Chapter 21
Zsekhet
“No!” I screamed, fear rushing through me when Cosima threw herself between me and that deadly weapon.
I knew I was too slow to avoid that blow, but that was better than seeing my fragile mate die for me.
Only, she deflected the blow and gave me exactly what I needed, a chance to recover and dodge.
She saved my life, and pride at what she’d done filled me.
Then her footing slipped. Our eyes met right as realization raced through both of us, she was about to fall, again. I flung myself forward, ready to grab her, and was held back by the buckles securing me to Sesethul’s back.
Zsandex rose, triumph crossing his face at the sight of my mate falling. I didn’t spare him another glance, my dagger slashing through my harness to free me. I whistled as I leaped, banking on my greater weight to catch up to her. I could still save her!
I plummeted after her, Sesethul roaring as he flipped through the air above me, throwing himself into a dive after us. My focus was on one thing only, the streak of flaming hair, my mate’s falling body. I stretched myself out, my arms pointed, willing myself to reach her.
She twisted in the air, turning her head up toward me. I was already close enough to see her look of horror, hear the scream that ripped from her throat, torn away by the winds. Then I was on her, my arms closing around her body and my coils twisting and coiling, tightening around her protectively.
“Zsekhet!” was all she had time for. This was going to hurt, really bad, but I didn’t care.
Sesethul was going to catch us but we were going so fast…
When the dragon claws closed around the tight knot of my body, protectively secured around Cosima, everything jarred, my body felt like it shattered into a thousand pieces.
That grip was like a vice, so tight that each coil was crushed and compressed.
I fought that pressure, fought it with all my might so that inside, my mate would remain unharmed.
Blackness edged my vision, threatening to drag me under from the pain, the world spun. I could hear the wind in the dragon’s wings as he fought gravity and pulled us back up. Heard his roar of pain as we crashed into a dune, sand filling my mouth, my eyes, my ears.
Then silence. Deafening in its completeness. My heart twisted in my chest, the pain there so sharp that it drowned out the agony in my body, the pain of my crushed bones. Then Cosima moaned and I felt like I was soaring, she was alive!
Sesethul’s claw released around us and my coiled, broken body slid down the dune with its precious burden inside. The heat of the sand warmed my scales, my mate moaned again, and then I was partially on my back and staring through my inner eyelids at a dragon-filled sky.
I focused on that instead of the pain and tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
I didn’t want to think about our injuries, about Cosima’s pain, or how badly Ses had hurt himself to save us.
I wasn’t feeling battle rage now, and I realized that I hadn’t throughout our entire skirmish, I’d remained cool-headed as I protected my female.
Above me, Arakash and pink Salais were helped by several unbonded dragons as they pushed Zsandex’s big blue dragon to the ground to subdue him.
More riders from Serqethos were corralling our remaining two attackers, bringing them down to the sands by sheer overwhelming numbers.
I saw no sign of Rokash and his brown dragon, they had to be grounded further back by the damage Ses had done to the wings of the beast.
We were safe. We’d won, but at what cost?
I didn’t think I could ever move again, and Cosima?
Was she bruised but unbroken? “Zsekhet?” she whispered, “How bad is it? Can you move?” she moved slowly inside my coils, but I had no strength to unwrap them.
When she pushed, I groaned in pain but there she was, her red hair popping out from my grip, our eyes meeting.
I licked dry lips and then drew her scent greedily into my lungs; not a hint of blood, that was a good sign. “I’m alive,” I said, my ribs aching as I drew in more air. Her freckled face was deathly pale, her gray eyes huge but not hazy with pain.
“Not for long,” a voice drawled, and chills shot down my spine.
“You freak, traitor! I won’t let you run back to those outcasts and threaten our Clan!
No one steals our females!” I couldn’t move, but I knew that voice anywhere.
When the tip of a tail slid into view, gold scales edged with hints of silvery white, I cursed but no matter how hard I tried, I could not summon the strength to fight.
“No one wants to! You bigoted idiot!” Cosima snarled fiercely from on top of me.
