Still, they were not able to get to their deity when they saw he was in trouble. So it took them by surprise when an unknown black dragon came to his aid. Dex wanted to study the dragon more, but there wasn’t enough downtime for that. For now, it was enough to see that it appeared to be on their side. But he was shocked to see its strength. A dragon that strong was not an ordinary dragon.
“Mason, Weston!” Dex yelled, snapping their attention back to the fight in front of them. “Don’t forget to concentrate on our fight. Ruby and Lila need assistance.” He immediately dove to his sister’s side to help her fight against the rogue dragons while Mason and Weston got their heads back into the battle as well. They were all shocked by this newcomer, but for now, they had a battle to fight.
“Who the hell is that?” Xander watched as a dragon as dark as night came to Levi’s aid. It was a dragon he had never seen before, one that was incredibly powerful, from the looks of it. Too powerful, in fact. He was a Dragon King, and he couldn’t stand toe to toe with Mephisto. So what was this dragon?
“Whoever it is, they just saved Lee’s life.” Reiya breathed out in relief. She waved her hand and whipped water over anotherwave of demons, sending them backward as Xander once again scorched their existence away.
She finally took her eyes off Lee to assess everyone else once again. Freja was in real danger, but she wasn’t the only one. She watched as Chasen’s bear went rolling backward, receiving a powerful hit from the hellhound. Once his body came to a stop, that was when her real terror set in. A demon with bladed arms sliced into Chasen’s side. He let out a loud roar from the pain as the blood pooled from his body.
“Chasen!”
It was taking everything Chasen had to fight against the hellhound. Inwardly, he had to laugh at himself. He deserved this because of the hard time he gave Brody. He would glance over at his brother from time to time. It looked like he was doing better against his own hellhound than he was. Uncle Grayson was right. Experience did go a long way, and this was his first encounter with a hellhound. He could also see Hunter was holding his own, but he was feeling apprehensive about Freja. The demons were focusing on her. She was fighting multiples at a time, and there was no way she could keep that up. There was nothing he could do but try to hurry and take this hellhound out. And that was where he got sloppy.
Out of haste, he tried to rush the process and the hellhound slashed into him, sending his body sprawling backward. The pain rippled through him, burning his skin. But then he felt like his body was being split apart as another painful stab hit him. A creature with bladed arms had stabbed him while he was down, creating a pool of blood around him. He roared in pain from the burning invasion. For a second, his vision blurred and wentdark. His gums began to pale, the energy leaving his body. At that moment, he felt so weak he couldn’t move.
He looked over the ground at the countless bodies of demons that had been slaughtered, yet still they continued to advance. Then, the demon was suddenly gone from his side, and the ground surrounding him was covered in flames. Black smoke came from the burning bodies as a white dragon flapped her powerful wings over him. Immediately, he felt his strength returning. He rose to his feet and gazed up at Ciana.
She nodded to him, then lifted back into the sky to heal others who were in dire need. She could heal people faster if she was closer to them, and in that moment, she had breathed life back into Chasen, fully healing him.
Chasen noticed she looked a bit drained but was thankful. He would not waste the energy she had just bestowed upon him. He turned back and lunged at the hellhound. This needed to end now. He had to protect Hunter and Freja.
Brody sighed in relief when he saw Chasen back on his feet. He would yell at him over it later. The demons kept coming, and the hellhound in front of him was not conceding. He was a guardian, and Elysia was in danger. Besides protecting the fairy princess, protecting Elysia was also his task. It was like he could feel a power emanating from the kingdom hidden behind the pines and flowing into him as he took a powerful step forward.
The hellhound lunged at Brody, swiping his claws against his flesh. Blood splattered from his shoulder, which he’d purposely left exposed to lure the hellhound closer. He turned his head and latched his powerful jaw on the hound’s neck, clamping down with all his strength. The creature howled in pain and tried toshake the bear off him, but Brody dug his claws into the side of the demon hound, and more crimson liquid splashed onto the ground. As more and more blood oozed from its body, Brody could feel it weakening until finally it was lifeless in his jaws.
He released the body and watched it fall to the ground. One down. Brody raised his eyes to see another hellhound approaching him as the endless nightmare continued. He turned to face it and steadied himself, preparing for another brutal battle.
Through the cuts and scrapes, Freja wouldn’t let a sound escape from her mouth. The demon wanted to use her as a distraction, and she wouldn’t allow herself to be one. She was definitely in pain, though. Her white arms were covered in red from both her blood and that of the slaughtered demons. It was endless. No matter how many she killed, they just kept coming. She was getting tired, and there were too many. Even her flames were no longer deterring the demons as stronger ones began to attack.
The only thing she could think of doing was falling back more and leading the demons away from Hunter, but she wasn’t giving up. She couldn’t leave his side when she was so close. She continued to slash and attack, but there was also a limit to her body. So, she made a decision. It was time.
She shifted fully into her wolf and leaped into the ball of demons. Her fangs and claws slashed at them while her flames burned them as well. Another wave of demons began to overtake her. Suddenly there was an opening, and then another. Jester slashed at the demons along with his mate Irene, who took a protective stance at Freja’s side. Irene looked at Freja and smiled. “Our orders are to protect you at all costs. You are thekey to our treaty after all.” Irene launched her stakes and began slashing with her daggers.
Freja felt a new strength inside Ember, as if she was getting a second wind. Together, they used this energy to stand side by side with Irene and Jester. The demons only seemed endless, but there would be an end. They just had to continue, to persevere.
Freja’s wolf lifted her head to look at her mate. He had Leoric backing up and retreating. But she noticed an evil look in the demon’s eyes. She followed his gaze, only to find an ogre with a spear in his hands. As if in slow motion, she watched the spear fly forward, sailing in the air toward Hunter.
She watched as a blur leaped in the air. The spear sunk into the wolf's flesh, sending the body crashing lifelessly to the ground. She felt the pain in her chest and heard the cry from Blaze as he saw what happened.
Ember dove into the demons with a new, intense ferocity. She needed to get to the body.Please let him be alive.
Blaze couldn’t do anything as the spear came hurling toward him. There was no time to react. He braced himself for impact, but it never hit. He opened his eyes to see a familiar wolf falling to the ground as it took the impact of the spear.
No… please, no!Hunter stared in shock at the motionless body on the ground. He growled out loudly in sorrow.NOOOOOOOOO!
The battle continued to rage around them. The two armies clashed and beat against the other. But Hunter glared with contempt, his eyes locked on Leoric.
Hunter stepped toward Leoric with an intense darkness he had never felt before. He bared his teeth and roared with rage. Amysterious, shadowy red energy surged around him as he took a step forward.
Through his pain, through his sorrow, through his anger, his sleeper had awakened. And it demanded the demon blood of Leoric as payment.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
Chasen finally managed to best the hellhound. Its blood was smeared over his face as he pulled away from its lifeless body. No wonder they called them hellhounds. They were hell to kill. He glanced around him and noticed Brody was not far away, fighting against a hellhound of his own.
He took in a breath and prepared his fatigued body as he raced toward the hellhound fighting his brother. He clawed into its side, and Brody lunged forward. As the hound turned his head to defend himself from Chasen, Brody sank his teeth into its back. With a forceful shake, the hellhound threw both Chasen and Brody away from him.
This one counts for both of us.Chasen stepped closer to Brody as his brother rose to his feet.
