Stand back, then." Perun drew in a deep breath and opened his jaws. A small orb of lightning began to crackle on the tip of his tongue. As Charla watched with great interest, it grew bigger and bigger until it was about the size of his head. Then he flicked his head and spat it.
The orb flew in a short arc over the threshold of the door. It hit the ground not far beyond it, then bounced a short way in. And there it sat, pulsing like a heart, casting an erratic yellow glow to light up the darkness. The first things Charla noticed were two spiralled pillars on either side of what appeared to be a walkway. They rose up into darkness, away from the electric orb's pool of light.
"Torches!" exclaimed Jorric. "Ingris, could you?"
The older fire dragoness stepped forward without hesitation, slinking past the pulsing ball of lightning, and lowered her head to the base of one pillar. A tiny stream of fire licked from her nostrils, burned for a moment at the bottom of the pillar, then raced up the spiral. Charla jumped back as the head of the pillar burst into flame, illuminating a crown-like metal guard within which the torch-fire burned.
"Oh, oh, let me try!" she exclaimed, and raced forward before anyone could stop her.
There was a particular emptiness in her chest that told her she'd used up most of her elemental energy already, but she was sure she still had at least a spark. The tongue of flame that leapt off her tongue was small and weak, but it caught the pillar alight just as Ingris' had, and spiralled to the top. She tipped her head back to admire it.
"Step back!" Perun yelled suddenly, and Charla jumped backwards on instinct.
Before she could do anything else, Perun leapt on top of his electric orb, which promptly exploded into tongues of lightning—most of which seemed to absorb back into his scales. Charla shivered as one arced over her horns, sending a zapping tingle down her spine.
"Sorry," Perun said, straightening up with a rueful grimace. "I didn't have enough magic left to maintain it longer."
"So it exploded?" muttered Ingris distastefully, flicking arcs of electricity off her claws.
"That's what they do."
Charla had already stopped listening. With the flaming torches now casting light into what had been impenetrable darkness, she could see a fair way along what seemed to be a stone catwalk suspended above a black expanse. Not far below, she saw what could have been the rooves of round-topped buildings, their stone worn and crumbled in parts. Everything else was still steeped in darkness—darkness on either side, darkness above and below, darkness ahead of her. Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard the faint roar of falling water.
As she stood there, she knew deep in her gut that this place was huge.
"What now?" asked Perun, and Charla turned to see everyone else was slowly edging through the door as well, casting their gazes curiously into the dark expanse.
"We should wait for Teslan and the others to catch up," Jorric said, and his frown was just barely visible in the gloom.
"Shouldn't we explore the place?" Charla suggested hopefully. "Make sure it's...safe...and stuff?"
"You won't be," someone grumbled, and Charla turned a surprised look on Lance, who had just stepped through the door and looked oddly dwarfed in its sunlit frame. He scowled back at her.
"No, Charla," Jorric started, but Ingris cut across him.
"She's got the right idea, though. I'll check it out. Zatila, want to come?" She flicked her tail at the electric dragoness in the group, who readily agreed.
"Don't go too far," Jorric called after them, but Ingris just flicked a wing as though brushing away an irritable bug.
The two dragonesses quickly disappeared into the darkness beyond the torchlight, leaving Charla staring longingly after them. Maybe if she could just sneak away... She chanced a quick look behind her and jumped. Lance was right there. How she hadn't heard him approach, she had no idea.
"What?" she grumbled, turning around to face him.
He considered her silently for a moment. "How are you doing?"
"Huh?" She blinked and cocked her head, forgetting she was supposed to be grumpy with him. "I'm fine. Why?"
Lance shrugged. "It just seemed like you used a lot of elemental energy back there. You know you've got spirit gems in your bag if you need them, right?"
"Oh." Charla glanced around at her satchel. She was so used to its weight and feel that she often forget it was there—and that it held a pair of small gems inside it. But the hollow ache in her chest had already started to fade, and it left her feeling more hungry than drained. "No... I'm good."
Lance grunted in response.
Silence passed between them for a good few seconds before Charla dared to ask, "Are you still mad with me?"
His eyebrows rose. "I'm not mad with you."
"You sure seemed mad."
"Well... I'm sorry." He shifted his paws and frowned into the darkness beyond her. "I didn't mean to come across like that."
Charla considered his stern eyes and the tension on his face, and a little bead of guilt threaded its way through the frustration she'd held towards him. She dropped her gaze to her paws. "I thought I upset you..."
"Really?" To her surprise, she felt his paw come to rest gently between her wings. He gave her a companionable shake. "C'mon, kid, you know I'm not that soft."
