Air responded, slower than usual due to pure exhaustion, but it was enough to slow our fall. My arms wrapped around her, cushioning the ground as we slammed into it.
"Omph," she groaned, rolling off me and grasping her ribs. "Fuck's sake, that's not a fun way to break a barrier."
"We broke it at least." Jessa coughed as she pulled herself to her feet. "And the dragon is not too happy about it."
He wasn't.
Flying miles above our heads, focused on his task of neutralizing the ley line, up until this moment it hadn’t been clear if he knew what we were doing. But he damn well knew now.
Tyson got a magical shield up in time to ward off the blast of fire that was zooming toward us. The heat was intense, but none of us got fried.
"We're going to shift," Braxton shouted, and I used the wind to wrap around our mates, acting as invisible hands of power, lifting them up and away from us.
All of them screamed in protest, but four dragons shifting next to them was a recipe for squashed supe.You ready, buddy?
He surged up, through my exhausted energy and the niggling pain in my chest at the loss of the brother-bond. My beast mourned it as well, but there was no hesitation as he rose to the surface, desperate to be free.
There was a sense of a simpler life when one shed the supernatural and embraced the dragon. As my body shattered, my soul grew larger to encompass the giant beast. The first flap of wings sent a rush of adrenaline through me, and even though my magic had been greatly depleted, I no longer felt slow or tired.
Dragon empowerment gave me the strength I needed to take this fucking beast on.
We need to attack from the four points of the Compass,Tyson said. Our namesake came in handy for attack scenarios. It was how we trained, and the way we worked best together.
We just had to hope this time we had enough strength to take on the full force of this dragon.
"Destroying the shield hurt him," Louis shouted from below us as we started to rise. "He's vulnerable now. Don't let him build any more power from the line. You have to cut him off…"
His voice faded as we ascended, but we’d heard enough. Cutting this dragon off from the line was our only hope.
36
Justice Winter
Iwas surrounded by mythical creatures and one of them happened to be my mate. This wasn’t the first time I'd seen them in action like this, four dragons that moved almost in sync. It was the first time I got front row seats to a dragon on dragon fight though.
The ocher beast that had started all of this was no larger than the Compass's dragons, but it did have all that power it had stolen, making it beyond lethal. The roars from above were loud enough to hurt my ears, and I wondered if a dragon bellow could shatter an eardrum if it was close enough.
"They're so fucking far above us," Jessa said, shielding her eyes as she tilted her head back to watch. "And that bastard is not holding back at all."
It was firing powerful flames at our boys, clawing them, and using its power to hold them back. Despite the four of them coming in from different sides, surrounding the beast, it managed to maneuver to safety every time.
"The ley line power is too strong," Louis said, and I was hugely relieved to see he looked fit and healthy again. “The shield took too much of our energy.”
He wasn’t kidding; I couldn't even feel the jewels for the first time since I bonded to them.
"How do we cut the connections?" Jessa asked, looking around like she might find the answer in the rocky red landscape. "There's always a connection, even if it's invisible to the eye."
Tee must have been thinking the same thing. "It's the line of death," she said softly, her hands resting on her mate's arm as her gaze spanned the bodies. "They were the trigger for the initial power to kickstart his ley line spell, and I think if we use them against him, we might be able to reject his hold on the line."
Louis looked at her, his eyes widening. "Are you suggesting…?"
She nodded. "Yep. That's exactly what I'm suggesting."
Angry dragons roared above, the sky awash with flames. We held our breath, only releasing them once we saw the four Compasses all alive and well, battling it out against the creature once more.
"What are you two talking about?" Jessa snapped, turning on Louis and Tee. "About the dead and turning the power back on him."
"We need to make some zombies," Tee added in a rush. "He should have burned the bodies, because they're a vulnerable point for him … in a way. Thankfully for us, he didn't, and we can now do what must be done to defeat him."
