Page 1 of The Final Battle

Chapter one

Izel

“Everybody out!” Cassarah bellowed. “Get out of here, now!“

My gaze snapped to the windows, where I was greeted with the sight of flames coming straight for us. Grabbing Phillip, I yanked him up and out of the chair he’d been sitting in and ran towards the door. The air exploded with heat and glass as the odd looking dragon burst into the dining hall. Thank God the ceilings were so high or else I’d have been worried he’d knock the roof down, crushing us before his flames could do the job. Shoving the crown prince out into the hall, I turned to head back in to get the others out.

Abbott was hurrying past me with Queen Catharine’s daughter, Princess Amelia, in his arms. “Help Cassarah, she was closest to the attack,“ he ordered.

Slipping past him, I tried to find out who was where in the utter chaos of the space. Milky white wings filled the space, crashing into everything, smashing it to the ground making it dangerous to venture further. That didn’t matter, finding Cassarah was what mattered. Without her to lead the battle for our kingdom all would be lost, and the Lost King would never be stopped.

Finally, I caught sight of her hiding under the stone table with Dayson as another blast of fire was shot their way. The moment it was over, I motioned to Day for him to send Cassarah my way. Grabbing her arm he surged forward, moving quickly for a man of his bulk. I took a step closer when I saw the dragon, I could only guess to be Xotha, pair-bond to Henry the Lost King, driven mad from dark magic. It was the only explanation for the lack of color in his scales, the solid black eyes, and the acid that seemed to be leaking from him.

“Watch out!” I yelled when I saw Xotha whip his tail out towards Cassarah.

It wrapped around her waist, dragging her back towards the window. Leaping over the stone table I chased after them watching as Cassarah stabbed the dragon with an arrow created from her Birthright. It pierced through the armored scales, loosening the grip, but not enough for her to get free. As if the next sequence of events happened in slow motion, I watched as Cassarah was dragged out the window and plummeted down the cliffside.

The Dragon Castle was built into the side of a mountain high in the air with a wooden bridge connecting it to the main road to the village. There was nothing but sharp rocks and a swiftly running river to greet her at the bottom. No one could survive a fall like that, but that didn’t stop me from reaching out to my own dragon, who’d been guarding the area, and diving off the ledge to follow her. Vasin, Cassarah’s black dragon, battled with Xotha, doing everything in his power to keep him away from her. Vasin, while strong and king among dragons, was still young and his scales weren’t as thick as they needed to be, nor had he been able to breathe fire yet.

Dragging my gaze away from the fighting dragons I searched for Cassarah, my little warrior, the woman who had appeared out of nowhere to claim my heart. The Dragon Queen, and leader of the mercenaries, with blazing amber eyes that captivated you and wild mahogany curls to frame her proud jaw. She wasn’t a woman who needed to tell you she was in charge or even wanted to be our leader, but her presence alone had you stand up and take notice. Then you caught a glimpse of her incredible intelligence, which should scare you far more than us with our swords and arrows. My little warrior could crush you without even lifting a finger if she put her mind to it, and that was far more dangerous than any dragon or warrior.

A roar filled the night air, followed by a burst of flame as Vasin lit Xotha up before slamming him into the mountainside. It gave me enough light to see by and spotted Cassarah’s form below me, her skirts billowing in the wind. The brief moment I saw her clearly, my heart seized in fear. Her eyes were closed and she looked resigned to her fate as she hurtled towards the ground.

No! Cassarah wouldn’t give up, not her, not like this. She’s fought too hard to get to where she is now to throw it all away.

Another roar, closer this time, alerted me to Shanshen, my blue dragon, arriving. Swooping under me, I latched onto his neck and clung to him as his massive wings thrust downwards, shooting us in the opposite direction I wanted to go. Swiftly as I could, I got myself settled in the saddle-like harness all our dragons were wearing so they were ready in case we needed them, seems it was a wise choice.

“We need to get to Cassarah before it’s too late,“ I ordered Shanshen.

