Fate Of The Minotaur (Her Dragon's Bane 5) by Harmony Raines Page A

outside is far worse than what lurks within.”
    He left, pulling the door behind him. The dark settled around her. Going to the bed, which she could only make out as a faint outline, she slumped down, and, despite her fears, exhaustion took her and she slept. Hoping she had done the right thing and chosen the right side.
     

Chapter Fifteen – Fin
    Cursing loudly, he slid down the muddy bank, only just missing the trees as he went. He was muddy, covered in leaves, and beginning to think he should not have trusted Tara. She was altogether untrustworthy. Self-serving too. Oh yes, he knew she was only interested in furthering her own goals. All he hoped was that, this time at least, their goals were aligned. His only concern was Sybil, and from what Tara had said, Sybil was the only hope of saving the dragons. However, he knew there was more to it than that. He had seen the look on Sybil’s face. Whatever was in her prophecy, it was big. Really big.
    A sound to his right made him stop. He flattened himself into the damp earth, hoping whatever foul creature was out here was not hunting him. Yet if he trusted Tara, he knew he must succeed with this. Still, he has to be careful. As far as he was concerned, the fates didn’t much care for visions and prophecy: If his time was up; his time was up.
    Keeping very still, he looked to the west, waiting for the sun to rise. It was a long wait; the darkness seemed to linger longer here. The rest of Spellholm would be bathed in the full golden glow of the sun by now; but here, dawn was held back by some unknown curse. Then, when he thought the sun would never burst through, the houses ahead of him were bathed in light, the sun glinting off dirty windows, all boarded from behind. Light was the enemy in this town.
    Stealing himself for what was to come, hoping he would find his dear sweet Sybil in one piece, and an alive piece at that, he made for the first house. Reaching it, he flattened himself along the wall, letting himself catch his breath and still his rapidly beating heart. If he couldn’t calm down, he was afraid that whatever lived, or lurked, here would feel his pulse though the very ground beneath his feet.
    Looking around, he tried to make out the house Tara had told him to aim for. It had a tower, someone’s idea of making themselves appear to be more important in a small town. From there he had to make two more detours to reach the house Sybil was in. Moving away from the wall, he looked up over all the roofs, hoping he would be able to spot it. Going door to door in this neighbourhood would end up with him dead.
    There. He took a deep breath and ran, hoping that there was nothing to see him, when he had made himself so exposed. But nothing moved, no solitary living creature, or dead. Reaching the tower, he stopped, got his bearings, and then went down a small alleyway, which had ambush written all over it.
    To his surprise, there was no one waiting for him; in fact, he was sure there was not another living creature in the whole of Hollowton. He only hoped that wasn’t true. He wanted to find Sybil; he needed to find her alive. Tara had made it quite clear that if Sybil had been turned, there was nothing they could do to bring her back. He placed his hand on the short wooden stake tucked into his pants. His biggest dread was that he would have to use it on the woman he loved.
    Pausing once more, he looked down the next alleyway and across to the street where he had to go. Looking up, he could see the ornate house that Tara had described to him, missing gargoyles and all. He steeled himself, knowing what was to come, only hoping that this was as Tara had told him and he would live to see his Sybil again, to touch her warm skin and kiss her soft lips.
    Come on , he urged himself. So he ran, not looking upwards, even when he heard the sound of the gargoyles, stone against stone, as they detached themselves from the roof and made their deadly dive towards him. Tara had told