She peered at him and saw a wry smile pulling at his mouth. Relief seeped through her. "Yeah, I know. You just have issues."
"Watch it, kid." His paw lifted from her back and she straightened up, for a second afraid she'd gone too far. But there was humour in his eyes when they met hers.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Look, here they come," someone called, and most of the group edged back into the light outside the great door.
Charla started after them, but Jorric glanced back at her. "You two wait here. Ingris and Zatila should be back soon. Yell if anything happens. We'll go help with the wounded."
With that, he turned and joined the rest of the dragons in leaping off the stone shelf and diving out of sight. A few seconds later, Charla realised she and Lance were essentially alone in the mouth of the buried city. Biting back a devious grin, she spun around and took a few steps forward to follow the older dragonesses into the darkness.
"Ah, ah." Lance's wing flared out in front of her so suddenly she almost walked into it. She staggered back and glared at him, and he regarded her with amusement. "I believe we were told to wait."
She sighed and slumped onto her backside. "You're no fun..."
By the time everyone was up and through the door, Charla was well and truly done with waiting. She wasn't the only one. Chelcie had made several trips back and forth, helping the injured make the short flight up to the ledge, and every time she saw Charla she gave her a look filled with impatience and the longing to ask questions. Charla knew that look; it was the same look she imagined she'd had herself on many occasions.
When Chelcie finally made her last trip, the first thing she did was step through the threshold and gaze with awe at the open door. Then, of course, she wanted to know exactly how they'd managed it. Charla was eager to oblige.
Some minutes later, just as Charla finished her excited account of the breaking of the rune seal, she heard Teslan talking in quick voices with Jorric. Ingris and Zatila had yet to return, leaving Charla wondering what they had found in the dark city. As she strained to hear, she realised they were talking about just that.
"With any luck, no news is good news..." Teslan was saying, but his voice was uncertain and his face grim.
"At least it's not bad news," Jorric muttered. "But I thought they'd be back by now..."
Teslan grunted thoughtfully. "Regardless, we should continue moving. Wherever they've got to, it's likely we'll run into them on the way. Better to be away from the canyon quickly... I'm surprised there have been no sign of apes. If there'd been any nearby, they would surely have heard the seal break..."
"Maybe that means there aren't any nearby," said Jorric, and Teslan hummed in uncertain agreement.
Their conversation apparently over, he turned and called for attention. Everyone had gathered either inside the mouth of the door, or on the stone ledge outside. Some even had to edge further along the catwalk so that everyone could fit. But everyone turned as best they could to face Teslan, and silence fell.
"Jorric informs me he has sent two scouts ahead to ensure our safety. They have yet to return, but there is no sign of danger." He said this last part quickly, as though he thought his words might cause panic otherwise. A few dragons shuffled uneasily, but no one spoke. "For now, I think it best that we continue to move. I will lead the way. We will need light—fire or electricity, either will do. Keep the wounded towards the centre."
Slowly, the refugees began to order themselves. A few fire and electric dragons who could still use their elements spoke with Teslan, who assigned them to their places. Charla wavered, wondering just where she was supposed to go, until she caught Chelcie's eye and was beckoned over.
"Ah, good," Teslan said when Charla approached with Lance trailing behind. "You three will walk up front with me, where I can see you."
Chelcie rolled her eyes but made no objection.
Jorric sidled up to Teslan again and murmured, just loud enough for Charla to hear, "Should we close the door behind us, just in case?"
Teslan considered that for a moment. "Can you manage it? We don't want to trap ourselves in here..."
"I know..." Jorric trailed off, frowning towards the door, then looked back at Teslan. "I could do it with a bit of help. We'll leave it open a little—not enough for apes to get through, but enough to make it easier for us if we need to open it again."
"Very well." Teslan waved a paw dismissively and Jorric turned away.
By the time he found another few earth dragons to help him with the door, the group was about ready to move. Charla looked over her shoulder as the door groaned almost shut, casting most of the dragons into shadow but leaving a thin band of light streaming through. A shiver crept down her spine and she looked resolutely ahead. No going back now.
As the door settled and Jorric moved back into place near the front of the procession, Teslan ordered everyone to stay together and keep away from the edge. And then they were off.
Charla wanted to race ahead, but she forced herself to match Lance's pace behind Teslan. Chelcie followed at their rear, and beside her was a fire dragon who had lit his horns and crest with fire to act as a living torch. When Charla craned her head to look, fascinated by this ability she hadn't known fire dragons had, she also saw an electric dragon near the back of the party who held an orb of lightning between his horns. With this meagre erratic light illuminating their way, they marched into the darkness.