Zsandex could not understand her words, I couldn’t even see more of him than the tip of his tail, which he was sliding around my neck and winding tighter and tighter.
Then one of my daggers flashed in Cosima’s hand, the obsidian blade coming down toward me.
I didn’t feel the bite of a knife, and knew her aim was impeccable when Zsandex screamed.
Blood sprayed over my face but the pressure of the tail instantly withdrew.
“You freak!” Zsandex roared, and I braced myself, somehow finding the strength to roll us over the sand.
I heard the swish of his rapier, felt the spray of sand as he missed.
On my side, I could see what happened but could no longer react, my strength completely gone.
Zsandex was poised above us, readying his blade for another blow.
Blood was spurting from a deep wound at his tail, and another along his chest, both courtesy of my mate.
His face was contorted in absolute fury, blinding him to everything around him.
I didn’t realize that older males in the Clan suffered from the same blood lust I did, but I could see it now, in him.
Behind him, Arakash thudded to the ground, followed by the smaller, elegant shape of Alshara.
Zsandex never saw the blow of the spear coming, the long end of the shaft hitting him in the back of his head.
He crumpled at the coils of my mentor and my Queen, unconscious and unmoving.
My vision blurred, wanting to do the same.
It would be so simple to follow him into the abyss now that the danger was gone.
“No! Don’t you pass out on me! Zsekhet!” Cosima begged me.
I forced myself to do as she asked, speaking through cracked, dry lips.
“Are you injured?” When she shook her head, relief sang through me.
“Ses?” He’d hit the ground hard, how badly was my best friend hurt?
If he’d been able to, he would have fought Zsandex for us, he would have been here. Fear gripped me hard.
Her worried face tightened and she glanced away, up at Arakash. I sought out the eyes of my mentor, pain and fear overruling the urge to fade and pass out. “He’s alive, he’s tough, just like you,” Arakash said. “Now let us take care of you.”
***
Cosima
It took three Naga males and the Queen herself to untangle Zsekhet’s coils from around my body enough to free me.
Then the Queen sat at his head, her coils sprawled carelessly around her on the hot sand while she worked with one of those strange, hand-held healing devices.
I watched her work, anxiously waiting for any sign that he would make it.
His chest was rising and falling in a steady breathing pattern, that was a good sign.
I couldn’t tell if his long, serpentine body was broken in a million places or if he was okay.
He was always this flexible, but we’d fallen so hard.
Ses had tried to arrest our momentum. I knew, without a doubt, that if the golden dragon hadn’t risked his own life, we would have been splattered to pieces all over the desert sands.
“Zsekhet, is he going to make it?” I asked the Queen.
The female had been working tirelessly at healing his injuries.
She sat frozen in place near my mate’s head while she ran light from her device over his body, mostly his chest at first, but she was slowly moving down his long tail, letting me know that his injuries were extensive.
I knew she didn’t understand my words, but I could tell she understood my question.
Her golden eyes were calm and confident when she gave a nod.
“He will make it just fine. I’ve got him.
” I believed her, I’d seen her swing that spear at Zsandex herself.
She’d saved us. Delivering that debilitating blow to his head with precision and a fierce snarl.
I turned to look over my shoulder at the giant shape of Sesethul, sprawled out limply at the base of a giant dune.
Several dragons sat around his form, spreading out their wings like giant sails above him to offer shade and relief from the relentless sun beating down on us.
The pink dragon that belonged with Arakash was doing the same for Zsekhet and the Queen.
A strange black-scaled Naga had shown up not long after Zsekhet had passed out.
Nobody had introduced him to me, but he’d appraised Zsekhet’s injuries and then urged the Queen to continue as she was.
He’d turned his focus on Ses after that; crawling all over the giant beast and working with a similar hand device.
I felt cold to the bone, despite the heat, I’d seen him shake his head several times, that couldn’t be good.
If Ses didn’t make it, Zsekhet would be devastated. Honestly, so would I. The beast had really grown on me the past weeks, flying on him was amazing, and he was sweet and cute. How could I not love him for how he’d taken care of my mate all this time?