Page 147 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
Everyone, including our allies, friends, family, and all the places that hadn’t yet been conquered, depended on us to hold fast. This was our one and only chance. If we gave up, we’d all be dead or assimilated.
The orb grew brighter until it hurt my eyes to keep looking at it. Finally, I was able to break my gaze. Blinkingrapidly to clear my vision, I spotted the tornado coming back around to the right. It had shrunk and withered to a narrow point on the ground. Fewer Kandoran were being picked up and thrown, and in the seconds I watched, even that stopped as the funnel ascended to return to the clouds.
Xanath crumpled to the ground, face ashen and body still.Oh, God.What happened?
The rain stopped, and the heavy clouds broke up to reveal the night sky. Rayna, pale as a ghost, dashed over to Xanath. She pressed her fingers to his throat. Time seemed to slow. A minute later, she clenched her eyes shut.
“May you rest in peace,” she whispered.
The sorcerer had given the last of his powers to protect us. Now, he was dead.
I wanted to mourn his loss, but we had to continue the chant. It was all I could do to push down the lump in my throat. Though I wouldn’t have called Xanath a friend, he was a good and kind person. He’d helped me when I needed him, and his final act had been to sacrifice himself for us—for everyone.
From beyond the tower, I caught sight of Ruari screeching as several Kandoran attacked him at once. He fought back, but they shredded his wings and face until he flailed and spiraled to the ground. It was impossible to tell from my angle how he landed.
They went after Titan next, who already had two giant green dragons on him. He performed evasive maneuvers, all while trying to keep them from getting past him. Donar and Zoran came to his assistance, but half a dozen more enemies flew at them. Galadon and Freya were also outnumbered.
Several Kandoran got past them and headed straight for us.
Sabryn and Falcon had used up all their spears on other dragons who came too close. They pulled their swords and held the blades before them.
Next to Xanath’s body, Rayna rose to her feet. A hard, cold mask came over her face as she turned to face the incoming threat. They were only fifty feet away now.
“Those are mine,” she said with rage in her voice.
Lifting her sword, she pointed at the one in the middle, shot lightning through the blade, and straight at the dragon’s head. It burned a hole between its eyes. Before it fell, she adjusted the weapon to the left and repeated the strike on the next Kandoran. It died instantly, plunging to the ground. Unfortunately, the third had time to get closer.
Morgan shook his hands as he tried to send one of his energy balls, but his frustrated grimace told me he’d run out of power. He’d been giving all he had for the last hour as we powered the orb. Thatcher threw some ice picks that punctured the dragon’s scales, but it didn’t phase the beast. Falcon and Sabryn began moving to help, but they couldn’t get to that side in time with my orb group in their way.
The Kandoran opened its jaws wide.
Rayna shoved Morgan down to the floor and slashed her sword as the dragon reached the tower. She cut across its nose. The slayer altered her blade’s momentum to bring it back and thrust the sword tip straight into the beast’s mouth. With a scream of rage, she pushed the weapon until its hilt caught on jagged teeth.
Maybe she still had some super strength—or lots of rage to vent—because she kicked that dragon several feet away from her. The blade slid out just in time as the dragon fell, bouncing off the stone tower as it descended and sending small chunks of stone down with it.
As we crouched and chanted, unable to help in any way, Rayna faced another group of dragons who’d broken through our defenses. She slashed her sword hard and fast while Falcon and Sabryn threw spears that someone had come to replenish moments before. They only had four each to launch and would have to be used judiciously.
Skylar still froze the occasional incoming Kandoran, but she had to wait a minute between each one to gather enough power. Tears ran down her face, and I knew she must have seen what happened to Xanath, her grandfather.
I searched for Donar, Ruari, and Freya in the air, unable to find them. Galadon, Zoran, and Titan remained flying, but they were a mass of bloody wounds as they took on far more enemies than they should have been able to handle. There was no time left.
We were about to lose everything.
A fresh jolt of pain ran through my arm and into my hand. I returned my gaze to the orb and found my fingers had merged into the brightly lit glass. Everyone’s had done the same. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t pull away now. We gazed at each other in pained confusion.
Something was different when we said the line of the chant for the thousandth time.“Hamisha jismu bilus wa tahdur salmat. Darbu kul sharir lilabad!”
Streaks of golden light shot from the shining orb and went in every direction, passing through our bodies without harm. They hit all the nearby Kandoran, causing infected humans to crumple and dragons to fall from the sky. Only those on our side remained untouched. As the rays hit one target, they continued their path to the next like a chain reaction.
The pain in my body eased as the power focused elsewhere, and I sighed in relief.
It was a sight to behold as more and more of the enemy around us dropped. Our nearest allies paused to follow the progress, no doubt grateful their battle had ended. Exhaustion ate at me, but I kept watching the streaks of light reach farther into the distance.
Movement at the edge of the woods drew my attention. Three figures in deep red robes emerged at the far end of the clearing in front of the fortress. Large necklaces with glinting stones and throbbing dark power hung from their necks. They held their hands uplifted as they chanted their own spell, too far away for me to make out the words. Falcon and Galadon banked in their direction and spewed flames at the trio. The fire hit some sort of circular barrier surrounding them. They didn’t even look at the shifters.
Compelled to continue, we didn’t stop our own chant, either. It fed the light that still had numerous enemies to reach. From what Kade had said, it would eventually cleanse every Kandoran within a ten-mile radius, but that took time.
The sorcerers walked closer and closer to our tower, their heads covered by the crimson hoods of their robes. All I could see of their faces was their moving lips and chins. More dragons tried to attack with fire, teeth, and claws to no avail.Their protective bubble was impenetrable, and nothing seemed to disrupt it.