At first, there wasn't much to see. Charla craned her head in all directions, trying to see anything in the gloom, but it was so dark outside of their pool of elemental light that it proved a hopeless endeavour. Instead, she settled on eyeing the rooftops and walls of tall buildings on either side of the catwalk, which swam into view in the firelight from the dragon behind her.
How far up were they, she wondered. How far down did the darkness reach? When she craned her head to look, Lance groaned and swept her to his side with a wing.
"Don't," he said, and he sounded strangely ill. "Stay away from the edge."
"I'm fine," she scoffed, but didn't try it again anyway.
And so it was that their slow and steady trudge through the buried city was not nearly as exciting as Charla had hoped. Certainly it kept her on edge—she kept listening for the sounds of unknown creatures that might be hiding in the dark, and the shadows of buildings just outside of their light kept making her jump—but it was not the vivid expedition she had envisioned. Apart from the shadowed faces and rooves of old buildings, there was nothing to see, and nothing to hear but the rhythm of paws and the roar of falling water in the distance.
There was one thing that did catch her attention, though it didn't hold it for long. On either side of the catwalk was a row of thin pedestals crowned with stone claws—and within these claws were crystals. They were pale greyish-blue crystals that caught and reflected the firelight, but they did not glow like spirit gems. Charla became almost mesmerised by the rhythmic effect as they passed, and she had to wonder what they were for. Maybe they were supposed to do something.
But she soon became bored of them and resumed staring into the darkness beyond the catwalk, wondering just how big this place was. And what it was...
"Lance?" she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"You said you'd tell me about Old Warfang, didn't you?"
"Oh." He glanced at her, the firelight playing over his face, illuminating his scar vividly. "What did you want to know? I think Chelcie summed it up pretty well."
"Yeah, but..." Charla hesitated, trying to organise her thoughts. "What is it, really? Did it really use to be Warfang? How did it get buried? How...how come I never heard about it before? I used to read a lot about Warfang, but..."
Lance shook his head. "Most history books skim over it, or ignore it at worst. I don't think they want us to remember... But it's something of an urban legend, so everyone knows."
Charla stared so intently at him, waiting for him to continue, that she almost tripped over her paws.
"Basically," he said, "this was the original Warfang, built by moles for dragons. About a thousand years ago, there was a great catastrophe and the city was buried. The new Warfang was rebuilt nearby."
"And this 'great catastrophe' was...?"
Lance shrugged. "The general consensus is that a dragon who'd been banished for using dark magic came back for revenge. He probably used dark magic to bury the city. There's no record of how he did it or who exactly he was, but everyone these days refers to him as the 'Dark Master'—you've probably heard the name. He's the one who instigated the ape wars in the first place."
This time, Charla really did trip over her paws. She staggered and almost rolled headlong into Teslan's leg, but managed to catch herself in time. "Th-the Dark Master? But wasn't he a—?"
"Halt! Identify yourselves!" Teslan demanded suddenly, and everyone around Charla—herself included—flinched and came to a sudden stop.
"Teslan!" a female voice exclaimed. "It's just us!"
Out of the gloom stepped a tall, lithe shape—which revealed itself to be Ingris once the firelight fell over her dark red scales. Zatila edged up behind her, her face and body half-obscured by shadows. Both of them looked unharmed but unsmiling.
Teslan's tense posture relaxed. "Oh, you two. Thank ancestors you're alright. What did you find?"
"It's just the scouts," Charla heard Chelcie hiss to someone behind her, and the whisper rippled through the ranks of refugees until the anxious murmuring had ceased.
"Nice to see you all made it here in one piece," Ingris said, her gaze flicking over Teslan's shoulder. "Now I wish we had good news for you."
Teslan's paws clenched. "Not apes?"
"Luckily not," Ingris said grimly.
"It's a dead end," said Zatila.
"A dead end?" Teslan echoed, and Charla clearly heard the frown in his voice.
"Not exactly..." Ingris glanced over her shoulder, as though looking back at where they'd come from—but the way ahead was pitch black. "There's another door. A bigger one. And I don't think we're going to get this one open—not even if we had enough energy left."
"Which we don't," Zatila muttered.
"It's best we show you," Ingris said, beckoning with a wing.
The procession moved on, and for several long, dark minutes, they walked in silence. The roar of water was closer now; Charla was sure of it, but she could see nothing beyond the catwalk. She was feeling nervous now, and she'd almost forgotten to ask Lance about the Dark Master—she made a mental note to talk to him later, because she had the strangest feeling that he didn't believe in purple dragons. Maybe he'd told her so at some point.
