Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Stroke the Flame: Chapter 30

Jasin lit a torch, illuminating a lot of scared faces. “Is everyone all right?”

“I think so,” the older woman said. Everyone hovered behind her, and I got the sense she was their leader.

Kira inspected the gash on Reven’s leg with a frown, but he brushed her away. “I’m okay,” he said.

She rested her hands on his thigh, near the wound, likely healing him as best she could. “You’re not. We need to patch you up as soon as we get somewhere safe.” She turned to Auric next to inspect the arrow in his shoulder.

“Thank you for saving us. My name is Daka.” The older woman tilted her head as she watched us. “Are you part of the Resistance also?”

Kira hesitantly glanced at the four of us. “I suppose we are.”

Daka nodded slowly. “The Gods must be on our side. They helped us escape with the wind and the rain and that earthquake.”

“Plus the cart on fire,” Jasin added, with a grin.

“Yes, of course. We must not forget the Fire God for watching over us in our time of need.”

The other prisoners nodded, and while they’d previously looked defeated, now hope shone in their eyes. None of them knew we had caused all of those things, which was a good sign that the soldiers didn’t either. And I supposed in a way we were there on behalf of the Gods.

“But where will we go?” a man asked. He had his arm around a woman who leaned against him. “Nowhere in Ashbury will be safe for us now.”

“We’ll have to leave the city,” the woman at his side said.

“There’s a Resistance hideout about a day’s ride north from here,” I said. I never thought I’d get involved with the Resistance again, but it seemed my life was inevitably tied to them. “I can draw you a map.”

Kira’s eyebrows shot up and I knew she had questions for me, but they would have to wait. Auric pulled out his map and some paper from his journal, and while Jasin hovered over me with his torch for light, I sketched out what I remembered. What the woman I’d loved once had shown me on her own map, all those nights ago.

I handed Daka the map. “I hope this helps.”

She examined it under the light. “Thank you. I think we’ll be able to replace this. We truly owe all of you our lives and so much more.”

Jasin removed the fabric from around his mouth and used it to wipe his face. “Come on. They’ll replace another way in to these tunnels soon, so we need to keep moving.”

A young woman suddenly gasped and stepped back. “You. You’re the soldier who killed my brother!” She pressed her back against the stone wall of the tunnel, her face pale. “He’s one of them! The Onyx Army. He’s going to turn us in!”

Kira stared at Jasin, who was grimacing, but then spoke quietly to the hysterical woman. “Yes, he was once part of the Onyx Army, but he’s one of us now. I swear we’re only trying to help you. And we need to get going.”

“Come,” Daka said, taking the other woman’s hand. “What’s past is past. Let’s replace our way to safety now so we have a future.”

The younger woman stared at Jasin with terror in her eyes, but with some reluctance she nodded. Jasin’s shoulders slumped when she finally turned away.

Our group walked slowly down the narrow tunnels after Jasin, who seemed to know where he was going. Reven’s limp slowed him down, and when I moved to help him, I knew it must be pretty bad when he didn’t protest my aid. Kira looked over with concerned eyes as the assassin leaned against me. She would be able to heal him, but we needed to make sure the soldiers didn’t replace us first.

When we reached the first junction, Jasin stopped to consider our location, before leading us down one of the diverging paths.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Kira asked.

“Sort of,” he said.

“More like getting us more and more lost,” Reven muttered.

We walked for what seemed like hours, though it was hard to tell since there was nothing down here but the stone and the darkness. Others might feel claustrophobic in such a place, but not me. I would have been a good miner, but being a blacksmith had always felt like my true calling. Bending metal to my will was my strength even before I’d been given powers. Had I been shaped for this destiny my entire life, or was I chosen because of my affinity for metal and stone? I supposed I would have to ask the Earth God once I met him again.

Jasin stopped again, this time at a place where the tunnel diverged in three separate paths. He frowned, glancing around like he was looking for some clue. “I know it’s not the left one, but I can’t remember if the middle or the right leads outside the city.”

Reven was right, Jasin was going to get us lost, and we didn’t have time to waste. I rested my hand against one of the walls and closed my eyes. My senses expanded out and out, along the stone and rock, until a vague map of the tunnels formed in my mind. When I removed my hand and opened my eyes, I began walking down the middle path. “This way.”

I guided us through the tunnels, brushing my fingers against the rough stone every now and then to make sure I was on the right path. As the walls grew closer and the air smelled fresher, I knew we were almost there.

At the last junction, I stopped and turned to the Resistance members. “If you follow this tunnel it will take you into the mountains where you should be able to get away.”

“Thank you,” Daka said, before turning to the rest of my companions. “Thank you all.”

She shuffled down the tunnel and into the darkness, with the rest of the Resistance members following her. Once they were gone and I was sure they would make it out okay, I turned to the others. “Should we follow them?”

“We need to get back into the city and get our horses and supplies,” Auric said, his voice weak. He was probably in a lot of pain from the arrow in his back.

“That might be dangerous,” Jasin said. “Plus, we’re on the opposite side of the city now.”

“We need to stop somewhere soon,” Kira said. “Both Reven and Auric need healing immediately or they won’t be able to walk much longer.”

“I’m fine,” Reven muttered, but he was slumped against me and his face was pale.

Jasin ran a hand across his jaw as he considered. “There might be somewhere we can go near here.”

“Somewhere safe?” Kira asked.

“Probably.” He started back the way we came.

“Do you know how to get there from here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I know exactly where we are now.”

“And where are we going?” Reven asked.

Jasin glanced at him. “Home.”