Chapter 49
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Alarm bells clang inside my head, and I barely have time to yank my arm up over my face and squeeze my eyes shut before that blinding light blocks out everything else.
All around us, dragons screech in panic.
Fear clenches my heart when I realize that I don’t know if it’s our enemies or allies who are screaming.
“Selena!” Draven yells into my mind. And the panic in his voice rakes claws of ice down my spine. “I can’t open my eyes. He’s going to attack while I can’t see. I need you to make his magic stop.”
Mithran, whose clan magic is the ability to create light, can keep us all blinded while he can see through it himself.
“Which direction?” I call back into Draven’s mind.
“Straight ahead! He’s coming! He’s—”
A roar of agony rips from Draven’s throat.
I gasp as pain pulses across my chest as if someone had raked sharp claws over it.
Dragon fire crackles through the air in front of me as Draven no doubt tries to breathe it at Mithran.
But pain just bursts through my ribs instead as the leader of the White Clan slashes his claws across Draven’s side.
The moment I feel the pain spear through me, I call up my magic. I still haven’t recovered since that last massive attack, but I dredge up every ounce of power I possess and slam a huge violet flame of pain straight into the dragon on my right.
Mithran screeches in agony.
And the blinding white light disappears.
Blinking furiously, I try to clear my vision while still increasing the flame of pain in Mithran’s chest. But my magic was almost drained before I even started, and energy is pouring out of me like a flood with every second.
“Draven!” I yell into his mind.
“I’ll take it from here!” he calls back.
I cut the flow of my magic and sever the final thread.
The sky full of dragons wobbles around me as my vision swims, and I have to grip Draven’s spikes hard to stop myself from falling off.
Dragging in deep breaths, I shake my head hard in an effort to push past the exhaustion while Draven shoots towards Mithran.
The leader of the White Clan throws his head from side to side, no doubt trying to remove the lingering echoes of agony. Draven doesn’t give him even a second to recover.
Summoning a massive storm, he slams churning black clouds straight at his enemy. Mithran roars, and white light pulses out around him. The two forces collide in a storm of light and darkness.
I hold on tightly while Draven crashes into Mithran. The white dragon screams in pain as Draven sinks his claws into his body while snapping his teeth at his throat. All around us, the other dragons have lurched into motion as well.
Galen and Lyra speed forward, slamming into a cluster of white dragons who were about to attack Draven.
Torrents of fire roll through the air as Alistair forces the rest of them back.
Mithran yanks his head away right before Draven can rip his throat out.
More white light pulses around us, but Draven draws on more of his own magic.
Thick black clouds spread across the battlefield and cancel out enough of the blinding light to make it possible to see if I squint.
“On the left!” I yell through our union bond.
Draven doesn’t hesitate for one second. Releasing his grip on Mithran, he dives downwards right before a stream of ice flames could crash into him from the left.
Mithran roars in fury when they almost hit him instead, but the attack from the silver dragons who are now rushing us bought him enough time to escape Draven.
Blood wells out of the deep wounds that Draven’s claws made, and the huge white dragon speeds back through their armies and towards safety, taking his blinding light with him.
Swinging his head around, Draven breathes fire at the silver dragons to block their ice flames while he sends lightning bolts flashing after Mithran.
Lyra roars.
Even though I don’t understand it myself, the sound of it is so panicked that my lungs cease working for a moment. Snapping my gaze towards her, I try to figure out what she’s saying. But only Draven understands now that they’re in their dragon forms.
“Fuck!” Draven screams in my mind, the panic in his voice making my heart stop. “It was a distraction!”
Dragon fire streams out around us as he forces the silver dragons back and then takes off through the sky with such speed that I’m thrown back in my seat. Only my tight grip on the spikes saves me from sliding down his spine.
Black, purple, and blue dragons surge forward, crashing into the ranks of white, silver, and red dragons.
Wings boom, fire crackles, magic flashes, and roars echo across the landscape as our two forces slam into each other.
