“I thought you preferred me gagged?”
She lets out a frustrated sigh while I suppress a chuckle. Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, I find Isera pinching the bridge of her nose and Orion watching her with a sly smile on his lips.
“Iam the only one who gets to kill you,” she growls. “Remember that, pretty boy. So make sure you stay alive. Or Malachi is going to have one hell of a fight on his hands when I come to drag you back from the afterlife just so that I can kill you myself.”
“Ah, death threats,” Orion says, that smirk still in his tone. “You really are a true romantic, aren’t you, little viper?”
A low snarl rips from Isera’s throat.
However, before anyone can say anything else, we reach the mountain range.
My stomach lurches as Lyra suddenly beats her wings hard and soars upwards towards the top of the mountains. Tightening my grip on Alistair’s waist, I hold on firmly so that I won’t slide backwards because of the steep angle. Isera does the same behind me.
Then we crest the mountain range, and my stomach drops like a stone again.
Dragons fill the sky.
Black, blue, and purple dragons with fae seated on their backs are fighting together in formation, desperately trying to push forward through the ranks of enemies before them. Orange dragons are scattered among the fray as well, but most of them are guarding a stretch of ground at the back where a woman in orange dragon scale armor is standing on the grass. Rin Tanaka. Her black hair flutters behind her as she uses her healing magic on the rows of people lying on the ground.
On the other side, a huge army of silver, red, and white dragons is spread out in the air above the grasslands and forests. A massive silver dragon is hovering at the back of that army. Empress Jessina Iceheart. I thought she would be leading thecharge, hellbent on getting revenge. But maybe seeing Bane die has made her fear the same fate. I also thought that she would fly straight to the battlefield with just her own clan. But she has managed to round up the Red Clan and the White Clan as well.
Alarm streaks through my veins like lightning while Lyra swoops down from the mountain range and heads straight for the front lines. This fight is going to be even worse than I was expecting.
Lyra lets out a roar.
A massive black dragon at the front swings his head around towards her.
My heart clenches at the sight of him.
Draven.
But before he can do anything else, a red dragon breaks through the chaos and shoots straight for Lyra. Draven roars.
Fire streams through the air as Alistair shoots a torrent straight at the red dragon. It screeches and is forced to swerve, which buys Lyra enough time to speed past. But it quickly takes up the chase.
“Get ready!” Alistair yells over the rushing winds and booming of dragon wings.
My stomach lurches again as Lyra suddenly surges up so that she is flying above most of the dragons instead. The red dragon behind her closes in quickly.
Releasing Alistair’s waist, I stand up on Lyra’s spine as she shoots through the air. My legs shake with apprehension, but I keep one hand on Alistair’s shoulder for support while Isera is throwing shards of ice at the red dragon chasing us. My pulse thrums as we draw closer to Draven with each second.
“Good luck!” I call to my friends.
Then I jump off Lyra’s back.
Air rushes in my ears as I free-fall through the sky for a few heart-pounding seconds.
Then I land on Draven’s spine with a thud that sends a joltthrough my very bones, but I ignore it and instead immediately open our union bond.
“That was reckless, little rebel,”Draven says into my mind as he swerves to avoid a white dragon while also lunging at the red dragon that is following Lyra.
I quickly sit down and grip the spikes on his neck hard while he twists his body to rake his claws along the belly of the red dragon. It screams in pain and wobbles in the air, buying Lyra enough time to speed towards Galen. While Orion jumps off Lyra’s back and lands on Galen’s instead, I summon my magic and shove it straight at the violet flame of pain in the red dragon’s chest. With a push, I blow it into an all-consuming wildfire.
“But very efficient,”I reply to Draven in my mind.
His rumbling laughter rolls through my head.
The red dragon screeches and throws its head from side to side while dropping towards the ground as my magic courses through its body.
