Page 40 of Fractured Sky
He would protect the other mages and dragons, Emory and Sol, and all the people in the castle, no matter what.
Even if it killed him.
* * * *
SOL HAD NO IDEA WHATwas happening.He’d been thrown into the deep end, and he needed to learn to swim right away.He had to protect Dallin.But to do that, he needed to understand what was going on.
He stuck close to Dallin as he attempted to take in everything happening around him.Emory had gone straight for Carlyle, who had to stop blasting the invisible shield that protected the castle.That was good, and Sol hoped it would last.It depended on Emory, and luckily, the man seemed to have everything under control.He’d shifted into his dragon form and was going at Carlyle, who was struggling to protect himself.Every time he moved to attack, Emory thwarted him.
Then, there was Simon.He’d been hiding behind Carlyle earlier, but he’d moved away from him.He was throwing objects at the mages, and they were protecting themselves as much as possible.It wasn’t easy, especially because more objects seemed to appear out of nowhere.Sol saw Penley trip when something exploded under his feet.Thankfully for him, Bennett was there to push him away from the small blast, but it was clear that Carlyle and Simon had placed traps all over the area.
That was what most of the mages were focused on.Jarvis was close to Emory and Carlyle, ready to intervene if he had to.He tried to step in a few times, but Emory roared at him, keeping him away.It was clear that he wanted revenge, and while Sol understood why Emory was doing this, he couldn’t imagine a dragon ever hurting his mage.
He glanced at Dallin.He knew he would never be able to hurt him, no matter what he did.Of course, he would never have to worry about Dallin stealing his magic or anything like that.Dallin wasn’t like Carlyle.
Hopefully, no one was.They needed to get rid of Carlyle, and while there would always be bad people in the world, no one wanted to deal with Carlyle or anyone like him.The sooner this was over, the better.
Simon threw something at Sol’s face.Sol raised his hands, hoping to catch it in time, but also worried because it might explode.That seemed to be a favorite of Carlyle’s.Either that or he was still trying to blast through the shields using smaller spells and objects.
Dallin snatched the object aimed at Sol’s face with a hand.Sol sucked in a breath and waited for it to do something, but it didn’t.Dallin barely paused before he dropped it to the ground and turned his attention back to Simon.
“How did you do that?”Sol asked as he scrambled to follow Dallin.
Simon had been smug earlier, but now that the mages were closing in on him, he kept glancing in Carlyle’s direction, and his smile had vanished.He was probably expecting Carlyle to save him, but Carlyle was too busy.He was trying to talk to Emory, but Emory wouldn’t listen.
Good.After what Carlyle had done to him, Emory deserved whatever revenge he wanted.
“Neutralizing spells is my specialty,” Dallin said as he crouched next to a rock.
Sol couldn’t see anything weird about the rock, but when Dallin touched it, his fingers sparked.The rock started smoking, and Dallin got back to his feet.
“Every mage has a specialty, a range of spells we’re more comfortable with.We can cast most spells, but for those, we need a lot more magic and ingredients, while our specialty spells come as easy as breathing to us.Jarvis creates portals, Penley manipulates nature, and I neutralize magic and spells.”
Sol wished he had more time to learn all these things before they were attacked.He was in awe of what Dallin and the other mages could do, but at the same time, he felt he couldn’t focus on it enough.His job was to protect Dallin, but there was little else he could do.They weren’t facing dragon shifters.They weren’t even facing Carlyle.Simon was the only one standing there, and he was still throwing stuff at them.The bag on his shoulder was starting to empty, though.Soon, he wouldn’t have anything left.He was human, which meant that once that happened, he would be unable to defend himself.He clearly realized that and was starting to panic.
Sol felt sorry for Graham, but he couldn’t say the same for Simon.He’d been given an opportunity to come to their side, but he’d refused.He was about to face the consequences of that.
A loud explosion made Sol jump.He grabbed Dallin and pushed him behind his back, deciding that Simon was the least worrying of their enemies.A massive cloud of smoke surrounded Carlyle and Emory, and no matter how hard Sol blinked, he couldn’t see anything through it.
“What happened?”Dallin asked.
“I don’t know.”
Sol needed to do something, but what?He couldn’t leave Dallin.It was his job to protect his mage, and even though he didn’t want anyone to be hurt, if he had to choose between Emory and Dallin, he wouldn’t even have to think about it.Emory didn’t have amage to work with, though.He was more vulnerable than the other dragons.He was especially vulnerable because he was fightingCarlyle.
Sol sucked in a breath when the smoke started to dissipate.He realized that Penley was doing it, no doubt using his control over nature.His expression was grim, and Sol understood why when he saw the scene in front of him.
Emory was still in his dragon form, but he was on his side on the ground, panting and clutching at his stomach.Whatever Carlyle had done, he’d hurt his dragon.
Sol wasn’t sure that Emory could still be called Carlyle’s dragon.A mage shouldn’t hurt their dragon, but Carlyle had, and he still was.He stood in front of Emory, looking down at him with a smirk on his face.Sol wanted to grab and shake him, maybe throw him into the lake, but before he could move forward and do something stupid, someone cried out behind them.
He grabbed Dallin again, ready to tear any attacker apart.He didn’t have to.Tyne had reached Simon and taken his bag from him, throwing it far enough that Simon couldn’t reach it.Carlyle didn’t even look in Simon’s direction.It was as if Simon didn’t exist.
“You really thought he could beat me?”Carlyle asked in a deceptively cool voice.His full focus was on Emory.
Everyone’sattention was on Emory.That was the only explanation Sol could come up with when Simon darted past him to join Carlyle.Tyne swore, but he didn’t try to go after him.
Emory growled.He tried to get to his feet, but Carlyle kicked him close to the spot he was holding on to his stomach.Emory cried out, and Sol moved, ready to help.He didn’t know what he’d do against Carlyle, but he’d try.Dallin was safe enough now that Simon wasn’t behind them anymore and that his weapons had been taken away.Sol could focus on helping other people.
