Chapter 20

Bailey

Aidan held me close. His head was buried in my hair as if he could draw my very essence into himself. I doubted it would ever be easy to let me go into danger when he couldn’t be there to watch my back. Those five years of separation would always haunt us, so I couldn’t blame him. I hated us being apart for very long, as well.

“I love you, misanna. Be careful,” he said, a hint of command in that last part.

Lifting my head, I captured his gaze. “I love you, too. We have a strong team going for this trip, so please try not to worry too much.”

After our meeting the day before, we’d assembled the best possible group to go into Kandoran territory and get the masks. It would have been nice to bring even more people, but we were already pulling too many from other obligations. Also, it would have created transportation issues.

“I know,” he said, working his jaw. “But I’ll still worry. You had a strong team last time you went in there and barely survived.”

He wasn’t wrong. We’d only just escaped with our lives on that mission, with most of us seriously injured by the end. I wouldn’t take it back since it gave me a chance to say goodbye to my father, and we learned some hard yet necessary lessons about the Kandoran in the process.

“Just have a little faith in me.” I cupped his face. “We need these masks to protect the people willing to fight with us, and we can’t afford for them to turn in the middle of a battle. Imagine the shock when the enemy realizes we came prepared for their little trickery.”

Aidan’s lips twitched. “That would be nice to see.”

While the Kandoran blocked our seers from learning their current activities and plans, Kade had seen it long before they began shielding themselves. We would have been in trouble otherwise. Our side couldn’t have prepared for many thingswithout those predictions.

“Get there and back as quickly as you can,” Aidan said, then melded his mouth to mine. The kiss was hot and passionate. More than anything, I wished I could have sunk into it and never let go.

Precious minutes later, he finally drew back. I took a long look at him, noting how he’d grown a couple of inches taller and become even more muscular than before. He’d likely gained at least thirty pounds in human form. It was hard to wrap my head around how his ties to the Taugud and other dragon clans had actually altered him physically. He was still heart-stopping handsome but also somehow…more. Power leaked out of him like a nuclear reactor that couldn’t be contained.

It blew me away that I was the primary object of Aidan’s affection—a slayer. He was a pendragon now and leading a large dragon army, yet I was the one he wanted most in this world. The intensity of his love both frightened and exhilarated me.

I watched him draw a deep breath, straighten his shoulders, and harden his features. My tough mate had returned, and all traces of his emotions wereerased. He placed a hand on my lower back and guided me to the bedroom door. I loved that he still found a way to touch me.

We met the guards in the corridor, who followed us as we made our way out of the castle and toward the fortress gate. The others would be waiting there. A million thoughts came into my head. I wanted to remind him to bathe our son tonight and read him a book before bedtime. Of course, he already knew that.

I’d said my goodbyes to Orion after an early breakfast. Not wanting to worry him, I’d kept it casual. This time, he didn’t appear to know what his mother was about to do, which relieved me. Aidan and I had briefly discussed his seer abilities, but we’d have to wait until a better time before figuring out how to handle the issue.

Maybe I should have taken extra time with him and looked for answers, but there was always something more pressing. For now, the looming war frightened me the most. Every living being relied on our success, and the odds were stacked against us even with all our preparations.

The Kandoran had never lost a warandwere a truly diabolical enemy.

Aidan and I held our heads high as we entered the field beyond the fortress walls. Verena stood there, wearing a black camrium shirt and pants. I didn’t think I’d ever seen the sorceress wear such clothing, but she needed it for today. Galadon was there, frowning at Rayna—big surprise. We also had Titan, Eliam, Conrad, and Freya. We were all strong, proven fighters. Technically, Verena wasn’t a warrior, but she had powerful magic that made up for a lack of physical skills. She was crucial for this mission. Everything would have been much more difficult without her, probably impossible.

I went to stand with my group. Aidan ran his gaze over us, only pausing on me for an extra moment. “The more masks you can get, the better, but do it quickly. If you’re not back in two days, I’ll send a team to get you.”

“Not to worry, pendragon,” Verena said in her Irish lilt. “I’ll make certain they return safely.”

He gave her a stern look. “I’ll hold you to it.”

With that, he spun on his heels and walked away. His two guards followed closely behind him. I wanted to reach out to him one last time, but we didn’t have that luxury. At least Aidan would have plenty to keep him busy while I was away.

