A warm smile shines on Draven’s face as he watches his two friends beam and flutter their wings. But before he can say anything, someone else does.
“Not to ruin the festive mood,” Orion says before turning to Draven. “But aren’t you supposed to be in the Seelie Court in a few hours? Finding appropriate people in my court to bond your clan is going to take a lot longer than that.”
Draven rakes a hand through his hair and then nods.
While they begin discussing how to organize this meeting between selected members of the Unseelie Court and the rest of Draven’s clan, my mind once again drifts back to a problem that I have been pondering for a while now.
Due to the Great Games and the different factions who compete in them every month, the Unseelie Court is filled withskilled magic users who are ready for a fight. The Seelie Court, however, is not.
Our court mostly consists of fearful people who are weak from a lack of food or lost in alcohol. They have been beaten down so thoroughly for centuries that most of them would never dare to stand against a dragon shifter.
So how in Mabona’s name are we going to convince them to bond a dragon and go to war with us?
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Dread rolls through my stomach as we fly straight towards the wards that now surround the Seelie Court. My entire soul recoils at the thought of being in this city again. It’s not the Seelie Court in itself. I don’t hate our realm. Just this city. It holds too many awful memories that I would rather forget.
I don’t want to see this city where I was treated like crap all my life. I don’t want to remember how weak and pathetic I used to be when I lived here. I don’t want to look at the now empty house where my parents used to live or the Golden Palace where they died. It makes pain claw at my chest, which in turn just makes me want to use my magic even more. I grit my teeth, trying to block it all out.
Winds wash over us as we speed across the thorn forest and close the final distance to the city. We had to leave the rest of Draven’s clan in the Unseelie Court so that they could also find fae to bond. But the Orange, Purple, and Blue Clan are flanking us in full force as we descend on the Seelie Court.
Inside the wards, chaos erupts. People rush through the streets, heading towards the dragon field. Since they are completely isolated in here, they have no idea what has happenedoutside the thorn forest this past year. They just see dragons coming and rush out to greet them like we have been ordered to do our entire lives.
When we reach the edge of the wards, I speak the correct passphrase and we all just fly right through them. Since there is nowhere to land outside the wards, I told Severin Godblessed to give me a way to shut down the part of the wards that block the shifters from taking dragon form inside them. That way, we can fly all the way to the open dragon field instead of crashing down into the thorn forest the moment we enter the wards.
Booms echo across the Seelie Court as Draven and the other dragons land one after the other on the open space outside the city walls. The fae from our court stare up at me, Alistair, Isera, and Orion, who are all seated on Draven’s, Lyra’s, and Galen’s backs. Shock and fear pulses through the air around them like a living, breathing thing as they gape at us.
After surveying the stunned crowd, we dismount and slide down to the ground.
Black smoke rolls through the air as all the dragons shift into their human forms so that the others behind them can have space to land as well. Once the smoke has blown clear, it reveals an army of people in dragon scale armor. And four fae at the front.
Dead silence falls over the grasslands.
The fae before us just stand there and stare at us while fear and confusion fight like wolves on their features. Behind us, the setting sun casts dark red light over the landscape, painting the grass the color of blood.
For a few more seconds, everything is still and quiet.
Then a man close to the front rips off his cloak and rushes forward.
“Traitor!” he screams as he yanks out a knife and lunges for Draven.
The moment his cloak is no longer covering his face, his non-pointed ears and one-colored eyes become visible, clearlymarking him as a dragon shifter. He must be one of the people from the Red Clan who got trapped here when I forced Severin to raise the wards.
Next to me, Draven draws his massive sword while I summon a flame of fear. I slam it into the dragon shifter’s chest right before he reaches Draven. Terror explodes across his features as my magic hits. Pleasure thrums through me while the attacker jerks backwards in fear. But it’s already too late.
With a powerful swing, Draven cuts the man’s head clean off his shoulders.
Cries of shock erupt from the gathered fae.
The shifter’s head tumbles down from his shoulders and hits the ground at the same time as the rest of his body crumples to the grass as well. Blood spreads out around it.
Someone in the crowd throws up. Loudly.
The moment he died, my magic cut off. But I immediately summon another white flame of fear in case there are other attackers. Next to me, Draven just casually rests his massive sword on his shoulder and spreads his black wings wider.
“Anyone else?” he demands.
Whimpers ripple through the crowd of gathered fae as everyone shrinks back.
