39. Alfie

There were too many of them. My instinct was to fight but I couldn't control my magic the way I wanted to.

I could feel it simmering inside me, but couldn't make it do what I wanted.

Occasionally, it would burst out of me in random bolt of lightning, looking like the blue magic that Morgan had, only I couldn"t seem to control where it was directed. Each time it burst out of me, one or two people would drop down dead. It frightened me that I could do that. It frightened me more that these people could reach my family and hurt them.

I'd finally moved back to the border and positioned myself in the gap, filling it with my form and blocking it. Nobody else could get in, except past me. The only problem was, there were just so many of them and all of them were trained soldiers. They fought swiftly and viciously, slashing and hacking. My instinct was to thrash my legs and wings, knocking them over and kicking them back away from me and the weakness in our border. However, after only a few minutes, I was bleeding from a dozen deep wounds, and it was slowing me down.

Just as I began to feel the real, deep terror that I'd be killed and then there would be nobody to stand here and protect my clan, that's when I heard the screech.

Even though I'd never heard that sound before, my dragon knew it. It was war and anger and impending battle.

I looked up in time to see Glimmer in his dragon form streaking towards us. He shot like a lightning bolt straight down towards the mass of people fighting.

There was a man on his back and it surprised me that Glimmer would let anyone ride him. Then the man raised his arm and flung an arrow of magic. It shot straight through the rhino shifter who'd been charging into the boundary, smashing his way in one crack at a time.

The arrow pierced his thick skin and he dropped to the ground, dead.

Before I could register that properly, the man leapt from Glimmer's back and launched himself into the air. As the man rose, falling in a graceful arc, Glimmer shot down to the enemy and there was a scream and a crunch, and he crushed several of them with his huge body, bit another and slashed with his back claws as he went past, leaving a streak of bodies and blood in his wake.

The man had drawn a sword and, as he fell, he sliced straight through a huge bear shifter's chest. The bear stood still for a moment before it seemed to realise it had been killed, and then it slumped to the ground. The man was already facing the next enemy and slicing at them with the same sword.

I wanted to stand there and watch, but someone shot me with a gun. Unlike the last time I'd been shot, I was a dragon now and it barely lodged into my scales. I turned to the shooter with a roar of indignation and snapped my jaws at him, severing his hand.

By the time I looked up, Glimmer had vanished and the man was fighting alone in the middle of the enemy mass. Except… I could sense Glimmer nearby. His bond was still bright, as though he were near.

Sure enough, someone dropped down dead all by themselves. Glimmer must be using magic to do that.

A pain sharper than any of the others suddenly gripped me. I gasped for breath and tried to step back, to make sure I was blocking that hole in our defences, and looked down at the hag.

She leered up at me and I snarled at her. This time, I wasn't going to be polite.

"I never thought I'd see another golden dragon in my life. Such a waste, to burn Alexander's body when I could have used it. All that power wasted."

She was walking towards me and I could see a knife in her hands. She was holding it blade down, and it was unlike any I'd ever seen before. The blade was black and wavy, ending in a vicious point.

I checked around me. My clan were all behind me, except for Glimmer. My mother was injured and Aunt Silvia had dragged her back by force, using her own large, silver dragon form to push and shove her behind the boundary while a dozen witches fired spells at them and made them whimper.

The whimpering sound had brought my magic out, somehow. Five of those witches were dead, surrounded by crackling blue magic.

The hag was moving towards me slowly. Around me, the rest of her army seemed to hang back. A few of them were attacking the borders. If the protections held, they'd have to go through me. If they broke, they could all get in one by one and harm my clan.

My stomach cramped. I really, really didn't want my clan hurt. The thought of it burned my insides much more than my fire did.

Aunt Isabella was still working her magic, making weeds and brambles grow up on the outside and it was tripping a few of the enemy up as they tried to dodge Glimmer's invisible wrath and the other man's cutting blade. I didn't know who he was but he was helping my clan.

I growled a warning as Madame Trevellian got almost within touching distance. I didn't want her being able to reach out to me with that knife in her hand. Whatever it was, it pulsed with a malevolent energy, almost as though it had a bond with the hag.

She pulled her lips back in an awful smile.

"I got to you at the perfect time. I'll get your whole dragon body to harvest. Be a good boy and stay in that form when I kill you. It'll be quick, I promise."

She took another step and now she was in striking distance. Something in me held back, though. A murderous glint in her eye that told me not to be too bold.

"Alexander was stronger than you are, little one. He knew his dragon. He could channel his magic. Even he didn't stand a chance against me. Stay still and let me work. I'll make it quick and you'll hardly feel a thing. If you stay still, I'll let your clan live."

She was lying.

I could sense my bonds fanning out around me, but I couldn't do anything The bonds pulsed with fear and protective instincts, and I wasn't sure which way that protection was flowing. Probably both ways. Some of the bonds flickered with pain and I wanted to help my clan, I did, but I just didn't know how.

I was mesmerised, trapped by this one hag.

I couldn't dart out and attack because that would leave a gap in our defences and more of her army would get through.

I couldn't back away for the same reason.

So I stayed where I was, letting this hag get closer and closer, sure she would do something truly horrible once she got within arm's reach of me.

Rearing my head back to keep my body as far away from her as I could, I eyed her and that malevolent knife.

Snarling out another warning did nothing except make her laugh.

I'd never felt so helpless.