Zuko’s orange eyes were hidden behind the bandage, but he regarded the human with a calculated expression.
Arban and Eleanor stood a little further back with the healers, observing.
Arban looked ready to intervene if this turned into a diplomatic mess, while Eleanor held a comms device, no doubt already queuing our report to Sabine.
Morgan and Koa stayed behind the line with them. Morgan’s jet-black hair was pulled into a tight braid, and her blue eyes were focused as she darted forward to heal any injuries our enforcers and spies received. Koa’s dark brown hair had fallen loose, brown ember-flecked eyes hard as he worked at her side.
I took in everyone’s position in the span of a breath.
“Rune! Take down the one infected with your venom!” I bellowed my orders. “Everyone else, focus on the others!”
My squad reacted instantly.
Tobias and April shifted their focus, turning away from the toxic bastard using my mate’s power and slamming into a cluster of standard humans instead. Jesse and Kyle followed suit, creating a wedge that punched through their lines.
Rune looked over her shoulder at me, and she nodded before locking onto her target. Rage funneled down the matebond, and I knew then how deep her hatred for this human was.
He grinned at her, lips cracked and teeth stained dark. His skin was blotched with sickly blue veins. He probably looked so bad because of Rune’s power burning through him. A human body was never meant to hold it.
He lifted his hand, venom dripping from his fingers, and lunged for her throat.
She didn’t dodge.
His palm slammed into the side of her neck. Venom smeared across her skin, sizzling.
My heart stopped, but Rune’s expression barely flickered as amusement trickled down the bond.
“Oh,” she said flatly, grabbing his arm in a bruising grip. “You really thought that would work on me.”
She twisted, snapping his forearm in half.
He howled, dropping to one knee. She stepped behind him, grabbed his chin with her free hand, and yanked. His neck broke with a wet crack.
He collapsed in a boneless heap, venom still seeping from his pores.
Rune shook out her hand, green eyes dark. “This ismypower,” she muttered, wiping the fluid off on his shirt. “You are not worthy of it.”
Her chaos manifestation appeared, the little serpent with wings flying around her before perching on her shoulder.“Worthy!”
She turned and petted his head. “Thanks, Worthy.”
He hissed in admiration.
Some humans faltered as they realized she’d taken down their warrior, fear twisting their expressions.
I turned my attention to the nearest cluster and moved.
I didn’t have flashy magic like icedrakes or firedrakes, but I still held draconic strength. I was stronger than the average dragon, so taking a group of humans down was simple.
The first human came at me with an electric baton. I caught his wrist mid-swing and squeezed, feeling his bones crunch under my fingers.
He screamed.
I yanked him forward and drove my fist into the side of his head. I broke through his skull and drove into his mushy brain.
He fell to the ground with his head broken and brains leaking onto the ground.
Another tried to flank me.
