32. Tavish

32

TAVISH

M y heart had never felt so frigid before. Being so far away that I couldn't protect Lira once again made me feel entirely helpless.

Every time I tried to fly toward her, another blasted dragon got in the way. The only redeeming thing was that she'd gotten away from Pyralis, but five shifted dragons flew after her.

She'd just stuck a sword through the one dragon's neck, completely unaware that the other four were ready to attack. They'd be on her in seconds, and I was still too far away.

I had to help her.

I held my sword tighter. It wasn't the one that had belonged to my father. I'd told someone else to bring that one because I couldn't get past the fact that the weapon alone had changed my entire world.

A dark-green dragon soared before me, opening its mouth. Thick smoke hit my face, searing my skin with its heat.

I tugged at my magic and lunged forward, thrusting the sword inside the dragon's mouth. I let go of it at the same time flames erupted from the back of the dragon's throat, burning my arm. As the blade pierced its neck from the inside, the dragon's eyes widened, and I jerked my arm out just before its teeth clanked shut.

The dragon jerked back, choking, its talons reaching for its throat as I pushed my illusion magic toward the four dragons attacking Lira. The dark-green dragon in front of me opened its mouth, a trickle of smoke emerging.

I couldn't retrieve my sword; I'd have to use my quickly weakening magic.

The dragons attacking Lira crashed below her. She turned her head in my direction. Blood painted her face, hair, and body, making her look like a warrior goddess. The warmth I felt through our bond sealed it.

I'd do and risk anything for my fated mate.

I can't funnel this much magic for long. Illusions took the most control. The darkness and frost didn't require as much unless I was cloaking others or the entire sky as I had been. I need you to kill them.

On it. She spun around with the sword back in her hand.

I glanced up at the green dragon, hoping to get my weapon back, but it hadn't died yet.

"Your Majesty, you're bleeding," Lorne said as he flew to my side. His face and hair were soaked in blood, same as the rest of us, almost to the point that I couldn't see the light blue in it anymore.

"I'm fine," I rasped, needing to reach Lira. My attention homed in on the sword sheathed on his left side. My father's sword. The one I hadn't wanted to carry but had asked Lorne to bring, just in case. "I need that sword."

Lorne paused like he was deciding something.

" Now! Lira needs me," I commanded, my attention heading back to my mate. The power still churned inside me, and I got the view of her slitting one of the dragon's throats. The other three roared and screamed at whatever nightmare I'd forced them to see.

"Just be careful." He handed me the sword.

As soon as my fingers brushed the hilt, my bloodlust intensified, but not by much. It didn't make me feel like a different person, but I still hated everything that it had taken from me. I held on to it and flew toward my fated mate once more, Lorne keeping pace beside me.

I landed beside my mate and pulled back my illusion magic because I wanted the dragon to know that I was the one who killed him. The dragon moved its wing, readying to fly, when I swung my blade and cut through its neck.

I spun around to find Lorne using his magic against another dragon, causing it to lie down and whimper. He stabbed it in its head, and when I turned to Lira, she'd slit yet another dragon's throat.

The sound of more wings had me lifting my head once again. This time, eleven dragons were heading toward us… ones that hadn't been in battle yet.

"We need to get Lira and Eiric out of here," I shouted to Lorne. "They're determined to capture Lira."

Lira shook her head. "I'm not leaving without you. You're just as much at risk as me."

I stepped toward her, cupping her face. "Sprite, they won't kill me. Otherwise, they risk the magic in this realm being imbalanced. They are desperate to have you, and they won't hesitate to kill Eiric as punishment. You two need to leave now so everyone else can focus on fighting and not on trying to protect you."

Her bottom lip trembled, but I could feel the moment she relented. The bond tightened, but it wasn't from anger.

She was putting my wishes above her own.

I have a problem. E doesn't want to leave. She keeps saying we need to get Pyralis.

My head tilted back. Out of all the scenarios, I hadn't expected that. Dropping my hand, I noticed that I'd smudged blood on her sun-kissed cheek. She won't have a choice. I spun to see Eiric staring in the direction of the castle, and I glanced over my shoulder to see crimson scales.

