The floor vanished beneath her feet.
She gasped, but no sound escaped. Her scream was stolen by the void.
Darkness surged like a riptide, yanking her forward. She expected to crash into the mirror, but coldness rushed past her skin, claws of wind scraping her bare arms, tearing through the last threads of warmth. She tumbled through black and shadow, the world a blur.
Then the force released her, and she fell, landing on hard stone. A plume of dust burst upward, stinging her throat and making her cough. She groaned, palms scraping rough rock as she pushed herself up. Gasping, Alora lifted her head.
She was no longer in the castle.
A shaft of silvery moonlight streamed through a narrow fissure overhead, spilling across the center of a vast cavern. It was silent save for the ragged rhythm of her breathing. The air was heavy with sulfur, magic, and something older than either.
This was Karag Dûr.
The mountain peak that rose so high it breached the storm clouds.
Something in the darkest part of the cave faintly thrummed like a living heartbeat. Alora scrambled backward, her eyes straining to distinguish it. When nothing came forth, she slowly forced herself upright, nails digging into her palms.
“Hello?” Alora called.
Her voice echoed through the hollow void, carrying on through unseen channels.
Shadows slithered up the jagged walls like vines, whispering in distorted tongues she didn’t understand. Chains creaked in the dark as a shapeless form stirred.
Then a voice, smooth as smoke, curled into her mind.
At last.
She flinched, her breath catching sharp in her throat.
Across the stone, a monstrous figure rose, half-wreathed in smoke.
Alora swallowed, pressing a shaking fist over her racing heart.
The massive creature moved forward, claws scraping stone as the sound reverberated through the hollow space. Beneath the heavy rhythm of his steps, the whisper of metal followed in its wake. Wings unfurled with a leathery rustle, stretching wide as he advanced with predatory grace. Smoke curled from his nostrils, and the heat radiating from him was suffocating, as though she stood too close to a wildfire.
Alora’s breath hitched as the beast rose to its full height, impossibly large, impossiblyreal, like something torn from nightmare and legend.
A dragon.
Its two crimson eyes glowed in the darkness, suspended in the air like twin flames. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sheer enormity of him, the peril etched into every sharp, sinuous line. Scales as dark as midnight caught the faintest glimmers of red in the dim light.
Fear and fascination warred within her. This must surely be a dream.
Alora reached out with a trembling hand, but instead of air, her fingertips brushed the creature’s scaled jaw. She gasped and stumbled back until her back hit the cave wall.
Gods, this was real.
Hewas real.
All her courage stripped away with that knowledge. Her lungs heaved with rapid, shallow breaths. Of all things she had imagined, a dragon had not been among them.But he answered when she called to the dark, and he may be exactly what she needed.
Alora forced her spine straight, despite the tremble in her hands. “God of Shadows,” she called. “I wish to make a bargain with you.”
A low, amused growl rumbled through the cavern, vibrating in her bones.
Brave little princess. Careful what you wish for.
His voice was velvet-smooth, though it rumbled with something ancient and primal. It wove through the center of her being, making her shiver.
