31. Lira

31

LIRA

M y heart hammered against my ribs, and my knees wanted to give out, but thankfully, my refreshing magic swirled inside me.

"You are surrounded, King Ignathor," Father rasped, not yet noticing the chaos behind him.

All I could focus on was Tavish's eyes locked on me as he led the attack, unaware of the flame streaming directly toward him.

"We're being attacked," I yelped, and I lifted water from below the group of dragons over the sea. I linked, Tavish, watch out!

The flame had almost reached him as it arced through the night sky.

Tavish jerked his head around just as the water I'd called splashed up and doused the flame that had come within feet of hitting my mate. Now that it was extinguished, I could make out what it was.

An arrow.

Father, Mother, Mom, Dad, and Eiric spun around just as twenty more flames soared from the village toward them, aimed at different sections of the group.

"They're shooting arrows at us," Tavish shouted, alerting the masses that might not have seen. "Be careful."

King Ignathor gripped my upper arm and yanked me backward. The heat from his touch almost burned my skin, and at the back of my mind, I wondered if my touch felt like that to Tavish.

"I'm assuming that was you, seeing as everyone else is focused on charging us," King Ignathor spat as he created distance between me and the others. Pyralis remained stuck in his spot in front of Eiric and our parents. "Pyralis, come."

I dug my wooden heels into the uneven ground and pumped my wings, trying to break free, as Dad pivoted toward us and saw the dragon king and queen pulling me away.

Shaking his head, Pyralis rushed to catch up to us as Dad unsheathed his sword and raised it just as the dragon behind him opened his mouth and expelled flames.

Mother spun around and redirected the air so the flames hit the dragon in his own face instead.

"Don't do this, King Ignathor," Father yelled as more arrows arched toward the fae.

Every time Tavish tried to break away, more arrows were loosed, derailing his advance without anyone getting severely injured. The Seelie fae, with affinity to water and wind, tapped into their magic, but more arrows were released every few seconds.

"Me?" King Ignathor snickered. "You set every bit of this in motion. You vowed your daughter to us yet didn't respect us enough to include us in any conversations where her future was concerned. My son had to request that she come live with us early because she completed a sacred bond with another man. And yet, you still turned your wings on us! And now you come here with every intention of attacking us—as if we didn't sense that nightfiend last night watching us. We thought the attack might have come last night, but when nothing happened, we prepared for it. You think we're buffoons, and I'm tired of the constant insults. Leave now, or your kingdom will pay the price."

My stomach dropped. Something had to have happened to alert them to Tavish and the scouting group's presence.

"I won't tolerate my daughter being taken prisoner," Father gritted out, and the ground underneath our feet began to shake.

I glanced up and saw Tavish freeze an arrow that had been heading for him. Finnian and Struan stood beside him, and my mate's eyes met mine.

Deep roars came from behind us, and my parents' faces blanched in terror. With the loud flapping of wings, I didn't have to question what was going on.

Dragons in animal form had arrived.

Dad joined Father in making the ground shake, and I knew I had to do something.

Ten dragons flew over my head, with more following. I could only hope that the guards who'd been attacking the other two villages would gain the upper hand.

I couldn't believe we'd been so foolish.

"Kill the Seelie king and queen," King Ignathor commanded nonchalantly as the dragons continued past us.

The dragons opened their mouths, ready to cover my family in flames. My breath caught as the dragons opened fire, and I yanked at my water magic once again as Mother used her wind magic. Our two magics merged, and the soothing wind mixed with the refreshing pulse of water, forming a massive water tornado that whirled around them.

My body steadied as Father, Dad, and Mom used their own magic against the dragons. Dad and Father flung pieces of the volcanic mountain rocks at the dragons while Mom used her own fire magic. Eiric had dropped to her knees, her eyes focused between Pyralis and me.

"Take her inside the castle," Queen Sintara shouted. "So we can end this foolish fight."

I laughed, unable to stop myself. "Do you think they're going to forget about me if they can't see me? And you question why others view you as ignorant." The last thing I would do was go inside with them. I had to get out of this situation.

The king yanked me around, scales covering his face and hands. Smoke curled from his nose. "It's best if you don't insult us, Princess. We could make your life very uncomfortable."

"I won't be living here, Your Majesty ." I kneed him in the stomach, but it felt as if I'd hit steel. My knee popped, followed by a sharp pain, and I gritted my teeth as agony rolled through me.

