But Dorian saw his sword a few feet away. He crawled. He forced his muscles to move.
Saliva dribbled from the beast onto his pants. A low growl vibrated in Dorian's ears as the blood continued to cough up his throat.
Dorian wasn't sure he would make it to the blade. He could see it, but it seemed so far away.
He kept moving. He kept gasping for breath.
The bear shoved the sword away.
A tremble took over Dorian's body as he stilled on his stomach.
This was it.
The beast's breath was warm on his chilled neck. Dorian closed his eyes as tears jerked down his frozen face.
"I'm sorry, Nyssa," he whispered to himself.
A roar sounded above him. Its paw pressed to his back, and Dorian cried out as its weight settled on his shoulder.
Something sharp brushed his ankle.
Corbin's dagger.
Using the last bit of fight he had in him, Dorian reached for the blade he'd forgotten about. The beast's weight shifted as it moved to devour him.
Dorian whirled to his back.
The blade sliced clean through the beast's neck.
Blood spilled, and darkness swelled over him.
Silence rang in his ears.
The beast collapsed atop him.
Dorian wasn't sure he was still alive.
The taste of blood stilled on his open mouth.
The beast’s weight crushed Dorian's body into the mud. Using the little strength he had left, he allowed his body to shudder and swell. He pushed his form to the surface with a great shout, his arms moving and shoving at the beast.
It rolled off him, body aflame. Chest heaving, Dorian forced himself to his stomach, every movement making him grunt. His form entirely consumed him as he pressed to his knees.
And with his last bit of strength, he stood to his feet. Hand wrapped around the hilt of the dagger, he screamed. Shoulders rounding, muscles reaching, and fire bellowing—
The Fire Prince exhaled all that was left in him.
His fire pulsed the yard and caught the walls. He should have cared that he was demolishing their stadium, but he didn't. He'd nearly died. He'd nearlyfailed.
He wanted them to remember it.
As his voice vanished, so did his balance.
He fell into a heap of fiery muscle and blood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
DORIAN SETTLED INTO the great pool within the Temple that Hagen had been nice enough to let him use. Bruises cascaded up and down his body, with scratches and scrapes from the ground and beast. Despite his own flame, he continued to be chilled to his bones. So much so that when he sank beneath the water, he morphed into his form just to keep from freezing.
