“A thousand and coming,” Torvek reported, cataloguing quickly.
“Holy shit,” Zayn exclaimed.
I swung my head back to our army.
Luzan “Flame” Seffalyn flanked them.
Trainer of so many of dragonkind.
War general.
Warrior Supreme.
His daughter, Fanor, stood beside him in red tactical gear with gold threading through it. Flame had gone his trainer route in black tactical gear, obviously his focus having been on makingsure the troops under his charge were kitted out properly in Dracoryn armor.
My grandmother, Elyrren, was positioned in dragon form in front of Flame. The First Regent. Her alabaster frost scales glistened in the daylight, her wings patterned like cracked ice.
And at the absolute forefront was my dad, the almighty Draven Vortimer, High Regent of the Dracoryn Realm. He was in human form currently, like Flame and Fanor. Unlike the troops who were in their armor, breastplates and all, he’d clearly been in such a rush he’d just remained in his regular clothes. We were actually both in our favored furry winter coats.
Torvek rubbed my shoulder, then burst over to the frontlines and took position to my dad’s right.
Flame noticed Zayn standing with me and gestured for him to join the Fire Dragon unit. His Ifrit flame would meld very well with their abilities.
Zayn looked a little startled that he’d been offered to be a part of it, despite not being dragon. But he also looked fired up—pun definitely intended.
He hesitated, clearly not wanting to leave my side.
This was battle, though.
“Go for it,” I encouraged. “One thing first, though.” I grasped his hand, and his eyes widened as my power sparked briefly, and he let out a serene moan.
“What was that, icicle?”
“I temporarily spelled you with the ability to both understand and speak Draconic Tongue. It’s what they defer to in battle.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
I smiled and gave his hand a squeeze, then sent him off.
As I watched him settle amongst the Fire Dragons, some of them slapping his back and welcoming his courageous decision to fight among the likes of dragonkind, my dad’s voice gravitated toward me through the noise of the battlefield.
“Daughter.”
I looked to see that he’d registered our arrival, and he was holding out his hand, beckoning me over. I smiled. Of course he’d want me to be part of the fight. Overprotective father played out very differently with him and he’d never disrespect me by benching me for my safety.
“This is Ruxnoth,” I told him, as I burst over to him.
“Yes. He made himself known, burst into our Realm, tearing through the wards and shattering them to pieces, hence why there’s only a portion of our army here. Other units are reinforcing the borders on all sides. Vorzyr intervened with his Primal Celestial Resonance ability and drove back Ruxnoth’s power when that depraved True Celestial tried to nuke us all as we arrived on scene.”
I jolted at his words, a shudder rolling down my spine. “Shit, Dad.”
“Where’s V now?” Torvek asked.
“He strategically forced Ruxnoth out of the vicinity, but he took a hit.” Dad gestured at one of the ice mountains far in the distance—the top now missing, char marks all over it. “They’re over there. Vorzyr was buried beneath the entire thing, Ruxnoth drove him into it. They’re still beneath it right now. Ariana and Kai are over there assisting and ready to put Ruxnoth down the moment they’re dug out.”
Torvek started forward. “I need to help my brother and—”
“No,” Dad told him. “You could expose too much, given the nature of the help that would be needed.” He spoke carefully not revealing the actual reason. Thankfully there was a lot of chatter from the troops, and Flame barking out information to them, so it would be difficult to discern anyway.
