Chapter 21 #2
Or perhaps this right here was the abyss, in the depths of the eyes of the male I’d been born to hate and been cursed to entangle myself with.
“Again,” Hendrix ordered, and I gave in, not because I was willing to follow his commands but because I needed to claim dominion over the Dragon for myself, my people and most of all, for Rissa.
His gaze held mine captive and I stared up at him for longer than I should have, the vibrant green of his eyes their own kind of puzzle in need of an answer.
My fingers shifted to the amulet at my throat, and I took a shuddering breath as I prepared to command the Dragon to follow my will once more.
My eyes fell closed and I exhaled slowly.
Please. The word swirled through my thoughts, reaching out to the spirit which had deigned to offer its amulet up to me and the power that had been lingering at the edges of my awareness exploded into sharp and violent focus all at once.
I remembered Hendrix’s instructions a beat late, rallying my strength of will and ordering the Dragon loose with a bark of command that lashed from me towards the spirit until it finally burst free of the amulet.
Wind howled around us, my hair whipping out to tangle with Hendrix’s dark locks as he released his hold on my chin and we both stared at the raging spirit which had exploded from its place of confine at my throat.
I staggered backwards at the force of its arrival, Hendrix’s powerful body the only reason I wasn’t knocked from my feet altogether.
The Dragon bellowed a roar filled with spite, and the glass windows of the conservatory all shattered in reply.
I screamed, ducking low, powerful arms banding around me as Hendrix drew me into the shelter of his body and crouched over me, shielding me from the falling glass which rained down alongside the fury of the storm which had been held at bay beyond it.
The world was a rush of noise, of horror, of violence.
The Dragon bellowed again, the bright silver of its pelt rushing over us, the feathers at the tip of its tail lashing the ground barely a foot away and sending mud flying into our faces.
Hendrix cursed and I recoiled into the shelter of his body while the rain crashed down on us. Drops of blood mixed with the water that ran over his arms and body, and I turned to look up at him in alarm.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he grunted.
“Don’t be an ass. Just let me see if-”
A huge crash boomed in time with a blast of thunder overhead and I cried out again while Hendrix’s hold on me tightened, his body curling around me, more of his blood dripping down onto my arms.
I gasped as I peered out from beneath his bicep to the castle wall which the Dragon had just blasted a hole through. Debris rained down in a scattered arc, fire blooming as lightning struck the building, the storm turning to answer the call of the spirit I’d unleashed.
“No creature shall command me by force.”
I flinched at the words that rattled through my skull, the power of them making the inside of my head hurt.
Another blast sounded as the Dragon continued deeper into the castle, tearing it apart in a furious rage.
Hendrix hauled me upright and I clung to his arm as I stared at the beautiful castle with fire blossoming from its windows and debris spilling into the air from endless puncture wounds to its carcass.
“We have to get out of here,” Hendrix barked, hauling me away from the castle which looked set to topple at any moment, bricks and rooftiles cascading down its crumbling walls in an avalanche that was quickly gathering momentum.
I let him tug me along, my thoughts numb in the face of such wanton destruction, but as my boot scrambled over the crushed glass which had once been the conservatory roof, I fell still.
“What is it?” Hendrix demanded as I tugged my arm from his grip.
I broke into a run, ignoring the continued destruction the Dragon was wreaking and the bellowed commands of the Fae bastard to return to his side.
I vaulted over crushed and shredded plants, broken glass crunching beneath every footfall, my gaze set firmly on the little wooden canopy I had made into my sanctuary.
Hendrix caught up to me as I ducked beneath the miraculously intact roof, his fingers locking around my wrist just as I snatched my pack from the soft chair I’d asserted as my own.
“What could be important enough to risk your life on, lightwing?!” he boomed.
“My books,” I replied defiantly, hugging the pack to my chest with one arm as if he might try and haul it out of my grasp given the chance.
“You’re a fool,” he snapped just as a blast of thunder rent the air in two and the castle groaned in agony.
I didn’t deny it, only started running with him as he yanked me away.
I glanced back as we raced through the storm for the forest beyond, my eyes widening as I took in the ruined castle, ablaze and collapsing.
A tremendous roar burst from the building, and I gasped as the Dragon exploded from it, lightning blasting from its open jaws, rage written into every line of its body and the castle breaking apart beneath the might of its wrath.
“Never presume to control me again, Ferris, or your fate will follow that of this wretched building.”
“Hendrix!” I yelled in horror as the Dragon tore through the air towards us, and the Fae warrior whirled at my shout, drawing his sword and readying for a fight I knew we’d lose.
But before the Dragon could reach us, its form dissolved, spilling away into silver smoke which rushed for me at speed.
The smoke struck the amulet with such force that I was thrown from my feet, my back hitting the dirt hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
A howling, haunting note of song ripped through my mind as the darkness came rushing in on me, and all I knew in that brief second before my destruction could claim me, was terror.