She began to shift, but it was wrong, all wrong. Too fast, too violent, her bones breaking and reforming with sounds that weren’t drowned out in the cave. Shadows erupted from her skin like they’d been trapped inside, writhing and alive and hungry for release.
And then she wasn’t Lucy anymore.
Another dragon stood where she had been—pure black scales and twisting shadows that seemed to exist in multiple dimensions at once. Bigger than Riot. Darker. Something ancient and terrible and beautiful.
“Lucy?” My voice came out small, shocked.
“No,” Aureth said from behind Calder’s extended arm. “Not anymore.”
The dragon made of shadows roared.
The sound shook the entire cavern. The beasts hesitated, actually hesitated in the face of whatever Lucy had become. I felt it in my chest, the vibration, the awe. She was fucking magnificent.
Then she moved.
She struck the Stalker with claws wreathed in shadow. It went down hard, throat torn open, likely dying before it hit the ground.
Lucy spun, impossibly agile, scales scraping against Riot’s in the crowded space. Riot moved with her, coordinated despite never having fought together before, like they’d been doing this for centuries. They cut Wickett and me off from the Night Eater, leaving us smashed against the wall, steps away from the others.
It didn’t stand a chance. Between Lucy’s shadow claws and Riot’s fire, it died within seconds, burnt to a crisp.
Victory.
Except the cave couldn’t hold them both.
The ceiling gave way with a sound like the world ending. Cracks spider-webbed across the stone above us, and then massive slabs broke free, bringing half the mountain down with them. Dust choked the air as stalactites shattered like dropped glass, their fragments raining down alongside boulders that had been suspended overhead for centuries.
“Move!” Wickett grabbed me, pulling me sideways as a spike from above crashed down where I’d been standing.
I saw Calder diving to cover the Oracle, Pip screaming from his pocket. Saw Riot trying to shield them with his bulk, Lucy’s shadow-dragon form doing the same as she lunged for the entrance. Then a wall of stone fell between us.
Separating me and Wickett from everyone else.
Then silence. Unbearable silence that was heavy and absolute.
Dust wafted through the air so thick I could barely breathe. I coughed, trying to clear my lungs, trying to see through the darkness that had swallowed everything.
“Syn?” Wickett’s voice came from somewhere close, rough with dust and concern.
“Here. I’m here.”
A light bloomed. Wickett had pulled a luminescent stone from his pack. It cast everything in pale blue, showing us the dim reality of our situation. We were in a pocket maybe ten feet across. Solid rock on all sides. The way back, the way to the Venatori, was completely blocked by rubble.
Ten feet. The walls pressed closer with every breath. Stone above. Stone below. Stone everywhere, tons of it, waiting to crush down. The air was thick. Like there wasn’t enough of it, like we were using it up too fast. My chest tightened. The space shrunk.
Too small.
Too enclosed.
No windows. No doors. No way out. Just rock and darkness and the certainty that we were buried alive. Trapped, with the mountain pressing down, down, down.
My hands started shaking, then my legs. Each inhale took more effort than the last. I couldn’t breathe.
I slammed my palms against the fallen rocks, ignoring the way stone bit into my skin.
“Silas! Calder!” My voice cracked. “Lucy! Can anyone hear me?”
Nothing.
