Chapter Thirty-Seven
Draco
I heard the battle cries, the grunting, and shrieks of pain.
It didn’t have to be like this.
People were going to die, and I didn’t know how to stop it. I pleaded with Dorian, and now the only option I see to end this is to end him. Cut off the head of the snake. The body will wiggle around for a bit, but then it will die.
We fought, both of us taking hits, blood coating our teeth from punches to the face.
Sometimes he would let me land a painful blow, as if he wanted it. Not once did he touch his sword to fight me, even though it was there, ready and waiting to slice me. As if he liked the pain of my fists.
I couldn’t die, and while I would grow weary, the energy would come back to me quickly. He was still riding on sunlight, which would last him for days or until he gave it back to earth.
This Dorian was different than our last fight, when he almost died. He was focused and lethal, moving faster, anticipating moves either from watching me or seeing the future in his head. We could keep this going for days.
I looked around for something that could help me.
“You wanna make things more interesting?” He took a step back and flashed away. Moments later he was back and throwing a sword at me, aiming straight for my chest. I moved quickly out of the trajectory and then caught it as it tried to go past me.
“So fast,” he mocked and then reached above his head, wrapping his fingers slowly around the hilt, pulling his sword up and back around to his front.
Swords.
A true warrior’s weapon.
We would fight like ancient Greeks until the death, it seemed. Although it was obvious Dorian had trained after our original ancient time, I’d been brought up to fight since I could stand.
This was a battle he would not win.
I didn’t say a word as I raised my sword into position, taking deep breaths to calm and focus my mind. But then I heard a female cry out in agony, follow by a bellow of rage.
I wanted to look, to make sure it wasn’t one of my own, but Dorian took my momentary loss of attention and attacked first.
I vaguely heard Rose’s cry of sadness, but I knew she was alive. She was strong, but one of ours was hurt.
His sword clashed with mine, hard and loud.
He was done letting me get in free hits so he could feel the pain. This moment with steel was personal, and his rage was fueling him. He was all precision and skill as he was on the offense.
The whole area had become a war zone, and as we moved around the street, I saw the others in my peripheral vision, and my heart stopped.
Leon and Lilith were in the grass, lying together in each other’s arms, dead.
Pure, undiluted anger poured into my veins.
Dorian saw them and smirked. That smirk would be his undoing.
He came at me, and I pushed him back, moving quickly on my feet at the attacker now. He dodged and blocked my attacks, and while he had many years of practice and skill, I had years of experience.
Feeling like an asshole, I taunted him with my technique.
Pieces of building fell around us, and we were forced to separate or be crushed under the rubble. I had taken a moment to glance at my comrades when I saw movement coming. I didn’t care about Dorian, or anything else, as I took off into a sprint. All that mattered was stopping what I knew would be the end.
But I wasn’t fast enough.
My arms wrapped around her soft body, falling to the ground.
