“I suppose I’m built of better stuff than you lot.”
“Pishposh,” a voice echoes in the large chamber before us, and the ground shakes with the noise.
My heart leaps into my throat, getting stuck there. That must be the Elder dragon. I stagger back to my feet and stare ahead.
“You’re not built of better stuff, Corvicus. You just know more spells.”
Son of a bitch. I knew it! The asshole could have helped with the ascension.
The Elder dragon finally steps from under the shadows to stand right beneath the moonlight coming from the opening at the top of the humongous room.
I’m not a super-religious person, but I feel compelled to make the sign of the cross. Unlikely that will protect us against the three-headed monster staring at us, though. She’s more terrifying than I imagined. Her scales are silver and shimmer under the moonlight, but it’s the size of her talons and her sharp teeth that has me shaking where I stand.
“My, my, my. I never thought I’d see your face again,” the head in the middle says, staring at Solomon.
“Trust me, I had no desire to ever come here again, but I had no choice.”
The dragon switches her attention to Karl and me, using her left and right heads to do so. “Oh, you brought me gifts?”
I glance at Karl, not hiding that I’m losing my shit. My chest is tight, and I can’t seem to get enough air into my lungs. He shakes his head, trying to signal for me to calm the fuck down.
I’m trying, man.
“A vampireandthe wolf shifter familiar. Interesting,” the head in the middle says.
The head closest to me takes a whiff of me, making me flinch. “This one was turned recently.”
“As I had foreseen,” the head on the left pipes up.
“What do you want, Corvicus?” the middle head says. She seems to be the one in charge here.
“I came for the Nightingale mirror,” Solomon replies.
The heads rear back and then glance at one another. A second later, all three laugh loudly.
I shiver. We’re so screwed, not even the most powerful screwdriver could save our asses.
“You’re a comedian, Corvicus,” the middle head says.
“He’s not joking. We don’t want to keep the mirror. We just want to use it to open a portal into Ellnesari,” Karl says.
“The portals have been closed for a reason, boy. Do not open that can of worms again.”
“I need to return. It’s a life-and-death situation,” he grits out.
“Oh, I see great pain in your past,” the head on the right says.
“And more pain in your future,” the left head adds.
Karl throws his hands in the air. “Great. I’m cursed to suffer forever. I still need the mirror.”
“And what would you give us in return for it?” the head in the middle asks.
“What do you want?”
“Foolish boy. Don’t ask them what they want,” Solomon chimes in.
“Hmmm. We haven’t had company in a very long time. How about we play a little game?” the middle head asks.
