“You shouldn’t have taught me to use the elements against my enemy, asshole,” I growled, calling the lava from the moat, and sending a stream that clashed against his skin before he reached me.
The Warlock’s ragged screams cut through the air as the gleaming red liquid splashed against his side, catching half of his face. His body writhed on the ground, but the ring glowed on his finger when he stole its power, beginning to influence the injuries on him.
Fuck me.
Horror struck me when the melted skin falling off him began to lift back onto his arm and face, patching itself once more, the blood drying over the burnt edges. Our ancestor’s magic might have been forced to help him, but it didn’t heal him fully. Instead, swollen welts and scars spread over him until he resembled a tattered doll that had been terribly sewn back together.
Our surroundings changed to the lake as he stood, manipulating our reality in an attempt to confuse me… Two could play that game.
A wild look captured Raithian’s eyes while an energy bomb built between his hands. I shot at him too, changing the landscape on him until a sandstorm swirled around us in the Desertlands. My sand bomb exploded in his face.
His next attack blew me against the jagged rocks of the Blazelands, but I landed on the soft grasses of the Greenlands, sending a flying whip of light at him that cracked against his armored chest. Raithian’s back slammed onto the wooden bookcase in the Crimson Tower, shelves splitting from the force and books falling over him.
One after the other our blasts exploded like deadly rockets, the Warlock and I coming in and out of reality with each round. At the same time, Dragon fought against Dragon in the sky, and sentry against warrior on the land.
The Warlock didn’t stop. Neither did I.
The shots came out of me faster than they ever had, neither of us relenting. My next attack blew him against a boulder near the black mountain once we returned to the Hollow. The echo of his leg breaking bounced against my ears while my magic healed the recent burns on my arm, replacing broken scales just as the worst sound I had ever heard reverberated through the air.
My gaze snapped up to find Evanna crashing against one of Lachlan’s men. Star’s claws plunged deeply into his Dragon’s body, latching on, and spinning twice before throwing them against the volcano. There was blood on Star’s side, some of it spraying onto Evanna and marring her skin and hair…
Still, that wasn’t what created such a disturbing sound.
Ice flooded my veins when I found two possessed Dragons ripping into Spartan’s throat, tearing chunks out of it until the fight left his body, and the light left his eyes.
“Chief!” Arlo bellowed from above, but she was entangled with another Dragon. Unable to get to him.
Spartan and Kingston plummeted towards the ground, too high and fast for anyone to survive that fall.
No!
Without a single thought I thrust both hands towards Kingston as he tumbled in the air, soon losing consciousness from the pressure and altitude. Beams of golden magic reached him the next second, engulfing him until he floated mid-air, stopping his deadly fall. Redirecting the magic, I tried to guide him towards one of our Elevated Warriors, but our Sky Legion was fighting too many enraged Dragons.
Immediately changing gears, I began to bring the chief down, noticing his injuries. Kingston’s arm shield was gone, his arm broken, and his thigh had a gaping hole in it—probably from the fangs when the Dragons attacked Spartan.
Spartan’s body crashed onto the battleground, crushing innocents and evil men alike, and sending a ripple over the land. We all staggered on our feet while a new wave reached me. This time one of pain. Our Dragon family cried for Spartan, the sound echoing in my ears only as the tree of light formed all around us, Spartan’s light receding and leaving his place empty.
Something crashed against my body, fire blazing over my chest plate and engulfing it with searing heat that burned my skin instantly. Raithian had recovered. His attack made me lose hold of Kingston, making him tumble swiftly to the ground again. The scorching pain became unbearable on my chest, but I thrust one hand up, my magic catching the chief in time, then I ripped the chest plate off me with the other, feeling my scales begin to form a shield.
I held on to Kingston in the sky, pulling all the jagged rocks into a bomb and hurling it at Raithian. It exploded on his chest and neck, drawing blood as the shards plunged deep into his skin. Focusing both hands on the chief, I continued to lower him, but my breath suddenly halted.
A spear of green light plunged into my stomach, the magic so powerful that it sliced through my scales like butter, shoving me back and cutting off my power. The weapon transformed into pure iron as my back hit the rocky mountain, impaling me.
“It is done, Braxton! One more blow and you die. I will win,” Raithian joyfully sneered, though a steadfast gleam captured his eyes. “Unless… you agree to join me.”
Fucking psycho. Now that he knew my abilities were stronger than he ever imagined, he wanted me more than before. Tough luck.
“No,” I coughed the word, sending new golden power to engulf Kingston and stop his drop, while I tried to dissolve the spear with my other hand.
Blood freely flowed from my wound as pain struck my being over and over. I could still feel my legs, so I knew it hadn’t hit my spine, and I was still alive, so no major organs were pierced either.
I just had to get it out of me so I could heal.
“Arg!!!” he raged like a maniac, frustrated by my refusal. “Your people are dying, your Dragons are suffering, Braxton. Why will you not just give me what I want?!”
“I will never help you. You might as well kill me now and let my magic be lost forever.”
Flames ignited in his eyes. “Have it your way!” the Warlock King growled, firing again.
I expected the next hit to obliterate me, but his magic shot to something on my right instead. A distressing cry reached me, and my head snapped to see the Warlock get a hold of Vyper, yanking at his wing to rip it away.
“Stubborn, baby. Why didn’t you leave?!” I shouted through our bond, frantically trying to pull the spear out of me to help him.
“I would never leave you…” Vyper whined, jerking against Raithian, and sending a fire stream at him, only for the fire to curl away from his body.
“Choose, Braxton. You cannot save them both!” the Warlock shouted.
Fucking bastard. He was torturing Vyper just to get to me.
“Yes, I can!”
Abandoning the spear, I thrust golden power towards Vyper with my right hand, trying to protect him. It spread over him like it had done with Evie, but I wasn’t as strong as before to fully block the Warlock’s attack on him.
“I won’t let you take another father from me…” I growled, splitting myself in two.
Desperate, I tried to bring Kingston close enough to the ground to let go of him, and continued pouring my energy into Vyper, attempting to cut off the green whip pulling at his wing. My teeth gritted, insides shaking as the veins strained against my skin from the effort, unable to let either of them go.
A cold feeling slowly captured my being through the struggle, my wound worsening.
To my horror, Vyper’s efforts suddenly stopped, Raithian’s magic freezing his form but letting his terrified eyes look from his captor to me. Crimson blood dripped freely from the scaly skin ripping from his back, and Vyper screeched in pain, bringing burning tears to my eyes. I pushed harder to free him, sending everything I had left, but it wasn’t enough.