Page 104 of Scalebound

Belle took a rapid swoop downward, sending us below the fog of clouds originally crowding our view. Deathlies continued to come at us from all angles, and we could only fight them off one at a time, not even focusing on how many there were. We attempted to stay in our straight line toward their home, but we took an intense detour as we worked around the creatures.

I could see Loker on his dragon,Meiinaraux12,but only the outline of them that invisibly moved through the sky;her tail scaled the clouds like a serpent. The manipulation of the wind around them sent Deathlies tumbling away in different directions, their wings halting as they flew.

I needed to use ourmaxz, but for some reason, the fear trapped inside of my gut wouldn’t let me.

Concentrate.

Concentrate.

A Deathly swooped in front of us, its sharp talons slightly forward, ready to pierce us with its sharp claws. I imaginedtransporting exactly how we did when we were training. I only had a few seconds before we made contact with the Deathly.

Two seconds away.

Jump behind it, I told myself.

One second away.

Behind it!

I blinked, and the Deathly was gone, nowhere to be seen. However, we were heading in the same direction, the clouds heavy and dark in front of us. Turning, I saw the exact Deathly we passed behind us, confused and searching for where we went.

“Amazing, my Shadow Queen,” Damian said, his voice rough and comforting.

A nervous laugh escaped my mouth, leaving my lips curved upward. The pit in my stomach slowly disappeared, the confidence of ourmaxzrising.

The moon shone through the clouds above, spilling energy down my veins. Light filtered in and out between the storm and the darkness of the sky. The rays gave me the same sense of hope that they gave me back when I was locked in my tower, leaving the moon the only constant in my life: hope.

“Help!” Luella cried out.

“Belle!” I yelled.

“Already on it,”she said, turning toward the left, attempting to reach Luella and herClanstan13 breed dragon,Tanaleiiman. His skin pierced the sky with its watery blue texture, the rain sliding off like butter as if it was never there in the first place.

They were surrounded by five Deathlies. Luella was manipulating the water to the best of her abilities, creating walls between her and the Deathlies, asTanaleiimanblasted ice from his mouth, freezing the Deathlies to a crisp, making them drop. However, each time one fell, a different one took its place.

We glided near them, and I created shadows of false dragons and riders darting past them. They caught the bait and followedthe fake beings, leaving Belle to burn the rest to a crisp, helping Luella andTanaleiiman.

“Thank you,” Luella croaked, a sob escaping. “Don’t leave me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

We plunged, the rain still plummeting on our skin, the clouds covering the moon here and there, making me wonder if I could still use my abilities even when the moon was covered as the fog wisped by.

We passed by Clemmy as she and her dragon,Teiimanam14, used light to blind the Deathlies, making them shriek and wind in different directions, thrashing with their teeth and claws in response.

The rain was so thick that I couldn’t tell if we had passed by most of them. It was so dense and compacted, that I was worried a Deathly would fly up out of nowhere, and we would be too startled to do anything about it.

It only took one touch.

One touch and the disease would spread.

We were already one down.

There was no sign of any other Deathlies. Everyone else caught up, and I sighed heavily, knowing everyone was safe.

“Anybody touched?”Abner called out.

“No,”everyone said in unison.

---