But Galen, who knew exactly what his best friend was doing, was already moving before Draven’s lightning had even struck, and he shoots through the air underneath Jessina while Draven once again aims for her throat.
Severin and Hana crash down on Galen’s back, barely managing to grip his spikes. Jessina roars, but she is forced to twist and snap her teeth at Draven to stop him from tearing her throat out. Lyra swoops down around Galen, circling him and putting herself between him and the rest of our enemies.
“Call everyone back!” I bellow into the churning storm clouds and booming wings before snapping my gaze to the Unseelie King. “Orion?—”
“I’m on it,” he replies, already sprinting towards the edge of the wards.
Galen and Lyra shoot straight towards the wards while Jessina is still trying to get past Draven. He claws at her body, forcing her to change direction. Then he lets out a roar that reverberates across the entire landscape.
Purple, orange, and blue dragons immediately disengage from their enemies and start speeding towards the wards. Grey, who brought them all here through his portals, is already back across the border of the Unseelie Court. Sweat lines his brow as he collapses down by a tree and breathes deeply.
“Draven! I yell, my heart almost beating out of my chest.
He needs to make it back through the wards. Jessina has completely snapped. There is no telling what she will do now, and I don’t want my mate to be caught in her insanity.
Galen and Lyra reach the wards around the Unseelie Court at the same time as Orion does. Not hesitating a second, they trust the Unseelie King completely and swoop down so that they’re flying right above the grass as they speed across the border.
It lets them through.
Black smoke explodes into the air as the wards force them to shift back into their human forms.
Five figures hit the ground. The smoke swirls around them as Galen, Lyra, Alistair, Hana, and Severin slam into the grass and roll over and over with the force of the movement.
Our allies in the other dragon clans race towards the wards as well. But silver dragons are chasing them from behind. And Jessina is roaring and snapping and clawing at Draven with all her fury. My pulse pounds in my ears as I watch him dive and swerve while breathing fire at her and shooting bolts of lightning.
The blue, purple, and orange dragons draw closer.
Even in their dragon forms, I can see the hesitation on theirfaces. All of them slow down as they close the final distance, making the silver dragons almost catch up.
Draven roars at them with all the fury of a commander while slamming massive storm winds into Jessina from the side and then blocking her ice flames with his own fire.
The other dragons, used to obeying the Commander of the Dread Legion without question, immediately pick up speed and shoot towards the border again. The grass trembles in fear as they swoop down closer to the ground.
All of them look down at Orion as they reach the wards.
Most of them brace themselves for impact.
The impact never comes.
All purple, orange, and blue dragons soar right through the wards.
The black smoke that their forced shifts creates is so thick that it blocks both Draven and Jessina from view.
Panic clenches my heart.
Massive impacts hit the wards somewhere on the other side of the smoke.
“Draven!” I scream, my throat tasting like blood.
Jessina roars.
Then the smoke clears, and I find a host of silver dragons trying to straighten again after slamming right into the wards that they chased our allies towards.
My gaze snaps back and forth as I desperately search for Draven.
Outside the wards, Jessina screeches in fury again and shoots ice flames at the impenetrable wards over and over again. Draven is nowhere to be seen. I can’t breathe. Where is my mate? Where is?—
Draven swoops down in his half-shift form and lands right in front of me.
