Nicolae shifted her in his arms without slowing his pace, allowing her feet to drop toward the floor until she was running with him. Nicolae immediately took up a position behind her, protecting her back while his brother set a grueling pace in front of them.
Destiny couldn’t help admiring the flowing grace of her enemy as he ran, shifting shape as the opening loomed just ahead, a narrow crack none of them would be able to fit through. She had never imagined anyone could shift that fast, the large, elegant form compressing to that of a bat.
Now! Hurry, shift! It was the first time she’d detected urgency in Nicolae’s voice. Destiny didn’t waste time glancing behind her to see what was following them; the urgency in his command was enough of a warning. She held the image of the bat uppermost in her mind, feeling the change take hold of her, move through her, consume her. Her bones wrenched and contracted, reshaped and compressed. She skimmed through the narrow opening, nearly ripping the tip of one wing. She felt Nicolae crowding close behind her.
A wall of fire closed in behind them, reaching for them, moving nearly as quickly as they were, pushing the terrible yellow vapor before the greedy orange flames. This new chamber was smaller but held a chimney. Destiny followed the lead bat up through the narrow opening, her small body cringing from the blast of heat.
Faster. She whispered the word in her mind, anxious that Nicolae was going to get caught in the inferno. She didn’t realize she had sent the word into his mind. That she had betrayed her anxiety to him. That behind her, even in the form of a bat, rushing in front of a firestorm, he smiled.
We will make it. He was calmly reassuring.
That annoyed her. She heard his soft, very irritating male amusement echo through her mind as she burst through the chimney and into the next chamber. It was small and dark and there was an eerie heaviness in the air. The heat was stifling. Nicolae swore under his breath, but the words were still a warning in her mind. At once she shifted back to her own shape, examining the thick walls of layered rock, the swirling patterns. This strange little cave had once been part of a lava flow but now was a lethal trap devised by a cunning monster. The yellow vapor poured into the small space, quickly filling every crevice.
Nicolae and his brother were also feeling along the walls of the cave, judging the heat with their palms as they quickly covered as much surface as possible. “Over here, Vikirnoff.”
Destiny watched as Nicolae stepped back to allow his brother to run his hands over the same spot. She moved closer, wondering what exactly they had found. Nicolae caught her arm and thrust her smaller body behind the protection of his just as Vikirnoff slammed the flat of his palm through the rock.
The ground shuddered, the walls wavered and began to crumble. Great chunks of rock fell in a shower above their heads. Nicolae turned, dragged her into the protection of his arms, bent his body over hers as he pushed her as close to the hole Vikirnoff had created as possible. Vikirnoff slammed his palm a second time to enlarge the hole. The yellow vapor, tangled around their necks like nooses, began to pull tight. The ground trembled again, then buckled, a hard jolt that threw them both against the red-hot rock. Destiny swallowed a scream of pain, fear choking her. She dared not open her mouth or breathe the terrible venomous fog ensnaring them.
Vikirnoff leapt through the jagged opening as the next tremor shook the earth. Nicolae caught Destiny around the waist and tossed her after his brother. She landed hard on the other side, automatically scanning her surroundings. Behind her, the wall collapsed in on itself, dust and debris mingling with the yellow vapor that had poured through the hole in an attempt to keep them in the smaller cave.
Destiny jumped back toward the wall, digging at the rocks, throwing them haphazardly out of the way. “He’s trapped,” she yelled, clawing at the rocks. They were hot and felt almost sticky. Are you all right? she called out to Nicolae, unable to stop herself, her heart nearly stopping. He couldn’t be dead. Her one companion. Her savior. Talk to me. Say something.