The basilisk knew Beck’s footing was gone the instant it happened, and it dug its feet in and threw Beck to the side with a heave of its giant head. When Beck looked up, he couldn’t see what had hit him, just thick, billowing storm clouds and bright arcs of lightning as they filled the sky above them.
And the basilisk in front of him, though bleeding from the neck, just bared its teeth and charged again.
Beck leaped forward and slashed the basilisk across the face, then spread his wings, hoping to get a moment in the air to position himself better before trying to face the emboldened beast.
Then, again, Beck heard the sound of nearly noiseless wings disguised by the rain above him. He looked up, still barely hovering above the basilisk, at the same time as a grey and blue shape with wings appeared from the thick clouds high above and sped downward. It was so unexpected Beck didn’t have time to dodge as it flew past him, hitting one of his wings with its tail and sending Beck falling to the earth with a crash.
As it disappeared into the clouds again, he heard a loud, familiar, eerie laugh that seemed to reverberate through the clouds above him, making the sound seem as if it were coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.
TJ’s dragon.
Apparently, the bastard didn’t believe in fair fighting.
Then again, if what Beck had heard back in the house was true, unfair fighting was the least of this bastard’s sins right now.
Beck got up, shaking himself off as the laughing continued.
“Having fun, loser?”
“Fuck you,” was all Beck had time to respond with before the basilisk appeared at his side, rushing at him with bloodlust in its eyes. Beck blew more fire, but it didn’t stop the monster’s warpath as its horns connected with his side. He barely deflected one of the long, jagged, telephone-pole-length points just barely with his wing, but the other pierced his side deep, making pain so powerful it nearly knocked the wind out of him, shaking him to his core.
Beck lunged for the basilisk’s neck, and it thankfully pulled away. He needed space, a second to fight either TJ or the basilisk, because taking both at one time was getting worse by the moment.
He heard TJ diving toward him this time, even as the rain dragon’s hide made him nearly impossible to make out amongst the clouds. He swung his tail, but TJ just spun to the side, much smaller and more agile than Beck’s mountain dragon would ever be.
“Keep trying. You’ll never catch up to me. You’ll always be one step behind,” TJ called down to him with glee.
Then there was a heavy thunk sound as something sharp and long pierced Beck’s shoulder, and with shock, he realized that while he’d been trying to fight off TJ, the basilisk had gotten a clear shot.
He stumbled back, using one claw to rip the spike out of his side, sending blood gushing down his dragon arm. All the better, there would be less poison that way, even if he was risking bleeding out.
The basilisk’s eyes narrowed, and if Beck wasn’t mistaken, it almost had a smile across its horrible face as it strode toward him with murderous intent. In the clouds, he could hear TJ still laughing, hidden amongst the thick black billows above.
This was bad. He looked over to see Sierra standing in front of her house, soaked to the bone, watching with horror as Beck put himself between her and the basilisk.
But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t shake the things TJ had told him. Couldn’t ignore a lifetime of betrayal that had led Beck to believe that he had been the monster all along, not someone else.
Deep inside, he knew he was still holding back. After so much time being at odds with his dragon, it was hard to not do so.
If he went all out, if he really accessed the monster inside him, Beck feared he wouldn’t be able to control what happened, even though in his heart, he knew he could never do his mate ill, not for any reason, not for a million years.
But as the basilisk advanced and TJ’s laughter got louder and closer, Beck braced himself for the worst, ready to fight to the end.
He said he’d die defending his mate.
Maybe he really would.
23
Sierra was shaking from head to toe as she watched the terrifying, gargantuan fight before her.
But in spite of the rain, the elements, and the ground shaking like the earth was going to split in two at any moment, she wasn’t going to run from Beck’s side no matter what.
She was grateful that TJ wasn’t touching her anymore. But now the coward was attacking Beck in the back while he had to fight that colossal… thing that had sprouted from the ground like some horned, spiked daisy out for murder.
Sierra frowned, noting the blood covering Beck’s hide, the way he was limping on one leg. The basilisk seemed to note this, and it was taking its time closing in for the kill. Either out of hesitation or desire to enjoy itself, she had no clue.
“You have no idea how much fun I’m having right now.” TJ appeared, ducking out of the clouds before spreading his wings and flying back up into them again. The rain was still pouring, but she didn’t care.
Her whole world was fighting for his life right now. And even though she wished she could turn into some big beast and join his side, she was just human.
But that didn’t mean she had to stand back and simply let Beck take a beating from a backstabber like TJ. Someone who had been pretending to be Beck’s friend while breaking him down his entire life and making him feel guilty for something that was never his fault.
“Don’t listen to that butthead, Beck!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, praying he could hear her over the rain.
Beck glanced over at her, worry in his beautiful silver eyes. His dragon was so cool, so big, the colors of granite and sandstone glittering across his scales. She wished she had more time to tell him that, tell him all the things she wanted to say since their argument, but she couldn’t.
“You know why that guy hates you?” She cupped her hands to her mouth even as the wind blew so hard it nearly bowled her over. “Because you’re powerful. Because you’re strong. So much stronger than he’ll ever be.”
“Shut up and watch while I bury this fool once and for all, pathetic human.” TJ’s voice was unhinged, but he stayed concealed in the clouds, probably waiting for the basilisk to attack so he could hit Beck in the back like a bully.
But she didn’t stop even though forces much older, much stronger, much deadlier surrounded her on all sides. “You see? He wants you to be afraid of your power and not use it. Because he knows he could never win in a fair fight. So he’s had to cheat all these years. Lied to your face and made you feel like you didn’t have control when you really did.”
The basilisk’s red eyes darted between the sky, Beck, and her, pausing as if confused by all the sudden talking. But even though the thing was clearly a horrible beast that had no business walking the face of the earth, Sierra wondered if there wasn’t something almost human about the way it looked down at her.
Lightning cracked, close enough the rumble of it shook her to her toes, but she didn’t back down from a fight. It was something her grandpa had always taught her, and it was a lesson she didn’t aim to forget, especially now.
“You can win. You can beat him. And not just because you’re a mountain dragon—which honestly sounds like the coolest dragon in the world—but because you’re all the things he isn’t, Beck.”