Chapter 7 - THE SWARM
The walls exploded.
Maya fired before the first creature hit the ground.
“MOVE!”
Hundreds of bodies poured from the melting ice.
Shaw’s men opened fire.
The chamber became chaos.
Richard grabbed Ethan.
“Get to the upper cavern!”
“What about the Heart?”
“It has to stay!”
Voss screamed at Shaw.
“Extract it!”
Shaw activated a mechanical clamp.
The device locked around the crystal.
Richard looked horrified.
“You idiot!”
The crystal moved one inch.
The entire glacier screamed.
A crack split the ceiling from end to end.
Something huge roared beneath the floor.
Not the dragon.
Something deeper.
Something much larger.
Voss finally looked afraid.
“Stop extraction.”
Shaw released the clamp.
Too late.
The Heart had shifted.
Black veins spread through the ice.
Maya shot another creature.
“We need to go!”
They fought their way upward.
Ethan dragged his exhausted father behind him.
When they reached the nest, the Alpha was still fighting.
Dozens of creatures surrounded it.
The newborn dragon was exposed beside its broken shell.
Ethan ran.
Maya yelled, “Ethan!”
He slid beneath the Alpha’s wing and grabbed the newborn.
It was heavier than expected.
Maybe seventy pounds.
Its scales were white.
Its eyes brilliant blue.
It snapped at his jacket.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”
A creature jumped toward him.
The Alpha crushed it in midair.
Ethan held up the baby.
“I’ve got it!”
For a moment, the Alpha stared at him.
Then something changed.
Trust.
The dragon turned back toward the swarm.
Richard reached the pillars.
“We need to restart the cycle.”
“How?”
“Each pillar requires dragon blood.”
Maya stared.
“You want to bleed the giant angry dragon?”
Richard pointed toward its wounded shoulder.
“We already have blood.”
Blue liquid had frozen across the ice.
Ethan collected it in a broken metal container.
They poured the blood into channels around the pillars.
One pillar lit.
Then another.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
The eighth stayed dark.
Richard’s face fell.
“It’s too damaged.”
“What happens without it?”
“The seal can’t close.”
A fresh roar came from below.
The floor bulged.
Maya whispered, “Please tell me you have another idea.”
Richard stared at the broken seventh egg.
Then at the newborn in Ethan’s arms.
“There is one.”
Ethan saw his expression.
“No.”
“The original ritual used eight dragons.”
“There’s one adult and seven eggs.”
“Exactly.”
Ethan looked at the baby.
“You need its blood?”
Richard shook his head.
“Not blood.”
May you like
He pointed at the dead pillar.
“A life.”
