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With sharpened eyes, I scanned the battlefield. At the very back stood a dark horse that nearly blended into the night, and alongside it, two far too familiar faces – Kazimir and Desmond. Cursing the Goddess, the Fates, and the Night Fae, I flew toward them, ensuring I had their full attention as I sliced through the air, flaunting my massive Dragon form.
Desmond, at least, had the good sense of choking when he saw me. Kazimir, on the other hand, betrayed no emotion.
I could kill them both and end this war before it even began.
A snarl tore through me, and I opened my jaw to blast them with blue fire. But as the burn built in my throat, Desmond latched on to Kazimir, and they disappeared from existence.
Fuck!
I blasted the space they had occupied anyway, unleashing some of my rage and making a point should they still be watching me. Banking, I changed course for the edges of the battlefield.
A group of Félvér and Iron Fae worked diligently on the wall of earth, but a winged legion of Night Fae fought with them, andthe Félvér were falling faster than the wall was rising. A roar blasted in their direction as I tried to disrupt the focus of those with black feathered wings. Green eyes widened and filled with terror, and if my Dragon form could smile, it would have as I barreled toward them.
I snapped my jaws around a group of three and ripped them from the sky before slicing another with my talons and sending him tumbling, wingless, toward the earth. All attention landed heavily on me, and blasts of white energy magic pelted my scales, followed by a few arrows and jabs from swords.
My scales were tough, but each impact was painful, and I released a menacing hiss once an arrow pierced the membrane of my wing. The male was dead before he had time to draw a new arrow from his quiver. Another’s scream was cut short when I crushed him between my sharp teeth.
The wall rose higher with the Night Fae distracted, and I fought fiercely despite my growing injuries. They needed to finish it, and quickly, because once they did, the Night Fae would be cooked alive. But these injuries were uncharted territory, and fear speared through me as a sword sliced deep into my side. Another roar ripped from my throat, and I thrashed my tail in the sky, knocking more winged fuckers from it.
Would the potion wear off if I was bleeding too much?
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I felt it.
Shit, shit, shit.
With a furious bellow, I ripped apart a handful of Night Fae, cast one last look at the wall, then banked toward the main area of battle, hoping I could at least get one solid blast in before I was reduced to a Félvér once more.
The hot, dry wind of the Day Realm accosted me as it blew across the plains, bending the stalks of tall grass even more than the hundreds of thousands of feet trampling it.
We were far outnumbered.
How did they have so many?
The number that spread across the plains had to be double the force I’d brought with me, if not double our entire army. My gut twisted, and I shoved my fears to the side.
Another Dragon, a smaller female with red scales, rose to meet me, and I gnashed my teeth in hopes she would understand what I wanted to do. We were running out of time – and soldiers. Her maw opened, and ruby embers built in her throat. I did the same, allowing the blast to build there before unleashing it on the thousands of Night Fae fighting their way toward my lesser force.
Heat licked across the ground, blue and red dancing together as we aimed to create as much chaos as we could. The howls of those caught on the fringes of our streams were not nearly as satisfying as I wanted them to be. Hurriedly, I counted our army’s numbers, praying to the Goddess, to the Fates even, that we hadn’t lost as many as I feared.
We had.
With a growl, I jerked my head at the female, urging her to continue, while I flapped furiously toward the exit of the tunnel where my armor, hopefully, waited for me to return. The empire’s army had been decimated so significantly in such a short amount of time that piles of Iron Fae and Félvér bodies nearly blocked the entrance to the tunnel. Night Fae had overwhelmed our forces on the outside, and the ones on the inside couldn’t get out in time to defend their brothers and sisters in arms.
Spotting Gozzak and Xorrek drenched in hot blood and fighting off three Night Fae each, I lost my focus and crashed into the ground, fully male once again. Leaping over the dead and dying, I found my clothes and pulled them on without taking my eye off the fray.
“Fall back!” I shouted, hoping my voice would carry across the carnage. Digging deep into my well of magic, I lifted my hands and formed a ring of blue fire around the mountain’s entrance, hoping to buy my soldiers enough time to slip through them and return to the tunnels.
“Above!” Xorrek shouted, flinging an axe at a descending Night Fae.
I pushed my magic to its limits, increasing the height of the fire to deter any easy entrance behind it. The red Dragon appeared moments later, lending her fire to the forces trying to fly over my wall. She lasted only a minute before she was peppered with so many arrows she crashed to the ground.
A group of piercing cries ripped the air, and the females who had been working on the wall raced toward the opening of the cave. I allowed the blue fire to dip just enough to aid in their entrance, but as they blew by me, I counted their numbers and gritted my teeth over the additional loss.
“Gozzak! How many left?” I shouted, my arms trembling as I approached burnout.
“Only a few more!” He flapped his wings furiously to remain aloft, still shooting arrows at the approaching Night Fae. He managed to force them back long enough for a group of Iron Fae to burst through the blue flames.
They spluttered and dimmed, breaking apart in sections, and I knew I couldn’t hold it much longer. “Close the door!” I commanded the last few Iron Fae to race by me, and when the scraping of stone sounded in my ears, I nearly cried out with relief. Sweat poured off of me like rain in a thunderstorm, and every shaky step I took backward was hindered by the dead.
