Once Gabriel waved Nathaniel forward, together they soared to the veranda and into the palace. Through a spray of blood and clashing metal, Colin noted that one guardsman paused to take notice and then pulled a Paragonian grenade from his belt.
Ransom.Colin dove forward as the grenade left his hand. He had to stop it from reaching Gabriel. He was too far away, but if he threw his weapon…
Magic rattled down his body. He’d stopped the grenade from reaching Gabriel and Nathaniel, but it had detonated when his sword had collided with it. Colin landed on his back on the ground, his muscles twitching.
Ransom swaggered to his side, a shit-eating grin on his face. He flicked Colin’s fallen sword away with the toe of his boot. “You won’t be needing that.”
Colin couldn’t see where he’d kicked the weapon, couldn’t turn his head, but considering Ransom’s dragon strength, it was likely clear across the field of battle. That’s what he’d have done if things were reversed. How he wished things were reversed.
Paragonian grenades scrambled the nervous system. Colin’s breath halted in his throat, and his eyelids froze open. He was completely at the younger dragon’s mercy.
Sneering down at him, Ransom delivered a kick to his side. Bones crunched. Pain rocketed through him. “Fucking brat. Why couldn’t you just fall in line?”
So, this is how it ends,Colin thought, surprised his mind was clear despite his body disobeying his every command. Ransom lifted his sword, his aim focused on Colin’s neck. There would be no mercy from the captain of the guard.
The strangest part was that Colin was ready. Maybe it was even a blessing, considering he was a dragon rejected by his mate. His only regret was that he would not be the one to save Leena. He’d have to leave her protection to Gabriel. It would be all right if his blood spilled out on this field. An honorable death.
Metal flashed behind Ransom, and if Colin could have smiled, he would have. The massive club of a faceless metal machine, an animus from Rogos, connected with Ransom’s gut. Colin heard an “oomph” escape Ransom’s lungs, and then the captain and his sword went flying.
Unable to move, Colin watched as the metal giant stepped right over him. The whir and clank of working gears filling his ears for one tense moment, and then the machine was gone
Gaaaasp.Air filled his lungs in a rush. The effects of the grenade were finally wearing off. He rolled over, got to his feet, and assessed his surroundings. The good news was the animus had cleared the general vicinity of any would-be attackers. The bad news was, as he’d expected, his sword was gone, and Ransom had recovered from the blow and was flying into the veranda, no doubt going after Gabriel and Nathaniel.
Colin’s wings snapped out, and he took to the sky, putting every ounce of his significant weight behind his forward momentum. He became a freight train, or as powerful as one anyway, and slammed Ransom from behind. Their bodies tumbled over the shattered mosaic on the veranda and crashed through the doors to the great mountain hall, sending wood and stone flying.
“You and the others will never succeed,” Ransom said.
Colin was relieved to see the other male had lost his sword when the animus hit him, but dragons didn’t need weapons to be deadly.
Ransom’s wings snapped out, their terrible hooked claws high above his shoulders, ready to draw blood. “You have no idea how powerful she is.”
“And you overestimate her,” Colin snapped. “Look at the palace grounds! Half of Paragon is attacking the other half. Rogos and Darnuith are closing in. If the elves and witches don’t secure this palace before nightfall, Nochtbend will be at your door. We are winning this war.”
Dark thoughts transformed Ransom’s normally handsome features into something truly ugly. “Eleanor will turn you all to dust.”
“I don’t want to have to kill you, Ransom,” Colin said, sinking into a fighting stance. “She’s used you. She’s got her hooks in you still. But if you surrender now, I promise you I’ll do my best to give you a chance at a better life. You’ll have a fair trial. You might have a future.”
He scoffed. “I have no future without Eleanor.” The way he said it held a note of darkness, as if he were some kind of windup toy that only Eleanor could crank.
“What have you done to yourself?” Colin mumbled.
Through bared teeth, the younger dragon hissed. “Made myself into something that can kill you.”
He attacked head on, those talons at the highpoint of his wings locking on to Colin’s. Ransom connected with his right. Colin kneed him in the gut and tore through the other dragon’s chest, drawing blood. He blocked Ransom’s counterattack.
Ransom was younger and faster, but he’d had less experience in the pits. Which was why Colin was surprised when the dragon landed a stabbing blow in Colin’s side. Colin buckled but managed to stagger back, tearing Ransom’s talons from his flesh and putting space between them.
“Surprising, isn’t it?” Ransom laughed. “You and your brothers always underestimated me. Do you even remember fighting me in the pits? All of us were forced to lose to you pampered idiots. Not anymore. She’s made me faster. Made me stronger. She’ll make me king.”
Colin laughed, dodging Ransom’s blows to give the wound in his side time to heal. He didn’t remember Ransom from back then, but those years in the pits had been a blur of bloody noses, blackened eyes, and broken bones. Still, it was clear that Ransom remembered Colin, and maybe that was the key.
“Sure, I remember you. You were the one with the tiny dick,” Colin said through a sneer.
“Big enough to fuck your mother.” Ransom hissed and attacked.
Colin faked a punch, dropped like a rock, and delivered a cross jab, talons sprouting from his knuckles. He sliced under Ransom’s ribs and used the dragon’s momentum to throw him over his head. Ransom somersaulted, his blood spilling on the obsidian.
Ransom didn’t wait for his wound to heal as Colin had but attacked immediately. Rookie mistake. Colin took advantage of the younger dragon’s instincts to guard the wound, blocking his uppercut and connecting with an elbow under Ransom’s chin. Using his wings to lever his body, Colin brought both fists down on the back of Ransom’s neck like a hammer, eliciting a curse from the younger dragon.
