Everything had happened so fast. One minute, I’d grabbed Caia’s hand, and we were running. The next, a puff of yellow dust and darkness.

My eyes peeled open, and saw nothing but metal surrounding me.

What the…

Caia!

I sat up with a groan, my head hurting. Sharp pain stabbed right through my brain as I tried to make sense of my environment. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Caia lying next to me, slowly coming to.

My pulse started racing as I understood exactly where we were. They’d captured us. Then, they’d crammed us into a metallic box of sorts. Caia’s moan caught my attention.

“Are you okay?” I asked, brushing her hair back with my fingers so I could see her face. She seemed all right, just mildly dazed as she looked up at me.

“What… What happened?” she managed.

“They got us,” I replied, then helped her up.

The box was just one head taller than me in a standing position, and several feet wide—enough for me to lie down, but not much else. The air felt heavy, my chest tightening as mild claustrophobia set in. I wasn’t used to such small spaces, and I knew I couldn’t stay in here for too long. My inner dragon was already roaring, begging for release.

“Blaze… the yellow powder,” she gasped, remembering our attempt to escape the crowd and get to the tower. “It’s the same as what Zane used on Fiona… Son of a… We were ‘Zaned’!”

She was getting angry. I placed my hands on her shoulders, needing her calm and composed.

“Caia, deep breaths,” I said softly. “We have to keep cool…”

She nodded slowly, then frowned as she looked around. “What is this place?”

“I don’t know.” I knocked on the metal wall, listening to the hollow clang. “But this is meranium.”

“So, daemons can’t get to us and eat our souls?” She seemed confused, and I couldn’t blame her. This didn’t make much sense to me either. What did make sense was the dire set of circumstances in which we’d found ourselves, as my limited options became clear.

“The answer to your question would be yes. This little box will stop daemons from eating our souls.” I sighed, then punched the wall to test its hardness. My knuckles hurt, and the metal did not bend. “And it looks like it will stop me from going dragon, too.”

“Wait, what?” She blinked a few times, horror draining the color from her face. “You… You can’t?”

“I could try.” I scratched the back of my neck. “But I might end up killing you in the process before I manage to break the box… I still have my fire breath, so I could try melting my way through one of the walls…”

“Blaze, we need to get out of here,” Caia murmured. “We… We can’t stay here… The others! Jax, Hansa… Harper… Lord Kifo… The city!”

“I doubt they’ll go after Azure Heights with us in here.” I shook my head, trying to maintain some positivity—enough to avoid despair. “I also doubt they caught the others. We’re the only ones in here.”

There was a loud screech beyond the wall to my right. We both stilled and stared toward it—there was a square opening at eye level, big enough for a petite creature like Caia to fit through. It extended into a long, dark tunnel, and a light shone at the end of it as someone opened the latch.

A pair of red eyes glimmered at us, and I recognized the face. King Shaytan was standing outside our meranium prison, grinning with tremendous satisfaction. My blood boiled, rage swelling my muscles. My desire to crush his skull was only outweighed by my anger at my inability to get us out of here. I’d told Caia the truth: if I were to turn into a dragon right here and now, I would crush her in the process.

And I was ready to die a thousand times, in horrific pain, before hurting a hair on her beautiful head…

“Well, someone’s up early!” King Shaytan’s voice boomed through the tunnel.

“What do you want from us?” I shouted, and he cackled with mocking delight.

“I already have what I want. I’ve got you two!”

There were at least fifty yards between us. I felt Caia’s hand on my arm, squeezing gently.

“Don’t let him get to you,” she whispered. “He’s gloating. For now, anyway. He won’t be once I’m done with him…”

I was a sucker for that fire blazing inside her. Shaytan put something into the tunnel, then pushed it toward us. It rolled down, and as it got closer, I realized it was a small barrel.

“So, what, you’ll keep us in here forever?” I shot back, catching the barrel as it fell out of the tunnel. I pulled the cork cap off and smelled its contents. It was filled with fresh water. I handed it over to Caia.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Shaytan shrugged, scratching his braided beard. “But you’ll be staying in there for a while. Don’t think about using any fire in there. The box is charmed, and the meranium is an exquisite conductor. You’ll melt your flesh off. The walls are twenty yards thick, little dragon.”

“You’ve really thought this through, I see,” I replied, gritting my teeth.

Caia drank some of the water, then passed the barrel back to me.

“I’ve been watching you for a while.” Shaytan smirked. “I like your… spark! Now, drink up, and get comfortable. You’re not going anywhere.”

He shut the latch, and darkness poured through the tunnel. I breathed heavily and looked at Caia. Her wide teal eyes trembled with anger and fear, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. We only had each other, for the time being, and we were stuck in a box, deep below the surface of Neraka.

I had no idea where Harper and the others were. No way of breaking free without crushing Caia in the process…

“Blaze… what do we do?” Her voice was weak, barely audible.

It broke my heart to see her like that, especially since I didn’t have anything good to tell her. All I could do was keep her close and make sure no harm would come to her. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight, gently kissing the top of her head.

I felt her arms around my waist as she responded quietly, gradually relaxing against my body. It was all she could do, too, for the time being.

“He’s not going to keep us in here forever,” I said. “The others are out there, Caia. We’ll get through this one way or another.”

She trembled in my embrace, but I didn’t let go. Caia was my source of energy, and I needed every ounce of it to prepare for what was to come.

He won’t keep us here forever.

All I need is a good window of opportunity.