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Dristan's hand occasionally brushed against mine as we descended the seemingly endless spiral staircase that led to the sub-levels of the Aviary. The others trailed behind us. It was silent aside from the echoing of our footsteps on the stone.

At first, the stairwell had been massive. But the father down we went, the more narrow it became. Near the top, we could've all walked side by side down the stairs and had plenty of room. Now, it was nearly a single file line.

I'd dressed in my fighting leathers, matching the others. The clothes were good protection, and they were easy to move in. But I hadn't thought about the heat.

My brow was beginning to sweat as the heat grew stronger. Even with the sub-levels sealed off by this magical door, it was still not enough to keep the heat contained. Leather had not been a good choice at all.

Just as I was starting to think that we'd never reach the bottom, the stairwell finally spat us out into a long, wide hallway. At the end of the long corridor was a set of heavy, metallic looking, double doors.

"Here it is." Dristan said, taking my hand and leading me slowly down the hallway.

"What is that gods awful smell?" Ronan said in disgust as he trailed behind us. I glanced over my shoulder and caught sight of his face, which looked as if he were about to vomit.

"It wasn't me." Warrick chuckled as he strode past Ronan and came to walk at Dristan's side. I rolled my eyes.

Dristan shook his head at him with a small smile before glancing over his shoulder toward Ronan. "It's sulfur."

"It's repulsive." Ronan complained, covering his mouth and nose with the crook of his inner elbow.

"If you can't handle it now, you may want to rethink going beyond the doors. It'll be twice as bad." Andromeda said from behind him. Torryn walked by her side, smirking at the floor.

"I didn't say I couldn't handle it." Ronan said with a roll of his eyes.

"It is quite horrid." I said agreeably, wrinkling my nose.

Reaching the end of the hall, we stopped, and my eyes trailed from the floor, all the way up the double doors , and stopped at the ceiling. The doors seemed to be covered with some sort of transparent, jelly like material. It seemed to move subtly, undulating up and down the metal doors.

"What is it?" I asked in wonderment, reaching toward the strange material.

Dristan caught my wrist, gently yet firmly. "Don't touch it. It's ward magic. Like the one around the Aviary that we passed through when we came here."

I turned to look at him. "Why can't I touch it?"

He lowered his hand, taking my wrist with it. His fingers twined with mine as our hands came to rest at our sides. "This ward magic is more powerful. It has to be, so that the lava and heat will remain contained. If anyone besides me touches the doors, they will imminently fall unconscious and the magic within the spell will send a shock wave to my consciousness, alerting me that someone has tried to open the doors."

I stared at him curiously as he brushed his thumb over the back of my hand.

"Why would anyone want to open the doors? Why go through so much trouble to keep it so secure?" I asked.

The corner of his lip turned up. "You'll see." He said mysteriously.

Warrick chuckled, sending Andi and Torryn some secret look. They smirked back briefly. Ronan looked between the dragons, his expression just as puzzled as mine. When his dumbfounded eyes met with mine, he smiled at me.

"Dragons, eh?" He said with a shrug.

Dristan growled softly in the back of his throat, signaling for Ronan to watch what he said next. Ronan's smile only grew larger, and he sent me a secret wink when the other's weren't looking. I rolled my eyes at him before facing the door once more.

"Let's just do this as quickly as possible. Between the smell and the heat, it's not going to be pleasant in there." I said, eyeing the door with skepticism.

"Yes, and I won't be able to hold these doors open forever." Dristan said darkly. "I can hold it for about twenty minutes at the most."

My spine tingled at the warning in his tone. "What happens if we don't get back to the doors in time?"

"We will." Warrick said sharply.

I turned to look at him at the same time Dristan did. Their eyes met, and I stared at the side of their faces. Warrick's eyes shimmered with fierce determination and Dristan gave him a single, sturdy nod of his head in response.

Dristan turned back to me. "Let Ronan lead you. He will be able to sense the presence of a rune if there is one. Get it and then get out of there."

I nodded slowly. "What if it isn't there?"

"Then we will have to look somewhere else."

"What if it's there, but I can't get to it in time?"

"Then we will try again when my powers have revived. Holding the doors is going to drain me." He answered, his eyes sparkling down at me like two deep pits of liquid cerulean.

"How long will we have to wait?" I asked.

His nostrils flared. "So many questions..."

I stared back at him defiantly as he stared me down. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply through his nose. His shoulders relaxed. "It's hard to say. It could take a day. It could take a week. It depends on how long I have to hold the doors open. Ideally, you should try to be in and out within ten minutes. But if you take twenty... My magic will almost completely deplete. It will take several days to recover."

My jaw clenched in frustration. "We can't wait that long. We can't keep wasting time."

"Then find the rune, and get your ass back to the doors." He growled softly.

I stared into his eyes, confused at his harshness. Reaching out mentally, I tasted his mood. Immediately, I winced.

He was very agitated. Not at me... But because he could not go with me. He was afraid for me. And he knew that once I passed through the doors, he'd be helplessly stuck there until I returned.

He didn't like it.

Not one bit.

