Page 97 of Throne of Ice and Blood
My heart slams against my ribs as I stare at the six purple dragons before us.
Draven heaves an endless sigh. “Fuck.” Then he gives me a quick look before he starts striding towards them. “Watch out for the flames.”
Before I can so much as open my mouth to reply, black smoke once again explodes into the air. I scramble back as it washes over me.
A second later, Draven in his massive black dragon form shoots out of the smoke and up into the air.
The six purple dragons roar as they take flight as well. The combined booming of all their wings sends blasts of wind slamming down towards the ground and throws me off balance. I stumble towards the closest boulder as seven dragons hover in the air above.
Draven is massive, and dark clouds that crackle with lightning surround him. But there is still only one of him and six of them. I have never seen Draven fight other dragons, so I have no idea what kind of odds these are for him.
My heart pounds in my chest as I stare up at the seven dragons above. The moment seems suspended in time as they all just hover there, watching each other.
Then a massive torrent of fire shoots through the air.
Instinctively, I duck down behind the boulder as the sky above me turns red and orange. Even from this distance, the heat of it washes down over me. Everything inside of me is screaming at me to run and hide, but I force myself to straighten again as I gape up at the scene above.
Draven’s massive jaws are open, and he is breathing that endless storm of fire that shoots straight at the six purpledragons. They immediately try to scatter, but one of them gets hit by the flames.
Otherworldly cries cut through the air as the purple dragon is engulfed by Draven’s flames. It thrashes desperately while trying to escape into the clear air. The dark storm clouds spread wider over the mountainside as the other five arrange themselves into some kind of formation. Draven snaps his jaws shut, cutting off the torrent of fire and swings his head towards them right as they all speed forward.
With two booming flaps of his wings, he shoots upwards right before they reach him.
More animalistic screams echo through the air as Draven sinks his claws into the backs of two of the purple dragons who were flying past below him. They cry out and whip their heads back and forth, frantically trying to bite Draven’s legs as he shakes them hard. The claws buried in their backs make their flesh rip open with each vicious shake.
Blood falls from the sky, splattering on the ground before me.
I scramble back as a chunk of flesh hits the stones only a stride in front of my boots.
Draven at last releases the two purple dragons, who fall towards the ground before they manage to spread their wings again, while the other four dragons make a coordinated attack. They speed through the air, coming from all sides.
I gasp as fear streaks through me.
Purely on instinct, I reach for my magic. I have no idea if I can even manipulate their emotions when they’re in full dragon form, but I have to do something. I can’t let them hurt him.
Throwing my magic out, I reach for the sparks of worry that I hope I will find in the purple dragons’ chests after what Draven did to their other friends. To my shock, it connects. It feels slightly different than it does with a person. Wilder, in a sense. But it’s still there. I shove my magic at them.
But apparently, I didn’t need to.
Before the four purple dragons can get within striking distance of Draven, the black storm clouds explode around him, blanketing the whole area. White bolts of lightning flash relentlessly. In the otherwise almost pitch-black darkness of the clouds, it’s so blinding that I have to squeeze my eyes shut.
Releasing the sparks of worry in the dragons’ chests, I instead reach for their fear. Just as I suspected, it’s already burning high. I pour even more magic at it.
Once the lightning has stopped flashing behind my closed lids, I release the grip on my magic and pry my eyes open again.
A scream rips from my lungs.
One of the purple dragons is speeding right towards me, jaws open and fire building at the back of its throat.
For one single second, it’s as if time itself stops moving. All I can do is to stare at those open jaws full of gleaming teeth and the vibrating orange light that builds at the back of the dragon’s throat. Because I know that there is no way in hell that I will be able to evade that torrent of fire.
Then something black and massive slams into it from the side.
I gasp and stagger back as Draven snaps his jaws shut around the purple dragon’s neck.
And rips its head off.
Blood rains to the ground from the severed neck as Draven unclenches his jaws. I stare dumbfounded as the now headless body crashes to the ground with a boom that makes the stones underneath my feet shake. The head falls from Draven’s jaws and lands next to it a second later.
