Zavier jerked his chin. ‘A moment.’
He turned his head to lock eyes with his fellowDraquis.
He and Maxim appeared to have a brief neural discussion before the Dragon Master sliced his gaze back to the brothers.
‘We’ll help you.’
When Molan reached for his comm device to pull up a payment screen, Zavier raised a hand with a dismissive wave.
‘Keep your money. Over the eons, Sulfiqar’s machinations triggered afokktonof catastrophes between the Paladian and Sacran empires. We’re therefore keen to assist you in deleting his fecal virus sack from existence.’
‘It’s not a free exchange, however,’ Maxim drawled. ‘When the time comes, we might need your support, sons of Sacra, to support us in waging our own wars against the darkness that shadows us from inter-dimensional realms.’
Idan and Molan exchanged glances, then nodded, facing theDraquis.
‘Indeed, tell us when and where and we’ll be there.’
With a jerk of his chin, Zavier surged to his feet.
‘To fabricate the masks your mission requires, I must operate from our HQ and sanctum,’ he stated. ‘I’ll take you there now. Please brace, as this will require a spectral vortex transfer.’
Before Sheba could process his words, the man’s humaniform fractured.
Zavier transmuted into a titan of ethereal light, a silver-white and gold dragon that pulsed with a raw, celestial frequency.
Its scales shimmered with the brilliance of a supernova.
The radiance around him pulsing with a storm of dracolich power, weaving between aetheric and solid dimensions.
‘Oh my,’ Sheba breathed, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
‘This is me in my fullShadraquisform,’ the menacing yet beautiful beast rasped, the sound shifting into a deep, reverberating whisper reminiscent of the wildest storms. ‘It’s required to initiate a psionic vortex which will shift me and all of you toDraquisHQ.’
Idan rose and reached for his woman, his arms encircling her waist. ‘Still onboard?’ he whispered wickedly into her ear.
‘Fokkyou, and hold on tight to me,’ she growled, white knuckling his arm.
The atmosphere in the boardroom began to curdle with a terrifying energy.
‘I’ve got you,salkia,’ Idan’s voice rumbled, though his own muscles were cords of tension, his jaw locked in a grim line of combat readiness.
The cubed office vanished.
A psionic vortex seized them, a centrifugal force that tore them from the room as reality became a kaleidoscope of blurred neon and shattered light.
When Sheba’s feet finally struck solid floor again, she stumbled, her head spinning as she tried to orient herself.
Idan’s arms went around her, steadying her as they found their balance within the foyer of a crystalline edifice.
Sheba blinked, staring as she acclimated to her new surroundings.
The building they now stood in hovered in the skies above Enia, tethered between the apexes of seven obsidian towers.
Sky gardens surrounded it, overflowing with bioluminescent flora, and waterfalls tumbling into gravity-defying pools.
‘Welcome to our sanctuary,’ Zavier announced. ‘How was your ride?’
They turned to see him and Maxim transmute back into humaniform behind them, still tall, towering, and menacing.
