Page 80 of Eluvonia
My heart constricts. He’s surrounded. Guards swarm him like rabid dogs, their weapons aiming to tear him down. Kaida doesn’t falter—his wings remain folded as his shadows lash out, slicing through the onslaught. A guard lunges, his spear aimed for Kaida’s throat, but his shadow moves first, impaling the man through the chest and flinging his lifeless body aside. Blood splatters across Kaida’s face, his teeth bared in a snarl.
“Declan!” I gasp, my panic mounting. “Kaida—he’s still down there!”
Declan spares a glance below, his jaw tightening. “He’s got it handled,” he grits, his wings straining as he climbs higher.
“No! They’re closing in on him!” My voice cracks, the sight of Kaida fending off dozens of enemies igniting pure dread in my veins. “They’ll kill him!”
Kaida rips his sword from a fallen guard, his breaths ragged. More surround him, a sea of glinting armor and feral roars. His shadows lash, tearing through their ranks, but even he looks strained.
Then the guards do something that makes my stomach drop—they begin shedding their armor.
Metal hits stone with sharp, jarring clangs. My confusion mounts as their bodies begin to change—massive black veins bulge beneath their skin, spreading like ink poisoning their flesh. Scales erupt in patches, twisting grotesquely as their bones snap and reform. Their jaws elongate into draconic snouts, filled with uneven, jagged fangs. I gag as some of their human flesh is still visible—stretched and grotesquely meshed with Dragon scales like melted wax.
Their wings unfurl—massive, leathery, and unnerving. Black veins crawl beneath the membranes, pumping some cursed energy through their bodies and their eyes flash red.
“Declan…” My voice shakes. “What’s happening to them?”
“I—I don’t know.” His grip tightens as he angles us away from the rising abominations. “But it’s not natural.”
A twisted, malformed creature—half-Dragon, half-something else—launches into the sky, its mouth opening with a hideous snarl. Its claws swipe, missing us by inches. The smell of sulfur follows, and my stomach churns.
Another creature shoots upward, its body still caught in a grotesque state of flux. Its chest splits down the middle as scales tear through skin, ribs cracking outward like broken bone wings. Its head remains human but twisted, jaw unhinged like a snake, its teeth uneven and rotting. Its human eyes stare out, but they are void—lifeless, cursed.
Then a voice bellows from the ground, chilling my blood.
“Do you like our new creations?” The commander’s voice drips with sadistic glee. “They are stronger than any Dragon you have faced! Infused with the blood of demons from Eldrathir!”
I choke on a gasp.Demons from Eldrathir?That cursed realm of corruption? The very blood that spawns hellish creatures now fuels these abominations?
Declan curses under his breath. “They turned them into hybrids,” he growls. “Half-man. Half-Dragon. Infused with demon blood…”
I feel bile rise in my throat. “That’s why their bodies look—unfinished.” My gaze snaps to one of the abominations whose lower half still clings to human shape, skin mottled and torn where scales erupted.
Kaida’s fight on the ground becomes desperate. One of the creatures lunges, its mouth open unnaturally wide, teeth dripping with blackened saliva. Kaida twists, driving his blade through its throat, but another barrels into his side, sending him sprawling. His wings flare open to steady himself—but instead of flying, he stays grounded, still protecting me.
“Kaida,fly!” I scream, my throat raw.
As if hearing me, Kaida’s gaze snaps upward—locking with mine. For the briefest moment, pure desperation flashes across his face. But then his jaw sets, his grip tightening around his blade. He cuts through another abomination, his body moving like liquid death. Yet more are coming, the sheer number staggering.
No. He’s not going to make it.
“Declan! Turn around—”
“We can’t—”
“I don’t care!” I scream, my voice cracking. “He’s going to die!”
Something primal flares in Declan’s expression. Without hesitation, he tucks his wings and dives. The momentum slams my body into his chest, but I don’t care—I keep my eyes locked on Kaida.
A creature lunges, its claws slicing toward Kaida’s throat—
And Kaida finally moves.
His wings snap open with a deafening crack, and his body launches upward with the force of a hurricane. The creature’s claws graze his leg, drawing a deep gash, but he doesn’t falter. Blood streams from the wound, but Kaida keeps rising, his shadows wrapping around his form like armor. His teeth bare in a snarl as he tears past the remaining guards.
I feel my entire body unclench, relief slamming into me likea tidal wave. “He made it—”
One of the abominations lunge towards us, its claws catching my ankle. I scream, and Declan snarls, his dagger flashing. He drives the blade into its wrist, severing the limb with a sickening crack. The creature howls as black, tar-like blood spurts from the wound.
