Unleash the Storm (13 page)

Ash growled something she couldn’t quite make out, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes scoured the sky in search of wings. The women grabbed the children, herding everyone to the center of the camp. Seiya planted herself in front of Ivria and the two smallest girls. Kiev drew his swords, afraid but determined to protect his family.

They shimmered out of nothingness as they dropped their cloaking spells. Nine draconian warriors with weapons drawn and ready landed in the clearing, wings spread wide. Eliada landed last, just behind the armed warriors.

Enduring a wave of terror, Piper reached behind Kiev and drew one of the daggers sheathed on Seiya’s thigh. Why hadn’t she donned her own weapons? She planted her feet in a defensive stance, meeting Eliada’s eyes from across the clearing. She, Lyre, Kiev, and Seiya were the only ones with enough skill to fight, making four of them against nine experienced warriors.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mahala draw a sword, handling the blade with an ease that spoke of long familiarity. Okay, five against nine.

Even as she inspected the enemy, assessing and calculating, part of her attention was on the tent behind her. Ash needed to stay inside. His skill could easily turn the odds in their favor, but the draconians would no doubt concentrate all their attacks on him until they killed him.

Eliada’s eyes moved across the group, lingering on the children before she stepped forward.

“We do not come to harm you,” she began.

“You’ve come to kill Ash,” Piper retorted, fury lighting inside her at the woman’s lie.

Eliada sliced a hand through the air. “You do not understand. You are all—
we
are all in great danger as long as he is allowed to live.”

Cold whispered through her. “What are you talking about?”

“He should not have survived the seal. It should have killed him, but since it did not, the kindest thing you can do now is end it for him.”

“You try to disguise murder as mercy!” Seiya yelled. “We won’t let you kill him!”

“The dragon will come for him!” Eliada’s voice rose, urgency breaking through her composure. “He must die before the dragon claims him!”

Before anyone could respond, Raum dove out of the sky, landing in front of his family. Wings arched over his back, massive sword in his hand, his black eyes cut across Eliada and the warriors. He rose, feet set in a fighting stance, sword at the ready. He exuded danger and deadly power, an unspoken challenge vibrating in the air. He was almost—
almost
—as terrifying as Ash in full, lethal predator mode.

Eliada directed her attention to Raum, recognizing him as the leader of their group and the greatest threat to her mission. With Raum ready to fight, their odds weren’t quite as bad. She forced herself to focus on the enemy, her head spinning with resolve, anxiety, and the exhaustion she hadn’t shook since losing so much blood.

Eliada opened her mouth but the panicked cry of a dragonet broke the silence before she could speak.

Piper spun as Zwi let out another frightened cry from within the tent. Forgetting everything else, Piper darted past the others and rushed into the tent. Ash knelt on a blanket inside, bent forward until his forehead almost touched his knees, his arms clenched around his head like a vice. Zwi crouched beside him, chittering fearfully.

Dropping down beside him, Piper grabbed his arm. Heat radiated from his skin, a fever almost as bad as when she’d first found him unconscious on the rocky shore of the lake.

Ash lurched to his feet, tearing out of Piper’s grip. He staggered forward a step then dropped back to his knees before Piper could catch him, still clutching his head. He bent forward, wings arching up off his back.

“No,” he gasped hoarsely. “
Stop it.
”

Dread plummeted through her as she realized what was happening. She twisted around. Lyre stood in the tent opening, staring at Ash in shock.

“It’s the dragon, Lyre! The dragon is nearby!”

His face went ashen.

“Ash, fight it.” She grabbed his arm and squeezed hard so he would know she was there. “You can resist him!”

He groaned, his breathing coming fast and frantic. The swirling designs on his arms that marked the transition from scale to skin glowed blue and the air around him heated until she could smell it burning.

Lyre grabbed her and threw them both to the ground just outside the tent as blue and black fire exploded out from Ash. The twisting fireball ballooned outward, ripping the tent apart and rushing over Lyre’s hasty shield. The heat pounded at Piper, stealing the air from her lungs.