“So,” Rayna said, a hand on her hip. “Who is riding with who?”

“I’ve got Bailey,” Freya said. Since my return to Oklahoma, we'd become friends, and I doubted she wanted to carry anyone else.

Eliam worked his jaw. “I’ll take the sorceress.”

“Oh, you’re too good, dear,” Verena said, sidling closer to him. I bet she loved not worrying about shifters burning her anymore since the fireproof potion came along.

I wondered if there had been some arrangement beforehand for Eliam to volunteer for the duty. Maybe they drew straws?

“Titan, can you take me?” Rayna asked, giving him a smile. “I’d hate to torture Galadon for the journey since he loathes me so much.”

“Of course, that’s…” he began.

“I’ve got her,” Galadon growled.

Rayna and I both gave him incredulous looks.

“Guess I’m with you, Titan,” Conrad said.

The male shifter had a martyred expression, wanting to carry a male slayer even less. It probably didn’t help that Conrad was brand new and hadn’t had his tolerance for dragons fully tested. Sure, he could stand near them without resorting to violence, which was far better than most slayers, but being carried in an “enemy’s” arms was another matter.

Titan no doubt looked forward to being our guinea pig. There was nothing quite like flying in the sky with someone who might try to rip your head off any second to make you thrilled for the journey ahead. Conrad remained untested.

Rayna, at least, had proven she had restraint in that regard.

“It’s settled,” Galadon said. Then, he marched to the take-off/landing pad.

The rest of us followed.

A few minutes later, the four shifters had transformed into their dragon bodies. Galadon grabbed Rayna so fast she squealed, and then they launched into the air. Freya and I were next, with the others close behind. We flew southwest for an hour and a half. Nothing eventful happened during that time— to our relief. It was about two in the afternoon when we stopped well inside Kandoran territory.

The shifters transformed into human forms, and we took a break under a large oak tree. Despite the milder weather of the past few days, it had gotten hot today and had to be in the low nineties. I gulped down water, grateful my magical canteen kept it cold.

“You are such an ass,” Rayna said to Galadon.

I frowned. “What did he do?”

“His conversation skills need a lot of work.”

Galadon grunted. “I could say the same of her.”

“Ha!” She pointed a finger at him. “I can’t even bring up the weather without you finding a way to be offended. Just once, I wish you’d try to have a civil conversation.”

Freya and I exchanged a look. Her orange eyes danced with merriment, but neither of us said anything. It would only make the lone shifter grumpier. I could only assume Hildegard had a hand in him being here, and maybe that waswhy he carried Rayna—though Conrad wasn’t a great option for him, either. He might have chosen the lesser of two evils. At least our newest slayer had refrained from slaughtering Titan, who appeared unscathed.

We scanned the skies, making sure no Kandoran patrols were near us. This was about the time they’d start appearing sporadically. It was the main reason we chose to stop and change our transportation method to avoid that problem.

“You ready?” I asked Verena.

She nodded and stood, wiping her hands on her pants. Chants escaped her lips in a whisper as she thrust her arms outward. A moment later, a burst of light temporarily blinded me. When my vision returned, I found a bright golden doorway shaped like a circle. We couldn’t see what was on the other side.

“Be quick,” she said, urging us to step through. “We need to keep it short so I can save energy for later.”

We didn’t need any further encouragement. The seven of us leaped one by one into the portal, with the sorceress following behind. It felt like I was falling for a few seconds before I stepped into a parking lot with a slight wobble in my knees. Nothing moved other than some birds, and it was quiet.

“Damn.” Conrad shook his head. “That was crazy but kinda fun. Think I can get a portal whenever I need to hunt for dragons?”

Verena narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not a taxi, silly boy. Portals require a lot of power, and I have limits on the distances I can open them. Do not push your luck.”

She’d made that very clear to me when I found her yesterday and asked for help.

“How about we figure out where we need to go to find these masks?” I was in charge and needed to start leading, even if it wasn’t my favorite thing to do. “Kandoran patrols could come through here any minute, and we’re in the open right now.”

Conrad pointed at a set of buildings. “See those? They’re called starship barracks for basic training, and Justin said they should have a bunch. Let’s start there.”

I looked at the beige-brown structures with red trim, standing three stories high. “Sounds good.”

