“Sorry!” Trystan calls to Andras, his voice rattled.
“Fire won’t hurt them!” Yvan cries out to Trystan as he rakes his hair in frustration. “They’redragons!”
Without warning, another dragon crashes down from the sky to land in front of Yvan and me.
I scuttle backward into the woods as Yvan leaps at the creature.
Dizzy with panic, I hear a soft rustling to my left. I turn to see, amidst the dense brush, the head of a dragon. It’s motionless, with opaque eyes that watch me coldly. I stare at it, transfixed and realize I’m about to die.
The attack comes from behind as yet another dragon slams me into the ground. Claws scrape at my back with a red-hot slash, then there’s an unbearable pressure as a heavy foot comes down on my back, pinning me in place, the beast snarling behind me. I scream at the top of my lungs as the other dragon’s terrifying face slides into view, inches from my head.
And then Yvan is there, grappling with the dragon before me, his hands tight around the creature’s horns. Baring his teeth, he jerks the beast’s head back, blackened blood spurting out from the creature’s mouth.
The pressure on my back abruptly releases as the dragon behind me roars and lunges for Yvan. I spring free, scramble to my feet and break into a panicked run.
I race through the woods, my breath coming in deep gasps, not daring to look back at the snuffling creature that’s now crashing through the woods behind me.
I burst into another clearing and leap over the remains of a cage. A powerful blow to my side sends me flying toward a tree. My head collides with it, a shower of stars bursting to life behind my lids. A terrible, ripping pain on the side of my thigh reduces me to a wild state as I claw at the ground. I scream at the top of my lungs, the sound disembodied, taking on a life of its own.
Through my screams, I hear Yvan snarl out something in a strange language, the words quickly morphing into a bizarre hiss. Trapped in a blaze of pain, I roll over to see Yvan rip the dragon’s head clear off its body.
I stop screaming as the searing pain grows numb and the world begins to spin slightly off its axis. “Yvan...” I croak, as he runs to me and views my leg with horror, the green of his eyes having taken on a bright, otherworldly glow.
He drops down and grabs at my shredded skirt hem and rips off a long shred of fabric. His form blurs in and out of my vision, and I’m vaguely aware of him wrapping the long shred around my thigh and cinching it tight.
Trystan bursts into view.“Oh, Ancient One. No!”He runs to me, his eyes flying to Yvan in desperation. “What can I do?”
“We’ve got to get her out of here,” Yvan says. “There’s not much time. She’s losing too much blood...”
And then there’s an unbearable heat around my shredded thigh. The pain halves, and my leg feels knit tight again, but the world is a blur, and I’m ebbing.
“How did you...” Trystan’s voice breaks off in shocked awe.
“Does it matter?” There’s a fierce challenge in Yvan’s tone.
“No,” Trystan demurs, his voice calm and sure. “No, it doesn’t.”
Yvan’s arms come around me, lifting me as the world spins and goes in and out of view.
I’m vaguely aware of the voices of the others, sounding like they’re momentarily underwater as we move through the forest. The world briefly comes back into focus as we slow to a stop.
“They’re...leaving,” Cael marvels. I weakly glance over toward where the Elf is pointing. My head lolls strangely, like it’s partially disconnected from my body, my arms limply wrapped around Yvan’s neck. We’re high up, afforded a panoramic view of the military base. Naga is unconscious and being carried by Diana and Jarod, one wingtip scraping along the ground.
What looks like over a hundred dragons are rising and flying off into the west, as frantic soldiers try in vain to subdue them with hooks and spells.
“Where do you think they’re going?” Andras asks.
“They seem to be headed in the direction of Valgard,” Trystan says, incredulous.
“They have a mental connection to Damion Bane,” Yvan says. I can feel the subtle vibration of his deep voice along his warm chest. “So they probably are headed for Valgard.”
Complete chaos has broken out in the military base, soldiers yelling out to each other, shooting arrows and blue streams of wand light at the dragons, the majority of the beasts now a swiftly moving black cloud barreling toward Valgard.
One of the dragons, a straggler farthest from the others, rounds back, lets out a horrific roar and begins to fly straight toward us. I should be terrified, but I’m dizzy and so weak. It seems like a surreal dream as the realization hits me.
Before, when I touched Trystan—the latent power in my blood seemed to amplify his magic.
“Trystan,” I rasp as I set a weak hand on my brother’s back. “The cratering spell. Blow a hole through it...”