There was still enough light to make out her body, falling towards the terrifying darkness below them. Flying as fast as he could, he’d caught up with her. As soon as he was close enough, he clutched her in his claws, holding her tightly as he beat his wings to rise again.
He’d heard her cry his name in terror. She had to think that he was still falling. But there was no time for explanations now.
The only thing that mattered was to get out of here, before either the mountain collapsed on top of them or the shadow dragon found them.
After a moment, Chiara went limp in his grasp, and Jared’s griffin beat his wings with new determination.
The light of the broken crystals was fading quickly. Soon, it would be dark completely—and even for a griffin shifter, that would make escape difficult.
Fortunately, the darker it grew, the easier it became for his sharp eagle’s eyes to realize that there was another source of light.
It wasn’t the eerie glow of the crystals that he could make out now. It was the familiar warmth of sunlight, faintly coming in through an opening somewhere.
He changed direction, no longer flying straight upwards. He couldn’t see where exactly the source of light was, but it came from somewhere to their left...
He reached an outcrop of rock just when the last light of the crystals faded away. Below and above, there was nothing but utter darkness now.
And yet, he could still make out the faint outline of the rocks he’d landed on. There was a small ledge here—large enough for an eagle to perch on.
Carefully, still holding on tightly to Chiara, he made his way around a protruding rock. Behind it, the light illuminating the gloom was just a little brighter.
Most importantly, there was an opening in the rock, which the light seemed to come from.
He shifted back, switching to carrying Chiara in his arms as he made his way through the crack in the rock. The tunnel behind was too narrow for a griffin, but even though it was steep, he was able to climb it on human feet.
He hurried through it, still listening for the familiar sound of dragon wings. But so far, everything was silent. The tunnel wound back and forth, but continually led upwards. The light grew brighter and brighter as he made his way upward.
And then, after barely ten minutes of climbing, he turned a final corner. All of a sudden he found himself surrounded by bright sunlight.
He was standing on another narrow ledge of rock, still high up in the mountains. Below, there was a deadly drop, and then more mountains and valleys spreading for as far as the eye could see.
Above him, the sky was a brilliant blue, the sun gleaming on the snow that covered the mountaintops all around him.
He’d made it. They were free.
Now they just had to make their way out of here before the shadow dragon did... But so far, there was no sign of Zane.
Jared shifted.
His griffin’s heart was full of joy as he spread his wings. The mountains called out to his soul, the wind trying to seduce him.
There was so much to explore here. The breeze would carry him from mountain to mountain, playing in his feathers while the sun warmed him as he explored the hidden valleys and steep gorges.
This was a griffin’s home. Or it could be.
But right now, there was something of far greater importance. He had to get Chiara away from here.
He took off, soaring away from the mountain that had almost trapped them.
He knew they couldn’t return to the tiny tourist village where they’d started from. The shadow dragon knew where Chiara had stayed. If Zane made it out of the mountain, that was the first place he’d go to look for her.
Instead, Jared allowed the sun and the wind to lead him, following their call as he tried to put as much distance between them and their enemy as possible.
It didn’t really matter where they ended up, after all.
All that mattered was that Zane wouldn’t be able to find them.
There was no sign of Zane in the sky when he finally crossed the Alps. They might well have made it into a different country by this point—but Jared didn’t intend to stop and ask.