Clay didn't know how much more he could take.
He had almost paced a path through the floor, banged his hands on the unyielding metal door until he bled, and counted how many tiles were on the ceiling.
And Jewel still had not returned.
"Clay." Clay ignored the voice. "Clay, cut it out, you're driving everyone crazy!"
Starflight voice went into one ear and out the other. All he could think was if Jewel was all right and when she would come back.
If she came back.
He pushed the dark thought away as a hand grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"Clay, you need to calm down. Going crazy is not going to help Jewel." Sunny pleaded.
Clay had never been this worried and angry in his whole life, his body taunt. The stress and pain of the last week had stretched him thin, and his worry about Jewel had almost tipped him over the edge. Perhaps that was why he did something he had never dreamed of doing, and what he swore he would never do again.
He pushed Sunny.
She slammed against the wall with a gasp of pain and everyone glared at Clay with shock.
Tsunami jumped to her feet and snarled in his face. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You need to calm down right now!"
He clenched his fists and growled. "Get out of my face"
Tsunami moved so fast he couldn't react as her fist slammed into his face. Pain blossomed in his eye, and the pain renewed his anger. He tackled Tsunami and wrestled for control on the hard floor.
"Guys, cut it out!" Starflight fought to be heard over the noise. From the corner of his eye Clay could see Glory slide toward the door.
Tsunami yanked his hair, freeing him to roll over until she sat on his chest. Her eyes were a wildfire and her face twisted into a ferocious snarl as she continued to punch him everywhere she could reach.
"Hey, cut it out!" Michael the guard entered, drawn by the noise. "Stop this at once!" His failure to see Glory by the door lead to him lying on the floor unconscious from a swift blow to the head.
Tsunami and Clay stopped fighting immediately.
Tsunami grinned as she helped Clay to his feet. "I can't believe that worked!" Clay immediately ran over to Sunny, who was still trying to get her breath back. "I'm sorry I pushed you so hard. I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Sunny beamed. "It's okay, and I'm fine." Clay sighed with relief.
"We should get going," Starflight pointed out. "It won't be long until they raise the alarm."
Clay nodded. "Follow me." He cautiously poked his head out. When he was sure it was clear he crept down the hallway.
Despite all the branching paths Clay had no trouble remembering the way. He kept expecting to meet someone while turning a corner, but surprisingly there was no one. FInally he spotted the door and carefully snuck inside.
It looked like a different room. All of the cages were empty, no traces of the young dragons remaining. He looked hopefully toward the desk.
The ring was gone.
Clay cursed softly. He shouldn't be surprised. Jason probably had moved it to a more secure location the might even have it with him.
And wherever he was, there was a chance that Jewel was nearby. "We have to go find Jewel," Clay whispered. "Whatever he's doing to Jewel, it can't be good."
"But what about Darkstalker's ring? We need it to get home." Tsunami challenged.
"Jewel gave herself up for us, and that is how you want to repay her? By leaving her here with her psycho father?"
Tsunami looked abashed. Sunny chimed in."Besides, if Jason is with Jewel, that's probably where the ring is too."
Everyone nodded in agreement. "Let's go. We'll have to be very careful."
They snuck quietly down the hall, Tsunami and Clay leading the way, with Glory and
Sunny guiding Starflight. They continued on without incident until suddenly two guards rounded the nearest corner.
The two groups stared at each other for several seconds. As the guards finally reached for their weapons Clay sprung into action. He punched one in the face, sending him crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. Tsunami kicked the other in the stomach before slamming his head into the floor.
They stood panting over the unconscious bodies. "Well, that went well." Tsunami said,
At that moment a shrill wail echoed through the halls, and red lights began flashing in a blinding pattern.
"Come on!" Starflight shouted, hands clasped over his ears. They sprinted down the hallway, but not before Clay snatched one of the weapons from a guard's holster.
Carpeted hallway after carpeted hallway flew by until Clay was utterly lost. Besides the two guards, they had yet to see anyone else.
As suddenly as it started the blaring alarm ceased. The silence rang in his head like a gong. They stopped and clustered in a group like blood clots to a wound, hypnotized by the lack of noise.
"Where is everyone?" Sunny asked nervously, wringing her hands.
Tsunami glared suspiciously at the closed doors surrounding them. "I don't know, but I don't like it. We should have at least garnered some attention with the alarm."
"Unless the alarm isn't for us."
Glory looked at Starflight curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe Jason doesn't know we escaped. There are no people, which could suggest that they are all in one place, or…"
"Or what?"
Starflight's sightless eyes widened. "Or they left."
Tsunami scoffed. "Why would they feel the need to leave?"
The lights flickered ominously, and deep from the bowels of the building came a ferocious roar, one that was surprisingly familiar.
Clay gasped. "That's a dragon's roar."
Starflight paled. "He actually did it. He made a dragon." Another roar shook the building, a monstrous quaking Clay could feel in his bones. "And it sound angry."