Pulling from the pieces of the Anima Crystallum I carried, I sent all the energy I could muster into him. Azazel froze under my touch, and my magic intensified in his eyes, turning them permanently gold. The next second, a full color memory crashed into my mind.
My mother sat near a gorgeous turquoise lake, lime green mountains extending across from it while a lush forest flanked her. Her back rested against a tree as she slowly caressed her belly, singing what reminded me of a Nordic style lullaby. Her beautifully haunting voice echoed in the breeze, making me feel like I was right there with her.
A gasp escaped her when a healthy and young, four-headed Dragon landed before her, water splashing in every direction. Fear transformed her features, and she backed farther against the tree, but it began to disappear when he gently lay his main head beside her. Azazel moved purposefully slow, careful not to frighten her even more, until his nose gently inched towards her belly—scenting me.
My golden light illuminated his hazel eyes in that moment, pulling a gasp from my mom’s lips.
It was done. We were connected.
Azazel had claimed me as his soulmate.
Panting out of the memory, I placed my other hand on him and pulled harder from the crystals and my core, sending all my magic into Azazel to keep him here, to set him free. The family tree burst to life around us, shimmering light rushing through the branches and leaves as it searched for his essence. For his place among my own.
A brand-new thread formed abruptly, extending from the nothingness towards me, shimmering as it fought to reach me, but then the green glow flickered in his eyes.
“No!” I shouted into his mind. “Fight him, Azazel. Don’t let go!”
Azazel blinked, the golden glow flickering back, and I pushed even harder, watching the thin thread begin to grow into a branch on its way to me. I just needed a bit more. Only a little more magic. Jaw clenching, muscles jerking along my back, I fought to keep him with me, using everything I had, but Raithian’s power kept cutting through our connection.
Currents of pain mixed with the energy as I drew harder and harder from my essence, from my ancestors, frantically trying to get Azazel back. From green to gold, and gold to green, his eyes changed, the branch dimming next to him. Suddenly, Azazel pulled away from me, Raithian’s energy becoming brighter in his irises.
“No!” I raged out loud, running to the edge of the tower and planting my hands on him again before he could leave me. The railing dug into my stomach, but I didn’t let him go. I couldn’t.
My golden light reappeared, and the branch began to form once more. A wave of overwhelming love slammed into me the next instant, flowing from his essence and into mine. Daunting in their loyalty and ferocity, his emotions continued to engulf me, followed by anguish, and crushing shame. Azazel felt so defeated.
Whimpers escaped all four of his mouths, turning into a roar when Raithian retook control. The force of his breath sent me back to crash against the brick wall, but I scrambled to my feet. Thrusting my hands forwards, beams of my light crash into his forehead.
“Fight him, damn it. Stay with me!!”
Azazel’s eyes flickered back to gold, but the pain he projected into me then was debilitating. All four heads jerked in different directions when he tried to do as I asked, a couple spewing fire towards the abandoned gardens and leaving steaming craters in their wake. He reared back when the rage gripped him once more, his claws ripping into the castle. Bricks exploded into dust with his frantic swipes, spires fracturing and falling several feet to the ground.
The broken chains on his wrist slammed against one of the large balconies below us, glass shattering and raining everywhere.
“Away. Safe. Away… me,” His broken plea slipped into my mind, and he pulled back. The ground shook when he fell on all fours, losing the battle against Raithian. A cloud of rocks and dust expanded along the land, mixing with the rising smoke. “Safe,” he shared one last time, his gaze permanently turning green.
“Don’t do this!”
Standing to his full height, he wildly flapped his wings with a fury that wasn’t his, fire swirling in his four throats before he turned around and flew out of there.
“Come back!” I bellowed, voice breaking while the family tree vanished.
His branch died in the darkness before it could fully form… before it could attach to me.
“Azazel!” I roared, a choir of Dragons echoing my pain along the mountains, but I wasn’t ready to let go.
Running full force towards the railing, I jumped off the tower, calling for my magic to take me towards him like it had done yesterday. The first burst of light met my boot, propelling me forwards, yet my second footstep found nothing but air. I was drained. There was nothing else to pull. I had used all existing energy in me trying to free Azazel from the Warlock King.
Arms flailing, I plummeted to the ground, but another Dragon swiftly caught me amidst the sky. I crash-rolled onto his back, lifting into a crouch to see who had rescued me. Pearlescent green scales stretched as far as I could see, giving off a beautiful yellow glimmer when the sunlight shifted on them.
Vyper regained altitude smoothly, slowly turning around to return to the Hidden Kingdom. My gaze remained glued to the half-dead Dragon disappearing in the distance, his light succumbing to Raithian’s darkness and burning a part of my heart to ash.
“You are welcome,” Vyper huffed through our connection. “And to think you didn’t want me to come…”
24
EVANNA
Seeing Azazel take Braxton away from me and disappear in the distance had to be one of the most terrifying things I’d ever been forced to endure. Something I prayed I would never have to see again.
We stayed there for several moments, waiting, hoping everything would be alright, until Tharion led our companions back to the Hidden Kingdom. I assumed that meant he’d communicated with Braxton, and all was well, so I didn’t protest. That was not to say that my heart wasn’t permanently lodged in my throat after hearing Azazel’s defiant roars cut through the air from the Lost Kingdom, and hear part of what remained of the Castle of Dragons be destroyed during their struggle…
Braxton asked me to trust him, so I did. I trusted him with my entire being. Also, he wasn’t like the rest of us, so I needed to trust his powers too.
Nevertheless, my boots continued to carve an anxious path while I paced back and forth next to Tharion along the landing pad. He was pretty much guarding the entrance to our home, not allowing any of us to intervene—all except for Vyper, who’d gone to bring my mate back.
Willow walked beside me, silently offering comfort until the flapping of wings echoed into the cavern.
We all turned to find Vyper, now an adult Dragon, enter the kingdom.
It took one look into Braxton’s eyes to know that his mission had failed. He’d lost Azazel, no matter how hard he’d tried to bring him back.
Brick dust and soot marred his entire body, obscuring the harsh lines of his face and making him seem… defeated. Something had torn in him with this fight, and it hurt me to see him that way because I knew how it felt to be broken.
The instant he dismounted from Vyper, I rushed towards him and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Relief mixed with concern when his arms curled around my back and waist, holding me with more need than he ever had. I was still glad he was safe. Several sun-minutes passed while I just stood there, holding him, feeling the tremors course through his body from anger, exhaustion, and pain.