Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
To me, it’s an opening. I scramble off the bed and go to him, placing my hand on his lower leg. “I can tell you’re a good man, Gabrio,” I say with forced bravado, knowing they do not respect politeness. “I’m not asking you to betray Alwar or do anything you shouldn’t. I only want to know why those dragon things are here for me. Why am I here?”
Gabrio stares me down, eyes narrowed, but I don’t back down. He seems like the only one of the three who acts with reason.
“My grandmother told me that everything here wants to kill me,” I say. “So if those things are here to do just that, I’d like to know. I’d like to die understanding why my death would benefit them.” Or anyone for that matter. I’m just a girl from small-town Pennsylvania. I’m no one important.
Gabrio walks over to the bed and sits, covering his face. “I wish, Miss Norfolk, that I could tell you all I know. But I cannot.”
I walk over and stand in front of him. Even seated, he’s still twenty feet taller than me. “Gabrio, please. Tell me what’s going on. Why did Alwar bring me here?”
He shakes his head, refusing to make eye contact.
“Is he going to kill me like he did my parents?” I ask.
Gabrio meets my gaze. “Alwar spoke the truth. We defend the Norfolks, not kill them.”
I’m more confused than ever. “My grandma said you only defend the wall because you were chained to it against your will. She said you killed my parents because you weren’t happy about your imprisonment situation. Why would she say all that if it weren’t true?”
“We were chained to the wall for many, many years. But it was for an entirely different reason. As for why she claimed we murdered your parents, I can only assume she wanted to make you fear us—to keep you away from the bridge.” Gabrio reaches out and grabs my hand.
I don’t even know how to describe it. My entire palm is the size of the tip of his pinky. He could crush every bone in my body, but he’s gentle.
“We are not your enemy, Lake. We have given up everything—homes, family, and friends. We have nothing but the wall and our duty to protect it.”
“Why would you do that?”
“If we give our word, we keep it. And long ago, we made a vow to the Norfolks; we would defend the wall as long as it stood and we lived.”
Again, I have to ask why. And why were they chained to the wall at one point?
I’m about to drill for more info when there’s a loud boom. The wall to my side explodes, and stone blocks go flying everywhere. I’m hit by chunks of heavy debris.
I don’t know what’s happening, but before I have a chance to catch my breath, a set of sharp teeth clamps down on my body, holding me in place.
Oh god. Oh god. One of those things has me.
Its teeth pierce the skin on my arms, legs, and torso. I yell for Gabrio, who lunges at the creature, but it flaps its black burnt wings and leaps for a gaping hole in the wall.
Suddenly, we’re up in the air outside the keep.
I watch in horror as Gabrio falls through the opening attempting to grab the Flier’s leg. He misses but catches the ledge with his hands.
“Gabrio!” I yell, watching him dangle and getting smaller by the second as I’m carried away. The ground is so far down, I can’t make out a thing. The keep must be tens of thousands of feet in the air.
Gabrio’s green eyes lock on me, a snarl on his face. “We will find you! Do not trust anyone!”
I watch helplessly as I disappear into a blood red cloud.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Somewhere along the way I lose consciousness. Maybe due to the blood loss. Maybe because the creature flew so high there wasn’t enough of that foul-smelling oxygen to breathe.
All I know is that when I wake up on a bed of straw, my body is still painfully sore, and I’m in a dungeon. Cold, dark, wet.
Unfortunately, the cell is human sized with bars too close together for me to slip through. A torch on the far wall beyond the bars provides the only light in here. No windows.
I sit up and hold my breath, listening for sounds. My beating heart is pounding like a war drum in my ears.
I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what to do or why I’ve been taken. I can only pray that maybe Alwar or Gabrio—if he survives Alwar’s wrath—will come for me. I’d even take Tiago at this point.
Somewhere in the vicinity, I hear a door creak open.
I still, not wanting to alert whoever’s here that I’m awake. Maybe I’ll overhear something useful.