Page 266 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
She may have let her magic end the seraphs, but with the warriors, she used her arrows or blades, blood spraying and leaving nothing but ashes and destruction in her wake.
A roar of fury rang out, and they all looked up to see a group of seraphs converging on Xan.
“Go!” Theon snarled while Achaz forces tried to take advantage of the momentary distraction. Theon grabbed one by the throat, his darkness seeping into the male’s soul. The other?—
Tessa appeared, Traveling to Theon’s side. One of her daggers sank into the male’s side, and as he doubled over, she drove the dagger in her other hand into his neck. Blood splattered on her face, her hair.
A godsdamn goddess of chaos and destruction.
She turned as though she’d heard that thought, her smile wicked and terrifying and fucking beautiful.
“Luka, get in the fucking sky,” Theon snarled. “We are clearly fine.”
Gritting his teeth, he tossed his sword to Theon. He caught it, and the dragonfire around the blade instantly morphed into darkness. Evidently it magnified whatever power the wielder held.
His gaze connected with Theon’s, both of them clearly thinking the same thing.
Do not let Tessa touch that sword,Luka said.
Noted, Theon ground out, shoving the blade into another sentinel.
We could do many things with that sword, Tessa argued, and Luka hated that her voice wasothereven in his mind.
“I’ve got it handled,” Theon bit out again, shoving the male back with his foot.
Another roar finally had Luka shifting fully, and he was in the sky a moment later. His own roar of rage echoed with his father’s, and then Razik was there with him, the two of them soaring hard and fast for Xan.
Until a burst of power slammed into them, shoving them back. How in the fuck?
Razik’s black diamond-shaped head whipped around, both of them searching for the seraph. The problem was, they had no way to determine what every single seraph’s power was. Those who’d stolen elemental powers were easy enough. Water. Wind. Whatever. But those who’d stolen other gifts—altering reality, power detection, and likely gifts they didn’t know were out there—there was no way to tell what they were.
Razik snarled, flipping over and sunlight glinting off the faint scarring on one of his wings. His massive tail swiped out, catching a nearby seraph and sending it hurtling straight toLuka. On instinct, his jaw closed around it, teeth sinking in. The crunch of bones and wings snapping echoed with the seraph’s cries of pain. And the taste? Vomiting in the sky was not on his list of things to do today.
He released the female, letting her fall, and dragonfire engulfed her, courtesy of his brother. Sapphire eyes connected with his, and Luka could swear Razik huffed in amusement. That fucker knew they tasted awful.
Luka snarled, spinning away from him and once again making his way to his father, who was still battling the same swarm of seraphs. He couldn’t just send dragonfire at them without also risking hitting his father. It wouldn’t wound him, but he’d still feel it.
With a disgruntled growl, he barreled forward. Teeth snapping and claws swiping, he knocked them, dodging magic attacks as much as he could. It wasn’t enough though. He took hits of ice daggers to his flanks, and winds tore at his wings.
Razik was below him, black flames spewing from his mouth as Luka knocked them down, and Xan was finally able to shake off several of them. His fury echoed again as he broke free of the swarm. He banked sharply, the black and blue of his form shimmering in the daylight, and then Luka was darting out of the way as that fury exploded from him. Dragonfire rained down, but not in the wild way his and Razik’s dragonfire was consuming. No, this wascontrolled. It leapt from one seraph to another, the flames never banking or going out, as if Xan could control his magic even from his dragon form.
Luka’s head whipped to Razik only to find him watching their father too. Luka had never been able to control his gifts like that when in his dragon form, and while he couldn’t read any sort of expression on Razik right now, he was guessing it was the same for him. It was why they preferred to fight with just their wings, not fully shifted. It was no wonder the seraphs had seemedto leave them alone and focus on Xan, and Luka suddenly wondered if the god of war and courage himself had trained his father.
Xan twisted to find them staring, and he snapped at them with a sharp growl, jerking his head to the side. The message was clear: do their fucking job.
Razik snarled, clearly irked about being caught watching, and he banked right, going in the direction of flames below. Luka followed his lead, going left. He’d take care of the skies above Theon and Tessa, while Razik managed those above Eliza. Xan could clearly handle the middle sector.
He didn’t know how long they fought, but he sank into it that same way he’d felt Tessa sink into her power. Magic was flying, cries of victory and agony mingling. He could hear the clashing of weapons and the bellows of orders being shouted.
Time both dragged on and flashed by. There was no time to think, just give in to instinct. But that instinct was telling him this wasn’t going to be enough. Rordan had bided his time. This wasn’t a frivolous attack, but one that had been meticulously planned. He knew their forces were concentrated elsewhere and had attacked Castle Pines for that very reason.
Even with Theon and Tessa, Dagian, a Fire General, and two additional dragons, the odds were not in their favor.
Not as it seemed like three more seraphs appeared for every one they took out.
Not as more and more Achaz forces swarmed the streets of the city.
Not as those forces methodically pushed their own to the city center, effectively surrounding them.
