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JESSE REACHED FOR HIS sword. “Get out of here!” he bellowed.
The creature swatted at Jesse with its massive paw, revealing a row of yellowed, razor-sharp claws. Jesse jumped back and narrowly dodged its swing. The creature roared and lurched at Jesse, knocking him to the ground.
“How do we get through the prison bars?” Julie shouted.
I picked up the book Jesse had set down. “We have to put the book back!” I knew we had to hurry, because Jesse could not possibly defeat that thing, immortal or not.
“But we don’t know everything yet,” she said.
“We know enough!” I bolted to the place where we’d found the book, and Julie helped me put it back exactly as it had been.
A burst of yellow light flashed, and the book was magically, immediately encased in ice again. Just like that, the bars disappeared from the entrance to the cave.
“It’s open!” I said. “Let’s go!”
“Hurry!” Julie screamed.
Jesse threw the creature back, and it crashed against the ice wall, then traced over to the entrance. Like a speeding bullet, we all ran through the door. The creature’s roar shook me to my core. Adrenaline flooded through my veins, and we took off like the wind until we were as far as possible from that cave.
Julie fell into the deep snow, gasping for air. “I-I can’t run anymore,” she huffed.
I leaned over to catch my breath. “Me neither.”
“We’re safe now,” Jesse said. “It was just protecting the book.”
Julie panted loudly. “At least Drake bought us some time with the book.”
“Yeah, he must have made some kind of deal,” Jesse said. “He had to, because the monk at the temple didn’t hesitate to bring us here, and the guardian gave us some time to look the book over.”
“Unbelievable,” I said, shaking my head. “Drake actually delivered on his promise.”
“I still can’t believe that one,” Julie said.
I snuggled in Jesse’s arms as he hugged me tight. I contemplated everything we’d been through, and I was still stunned and in shock at the thought that I came from a long line of witches. Those witches, my very kin, were willing to sacrifice their own to get their power back, and now Julie and I were being led to the slaughter like lambs. But now, we were armed with knowledge, and we had a few months to figure out a game plan—not to mention a vampire who would fight for me till the bloody end. I knew Julie and I wouldn’t end up like the other petals. We’d come out victorious, powers or no powers.
We started the hike back through the deep snow, discussing all of our findings. Julie was still baffled, but we tried to put the pieces together as best we could with what we’d learned. I lowered my head against the blowing snow and biting wind.
About halfway back, a horrendous shriek reverberated across the horizon.
“Wh-what was that?” I asked, my lip trembling in fear and in the cold.
Julie’s eyes widened. “You think it’s one of those things we saw back there?”
Mist droplets formed in the air and started to take a huge, birdlike shape that I soon realized was actually a dragon, with shimmering blue and silver scales. The creature’s wide mouth was lined with sharp teeth, each as big as my palm. The dragon slowly flapped its powerful, bat-like wings and screeched at us, an awful, shrill, menacing sound like Godzilla in those very old movies.
“Oh my gosh!” Julie shouted. “What the heck is that?”
“I believe it’s our footprint maker,” I said.
When I realized it was the creature who had left all the skulls behind, I stiffened, and my pulse spiked.
Instead of blowing out fire like all the dragons I’d ever heard about, it exhaled crystalline particles that glittered in the air and froze everything in their path. I was pretty sure it wanted to freeze us too. It hissed between breaths, wiggling its forked tongue between sharp teeth. Before I could even gasp, powerful claws dug into my flesh, and it lifted me into the air. I flailed with everything I had as pain coursed through me. Its claws had cut through my flesh, and blood was gushing from my chest.
“Taylor!” Julie screamed, raising her sword high, stabbing at the dragon. She charged at the creature, screaming for it to die.
Jesse lifted his blade and swung it at the fierce monster as well, fighting bravely like some valiant knight in a fairytale.
Claws scraped against the ice, showering sparks from friction, as the dragon fought to inch closer, but each strike drove it back.
I peeked through the patches of dense fog and glaring snow. Suddenly, a stream of blue ice moved toward Jesse at lightning speed. He dodged, flipped, and rolled to escape the dangerous ice. Jesse’s immortal strength and reflexes astonished me.
