Skyborn (Dragons & Druids #1)(13)
Kinky bastard.
A wolf howl rose up in warning and I saw that Keegan was protecting Logan’s back, but one of the hunters had broken free and was about to shoot a crossbow bolt into Logan’s side. I knew how bad those damn things hurt.
“Logan, behind you!” I screamed, but it just came out as a dragon’s roar.
Logan spun towards the threat, giving the druid his back, and doused the hunter in fire before he could loose the arrow. The hunter screamed in agony as the auburn flames engulfed his body. I could see the druid just beyond Logan; he had taken the opening to break free from his red dome. He was running in stealth mode right at me, slipping between the two fights going on. As he ran, he was building up a red energy ball in his hands. Shit. My stomach clenched in fear. Something told me this green cage wouldn’t hold against that dark magic or whatever it was. My dragon kicked against the green cage as that warmth uncoiled in my belly. The cage shook but held strong.
The druid reached me in three quick strides across the room, and cold hard fear trickled down my dragon’s back. He wore clothes from another time: suede breeches, with pelts of animal fur sewn on the shoulders of his leather jacket. Something told me this wasn’t a “weak” druid like the one who had attacked earlier. As he came closer, I realized those pelts were wolf, and bile churned in my belly.
Holding the red fire ball in his hands, he sniffed the air. “Interesting,” he said.
As he raised his arm to throw the fire ball, Nadine’s wolf—I recognized her by her markings—launched herself at his outstretched arm. Her teeth clamped down hard and the druid groaned in pain, the red ball of energy in his hands weakening with his discomfort. Shaking his arm hard, he yanked Nadine loose and then wrapped his hands around her wolf’s neck and squeezed. Red magic seeped from his hands and saturated her collarbone, before he tossed her across the room, slamming her into the wall. I heard the hard snapping of bone before she sank unconscious to the floor.
I roared again, hoping to get someone from the pack’s attention and let them know Nadine was hurt, but it was no use. The druid had turned and had set his sights on me. With no time to waste, he threw the ball right at me, and I was helpless to do anything but sit there and brace for the impact.
The red ball slammed into my green shield, dissipating it with ease, shattering the magic that protected me. Now, fully free, I stood quickly to my dragon’s full height. I wasn’t as big as Logan but I still towered over the druid as he began to chant something. The earth beneath me shook a little. My head was skimming the ceiling as I felt for that heat inside of my belly.
“Dragon’s power, dragon’s might, magic be mine on this night…” the druid chanted in an ominous tone that rose the hairs on my arms. A glint of metal drew my eye to the weapon in his hands. It was similar to the blade from before. The hunter I had burned to ash was holding one; it must be same ceremonious artifact.
The heat in my belly was overwhelming, and when the druid flung his arm out at me, ready to cut me with that knife, I opened my mouth and roared. Fire coated my throat, ripping out of me in one long stream, covering the druid. I didn’t let up. I pushed all of me at the druid, knowing that when I stopped to take a breath, I would have no more fight left in me. I wasn’t trained, I didn’t even know how a dragon could fight. I was uncomfortable in this body; it was wonky and unstable, like all of those T-rex jokes on the internet—I had no idea how to use my arms. Once I felt like I would pass out from the heat and being out of breath, I stopped the fire. The druid was covered in black soot, sweat rolling down his face, but he was unharmed, as if his skin had a protective coating. Shit. Nadine’s words about the other hunters we encountered being tied to a weak druid came back to me. She had said we’d gotten lucky. Now I knew why.
The druid raised his knife to come at me again when a streak of black flashed behind him. Logan tore across the lawn and into the room, his head smashing into the ceiling, ripping into the top floor. The commotion caused the druid to turn around, but it was too late. Logan’s open jaws came right down upon the druid’s head. I flinched as Logan’s jaws clamped shut, and nearly gagged at the sound they made when piercing the druid’s flesh. In one swift move, Logan yanked upward, pulling the druid’s head clean off.
The shock of seeing such a gruesome death had me stumbling backwards, away from the scene. My dragon was panting, trying to regain some of the strength I had lost when I’d breathed all that fire, and I was trying not to throw up at the sight of so much blood. Suddenly, over the druid’s dead body, a green concentrated mist began to rise up. I looked up and locked eyes with Logan, instinctively knowing this was dragon magic. This druid had stolen dragon magic long ago and it was now rising up upon his death, as if it knew it didn’t belong with the evil man. Logan stepped forward into the green mist, breathing it into his nostrils and lungs, his eyes momentarily glowing green. The entire time, they were locked on me.
My body felt frozen as I took the time to examine his dragon fully. His belly had a silver pearl color that faded up to the inky black at his chest. His wings were tough and leathery, and outstretched must have spanned forty feet, but it was his eyes that had me pinned to the spot. Those emerald green eyes were captivating; they glowed in a magical way that had me unable to look anywhere else. There was an unfurling in my chest as I stared into those eyes, and my dragon stepped closer to him. She was vibrating my chest as if trying to tell me something.