Chapter Fourteen #2
Thrown sideways by the impact, the beast crashes into the ground in a choking heap, claws gouging trenches through the earth as it struggles for air.
Whipping my head around, my pulse beating way too fucking fast, I check on Luc and the family behind me.
The family are white as sheets, but they’re alive.
“Goldie—!” Luc yells, his hand pointing over my shoulder.
I spin around, stomach flipping as two figures in white robes tumble from the green dragon’s back and hit the dirt.
At first I hope they might be injured, but the optimism dies quickly as both figures pull themselves upright and start pacing toward us.
“Draconite affects them the same as us… they can’t use their magic, right?” Luc mutters behind me.
“I’m not waiting to find out!” Pulling in a sharp breath and holding it, I hurl my Threads at them.
Dust rips up as my magic tears forward, but the light distorts around the pair a second before it hits and the impact slams into their shield.
“Well, I guess that answers your question.” I say, my muscles coil as I throw again, this time it hits hard enough to splinter their shield apart, throwing both figures off their feet and sending them crashing into the dirt.
“Let me through.” Cal growls, but before I even have time to reply the ground lurches beneath me as the red dragon smashes into the clearing beside the green, their black eyes pinned on us.
Adrenaline races through me, sharpening every nerve, every instinct preparing for the next attack. But a heartbeat later, JC slams down, planting herself between us and them, then dropping her head low and unleashing a bone-rattling roar that forces both dragons to retreat a step.
She’s at least twice their size.
But still.
Two against one.
“Here!” The father yells behind me and I risk a glance back to find him holding a pine-nut sized piece of metallic stone.
The draconite.
Oh, thank fuck.
Lifting his arm, he goes to throw it.
“No!” I grab his wrist just in time. “It’s too small. You won’t get it far enough.”
“Take it then.” He begs. “Use your magic, blast it somewhere.”
“I can’t, my Threads would just move straight through it.”
His face hollows out as his gaze darts between his son, Serrane’s dragons and the two robed figures now staggering upright.
“We need to do something.” Luc demands. “We can’t just stand here. Let Cal through.”
My mouth opens, but before I can answer, one of the white-robed figures throws his arm wide, sending a barrage of rocks hurtling toward us. Every muscle in my body locks as I move on instinct, blasting them back the way they came.
"Yes. Let me through," Cal snarls.
“If I shift now, I risk exposing them while I transition.” I bite out as JC releases another roar.
Serrane’s dragons are on either side of her now, snapping at her wings and driving her backwards.
“We don't have a choice.”
I curse under my breath, but he’s right.
If I stay like this, trying to hold everything together, eventually something’s going to break.
Exhaling, I relax my guard, but the second that familiar heat floods my veins, the father shifts behind me.
“I love you.” I hear him murmur.
Shutting down Cal, I twist around just in time to see him planting a kiss on his son's forehead.
“Richard, no!” The mother screams.
Too late.
Clutching the draconite in his fist, he spins and sprints.
Straight away from us.
Away from the dragons.
Away from his family.
“Dad!” His son cries, trying to tear after him.
Catching the kid around the waist, I yank him back and throw up a shield just a second before another hail of rocks slams into us. Sweat starts seeping down my face, my pulse pounding in my throat, but I force the shield to hold as a brutal roar tears across the clearing.
In front of us, the red dragon’s jaws are parted as molten light gathers behind its teeth and its attention is now solely on the father still running.
Shit.
Flaring its wings wide, it goes to move but JC drives forward first.
Her teeth clamp around the red dragon’s neck, tearing a savage wail from its chest.
Beside her, the green dragon throws itself skyward, only to come hurtling down again, claws aimed straight for JC’s wings. She rolls, but not fast enough.
Talons slice across her side, and red blood sprays as a scream rips through the air.
Luc bolts, racing for her side.
Behind us, the father is still running in the opposite direction. Holding my breath, I pray he’s far enough.
One of the riders in white hurls a blast of magic towards Luc, but the rider must be distracted, because his Threads lose their aim and rebound off him at the very last second.
Then Luc’s hands fly out, the air around him detonating as he blasts his own Threads at the green dragon in front of him, and relief rushes through me as the beast recoils—more startled than hurt.
But the distraction buys Luc enough time to climb onto JC’s back, and together they launch.
“Down!” Cal’s warning flares through the bond. I duck on instinct, dragging the kid and his mother down with me just as half a dead tree tears over our heads. “Stay down.”
The demand makes no sense, but I trust Cal’s judgement, so I pin the two Innerlanders beneath me as chaos erupts around us.
Dust kicks up in choking clouds. I can hear wings, roars, the heavy impact of bodies hitting the ground. But I can’t see a fucking thing.
Beneath me, the mother and boy tremble, but I pull them flush against my chest and hold them there until the noise cuts out all at once.
Then a familiar voice breaks through the silence.
“Hey, Goldie, what in Stars are you doing down there?”