Two of the demon dragons used their powerful legs to leap onto his back, blasting his armored scales with their fire. He bellowed and shook one off, but the other sunk its claws into the flesh beneath his scales. Jakob rolled crushing the thing out of existence.
Another jumped on his side and shredded the thin skin of his right wing. Bastard, be damned. That pissed him the hell off.
He kicked the demon dragon hard enough to send it careening into the crater. Several of its cohorts scattered, but only for a moment. The battle did not seem to be deterring them from digging toward his treasure.
Jakob called upon the element of earth that his kind commanded, and a wall of soil burst up and toppled over, burying the demon dragons who were centermost in the crater. It didn’t kill them, as the earth element was for life notdeath. But it did hamper their efforts long enough for him to finish three more of them off.
His teeth, tail, and claws alone were not enough to defeat so many. He hated to do it, but called upon the plants to assist him.
Several of the bastards closest to him were instantly strangled by tomato vines, hampering their ability to use their fire. They scratched and tore at the fragile plants, giving him enough time to run them through with his talons.
For every slimy piece of shit he turned to dust, three more appeared out of the darkness.
What the hell were they doing here?
Didn't they have a village to plague?
That, he knew how to deal with. Save the humans from the monsters from hell, without them knowing. That was what he had trained for his entire life. Those were the countless number of battles he had fought and won. But this—an attack directly on him and his land—was entirely a different situation.
They knew it too. Their sole focus was in burrowing through the ground, and they didn't seem to care how many had to die for them to continue the mission.
No demon dragon had ever been interested in treasure. They had only ever been hell-bent on destruction.
What the hell was down there that they wanted so badly?
Fucking hell.
Ciara.
She was the only new variable.
She was a much more powerful witch, and a darker one than he suspected, if she had demon dragons under her control.
He couldn't believe under all that sweet sexiness lay a black witch.
Nope. No way.
Her little fits of elemental magic had been pure.
If these little fuckers weren't working for her, they had to be after her. He'd be damned if anyone besides him would kidnap her.
God dammit. They were after her for the same reason he had been. She had the First Dragon's relic.
The dumbass that he was, he’d been so star struck with her allure, like she was a fucking succubus, that he hadn't even gotten the relic back.
Now it was in even more jeopardy than when she'd stolen it for herself. He was going to kill her. But first, he had to kill another couple dozen demon dragons.
He let that anger fuel his magic, only needing the short burst it would give him to slay the remaining beasts. He roared, and the earth opened beneath the horde. They tumbled and fell in droves, surprised, giving him the advantage.
Jakob jumped into the hole and pummeled the demon dragons with his body and rocks from the earth. He was down to only a few remaining, when something grabbed at his magic. His stomach jolted, sure for a split second he was falling uncontrollably.
The licorice scent of Ciara smacked him upside the head. Jakob glanced around ready to snatch her and take flight. No Ciara popped into view.
He opened his senses wide, searching for her, sending spirals of magic through the earth to find her. The connection was nearly instantaneous.
Ciara remained underground in his lair, although notalone and definitely in trouble. God damn it. There was no fucking way anyone had gotten into the lair. Except someone had. For the second time in as many days.
Ciara, tell me who is with you. Are you in danger?