My teeth were chattering, and I was trembling, but more from shock rather than the freezing cold air. The water was icy, but in a way, I wasn’t overwhelmed when I dove straight into it. Maybe because I was still too high on adrenaline. Everything happened so fast on that bridge. Within moments the portal vanished, and I was submerged in water, falling into the darkness. Then the egg started to crack and Avianna was in my hands, staring at me with her wide, red shimmering eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not. The tiny voice in my head reminded me that she was a dragon after all, and they weren’t supposed to smile. Then I remembered that I could most likely still communicate with her.

“For Qesborth! Are you all right Avianna? There should be enough magic to keep you alive for now, but at some point, you might feel you’re losing strength,” I said, staring at her radiating skin in the pitch-black darkness. She was walking up and down my palms, releasing some smoky bits of fire.

She lifted her head and looked at me.

“Chill, I’m absolutely fine. I don’t think I’m in any danger and yeah, I sense your magic. What the hell happened up there? This world doesn’t look like Draconia.”

“Because it isn’t. That bastard, Idris ratted us out and now the Dark Ones have Nicolas,” I said, trying to calm my breathing.

I couldn’t lose the plot now—for Avianna’s sake—but we had to get out of here. My magic was still pounding through me. Even now my fingertips were static with electricity; I was still pissed. Furious with Idris and the whole council. This wasn’t supposed to happen at all and yet he betrayed me. I should have known that everything was big fat lie.

Avianna was still watching me. I felt a little silly, thinking she could actually talk to me. Dragons didn’t have a real human voice, but we had a connection. We could still communicate and that was most important.

After all, she was only a tiny baby and I was panicking. This wasn’t her world and magic could easily be stripped from her. I had no idea how long she had before she would start to feel the effects of not having all the magic from the Lower World. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. On top of that Nicolas had been captured by Magnus. There was no way he could have escaped. I didn’t want to think what these bastards where planning to do to him.

“I can’t believe Idris sold us out. He’s done so much for you and the heat… I mean.”

“Forget about him. We have to head back to Aly’s place,” I said, and glanced down at my wet clothes. “The crack is gone. There’s no way we could even get anywhere near the bridge right now. I’ll figure something out.”

It was freezing cold and I was shaking. Only now I started to realise the effects of this weather. The giant vehicle was still making rounds around the sky, most likely looking for me. Its light was pointing at the dark water. I was still shocked that I didn’t die. I’ve never been a great swimmer, but Avianna must have done something to keep me from drowning.

I didn’t want to move, but I couldn’t stay here. I remembered seeing Dara or maybe it was just a mirage. That one memory of her kept me going. In the distance I could see a lot of people on the bridge.

Maybe Magnus worked alongside humans, but that was impossible. They were unaware of our world.

“I can fly; I’m sure I can… I mean, I haven’t tried it yet, but I do feel fantastic.” Avianna’s voice rang in my head again. I needed to get used to hearing her.

After a moment she started sort of jumping up and down on the surface of my palm. She was happy, and I needed to remind myself that she was too exposed around here.

“No, don’t try anything at the moment. You need to get inside my backpack because we’ll be going through London,” I said as I opened it for her to get in. “People are going to freak out once they notice you. Dragons aren’t supposed to exist and I’m still worried about what this world can do to you.”

She released a bit of fire and I had to pull my other hand away.

“Boring. No, I don’t want be stuck there again,” she complained.

“We both know you don’t have any other choice. Come on. We really need to get out of here,” I told her placing her on a rock.

She was shining, and her scales were slowly starring to change colour into a yellowish gold, like my originals draconian eyes. Now I was using the spell to mask the magic, but I felt a little nostalgic when I was staring at her.

I hated that she had to be stuck inside the backpack and I knew that I was going to have an issue with her fiery temperament later on.

Eventually she got inside the bag, mumbling something about humans and dragons being best friends. I picked up the pieces of the shell, thinking that maybe they were going to be useful somehow.

The water was dripping off me. It was the middle of the night and I had no idea where I was. I wondered around the streets for some time until I found the tube station. Luckily for me there weren’t that many people on the streets, and yet I was getting strange looks. It was so damn cold, and my teeth were chattering.

This was supposed to be my last night in London, and I didn’t have any human money with me. Avianna was singing some sort of rude song in my head while I walked, passing several tall buildings. My fists were clenched, and anger enveloped my bloodstream. Nicolas was right about Idris. I was somehow blinded by his charisma and chemistry I’d felt. It was all a giant game to him. He was never planning to help me to return home. I wanted to slap myself hard and scrub my mouth for kissing him.

I sensed Dark Ones moving around. They were probably looking for me, so I had to hide in the back alleys for some time, masking the energy that pounded through me. Despite the magic, my whole body was drained, and I felt so tired. Nicolas was going to be all right. They wouldn’t have killed him just yet. I just needed to stay positive.

I managed to get to some random station and eventually catch the night tube back to Croydon. There was only a man and some teenager in my wagon and luckily, they were too busy starting at their phones.

“Avianna, are you all right? Do you think you would be able to survive in this world?” I asked her, when we were reaching a location I finally began to recognise. That short silence worried me a little.

We didn’t know anything about what she needed in order to survive in this world. She had magic; I could sense it, but for how long?

“I’m fine; it’s cramped in here. Maybe I can try flying now?” she asked, and I was ready to take off the backpack and just keep it on my lap in case she literary tried to fly around the wagon.

