Chapter 29

Twenty-Nine

The whistling of the wind was all Kaida could hear as Blaze’s dragon soared with incredible speed into the sky. The Ember Dragon’s ruby-red scales reminded her of blood, and its powerful talons were now wrapped around her body. Kaida flailed her arms to attempt to escape, but she was no match for the large beast.

She could barely hear her screams over it as the princes’ house slowly became a dot in a patch of green beneath her. The only thing she thought to do outside of screaming was to call for Beckett. As she screamed his name, she felt the mist of water inside of a cloud dampen her exposed clothing. There was no telling if Beckett could even hear her from this height, but she continued anyway as she could hear the ramming of her heart inside of her ears.

Why is Blaze doing this? How could he hate me this much?

“BLAZE! STOP THIS!”

The heat from the flames nearly singed her skin and hair as it blasted past her. Blaze was in no mood to talk about this though, and she had no idea what she could even do to get herself out of this situation. The worst part about it was that there was still no inkling of her dragon inside of her. No spark of magic at her fingertips. No warmth of its power flowing through her. Nothing.

I’m on my own…

Tears welled in her eyes as she clawed at Blaze’s talons. Kaida willed for her dragon to complete a partial shift for her own to come out to cause some type of damage to Blaze to get him to let her go. Pain traveled from her fingertips into her hands as her nails broke against his scales. Blood rolled down into her palms creating a slickness that made her attempts at making Blaze let her go moot.

I have to focus on getting my magic or my dragon to come out! She told herself as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Kaida closed her eyes and focused on the image of her magic from yesterday. Just as soon as she pictured her purple arcs of light around her hands, Blaze’s dragon roared. Kaida opened her eyes and saw blue all around below her. Blaze had flown her over the water. It became hard to swallow at the thought of dropping down… there was no way she would survive.

She closed her eyes once more, focusing on taking deep breaths to calm herself and call her magic to her. With each breath being broken, it took a few before she was able to steadily breathe again and focus on the task at hand. Kaida pictured her hands in front of her with purple arcs of lighting dancing around them. No warmth inside her chest came, so she continued with her exercise. She then pictured the magic around her like a force field, just like yesterday, and waited again for a response. When nothing came, Kaida thought of something else to try.

My mate bond with Beckett!

Kaida envisioned the flames she noticed after her bond with Beckett was completed. She closed her eyes as hard as she could and put all of her energy into seeing those twin flames next to each other inside her soul. There was nothing but black at first, with yellow and orange dots floating around from the sun. She thought she saw a flicker of the blue flame, but it remained black.

ROAR!

A deep guttural roar broke her focus. Beckett’s blue dragon twisted and bent its long serpentine body through the air. Spikes and fins which lined its back rippled in the wind as the dragon propelled itself above the ground. His beautiful blue scales looked lighter with the sun reflecting off them as he barreled through the sky toward her.

“BECKETT!” Kaida screamed at him as if he didn’t notice her in Blaze’s clutches. New tears streamed down her face at the sight of her mate’s dragon, knowing that Beckett would do whatever it took to get her back from Blaze’s dragon.

A stream of fire blazed past her and headed straight for Beckett’s dragon. Beckett answered with his own stream of water directed at the fire. When the two magics collided, there was a crack that sounded through the air, and steam exploded out from where they connected.

Beckett continued his path toward them with his mouth opening once again and Kaida could see a pale blue ball forming in the back of his throat. Shards of ice were sent in their direction. Kaida did her best to tuck herself into Blaze’s claws to not get hit.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Blaze’s dragon growled in pain as the ice shards pelted against his scales. The Ember dragon’s mouth opened, and black smoke billowed out of it. Kaida noticed he flew in a circle and angled his neck in every direction until there was no visibility. While breathing in the smoke, Kaida choked as it entered her lungs, tears stinging her eyes in a new way making her vision blur. The wind picked up against her face as Blaze’s dragon moved through the air. Rubbing her eyes gave Kaida the ability to see what was happening once again.

