Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Weakness
MAGNOLIA
Ididn’t blink. Couldn’t before I was ripped up by a thatcher and flown out of the abandoned castle.
I hadn’t even realized one was with us, hadn’t registered the smell of rot, or heard the crunch of wings—I was too caught up in the fight, too paranoid that Hael might get hurt in the crossfire, that I hadn’t been paying attention to anything else.
And now I let everything slip in front of Dahes.
It dragged me over the ocean, its talons digging into my ribs, until I was thrown onto semi-submerged ground, the water reaching my thighs as I righted myself.
My heart pounded against my chest as I realized I was on the sinking island with Hael…
The second thatcher was flying over crumbling stones that must have been a structure at some point, still clutching the prisoner in its vice-like grip.
Hael’s gaze instantly snapped to mine. He didn’t hesitate before running over to my side, leaving his sword embedded into a thick chunk of scale.
I wanted to scream at him to pick it up, to tell him that the monster was still here—Dahes was still here—it wasn’t over…
But I couldn’t get the words out. They were lodged inside my throat as fear of slipping in front of Dahes consumed me.
“Nollie. Are you okay?” His eyes raked down my body, searching for any injuries, but there were none.
Besides a bruise forming over my forearm from Dahes’ menacing grip, I was perfectly fine.
Freezing, wearing nothing but a see-through slip, slowly becoming drenched from the ocean’s tide coming in and covering more of the island.
Emotionally jarred from watching the fight, and absolutely terrified for what was still to come, but I was fine.
Hael wasn’t.
Blood soaked his entire body. His stomach was the worst from where the Ater tore his talon into him, and his left side was burned. It must have broken through one of his shields at some point. Sand, blood, and dirt were mixed with saltwater and sweat as it coated nearly every inch of him.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you—”
“Hael, you need to leave,” I cut him off, completely aware of the prisoner watching us, which meant Dahes was watching us. I had no idea what he was playing at. I whipped my head around, searching for his dragon. I hadn’t seen her since Hael jumped onto the Ater. “Where’s Aura? You need to fly—”
“It’s okay,” he cut me off as he started patting my hair, tucking the loose strands behind my ears. “You’re okay. It’s gone. It can’t hurt you now, I promise.”
The silent tears I had tried to control turned into sobs. “You need to leave,” I begged, shaking my head and trying to step out of his grasp. Dahes couldn’t see this, couldn’t see that he could touch me…
“Shhh—”
Hael was ripped from me, and in a span of a second, thousands of thatchers surrounded us. They materialized out of thin air. I couldn’t hear their bones crunching or smell their rot until they were right in front of us, and then Dahes’ words came back to me.
“It’s an illusion.”
Could his powers do this?
Hael moved to draw his sword, but it was too late. Dahes was standing behind me, my back pressed against his chest. One of his hands held a dagger to my throat, the other cupped my mouth, preventing me from screaming.
“If you become transparent right now, little ghost, I will kill him,” Dahes sneered into my mind, and I sobbed against his palm. He would. I knew his threats weren’t idle. If there was one thing he cared about more than drakins, it was me—destroying me, owning me, ruining me…
“One move from you and I slit her throat,” Dahes said out loud, his chest vibrating against my back. “I know you’ve reached your well. It’s why your dragon is hiding, but I promise I’m faster and nowhere near drained.”
My eyes searched Hael in a new light as a newfound fear ran through me. Hael’s magic was temporarily gone, Aura was nowhere to be found, and now Dahes had us surrounded by thousands of thatchers.
“Let her go,” Hael seethed, but his eyes were pleading with me, begging me to turn transparent. But I couldn’t. If Dahes couldn’t get what he wanted, he’d make sure no one else could.
He would kill Hael.
Dahes shrugged. Then pressed the dagger harder against my neck.
I tried not to swallow, tried not to breathe as searing agony spread across my throat, and I felt blood drip down my neck.
It brought me back to Masin, to the last time I had a knife slicing into me, before my entire world got flipped upside down…
Hael’s brows furrowed as his gaze narrowed to the blood I could feel dripping down me.
“Let. Her. Go.” He said again, his voice a low growl, either completely unaware of the threat surrounding him or just didn’t care.
Dahes grinned. I could feel it without seeing him, knew the up tilt in his shoulders as he smiled. “No.”
Before the word even left his lips, the thatchers came down on Hael, pinning him in place. His sword was too far away, his dragon gone.
I couldn’t see, had no idea what happened behind the wall of rotting bones, before Dahes whisked me away.
I was screaming, fighting against him, but it didn’t matter. He threw me in the arms of the nearest thatcher, and I knew we were heading back to Moriann.