Chapter 18
Eighteen
T he guard’s sharp fingers dug into my shoulder as he marched us to the black-stone manor.
Ivy crawled across the massive facade, twisting through cracks in the dark walls.
They hauled us over a broad stone walkway that bore scorching burn marks.
I tried to keep my head high, but I couldn’t stop wondering if some poor soul had met their end on those stones.
And whether we would be next.
A man emerged from the manor as we approached. His black hair hung past his shoulders like a dark curtain, and at first glance he almost looked human. Almost.
The illusion shattered when he lifted his head. His eyes were reptilian—cold, slit-pupil, ancient. Demon eyes.
He towered over any mortal man, his massive frame corded with thick muscle beneath skin that seemed barely able to contain him. Every movement carried predatory precision, smooth and deliberate—a beast deciding whether to strike.
His lip curled in irritation.
“What is going on?” His voice cut through the air like a blade. “You are interrupting an important meeting.”
He glared as if he were weighing which of us he wanted to devour first. Reddish scales rippled under his skin, extending over his arms as if trying to escape, despite his human-like appearance.
This had to be Mirvarax.
Vaelor followed him outside.
“Sir, we found these women sneaking into the compound.” The guard's grip on my shoulder tightened painfully. “Earlier we located another two as well.”
“We believe they came here for him,” the guard with the breastplate and helm nodded at Gerand.
“Him?” Mirvarax said with disdain. “How pathetic.”
“Humans are so emotional.” Vaelor’s eyes held a clear warning as he calculated his position. There were three guards and Mirvarax. Too many to take at once.
“Indeed.” Mirvarax waved a hand. “Kill them.”
My heart raced and my mouth went dry, even while a strong rebellion rose up my throat. I hadn’t come this far—rescued Gerand—to die here.
“Killing us isn’t in your best interest,” I blurted.
Mirvarax held up a palm, pausing his guards. “Why not?”
“My mother is a potent hedge witch,” I said, my tongue like sandpaper. If this didn’t work, I had no backup plan. “She might benefit you, but she won’t cooperate if you harm her children.”
Mother’s eyes met mine, pride mingling with fear in her gaze. It was a long shot, but she appeared impressed by my cleverness.
Mirvarax’s head tilted to the side, considering.
“What you speak could be true.” His skin rippled in that disconcerting way.
“But hedge witches who refuse to volunteer their service cannot be trusted. Plus, there are consequences for those who come here and attempt to take what is mine.” His eyes watched me with a violent hunger.
“No, you’d better serve as heads mounted on my wall.
” He lowered his hand and turned to his soldiers. “Carry on.”
The guard restraining me let go, clutching at his throat with a choking gasp. I snapped my gaze to the place where Vaelor had been standing, but he was gone. Behind me, the soldier jerked and spasmed as Vaelor fought for control inside his body.
I spun to face Gerand, terror filling me as the demon guard holding him lifted his sword.
Feron dropped from the sky, feathered wings spread.
He attacked. The guard released my brother and crumpled to the ground as Feron lunged forward, gripping the demon’s leg and ripping it from his body.
A wild cry came from the guard, blood spurting.
I hurried to Gerand, who tripped backward with wide eyes.
The guard grasping mother relinquished his hold on her and plunged his spear into Feron’s back.
My stomach hollowed. No.
Vaelor forced the guard he inhabited to draw his sword.
With certain inevitability, he turned the sword inward and rammed it into the guard’s own chest. There was no sound as the guard folded in half.
Vaelor faded out of him, materializing as the demon guard dropped to the ground, bleeding out across the yard.
Vaelor turned to find Feron on his hands and knees and released a feral snarl. He spun to face the lead guard who’d stabbed him.
“Well, this was unexpected,” Mirvarax said, a bit too calmly.
The lead guard’s eyes widened, and he gripped his breastplate as he took in the fellow guard who’d stabbed himself. He stumbled back, his hooves clacking against the ground, horror filling his gaze. He turned tail and ran. Vaelor moved to follow after the guard.
Without warning, a massive scaled foot slammed down on top of Feron, crushing him.
I traced the red scales up the colossal leg, taking in the enormous head, the wickedly lengthy teeth, and the expanse of wings. The reptilian eyes matched Mirvarax’s exactly.
He’d shifted.