We took off at a jog, keeping watch of the blue cloudless skies as we moved. I also took stock of our surroundings. There were a few buildings with burn holes and some ravaged cars, but for the most part, the area hadn’t fared too poorly. Perhaps because it was the training side of the base, but things might be different once we went to the other side of I-44.

Conrad led us to an open area underneath the second and third floors, explaining that was where the soldiers would have had formations. At the front, there were various offices. He frowned as he checked the sign labels, explaining he’d never been to this place before but had peppered Justin with questions last night and got some good tips for where to look. I’d let him manage that while I found Verena since we were short on time if we wanted to leave first thing today.

Eventually, he pointed at a sign proclaiming it was the NBC room—Nuclear, Biological, Chemical. It was locked, so no looters had gotten in there. “This is where they’d store the masks, but we gotta bust through.”

I kicked the door first, but it barely budged. Conrad took a turn next, and then Freya. Her booted foot knocked it down flat with a resounding thud . The female shifter had some serious power that never ceased to amaze me, or maybe she had a knack for kicking doors. It was so loud, though, that it could likely be heard for some distance, with the cement floors and brick walls acting like an echo chamber.

I dashed back to thecorner of the building where Galadon stood guard, checking for Kandoran patrols. He shook his head. I sighed in relief and decided we’d use the shifters to burn through the locks next time. It was too risky to make that kind of noise again since we’d have to break into many of these rooms to get all the masks we needed.

“Okay, everyone,” I said, addressing the six males and females before me. “Grab them as fast as possible and pile them in the formation area.” Verena would watch from the sidelines since she’d need every scrap of energy to do her part.

We worked quickly, taking the square olive bags containing the masks and any extra parts to fix the ones that might not work correctly. I’d almost asked the shifters to put on the camrium gloves they stored in shiggara for the trip, but they didn’t hold any of the bags for more than a second, and that sort of thick material would take a couple of minutes to even start singeing.

Justin and Miles would be responsible for sorting everything since they were more familiar with the gear. They would be waiting on the other side of Verena's portal to Norman where we’d send the masks.

It was one of the reasons we had to have her specifically for this mission. No other sorcerer or sorceress could create portals on their own the way she could and do it multiple times a day. It probably had something to do with the fact she was born over a thousand years ago, and though she slept through most of that time, her powers continued to grow exponentially. She also had access to ancient spells from her youth that had likely been lost to time since then.

After the first room was empty, we moved to the next section of barracks, repeating the process. Everyone was hyper-focused, so we removed them from the battalion NBC rooms in just over an hour. After some thought, I decided we would form a chain to combine the mask piles from each company into a single large stack.

Conrad tossed one to me, and I tossed it to Freya, and so on. It went smoothly, so all the masks were in one place within thirty minutes. I’d lost count, but we’d acquired at least a thousand masks from this location alone. The more we got, the more we could provide for anyone who needed them besides our ground troops and support people.

After rechecking the skies, Verena opened a portal in the covered area to reduce the chance of it being seen. Galadon continued to stand watch just in case. Six of us began chucking the mask bags and supplies through as fast as possible since she warned she couldn’t hold it open for more than two minutes. I could only hope we didn’t hit anyone on the other side because we had no time to be careful about it. The portal began to waver as the pile was nearly done.

The last bag flew through as it collapsed.

I wiped thesweat from my brow. “Phew, that was close.”

Everyone was breathing hard from exertion, including Verena, who had pushed her powers to the max. I didn’t look forward to repeating this process throughout today and tomorrow, but it had to be done. Every mask we grabbed could mean one more life saved.

“It will be two hours before I can regain enough power to open and hold it again,” the sorceress said, brushing sweat-slickened brown hair from her face.

I was pretty sure she kept it open for closer to three minutes, but I doubted she could pull that off again without more time to recharge. We’d have to work even faster next time.

Galadon moved toward us, gesturing to head toward the back offices. He held a finger to his lips, indicating to keep silent. A Kandoran patrol must be out there. I had begun to wonder why we hadn’t seen any yet, but I supposed they couldn’t cover every inch of the open territory all the time. This place probably hadn’t had any notable activity for them to watch closely in quite a while.

We waited in silence deep inside the building, hardly daring to breathe. We couldn’t risk getting caught, especially this early into our mission. Galadon went back out to check. He eventually returned half an hour later and gave us the all-clear.

