55. Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Five
Ryker
“ R yker!”
My knees buckled as the bond painfully—and blissfully—mended back together. I gripped it, wrapping myself around it as if I could hold onto it tight enough to keep it from shattering ever again.
It’s her. She’s here.
The long-lost sound of my mate’s voice rang in my head—a shimmer of life down the tether connecting our souls together. The longing with which my name was spoken tore the icy layer around my heart, making it feel as if it would burst out of my chest, and my breath caught.
“Kya!” my voice broke. “I’m coming, Kya!”
Not wasting a single moment, I shifted my wings. Something was wrong. I felt weaker, heavier, as if I was being slowly crushed by an invisible weight. I pushed past it and strenuously propelled myself into the air, flying away from the glowing stone arch I had just passed through and trusting the bond to lead me to my mate as it had done so many times before.
I could hear Kya softly sobbing and grunting, as if she was struggling.
The worst images came to mind. Was she trapped? Was she bound? Was she locked away?
“Talk to me, little gem. Tell me where you are.” I needed to hear her voice. I never wanted to lose that precious sound again. Not now that I had finally gotten it back.
“I’m—hrmph,” she grunted, and it sounded like something had punched her in the stomach, making me anxious. “I’m running. I don’t know where I am. I’m in a forest, in the trees.”
“Just follow the bond. It’ll lead you to me,” I pleaded.
Rising higher in the air, I glanced around, squinting to see through the downpour. There were dense patches of trees in every direction, but only one the bond was pulling me toward—straight ahead, toward the awe-inspiring moon that encompassed the sky. But it was a long distance.
I needed to get to her now .
I pumped my wings harder, soaring through the air so fast the rain stung against my skin. It took more effort than it should have, and my muscles screamed in protest.
“Ryker, I’m so sor—”
“Don’t,” I rasped in a strained voice. “I don’t care about that right now. I just want you back in my arms.”
I just needed to get her back, to have her with me. We could sort out everything else later.
Her soft cries made my heart clench, and it wasn’t just the rain that blurred my vision. My throat tightened, and I swallowed past it, forcing myself to focus.
“Are you hurt? Are you safe?” I couldn’t feel anything from her beyond the flood of overwhelming emotions.
“No,” she said through a broken voice. “No, I’m not. I have to get out of here right now.”
“Okay, okay. Shift your wings and fly toward me,” I tried to keep my voice level, though I couldn’t prevent the worry slipping through.
“I can’t—Shit! They heard me running, they found me!” she screamed, pure terror rushing down the bond.
“Keep going, Kya! Don’t stop! Just get to me, and we’ll get out of here.” I had no idea who they were, but I didn’t want them getting anywhere near her. I just had to get to her, then I could fly us back to the arch.
“I won’t,” she said between her panting breaths.
I could barely see the treeline in the far off distance through the penetrating rain. I pushed myself even harder, faster.
“I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m coming,” I promised over and over without even thinking.
“I know,” she whispered breathlessly. “Ahh!”
My stomach dropped at the sound of her blood-curdling scream. “What? What’s happening?”
“They’re attacking,” she grunted. “I can’t hold my invisibility and attack them back at the same time. There are too many of them. I don’t know where they all came from.”
I could faintly see flashes of blue and green coming from within the trees.
“Don’t fight, Kya. Try to keep up your invisibility so they don’t know exactly where to hit. Just run. Do you hear me?” I said in a demanding tone. “Run!”
I didn’t care who those fuckers were, I would burn them where they stood for attacking her.
“I’m here! I’m in the field!”
In the far distance, I saw a small, dark figure emerging from the trees, sprinting toward me as I fought to get to her. My mate.
The bond purred with relief after finally laying eyes on her after so long. But that feeling was tarnished when a horde of people breached the treeline behind her. They were gaining on her.
Every heartbeat that passed felt like an eternity .
I pushed myself faster as I watched her fleeing for her life away from the mass of wielders throwing their magic at her, ducking under their blasts of magic and stumbling but never falling. She would deflect with her jade energy then disappear before reappearing farther to one side—zigzagging so they wouldn’t know where to aim.
“Keep running! Don’t stop! Don’t look back!” I roared.
I released my shadows on the land below, racing them across the plain toward the onslaught chasing Kya. My wings pumped harder and harder.
Faster, faster, faster!
Flashes of color chased her, some materializing into chains and ropes, striking the ground and narrowly missing Kya as her feet slapped against the mud. She sprinted faster and faster, pushing her body’s limits as she attempted to defend herself and counterattack with her Waalu.
My shadows reached her, parting around her to seek her pursuers. I bellowed with rage as I guided them to as many people as I could, forcing the darkness within every orifice of their bodies—suffocating them and tearing them apart. Yet still, more came. Too many for the both of us to fight against.
“Ryker!” Kya cried across the landscape. I was close enough to hear her and see the paralyzing fear in her features. “He’s here!”
My gaze lifted to see the unmistakable form of Daegel emerging from the forest, running at full-speed.
We were out of time.
I dove at an angle, aiming straight for Kya. In the blink of an eye, one of the flashes of color transformed into chains and hurdled through the air toward her.
It wrapped around her legs, binding them together, while the other end attached to the ground and the entire thing became taut. She struck the ground so hard I heard something crack. My blood boiled.
“Ryker!”
Without thinking, my flames burst into superheated spheres that flew through the air so fast they went straight through the bodies approaching her. Except for Daegel, who had managed to evade the scorching projectiles.
I slammed to the ground harder than I intended, and the land shook beneath me with the force. My wings splayed out, eliciting gasps from the approaching enemies. My eyes locked with Daegel’s just as he lifted his hands with a malicious grin, and roared an incantation that rippled through the pouring rain.
I barely had time to react. Out of instinct, I threw myself over her body to shield her from Daegel’s magic, cocooning us with my wings. I curled myself around Kya’s trembling body, holding her down as she tried to scramble up to get to me.
She whimpered, and I tightened my hold on her as we waited for the dark magic to hit.
But it never did.
The land trembled around us just before a guttural roar ripped through the air with a primal ferocity, loud enough to rattle my very bones. The hair stood on the back of my neck as the sound made a shiver run down my spine despite the overwhelming sensation of scorching heat.
I had never heard something so horrendous and formidable.
Daring to look, I lifted my head to find my Spirit dragon—with maw wide open—spewing fire so powerful it was consuming Daegel’s magic and incinerating those that stood within the path of his flame. Theron bellowed in outrage as he did his duty to guard his Worthy, the depth of his rumbling power morphing into a high-pitched screech as he stood over us, caging us in and shielding us with his head lowered in front of us—protecting us.
I turned Kya over and gathered her into my arms, her wet, tangled hair splattered across her thin face. She held onto me tightly with a sob, kicking her legs frantically.
“Get them off! Get them off!”
The chains were still attached to her legs, and I threw my hand out, burning the ends of the metal attached to the ground with my fire—heating them so intensely they melted, separating the links.
She kicked them off of her as tears flowed down her cheeks, mixing with rain pattering her skin.
Theron took a step forward, swinging his head side to side to extend his flames down the mass of wielders.
“Time to go, Worthy!” he commanded with distress in his booming voice.
“Hold on to me!” I said, looking down at the precious body in my arms.
Kya gripped my shirt, clinging to me with desperation as I pulled her against my chest. I slapped a hand on the dragon’s leg, and we vanished from this Godsforsaken realm.