The sphere of fire died away, bits of burning canvas still fluttering to the ground. Ash climbed to his feet, arms hanging at his sides, no longer clutching his head. Blue fire ran down his tail and dripped off his wings, pooling on the ground around him. He stood motionless but for the dancing flames, blue light glowing from his markings and from between the scales on his arms, shoulders, and cheekbones. His eyes stared sightlessly ahead, glowing solid azure.

All the draconians, friend and foe alike, gaped at him, unmoving. The sense of danger in the air was as tangible as the smoke rising from the remains of the tent.

At the other end of the clearing, wood snapped loudly. Three trees crashed downwards, the trunks breaking clean in two. From behind them, a massive shadow emerged. Faint light sliced across glossy obsidian scales and viciously curved spines arching off broad shoulders and a narrow muzzle. The dragon’s head extended out of the trees, followed by his massive body as he slunk into the open, wings lifting a few feet away from his sides.

“No,” Piper gasped, the word soundless from terror. She pushed away from Lyre’s protective hold, scrambling to her feet. “Raum! Get everyone into the water, quickly!”

The dragon’s blue eyes were locked on Ash. They began to glow. The buzzing pressure in Piper’s head spiked.

Ash took a slow step toward the beast.

“No!” She lunged toward him but Lyre snatched her, pulling her away from those scorching blue flames.

Ash took another step. In a strange, staggering march, he walked toward the dragon, flames trailing off his wings. With each step closer he took, the dragon’s eyes glowed brighter and blue light emanated from between his scales and down his curved neck and sides.

“
Ash!
”

He didn’t react to her scream. Another slow, zombie-like step toward the dragon. His arms hung at his sides, wings half-furled. He wasn’t fighting—or if he was, the battle was internal, every ounce of his willpower bent toward resisting the dragon’s telepathic hold.

She threw Lyre’s hands off and ran after him. She barely noticed Raum herding the others toward the waterfall. She barely noticed Lyre running after her. She didn’t notice at all, or care, what Eliada and her warriors were doing. All her attention was on Ash, focused on stopping him.

Fearfully aware of how close the enormous dragon was, she swung around in front of Ash, pressing her hands to his chest. His impossibly hot skin scorched her palms. She pushed him hard.

“Ash, stop! Fight him, Ash! Don’t let him win!”

Ash stared through her, his glowing eyes as distant as the planet above. He didn’t see her. He took another step, forcing her back.

“Ash!” she cried. She spun, pressing her back against him and digging her heels into the ground as she faced the dragon. “Let him go!”

The dragon snarled, the terrible sound ripping out of his throat, but he didn’t shift his attention from Ash—didn’t break his focus. He was concentrating on Ash, on controlling him. She lifted her hands, summoning a twisting orb of her magic. If he needed to concentrate to control Ash, then she would distract him. She hurled the spinning orb at the dragon.

A wall of blue fire leapt into existence in front of the beast. Her pitiful attack hit the flames and burst harmlessly apart. The fiery wall died down, and the dragon took a looming step closer, head swinging lower, eyes on Ash.

Ash took another step, almost pushing Piper off her feet.

“No!” she pleaded. “Ash, stop! Please, stop!”

The dragon opened its jaws. A blue glow lit the back of its throat and she knew what was coming. Fire boiled out of its mouth and blasted toward her and Ash.

For a second time, Lyre grabbed her and threw them both down. His golden dome shield formed around them an instant before the fire hit. The inferno surrounded them, the heat unbearably intense. Lyre’s shield rippled and shuddered, then holes appeared as though torn away by an impossible wind. The shield shattered as the last of the flames rushed past, mostly missing them.

She rolled over and shot to her feet, but froze as she turned to face the dragon.

The beast stood just in front of the tree line, wings spread as blue fire raced along them. Ash stood directly in front of it, his wings spread as well, covered with identical blue flames. The dragon’s blue eyes bored into him. Then the dragon lifted his head and loosed an ear-shattering roar of wrath and triumph.

Her stomach dropped with terror.

“Ash!” she screamed.

The dragon’s head came down and it focused on her for the first time. The buzzing pressure twisted through her skull, almost buckling her knees.

Futile, silver child
, the dragon rumbled inside her head.
He is mine
.

“He doesn’t belong to you!” she cried. Ash’s voice whispered in her memory, murmuring that the only one he wanted to belong to was her.

