“Did it work?”Draven asks as he whirls around and shoots towards the enemies at the front line instead.
“Yes, Orion has the Soul of Trees,”I reply.
“You haven’t given it back to Lavendera?”
“We came straight here instead. I didn’t want to leave you fighting without me.”
“Thank you.”His voice is serious and full of emotion.“Because I really can’t do this without you.”
The words fill my soul with sparkling warmth. And at long last, I feel something settle deep inside me. Something I have been battling all my life.
I am not untrustworthy and unlikable.
I am not the weak link.
I am not a burden.
I am an asset.
I am powerful.
I am someone who my friends depend on.
I amenough.
With my soul now thrumming, I project a smile into Draven’s mind.“Then let’s go finish this.”
He lets out a roar in confirmation. With his own magic now boosted by mine through the union bond, he summons a massive lightning storm and shoots straight towards the rows of enemies ahead.
They jerk back slightly when they spot him. I immediately shove my own magic at the small sparks of fear that flare up in their chests. Animalistic screams tear from their throats as I increase those bone white flames with one massive push. The dragons flee in pure terror, crashing into the ranks behind them.
Draven roars and throws the flashing lightning storm right into the row of confused dragons.
They screech as the black clouds and crackling lightning bolts slam into them. I release the grip on the fleeing dragons and instead focus on the ones now caught in the storm. Shoving my magic at them, I increase their fear to mind-shattering levels while Draven crashes into their ranks.
He slashes his claws across a white dragon’s chest while sinking his jaws into the side of a red dragon. Cries of pain echo through the air, almost drowned out by the booming thunder. I shove my magic towards those violet flames, increasing them even more. The two dragons thrash in the air, trying to escape. Draven yanks his claws out of the first dragon’s chest and then rips his jaw away from the red dragon, tearing out a chunk of flesh in the process.
Blood gushes down the dragon’s side as it tumbles down through the air.
But the other dragons have recovered.
A whole host of them surge towards us from all sides. Lightning zaps through the air as Draven shoves his storm magic at the ones on the right while slashing with his claws at thedragons attacking from the left. I slam my magic into the bone white sparks of fear around us and force them into wildfires. Dragons screech and jerk back in terror, but far from all of them.
Ice flames shoot towards us from the left while two red dragons attack from the right. Draven rolls in the air to evade the ice flames, but that takes him within reach of the red dragons. Pain pulses through my thigh as one of them slashes its claws across Draven’s back leg.
Since the union bond is open, I feel the same pain that Draven feels.
I gasp, pressing my palm against the phantom wound before my brain can process that there is no physical injury there.
“Are you okay?”Draven asks in my mind.
“Yes,”I reply immediately.“You?”
“Yes. But they’re trying to swarm us. Can you handle the left?”
“Of course.”
My stomach flips as Draven rolls in the air again. Gripping the spikes hard, I press my thighs tighter against his scales while also whipping my head to the left. Three silver dragons and two white dragons shoot out through the black storm clouds and straight towards us while six red dragons do the same on the right. Draven swings his body towards the right and opens his jaws, trusting me to handle the dragons on the left.
