35. Blaze

Lord Somerville scared me. When his icy eyes turned on me, I felt the shock of his power, so cold and sharp. It made me hiss like I was being rained on.

I wouldn't say it hurt, but it damaged me. His power was awful.

Instinctively, I shied away behind my mate and I was hidden from Lord Somerville's view by Alfie's body.

From there, where I felt safe, I glanced around at the other members of the clan. They were still standing there, waiting. Nobody was paying attention to them and they seemed to be unsure what to do. I'd thought clans of dragons all worked well together, working in harmony and each protecting the others. That was why I'd entered the dragon's territory in the first place. I'd thought dragon territories were strong and defended.

This one wasn't. Not any longer.

Not that I'd leave now. I'd never leave. Not without my mate.

Alfie's uncle stood a little in front of the others, seeming to usher a middle-aged woman and a younger woman behind him. He had a sort of professionally blank face, which made me wonder what he was thinking. He wasn't giving any of his emotions away.

I was sure that anyone who looked at me would see exactly how scared and confused I was. I wasn't great at hiding my emotions. Fire spirits weren't.

We felt. We burned. That's what we did. It just wasn't in us to pretend and conceal.

Lord Somerville snapped, "The rest of you get to the border. The golden dragon will fight the hag."

This time, George didn't turn away to do Lord Somerville's bidding straight away. His eyes flickered to Alfie, as though wondering whether he would stop them leaving again.

Sure enough, Alfie said, "If the hag is coming here, we need everybody in one place."

The little clan huddled together and nobody left to spread out along the rest of the border. They were no longer obeying Lord Somerville.

He noticed, too.

I'd never seen such envious eyes before, filled with the desire for Alfie's power. He looked almost deranged, eyes wild, his cheeks beginning to flush red with anger.

"You'll do as I say, son. You're my golden dragon. I've had to wait nearly twenty-five years for another one and now I've got you, you're going to defend our territory."

For the first time, possibly ever, Alfie interrupted his father.

"That's what I want to do, but I don't know how."

"Silence! You'll do what I say, and you might live. That creature will leave our territory now. It can either run or fight. If it fights, it might weaken the hag's army."

It took me a second to realise that Lord Somerville was talking about me. He was planning on just throwing me out?

I didn't say anything. I knew I didn't need to. I was still half-hiding behind Alfie and he spoke for me. It didn't occur to me to be afraid of Lady Somerville, who was standing just to the side of me, where she could see both me and Alfie. She hadn't moved or said anything in a while. She had gone mute with fear.

I felt sorry for her. She was bonded to her husband, couldn't oppose the elder of the clan, and yet… and yet she'd tried to make Alfie hide because she knew Lord Somerville would send him out here and make him fight. She had seen one of her sons fight and die in battle, in exactly this place and, probably, to exactly the same enemy.

Instinctively, I reached out a hand. My fingers brushed against hers and I slipped my hand into her own. At first, she didn't move. Didn't take her eyes off her husband and her son.

Then she curled her fingers slightly, enclosing my hand in hers.

When Alfie spoke, there was a confidence to it that I had rarely heard before, especially when he was talking to one of his family.

"Blaze isn't leaving."

He said it so simply, and it sounded true. He wouldn't let them throw me out. I wasn't even afraid of it because I knew it wouldn't happen.

The claiming bite on my neck tingled and I raised my free hand to it, tracing my fingers over the raised scars. I belonged to Alfie now. His territory was my home.

As I thought that, I wondered whether Alfie could sense what I was thinking because he said, "Blaze is my mate. This is his home."

Lord Somerville pointed dramatically at the boundary where I could see the gaping hole in their defences. He'd punched right through them and, yes, he'd taken out half a dozen people trying to break in but he'd left a hole. It made me nervous.

I'd forgotten for a second to keep my eyes on Lord Somerville.

We all looked at the border, all focused on that hole, and Alfie took a half-step towards it as though he wanted to stand there and guard it.

He barely moved but it was just enough. My body came into full sight of Lord Somerville again and he raised his arm and threw a lance of icy magic at me.

It shot straight past Alfie, and a distracted part of my brain noted that he hadn't risked attacking me while there was a chance of hitting Alfie.

The magic struck me in the chest and I gasped from the shock. It took a second to register what had happened. His magic was like ice, cold and sharp.

I stumbled backwards and the hand holding mine tightened, trying to hold me upright. Lady Somerville held me until I found my footing again and I looked down at the lance of icy magic sticking out of me.

Only when I raised my eyes to meet Alfie's did it actually seem real and then, suddenly, I registered the pain. It was as though I hadn't been able to process it before, but suddenly I felt everything.

Alfie's eyes went wide with shock, he reached out a gentle hand and touched the tip of the large splint of icy magic. I was too stunned to do anything. All I could do was watch as Alfie's eyes began to glow yellow and then orange and then gold.

I saw the golden scales ripple across the skin of his cheeks and down his neck, and then he turned his attention from me to his father just as his dragon burst out of him.