With his sword drawn and ready, he rushed toward the dragon. The beast lashed its tail again, crashing into boulders of ice, causing rocks to explode in a glittery spray all around me. I blinked the snow out of my eyes and tried to survey the situation. After a final stab, Jesse withdrew his sword, and a pungent odor shot through the cold, damp air as blood oozed from the dragon’s open wound. The beast’s jaws stretched open, and it let out an unearthly roar. It loosened its grip, and I fell into the soft snow, then crawled behind a towering block of ice, where I slowly ambled to my feet. Jesse wrapped his arm around me and guided me forward, zigzagging around the jagged ice that was like a mouthful of teeth all its own. Gasping, we hid behind a giant cluster of ice.
“You’re hurt!” Julie said.
“Get to the temple,” Jesse told us. “I’ll hold it off.”
Every breath I took hurt, but I couldn’t possibly leave Jesse out there alone with that thing. “No!” I said. “I-I’m not leaving you.”
Tears welled in his eyes as he kissed my lips. “You must get help. You’re bleeding, and I can’t—”
“No, Jesse! I won’t go,” I said between gasps as I put my hand over my wound to stop the bleeding.
“Please, Taylor! You’re bleeding, and it’s...I’m a vampire, for goodness sake. Just go and find a doctor. I’ll be right behind you.”
Still, I refused to budge.
My boyfriend looked at my best friend. “Get her to safety, as fast as you possibly can.”
“Will she be okay?” Julie frantically asked.
“Our only hope is the monk,” he said. “Can you get her back to the temple?”
“Can’t you use your immortal speed and get her back there faster?” Julie said.
“Not with this dragon on our tails. I’ll distract it. You go.”
My lips trembled, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe at all. The thought of Jesse being hurt was too much to bear. I knew he was immortal, but he could also feel pain, and I didn’t want him to feel it because of me.
“Go!” Jesse yelled.
Trembling, Julie nodded.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the love off my life jump behind a towering rock as the dragon spewed forth more ice.
Julie pulled us into a giant, frosty labyrinth, and I exhaled sharply as she placed her palm on her chest to calm her racing heart and helped me rest against a block of ice.
“Do you think Jesse’s okay?” I asked, between gasps.
“He’s immortal. He’ll be fine.”
“I hate leaving him. What if he—”
“We’re mortal, Taylor. He’s not.”
“But the monk said we all have to return together,” I reminded her.
“He said he’ll be right behind us, so we’ll wait beside the portal. Maybe that monk can help. Maybe he’s got some bandages or something, or maybe he’ll change the rules if he sees how hurt you are.” She wrapped her arm around me. “You ready?”
Everything started spinning. “Yeah.”
“Just lean on me,” she said. “We’re almost out of the maze.”
We zigzagged once again around the towering blocks of ice. My feet and legs sank deeper with every lumbering step I took. Once we worked our way through all the twists and turns, we headed back the direction we’d come. Spots began to flood my vision, neon amoebas in every imaginable color, and I suddenly collapsed into the cold snow. I felt the wind beating against my face, and I heard Julie screaming bloody murder. When I heard a howl in the distance, I knew I had to get up. It didn’t sound like the dragon, and we were in no shape to fend off any other predators.
Still, my eyes fluttered shut as snowflakes fell gently on my face. Memories of home and my loving parents swirled in my head. I felt like I was dying, and the last place I wanted to die was in that foreign, alien, frozen place. “I-I’m dying, Jules,” I whispered. “I can feel the life slowly draining out of me.”
“Taylor!” Julie screamed. “Don’t you dare die on me!”
A long howl pierced the air.
“Something’s coming,” I said.
She peered around. “Yep, and that’s why we’ve gotta get out of here.”
When I glanced up, I saw the outlines of animals, but I was too weak to move. Growling and snarling echoed in the air, and a shudder shot up my spine. I knew if I didn’t get up, I’d soon be dead, but I could barely breathe, and it hurt to move. The pain was like nothing I ever experienced in my life. “Save yourself,” I told Julie.
Her lips trembled, either from fear or the intense cold or a little of both. She gripped her sword tightly and shifted into a fighting stance. “I’ll protect you,” she said. “I won’t let them hurt you, even if I get mauled to death in the process.”
At that moment, I realized that Julie was the most loyal friend I’d ever had. While it was a warm thought, dizziness flooded over me, and I fought to maintain consciousness. I could hear Julie’s voice, but everything began to fade out around me. My eyes fluttered shut, and darkness crept over me. Ragged, terrified gasps escaped my throat. I knew I needed to get up and help Julie, but as soon as I tried in a moaning effort, I collapsed again.