“Ready?”
“Take all that you need. Everything I am belongs to you,” Ravi replied, and he meant every word of it.
Sora nodded and smashed the vials on the ground. At the same time, he pulled a steady stream of power from Ravi, mixing the energy with the elements until he was once again encased in a bright golden glow. His hair danced with a magic wind, and Ravi was in awe of his mate. Cameron had created the spell when he’d been faced with the Jaeggi after his kidnapping. Apparently, he’d taught the other mages how to replicate it.
Sora barked out the spell’s harsh command, sending the energy blasting into the cage that held the metal dragon. The cage disintegrated, and the metal dragon roared his gratitude. He was still gravely injured, but he would be in good hands with Sora’s parents.
Between the dragons attacking and the mage spells blasting everything to bits, the battle didn’t last long. From what Ravi could see, most of the Jaeggi had fled, but there were still plenty of corpses on the field. It looked as if the dragons and mages hadn’t suffered any casualties, to his relief, but there were plenty of injuries. The mages were going to be busy healing everyone.
“Ravi?”
He turned from where he was watching Sora finish his spell to find that Alric had shifted back into his human form and was cradling a tired-looking Cameron against his chest. The king looked weary, but also happy. Ravi jogged over to him, and a lump formed in his throat when Alric pulled him into a hug using his left arm. Cameron wrapped an arm around him as well, and Ravi might have let out a little sigh of joy. He was back with his friend and his brother. His family.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Alric inquired, his voice rough with worry.
“We’ve got lots to talk about, but I’m okay,” he said as he stepped away.
Other fire dragons ran over, hugging him and patting him on the back, relieved he was safe. Balin might have hugged him tight enough to crack a couple of ribs, but Sora could help fix that later.
Once greetings were out of the way, dragons were dispatched to check the underground bunker for other captured mages, while Sora and his parents hurried over to work on injured dragons and mages. Ravi quickly filled the kings in on the Jaeggi plot to force dragons to mate with Jaeggi mages in order to use their power.
“Ludicrous!” Chalo scoffed.
Rodrigo wrinkled his nosed and shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. They should know that.”
“Yeah, well, I can vouch for the fact that they don’t care if it doesn’t work that way. They are making do with stealing energy from mages, but their ultimate goal is a dragon. Probably lots of dragons,” Ravi countered.
“This is bad,” Cameron muttered. “I thought we were facing an uphill battle keeping them away from mages, but if they were able to successfully get their hands on a dragon, particularly an unmated dragon…”
“They can’t force a dragon and a mage to mate if they are not fated,” Roca pointed out.
Alric shook his head. “They might not be able to force a mate bond, but they might find another way to drain a dragon’s power. I don’t want to think of what they might be capable of if they succeed.”
Baldewin jogged up, his face drawn and eyes grim. “Hoheit, we searched the bunker and found only three mages alive. We’ve got about a dozen corpses, so drained of magic they died of it. But the survivors, we might be able to save yet. They’re in poor shape, but strong enough to make it back to Burkhard if we hurry.”
Alric nodded, his face taking on an even sterner expression. It was clear he didn’t need to be told that plenty of mages in the bunker hadn’t survived their time in Jaeggi hands.
“Start rounding up volunteers without riders to take them to Burkhard. I want a protection detail with them. Leave immediately. We’ll follow shortly.”
Ravi sighed. Home. He was so ready to go home.
Alric turned to him, expression intense. “I’ve got dragons looking, but any sign of the ones who took you?”
“It was that guy, Thomas. And, no, I’ve not seen any sign of him.” He turned and spotted Nikki several feet away, lurking near Gunter. Ravi called out, “Where’s Thomas?”
“There’s a back road,” Nikki replied with a resigned shrug. “Odds are he used it, him and the others, to escape. You’re not going to find them. The vans are warded against seeking spells.”
Well, damn. Ravi shared a look with Alric, neither of them happy with that answer. Still, not much they could do at the moment. They had wounded to tend to, and this wasn’t a secure location to start a search.
At that moment, a pair of strong arms wrapped around Ravi’s waist from behind, and he leaned into his mate. He very much needed to spend some quality time locked away with his mate to apologize for all his worry and pain.
“Umm…Hoheit? Ravi?” Gunter’s nervous voice rose above the gathering. “A moment, if I may?”
Ravi looked up to see Gunter motion toward the slender, blond-haired mage who was still partially hiding behind Gunter. Nikki looked very frightened. Though, there was a hint of mischief in their very large eyes.
Twisting, Ravi quickly brushed a kiss across Sora’s jaw and then jogged over to Nikki. He struggled with his stupid too large, borrowed pants. He was ready to shift into his dragon form until he could get his own clothes back.
“Hoheit, everyone, this is Nikki. They helped break me out of the Jaeggi cell and created the first explosion that distracted the Jaeggi.”
“Wow! You did that?” Cameron asked. He straightened as if finding new energy at the mention of a destructive spell.
“That was amazing!” Tori added.
“No! You’re not practicing that at the castle,” Alric said quickly and then turned his attention back to Ravi and Nikki. “Thank you for saving Ravi. We are in your debt.”
Nikki gave a small wave of their hand, a crooked smile sneaking out. “No problem. I think. I kind of slammed together some sunlight, griffon feathers, and diesel fuel.”
“Oh my word,” Gunter gasped, his voice strangled. Ravi was sure he’d gotten even paler, and he didn’t want to know how close he’d come to dying thanks to Nikki’s creative spellcasting.
“I’d like Nikki to come back to Burkhard Castle for a while. Just until they can figure out what they want to do next,” Ravi pressed on.
“Of course. Nikki, you are very welcome at Burkhard.”
Cameron took a step toward Nikki, and the mage actually backed up, putting themself farther behind Gunter. Cameron’s eyes darted to Ravi in panicked question, demanding to know what he’d done to scare Nikki.
Mages scary, Ravi mouthed to Cameron. His friend still looked confused, but he nodded and retreated into Alric’s arms.
“We would be honored to have you at Burkhard for as long as you wish,” Alric added smoothly.
Ravi looked over his shoulder to see that Nikki had relaxed a little.
“Can I ride with you, Ravi?” Nikki asked, and Ravi’s heart twisted.
“I would very much like to carry my mate,” Ravi admitted, and Nikki nodded.
“Oh. Yeah. Of course. Makes sense.”
“But there are plenty of dragons here who would be happy to take you back to Burkhard.”