Page 54 of The Cursed Queen

The force of the dragon rider's flames was strong, however. My arms strained as I tried to push back against it, but the force of it was too strong. I was sure that if I could fully shift into my dragon form, my flames would be stronger. But since I couldn't and I was still in this in-between state, my flames were relatively weaker. I panicked as the enemy dragon's flames were overpowering mine. Suddenly, Ryu joined in with his azure flames, merging with mine in the collision and completely overpowering the enemies. Our combined fire melded into a deep violet blue inferno that engulfed both the dragon and its rider. The druid knight in control couldn't keep a firm grip on the reins and let it go, falling off his dragon and plummeting to his death. The other dragon riders didn't bother to save him. They simply hovered above and watched as their comrade died before their eyes.

As for the dragon, he remained where he hovered, stunned. The magic was fading from his eyes.

We did it. We rescued another dragon. The dragons above bellowed as the druids prepared to attack again. One of them charged for a tackle. We also had to protect the shifter we just rescued.

Ryu swerved up and met the dragon rider head-on, their claws extended, and collided with each other. The dragons held onto each other, trying to assert dominance over the other. While Ryu had his hands full, the druid knight riding the enemy dragon climbed onto its head, then jumped down onto Ryu's back to face me. I backed up right as the knight landed, ready to fight.

"I always knew you were an abomination. Now you look the part," the druid said, drawing his sword out and holding it in front of him.

I recognized his voice, realizing it was the same druid from before. I didn't have a weapon on me, and I wasn't trained tobe a warrior, but my claws were long and sharp. Plus, I had my fire and magic. Hopefully, those would help make up for my inexperience.

"It doesn't have to be this way," I said, trying one last time to reason with him.

"You're right, it doesn't, but you brought this upon yourself. Once I bring you back, the queen will surely reward me." The druid knight charged at me and swung his sword.

Jumping back, I flapped my wings to help push me further away from the sword, avoiding the blow. The knight tried for three more swings, all of which were avoided. Only dodging wouldn't be enough. I had to attack.

Ducking to the right to avoid another swing of his sword, I then lashed out with one of my claws. The knight brought up his sword to use as a shield, taking the hit and causing sparks to fly upon contact. He brought a leg forward, kicking me square in the chest. The blow knocked the wind out of me, causing me to stumble backwards. He swung his sword again, this time connecting with a slash from my right shoulder down to my left side.

I let out a cry of pain and dropped to my knee. Blood began trickling from the cut. There was pain, but the wound wasn't as deep as I expected it to be. I looked down at my chest, realizing my skin had partially morphed into dragon scales. That must've made it more durable as well. Not enough to avoid being harmed, but tough enough to prevent the sword from slicing me open like warm butter.

I could sense Ryu's worry for me, but he was still occupied with the knight's dragon to help me. The other dragon riders hovered on either side of me, the dragons building up their flames and ready to fire. The dragon we freed remained behind us, bewildered and rattled. He wouldn't be able to help us.

"End of the line, traitor," the knight growled with a smug look on his face.

I wouldn't be able to fight all three of them by myself. But if I didn't try, Ryu, the other dragon, and I were done for. I could try calling for Andriel and the others, but doing so would make me lose focus on our enemies.

"In the name of the one true queen of the Zeffari Kingdom, we hereby condemn you to your demise," the knight declared. Pointing the tip of his sword at me, he nodded for the other dragon riders to finish me.

I summoned my flames to aid me, ready to push them both back, but their attacks never came. Before they breathed out their fire, one dragon was tackled from above by a dragon with tanned scales. Another was hit by a red dragon, and the one Ryu was facing now had a black dragon behind it. My mind was buzzing as recognition hit me.

My mates. They came for us.

The black dragon I now knew to be Drayce reached out with his mouth open and took a bite at the dragon's neck. It shouted its pain, now too distracted to push back against Ryu. The knight and I stumbled to remain on our feet as Ryu and Drayce tag-teamed the brain-washed enemy dragon. I heard a thump followed by a grunt from behind me and looked back to see that it was Virgil in full armor.

Relief washed over me to see him. To see everyone.

"Sera, are you alright?" Virgil asked me, but his eyes remained on the druid knight.

I nodded, moving backward to stand next to Virgil. "I'm better now that you're here."

"Well, this may be my lucky day. Now I can do away with both traitors," the druid knight praised himself as if his victory was as certain as the sun rising the next morning.

Virgil stepped forward to use his body to shield me. His sword was drawn to meet the enemy's challenge. "Sounds like a plan. Too bad it won't come true. You'll never see the queen again once I do away with you."

Virgil was ready to fight, but I didn't want him facing the knight alone. Now that I no longer had to try defending myself and Ryu against multiple enemies at once, I could put all my attention on the enemy facing us. I could only hope my mates could take care of themselves.

Ryu was mindful not to move around so much so as not to jostle our footing. Drayce, sensing my presence on Ryu's back, did well to keep the possessed dragon within range of Ryu so he could help take it down. With Virgil and me keeping the druid knight occupied, he'd be unable to use his enchantments to protect his dragon.

Not wasting any time, Virgil went on with the first attack. He jogged forward, only to jump and swing his sword down towards the knight's head. The knight, in retaliation, blocked the strike with his own sword, pushing Virgil's out ofthe way and parried forward. Virgil leaped back to avoid it, then went for a diagonal swing from right to left. The two clashed their swords with a loud clang ringing from every direction. Using the distraction, I flew over their heads, landing behind the knight, and I went to impale him with my claws.

The knight saw my movements and blocked it with his sword, but Virgil struck a blow to his chest with his knee. Virgil and I ducked when the knight swung his sword towards our heads. Virgil used his sword to block the second swing, allowing me to throw a fireball at the knight, exploding upon contact and causing him to flail back.

The more Virgil and I jumped him, the more the knight's frustrations grew. In turn, his movements were becoming sloppyas he fought to maintain momentum over us. We weren't letting him.

"Give up," Virgil demanded. "You can't win against us."

The knight scoffed before spitting out a mouthful of blood. "You think I'd surrender to the likes of you? I'd rather die fighting for my kingdom than willingly surrender to you traitors."

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