Page 7 of Doyle

As the weeks turned to months, I could barely hear him. My fox had found a hidey-hole inside me and refused to come out.

In some ways, I was angry at him for leaving me alone to my despair. I couldn't rely on him now. Perhaps never. At this point, I was no better than a human.

Was this my end, then? I raised my head and looked at the starry sky instead, struck by how gorgeous it was.

It had been a long time since I had seen the outside. At least I would die out here and not in the basement.

A shriek tore me away from my peaceful moment. I looked at where Helena was standing and sucked in a breath as I watched her burn.

Flames licked up her body, her screams piercing the night. Wide-eyed, I looked upwards, hearing the sound of heavy wings.

A nearby tree was lit on fire by a breath attack, the flames illuminating the chaos below. Instinct made me take cover, ducking behind a large rock.

From my hiding spot, I watched a massive black dragon swoop down, his scales shimmering in the firelight.

He bellowed flame at the coven house and I was close enough to see his eyes glowing like molten gold.

The sight was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. I could see grizzly shifters joining the fray, their roars and howls mingling with the dragons' cries.

Helena’s charred form lay crumpled on the ground, her life extinguished in a flash of dragon fire. By some miracle, I was still alive.

Hope wasn’t lost yet. I had to make it to safety.

I wasn’t naive enough to believe I could approach the grizzly shifters or the terrifying dragons for help.

They came here on an extermination mission and probably didn’t care about casualties.Summoning all the courage I had left, I darted from my hiding place, weaving through the chaos.

The witches and warlocks were too distracted, saving themselves to notice me.

As I ran, one thought lingered in my mind. Liliana wasn’t here. She had left this morning to visit an old friend, or so she claimed.

I knew this because she dropped by the basement before she left.

“Don’t die on me now, Michael. You have a role to play,” she had said. “But remember, you belong to me.”

This morning, I had been too tired and hungry to pay attention to her words, but now, I reconsidered them. What had she meant by that?

Had Liliana known an attack was coming? No, that couldn’t be.

She wouldn’t sacrifice Helena, who she viewed as family, or the other members of the coven to save herself, would she?

I was so distracted I bumped into a bearded man holding a shotgun. A grizzly shifter, I realized, panicked as we looked at each other for a few moments.

I didn’t hesitate. I bolted in the opposite direction.

“Hey, wait!” he yelled behind me, but I didn’t listen.

I sucked in a breath, expecting a gunshot any second, but it never came. Blindly, I ran, with no direction in mind.

I entered a forest clearing and realized I was exposed. The initial adrenaline I felt from my successful escape was fast fading.

I was lost, tired, and ready to drop dead at any moment.

Then, out of nowhere, an enormous shadow fell over me. I stumbled backward, only to see the same black dragon I spotted earlier drop down in front of me, blocking my way.

I panted, staring at him and wondering if this was the end.

"He's not your enemy," whispered a strange voice inside of me.

---