The next barracks building across the parking lot looked identical to the first. We repeated the process of gathering the masks from each NBC room and then combining them together. I organized where everyone would stand while throwing the masks to minimize the time it took to move them. Once I gave Verena a thumb-up, she opened the portal.We were tossing them through the second it opened, as if we were competing for a medal at the Olympics.

Once again, we barely finished before the portal closed. It had been only two minutes this time, and I suspected it would be even shorter the next timeas we continued to drain her powers. The fact she could do it so many times was a testament to her strong abilities.

It occurred to me she could have done much worse things to us if she’d actually been an enemy all those years ago. True, she’d messed with mine and Danae’s memories and inserted commands against our will, but she’d technically had a good—if dubious—reason. I’d stayed angry at her for so long, even after she saved my life, but she was risking herself again. Maybe it was time to let it go.

We barely reached the next set of barracks before a Kandoran patrol came along again. Galadon made us wait until it passed and returned twenty minutes later before letting us get to work. That was fine since Verena needed as much of a break as possible to recharge. We used it to drink water and eat some beef jerky we’d brought with us.

I rubbed my shoulders. “It didn’t occur to me we’d be getting a workout.”

“No kidding.” Conrad flexed a bicep. “These babies are in great shape, but they’ll be even bigger by the time we’re done. My girl’s gonna be happy.”

I smiled and shook my head.

Rayna rubbed her arms. “The more strength and endurance we have before the war, the better. I couldn’t have replicated this kind of workout if I tried.”

I cocked my head. “Do you exercise much?”

“Every day,” she said and took a swig of water. “We have natural strength, but I fight better when I do hardcore daily workouts in the morning. Plus, there’s not much else to do between hunts except read or talk to the birds.”

Galadon frowned at her from where he stood, watching for Kandoran, but said nothing. Did she really mean that last part about the birds? Nah, I didn’t want to know.

I finished eating my snack before going to speak with the lone shifter. “You’re helping with the masks on this next round. Titan can take over here.”

Galadon was the strongest of us and the most rested. We could only send masks one more time before Verena would need to take a break for the night, and we needed to get as many through as possible. The lone shifter could probably throw twice as many as me with my small hands.

I only preferred using him for thewatch because his kind had better eyesight and could spot dragons coming from longer distances. Galadon also had a knack for sensing their dark magic sooner than anyone due to being part sorcerer, but now I needed his strength and speed even more.

“Very well,” he said.

I went to grab Titan so they could switch places.

***

We’d slept in the barracks during the night and early morning hours. There were more than enough beds to spread out, and it didn’t appear anyone had used them since shortly after the dragons arrived. Of course, the shifters laid camrium blankets on the mattresses before lying on them to avoid starting a fire.

Verena, Rayna, Conrad, and I woke an hour after dawn. The shifters wouldn’t be able to rise until at least eleven in the morning, but I didn’t want to waste valuable daylight. There wouldn’t be any Kandoran patrols so early in the day. We gathered the rest of the masks from the training area and sent them to Norman. The work went slower with fewer people, but we finished a batch about the time the shifters got out of their beds.

Now, we’d have to find masks from the other units scattered around Ft. Sill, but those were on the other side of I-44. We gave Galadon, Freya, Titan, and Eliam thirty minutes to eat and get ready before heading out on the long walk down the road.

“Damn,” Conrad said after we crossed under the interstate. “They didn’t fuck around over here.”

The rest of the base was in terrible shape. It appeared the military had put up a much bigger fight on this end when the dragons arrived, and it had been deadly. I spotted destroyed buildings with only partially crumbling walls left. Craters were in the roads, fields, and parking lots almost everywhere. Ft. Sill wasn’t as condensed as some military posts. There were a lot of wide open spaces, but the battles had happened almost everywhere.

Though we tried to keep up a swift pace as we searched for intact buildings, it wasn’t easy. In the ruins on one corner, we spotted numerous partial skeletons across the floors of the destroyed structure. I couldn’t begin to estimate how many people they belonged to, but it was clear dragon fire had hit the place with all the scorch marks.

Sometimes, only hip and leg bones wereleft, and others, the opposite, with only the skull, spine, and ribs. In several cases, fingerbones still clutched at half-disintegrated rifles. Visions of how they must have died made my throat tighten. The flames only burned what they touched, so everything else remained intact. My stomach curdled at the suffering some must have endured if they didn’t die immediately.

