Chapter 121

OPHELIA I make my way through the cave, my free hand feeling along the rock face. The Dragonfyre has the added bonus of lighting my way, but the space I’m currently in is narrow, and there’s little room for the light to shine. As I edge deeper into the mountain, the air becomes easier to breathe and the space opens out, the tunnel gradually growing wider and wider until I step into a vast open space, easily as big as the main student library building back at Montridge. In the center of the space is a cage. Not big by any means. Maybe eight feet by eight feet. It’s made of thick, close-set metal bars, which I would bet are made of silver. Inside the cage is a sight that stops my heart. “I knew you’d come for him.” The voice that echoes off the cavernous chamber walls sends a chill through my bones. Alien to me, yet familiar. It sounds different out here in the real world. His shadow dancing from the light of the Dragonfyre, he approaches, and with each step he draws nearer, my breathing