He smirked, his pupils turning into slits. "And you called us ignorant. You just kicked a partially shifted dragon. Our scales protect us."

I wanted to smack the smirk off his face, but his scales were still there.

Lira, I'm coming, Tavish linked, his desperation and fear spiraling inside me. What did they do to you?

Of course he'd felt my pain, which would distract him even more. Focus on your own fight. I'll be fine.

The blast you will, sprite. Which one harmed you?

I did it to myself. I didn't need him sidetracking me either.

I was certain there was one place the king didn't scale over, so I focused, wanting him to feel a portion of my pain. This time, I moved forward, pretending to be in agony, and then jerked up my injured leg, striking his balls with the top of my thigh. More pain radiated from my knee, but the king released me and hunched over. His body began to increase in size, shifting more fully.

Queen Sintara slapped my face. My ears rang, and my cheek throbbed, but I called my healing magic forward to help heal my knee and then pulled on my water magic. Water from the sea drenched the queen and the king.

The king sputtered, and his body grew larger. Queen Sintara huffed as her gown and hair matted to her skin.

I was preparing for whatever they'd do next when someone grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away from the king. When my skin didn't buzz, I knew exactly who it wasn't—Tavish. Instead, I found myself being carried by none other than Pyralis.

"Princess, this isn't the way to handle things." His amber eyes darkened as his own crimson scales began to appear on his skin.

"Take her inside and teach her some manners!" Queen Sintara heaved herself up from the spot where I'd been moments ago, beside the king, now in beast form. The crown hung on one of his spikes as if he'd placed it there on purpose. "We can't lose her. You know that."

If it weren't such a horrible situation, I'd laugh. Thankfully, my healing magic had already started working on my knee, which meant that I should be able to walk on it soon without draining myself too much. I wouldn't be able to recharge as quickly here on dragon land though, so I had to be careful how much I used.

Pyralis glanced over his shoulder in the direction of my parents and Eiric. He sighed, faced forward once more, and headed to the double doors that led inside the castle.

I swallowed, knowing that I needed to get back to Tavish and my people.

I whimpered, trying to sound helpless. The dragons underestimating me would be my greatest advantage now.

"Don't worry. You won't be mistreated." Pyralis grimaced, and the heat of his arms made me even more uncomfortable than his touch. "I'll make my parents understand why you're reacting this way. I'll make sure you're safe here."

The fact that he felt compelled to reassure me of such things proved that I wouldn't be an equal here. This was just another prison sentence.

We'd gotten halfway up the stairs when the sound of swords clanging, roars, and screams echoed all around us. On top of that was the stench of fire and magic.

This was pure chaos.

I flapped my wings fast and hard, catching Pyralis off guard. I opened them wide, placed the tips of my wings around his face to block his view of everything…and then headbutted his forehead.

My ears rang once again, and the world seemed to tilt around me, but his arms loosened, allowing me to break free of his hold. I pumped my wings hard, flying high, when huge hands gripped my ankles.

"For Fate's sake, Lira, why do the Seelie have to make things so complicated?" Pyralis growled. "I'm trying to get you away from the fighting so you're safe."

"I won't be safe in there!" I kicked, trying to break free, but his hands were like a vise. "We know everything. My people aren't going to give up as long as you keep me captive here."

He didn't respond, but his grip didn't slacken.

I needed to reevaluate. This wasn't working.

Acid crept up my throat. High in the night sky, I could see flames in the direction of one of the villages. They truly had prepared for us.

Between all the dragons, flames, and magic, I couldn't make out where anyone was. The only thing that kept me sane was the fact that I could feel my connection with Tavish.

Where are you? he linked.

The castle stairs. I hated to tell him, knowing it might make him more desperate, but lying wouldn't fix anything.

"We don't have time to waste, Lira." Pyralis huffed. He began climbing the steps once more, no longer bothering to try to pull me down to his arms again. "I need to get you inside so you can be guarded. You'll be safe in there."

Like hell I would be. I didn't want to be the kind of safe arranged by blazing dragons. Deciding on a different tactic, I stilled my wings and dropped on him suddenly. I made sure to land on his head and then flapped my wings, forcing him to fall backward.

Even as he fell, he kept his grip on me. His body hit the stone as we tumbled together. A scream pierced my ears, and the sound brought a lump to my throat.

Eiric.

The double doors creaked open behind me, and heavy footsteps charged out.

"It's the prince. He's injured and with the Seelie princess," a woman called.