I would have faced the same thing on D-day if I hadn’t been a born slayer. A green dragon’s fire had scorched my legs in the first hour of their arrival. The lower half of my pants was vaporized, along with my shoes, but my skin had remained perfect. These people weren’t so lucky.

Everyone walked in silence as we passed the horrific ruins that came one after another, but Conrad, Rayna, and I exchanged solemn looks. We were the protectors of humans. Despite that, we hadn’t been here to save this place. While it wasn’t our fault, the sacred duty born within us still mourned that we hadn’t stopped the massacre.

It was noon when we found the headquarters for an artillery unit that hadn’t been totally obliterated. Their NBC room remained untouched. Like the day before, we worked quickly. I took the first watch, figuring I could switch back to Galadon later in the afternoon when patrols would be more likely. Everyone was getting faster at tossing masks into the portal, which was good since Verena didn’t have to hold it open for as long and tax herself. Of course, our batches were also smaller since we weren’t finding as many as we did in the training area.

We’d just finished sending another load of masks from a second intact NBC room when a Kandoran patrol arrived. My heart thundered in my chest as I spotted them in the sky. We didn’t have any cover at this unit, but we had risked it since it wasn’t that late yet. The others were putting the masks in a pile outside the building in anticipation of portaling them.

I ran around the building and waved my arms. Galadon was frowning at the sky, having sensed something, but he couldn’t see anything from his vantage point. Everyone else stopped what they were doing, and we dashed inside, carefully closing the door behind us. I could only hope the Kandoran patrol didn’t fly close. They’d likely notice a giant pile of olive-green mask bags that hadn’t been there before and stop to inspect it.

After half an hour, I crept outside. The skies appeared clear, but to be safe, I found some trees to stand under and watch for a while longer. When no dragons appeared after fifteen minutes, I returned to get the others. We needed to wrap up this round of masks and get them sent to Norman.

It would be the last time before Verena could no longer portal. She was still partially burned out from yesterday, but I estimated we’d gathered at least six thousand since we started. If we included the ones we’d collect from Tinker Air Force base and other locations in the coming days, that would surely be enough for us and any allies who couldn’t get their own. Still, we’d find one more unit on Ft. Sill after this and organize those masks for a final shipment in the morning.

Galadon replaced me as the watch this time.

As the rest of us worked to toss the masks through the portal, I felt a sense of satisfaction that we’d accomplished so much in a short amount of time. The lone shifter could go back and pass the word on how to raid the military bases in Texas within their territory. His clan had managed to recruit many humans down there for the war—far more than us with our smaller land area—and they’d also need protection from any gases the enemy launched.

We moved from cover to cover, often ruins, as we made our way to the final unit, where we’d stop for the day. I hated being out in the open since patrols were difficult to spot until they got close. We were already tired and sweaty as the temperature climbed high again. It was mid-September, so we had a bit longer before cool weather came to Oklahoma.

“Damn, it’s hot,” Conrad said with his hands on his knees after we’d made our latest dash to a large, lonely tree.

Ft. Sill was not known for its thick forests, that was for sure. There were a lot of open areas that didn’t help our cause at all. I gulped the last of my water, rueful that it would be an hour before it refilled again. Usually, that wasn’t a problem, but I’d drank a lot today.

Galadon tensed. “Something is coming.”

I turned to look in the same direction as him, not seeing anything over the mostly intact buildings across the street. An eerie quiet had taken over the area, though. No bird or insect sounds like we usually heard—even in Kandoran territory.

“What is it?” I asked in a whisper.

He shook his head. “I can’t see anything clearly, but I sense a large force is on its way, and it’s coming for us.” He glanced at the other shifters. “We need to get into dragon forms before they arrive.”

They didn’t hesitate to step into the open and light up in flames.

I pulled my sword, keeping my gaze on the skies. Chills ran up my spine. I couldn’t sense anything before, but I did now. They were getting closer. It felt much stronger than when a patrol flew by, which barely tweaked my senses. This was bigger…much bigger.

“Shit,” Conrad cursed, pulling his sword. “Over there.”

