The Eternal Dragon’s Call

Chapter 7: The Viper's Nest

"Do not look so surprised, Xavier, because you knew exactly what I was from the moment we met."

Xavier yanked at the cuffs, but the cold metal bit into his skin. He was not in a prison. He was in a cold, stone room lit by flickering torches. The air tasted like stagnant swamp water and iron. He squinted as the heavy door creaked open.

Lyra walked in. She was flanked by two guards in Shadow Dominion plate. She didn't look at him. She looked at a man sitting in the shadows near the back of the room.

"He is awake, Overseer," Lyra said. Her voice was flat. It was the voice of a soldier reporting a kill.

The man stood up. He was tall, thin, and moved with the silent grace of a snake. This was Malik. He walked over to Xavier and tilted his head.

"So this is the beast," Malik said. He reached out and tapped Xavier’s cheek with a gloved finger. "He does not look like much of a weapon."

"He is broken," Lyra said. She stepped closer. "But he is still the only way inside the citadel."

Xavier stared at her. His eyes burned. He felt a quiet, venomous rage building in his throat.

"You," Xavier whispered. He spit on the floor at her feet. "You lying snake."

Malik chuckled. He stepped back.

"He has spirit. I like that. It will make the harvest more interesting."

"The harvest?" Xavier asked. He felt a chill creep down his spine.

"Your heart, boy," Malik said. He gestured to the guards. "It is a rare battery. It will power our war machines for a decade once I cut it out of that miserable chest."

Xavier looked at Lyra. He wanted to see her flinch. He wanted to see a flicker of doubt.

"So that is the plan, Lyra?" Xavier asked. He laughed. It was a harsh, jagged sound. "You bring me here to be butchered? Tell him about the citadel. Tell him how I am going to rip his throat out the second he gets close enough."

Lyra’s eyes went wide. She stepped toward him and grabbed his jaw. She squeezed hard.

"Be quiet," she whispered.

"No," Xavier said. He glared at Malik. "Tell him, Lyra. Tell him how you promised me freedom. Tell him about the elixir. Why don't you tell him you're a fraud?"

Malik’s smile vanished. He turned to Lyra.

"Is this true?" Malik asked. His voice was dangerously low. "Are you making deals with the filth?"

Lyra let go of Xavier. She stood tall, though her hands were shaking by her sides.

"He is delirious from the journey," Lyra said. She didn't blink. "He is trying to sow discord because he knows he is trapped. He will do anything to survive, even lie about his own loyalty."

Xavier laughed again. He turned his head toward Malik.

"Ask her about the vault, Malik," Xavier said. He spoke with a slow, deliberate venom. "Ask her why she didn't kill me in the mountains. Ask her why she keeps me alive when I am already rotting."

Malik walked over to Lyra. He loomed over her, his shadow stretching across the wall.

"Answer him, Lyra," Malik said. "Why is he still breathing?"

"Because he is the key," Lyra said. She didn't back down. "He has the memories of the old order. If we kill him now, the knowledge dies with him. You want the power inside the Sunken Citadel? You need him to speak."

"I can make him speak," Malik said. He pulled a serrated blade from his belt. "I have tools for that."

"He will fight you until he shatters," Lyra snapped. She stepped between them. "If you break him, he becomes useless. I am telling you, let me run the operation. Let me manage him. I will get what we need."

Xavier watched them. He saw the sweat on Lyra’s neck. She was terrified. Not of Malik, but of losing the game she was playing. He hated her for the lies, but part of him—the part that still remembered the heat of her hand on his chest—felt a sick, twisted pity for her.

"She is scared, Malik," Xavier said. He looked at Malik with a mocking grin. "She is scared that if you get your hands on me, you will realize she has been playing you all along."

"Shut up," Lyra hissed. She shot him a look of pure, agonizing desperation. "Xavier, stop!"

"Why?" Xavier asked. "It is the truth. We are all dead anyway."

Malik looked from Xavier to Lyra. He seemed to be weighing the cost. He looked at the guards, then back at the blade in his hand.

"Fine," Malik said. He sheathed the knife. "You have the lead, Lyra. But I do not trust you. You have always been too soft for the work."

"I am not soft," Lyra said. Her voice was cold as ice. "I am efficient."

"We will see," Malik said. He walked over to a small table near the wall. He picked up a dark, thick liquid in a silver chalice. He walked back to Xavier. "You want to be useful? Then prove your loyalty."

Xavier looked at the cup. It smelled like sulfur and rot.

"What is that?" Xavier asked.

"A tether," Malik said. He grabbed Xavier’s head and forced his mouth open. "Swallow."

The liquid hit his throat like molten lead. Xavier coughed, his body convulsing as the poison slid down into his gut. It was heavy, painful, and it felt like a cold stone settling in his heart.

"What did you do?" Xavier gasped.

Malik looked at Lyra. He smiled.

"That is a heart-tether, Lyra," Malik said. He watched her face crumble. "It is a simple charm. The poison in his blood is linked to your life-force. Every breath you take, he survives. But the moment your heart stops beating..."

Xavier felt the weight in his chest pulse. It was a terrible, sickening feeling.

"...his heart will explode," Malik finished. He walked toward the door. "If you try to betray me, Lyra, you will be the one who kills your only leverage. And if he tries to run? Well, I suppose you will find out what happens to both of you."

Malik laughed and walked out, the heavy door slamming shut behind him.

The room went silent.

Xavier sat on the floor, his hand over his chest. He could feel it. The tether. A dark, cold connection that pulsed in time with Lyra’s heart.

He looked at her. She was leaning against the wall, her face hidden in her hands.

"You knew," Xavier whispered.

"I didn't," she said. Her voice was broken. "I didn't know he had the tether."

"But you brought me here," Xavier said. He stood up, his legs shaking. He walked toward her, the tether in his chest aching with every step. "You walked me straight into the viper's nest."

"I had to," she said. She looked up, her eyes wet with tears. "I had no other choice. Malik was going to hunt us down anyway. At least here, we have a chance to breathe."

"A chance?" Xavier laughed. He stood inches from her, his eyes burning with a rage that wasn't just for her. It was for the world. For the trap. For the life he was living. "We are tied together, Lyra. If you die, I die. If I run, I kill you."

"Then don't run," she said. She reached out and grabbed his tunic. Her hands were ice cold. "Don't run, Xavier."

Xavier looked down at her. He saw the fear. He saw the desperation. He saw the truth.

"I am going to get us out of here," Xavier whispered.

"How?" she asked.

Xavier looked at the door. He felt the cold, heavy pulse of the poison in his chest. He felt the dragon screaming in the back of his mind.

"I am going to burn this whole place to the ground," Xavier said. "And I am going to make sure you are standing right beside me when I do."

The tether pulsed. A sharp, searing pain shot through his heart.

He fell to his knees, and Lyra fell with him, clutching his arm, clutching the only thing that kept them both alive.

The game had changed.

And they were the only ones who knew the rules.