“Stone crumbles,” another voice said, and I turned to see a snake dragon monster thing curled in the corner, tongue flicking out as it watched me. “You have to remember that, Sam. Stone crumbles.”
“Do not listen to him,” a voice whispered in my ear. “He is but a child. He knows not of what he speaks. I have seen it, Sam of Wilds, for I have the sight. You must come home. I will show you what you’re supposed to do. You have been chosen. It calls for you.”
“Vadoma,” I said as she walked past me. She was followed by a large wolf. My magic curled at the sight of him, pulling me toward him, but I resisted as they stood off to the side, like they were waiting to see what I would do.
I looked away from them. I didn’t trust them. Her more than the wolf.
And then—
He lay atop a stone dais, his armor shining brightly in the flickering candlelight. His skin was waxy and pale, his lips almost colorless. I could see the hint of teeth underneath them. His hair fell in waves across his head, dull and lifeless. A sword lay on his chest, his hands clasped around the hilt.
He was beautiful.
He was dead.
I said, “Ryan? You gotta get up. You gotta get up, okay? Please. Please get up.”
The candles went out all at once. Little wisps of smoke rose from each of them.
The weak light through the stained-glass windows began to fade, as if the sun was covered by an approaching storm.
And then I felt it. A sickness. Disease. A sense of wrongness.
I turned to look back the way I’d come.
A man stood at the Great Doors. He was obscured by shadows.
“I won’t let you do this,” I told him, though I didn’t know why. “I won’t let you have him. Or anyone.”
He laughed.
“The dragons will never be yours.”
“Here’s a hint, Sam,” he said, voice garbled like the shadows were spilling from his throat. “It’s never been about the dragons. I don’t want the dragons. Those are all yours, kiddo. Gather them. Don’t. I don’t give a fuck what you do with them. In the end, it won’t matter. For them. For you.”
“I will end you,” I said.
“Will you?”
“Yes.”
“I relish the thought. I told you once that I would rip the lighting-struck heart from your chest. Trust me when I say I’ll do just that.”
“You want to see just how lightning-struck my heart is?” I snarled at him. “You’ve got it.”
And I gathered my magic around me, the strength of it unfocused and wild because my cornerstone was dead, he was lying on a stone slab behind me, dead, and I would tear this world apart to make sure those responsible suffered as much as I had.
The dark man in shadows laughed, and I—
“HOLY SHIT,” I gasped, jerking awake.
“Oh, well fuck me up and call me a bitch, look who finally decided to wake up. Did you have a good nap up there, Sam? All comfortable and warm? Because let me tell you who is not comfortable and warm. That would be me.”
I groaned and rubbed my hand over my eyes, trying to chase away the last remnants of a dream that I struggled to remember.
I opened my eyes again, realized where I was, and promptly almost died.
“What the balls!” I shrieked as clouds flew lazily by me, the sky brightening around us as a new day dawned.