I turned in the direction he looked and found a large group of green dragons flying from the north. They were so low to the ground that they barely kept from skimming trees and buildings. It’s why we couldn’t spot them until they were close. It disturbed me how well they used tactics to their advantage that I wouldn’t expect from robot-like dragons. The sorcerers pulling their strings were intelligent and ruthless.

As they flew closer, my mouth went dry. More and more Kandoran came into view until I counted over sixty. Even with our group, I didn’t think we could take on that many and survive. There were nearly eight of them for each one of us.

“Dear God,” Verena said, making the sign of the cross with her hand touching her forehead and chest. “I’ll do my best to knock down as many as possible, but I don’t have much power left.”

It occurred to me that I’d never seen her use offensive magic. “What will you do?”

“I don’t have anything flashy like your friends, but I can freeze them in the air so they fall,” she said, taking a position behind me and Conrad.

Rayna moved off to our side about twenty feet. “I’ll bring the first few down with lightning, but I don’t want to risk draining my strength by doing more.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I turned to the shifters who’d just completed their transition to dragon form. “Galadon, you take the lead in the air. Let Rayna know if you need us to do anything specific from the ground, and she’ll let you know if we need anything.”

He dipped his chin and then flared his wings to take off. Freya, Titan, and Eliam joined him, sending a torrent of wind at us as they rose. The lone shifter led them to a spot a hundred feet ahead, twisting his head back to look at Rayna. She frowned as she met his gaze.

A tense silence followed as they undoubtedly communicated telepathically.

Moments later, she grinned. “He’s going to help me.”

“How?” I asked.

Dark and ominous clouds began rolling toward us in the distance. I cringed as they reached overhead, expecting torrential rain to pour on us. A drop splattered on my face, followed by another a second after that. It was only sprinkles and not too cold, either. Galadon’s seer powers might not work well out here, but his control of theweather appeared fine.

The Kandoran forces continued forward, undaunted by the change in the weather. Our four shifters spread out as the enemy approached them, seeming so small compared to the overwhelming number of green dragons. How long could they hold out in the air?

Rayna began striking the ones farther away from us, forking the lightning so it hit several at once. Verena’s hands flew out as she froze them one by one. Conrad and I dashed toward the fallen dragons, knowing we had minutes to kill them before they could regain their senses and fight back. We also kept wary eyes on the skysince large beast bodies were falling all over, and we didn’t want one smooshing us. Thankfully, the sorceresses and shifters seemed to be taking care with where they dropped their targets.

I leaped on top of a large one with a singed snout where he’d been hit by lightning. Lifting my blade high, I struck down on the soft spot at the back of its skull. The dragon was so massive that my sword nearly sank to the hilt. Gritting my teeth, I pulled it out and dashed off the beast toward the next one.

It was held frozen by Verena’s power, but she let go as I approached. It turned to look at me, and I rammed my blade straight through its eye, pushing with all my strength. The tip lodged on the orbital plate. Killing a dragon this way wasn’t easy and required a great deal of force and a bit of luck with one’s aim, but I was already committed. I leaned into my sword hilt and broke through, penetrating the brain. The dragon’s head slumped and nearly brought me down with it.

Kneeling, I jerked my blade out and went for another Kandoran, but there were so many on the ground now I couldn’t even count them. Rayna had switched to killing the ones she’d felled. Others that Verena had brought down were trying to attack her, but she’d raised a shield to protect herself until we could finish them.

I dashed around a dragon Conrad was fighting. He was so focused on his prey and keeping an eye on the others around us that he wasn’t even taunting them. That’s when I knew our situation was dire. If he wasn’t cursing, we were in trouble.

I finally reached the one closest to Verena, snapping at her shield with razor-sharp teeth. Its back was to me, so I chose to dash up its tail and along its spine. The beast spun its head around and tried to bite my leg. I dropped low onto its other side. Thankfully, I was in the perfect spot to plunge my sword between its ribs and into its heart.

It took my entire blade to reach the beating organ, but I got it before the dragon could turn its head and lunge for me from the other side. The Kandoran wailed a horrible screech before slumping into death.

I took stock of my surroundings.

Galadon and Titan were still in the air, but Eliam and Freya were on the ground a few hundred feet away. The male shifter’s wing appeared severely damaged, and blood soaked his body from numerous wounds. I was amazed he could still fight at all. Freya limped as she fought in beast form, and there were rips in her wings, but she didn’t appear as bad as Eliam.

