15. Breaker Firespell

Chapter 15

Breaker Firespell

Size can be your greatest disadvantage on the battlefield.

I had found that statement was true in both my dragon and my human forms. Those words, shouted at me by my father on an ungodly hot summer afternoon when I was sixteen, had stuck with me for so long—mostly confusing me . At the time, I hadn't truly understood what he meant. Then, when I found myself in real-life battle situations, it became clear.

In most situations in life, I dominated the space with my size alone, putting aside anything having to do with my magic—but with it? And with my dragon? Even more so. The same concept didn't apply as well on the battlefield, though, because the biggest individual wasn't always the biggest threat, especially in hand-to-hand combat.

Other shifter species, especially wolves, had mastered the art of changing back and forth between their creature and human forms. They could make the transition in seconds flat, in the narrowest of spaces. It made them hard to target and particularly lethal. They weren't a sitting target like a dragon would be on the ground, too big to move fast and lacking a natural agility when not in the air. But there were only a limited type of attacks we could effect from the sky—unless we planned to kill everyone, our side included.

So I hadn't shifted. Instead, I stayed in my human form and pulled on every ounce of training I had, the heavy sword in my hand slicing through the air effortlessly. As my sword came down on some unlucky individual, a clean slice through the back of their neck causing them to drop to their knees as their head rolled elsewhere, I found myself thankful for the training my father had drilled into me day in and day out.

It hadn't been fun by any stretch of the imagination, but it had been necessary. Necessary to ending this.

The morning light was replaced by darkness as storm clouds thickened overhead, a dark chuckle leaving my father as he stabbed someone before turning sharply and impaling another with a dagger. My mother scowled at him, removing her sword from the individual's chest and kicking the body away.

"I had that covered!" she shouted.

"Just supporting you," he claimed, looking damn near giddy as they worked their way through the masses. Around us the chaos of war raged, and while I couldn't see Gage or Jagger, I knew they were close. Considering the amount of anger surging through them, I had a feeling they'd caught sight of Linan. Hopefully they wouldn't mind when I found him and ended him first…

Mowing through another three individuals, the clang of metal on metal ringing in my ears, my eyes narrowed on a group of figures in the distance, looking over each individual. I knew it would be hard to spot him, but?—

There he fucking was. In the middle of it all.

Something that surprised me considering what a coward he was, whether he would admit to that or not. I could see the cockiness in his gaze as the men around him fought. He held a sword in his hand but didn't lift it once, the protective barrier of bodies around him doing all the work. And they were doing excellent work—it was clear his wolves had training, using a specially formed technique of combat combined with shifting back and forth so efficiently that landing a hit on them was nearly impossible. It was also hard to predict how they would attack you, to know if you needed to watch for a sword or a bite.

Even from the sky, where the avian shifters and dragons were attempting diving attacks and raining down elemental surges of power, the wolves were doing a damn good job at avoiding any lethal blows. I was glad for the amount of reinforcements we had ended up with, because without them I wouldn't be nearly as confident about the outcome of this conflict.

I wasn't as interested in the larger battle at hand, though, and as I worked my way toward Linan, I allowed my rage to grow. The things this bastard wanted to do to my mate— the love of my life . The thought was all it took to turn my temper white-hot as I brutally killed each wolf in my way. Knowing that Bexley was safe, that she was far away from here, did little to make me feel better. I knew his goal. I knew that Linan was not only after this realm and its power, but her. This was the end of the line for all of it— for every single dream of his.

"Clanguard!" My voice was loud and harsh as he snapped his gaze toward me. I felt satisfied at seeing fear grow in his gaze, and before he could call more reinforcements, a wave of our people surged forward and met his current wall. It allowed me to get closer, looming near as if the shadow of death itself was coming for the bastard.

He deserved worse than death.

"Firespell," he spit. I offered him a sadistic grin before charging at him with my sword. For a singular moment, I wondered if he would run—or possibly shift—but when the collision of metal reverberated through the air and my sword hit his, excitement and adrenaline at the prospect of true battle slammed into me.

"Funny. I thought you would run like a bitch," I bit out as I pulled back, swinging once more as our dance of swords began. Clanguard didn't have my skill, but he was faster, able to dodge my blows, even if only by hair's breadth. If he didn't dodge them, he met them with his sword. I pushed forward, the clang of our swords causing him to stumble back. He bent under the weight as he turned sharply and dislodged his weapon from mine, darting out of the way.

