Page 95 of The Kingdom of Flames and Ash

I had to help her.

I held my sword tighter. It wasn’t the one that had belonged to my father. I’d told someone else to bring that one because I couldn’t get past the fact that the weapon alone had changed my entire world.

A dark-green dragon soared before me, opening its mouth. Thick smoke hit my face, searing my skin with its heat.

I tugged at my magic and lunged forward, thrusting the sword inside the dragon’s mouth. I let go of it at the same time flames erupted from the back of the dragon’s throat, burning my arm. As the blade pierced its neck from the inside, the dragon’seyes widened, and I jerked my arm out just before its teeth clanked shut.

The dragon jerked back, choking, its talons reaching for its throat as I pushed my illusion magic toward the four dragons attacking Lira. The dark-green dragon in front of me opened its mouth, a trickle of smoke emerging.

I couldn’t retrieve my sword; I’d have to use my quickly weakening magic.

The dragons attacking Lira crashed below her. She turned her head in my direction. Blood painted her face, hair, and body, making her look like a warrior goddess. The warmth I felt through our bond sealed it.

I’d do and risk anything for my fated mate.

I can’t funnel this much magic for long.Illusions took the most control. The darkness and frost didn’t require as much unless I was cloaking others or the entire sky as I had been.I need you to kill them.

On it.She spun around with the sword back in her hand.

I glanced up at the green dragon, hoping to get my weapon back, but it hadn’t died yet.

“Your Majesty, you’re bleeding,” Lorne said as he flew to my side. His face and hair were soaked in blood, same as the rest of us, almost to the point that I couldn’t see the light blue in it anymore.

“I’m fine,” I rasped, needing to reach Lira. My attention homed in on the sword sheathed on his left side. My father’s sword. The one I hadn’t wanted to carry but had asked Lorne to bring, just in case. “I need that sword.”

Lorne paused like he was deciding something.

“Now!Lira needs me,” I commanded, my attention heading back to my mate. The power still churned inside me, and I got the view of her slitting one of the dragon’s throats. The otherthree roared and screamed at whatever nightmare I’d forced them to see.

“Just be careful.” He handed me the sword.

As soon as my fingers brushed the hilt, my bloodlust intensified, but not by much. It didn’t make me feel like a different person, but I still hated everything that it had taken from me. I held on to it and flew toward my fated mate once more, Lorne keeping pace beside me.

I landed beside my mate and pulled back my illusion magic because I wanted the dragon to know that I was the one who killed him. The dragon moved its wing, readying to fly, when I swung my blade and cut through its neck.

I spun around to find Lorne using his magic against another dragon, causing it to lie down and whimper. He stabbed it in its head, and when I turned to Lira, she’d slit yet another dragon’s throat.

The sound of more wings had me lifting my head once again. This time, eleven dragons were heading toward us… ones that hadn’t been in battle yet.

“We need to get Lira and Eiric out of here,” I shouted to Lorne. “They’re determined to capture Lira.”

Lira shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you. You’re just as much at risk as me.”

I stepped toward her, cupping her face. “Sprite, they won’t kill me. Otherwise, they risk the magic in this realm being imbalanced. They are desperate to have you, and they won’t hesitate to kill Eiric as punishment. You two need to leave now so everyone else can focus on fighting and not on trying to protect you.”

Her bottom lip trembled, but I could feel the moment she relented. The bond tightened, but it wasn’t from anger.

She was putting my wishes above her own.

I have a problem. E doesn’t want to leave. She keeps saying we need to get Pyralis.

My head tilted back. Out of all the scenarios, I hadn’t expected that. Dropping my hand, I noticed that I’d smudged blood on her sun-kissed cheek.She won’t have a choice.I spun to see Eiric staring in the direction of the castle, and I glanced over my shoulder to see crimson scales.

Pyralis was one of the dragons barreling toward us.

“Leave. Lorne and I will hold the dragons off.” I pointed in the direction of Aetherglen in case Eiric had forgotten.

“If we wait for Pyralis—” Eiric started.

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