A noise of panic escapes my throat as a battle becomes visible on the ground up ahead. Instead of dragons clashing in the air, men and women in orange dragon scale armor are now fighting a mass of soldiers in silver armor. On the grass in the middle of the battle, injured dragon shifters in black, purple, and blue armor as well as fae from both our courts try to drag themselves out of harm’s way.
Draven lets out a roar.
“Azaroth’s fucking flame,”he growls in my mind.“They snuck a ground force around the back.”He lets out a frustrated snarl.“And now, we can’t fight them in dragon form without the risk of killing our own injured people. I need to shift. Get ready.”
I draw in a deep breath and flex my fingers before checking the knife in my thigh holster.“Ready.”
He swings his head towards Lyra, who growls in response,while they swoop down towards the panicked battlefield. My stomach lurches at the steep dive. I glance over at Alistair. He gives me a nod.
Black smoke explodes through the air.
And Draven disappears from underneath me.
I suck in a sharp breath between my teeth as I suddenly plummet towards the ground. Then a pair of strong arms appear underneath me, catching me. I draw air back into my lungs as Draven becomes visible right next to me. Holding me in his arms, he speeds us towards the ground.
His boots hit the grass with a thud, and he sets me down and draws the massive sword strapped to his spine in one fluid motion. I stumble slightly but quickly try to straighten again. I’ve used up a lot of magic in a very short time. I don’t have a lot left for this battle.
As if he could read all of that on my face, which he probably could, Draven locks eyes with me while Lyra and Alistair land next to us as well.
“While your magic recovers, can you get our wounded out of the way?” Draven asks.
I nod, grateful that he knows exactly what I need right now.
“Good.” He flicks a glance at Lyra and Alistair. “Rin is getting swarmed. We need to get her out.”
Fire rushes down Alistair’s arms while Lyra yanks out a sword and spins it in her hand.
“Let’s go,” they say in unison.
Draven sends a burst of wind magic around us, clearing the black smoke.
Then we rush forward. Draven and the others plow into the panicked battle. Swords flash and fire roars as the three of them start fighting their way through the mass of Silver Clan soldiers who are surrounding Rin and her people. I dart towards the nearest wounded ally. A dragon shifter in blue armor, which nowhas deep holes through it. She lets out a sigh of relief as I grab her wrist and start pulling her away from the trampling feet and clashing swords.
“They snuck through the forest,” she croaks. “And attacked right where all of us were waiting for Tanaka to heal us.”
I let out a curse under my breath. The dryads must not have arrived yet. If they were here, our enemies would never have been able to sneak through the forest unnoticed.
“She could have shifted into a dragon to fight back,” the woman continues as I pull her towards a thick bush that three other people are leaning against as well. “But she didn’t.”
“Because it would’ve put you all in danger,” I explain.
Shock flits across her face, and then she casts a long look towards the center of the battlefield where Rin and her people are fighting back-to-back in the middle of a massive ring of soldiers in silver armor.
Releasing the woman’s wrist, I leave her there by the bush and then run back towards the fray again.
A male fae with deep slashes across his thigh is trying to crawl away from a cluster of dragon shifters who are busy fighting some members of the Orange Clan. I dart towards him. But one of our enemies notices him. He casts a panicked look over his shoulder and tries to crawl faster. I pick up speed, charging towards him.
The Silver Clan soldier raises his sword. On the ground, the fae man cries out in panic.
I slam right into the soldier’s side.
Air explodes from his lungs, and from mine as well, as I tackle him with my full weight. He topples sideways and crashes down on the ground with me on top of him. I yank out the dagger from my thigh holster and ram it towards his face.
He twists to the side, kicking his knee up. Pain pulses through me as his knee smacks into my hip and throws me off him.Gripping the dagger tightly, I roll across the ground from the force of the hit. He leaps up from the grass, snatching up the sword he dropped in the process, and swings at me.
Alarm shoots up my spine.
There is no way I’ll have time to get to my feet as well, so instead, I push up only partway from the ground and dive towards his legs. His sword smacks into the grass where I used to be one second before I crash into his shins. Wrapping one arm around the back of his knees, I yank hard. It pulls his knees forward violently, making them buckle. While he’s still off balance, I press the advantage and shove my shoulder up into his stomach. He crashes down back-first on the ground while I’m already raising my knife.
