Gazing over my shoulder, I spot Surt diminishing in the distance, which gives me some hope. The lava river lies between our captors and us. “Come, let’s get out of here. I hate this place!”
Carrying you like this is getting rather tiresome. Do you think you can put up with what I did the first time you rode me?
I trudge through the depths of my memory, trying to remember everything we did on that first flight, in the early days. Unable to pinpoint what she means, I say, “You're asking a lot, expecting me to remember. That was ages ago.”
Oh well. If you don't recollect, then you’re just going to have to deal with it. Brace yourself! Suddenly, she throws me.
As I hang in the air, waiting and hoping her invisible talons will catch me soon, my stomach lurches. My legs and arms sprawl as I drop, flipping and facing the ground, attempting unsuccessfully to glide like a bat as the land below rushes up to greet me. Watching history repeat itself, I’m struck with the memory of the time I fell off the edge of a cliff and she clasped me, tossed me, and caught me on her back. That was the beginning of my very first ride.
With a thud, I collide with what must be her back. Well-practiced, I hook my hands onto her invisible scales and scramble into a sitting position and wrap my legs around her neck.
I purse my lips to one side and push my sarcasm to the front. “Hmm. Thanks for the adrenalizing jump to my memory. I remember now.”
Despite my situation, I can't help but smile as her brief laughter fills my mind. I’m glad I could jog your memory.
She swerves, missing a smaller mountain. Even without her saddle on, the feel of her massive form underneath me brings me a feeling of security. It’s a step closer to getting out of here. Surveying the horizon, I find nothing friendly and certainly no sign of a way out of this realm.
Where to? she asks. I don't know which direction to go.
“Me neither. I can't see the Yggdrasil anywhere or anything that would resemble the World Tree.”
I peer backward. Surt and his lava monster are lagging, a distance that is closing quickly with every enormous step they take. A sudden wish overcomes me, that I had grabbed my dragon-scale cloak before visiting Elan. If I had it, we could both be invisible. Instead, I’m exposed to the elements and the prying eyes of the fire giants and their monsters.
The warm air brushes against my sweaty skin, cooling me despite its heat. I can almost smell the freedom from Surt’s grasp. First, though, we need to find a way out of this horrible realm. With each flap of Elan’s wings, my excitement grows, along with my hope.
Movement underneath us catches my eye.
“What’s that?”
Dread fills me. The ground appears to be growing. Deep lava pits rise, along with the rock around them, giving the burning holes the appearance of eyes. More rock pries away from the ground underneath us, forming into another creature.
Elan tilts slightly to get a better view of the progress below, her tone suddenly panicked. That's another lava monster, and it’s growing out of the ground. She swoops upward, twisting, narrowly missing a limb clasping at me from the other direction.
Flinging to one side, I dig my hands between her scales and clasp them with white knuckles. I need all my strength to not fall off. Gritting my teeth, I peer over my shoulder, catching sight of one large hand of this new lava monster, swinging our direction. Its digits hook as it tries to swipe at me and catch us both together.
The lava monsters must be smart enough to know that Elan is invisible below me. At least this time, the claws are retracted, not ready to scrape down Elan’s side and embed the magic that severely injured Elan last time, almost killing her.
We are battered from the other side, and Elan flings us in the opposite direction. I glance back and spot the second raised hand of the lava monster. I cling tighter to Elan’s scales, the sharp edges biting my flesh. She weaves and swerves, attempting to right herself while heading toward the snaking lava river.
Surt and his minions remain behind us. Each step they take lodges more tension in my spine. I shake it out and return my gaze forward. We narrowly managed to escape the last lava monster's grasp, and before they get any closer, we need to find a way out of here. Despite the lava monster rising from the ground, if we fly higher, we may miss spotting our exit.
Endless stretches of menacing mountains with lavafalls splay before us. Nowhere I look holds any hint of a way out of this realm or shows any of the greenery of the Yggdrasil.
I worry my bottom lip. I’m out of clues.
Elan flies over the lava river. I don’t like things growing out of the land. I’m going to follow the river. Any monster from this land should be highlighted by the glowing molten stone. Keep your eyes open.
She rocks from side to side, swerving with the curves of the river. We cover a great deal of land, yet every time I glance over my shoulder, Surt and his two minions seem to be catching up.
An explosion bursts from the lava river several yards ahead, and flames shoot into the sky. I shriek, almost letting go of Elan’s scales. She veers upward harshly, attempting to avoid the molten geyser. But as I eye the spot the explosion took place, my mouth drops open. The glow rises higher, pushed by the river rising.
I shriek. “What’s going on with that river?”
I don’t know, but it’s something weird.
My eyebrows push together into a frown. The lava appears to be growing out of the river. Right before my eyes, it gathers and forms a shape.
“No way! That can’t be!”
Elan doesn’t answer, but I can feel her shock reverberate through my mind. The lava in the river is diminishing, reshaping from a flowing river into something else. Two large horns form on the top of a head, a snout growing long under black holes for eyes. When the snout finishes extending, it tapers off under two nostrils and opens, exposing a vast array of pointed teeth. The lava moves around the shape as though the skin is alive with it. The forming creature stretches higher, growing a long neck with spiky scales down its long neck, leading to fiery wings outstretched. It grows within a few seconds, a presence ten times larger than Elan, towering over us. The creature isn’t fully formed, yet it’s clear what this is.
Fiery dragon scales! It’s a lava dragon. I thought they were a myth.
“Clearly not.” My spine stiffens in shock.
Fire shoots at us from the dragon’s mouth, and Elan dodges to one side. The body emerges farther out of the remaining lava in the river, only a small puddle underneath. Detecting where we are heading, it flicks its tail with the rapidity of a striking snake and wallops Elan on her side, just behind my leg. The heat from the lava seeps through my leather pants. I’m amazed how it knows exactly where to hit Elan, for she’s still invisible. The creatures of this realm must be smarter than they look, unless this dragon and the lava monster can sense her invisible form.
Elan yelps as the impact sends her flying to the left with such speed that she doesn’t have a chance to regain control. She smashes sideways against a mountain, crushing my leg between the rocks and her scales—my leg throbs with pain from the impact. She flips as we fall, pushing off the side with her talons.
We project into the air, only to be swiped by the lava dragon’s front feet. It hits us with the fleshy part in the middle rather than the talons—the impact sends us careening again toward the mountainside.