Page 111 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
He shrugged. “I insisted you stay here after you helped me. It is only right that I ensure your safety for the day.”
“It won’t bother you?”
“Only if you start talking too much,” he said, giving her a warning look.
She laid her blanket on the ground. “Luckily for you, I’m too tired to talk anymore.”
“Good.”
She refused to respond to that and settled onto her blanket, wrapping it around her like a burrito. Sleep was all she wanted. Still, it took a while to quiet her mind and get comfortable on the hard earth so she could rest. Before fallinginto slumber, she heard the rustle of Galadon lying down, shifting even closer to her so their heads were no more than two feet apart. Though it should have bothered her, she felt safer with him there. She fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter 33
Falcon
He flew through the sky, searching for the dead and wounded. Falcon’s gaze narrowed on a still female body lying between two dead green dragons. The shifter lay on her side with her long, black hair fanned over the blood-soaked earth. He landed a few feet away and turned her onto her back, discovering much of her mid-section missing from a large bite. She’d likely been dead since early into the second night of battle for her to be in human form.
The rest of her body hadn’t fared much better, but her face remained unblemished. Falcon recognized her as one of the females who’d supported Nanoq during his reign. Aidan had ordered her into warrior training, believing she could become a valuable fighter.
Unfortunately, it appeared she hadn’t had enough time to perfect her skills.
He gently took her body into his arms and then took off into the air, heading west. This was the second morning he’d had to search for dead and wounded since the war began. While he understood there was no way to avoid losses, each one saddened him. If only there had been a way to prevent the bloodshed,but there’d been no negotiating with the Kandoran. They were conquerors who didn’t care for peace.
Ten minutes later, he landed outside the bunker. Aidan was setting down a dead male shifter next to the building on a sizeable camrium blanket laid for that purpose. Falcon would be adding the third of the day since one other was already there.
“It was a rough night,” Aidan said. While he hid his emotions well, a hint of sorrow flashed in his golden eyes before he covered it.
Falcon nodded. “The coalition had to limit their opening attack this time. We were overwhelmed by the enemy, and fighting them off was more difficult.”
He understood that they had to ration their ammunition throughout the war, but he hadn’t realized how much of a difference they’d made the first night with their numerous tactics. The Kandoran took fewer initial losses the second evening and remained more organized when the battle began. They were also careful to avoid the bright lights, which had given the shifters’ side a significant advantage before.
“Yes.” Aidan ran a hand through his dark hair. “I hate to think how much more difficult this war would be without all the numerous defenses the humans devised. We certainly wouldn’t last long without them.”
“Something I think neither of us would have considered before.”
The pendragon let out a tired chuckle. “True, though my mate has taught me a lot, so I trusted they would make a difference. Humans are quite intelligent and clever.”
Bailey limped over to join them with a gash in her thigh. “They’ve counted a dozen human dead so far. It was definitely worse last night.”
“You should get that healed,” Aidan said, taking her into his arms. He didn’t seem to care what anyone thought of his open affection for her, but no one seemed bothered by it any longer.
The slayer shook her head. “There’s a line in there already with people much worse off than me, and half are humans who can’t heal fast. I can wait. It’s already stopped bleeding.”
At least, that seemed to be her only significant injury.
“Very well, but you should sit down and eat something,” he said sternly.
She looked him over. “How is it you don’t have any major injuries?”
“The few I had have already healed.”
Bailey gave him an annoyed look. “It must be nice to be all big and strong now with super healing.”
Falcon couldn’t get over his pendragon’s transformation, either. Aidan had always been a better fighter than he let others believe, but the power he’d amassed in the last couple of months was staggering. His human form had only grown a little, but his dragon was a force to be reckoned with that even made the Kandoran pause. Some of them had actively avoided facing the pendragon in battle. Old texts in the library Kade had found proved this wasn’t the first such occurrence with a dragon leader, but it was rare, perhaps once every few thousand years when a major crisis occurred.
“If I can use that strength to protect my family and toriq better, it is worth it,” Aidan replied, kissing the top of her head.
Sabryn joined them. Falcon ran his gaze over her, noting a healing gash in her cheek and a swollen elbow that must have been broken and then reset. He considered telling her to go to the healer, but she’d likely react the same as Bailey. It would be a waste of his breath.
