The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

MIRA

“So, it’s great that we are here,” Dereck says, “But what is next?”

“Wow, and someone like you really almost graduated from the Academy of Magic?” Isidore rolls her eyes, “We come for the Dragonland and there is their sign on the cave entrance? What do we do? What do we DO? Enter, of course!”

“Guys! Please!” I try to stop their nagging, rubbing my forehead.|

“What does the journal say?” Nort asks me.

“Aaron Brookland doesn’t elaborate on the tests much,” I admit, “He just says that there are several and they are all very hard. Only the worthy and pure of heart can enter the Agnegard. So, be ready for anything.”

“Stay close to me at all times,” Derrien tells me as he grabs my hand.

“The same goes for you,” I smirk at my own dragon, “We should go first.”

We step into the cave and start walking inside. The cave inside is much bigger than I anticipated and we mostly move downwards. There are no signs of Agnegard anymore and no other signs or patterns as well. There are also no signs that someone was here before us in a while. It’s dark, so each of us creates a fireball to lighten up the way. Everyone but Isidore, so I just push Dereck to share his with her to hear him gruntle about that. This is the only fun we have here after all.

On our third hour, it’s getting a bit annoying that nothing is happening. And on our fourth, I am utterly disappointed. Derrien is quiet and when I look at him, I notice that his face is tenser than usual.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“The more we go down here, the more I feel like the trap has already close behind us,” he says and I cannot agree with him more. This is exactly how it feels. But we keep walking and nothing happens.

“You could have made a bigger fireball!” Isidore complains, not even looking at Dereck, “This is at least a size smaller than everybody else’s.”

“I am not measuring fireballs here,” Dereck g****s, “Maybe I didn’t want to see your face too clearly. If I don’t see it, I can almost pretend that you are not here!”

“Good point,” she chuckles and trips him with her leg at the same time. The captain of our team falls down, knocking me off my feet as well. Luckily Derrien catches me on the way with my date with the stone-hard floor, bending down. And this is when a huge fire wave emerges above both our heads.

“Fire traps!” Rien shouts and pulls me back. That was close!

Rien sends a fireball over the tunnel before us and it activates several fire waves from different places on the walls. I summon water magic and although we have to wait a few good minutes for the water to arrive where we are, it is totally worth it. I send it in a huge wave down the floor and it activates several other deadly traps.

“I’ll go first,” Rien says with a serious face and I know not to stop him when he is this determined. Out of all of us, he has the best chance anyways.

I nod calmly even though my heart sinks when I think about him going there. But I know that I need to keep calm and watch. Watch and memorize. Because I have to be next.

Rien walks calmly as if it is a walk somewhere in a park! Sometimes he has to dodge fireballs here and there and once he even bends. But he makes the whole ordeal look so easy and effortless to pass.

When he is on the other side, where it is safe to take a breath. He tests the area with his magic a few times as well and waves me to start.

All right, Mira! You can do this! This is exactly what you have been training for.

I almost start when hear Isidore’s voice, “And why exactly can’t he just transport us to the other side with his gerdian magic?”

“i***t!” Dereck covers his eyes with his hand, “This is a test! We have to pass it, not avoid it! But you are actually welcome to just stay here. It’s not like you are much help anyway!”

“You know what, I’ll show you!” Isidore starts marching towards the traps, when I catch her, “Mira, let me go! I can do this!”

“I am sure you can,” I reply, “But first watch me, Rick and Nort. Memorize what we do and later do the same. You’ll have your turn.”

“Very well,” she almost grits through her teeth, throwing a quick glance at Dereck.

“Don’t let him get into your head,” I chuckle, “This is his secret weapon. You let him in and you are dead.”

She looks at me in surprise, then smiles as if I said something incredibly wise. Gods, I hope it wasn’t a mistake bringing her here after all.

I start walking. By no means this is as easy for me as it was for Rien! I have to run, jump, dodge and even somersault at times. By the time I am in Rien’s arms, I am all sweaty and dirty. But he k****s me as if it is all nothing.

“I really don’t like all this,” he mumbles into my lips.

“Concentrate,” I say, “If something goes wrong, you will have to get them out.”

He nods and we watch Rick and Nort struggle the same ways as I did, but managing to get to us safely. The next one is Isidore and we are all not at ease with it. She is the least trained one here.

She steps forward and I notice that Dereck does the same. She looks surprised at first, but he pushes her to the front.

“Don’t waste time!” he yells and for the first time, she doesn’t retort, just following his orders, “Lower! Jump! Jump again! Down! Run!”

They come to us falling down on the ground together, with her cloak a bit on fire and her hair all messy. But the smile on her face is enough to ignore all that.

“I did it!” she looks at me as if I have given her the best gift possible and I chuckle at that, giving her my hand and helping her up.

“You sure did! And you did well,” I smile and meet my eyes with Dereck’s, which tell me that she is not going to last long like this…

“Let’s not waste time,” Rien suggests, “Soon it will be getting dark outside.”

We walk and walk, but there is nothing else here. Just the endless tunnel of this cave. To be honest, the cliff was already supposed to be done by now and yet here we are, still walking. Which makes me think that we may be underground now. Since we don’t walk downwards anymore, we walk straight.

After another few hours, we just have to call it a day and start preparing for a break. We agree that someone should stay up at all times. Isidore decides to take the first turn and Nort decides to join her. Her face seems to be relieved at his companionship, while Dereck just snorts and walks away.

Rick and I summon the Earth element and try to create something resembling beds made out of leaves. It does not work perfectly, but it is definitely more comfortable than sleeping on a rock. Then I go a bit further and make ours look like a tent, covered on top and sides as well.

“What a wife I have,” Rien smiles watching me, “Jack of all trades!”

“Forgive me, my lord,” I smirk at him, “But you have no wife! Just a fiancée! ”

I shake my bracelet before his eyes and he scoops me in his hands, throwing me inside our improvised tent. Soft leaves hug my body nicely. He crawls on top of me, his eyes full of last and after just one k**s I have to stop him, putting my hand on his lips.

“Rien, we are not alone here,” I remind him, and sparks of dark magic in his pupils die down, his body falling tiredly next to mine and a heavy sigh emerges.

“Cruel woman!” he snorts.

“Actually,” I say, getting out Aaron Brookland’s journal, “There is something I wanted to show you here.”

“What is it?” he pulls my upper body onto his chest and creates a ball of magical light to help me see things better.

“He writes many interesting things,” I say, opening the old pages, “But there is something here that caught my attention. He writes that dragons have soulmates… Real soulmates, Rien!”