“No, we’re still in the tube, just wait until we get home,” I said, using my inner voice.

I wanted to close my eyes for a second and try not to feel cold. Five minutes later we were out of the tube. Aly was most likely asleep, but I had nowhere else to go. She needed to know what happened. At the same time my anxiety skyrocketed. Idris knew about her and he must have realised that I would go back there.

I stopped on the street, feeling lost and hopeless. Maybe he was already waiting for me there.

What if he did something to Aly?

I didn’t know what to do or even expect. I couldn’t just walk away; I had to know if she was safe. I swallowed hard and kept walking.

Stupid, stupid me. I should have used my magic when I had a chance. Charging myself with energy, I took a deep breath and headed to the street where I spent the past week living like a normal human being.

“Avianna, be ready. That bastard knows about Aly’s place. There might be a surprise waiting for us here,” I said, biting my lip so hard that I thought it might bleed.

“I got you covered girl, but I don’t sense anyone here. Just go inside,” she told me.

The street was empty and there were no lights shining through the window. Deep down I truly hoped that Idris didn’t have time to come back here just yet, that his people were too busy cleaning up the mess on the bridge.

He betrayed me, but he didn’t want me dead. I stood outside for a little while, trying to figure out what to do.

The faint energy that I recognised was here, but somehow Avianna was right. If the Dark Ones were here, I would have known instantly. Slowly and very steadily I pressed the door handle. The door was locked and I didn’t want to wake her. She was probably tired. It was the middle of the night, so I pre-heated the lock using my magic, thinking that maybe it was going to be easier if she found me snuggled up on the sofa in the morning.

Energy flew through me, turning my insides out, but the lock eventually gave way. Avianna was quiet, and I didn’t like the tension that I felt. I really had no idea how I was going to tell Aly that Nicolas had been captured. Her little heart was going to give out.

The corridor was dark when I started walking through on my tip toes. My heart was pounding in my ears as the energy around me began soaring throughout the entire space.

Seconds later, something cold and heavy touched my cheek, then a whispered followed.

“Stay right there, otherwise I will blow your head off!”

I didn’t dare move, knowing it was Aly and she was holding her husband’s gun. For some reason, I was paralysed from head to toe until Avianna’s voice echoed in my mind.

Tell her it’s only you, Francesca. What the hell are you waiting for?

“Aly, it’s me, Fran. I didn’t make it through the portal,” I whispered back, finally gaining control of my body. I needed to get myself together.

“Fran? Is that really you. Oh, my dear lord. I heard a noise and grabbed the gun as soon as I could,” she said, and a second later she was hugging me tightly. Avianna was giggling and Aly was still talking. “What happened? And where is Nicolas. I stayed downstairs, slept a little bit, but I kept tossing and turning, worrying about you guys.”

Moments later she was dragging me across the hall. She switched on the lights in the living room, and only then did I realise that it was three a.m. and Aly was in her nightgown.

I flopped on the sofa, feeling a little lightheaded.

“Idris betrayed us; his father showed up along with other Dark Ones. They captured Nicolas and threatened to kill him if I didn’t turn myself in,” I explained, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

“Oh, dear lord, that’s terrible, but why are you wet darling? Your clothes are damp. Stay here. I’ll be right back,” she told me, and I arched my head back, trying to rest for a little bit.

“Come on, get me out of this bag. I’m not in the bloody egg anymore,” Avianna’s huffed in my head.

“Sorry, I kind of forgot about it,” I told her.

I reached out for the backpack, hearing Aly moving around upstairs and then opened the flap so she could crawl out. Avianna slowly climbed out onto my hand, stretching her wings and arms. It still amazed me that she was so tiny, radiating like a neon light.

“Strip, right now. I have fresh and dry clothes ready… ahhhh!”

Aly shouted, and backed away to the wall when she saw a small dragon on my palm. Avianna hissed and then released a bit of smoke from her maw.

“Don’t worry—don’t be afraid. This is Avianna; she hatched two hours ago when I walked out of the river Thames,” I said, getting up. I put the baby dragon on my shoulder, giving Aly some time to adjust to the fact that there was a real dragon in her living room. She was holding her heart and yeah, I should have warned her.

“This is the dragon that came out of the golden egg?” she asked with disbelief.

“Yeah lady, that’s me. Honestly, humans are so silly sometimes.”

“Yes, she’s the baby dragon. Anyway, let me just start from the beginning. It’s really a long story,” I said, and she nodded. I started talking and she kept staring at Avianna with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Going over everything that happened on that bridge took a while. Aly gasped a few times, staring at me then to Avianna with a wide-eyed expression. It killed me that I’d trusted Idris. I knew I should’ve never followed my heart, but my gut instead.

“Dear, dear, I can’t believe that handsome young man could have done something like that,” she said. “And Nicolas. I’m so worried about him. He only just got back on his feet; we must go back there and try to reason with them!”

I chewed on my bottom lip. Aly didn’t realise what she was asking me to do. There was no way I could bargain with the Dark Ones.

“You can’t reason with the Dark Ones; they’ll keep him alive, that’s for sure, but I promise I’ll do my best to free him,” I said, taking off my wet clothes. The sofa was already drenched, and I felt like my knees were going to give out on me at any moment.

“I hope so, darling. I really do, because he was just starting over here.”