Each nail on his claw was the length of my body. Mirvarax lifted his foot. I trembled at the wet, squelching sound beneath it. Death peered into my eyes with its voracious gaze, and I was immobile, a minuscule pest in the face of the enormous beast.
Nausea churned in my gut at Feron’s crushed form. If there was any chance of saving him, it was now gone.
Vaelor turned, his gaze a raging inferno. “You… fucking bastard!” He snarled, and his body blurred, dissolving into mist that streamed into Mirvarax’s broad, scaled chest.
The creature’s eyes flooded a horrible orange color, and a pain-filled roar escaped from him. It arched and fell against the compound wall, several chunks of stone breaking off and falling to the earth. The dragon twitched and writhed.
I watched, my heart beating wildly, as Vaelor struggled for mastery within the beast. Shaking myself, I pivoted toward Gerand and Mother. “He’s bought us some time. We need to go.”
Now that Vaelor was engaged with Mirvarax, the remaining guard rushed forward, trying to make up for his lack of courage.
The dragon screeched and lurched, swiping the guard, catching him by his antlers and throwing him into the manor so hard that he smashed into the wall with a loud thwack.
He collapsed to the ground, revealing a massive crack in his helm.
His eyes rolled into his head, and his body spasmed uncontrollably.
“Go!” I shouted to Mother and Gerand. We raced around the side of the mansion, aiming for the front gate.
The dragon lurched and stumbled, but slowly, gradually climbed onto the manor roof.
His sharp claws scraped against the stone as he pulled his way up, his spread wings reaching up so high that it blocked the sun, casting an immense shadow over us as he paused on the house top, facing the gate.
I prayed Vaelor had full control by now.
“Raise the gate, or you will burn!” I shouted at the guards, motioning toward the dragon and his burning orange eyes. He sat deathly still, but at my words a heated glow ignited at the base of his throat.
The guards sprang into action, hauling the gate upward. We didn’t perish in flames—so Vaelor must be in full control.
As the gate rose far enough for us to pass under, Mother gripped my arm and pulled me forward.
I glanced behind. Vaelor plunged the dragon’s claws into his own neck, clawing, ripping off scales. His throat continued to heat, and when he released the blazing fire, he did so on his own body, scorching his own flesh as he drove his claws even deeper.
It felt like a loss. Vaelor would be unstoppable in such a body if he managed to bond with it.
But the bonding magic required him to kill the body he wished to bond with from the outside—not from possession.
There was no way Vaelor could defeat such a creature in his spirit form, and he definitely couldn’t use me, or even the fellow guards who were nothing but toothpicks compared to this massive beast.
“Denara.” My mother tugged on my arm at my slow steps, bringing me out of my thoughts. I hurried forward, and we rushed out the gate.
We hastened across the valley, heading for the forest where Erlinen and the others waited. I found myself glancing back every few seconds, hoping to see Vaelor. I told myself he’d be fine and focused on my brother, who had a pale, dazed look about him.
A loud roar caused the rocks to rattle, and I gazed upward to see a massive shape soaring through the sky.
The dragon swooped past us and then wheeled around before descending to the ground on three legs.
His front claw was pulled to his body, bleeding and dripping.
He breathed deep, scales torn from his chest, and the smell of charred flesh and blood oozing out, falling in giant drops into the earth.
Gerand cried out, and Mother’s hold on my arm grew tense. Her hair flew wildly about her, and she gazed at me with frenzied eyes.
“Can you control him in this state?” she asked.
I stared into the dragon’s orange, agony-filled eyes. This was Vaelor. “I don’t need to control him.”
He would never hurt me.
He reached out with the claw he’d held against him and laid Feron’s body in the grass.
My heart broke at Feron’s mangled form, and the way Vaelor had carefully handled his friend’s remains. “We’ll take him with us,” I said.
Vaelor emitted a low rumble. He drove his dragon claws into his body one more time, slicing into his chest and going deeper.
Blood gushed from the wound in streams. He released one last roar of agony before ripping out his own heart.
The dragon collapsed to the earth, the large, dripping organ dislodging from his talons.
Vaelor came out of the dragon and into existence.
He walked up to Feron, whose bones were crushed. Blood and gore flowed out of Feron’s lifeless body, making him barely recognizable. With slow, labored steps, Vaelor sank to his knees.