Pyralis was one of the dragons barreling toward us.

"Leave. Lorne and I will hold the dragons off." I pointed in the direction of Aetherglen in case Eiric had forgotten.

"If we wait for Pyralis—" Eiric started.

My patience snapped. With clenched jaws, I bared my teeth at her. "Do you want Lira to be kidnapped and forced to breed with the dragon prince? Because just saying the words is bad enough for me… to be expected to live through it—"

Eiric lifted both hands in surrender. "Okay. I don't want it either."

I exhaled, relief flowing through me. I personally cared about Eiric only because Lira did, but I also knew there was no chance of Lira leaving if her sister remained behind. "Good. Go before I make you."

"I… I can try to fly. I'm just weak." Eiric chewed on her bottom lip.

Lira walked past me, taking her hand. She said, "I'll be there and help you."

"The dragons are almost here," Lorne gritted out, and I looked at Lira one last time and linked, Get somewhere safe. Avoid the fighting and stay toward the sky. I can cloak you.

She nodded, knowing better than to argue. I love you, Tavish. I swear to Fate, if something happens, I will come back. I can't live without you either.

I moved forward, kissing her quickly and pulling back. Leave before we distract each other and both of us get into trouble.

Blowing out a breath, she turned her back to me. Still, I could feel the agony of her leaving me behind, heavy in our bond.

She and her sister flew away. I spun back around to find the eleven dragons twenty feet away. I linked, Hurry, get out of here. I allowed my magic to funnel toward the two of them.

Pyralis was in the middle, flanked by five guards on either side. I raised my sword, my hand throbbing from the dragon flames, and prepared to fight off at least five. I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but I had to believe they had enough sense not to kill me. Either way, I wasn't turning my back on the species that threatened my fated mate.

The sword hilt vibrated in my hand, reminding me it was full of dragon magic. I tried to push away the odd sensation and soared into the sky. We couldn't just stand here and expect to take them. We were going to need to fly around and divert them.

Knowing Lira was hidden from sight, I was able to move more easily. Lorne followed my lead, the two of us breaking apart, causing five to peel off in my direction and the others to follow Lorne. Pyralis kept flying straight, no doubt searching for Lira. Something he'd eventually realize would be futile because I had her and Eiric cloaked tightly. I refused to chance anyone seeing them.

I flew straight up, pushing as hard as I could into the sky. The dry air made it hurt to breathe, and my hand throbbed. There was no way that I would be able to fight with my right hand, so I begrudgingly switched the sword to my left.

The dragons were gaining on me, and I hated how their larger bodies didn't hinder them. Instead, it was all muscle, allowing them to move faster than us. But we were more agile. I paused midflap, allowing my body to plummet toward the earth. The five dragons took more time to change course, and I dropped past them, catching them off guard.

One spun around, trying to hit me with its tail, so I adjusted my weight, caught a little air, and landed on top of it. The dragon jerked his tail to the side, trying to knock me away, but I wrapped my legs around it and swung the sword down.

The blade sliced through half the tail without even requiring me to use all my strength. The pale-yellow dragon groaned and jerked to shake me off as the dark-orange dragon on its right flew beside me. The orange dragon opened its mouth, so I cloaked myself and dropped back toward the ground. Flames exploded where I'd been moments ago, and the dragon whose tail was almost cut off thrashed, hitting the navy-blue dragon on the other side of him.

Knowing that the orange dragon was in attack mode, I twisted to the right, avoiding the flames. I kept myself cloaked and flew toward the dragon. I needed to end all these ashbreaths once and for all and get back to Lira.

I moved right behind the dragon when it stopped spewing flames and looked around to see if it had hit its mark. Not waiting, I sliced through its neck, causing the other four dragons to stare toward me. The beheaded dragon dropped, and the indigo one roared, spewing flames at me.

I lifted my hand, allowing ice to fly from my palm and collide with the flames. My magic showed the other three dragons exactly where I was.

My magic dwindled, and my body throbbed. I pulled back the darkness, needing to conserve my strength for Lira and Eiric since I was now getting dangerously low.

