Tears blurred my vision as I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the faint pulse of the bond that connected me to Kael. He was alive, for now. But I knew that the fight was far from over.
And as I knelt there in the snow, the blood from my wound pooling around me, I whispered a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening.
“Please,” I begged. “Bring him back to me.”
Chapter 13: Onyx
The air was a tempest of blood, smoke, and frost.
My senses were alight, sharper and more overwhelming than any human could endure. The howl of the wind carried the scent of charred wood from the fire in the kitchen and the dust from the tower we had destroyed in our earlier skirmish. Every nerve was aflame, every instinct sharpened to a lethal edge.
This was the hunt. The dance of predators. But this wasn’t just a battle—it was a reckoning.
I circled my prey from above, my wings slicing through the frigid air in powerful beats. The moon was high in the sky, but my dark scales kept me hidden in the snowy night.
The cold bit into my hide, but I hardly noticed. Pain no longer mattered; I was beyond it, my focus a razor-sharp point.
Topaz thought he could best me, but he was wrong.
My dragon’s heart thundered in my chest, urging me forward. My every fiber screamed for violence, the primal instincts of my beast demanding blood. The mage’s magic had cursed me with this form, but in moments like this—when the hunt was on and my mate was in danger—this form was my salvation. It was power. Fury. Death.
Zaorak roared from below, a guttural, ear-splitting sound that vibrated through my bones. His arrogance was palpable, a foul stench that mingled with his fiery breath. His eyes glowed like molten gold, gleaming with hunger for violence, for destruction.
He was a formidable adversary, true, but now that we had both transformed, he had lost the advantage of surprise. His golden scales gleamed in the darkness as he snarled and spat fire, and his glowing golden eyes shone with malice and hunger, alerting me to his presence like a beacon. He was a blazing torch, all arrogance and wrath, daring me to attack.
And I would. But not yet.
The advantage of surprise was onmyside, now.
With a thunderous roar, I folded my wings and plunged downward, talons extended. The wind screamed past me, and for a moment, the world was nothing but the predator’s dive—the exhilaration of the hunt, the promise of tearing flesh, the instinctive rhythm of the chase.
I struck with the force of a comet, my claws raking across Topaz’s back. He howled in fury, whipping around with his massive head to snap at me. His jaws closed around my shoulder, his teeth slicing into muscle and scale. Pain shot through me, red-hot and electric, but it only fueled my rage.
I roared, wrenching myself free, the sickening sound of tearing flesh filling the air as I tore his shoulder with my teeth. Blood spattered across the snow, steaming as it fell. The taste of his lifeblood filled my mouth, coppery and thick. It was intoxicating, the primal thrill of dominance.
Topaz retaliated with a swipe of his claws, catching my flank and sending me skidding across the snowy ground. The impact sent shockwaves through my body, and I felt something crack—a rib, perhaps. It didn’t matter. Pain was irrelevant. I scrambled to my feet, my wings flaring wide as I snarled at my opponent.
Seranni.
Her name was a steady drumbeat in my mind. She was my mate. My everything. My reason for living.
She was bruised and bleeding, and yet I could feel her will, her magic, bolstering me even from below. Her presence tethered me to sanity, to purpose.
And I would not let anything harm her, not while I still drew breath. I would defend my mate or die trying.
Topaz lunged again, his movements fluid and predatory. But I was ready. I feinted left, then struck right, my claws raking across his exposed belly. He bellowed in agony, a spray of blood marking the snow as he staggered back. His tail lashed out, catching me across the face and sending stars exploding across my vision.
Rage surged through me, drowning out the pain. I roared, the sound echoing through the mountains like a primal challenge. I circled him, my keen eyes tracking his every move, my dragon’s instincts guiding me. He was cunning, yes, but his arrogance blinded him. He thought himself invincible.
He waswrong.
Zaorak snapped his jaws at me, a stream of fire erupting from his maw. The flames licked at my wings, the heat scorching but not unbearable. I banked sharply, evading the worst of the attack, and retaliated with my own fiery breath. The blaze illuminated the night, a cascade of orange and red that engulfed him. He roared in pain, swinging his neck back to snap at me, his teeth sinking into my forearms and leaving a bleeding gash.
I countered with a swift bite of my own, my teeth meeting in the flesh of his shoulder with a sickening crunch. Blood spattered on me as I ripped away from him, roaring triumphantly.
With his blood in my mouth, I could feel the raw power coursing through his veins, the dark magic that fueled his every move. He was strong.
Topaz had always been the strongest of us all, but now it seemed that the mage had given his henchman more power than before. Had he sacrificed the others to perfect his favorite?
