Page 96 of Don't Fae With Dragons

I choke out a cry of relief and run to her, but just as I clasp her outstretched hand in mine, the shifters behind me scream in shock. A split second later, a blinding white light covers the clearing, and I plunge to the ground to avoid being hit by whatever it is.

I wince as the light starts to burn on my skin, and I realize it’s the Moon.Kar is here.

“How darling,” the White Warlock snarls, voice echoing through the woods and inside my head.

I grab onto Aurora and pull her behind me as I whirl around to face him. There’s a circle that isn’t covered in blinding light, Kar, Aurora, and me are in it. Cory, Max, and Port are all trapped by the Moon’s vicious rays, though, and stumble around trying to find the source of the White Warlock’s voice.

“Don’t mind them,” he smiles toothily at me, “Just a bit of illusion. They can’t see thanks to my darling Moon, and they can’t hearquitewhere I am thanks to my own powers. Nifty, that Evil Sight, isn’t it?”

I snarl at him as my eyes dart between Cory and the other two shifters. Cory lets loose a roar of rage and lunges forward,slicing the air violently with his open talons. As they sink into a tree trunk, I feel Aurora tighten her arms around me in horror.

“Kar? What’s happening?” she asks shakily.

The White Warlock snarls impatiently and stamps his foot like a child. “You’ve ruined everything is what’s happening. I gave you realpower,Black Lady, and you wasted it over some trivial romance.”

Aurora shakes her head, and I push the two of us further back as Kar paces forward. “I don’t understand,” she says warily. “My name is Aurora. Who is the Black Lady?”

“Youwere,” Kar bellows, “Until you messed it all up! What a waste! I suppose I have no choice but to clean up your mess, hm? Better deal with the little beasts first.”

Then, without another word, the White Warlock spins around and flings a spear of pure moonlight at Max. I scream, “Duck, Max!” and he barely dodges the attack.

Kar turns to me with a scoff and rolls his eyes. “How heroic. Why don’t you let me handle this, hm?”

He flicks his hands, an almost imperceptible movement, and moonlight wraps Aurora and I together and pulls us tight to trees nearby. I start to scream for Cory to focus on the wind, yell for him to close his eyes, or shout for Port and Max to find each other, but a beam of light gags my mouth so I can’t make a sound.

My eyes well with tears of panic and fury as the White Warlock cackles cruelly and watches the shifters stumble blindly around the clearing. I struggle against the light, but it holds me tight.

Once I realize there’s no escaping the bonds that hold me, I realize I have to communicate with the dragons in some other way. Silently praying to the Realm’s Mother to help me, I close my eyes and try to place Cory’s energy in the field.

For a moment, I feel nothing, but then a strange warmth starts to emanate from a specific spot in the darkness of my mind. It’shim, and I don’t know exactly how I know it is –I justknowit. It might be fragments of Kar’s psychic surveillance that I’m now turning against him, but at this moment I don’t even care about the details. I just know I need to help Cory.

Cory. I think, projecting my thoughts as loud as I can.

Milica! he responds, as shocked to hear me as I am to hear him.

It’s me. Listen, I can guide you, but you have to keep your eyes closed so you can focus on my voice. Can you do that?

Cory hesitates, then I feel him nod.

I’ll open my eyes now. Listen for me, and tell Max and Port what I tell you.

Okay.

I open my eyes, breath coming out ragged from my sudden rush of hope that we can actually beat Kar. Scanning the field is hard with the light, but I can see well enough from my spot outside of the Moon’s blinding rays.

Cory,I think.He’s in the center of the field, in the very center between Max, Port, and yourself. The three of you might be able to ambush him if you don’t let on that you know where he is.

I watch Cory’s face for any indication that he’s heard me, and I see only the tiniest hint: an almost-imperceptible flicker of a smile.Will do,Cory thinks back. Then the three shifters start to move ever-closer to Kar.

When I look at Kar, he’s staring at me with a wicked smile on his face, and I have to pretend to be as panicked as I was before I communicated with Cory. I struggle where I’m tied, I try to scream (to no avail). All the while Cory, Max, and Port get closer and closer.

Eventually, they’re each close enough to where if they each leapt forward, they would hit Kar. I take in a deep breath and pray once more to the Realm’s Mother before thinking to Cory:Attack.

In an instant, the three shifters unleash vicious roars and pounce on the White Warlock. Kar’s scream is bloody and panicked, and I turn away as the dragons lay into him. While they tear him apart, he calls upon the Moon to send javelins of light to attack them; the shifters don’t stop even as moonlight rips through their limbs.

Blood flies, and I cry out in agony as I watch my shifters take blow after blow as they work to destroy the White Warlock. The first indication I have that he’s finally weakening comes when the ties around me loosen, and I quickly pull off the protectors on my wings so I can fly to the ground.

Aurora, though, is too shocked to fly, and I throw myself over to catch her before she hits the ground. I lower her gently before going over to the battleground where the shifters are making the final few attacks on Kar.

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