More fae flew past, but I could use the distraction. The pale-yellow dragon's wings weren't moving quite as steadily, evidence that the injury had affected him more than I'd expected. However, the pupils of the indigo one on my right and the violet one on my left slitted more as they locked in on me.

Tavish, I'm coming back, Lira connected, her panic flowing into me.

My heart raced harder, and the indigo dragon lunged at me. Swinging the sword, I aimed for its snout, but the indigo dragon jerked back, and the violet dragon snapped at my already injured arm. I kicked its nose, pushing myself away, and angled my wings so that I sailed past them and had time to recenter myself.

I'm all right. Don't come back here. Just keep going. That's the only thing that's going to help end this battle. I firmly believed that when the dragons realized Lira wasn't here, they'd fall back and regroup to attack another time. But we'd have time to create a better plan than this, which would include hiding Lira in the Unseelie underground shelter.

I could feel her hesitation, but then she said, If you get hurt again, there won't be any talking me out of it.

Despite my horrible pain, I felt my cheeks lift. She was my rain on a warm sunny day. I spun around to find both the indigo and the violet dragon slithering toward me. Their smoking nostrils indicated their plan. Worse, my magic was almost depleted, and I had no clue how far away Lira was. She still felt close.

I readied my sword. I couldn't risk using more magic to hide myself. Yet, I couldn't get hurt again, or Lira would come rushing back.

I had to do something they wouldn't expect. I sheathed my sword and ignored the stinging, burning sensation in my arm every time I moved. Flicking my gaze between them both, I flew toward them as fast as I could. The violet dragon's eyes widened. I held out my hands and shot ice just as the two dragons expelled their flames at me.

The flames met my ice, a collision of their magic and mine, neither one taking over for a long moment. Then, the dragons' fire began to push through my ice toward me.

As if that weren't bad enough, I could feel Lira's fear spike through our connection. My heart turned cold as I reached a spot between the dragons and their heads turned to face one another. I could feel the flames lick my hands, their power almost completely overtaking mine, and I pushed my wings to fly me higher.

They raised their heads, following me, so like before, I dropped. The dragons didn't expect it, and I free-fell as I swung my sword toward the violet dragon. The blade plunged through its head.

The violet dragon's eyes rolled back, and I yanked out the blade just as the indigo dragon's flames warmed my body. I closed my eyes, waiting for pain to engulf me, but suddenly, the heat stopped, followed by a sickening splat.

I opened my eyes to find Caelan, Sorcha, Lorne, and Finnian glaring at me.

"You took on five dragons by yourself?" Finnian snapped and rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Now isn't the time." Caelan shook his head. "We need to end this battle before even more people die on both sides."

I was focused on one thing. My breath caught. Sprite, are you okay?

It's Eiric. She's slowing down, and I don't know what to do.

I didn't understand what was going on, but I knew I needed to reach her. Where are you? I'll come to you.

Relief emanated from her. We're behind the fighting, about thirty feet out.

I moved forward when Sorcha got in my way. "Where do you think you're going? I was told to ensure that your wings don't get burned since you're the last living Unseelie royal."

"Finding my mate," I snarled, harnessing all the hatred I had building deep inside me. "And if you try to stop me, I'll kill you myself. She needs help."

Sorcha's brows lifted. "How do you know that?"

"Because she mind-linked and told me." I shoved past her, not allowing her to waste more time, when my power suddenly depleted so low that I could feel the cloak I had around Lira give out.

No .

Take Eiric and leave. My magic isn't covering you anymore. My heart pounded as fear took over. I'm on my way, but don't wait for me. I'll catch up.

Okay, I'll try. I could sense her desperation.

I dodged through the fighting, trying to fly a straight line to her. A dragon lunged into my way, forcing me to stop. Its beige scales glistened as it prepared to envelop me in flames.

I gripped my sword, prepared to battle, when Struan appeared by my side, covered in blood. He rasped, "Go, save Lira. I'll take care of this one."

Before I could respond, Lira connected, Tavish, Pyralis caught us.

The realm tilted.

The dragon prince had already located her.

I was done fighting defense. It was time to force the dragons to their knees.