Finally, after what seemed an age, something loomed out of the darkness ahead of them and Teslan came to a slow stop. Charla peered around him. In the feeble glow of the dragon's fire behind her, she saw a great door set into a wall that stretched away into darkness on either side. This door, though she could see little of it, was much bigger than the last, as impossible as that seemed to her mind. It glinted with faded gold and bronze, but its intricacies were hidden in the gloom.
What did draw her eye were four statues standing at the base of the door, two on either side. They were dragons—handsome stone dragons carved to life-size—sitting with their wings half-furled behind them.
"This is it," Ingris said, breaking the awed silence. "We looked everywhere for a way to open it, but it's no good. It's impervious to elemental magic—the runes must be on the other side. I reckon those statues have something to do with how it opens, but it beats me."
"Then we're stuck in here," Teslan said grimly, but with little surprise, almost as though he'd been expecting this.
Chelcie pushed her way forward, brushing Charla and Lance aside. "There's got to be some way to open it. Let me see."
"Chelcie," Teslan warned, but she ignored him and made a beeline for the closest statue.
As Charla and everyone else watched, Chelcie checked the statues over from head to tail, her brow furrowed and her tail swishing. The fire dragon with his horns and crest alight soon moved forward to help her, and with the extra light she seemed to find something at the base of the statues.
"There's a slot here," she called back to her uncle. "I think there's a key or something for every statue."
"A key?" Teslan echoed, sounding both sceptical and dismayed. "How are we supposed to find a key in this place? They could have been lost when the city was buried for all we know!"
"I'm just saying..." Chelcie muttered. She sat back and pondered the statues, looking deeply troubled.
"Excuse me, sorry..."
Charla turned just as Jorric came up behind her, and she quickly stepped out of his way. He moved up beside Teslan, who acknowledged him with a sigh.
"Perhaps you can find a solution, Jorric..." he muttered.
"Just give me a moment." Jorric moved closer to the door, and his scales started glowing faintly green just as Charla had seen them do before. She watched with interest.
By now, anxious mutterings and murmurings had started up among the crowd behind her. She heard a few dragons ask, barely audibly, what was going on and why they had stopped, and whispers began to spread of their situation. As the seconds passed, Charla felt the air become charged with apprehension.
If they didn't get that door open, they were trapped. They could turn back, but for what? To be found by apes in the canyon or in the dam? To give up on any hope they had for making it into Warfang?
She edged closer to Lance and looked around nervously.
It was light that drew her eye—bright, white, and most definitely from the sun. Charla stared.
Up high on the wall, off to the left side of the door, was a small hole. It was hard to judge from a distance, but it couldn't have been much bigger than her. Sunlight streamed through it, creating a tiny shaft of light feebly trying to pierce the darkness.
Had anyone else noticed that?
With a quick glance around her to make sure no one was watching, Charla slunk towards it. She kept to the shadows, away from the firelight from the dragon beside Chelcie, holding her breath and trying to walk quickly and quietly.
"It's an impressive door, alright," Jorric said abruptly, making her jump. She snuck a glance over her shoulder, but no one was looking her way. They were all looking at Jorric, who was looking at the door. "It's incredibly solid. But there's open earth on the other side—maybe buildings too. I think it could be Warfang."
"That's helpful," Teslan said in a voice that suggested it actually wasn't, "but how do we get through?"
"I don't have an answer for you there..."
By now, Charla had reached the wall. She knew it was only a matter of seconds until she was spotted—or until Lance noticed her absence. Better make the most of it.
She drew in a deep breath, braced herself, and leapt skyward with a kick and a hefty flap. Another flap carried her the rest of the way to the hole, and she hooked her claws onto its rim.
"Charla!" Teslan roared. "Come back here at once!"
She ignored him and instead scrambled over the lip of the hole and onto solid ground, squinting. Sunlight blasted into her eyes, almost blinding her after so long in darkness. It was a moment before she could see properly again.
"Charla!" she heard Lance yell somewhere behind her. "What the heck are you doing?"
Charla ignored him, too. As her eyes adjusted to the glare, she crept forward through the hole and saw just what lay beyond it.
Pale golden sandstone. Round-topped buildings under a deep blue sky. A long street paved with cobblestones, lined by pristine stone facades.
Her heart began to race.
This was it.
It was right there, before her eyes, almost close enough to touch.
"Warfang," she whispered.
She scrambled backwards a little and managed to turn herself around in the cramped space. When she poked her head back through the other side and looked down, she saw a sea of shadowed, fire-lit faces staring up at her. Teslan looked furious; Lance just concerned.
Unable to contain her grin, Charla drew in a deep breath and yelled with all her might, "It's Warfang!"
