I thought for sure it would be Bjorn and Baldur going at it someday, thanks to a deep tension both have evinced around each other so far. I never foresaw this battle, though, especially since Baldur and Mikkel know each other.
Plus, Baldur did so much for Mikkel just a scant forty-eight hours ago, donating copious power and life-energy to keep Mikkel alive through all his torture in Copenhagen.
What makes it worse is that I’m not sure whether Baldur can shift into his dragon right now, in his pure, unadulterated rage. I’m certain Mikkelcan’t, though, still exhausted and barely healed from everything he went through in the Jarl of Copenhagen’s cells.
Neither can Bjorn, Ström, and me, as we snarl and ready our hands to intervene with our magic as much as we can. Because this is a bad situation, if we have a dragon stuck in human form facing off with one who can shift, with no other dragons to back the human one up.
I’m not letting it happen, as I dash in-between my two drakes and roar at the top of my lungs, shuddering the hall with my harpy’s shrill notes and overtones as I hold out my hands for both of them to stop.
As my inner Blood and Bone Magic unite suddenly into the furious whirlwind of my true Bloodwalker power, though at one-twentieth it’s usual might, I unleash my own crimson-gold magic.
Blazing surges of white devour my power, as I send a hard heave of Bloodwind out at both my drakes. Though I’m still barely functional, my surge is enough to thrust Mikkel back down to his ass on the floor, still exhausted from everything he’s been through.
It does nothing to Baldur, however, who stands strong in my gale, still staring Mikkel down with his seething cosmos-fire flaring all around him. Baldur’s beautiful, calm blue-white is nowhere in his eyes, as his crimson-gold irises suddenly blaze with a terrifying surge of black.
My drakes are choosing sides now, as Ström rushes to Mikkel with Lærke, getting him up fast. Ström and Lærke both step in front of Mikkel now, snarling at Baldur as they keep Mikkel out of harm’s way, while Bjorn has gone to Baldur. I’m still standing in the middle of the fight, as I roar my all now in a seething storm of Bloodwind.
Giving everything I’ve got left to force my drakes to stand down.
I haven’t got enough, though. Deep inside, I know I’ve got zilch against all of Baldur’s insane star-power right now, crazy as he is for some kind of fight.
I know I could pull on him hard with my Bloodwalker magic. I know I could drain the bejeezus out of him, devouring his magic to the bone to stop his Berserk rage, and this impending battle.
Baldur’s still waging his own war against the Black Dragon’s curses, however. I have no clue what me draining his power would do to him, or how those curses might take him over, if I use my Bloodwalker might.
It leaves me in an impossible situation now, as our bond’s solidarity is suddenly on the verge of total collapse.
Just when I thought things had been going so well between us.
5
RAGE
As Baldur’s massive star-fire Blood Magic rises to Mikkel’s dark, intense goading, Berserk, I know our Bloodbond is in a vastly dangerous situation. Because Baldur is one moment from possibly shifting up into his dragon for real, while Mikkel can’t; as I stand with arms outstretched now, roaring at the top of my lungs for both my drakes to stand down, they remain fixed upon each other, not hearing me at all.
As despair swamps me, that my Third and Fourth drakes are about to fight to the death and there’s nothing I can do about it, a firm hand clamps on Baldur’s shoulder, hard.
As he weathers Baldur’s insane, rageful storm of magic, Bjorn is just suddenly there, aiding me. I had almost forgotten him in all the chaos; I had thought Bjorn had gone to Baldur to back him up against Mikkel, since there’s no love lost between my First and Third Drakes.
I never thought Bjorn was about to pull some metaphysical rabbit out of his ass, however, until I feel his big golden drake rush through his bond to Baldur.
As Bjorn’s auric dragon surges in, biting Baldur’s neck through their bond to each other, Bjorn wrangles him in a metaphysical dominancebattle. Baldur is a dominant, but not like Bjorn; next to me, Bjorn is the most dominant person in our bond.
I feel it now, as Bjorn wrangles all of Baldur’s massive cosmic power with his own magnificent golden dragon,forcingBaldur’s drake to submit. As a shocked shudder goes all the way through Baldur, not expecting that, I feel Bjorn suddenly take all of Baldur’s searing rage into himself.
I feel it, as Bjorn now drains all of Baldur’s fury away, stat—without draining his life-force, or putting him in a critical situation with the Black Dragon’s curses.
As Bjorn’s snarling roar thunders through the hall now, shaking everything and jangling the silver mirror-stone upon its currents of air, I feel my First Drake’s strange metaphysical abilities come to the forefront.
Once, I had thought him just a strong dominant and a tremendous fighter for our bond. I forget that Bjorn once trained with Maryse, however; he could never have risen to the position of Befälhavare for our King, if he didn’t know his metaphysical fighting.
I’m discovering that Bjorn has strange abilities to control all our bond-magic, that we don’t even know the half of yet, as he hauls all of Baldur’s vicious rage right into himself. He snuffs Baldur’s fury out like a candle, lighting it up inside his own massive all-gold drake now, as I feel Bjorn put his vast anger-management skills to good work.
Bjorn heaves deep breaths in and out through his nose; his chest works like a bellows as all of Baldur’s vast rage makes his own golden dragon-aura seethe out around him in a fiery cascade now, tremendous.
As Bjorn fights to dissipate all of Baldur’s rage just so suddenly inside his own body, he growls, then roars at the ceiling. His body bends like a bow from the massive force of it all, thundering inside him.
He shakes the foundations of the hall with the enormity of the power he’s channeling. Bjorn menaces none of us with it, however, sending his wrath up to the high dome of the underground library instead.
