Page 29 of Dragon King's Cursed Mate

She shut the lid. “We must go now. Someone’s coming.”

They were about to leave when they heard a deep, languid voice ask, “Where do you think you are going with those?”

12

Dain

Dain’s heart thundered in his chest and his blood ran cold. His muscles tightened, ready to shift and fight. His eyes searched the darkness for whoever had entered into the catacombs with them. His pulse roared in his ears.

Before he could do anything, the air grew heavier and an inky shroud descended like a suffocating blanket. A mysterious figure twisted and pulled together from the shadows. It looked like the outline of a gaunt man, but it didn’t have any distinguishable features. Its laughter sent a shiver of fear deep into Dain’s soul.

This was no human or shifter. It was something much worse. He could feel its maliciousness in his bones.

“Dain, you can’t escape. You will feel all that is light and good destroyed inside of you, leaving only madness and darkness.” The entity laughed. “Come toward me. Let’s end this now.”

He felt a strange pull inside of him for just a moment and a darkness started to boil in his gut. He froze, wanting to charge the figure and throw a lightning bolt at it, but he was unable to move. His heart stopped beating and his chest tightened. The foul odor of sulfur and rotting meat filled the air, gagging him.Dain could feel the evil emanating from the mysterious form. It filled the entire area, enveloping them and suffocating them.

The entity seemed to know him. Not just his name or his physical form, but who he was and where he’d come from. It knew his ancestors.

Dain planted his boots on the ground and gritted his teeth as he faced the creature. His chest heaved as he panted. He would not give in to this magic.

The shadowy entity focused its attention on Seraphina. “Oracle, you’ll not be leaving here. Not with the scrolls.”

She didn’t bother answering it. Seraphina jumped out in front of Dain and stepped toward the dark figure, raising her arm in the air, palm toward the darkness. “By flame and light, by earth and might, be gone, foul shadow, into endless night!” she commanded.

A cascade of brilliant green and blue luminous fire lit up the catacombs, scattering the darkness. The entity laughed as though it knew that this wasn’t the end. Then, it had vanished.

The heaviness in the air lifted, and Dain felt as though he could breathe again.

“Are you okay?” she asked, putting her hand on his chest.

Dain shook his head as though he was clearing away the lingering haze. He quickly regained his composure. “I’m fine. What was that?”

“I told you that ancient magic, both good and evil, will search for you. That was a demon.” She paused and shivered. “Malakar knows that you’re here. We have to go now.”

They quickly climbed the ladder and Seraphina pressed the lever that made the secret panel go back in place. They raced to the front door and slipped out into the dark night.

Seraphina and Dain could hear the battle raging in the prisoners’ area. The shouts of battling people and the loud roarsof the dragons were deafening. His jaw clenched. Dain smelled the blood and fire in the night air.

Dain looked toward the sounds and then back at Seraphina. He was torn between getting Seraphina to safety and joining his brothers in battle. She sensed his hesitation.

He gently touched her cheek with his hand. “I swore I’d protect you. If anything happens to you…”

“You have protected me. Nothing will happen to me. I will be safe.” She put her hand on his chest. “You must go join your brothers. I will find my way out of the kingdom. I can disappear with the night and travel through the shadows, like Darius, although I cannot turn into a mist like him. Not even Malakar or his dark magic can find me. My medallion will protect me.” She kissed him quickly on the lips. “Go! Go now!”

He looked at her as she was disappearing into the night. He touched her and felt her form, but couldn’t see her.

“Go,” she whispered.

Dain shifted and flew over to the battle. As he suspected, the prisoners had been a trap. His people were fighting a large army of Malakar’s men and shifters. He roared loudly and immediately encased one of the dragon shifters in a block of ice. He sent several lightning bolts hurtling to the ground, killing some of the humans and other shifters immediately.

His people were outnumbered by Malakar’s army three to one. An enemy dragon shifter flew by him and blew a huge flame toward Dain. He flew above it and sent a shroud of ice to cover the dragon.

The battle raged. Lightning, ice, fire, ash, and lava flew through the air as the combatant dragon shifters tried to destroy each other. Darius emitted an immense shadow that was blacker than the darkest night, which swallowed up three of the enemy dragon shifters at once. Their bodies and souls disintegrated and fell to the ground in a shower of ash.

Malakar’s ground warriors saw that the dragon shifters had been defeated. They knew there was no way they could survive the rest of this battle. They abandoned their post and ran, even though Malakar would likely kill or torture them for not fighting to the death.

Dain and his warriors landed and quickly freed all of the prisoners. They picked up their own people and flew out of the kingdom. When they were safely in the woods, the dragons landed so the prisoners could climb on their backs and have a more comfortable ride back to the ruins.

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