S eth howled as he ran, his hands cupped around his mouth and the sound making adrenaline spill through my core as I raced back and forth alongside him, casting more and more illusions of people running from the ruins of the Nebular Inquisition Centre as I prayed to the moon that Max, Xavier and the others had managed to get the real prisoners away.
“Long live the rebellion!” Seth yelled, a laugh tumbling from his throat as Lionel roared so loudly the earth rumbled beneath our feet.
The jade green Dragon released a powerful stream of Dragon fire in our direction and I shot towards Seth as it was directed his way, catching his hand and lending him my magic as he threw a powerful air shield up at our backs, shielding our false crowd of escapees as well to maintain the illusion.
The rush of his magic tumbling through my veins made me suck in a sharp breath as I felt the solid power of his earth magic along with the pure and wild freedom of his air.
Seth threw a grin my way as I kept hold of his hand and I pulled on the connected thread of our power and urged it my way instead. He followed my lead, pushing his power into me and the rush of it made me heady as I threw a hand out and blasted Lionel with the full force of my fire magic, hiding sharp arrowheads cast from stone within the flames as he rushed towards my attack without even trying to avoid it, believing his fireproof hide would be enough to protect him.
A furious roar burst from his lips as the arrowheads pierced the scales lining his face and I whooped in victory as my Phoenix blade was knocked free and I shot beneath his scaley belly, catching it before it could hit the ground.
I tugged Seth on, glancing back and finding blood dripping down the Dragon king’s face as he turned and wheeled away from us, charging across the night sky with a bellow of rage as I caught sight of the Nymph army taking chase after us.
My victory crow was short lived as I caught sight of the shadow bitch tearing through the sky behind him on a cloud of darkness, her hair and shadowy clothes whipping out around her and revealing her naked body in flashes of pale skin piece by piece. There was a black crown upon her head which seemed to seep darkness deeper than the night itself into the air surrounding her.
Her face was set in a furious mask, and I gritted my teeth as I drew on all the magic in my possession, holding it ready for an attack as she swooped closer.
I called fire to my fist once more, using the added might of Seth’s power to make it burn hotter and hotter and yanking him around to stand and face her as she flew closer.
“Let’s see her burn, Cal,” he growled, his tone all Wolf as he drove the power of his magic into me even harder and she swept straight for us.
Lavinia shrieked as she raised her hands too and I launched the fireball at her just as she threw her shadows at us.
The combination of the attacks collided with a tremendous boom, the shockwave slamming into us so hard that we were flung from our feet and tossed backwards into the air.
Seth kept hold of me as we were thrown away and he took hold of the air which surrounded us at the last moment, slowing our fall just enough for me to throw my hand out and command the ground to soften at our backs.
We hit it hard and bounced against the spongy texture of the soil, our hands wrenched apart by the impact as I was sent rolling away across the ground.
My concentration broke for a moment and the illusion of the escaping crowd flickered in and out of existence. It was only for a fraction of a second, but the roar of feral fury Lionel emitted was enough to let me know he’d seen it.
I cursed as I realised I’d fucked our entire plan, but before I could figure out how the hell we were going to keep the attention of our enemies now, Lavinia released a shriek of agony so loud that I swear the sky rattled from the force of it.
“Our Heir!” she screamed, shadows wrapping around her as she launched herself up and into the air, shooting towards Lionel and abandoning her fight with us like she’d forgotten it entirely.
I pushed to my feet and raced over to join Seth, offering him a hand and tugging him upright as Lionel turned his furious gaze our way once more. But as he beat his wings and bared his fangs at us, he suddenly jerked around, turning away again, his shadow claw held out before him like there was some invisible tether lashed to it which forced him to head after Lavinia instead of pursuing his fight with us.
“Oh my stars,” Seth breathed. “We just scared them away.”
Half a laugh tumbled from my lips as we watched our enemies retreating, Lionel roaring furiously as he flew away, but I didn’t get the impression that that was what had happened.
As Lionel made it to Lavinia’s side there was a flash of stardust and the two of them disappeared into the grip of the stars, the oppressive feeling of the shadows lifting as she disappeared and leaving me to draw in a ragged breath of relief.