“Why are we going this way?” I ask. My feet are killing me, and there's an ache pulsing through the backs of my calves. I seem weaker physically since losing my marks. I never realised how much stronger I'd become when I received them, until they were gone. Why did Enzo insist on heading up the hill? I eye the mountains we’re slowly approaching, and barely manage to without my groan. It’s only going to get worse!

“Because this is the most logical way to go, Crowe,” he answers simply, but he does slow his pace a little, and he slides his hand into mine. “If Daniels is with the others, or even on his own, he will know to go towards something we can all see for miles.”

“Makes sense,” I say. We don’t talk much more as we climb up the hill, pausing when we get to the top. The top of the hill stretches out into a long field, and the entrance to the mountains is at the other side, not too far away, but that’s not what makes me pause.

“What the hell is that?” I point at the bottom of the mountains where there’s a huge, stone doorway. It’s shaped in an arch, with two massive stone tigers that appear to be pushing the doorway as they roar up at the skies. There are people walking in and out, and even horses dotted around, pulling carriage-type things behind them. There’s a massive roar, not like anything I’ve ever heard, and it’s loud enough to shake the ground beneath our feet. Enzo grabs me, pushing me behind him before I can see where it came from. I stumble a little, but he holds me to his back.

“Crowe, stay calm, and stay the fuck behind me,” he instructs in a nervous voice. I’ve never heard Enzo nervous, and it scares the shit out of me. I peer my head around his shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of whatever the hell is making that noise. My mouth drops open at the sight of five dragons flying towards us. Four of them are a brown colour, each impressive with their giant wings and long bodies, and there’s a grey, almost white, dragon leading the way. He or she is twice the size of the others, with wings covered in deadly looking spikes. Holy shit…dragons.

“We should run,” I whisper, fear filling me. I don’t have any powers, and there is no way Enzo could fight these dragons on his own. They could crush us in a second. What the hell are we going to do?

“It’s too late; they’ve seen us, and there’s nowhere to hide around here,” he says, and I look behind us, just seeing the fields and hill we have walked up. It’s too open, and the treeline is too far away for us to get there in time. Also, we’d be screwed if the dragons shoot fire and we’re in those trees.

“Any chance you shift into something big enough to fight these guys?” I ask, watching as the dragon’s swoop down, in a formation almost, and land on the field directly in front of us.

“I’m not telling you what I shift into. You’ll only laugh, and it sure isn’t any use to us here,” he says, making me wonder what the hell it is that he shifts into, but I know it’s not the time to demand answers. I step around him, and he grabs my hand, stopping me going any further.

“If they are going to kill us, I’m going to be at your side, not hiding behind you,” I tell him. “And I love your stubborn, arrogant ass, just in case this is the last time I get to tell you,” I add, looking into his dark eyes.

“I’m not saying it now, because it won’t be the end of us here,” he says, every word is confident.

“See, so stubborn,” I mutter, and he grins, lifting my hand and kissing the back of it.

“I believe even when we die, those we love are never separated from us. This isn’t the end for us, Crowe,” he says, and I don’t even get to reply to his sweet words as the dragon in the front roars loudly. The dragons shift back suddenly, until five men are stood about half a mile away from us. They are covered in marks; every visible part of their skin is showing dozens of them. They only have black, woven trousers on, with a gold, v-shaped necklace dipping into the middle of their naked chests. They each also have marks in the middle of their foreheads, which are in the same v shape as their necklaces. They’re all tanned, with jet-black hair. I try to stay steady on my feet as the one in the middle steps forward. He holds his hand out and makes a come here gesture.

“We should just go and talk to them, as we can’t run, and they could have killed us by now if that’s what they wanted.”

“Okay, but for the love of the gods, let me do the talking, Crowe,” I give him a shrug for an agreement. “We don’t want to piss them off,” he mutters, as we start walking towards them. Every step across the field is full of tension and fear. They could easily kill us, and I’m not sure why they haven’t already done so. I keep my eyes locked on the one standing in front of the others, clearly, he is the leader. His grey eyes are narrowed on mine, and he doesn’t look impressed. We stop when we are close enough to speak, but the dragon man doesn’t say a word.

“Do you speak English?” Enzo asks, his voice firm and confident.

“Take them,” the leader says, and the guards step forward. Well, I guess they do speak English then.

“Wait!” I step in front of Enzo, who just swears under his breath. The leader holds his hand up, looking at me curiously.

“My name is Mackenzie Crowe. We don’t mean you any harm, and we didn’t plan to come here. All we want is to find the portal, our friends, and leave,” I explain, and for a second he seems curious, but it’s gone within a second.

“You opened this portal, and you will pay for the damage you have done. Your friends’ lives seem a fair price, Mackenzie Crowe,” he says and nods at his guard, before turning around and walking away. I start to shout after him when the guards surround us, and my eyes dart back to Enzo.

“Don’t fight them, we can’t,” he says.

The guard to the right of Enzo chuckles and snidely remarks, “Weaklings, all of you.”

Enzo smiles and quickly lifts his hand, slamming his fist into the guard’s face and he falls to the ground with a thud, knocked out. As the other guards hold Enzo back, he winks at me.

“I thought you warned me not to piss them off?” I ask, as two of the guards grab my arms, and the one on the right pulls a dagger out his pocket, pressing it into my side.

“I told you not to piss them off. We both know there was no chance of me not doing it,” he replies, smirking even as I watch the guards tighten their grip on him.

“No fighting us, or I will kill her,” the one holding the dagger warns, and Enzo gives him one sharp nod before walking towards the mountains with the guards holding his arms. I hope the others don’t come here.