The dragons on both sides attack with claws and teeth and dragon fire while the Seelie fae and Unseelie fae who are bonded to our allies shoot magic attacks through the sky.
The battle rages furiously on all sides of us as we speed towards the back of our army.
Galen remains on the front lines, leading the charge with Orion who is hitting them mercilessly with his nightmare magic.
A short distance from him, Isera throws blocks of ice at our enemies while the dragon she rides breathes fire and tries to charge through.
And behind it all, Jessina Iceheart is still hovering in the air.
Watching it all. Waiting. Untouchable as a goddess.
Lyra speeds through the chaos towards us while Alistair protects her back by shooting fire behind them. She lets out another stressful roar as she reaches us. My heart pounds in my chest as she and Draven fly at breakneck speed towards the back of our army.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Dread pulses through every word as Draven responds, “They’re going after Rin.”
Fear sinks into my stomach like poison. Rin Tanaka is working tirelessly to heal everyone who gets hurt in the battle. If we lose her, a lot of people are going to start dying.
A noise of panic escapes my throat as a battle becomes visible on the ground up ahead.
Instead of dragons clashing in the air, men and women in orange dragon scale armor are now fighting a mass of soldiers in silver armor.
On the grass in the middle of the battle, injured dragon shifters in black, purple, and blue armor as well as fae from both our courts try to drag themselves out of harm’s way.
Draven lets out a roar.
“Azaroth’s fucking flame,” he growls in my mind. “They snuck a ground force around the back.” He lets out a frustrated snarl. “And now, we can’t fight them in dragon form without the risk of killing our own injured people. I need to shift. Get ready.”
I draw in a deep breath and flex my fingers before checking the knife in my thigh holster. “Ready.”
He swings his head towards Lyra, who growls in response, while they swoop down towards the panicked battlefield. My stomach lurches at the steep dive. I glance over at Alistair. He gives me a nod.
Black smoke explodes through the air.
And Draven disappears from underneath me.
I suck in a sharp breath between my teeth as I suddenly plummet towards the ground. Then a pair of strong arms appear underneath me, catching me. I draw air back into my lungs as Draven becomes visible right next to me. Holding me in his arms, he speeds us towards the ground.
His boots hit the grass with a thud, and he sets me down and draws the massive sword strapped to his spine in one fluid motion. I stumble slightly but quickly try to straighten again. I’ve used up a lot of magic in a very short time. I don’t have a lot left for this battle.
As if he could read all of that on my face, which he probably could, Draven locks eyes with me while Lyra and Alistair land next to us as well.
“While your magic recovers, can you get our wounded out of the way?” Draven asks.
I nod, grateful that he knows exactly what I need right now.
“Good.” He flicks a glance at Lyra and Alistair. “Rin is getting swarmed. We need to get her out.”
Fire rushes down Alistair’s arms while Lyra yanks out a sword and spins it in her hand.
“Let’s go,” they say in unison.
Draven sends a burst of wind magic around us, clearing the black smoke.
Then we rush forward. Draven and the others plow into the panicked battle.
Swords flash and fire roars as the three of them start fighting their way through the mass of Silver Clan soldiers who are surrounding Rin and her people.
I dart towards the nearest wounded ally.
A dragon shifter in blue armor, which now has deep holes through it.
She lets out a sigh of relief as I grab her wrist and start pulling her away from the trampling feet and clashing swords.
“They snuck through the forest,” she croaks. “And attacked right where all of us were waiting for Tanaka to heal us.”
I let out a curse under my breath. The dryads must not have arrived yet. If they were here, our enemies would never have been able to sneak through the forest unnoticed.
“She could have shifted into a dragon to fight back,” the woman continues as I pull her towards a thick bush that three other people are leaning against as well. “But she didn’t.”
“Because it would’ve put you all in danger,” I explain.
Shock flits across her face, and then she casts a long look towards the center of the battlefield where Rin and her people are fighting back-to-back in the middle of a massive ring of soldiers in silver armor.
Releasing the woman’s wrist, I leave her there by the bush and then run back towards the fray again.