Forgetting there were others around us, or perhaps simply not caring, I reached out and brushed my hand over his jawline. The stubble of his beard felt like sandpaper against my skin.

"You're worried." I said gently.

He stared down at me, his ocean depths alternating slowly between my own eyes. "Of course I am."

I smiled briefly, my hand still upon his cheek. "Stop it. I'll be just fine you silly, overprotective lizard"

The corner of his lip quirked upward, but fell instantly as Warrick and Torryn both burst out laughing behind us.

Dristan growled, baring his teeth, his eyes still boring into mine. Hesitating, he tore his gaze away from me and turned to face his first and second in command.

I pressed my lips together, wishing I'd held my tongue, as my eyes met with Andromeda's. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, a small smile playing about her lips. When she noticed my meek expression, she raised her brow and grinned, as if to say, "Don't-Worry-They-Do-This-All-The-Time-Better-Get-Used-To-It".

"Ov-Over... P-Protective... LIZARD!!" Warrick sputtered between bursts of laughter. Torryn nudged him in the ribs as they double over, and when they met eyes, it only made them laugh harder.

I'd never seen Torryn laugh like this before. Warrick had a sense of humor, but I'd never seen him this undone. I rather liked the sight of them like this, so I couldn't truly bring myself to feel that bad at Dristan's expense.

Even Ronan let out a strangled chuckle before he subtly covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his nose as if he'd sneezed.

"Not the time to be testing me." Dristan snarled, stepping toward the two giggling dragons.

"What are you going to do?" Torryn chuckled, straightening himself. "Scratch us with your..." He took a deep breath. "Your little lizard claws?"

He and Warrick both started laughing even harder than before, holding their stomachs as they did.

Before I could blink, Dristan growled, lifted his hand, and snapped his fingers.

Torryn and Warrick both flew toward each other, and as their foreheads collided with immense force, I thought perhaps they might've both had fractures.

"Ouch!" Warrick complained as he stumbled backward, clutching a hand to his head.

"You son of a-" Torryn began.

"You two had best shut your gods damned mouths. This is serious. If you can't control your bad senses of humor, maybe we should abandon this mission and come back another day." Dristan snapped.

Torryn rubbed his forehead, growling softly.

Warrick rolled his eyes. "Just trying to lighten the mood." He grumbled.

"Dristan, calm down." I complained, grabbing his hand.

He turned toward me, his face annoyed. "I'm perfectly calm. If I weren't, these two would be suffering from much more than a bump on the head right now."

Ronan snorted from behind us. Dristan began to turn toward him, but I caught his face in my hands, forcing him to look down at me.

"Enough." I said firmly. "We have work to do. You can all measure and compare your manhood later."

I heard Andi snicker.

He stared down at me, his eyes flaming. After a few beats, the corner of his lip twitched upward. As the flames within his ocean orbs dwindled and finally died out, he grinned. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine.

"You'll pay for this, later." He said softly.

His gentle threat had enough bite that I knew he wasn't lying.

"Ha..." I laughed sarcastically. Purposefully, I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and bit down briefly, before quickly letting it go again. "Oh, drat..." I whispered deviously.

His eyes flashed with shock, followed by instant anger, and then an unmistakable hint of desire. I couldn't contain the ear splitting grin that spread across my lips as I watched his reaction to my daring words.

He growled. "You're going to regret that, too-"

I spun away from him, interrupting him before he could threaten me further. "Alright, is everyone ready?" I asked, smiling pleasantly.

I ignored the soft growling from behind me as my eyes alternated between my companions.

"Born that way." Warrick said, flashing me a white smile full of sharp teeth.

"Let's do it." Torryn agreed, his wings flaring behind him.

"About damn time." Ronan said, rolling his eyes.

"Good." I said, beaming at them. "Andromeda, you should stay here. If we are taking too long, we'll need someone to come and check on us to make sure nothing's happened."

She nodded. "Good idea."

I turned toward Dristan, who I could've sworn literally had steam coming out of his ears.

"Whenever you're ready, mate." I said innocently.

He stared at me stone faced before a brief smile lit up his face. Then, he turned and lifted both of his hands toward the doors.

His palms hovered above the strange, jelly like film covering the door, and I held my breath in anticipation. I watched in amazement as his palms began to glow with soft, golden light, much like the one that appeared around him whenever he shifted forms.

"Yn agored." His voice boomed loudly.

I took a step back as the doors began to tremble, and the translucent film on the doors began to dissolve. The doors suddenly split, and a red glow became visible through the crack between them.

I took a step forward, entranced by the emerging light, but I was pulled back by strong hands. I glanced over my shoulder and found Warrick staring down at me. His eyes, once filled with laughter, were now stern.

The doors shook, and the ground beneath my feet began to vibrate with the force of it. I tried to remain composed as the doors widened further, and a blast of scorching hot air washed over my body. I squinted my eyes, suddenly afraid my lashes might burn off.

My skin immediately began to sweat even more profusely than it already had been. The red glow from beyond the door engulfed the hallway, painting each of us with an eerie, orange light.

