Dragon Scales by Sasha L. Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

all around him.

CHAPTER THREE
    Amantea thrashed, panic setting in. It was too dark to see, which meant he'd put them at the bottom of the lake. Or the bottom of an ocean. His chest burned, seared, his lungs seizing with water—
    Something grabbed him, and Amantea stilled out of shock. Isaia? It had to be, and Amantea wanted to yell at him to get to safety, to leave Amantea to drown like the worthless flit he had turned out to be. He didn't have the air or the energy, though, and he shuddered, fighting against the urge to breathe and cough.
    Amantea barely registered when there was suddenly solid ground beneath his feet. It didn't matter. There was still water everywhere—and in the next second there wasn't, and Amantea was coughing and coughing, trying to breathe and expel the water in his lungs at the same time. He shivered hard, pressing close to the warmth Isaia offered. He'd probably be mortified later, but he didn't care right then.
    It took him several minutes to calm down and stop coughing, but Isaia didn't let him go the whole time, his arms wrapped securely around Amantea. It was a good thing, Amantea thought fuzzily, because he wasn't entirely sure he could stand on his own.
    "All right?" Isaia asked softly after another few minutes.
    Amantea managed a nod, figuring that was Isaia's subtle way of indicating he was sick of dealing with a clingy flit. "Sorry."
    "Don't be," Isaia said, letting him go. Amantea stumbled back a step, and then it finally registered they weren't on the lake shore like he'd assumed.
    "Where?" Amantea asked, coughing at the end of the question. They were in some sort of cave, it appeared. Water lapped at the 'shore' behind Isaia, where they must have come in. The cave was lit dimly by some sort of weird glowing orbs—magic? Amantea wasn't sure. He was sure that Isaia had lost his scarf, and Amantea had been pressed up against him while he'd been naked, and Depths, that was nothing he needed to think about.
    "Below the lake," Isaia said. "I think. The water has the same flavor."
    Amantea didn't question that. "Do you think she's here?" She had to be, didn't she? They'd ported, and the portal wouldn't work unless the anchors were set. Unless it had anchored itself to 'lake' and only 'lake'.
    "Yes," Isaia said, smiling again. "Come on, fl—Amantea. She's here somewhere." Amantea nodded, taking a stumbling step forward. Isaia's smile slipped. "Or you could wait here? I don't want to tax—"
    "I'm fine," Amantea snapped and resolutely started forward. He wobbled more than he liked, and his chest burned like he'd flown several miles, but he walked. Or squelched, given his boots were soaked. He was soaked. Amantea shivered. The cave was freezing, and being stuck in wet clothing wasn't helping.
    Isaia was quiet behind him, and Amantea resolutely didn't say anything. He could walk. They'd find Isaia's sister and then port out. Then he could have a fire, and once he was home, he'd pull an itharflower from his stash as a treat.
    "What's your sister's name?" Amantea asked as they rounded a bend in the cave corridor. The lights kept going, at regular intervals, and Amantea was more convinced than ever that they were magic.
    "Teria," Isaia said. "She's my half-sister, actually. We shared a mother."
    Amantea nodded. He didn't know if that was normal or not, but in faerie nests, it was normal for women to have children with multiple fathers. He had three half-sisters and a half-brother in his nest. His teeth chattered, and he crossed his arms. How far into the cave did they have to go?
    The question answered itself almost as soon as he thought it, as they rounded a curve and came to the end of the cave, a large, but squat chamber. It was brightly lit by a square, glowing blue cube in the center of the chamber and was also distinctly warmer, which Amantea definitely appreciated.
    A woman—Teria, no doubt—was sitting on a pile of cushions, a book in her lap. There wasn't much in the chamber: a ton of