This was getting worse and worse. I had to get out of here. I reached for Pyralis's side, hoping he had a weapon, and grabbed a warm hilt that felt like the dragon sword Tavish had carried. I held on tight, but a woman fisted my hair, pulling me up.

Of course, now Pyralis let me go.

However, his eyes widened when he felt the sword leave his side with me.

Stunned, he said, "She's got a—"

But I swung the sword across my body, stabbing the woman in the side. Her grip on me slackened, and I flew upward as Pyralis clambered to his feet. I pumped my wings, trying to get back to my people.

I needed to aid them in the fight.

I heard scuffling behind me, followed by the sound of dragon wings.

"Don't hurt her," Pyralis cried out, and I foolishly glanced over my shoulder to find the prince stumbling in my direction.

He just wouldn't give up. What was up with these dragons?

Just as I was about halfway back, a cream-colored dragon flew over my head, talons descending. I called my magic and sent a stream of water from the palm of my free hand into the dragon's underbelly. I didn't know what I expected, but clearly the only thing water hindered was their fire. Not their large, strong bodies.

The dragon shook itself, reminding me of Nightbane, and lowered toward the ground. I swung the sword, aiming for the tips of its talons. All I needed was to make them bleed.

Then, suddenly, the dragon moved a few inches behind me, and I realized its intent.

It wanted to damage my wings, so I couldn't fly.

Jerking downward, I spun around and swung the blade at the talons. The dragon threw its head back and roared. Crimson blood shot from the wounds, covering my face and chest. The stench of fire grew even stronger, as if their blood smelled of it as well. I spun around, allowing it to splash my backside, and began flying once more.

My whole world stopped when I noticed Eiric running toward me out of the chaos. Her hair was tangled and her eyes bloodshot as she took me in.

"Lira, you're safe." She hurried to me.

I landed before her, looking over my shoulder to find five more dragons racing our way.

"You need to fly home." I didn't understand why she was still here. "They threatened to kill you—it's not safe for you here."

She shook her head. "I'm not strong enough to fly, and I'm not leaving you or Pyralis here."

My head jerked back. " Pyralis ?" Holy crap. Please don't tell me she has Stockholm syndrome.

What does that even mean? Tavish replied, making me realize that I had unintentionally spoken to him.

I didn't want to bring up what she'd said, so I changed the subject. I'm with Eiric. She's too weak to fly. I glanced up through the dragons to see Tavish fighting alongside Father and Mother. Mother was using her wind magic to knock dragons back while Father kept bending the earth to his will. Impressive though it was, they wouldn't be able to continue this much longer because we weren't on Seelie land.

We had to get leverage, but how? The dragons had clearly been prepared.

"Here, I'll carry you." I held out my arms, hoping that I'd still be able to fight while holding Eiric's weight. "I'll just need you to hold on to me tight."

"Listen to me—the only way we're going to get out of this is Pyralis. We need him." Eiric stared into my eyes, the emerald in hers darkening as she pleaded.

I shook my head. "E, that's heading toward more dragons. We need to get away."

"Lira, listen—" she started, but the roar of the dragon behind me had me spinning around to face my enemy.

All five of them were descending upon me, the injured dragon flying to the right, glaring at me.

Knowing that I couldn't carry Eiric and move fast enough, I stood there, feet shoulder-width apart, prepared to fight once more. I couldn't allow them to pin me down.

Then I took off, the adrenaline coursing through my body, helping take the edge off my pain. The first dragon was smaller, which I hoped meant that it wasn't as tough of a fighter. I'd never fought a dragon before, but I would have to figure it out on the fly. Remembering how Tavish had killed the dragon in Cuil Dorcha, I decided to start by aiming for its neck.

The first dragon was on me, its pale-yellow scales reflecting the moonlight. I pretended to fly downward like I was going underneath it to get it to move along with me. As soon as I watched it dive toward the yellowing grass, I tilted my wings and flew up, stabbing the blade through its neck. At first, the sword met resistance, but I strained and pushed it in farther and out the other side, blood squirting all over me, even into my mouth.

The blood tasted like ash. I spat, trying to get the nasty taste out of my mouth, just as the second and third dragons attacked me from both sides. Their eyes were wide with rage. I tried to yank the sword from the other dragon's neck, but it was stuck.

I wasn't going to get it out in time. If they didn't tear me apart, there was still no way I would get free. My heart sank.

I needed help.