You doubt?
The dragon’s lips lifted from its long, curved fangs in the most vicious, terrifying smile she’d ever seen.

Ash finally moved. He pivoted to face her and Lyre, a slow, mesmerizing grace to his movements. Her eyes scoured his face, but his expression was as blank as a statue’s. Emotionless. Lifeless. His glowing, unblinking eyes were empty of the man she loved.

The blue flames on his body flickered as though agitated by a nonexistent wind. The air grew hot and heavy, electric with power. The blue fire leaped out from him, spinning around him in a slowly expanding whirlwind. In the center, Ash’s hand lifted robotically toward her.

She stared at him, frozen in place, unable to move. Unable to react. He was going to attack her. She could see it. She knew it. But she couldn’t believe it.

“Piper!” Lyre roared.

He grabbed her wrist and shoved something small against her palm. At the same moment, Ash unleashed the fires of hell.

The tiny cold spot in her hand flashed hot. Raging, bloodthirsty power crashed into her body like lightning along every nerve. The Sahar’s power rose through her, awaiting her command. She flung her hands up, casting a silver shield over her and Lyre.

The tidal wave of blue and black flames slammed into her shield with the force of an exploding sun. She gasped, her entire body trembling with the strain of holding the shield. The flames tore across the barrier and silver light burst in every direction as the shield threatened to break apart. With the Sahar clenched in one hand, she held her arms over her head as though physically supporting the barrier and called desperately for more power. It surged into her along with blinding agony. She threw the power into her shield as the inferno ripped away the magic the same way it had ripped through Lyre’s impenetrable dome shield.

When she thought she could no longer hold it, that her shield would collapse, the flames shrank. The fire faded.

Piper fell to her knees, unable to stand as she panted for air. Every nerve burned from the overload of the Sahar’s magic. Across the clearing, Ash stood in front of the dragon, hand still raised toward them, flames still dancing along his wings. He stared unseeingly at her, as lifeless as stone.

A tingle of magic sparked in the air, coming from Lyre. She looked up and felt a violent swoop in her belly. He had dropped glamour. His impossibly beautiful face was calm and smooth, but grim resolve hardened his golden eyes into steel. His pale hair gleamed. At the end of the thin braid that hung down one side of his face, a ruby shone like a drop of blood.

He reached over his shoulder, fingers brushing across the feathered fletching of his arrows. He pulled one free from the quiver, but instead of nocking it on his bow, he spun the shaft in his hand. Pointing the arrowhead down, he dragged the razor point across the palm of the hand in which he held his bow. Blood welled, running down his wrist.

Shocked out of her trance, she realized what he had done: blood magic. He had just activated a spell on the arrow—likely the most powerful spell he had.

The arrow spun in his hand again, and then it was nocked on the bow and he’d drawn the string back to his cheek. His blood clung to the tip of the arrow as it began to glow an eerie red. Her heart leaped with hope—hope that his spell, one so deadly his blood was required to unleash it, would be enough to destroy the dragon and free Ash from his control.

Her heart raced but time slowed. Only seconds had passed since Lyre had dropped his glamour and pulled the arrow. The dragon’s jaws opened in another ferocious snarl as Lyre took aim.

She almost didn’t notice, almost didn’t realize it.

Lyre wasn’t aiming for the dragon.

“
No!
” she screamed, throwing herself into Lyre’s legs just as he released the arrow.

The glowing bolt streaked past Ash’s left cheek, barely missing him. It flashed under the dragon’s wing and into the trees behind it. Tearing, popping noises erupted as the arrow tore through trees—something no arrow should have been able to do.

A heartbeat of silence.

Back in the trees, the arrow detonated with the force of dynamite. Tree trunks shot into the air like missiles and curved blades of red magic sliced above the treetops.

The dragon roared furiously at the missed attack. Its wings snapped wide open again. Blue fire erupted all over its scales, leaping for the sky. The flames whirled and spun, expanding, growing larger. The dragon vanished in the inferno, then it engulfed Ash too. Black fire laced through the blue, rippling through the azure flames.

She threw a hand over her face to protect it from the heat as the wall of fire leaped higher. The black and blue flames writhed. The earth shuddered beneath her like the beginnings of an earthquake. The trees shook, leaves falling from their branches.