A roar of challenge escaped me and father whipped his head sideways, a scream of pain escaping Xavier as the Dragon who had sired him tore his beautiful lilac wing from his back with the movement, blood and feathers flying through the small space which divided us, the wing landing with the other one which he had already severed.
I dove hard and collided with him.
My bones rattled as I sent him crashing away from my brother who lay bleeding and broken in the dirt, and the pain in my heart bled into a fury unlike anything I’d ever felt before as I swore one thing to myself which I was determined to follow through on, no matter the cost.
Lionel Acrux would die tonight, and I would be the one painting the world crimson with his blood.
A sh and blood speckled my cheeks as I fought on the ground beside Orion, back to back as we were accosted by a ring of Nymphs.
Fire scored out from my hands in a blaze of death, taking down three of them at once and darkness curtained my vision for a moment as I stumbled forward.
A Nymph’s probed hand slammed into me, knocking me onto the ground but suddenly my mate was there driving his sword deep into its chest with a roar of anger that shook the foundations of my being.
I regained my feet fast, drawing on the power within me as fire weaved along my blood and begged for the death of my enemies. I blasted a Nymph to my right as Orion finished off another and he shot to my side, his breaths coming heavily.
We found ourselves among the rebels in a moment of reprieve as we healed ourselves of aching limbs and any wounds we’d gained in our last fights. I’d dropped my sword at some point and I ran over to pick it up where it was lodged in the ground, caked in mud and the blackish blood of Nymphs.
Orion spun his own sword in his hand, a knife in his other as he prepared to charge back into the battle and we shared a look that sent a shiver to the edges of my flesh. I flexed my fingers, magic tingling in them once more as the rattle of Nymphs died away around us, the delightful sound of their deaths filling my ears.
“Ready, beautiful?” he asked.
“Let’s make them scream,” I said just as a grey Dragon swooped overhead. Its jaws widened as it unleashed a line of hellfire down on us and the surrounding crowd, making my heart stall.
I acted fast, raising a hand and guttering the flames with air magic, a scream of defiance leaving me as I stole the air from the beast’s lungs too, cutting off its ferocious roar.
Then I sheathed my sword and raised my other hand, wielding the air around the Dragon, taking control of its enormous body and pulling it from the sky with my muscles tense and burning, sending it slamming down into a pond beyond the fight and letting go of it.
The Dragon skidded through the water, droplets spraying up everywhere as it thrashed, but I held onto the air in its lungs, stealing it all away as fury burned a path up my spine as it panicked and kicked.
My power suddenly locked down inside me and I gasped, my knees buckling and a ringing sounded in my ears.
I was half aware I was on the ground, my hands sinking into the mud while the din of the battle droned on around me.
“Darcy,” Orion gasped, grabbing onto me and drawing me back to my feet.
A quake ran through my body and I clung to him as I fought back the cloying darkness seeming to rise within me. But as I latched onto the shining silver rings in his eyes, my strength returned to me in a rush and I gripped his arms tighter, grounding myself in this moment.
“What happened?” he demanded, and I realised he’d cast a solid air shield around us, buying us a moment from the battle.
“Nothing,” I said, needing to get back to the fight.
“Don’t lie to me, mate of mine,” he snarled, seeing right through me as he gripped my face in his palm.
“Alright, I’m not sure,” I admitted. “It felt kind of like…” I looked to Lavinia who stood on a tower of darkness beyond the endless line of Nymphs, my upper lip curling back. “It felt like her,” I spat. “I want to get to her, Lance. I want her to burn in my fire.”
He looked over his shoulder towards her, hatred twisting through his eyes as he bared his fangs. “I’d like to see that myself, Blue,” he said darkly.
“Then let’s move.” I let go of him and he dropped the air shield, forging my way through the rebels as Orion moved at my back, his sword raised as we set Lavinia in our sights.
Darius was in a furious fight with Lionel, the huge forms of the two of them colliding in the air and my breath caught as I pointed him out to Orion.
“Darius is here,” I called over the clamour of the battle, praying he could win the fight with his father.