What the hell…

Kaida watched as Beckett’s dragon fly through the black smoke, closed the gap, and wrapped his body around Blaze’s dragon like a snake. Blaze’s dragon wiggled to escape the Tidal Dragon’s hold, but Beckett’s dragon was long enough to keep him in place. While struggling to get himself released, Blaze’s dragon let go of Kaida, sending her through the air toward the water.

Her wailing screams scorched the back of her throat as Kaida flailed her arms as if she could grab onto something to stop her fall. Her stomach was in her throat as her body went head over feet while she fell. Over her own screams, Kaida heard Beckett’s dragon cry out when he noticed her falling. Through their bond, Kaida could feel Beckett panic as he watched her fall closer to the water.

GREAT DRAGON, I BEG OF YOU! SAVE ME! Kaida pleaded as the whistling wind and tears forming blurred her vision.

Breathe, my companion. I got us.

A warmth formed in the center of her chest and spread out through her body. Kaida watched through her blurred vision as deep purple scales formed all over her skin. There was a popping sound of her bones moving inside of her and pain radiated through every joint within her body. Kaida screamed from the pain and blacked out for a moment. When she came to, her vision was no longer blurred. The warmth eased the pain and then replaced it with a sizzling sensation. Arcs of purple light danced all over her skin as the scales grew in size. Before she knew it, Kaida’s hands grew into claws. The purple arcs burst into a blinding light, and she could feel her wings burst from her back. The wind caught underneath them and slowed her descendance just before she hit the water. Sprays of water sprung up around her as her dragon flew parallel to the ocean. Her dragon pulled their body upward a few feet and then looked down at their reflection.

Oh. My. Gods!

Kaida couldn’t believe the sight before her. Her dragon was magnificent! The scales were a deep purple that reminded her of the darkest amethysts with a lighter purple underneath her chin that ran down to her tail. Its eyes were the color of lilacs and held a fierceness inside of them that made her grin. Every inch of her body looked lean and agile, but also somehow bigger than she had ever seen on a dragon. Kaida cackled while inside of her dragon’s mind, giddiness bubbling knowing that her dragon had finally emerged.

The dragon flapped its mighty wings and soared through the air at an incredible speed. Her dragon tipped to its side so one of her wings could graze the water. When she quickly changed directions, her agility was able to move in the blink of an eye. She made her way toward the beach that she had dropped on and hovered over it. Kaida whistled in the wind and flapping of wings, and she looked around to see Beckett’s dragon slowly approaching from the other side. Arlo and Esen had their wings out and were flying over to them as well. Her dragon’s growl reverberated inside of its chest as a warning, and all three of them stopped.

Then she heard flapping behind her. Kaida’s dragon flapped her wings and gained altitude as she came face-to-face with Blaze’s dragon. The Ember dragon roared at her, but Kaida’s didn’t budge. Blaze’s dragon opened his mouth and an orange glow formed in the back of its throat. Kaida’s dragon opened her own mouth and let out a sphere of purple magic with a stream billowing into it. The sphere flew out a few feet and then opened up into a shield just as Beckett’s fire blew out of its mouth. The fire collided with the shield and fanned out around it. Both dragons continued to feed into the magic between them, waiting for the other to give way and yield.

Shockingly, Blaze’s dragon stopped first.

Kaida’s dragon then tilted its head back and let a stream of magic explode into the sky. When the magic reached the clouds, a dark purple cloud formed until it nearly covered the entire island. Arcs of purple lightning crackled in the purple cloud, rods of it bursting downward all across the sky. The roar that came next sounded so primal, so prehistoric, that it sent a chill down Kaida’s back.

She noticed that Blaze’s dragon was now with the others. Beckett and Blaze remained in their dragon form; Arlo and Esen were standing on the sand. The Breeze and Terrain Princes then kneeled and bowed their heads toward her. Beckett’s dragon quickly followed. Blaze’s dragon slowly did the same, keeping eye contact with Kaida’s dragon. When Kaida’s dragon let out a fierce roar, all four of the princes then lowered their heads more to pay respect to her dragon.

What is happening? Why are they bowing?

Because we are a Plasma Dragon. The most powerful of them all, and the true ruler of all Dragons.

The End… For Now