A male fae with deep slashes across his thigh is trying to crawl away from a cluster of dragon shifters who are busy fighting some members of the Orange Clan.
I dart towards him. But one of our enemies notices him.
He casts a panicked look over his shoulder and tries to crawl faster. I pick up speed, charging towards him.
The Silver Clan soldier raises his sword. On the ground, the fae man cries out in panic.
I slam right into the soldier’s side.
Air explodes from his lungs, and from mine as well, as I tackle him with my full weight. He topples sideways and crashes down on the ground with me on top of him. I yank out the dagger from my thigh holster and ram it towards his face.
He twists to the side, kicking his knee up. Pain pulses through me as his knee smacks into my hip and throws me off him. Gripping the dagger tightly, I roll across the ground from the force of the hit. He leaps up from the grass, snatching up the sword he dropped in the process, and swings at me.
Alarm shoots up my spine.
There is no way I’ll have time to get to my feet as well, so instead, I push up only partway from the ground and dive towards his legs.
His sword smacks into the grass where I used to be one second before I crash into his shins.
Wrapping one arm around the back of his knees, I yank hard.
It pulls his knees forward violently, making them buckle.
While he’s still off balance, I press the advantage and shove my shoulder up into his stomach.
He crashes down back-first on the ground while I’m already raising my knife.
This time, I don’t give him even a second to get his bearings. The moment he hits the ground, I ram my dagger right through his throat.
He sucks in a shocked breath, but only a wet gurgling makes it out.
Sudden grief and regret hit me like a punch to the chest.
The sight of his wide eyes and the blood spilling out of his throat triggers a flood of memories.
My parents dying as Jessina slits their throats.
The shock and fear on their faces. The blood gushing out of the wounds.
The pools of red on the floor. The knowledge that I will never know if they loved me.
Fury roars up inside me like an inferno.
Ripping the dagger out, I slam it back into the soldier’s throat and twist savagely.
Another wet gurgle escapes him, and his body twitches underneath me.
I keep twisting the knife while rage burns through my whole soul. I hate them. I hate them all so fucking much. I want them all dead. I want my revenge. I want my fucking revenge!
A scream rips from my throat as I slam the knife into his neck over and over again while that terrible rage consumes my whole soul.
Jessina and her Silver Clan have taken my entire life from me.
They have stolen a hundred and sixty-eight years from me that I will never get back.
They have destroyed any chance I had of making things right with my parents.
They have enslaved my mate and hurt my friends and now they’re forcing me to fight a war when all I want to do is to just have one fucking moment of peace on this goddess damned continent.
That rage and hatred that I have been suppressing all my life sears through my veins until I feel like I’m burning up from the inside.
Screaming my throat raw, I ram my dagger into the soldier’s neck again and again even though he’s already dead. I just want it all to stop. I want it to fucking stop!
Blood drips from my knife as I yank it out of the soldier’s ruined throat and shoot to my feet. I can feel the fury pulsing from my body like waves of fire as I whirl towards the other dragon shifters from the Silver Clan.
Four of them have broken away from the others, who are now fighting both Rin and her people as well as Draven, Lyra, and Alistair, and it looks like those four people had been about to attack me. But now, they hesitate, staring at me like I’m some kind of demon.
I flash them a vicious smile tinged with insanity and point my bloody knife at them.
They flinch.
Summoning my magic, I shove it at those bone white flames of fear.
I know that I should be resting to recover more magical energy, but I’m finding it hard to care about anything else right now when those horrible memories of my parents are echoing through my mind in vivid detail.
I want my fucking revenge, and since Jessina is untouchable with her shield thing at the back of her army, these people will have to do.
With a shove, I flare those flames into wildfires of terror.
Two of them scream and flee in blind fear. The third one drops to his knees and vomits. The final one passes out. His body hits the ground with a thud. I stalk towards them.
“You should have run when you had the chance,” I growl at the one who is still on his knees, emptying the contents of his stomach. “Because now—”
Lava rushes across the ground towards me.