Vivienne Ashford's Arc

Chapter 2 of 8

The boots grew louder. Vivienne pressed her back to the leafy wall and looked both ways down the corridor. Green vines hung like curtains, hiding every turn. She had no map. Any door could open onto her captor. She held the spined creature tight and made herself think. The pet twitched its whiskers and stared at a low arch to her left. Its round ears swiveled toward it. Vivienne felt the small body strain that way, pulling like a dog on a leash. It wanted something down that hall. She had no better guide. She followed the creature's nose. The arch led to a warm, bright room. Vivienne froze in the doorway. On a nest of moss sat a baby dragon. It was small enough to hold, with green scales and bright, curious eyes. It looked up at her and let out a puff of flame, no bigger than a candle. The spined creature squeaked and squirmed to reach it. The two beasts knew each other. Then Vivienne understood. Fire. The mansion was a living plant. The blade could not kill it. The barbed tail could poison it. But fire could burn it, and the walls could not grow back from ash. Boots pounded closer behind her. Voices called out. They had found the broken cell. Vivienne knelt by the dragon. "Please," she whispered. She pointed at the vine wall on the far side of the room. The little dragon tilted its head. It did not understand. She set the spined creature down. It scampered to the wall and clawed at the vines, hissing. The dragon watched its friend and grew excited. It opened its mouth and breathed a longer flame at the moving vines. The fire caught. Dry leaves crackled and curled black. The flame spread up the vine column faster than any blade cut. The living wood could not heal a burn. A hole opened in the wall, ringed with smoke, and cold night air poured through. Behind her, a guard shouted from the corridor. "In there! She's in there!" Vivienne scooped up both creatures, one under each arm. She ran to the burning gap and looked out. She saw open sky and the dark shapes of trees far below. She stood high in the fortress, higher than she'd known. There was no floor beneath the hole, only a long drop and a thick tangle of vines running down the outside wall. A hand grabbed the doorway behind her. Vivienne climbed into the smoking gap and gripped the outer vines. She lowered herself out of the room as the guard lunged. She hung on the outside of the living fortress now, halfway up its towering green wall. The guards could not reach her here. But her arms already shook, the drop yawned below, and she did not know if the vines would hold her all the way down.