"You're the one who's losing here, Breaker. You've already lost." Clang. Again and again the sound echoed like a battle drum, urging me forward as we exchanged blows.

Clang.

"I see more of your blood being shed than ours," I argued. Clang. "Also, we have what you want: the territory and Bexley."

"Keep your territory," he spit. Clang. "All I need is the whore. We can worry about power later."

His words had their intended effect, but he didn't expect my physical reaction—surging forward with a hit hard enough to knock him onto the ground, the tip of my sword slicing across his chest. He growled, blood streaming from the cut like a river, as I shifted out of the way, an arrow shooting past me from someone trying to pull my attention. Unfortunately, the millisecond of distraction was just long enough for Linan to recover.

"You do not speak about her. Ever." My voice had the individuals around us scattering mid-fight, and I could see the creature inside Linan respond in fear. To his credit, he gripped his sword tighter as I repositioned myself, trying to establish a predictable pattern that would allow me to land a fatal blow.

"I'll speak of her all I want. She'll create an entire litter of storm dragons for me?—"

I snapped.

With an enraged roar, I charged. He dodged, but only barely, my sword ripping across his arm. He cursed as his movements grew sluggish, his endurance absolutely nothing compared to mine. Still, he had life to him. He could still escape. He could still go and find Bexley.

"You will never have Bexley," I snarled. Clang. "And your heirs have abandoned you. You have nothing, Clanguard."

"You think those pathetic children are my only option?!" He chuckled, his cheeks turning red. Clang.

"Right," I bit out. Clang . "We have Olivia as well, though."

Linan stumbled back, wide-eyed and tripping over his own feet. I smiled as his face turned purple, his eyes darkening. "What did you just say?"

"He said that we have your brat." My father appeared next to me as Linan let out a furious roar and charged forward. Before I could raise my sword, my father met him head on, warning that I should look behind me.

Fuck.

A massive bastard, almost seven feet tall, shifted into his wolf form on the spot and darted towards me. I didn't hesitate to bring down my sword hard as I slid to the side, dragging it across his ribs—hoping to see his guts spill across the battlefield.

Unfortunately, it didn't leave a fucking mark, his skin like metal. It did absolutely fucking nothing. As the bastard passed me, he shifted back into human form, his dagger grazing me. I hissed in pain, but it refocused me, adrenaline sharpening everything into absolute clarity.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

Our battle raged for what felt like hours, neither of us giving an inch. I had to admit that out of all of those I'd fought, he was likely the best. His endurance seemed endless. When I heard a sudden roar of frustration, I snapped my head over to find my father holding his abdomen, a group of individuals surrounding him.

Linan was nowhere to be found, though. Completely gone. It was a fucking ambush—the coward.

Darting away from the enemy attacking me, I only got a few feet away when a dagger flew past me and hit one of his own damn men. With a growl, I turned around and lodged my sword deep in his chest, his closeness from trying to catch me off guard working to my advantage. Twisting the metal and creating a hole in his chest, I felt immense satisfaction as I ripped it out and kicked him to the ground. Bastard .

When I reached my father, he'd fallen to a knee, pressing his hands firmly to his gut. Gage and Jagger were helping clear the area around him, keeping Linan's forces from taking advantage.

"Medical. Now," I shouted to one of our men, giving a warning look to my father as he attempted to stand.

"Absolutely not." He ripped away his shirt, my grimace unavoidable at the blood pouring from him.

"You are a stubborn old man."

"I'm serious," he argued, holding my gaze. "There are people who need it more than me. I'm already healing." Looking past the blood, I saw that he was right—the skin was grafting together as it did usually for dragons. But still, he needed to go back to the estate, not be on the damn battlefield at his age, injured.

When he grabbed my shirt and spoke to me in a hard tone, I was brought back to my childhood, listening to every damn command he gave. "Linan escaped. He's going to the estate. Now that he knows his daughter's there?—"

"Fuck." I hadn't considered that. I should have?—

"Go," my dad implored. "Go now. Find him before he gets there."

"Come with me."

With an uncharacteristic smile, he brought his sword up once more. "And miss out on all of this? No. Now go kill that bastard." He charged forward into the crowd, and I recognized in that moment there was absolutely no stopping him.

Fuck it.

Looking up to the sky and making sure there was no one close enough to harm, I shifted Soaring up and past the other dragons, I released a roar that I hoped would strike fear into Linan. It didn't take long for me to catch his scent, but the minute I did I realized he was running right toward the estate in shifted form.

Right toward Bexley.