Their screams of agony fed the madness.
Flying past Willow and Draco while they supported our warriors below with Vyper—who seemed to be enjoying “roasting” the sentries a little too much—I caught the moment Knight reached Midnight and Braxton’s light whip shot towards the spear impaling him.
Pulse racing, I joined them with Star, standing on her neck in an attempt to see the injury more clearly, but I could only see blood. “Is he going to be alright?”
Braxton’s head lifted from assessing the damage to look at me. “I can help him.”
His golden magic engulfed the weapon until it dissolved into floating particles, and my eyes widened. Quinn and I exchanged a shocked glance, Braxton had simply evaporated the weapon. Both astonishment and pride flooded my being. I’d seen his ability develop and evolve the more he set it free, nevertheless, it was still life-altering to see him in action.
That was my man. My Dragon Master. My king.
Finally freed, Midnight sprang to his feet, although blood still seeped from him. Braxton jumped off Knight and onto Midnight, placing a hand on his shoulder. His Dragon Eye glowed again, with him choosing to use his Dragon essence instead of his healing ability. Some sort of energy exchange began between them, Midnight’s eyes glowing gold too, and I watched the wing knit back together thanks to the connection Brax and Midnight shared as family.
Dragons could heal each other, and it never ceased to amaze me that my mate was part of that.
Glancing up at me, my mate smiled relieved—that crooked grin of his making my heart shudder. A smile captured my lips too. The moment Midnight was well, they leapt into the sky together, with Quinn and I following to rejoin the fight above… only to find complete chaos surrounding us.
Raithian’s maniacal laughter cut through the noise, as though the chaos fed his soul, and Braxton’s eyes connected with his. He stood in the middle of the courtyard in full armor, the rows and rows of chained slaves extending from his back like a living cloak.
The sight sent instant alarm through my being. He was going to use the slaves against us.
I searched through the frantically veering Dragons, finding Harvey on Ayssy across from me. With a nod we both shared the same thought—attack the remaining spear launchers. We lunged forwards, flying over the others and firing at the massive weapons. Unfortunately, not long after our Dragon’s fire breath engulfed them, green magic surged from them, making them whole again.
A cruel cycle began as the sentries manning the weapons burnt to death in the process, yet more men came out of the fortress to fire at us. Even his own sentries were disposable to the Warlock King. Instead of protecting them, he’d chosen to spell the mechanical launchers.
Kingston, Edward, Harvey, and I continued to fire, but Star suddenly turned upside down, getting us out of the way when a stream of green fire shot towards us—Azazel and Tharion’s battle still raging.
“You should have taken my offer!” Raithian thundered, but Braxton and Midnight charged towards him anyway.
Too fast to be stopped, a brilliant ball of energy surged from Raithian, crashing against Midnight’s chest, and blowing him back. Blood sprayed over Braxton’s face when they tumbled backwards, the hit being far more powerful than anything I’d seen the Warlock use.
“Braxton!” The distressed shout burst from me, anxiety gripping me because I could not help him, Star and I had a battle of our own to endure. We swerved left when another spear flew towards us.
“Midnight!” Braxton bellowed at the same time, falling off Midnight’s unconscious form while it plummeted to the ground. A tattered hole carved Midnight’s chest.
No!
I turned away, pain slicing through me as Star and I destroyed another launcher, her fire breath engulfing the sentries blindly following Raithian to their deaths. When I looked back, pushing the whipping hair off my face, what resembled a blanket of golden magic suddenly spread below my mate, creating a floating platform for him. He landed on a crouch, then swiveled to the right, his Dragon Eye glowing.
Midnight’s body crashed onto the fight below us, taking out about a hundred sentries as well as some of our own warriors. Answering Braxton’s command, Vyper and Ardor rushed towards him, lifting Midnight from the battlefield, and pulling him towards the sidelines. Using their combined energies, they tried to heal him.
Our few surviving warriors writhed on the ground while others rushed to help them.
“Do not touch my Dragons!” Braxton roared at Raithian, standing to his full height, and hurling an energy ball of his own towards him.
When Star circled the sky, I noticed the first slave behind Raithian had collapsed to the ground. The shot Braxton fired in response should have blown him back, but it only fizzled before the Warlock’s lifted palm, and another slave crumpled.
Horror and fury coursed through me with the realization. He was using our people as disposable sources of energy to increase his power with each attack.
A sinister smirk stretched Raithian’s lips when his eyes suddenly pinned me in the sky. He knew I had figured it out and he seemed proud of his feat.
Behind him, the slaves began to fight the chains that held them, their cries of fear increasing with the realization of what awaited them.
Braxton’s arms began to circle the air, glimmering power gathering between them—perhaps the extra energy he absorbed from the ward.
“Let’s go to him!” I turned Star in the air, heading straight for my mate, and seeing him jump from the magical platform.
Steps of light formed beneath his feet while he ran towards Raithian. Spinning to get momentum, Brax thrust both hands forwards, sending a surge of deadly power at him. It hit its mark. The Warlock King’s body was blown back, forcing him to crash into the next five people chained to him.