With a growl of understanding, he tucked his wings to his side and dove. The wind streaked past us, pulling at my clothes and hair that was tied up on the top of my head. My knuckles turned white as I kept myself steady, not wanting to risk falling off and creating more problems. The deeper we went into the canyon below the darker it got, making it hard to see her, but I’d heard Cassarah tell us that dragons had far better night vision than humans, so all I could do was trust my dragon.

A blinding blue light burst into existence, blinding me to the point I had to close my eyes and tuck my head under Shanshen’s wing. Once the light dimmed, I whipped my head back up searching for the source of the light. There, floating in the air with a pair of ethereal blue dragon wings, was Cassarah. Shanshen snapped his wings out, slowing us so abruptly that I was almost thrown from his back as I focused on the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. The wings shimmered with power, making me wonder if they were created from her Birthright. Once she’d marked all of us as her consorts, and the castle’s magic accepted her, I’d seen a change in her power. It was stronger and acted unlike any Birthright I’d ever seen.

The look on her face told me she was just as shocked as I was, but it quickly morphed into a look of determination. Brow furrowed, watching what was going on above me her wings propelled her upwards like a streak of lightning. It was as if she was there in front of me, and in the blink of an eye she was soaring towards Xotha, who was still locked in a fierce battle with Vasin. Blood streaked down Xotha’s side, but the dragon didn’t even seem to notice.

Shanshen chased after our queen, hot on her heels without me even needing to ask. Cassarah’s bow, the typical form her Birthright took, appeared in her hands. Without slowing down she drew the string back and let loose an arrow, hitting Xotha right in the eye. The dragon let out a scream that chilled me down to my bones, green bubbling liquid gushing out of where his eye had once been. With one final swipe at Vasin, the wounded dragon broke away and shimmered slightly, before disappearing completely into the night sky.

What the hell did I just witness? How could a dragon vanish into thin air with the snap of a finger? Clearly, there was more going on with the Lost King and his dragon than we realized or were prepared for.

Vasin shoved off the craggy cliffside that he’d been tossed into and followed after his pair-bond and they headed for the main roost. I wasn’t sure if I should follow or go back and tell the others that she was okay. In her mind, the most important thing right now would be to look after Vasin and ensure he was alright. Depending on how bad his wounds were, she could be there all night, best to tell the others that she was alright.

“Take me back to the castle, then we’ll meet up with Cassarah and see if she needs anything,“ I instructed Shanshen.

With a snort as my only acknowledgement, he turned us in the direction of the castle. While I thought he would take us to the dragon perch near the past king’s quarters, or even the one near our space, he decided on going right to the source—the dining hall. Digging his talon into the stone, he clung to the outside of what had been a wall of windows tucking his wings in to make himself smaller. Now here I was once again hanging off the edge I’d just jumped from.

“Izel!“ Gavin called, rushing over to me. “Where is she? I saw her get pulled over the edge, why isn’t she with you?“

“Cassarah is fine, she is with Vasin at the roost. He was injured fighting Xotha. To what extent I don’t know but I figured I should come to tell you all is well. Where are the others?“ I asked, surprised that he would be the only one here.

Gavin gave me a disbelieving look. “On their dragons looking for Cassarah—where else would they be once they got things settled here? I stayed behind to deal with my aunt and uncle, not trusting to leave them alone with just the newly created castle guard.“

Of course they went after Cassarah. If I’d been willing to leap off a cliff to follow after her why wouldn’t they do the same? “I’ll see if I can find the others and make sure to keep you informed. Thank you for staying here, I know it will ease her mind once she gets a moment to process all of this.“

“It’s a small thing, but it’s what I can do right now for her,“ Gavin agreed as he started to back up waving me off. “Go find the others so they don’t think she’s dead at the bottom of the ravine.“

Nodding, I patted Shanshen’s neck and he shoved away from the ledge and back out into the open air. I was quickly learning how much trust you needed to have in your dragon as they pulled moves like this. If I didn’t believe he would make sure I was alright I would have been terrified. Even though I couldn’t talk to Shanshen like Cassarah could to Vasin, we found a way to understand each other.

“Let’s find our brothers and get back to the roost, I don’t like leaving her alone right now. Xotha could come back any second,“ Shanshen let out a snarl which was followed by a blast of flames lighting up the sky. It was almost as if he was signaling to the others our location.