Dristan grunted, moving his hands outward as he forced the doors to open completely. He snapped his wrists to the side, and the doors follow his motion, flying wide open and remaining that way as my mate held his arms out to his sides.

The trembling ceased, and Dristan's shoulders slumped in relief as the doors stilled. His hands still glowed with the soft, golden light as he looked at us over his shoulder.

"Go." He grunted.

Torryn crossed the threshold first, and a wave of hot wind swept his blonde hair back as he did. Warrick was next. As he passed Dristan, he paused to look him in the eyes.

"Take care of her." Dristan murmured.

"I will protect her with my life." Warrick answered, placing his hand on Dristan's shoulder. "I promise."

Dristan nodded and Warrick passed through the doorway, trailing behind Torryn.

Ronan pushed past me, and didn't give Dristan a second glance as he strode through the doors.

I hesitated, suddenly feeling very nervous. The reality of venturing into the core of a volcano suddenly hit me, and I felt my throat bob as I stared at the glowing, red doorway.

My mind knew that we had to go. But my body did not want to move forward.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the sudden anxiety, and forced myself to walk. I tried to control the shaking of my knees. I stopped at my mate's side, turning to study his face.

Sweat trailed down his temple, and he looked to be under a great deal of stress. His brows were furrowed with the effort he was using to hold the doors, and I knew that he was worried. But he smiled at me, all the same.

"I love you." I reminded him.

"I love you, too." He whispered, his eyes serious.

I stretched up onto my tiptoes, careful not to move too quickly and break his concentration. He closed his eyes as I planted a tender kiss on his lips.

When I pulled away, his throat bobbed. "Hurry back to me." He breathed.

I nodded, determination settling into my bones, and turned away from him. Without another moment of hesitation, I stepped over the threshold, and into the pits of hell.

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The sub-levels were twice as daunting as I'd thought they would be. The long hallway we'd delved into eventually led out and into a huge, open space. The cavern was round. Small walkways and stone bridges had been built all around it, reaching across the wide open pit in the center.

I crept closer to the edge and peered over the side, holding onto the stone ledge for support. Far below, red hot, molten lava bubbled and boiled like a giant stew of certain death.

I gulped in fear as I stepped away from the ledge, and walked as close to the wall as possible. Warrick walked beside me, guarding my exposed side from the ledge. Torryn trailed behind us, guarding my back.

Curiosity crept up my spine. "Warrick?"

"Yes?"

I bit my lip. "What would happen to one of us if we fell into the lava? I mean... We can't die unless silver gets into our bloodstream... I know I wouldn't die if I fell into the lava, but I'm still afraid of it."

He hesitated a moment as he stared ahead, walking slowly and carefully. "You're right to be afraid, Brenya. True, we would not die if we fell in... But being injured that badly would leave a very ugly mark."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you would heal, over a long period of time. But your body would be scarred, forever. If you fell into the lava, you'd probably be deformed, bald, and covered in burn scars from head to toe." He explained. "It is hard to say. No one I know has ever fallen into lava before."

I let out a huff of breath. "Gods..."

"Yes... Just because we are practically immortal does not mean that we are invincible. There are always consequences, some of which many would agree are far worse than death. You must always be cautious, even though you have healing abilities."

I nodded slowly, turning my gaze forward. "Well, I feel much better now. Thanks a lot."

He chuckled softly. "Sorry."

Ronan slowed in front of us, and turned to face me. Beads of sweat were running down his face, mirroring my own. I could feel sweat rolling off of my temples, dampening my hair.

"I'm starting to feel something." Ronan said, furrowing his brows.

"Great." I said hopefully.

"It's... strange." He said, glancing toward the lava pit. "I've never felt power like this before. And it seems to be very far away..."

My hope fizzled and died in my chest. "Far away?"

"Yes, but... Close at the same time. I can't explain it." He answered, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "It's like it's buried."

My brows pulled toward each other. "That doesn't sound good..."

He sighed. "Lets keep going. I can feel it growing stronger. I just need to follow it..."

"Lead the way." Warrick said, nodding his horned head.

Ronan turned, continuing on, and we followed hastily.

"The path narrows ahead. Watch your step." Torryn warned from behind us.

He had obviously been down here before, and I briefly wondered why.

Ronan pressed against the wall as the path, indeed, began to narrow, and he crept around a corner up ahead. Warrick slipped in front of me, and held his hand out for me to take. I gripped his hand, which was slick with sweat just like mine, as Torryn came closer to my back.

"Don't worry." Torryn said gently. "We won't let you fall."

I glanced at him over my shoulder and smiled. "Thank you."

Warrick guided me around the corner, and I tried not to look down. The path was so narrow that I couldn't walk normally. I had to place one foot in front of the other, careful to keep my balance. One wrong move by any of us, and we'd fall.

As we turned the corner, the red glow from below became even brighter, and my eyes widened as we emerged into a larger, hollowed out cavern. This room was circular as well, and had one, single bridge stretching over the empty space of its core. The bowels of the space were covered with the biggest pit of lava I'd seen so far.

But it wasn't the size of the room, or the gargantuan pit of lava beneath it, that made me gasp.