A shadow in my periphery made my head snap around and a gasp got caged in my throat as I spotted the Shadow Princess rising up on a tower of swirling shadow, hunting for prey.
“Land,” I hissed at Tyler and he dropped from the sky like a stone, his hooves hitting the ground in The Wailing Wood and I prayed she hadn’t seen us.
I slipped from his back, gazing up through the trees and pressing a finger to my lips as shadows rippled across the sky and she sailed upon it like the wings of death. Tyler pressed closer to me as we hugged the darkness beneath the trees, and I held my breath as she floated by overhead.
“Shift,” I whispered to Tyler and he did so, pulling on his clothes as I passed them to him and running a hand through his hair.
“What the fuck’s going on?” he hissed as he cast a silencing bubble around us.
“My father’s decided our herd are traitors. He came here to kill you all,” I said, my throat desperately dry. “We have to get Sofia out of here.”
Tyler nodded seriously, pointing off through the trees. “She’s in detention in Jupiter Hall with Highspell.”
“Fuck,” I cursed. “That bitch will hand her straight over to him.”
Tyler took his Atlas out, shooting Sofia a text and I leaned over his shoulder to see what he wrote.
Tyler:
Lionel’s here. I’m coming to get you.
Sofia:
Highspell locked me in Orion’s office. I’m trying to get the door open.
Tyler:
Hang tight, baby.
He stuffed his Atlas back in his pocket and took off through the trees. I kept pace with him, our arms rubbing as our united cause set a fire burning in my veins.
The roar and crash of the Dragon fight above echoed further away in the distance and I prayed my brother was strong enough to hold him off a little longer.
Tyler cast concealment spells around us and I aided him as best I could with my limited magical knowledge, but between Darius and Orion’s lessons, I was getting better and better at them, at least enough to keep the shadows hugging us as we moved and I just had to hope that would be enough.
I roared furiously as I wheeled through the air, swinging around to meet my father in a clash of claws and hatred as I snapped my jaws and lunged for his throat, fully giving in to the power of the beast which shared my flesh.
Father bellowed a challenge right back as he rushed to meet me, beating his jade green wings hard as he came at me with the claws of his front feet extended towards me, making my eyes widen in surprise as I took in the shadow foot he had in place of the one Roxy had cut from his body.
I snarled ferociously, hating the fact that he’d clearly found a way around the loss, though I still loved the sight of the damage Roxy had done to him. He seemed more hesitant to use his new limb and I used that hesitation to my advantage as I swept left, snapping my wings in tight against my body and diving at his flank fast, my teeth locking on the spine of his wing as we collided.
Lionel roared in pain as I ripped into his wing with my powerful jaws, his blood running hot and fast across my tongue and making the beast in me bellow with thoughts of victory as we plummeted towards the ground.
His teeth sank into my rear leg as I continued to tear at his wing and I kicked out hard, my claws raking down his chest and splitting the green scales which lined his body, spilling blood which fell to the treetops beneath us just before we slammed into them.
We crashed through the canopy, his body taking the brunt of the hit as I remained on top of him and I kicked again, managing to dislodge his teeth from my skin just as we hit the ground.
A tremendous boom sounded throughout the woodland we’d landed in and several trees were sent crashing to the dirt as we continued to fight with teeth and claws and I managed to plant my feet against his side. I reared back, his wing still clamped in my jaws and a roar of pain blossomed from his lips as I tore at the limb, damn near ripping it free of his back as I used all of my strength to destroy it.
My father shifted before I could finish the task, his much smaller Fae body falling between my claws before I could crush him beneath my foot as blood poured down his back and he escaped the destruction I would have wreaked on his Dragon.
I twisted my head fast, roaring at him as he used his air magic to sweep himself away from me and I sent the full force of my Dragon fire tearing after him.
He threw his hands up with a yell of defiance, shielding himself from the power of my attack and forcing me to shift too as he threw a spear of shadow and fire racing for my heart.
I landed on my feet and threw a dome of ice up before me, blasting water at him and gritting my teeth as his attack struck my shield.