Sir Danny hillith of kattegatt's Arc

Chapter 13 of 13

They ran down the spiral stairs, boots pounding stone that cracked beneath them with every step. The tower shook harder now, rattling the iron brackets on the walls. Danny kept one hand on his sword and the other on the dragon mistress's shoulder, steadying her when the floor bucked sideways. The mountain split open before they reached the base. A sound like thunder tore through the air, and the entire western face peeled away in chunks of burning stone. Through the gap, firelight exposed something impossible—castle ruins built directly into the mountain's core, older than anything Danny had ever seen. Dragon carvings covered every surface, their eyes carved deep and watching. The ruins hadn't been buried. Kattegatt had been built on top of them. The dragon mistress stopped running. She stared at the exposed structure, her face gone white. "That shouldn't be there," she whispered. Danny pulled her behind a fallen pillar as flame poured from the mountain's wound. In the center of the ruins sat a massive stone bowl carved with the same dragon patterns, fire pouring from its basin and streaming down the broken rock face. The heat made his eyes water. The frozen chamber below was gone. Whatever seal had held was broken completely. Danny looked at the ruins, then at her. She'd been guarding a secret, but the mountain had been keeping a bigger one. "We can't reach the frozen chamber now," he said. The path was buried under collapsed stone and fire. She nodded slowly, still staring at the ancient castle bones. "Then we need to find out what those ruins were meant to keep in," she said. Her voice steadied as she spoke. Danny felt the mark on his ribs burn hot, pulling him toward the flames. The dragon wanted him to go forward. For once, his instinct and the bond agreed. He took her hand and stepped out from behind the pillar, turning toward the burning bowl and the ruins that had waited beneath Kattegatt since before his kingdom had a name.