Page 35 of Vengeance and Fire

“You talk too much, Maurelle.” I swing my sword with all of the strength I have left. My iron sword cuts straight through her neck. I watch in horror, with maybe a bit of fascination, at my power as I watch her head bounce across the ground. I don’t watch her body slump over, but I can hear it. I walk a few feet away, swaying. The exhaustion of what I have endured takes over me. I collapse to my knees. The last of my strength and adrenaline fades. I am completely tapped out. My eyes close and the world goes quiet except for the roars of Dragons and snarls of Dire Wolves all around me.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

DRAVYN

Itake the full force of Maurelle’s light blast, it rebounds off my scales with nothing more than a tickle. If I was on two legs, I would have whooped in celebration. I didn’t know the full extent of my own powers, but my Dragon and I are getting well acquainted. I am the only one not behind the shield Cordelia had impressively created.

I see my window and it’s now or never. If I kill Maurelle, then that will be one less body for Cordelia to add to her conscious. I felt her reservations down our bond moments ago, and I know that when the smoke clears my beautiful mate is going need to accept the burden that comes with having taken a life. Maurelle pushed and manipulated me to kill for her from a young age. Everything was a test of loyalty for her, and of course my father. I obeyed them and I have to live with those demons for the rest of my life.

At least now I have a chance to be the father to my own kids that my father never was to me. I look forward to what is to come for us all. If I can cut out the source of the disease plaguing the Realms, I will. I dive toward Maurelle, my wings tucked tight, my vision is singular as I aim for my abuser, she who is the source of all my pain, sorrow, and trauma. I have waited years for this. I used to fall asleep at night with my prayers for her death whispered on my lips.

As I fly near, I lock eyes with Cordelia, but it’s too late to see why she was reacting the way she is. A huge black Dragon hits me hard from the side. The force of the impact sends me flying through the air. I extend my wings and right myself as I climb into the sky as the other Dragon dives down to me again. I know a scared beast anywhere. And I don’t need to look for my father, he has found me. Whether or not he knows it is me is hard to tell without a telepathic connection. It doesn’t matter, I will make him see what he kept from me. I will show him what I could have become if he had let me emerge instead of offering me up for years of torture at the hands of delusional psychopaths.

Our bodies crash into each other once more. My father’s Dragon isn’t as large as mine, so it is easy to hook my hind claws into his round and tender underbelly. He roars in pain as blood pours out of his wounds, his jaws snap and bite wildly as he to tries to free himself from my hold. He manages to scrape his sharp teeth against my wing, tearing it slightly. I push him off me with enough strength to send him careening through the air. His Dragon falls to the ground, rolling across the field, and eventually comes to a stop near several trees.

I don’t want to give him an opportunity to get up, so I land swiftly. My Dragon closes the distance as the last stragglers of our enemies flee rather than stop to fight me. I watch as my father’s body shifts back. His stomach is torn to shreds and he is bleeding out over the grass. His chest is heaving. The grimace of pain etched across his face warms my heart. His eyes are wild as he searches for his Barons.Oh, Father, they’re all dead,I cheerfully think to myself as I approach. He tries to move. His back is against the trunk of a tree, and he has nowhere to go. I decide at the last moment that I will reveal myself to him. I want to remember the look in his eyes as he sees the face of his killer.

I shift and stand before him as naked as the day I was born. “Hello, Father.” His eyes bulge from their sockets at the sight of me emerging from not just any Dragon, but a golden one. He whimpers in pain, clutching his stomach to him. I notice blood is pouring between his fingers. I know he won’t last long with how fast it is flowing out.

“Dravyn?” His head tilts to the side, like he still doesn’t recognize me. I guess he is in shock to see his useless, disappointment of a son. There’s no way will I be anything more to him. “How? I thought you were dead?” He tries to frown. Even while dying he still can’t look at me with nothing more than contempt.

“My mate saved me, the same mate you tried to touch.Mine!” I yell out the end, causing him to flinch. That one movement gives me utter satisfaction. Finally, a reaction. “I was taken to the Waters of Elysium, Father. Something you failed to do. Something you denied me my whole life,” I bite out, trying not to end his life now. He will know my feelings by the time I am done.

“I gave you more!” he tries to say defensively, but it falls short. He knows as well as I do that if I had emerged as the golden Dragon as a child, then none of this shit would have occurred. I could have grown up with my mate, Torin, Gale, and Adrian. Queen Thana would be alive. This story could have been completely different. He could have looked at me with pride instead of disgust. He wouldn’t have let Maurelle have me, he wouldn’t have let her poison his mind, and abandon my mother.

“You handed me over to be tortured. I was a child. You lied to me about my mother. She’s alive and fine by the way. She sends her regards, as well as her wish for your death. She wants to feel it when her bond is broken. To be certain she is finally free of you.” I watch as all the bravado drains from his face at the mention of his bond. He didn’t care about Mom or me. He was too busy fucking Maurelle to care.

“Kill me then and get it over with. You all will die. Maurelle will avenge me.” His voice shakes as the sounds of battle begins to die down. The only screams to be heard are coming from Maurelle as she goes toe to toe with Cordelia. I check our bond. I can feel my brothers’ worry as they witness whatever is happening but there is only a hint of a strain coming from her.

“That would be too easy, and you know it. I should let you lay here and bleed to death. It would give you a small taste of what I suffered when you let them cleave me up like a slab of meat.” I turn, no longer able to stand the sight of him. I walk away.

“Die well, Father.”

His screams follow me. “Kill me! You can’t even do that right, Dravyn.”

“Weak, all that power, and still a disappointment.” He is taunting me, but I refuse to turn around.

“Drav—” I turn. His words are cut off. Spinning around I see Gale’s Dragon has my father’s limp body, holding him between his talons aloft in the sky, clamping down until I can hear an audible snap. Gale roars in triumph then dumps him unceremoniously to the ground before landing beside me.

He shifts and strides over to stand next to me.

“That was for your mother, and for all that shit he was spouting.” I incline my head at that. He finished something I could not. I reach out to pat his shoulder, but stop short, when a flare of panic though our bond has us both searching for our mate.

“Fight Cordelia!”Adrian shouts telepathically. We both watch in terror as Maurelle picks up Cordelia, and we see her body twitch with some invisible force.

We both run towards the two of them but that is when I notice the shadows and the knife that Maurelle has failed to see. Cordelia strikes fast and the knife sinks into Maurelle’s chest. Gale stops, stumbling back in shock at the sudden change in front of us. I hold him back from going further.

He shoots me a questioning look. “Let her have this. She needs this more than anything,” I say to him.

“We all do,” he replies as we watch, transfixed, as Cordelia picks up her sword and decapitates Maurelle.

We both stand in awed silence. It was brutal. As I watch Maurelle’s head roll, I feel a weight lift off my chest. I can finally breathe.

“Was that supposed to be hot? Don’t look down, but my dick is rock hard.” I can’t help but laugh at his words, the sweet relief of it finally being over. We still have so much to do, but at least we can do it without watching our backs at every turn.

I can feel her exhaustion through our bond as she takes a few steps away from Maurelle’s dead body. Her sword drops to the ground as she falls to her knees; the ground cushions her as she passes out.

I don’t spare my father’s body a glance as we race across the field to our mate.

---