Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Epilogue
LI XIANG
It was dark.
Even with his vampiric night vision, it was still dark.
Water dripped and echoed off the damp stone walls of the cave.
When the dragon dove into the water, he’d briefly passed out from the impact. At least, that was what he’d thought had happened. The next thing he knew, the dragon was climbing out of the water into this cave. The giant beast had carried him for a bit, winding through the lightless tunnels until he was dropped on his ass on the hard, cold, stone floor.
Twisting its long body to face him, the massive dragon stared at him with glowing yellow eyes and roared loud enough to leave his ears ringing. With a shaking hand, Xiang reached for his sword to defend himself, but there was no point. After bellowing at him, the dragon continued through the tunnels without a backward glance, leaving Xiang sitting cold, wet, and alone in the cave.
What the fuck?
Oh, Didi fucking owed him. Owed him big.
Not that Yichen had expected to be attacked and kidnapped by a dragon.
None of them could have possibly seen that coming.
How in the world had the fae queen gotten the power to summon a dragon? Was it thanks to the sword she’d pulled?
Of course, he knew nothing about dragons and the fae. Maybe it was a spell. Maybe the queen and the dragon were old friends.
Whatever. He needed to find a way out of here and get to his clan. They had to be worried about him, assuming they didn’t think he was dead. Unless they could get Junjie to confirm otherwise.
Pushing to his feet, Xiang stared back in the direction they’d come. Should he chance trying to find his way to the spot where the dragon had entered the cave? Considering they’d come in from the water, there was a good chance the cave was somewhere underground in the ocean or bay or a deep river. Unfortunately, the darkness of the cave made it hard to gauge distance and direction. He didn’t know how long they’d traveled, and he’d lost track of how many turns they’d taken. Would the dragon get pissed if he started wandering?
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! If only he could see a little better—
His phone!
Xiang dug his cell phone from his soggy pants and pushed the power button, but nothing happened. Not that he was too surprised. Phones were made to be relatively waterproof, but probably not dragged-through-a-river-by-a-dragon proof. That meant no flashlight and no way of contacting his clan.
He stood for a moment, debating whether to go back or to go forward in the direction of the dragon. Did it really matter? No. He just knew he couldn’t continue to remain where he was.
As he decided to head to the entrance the dragon used, a faint light painted a distant wall. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, not entirely sure they weren’t playing tricks on him. But a couple of seconds passed, and the light grew brighter as if someone was walking toward him. It couldn’t be the dragon. The creature might have been relatively light on his feet for his size, but he still made more noise than this person.
“Who’s there?” he called out, his voice bouncing off the stone walls.
No answer, but the stranger continued to approach.
Xiang placed his hand on the hilt of his sword but didn’t draw it yet. Was there a chance that he wasn’t the only prisoner of this dragon?
“Hey! Who are you?”
Light suddenly filled the passageway as the person who’d been approaching turned a corner. Xiang held up a hand to protect his eyes as they struggled to adjust. “Ow! Hey! Who are you? What’s going on?”
“Follow me.”
Xiang lowered his hand and his eyes focused on a tall, slender man in nondescript dark clothes. Maybe jeans and a sweater. It was difficult to tell in the low light from the old-fashioned lantern he was carrying in his left hand. His hair was cut short with some stands falling in front of his eyes as he began to turn away from Xiang.
“Wait! Who are you? Where are we? What the hell is going on?” He shouted after the man as he took some stumbling steps forward.
Just as he was about to fall on his face, a strong hand grabbed his arm, holding him up. But wasn’t the man still several meters away? Xiang shook his head as the stranger helped him back to his feet. Maybe he’d hit the water harder than he’d thought.
“Follow me,” the man repeated as he released Xiang’s arm.
Xiang forced down a growl of frustration and followed through the winding tunnel. “Where are we?”
“The dragon’s lair.”
Well, that was a start. Nice to know the fellow could say more than two words.
“Who are you? At least tell me your name!”
The man’s pace slowed and his head turned a bit toward Xiang as if glancing at him over his shoulder, but he continued at his earlier speed, his head facing front. “I don’t remember my name.”