Conrad and Rayna appeared to have the remaining dragons around us covered. Verena had resumed taking down more in the skies, but they were farther away and falling closer to the shifters. They needed my help more. I ran toward them as fast as possible, narrowly dodging a dragon who swooped down to attack me from above. No time to play nice. I ducked as it passed and sliced my sword through its belly.

Blood and guts spilled as the beast crashed into the ground a handful of feet behind me. It wasn’t dead since I hadn’t hit a vital organ, so I needed to finish it. I stabbed once again where its belly now lay exposed, easily finding the heart.

Eliam roared as a dragon chomped onto his shoulder. Nothing made me angrier than seeing my friends harmed, and he was one of the shifters who didn’t hesitate to be friendly to me. I finished closing the distance and leaped onto his attacker. The Kandoran would not be killing him if I could help it. I stabbed my blade into the back of the dragon’s skull. It died instantly, with its head falling to the ground. Eliam went down with him, but the Kandoran’s jaw loosened enough so he could pull free.

I jumped off and checked him over. He was in terrible shape with a crushed shoulder, mutilated wings, abroken rear leg, and oozing wounds everywhere. I couldn’t do much for him while surrounded by the enemy, but I’d do my best to protect him from further damage.

“Stay close behind me,” I ordered. With any luck, I could keep most of the other dragons off him.

He did as I said, crouching a few feet to my rear as I slashed at the next foe coming for us. The following minutes were nothing more than fighting and a sea of blood. One Kandoran struck me with its tail, leaving a deep gash on my side. Another bit me in the arm. Pain and agony suffused my body with every new injury while I did my best to block everything out and keep fighting. I’d promised Aidan I would come home, and my sweet boy needed me, too. No matter what, I couldn’t give up.

I killed as many dragons as I could, but they kept coming. Eliam stayed behind me, snapping at any enemies who came close to him. He couldn’t move much with his injuries, but he bought me time as I took care of the ones at the front.

During a few seconds of respite, I took in my surroundings while I tried to catch my breath. I caught Galadon in the sky. He was a ruthless killing machine that sent chills down my spine to watch. He used his spiked tail to great effect, lashing at anything behind him while crushing the foe’s neck to his front with his teeth. Every dragon who came near him ended up on the ground soon after, either dead or seriously injured.

A couple of hundred feet away from me, Conrad had a pile of green-scaled bodies around him. He was covered in wounds with a nasty gash along his left cheek, one of his arms hung uselessly, and he limped. Still, he had a determined glint in his eyes as he kept wielding his sword one-handed at every dragon who came near him.

The storm clouds had thinned, and the light rain was gone, but Rayna still used what remained to bring down the occasional lightning bolt. She aimed them strategically at any Kandoran that tried striking Titan or Freya from behind. The male shifter had joined the other two on the ground after his wings were torn the same as theirs.

Unfortunately, the pair of them were too far apart to watch each other’s backs, but Rayna had enough dead dragons behind her that she could only be attacked from the front. How she still had any power to throw lightning, I didn’t know, but she would be drained any moment at the rate she went. I hoped she wasn’t sacrificing herself for the rest of us.

Two more Kandoran came at me, flying low in the sky. I lifted my sword with one hand and readied my dagger with the other. The enemy to my right came first, breathing red-orange flames into my face. I ducked to avoid his chomping mouth and used both blades to cut through the beast’s underside. It screeched overhead.

Eliam tore into the injured Kandoran as I slashed at the second dragon coming at me from where it landed on the ground. I swung my blade as hard as I could and sliced deep into its neck, almost making it halfway through the throat. It used its powerful legs to push off the ground and back into the air. Damn, it had decided to back off rather than keep fighting me, probably to give itself time to heal. The dark magic infusing its body would help it rejuvenate quickly.

In its place, another dragon came, and I wanted to groan.

Thanks to our tactics, the sixty or so that had initially shown up were nearly wiped out.For that, we could be proud, but dozens more had flown in to replace them over the last few minutes. I almost sank to my knees when I couldn’t see an end to thegreen dragon trail in the sky. No matter how hard we fought, we couldn’t survive this. I fought back tears as I thought of never returning to Orion or Aidan.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered and readied my sword for however many more strikes I had left to give. At the very least, we’d take as many down with us as possible.