Page 142 of Wrath of the Dragons
“Elowen!” I shout. “ELOWEN!”
Sorin hums, and I follow the sound, sprinting over rocks and vaulting over fallen trees. Steam rises from the pools of Sorin’s blood along the forest floor, melting the snow. Elowen lays beside him, stroking a shaking hand down his scales.
“My baby,” she murmurs. “You’re okay, my baby.”
Sorin’s not mortally wounded, though arrows pierce his wings and wounds puncture his neck…but Elowen.
“HEALER!” I shout over my shoulder, ripping off my helmet and gauntlets.
“Cayden,” Elowen rasps, blood trickling from the corner of her lips as she turns to face me.
My heart sinks further. She’s pale. She’s so fucking pale and her hands are covered in her own blood. “Hello, my love.”
I drop to my knees beside her, my stomach rolling while taking in the three arrows made of glowing green metal piercing her ribs. Pulling them out could injure her further, but that poison…oh gods.
“Garrick is dead, but I don’t think I killed Nykeem.” She cringes in pain. “His eyes weren’t white when I saw him, so I think another mage controlled his wyvern.”
I don’t care. I don’t fucking care about anything. “I’m so proud of you,” I gently state, taking her into my arms. She groans weakly and settles her head in the crook of my arm. “I’m going to get you help. You just have to hang on until I get us back to camp, all right? You’re okay.”
“Cayden,” she says my name again, blinking through the mist coating her eyes. “I’m a healer. I know when a wound can’t be mended, even if they weren’t made with this poison.”
I try to lift her, but she cries out, and I sink to my knees again. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’t want to hurt you.” I turn over my shoulder again. “I WILL KILL EVERY LAST HEALER IF SOMEONE DOESN’T STEP FORWARD!”
“Cayden—”
“You’re fine,” I rush out. “You’re going to be fine. Stop talking to me like you’re going to die.”
I can’t fathom a world without her when she is my world. Her heartbeats are the only thing keeping it turning. I tighten my hands on her, watching her pulse and kissing her forehead as a healer makes it to the forest and kneels on Elowen’s other side.
“I had to save Sorin,” she whispers. “I couldn’t let him die. I couldn’t leave him. I’m”—she inhales sharply—“so sorry.”
I shake my head, speaking through my tight throat. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
I’m being as gentle with her as I possibly can, but my emotions rage within me. I feel helpless, watching a mage from the fire cult press her glowing hands into Elowen, but they fade and flicker without removing the arrows.
Please don’t take her,I pray.Please don’t take her away from me. I know she’s too good for this world but let her stay in it.
“Why isn’t your magic working?” I growl.
“Nykeem made the arrows, and I can’t heal a poison I can’t identify,” the woman whimpers with teary eyes on Elowen. “And I can’t remove the arrows without killing her.”
“Then find someone who fucking can!”
She looks at me then, her eyes filled with so much dread that I already know what’s coming before she says it. “Nobody can.”
“Portal the mage who healed me. I’ll do the same ritual.”
“Go,” Elowen whispers, tilting her head to face the mage as the other four dragons surround us, calling out to their rider.
“Don’t take a fucking step away. Heal my wife.” I press her closer to me without moving the arrows. “DO SOMETHING! Please, I’ll give anything, I will be in your debt eternally, just fix her.”
“I wish I could.” Tears stream down her face as she clasps Elowen’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“She can’t do anything.” Elowen chokes, and the mage runs away when I face Elowen again, pushing her hair behind her ear. “And the soul bond can be used only once.”
“Send Nyrinn and Zale,” I shout after the mage’s retreating form. My frustration breaks through my tone. “Why would you waste it on me?”
She gives me a half smile, more blood trailing down the corner of her lip.No. No. Fuck.It needs to stop. “Saving you could never be a waste.”
