The Broken Seal - Chapter 7

Suddenly, they heard noises coming from the ceiling. Jacob stepped a few feet towards the disturbance.
« I know this sound. »
« You do ? »
« I’d recognize it anywhere. They’re drilling a hole. »
And indeed a few seconds later a ray of light flashed through the roof and a small canister dropped at their feet. They all jumped back in alarm, and smoke began to swirl around them. They all started to mask their noses and mouths, but they soon realized it wasn’t affecting them. They heard coughing and when the smoke dissipated, they saw Sasha lying on the ground, barely breathing.
Jacob was the first to reach her and he took her in his arms to try to bring her back to. 
« Sasha ? Sasha ! Breathe ! »
« I feel… weak... »
She lifted her lids a fraction, and her eyes were as dark as night. She whispered something, so low he couldn’t hear her. He bent closer to her mouth. Her murmur resonated of the dragon.
« Hide. Quickly. Be my eyes and ears. Leave me. » 
« I’m not leaving you here ! »
« You’re not affected. You need to go and watch ! »
And looking at him, she fainted and dropped the stone at her side.
« What did she say ? »
« What did she want ? »
« She said she wants us to leave her here and hide. But I can’t just leave her here alone ! »
« They didn’t hurt the other dragons, why would they harm her ? »
« They can’t hurt her in her dragon form. We just have to watch and see how they operate. »
Eve grabbed Jacob’s shirt and pulled him away from Sasha’s body. As soon as he stopped touching her, she began shimmering back to her dragon form. They jumped out of the way, and Cassandra, who hadn’t been quick enough, got smacked by her growing tail.
Ezekiel looked up just as they heard noises coming from the ceiling of the cavern.
« They’re coming, we’d better do as she said. »
Eve was a bit skeptical about the plan, but since they saw a rope coming out of the hole, she knew they were out of time to find another one.
They quickly jumped behind heaps of jewels or tall piles of books, keeping both Sasha's body and the cavern in sight.
The five men were dressed in black from head to toe, and carried weapons. Their faces were unmasked, they obviously felt confident their gas had knocked the dragon out, never expecting to encounter anyone else. Eve recognized the military training, probably hired guns, mercenaries. When they landed, one of them indicated by a wave of his hand to follow him. Three of them did, while the last one remained at the bottom of the rope.
The one who looked like the leader seemed to carry something in his palm. He went straight to Sasha's body, took the stone and put it in his bag. He then gestured back to his men and they returned to the rope. The whole operation had lasted less than a minute. They started climbing again one by one, and disappeared in the hole. Eve cursed in silence and pointed her gun at the group. Her shot reverberated through the cavern in a deafening echo. The rope was cut and the last man fell back down on the ground. The others vanished and the opening in the ceiling was covered again.
Eve jumped from behind a tower of books and pointed her weapon at the man on the ground who didn’t move. She bent over and checked his pulse.
« He’s out cold, he must have hit his head when he fell. »

Jacob rushed to Sasha’s side and tried to wake her up. But she wasn’t moving. Curiosity got the better of Cassandra and she touched her skin. It was scaly and smooth, much like a snake’s but extremely warm.

« We can’t leave this cavern until she’s awake. »
« Then let’s use this time wisely. »

Eve tied the mercenary’s hands and shook him up a little to make him come to his senses.

« Hello ! »

The man tried to free himself and looked desperately around him, probably searching for his mates.

« Who hired you to steal the stone ? »
« No idea. I’m just getting paid. »
« Yeah, like it justifies everything. What do you know about this stone ? »
« Nothing. It’s just a weird piece of rock. »

Eve continued asking questions, but obviously he was low-level and had been kept in the dark about the job.
Not far, dragon Sasha started to regain consciousness. She opened her eyes with difficulties and moaned slightly. Jacob stayed at her side, worried.

« How are you feeling ? »

The dragon let out a roar and turned her head towards the mercenary, who screamed in terror.

« I heard… I heard a name, only once. A weird name. Antonius… Antinus… something like that. I swear to God, that’s all I know ! »

Sasha shifted back to her human form and marched towards the man.

« Antinoos ? »
« I… I... »
« Yes, I’m the dragon. The name you heard, was it Antinoos ? »
« I… I think so... »
« Let’s go back to the Library. I have to call the Assembly. »
« You know what happened ? »
« I have a very good idea, yes. »

She turned towards the stairs. Eve seized her prisoner and put him on his feet. 

« Leave him here. I’ll deal with him later. » Her voice sounded angry and deadly serious.

Eve pushed the man in front of her.

« Sorry, I’m taking him with me. He needs to be put in jail. You can press charges anytime. »

Sasha whipped around, eyes ablazed.

« You drop him. Here. Now. I will come back later so he can tell me how he found my lair, and you don’t need to be here for that. In fact, you don’t want to be here. »
« You can question him all you want at the Annex. I’m not leaving him here. »
« He will pay for his trespassing. »

Her tone was more and more fierce, and they could see she was barely containing her dragon.

« He will, I promise, but you won’t solve anything by eating him. »
« It will serve as a warning to all those who want to rob us. »

The man shook on his feet at the idea of being a dragon’s lunch.

« I’ll tell you everything, I swear. Please don’t eat me ! »

They were nose-to-nose, despite their height difference, Sasha madly furious, Eve holding fast. Finally Sasha turned around and walked up the stairs. The group barely had time to follow her in the labyrinth. Jacob caught up with her ahead of the others.

« Sasha, wait ! »

He put his hand on her arm and she stopped reluctantly.

« I’m sorry, but this is not how we deal with thieves. Don’t worry, he will go to jail. Or to a psych ward if he starts talking about your dragon. »
« This is how I deal with thieves. I’m not human, Jacob Stone. I am dragon. You shouldn’t forget it. »
« Believe me, I can’t. You’re magnificent. »

Sasha looked taken aback by the compliment and Jacob’s smile. And her anger seemed to evaporate. They were looking at each other when the group met with them. She took the lead again, but this time she didn’t rush.