Page 39 of Dragon's Golden Mate
Kendrick watchedthe battle unfold before him. The space in here was too tight for a big, heavy dragon to fight effectively. He couldn’t maneuver the way he wanted, and too much flame would hollow the place out. He fired a shot at Cassandra, creating a small fireball that he tried to slip past Iris’s shield. Zoe smashed it with her ley line power, turning it to nothing more than a singed mark on the floor.
How could they fight their foes without harming them?
Kendrick grunted in frustration, but then he saw something that recharged him completely.
Maeve was taking on her wolf form. She’d stayed in her human as she’d cast her magic, but now hesaw the grand, silvery beast that he’d already become so familiar with. She wasn’t giving up on this fight, and neither could he. Kendrick watched as she quickly changed her form, her long legs and sturdy paws, her thick tail, her heavy coat. Most of all, he saw that resolute look in her eyes.
They’ve got us backed against this hole in the floor,she told him.
We need to surround them,he agreed.As long as we’re face-to-face, they’re anticipating all our moves and using Iris to block them. I’ll stay here.
I’m heading to the left,Maeve informed him. She charged off between a couple of rows of pews and angled around toward the side wall of the church.
She must’ve been communicating with the rest of her coven, because they began to do the same. Tina, now also in her wolf form, followed her mother. Kristy easily leaped over the pews to the right in her panther form. It took Amanda a little longer as a lumbering bear to join her.
The band member who’d become a bear charged at Amanda as she found a place over to the right. He was bigger, his muscles broad and firm under his thick hide, and he sank his teeth into her shoulder. Amanda, infuriated, tossed him aside. Blooddripped down her forearm as she pounced on top of him, sending a blast of energy through his body that sent him spinning down the aisle of the church.
Lucille’s feet left the ground as she became her inner owl. She was swift and silent, her wings beating as she found a position and then holding steady as she fired her glittering yellow magic from above. It rained down like sparks on Iris’s shield.
Get behind them if you can,Kendrick directed his clan.We need to attack them from all sides.
Protected by Kristy, Lilith managed to scramble back out of the position she’d fallen into when she’d hit Iris’s shield. A gash split the sparkling gold scales on her flank, but her wings were intact. She flew around behind Cassandra’s group.
Colette, still on the floor from when Tina had knocked her down, turned on her hip and launched a sling of energy toward Lilith. The gold dragon deflected it with her hand, but Colette was quick. She flung it back and then forward again, smashing it into Lilith’s chest.
Hang on!Ewan rocketed overhead. Nia clipped his wing with her blistering attack, making a neat round hole in the leathery skin. It smoked, giving him the look of a fighter jet going down, but Ewandidn’t need to get far. He dove to the floor between Lilith and Colette. With one quick swing of his tail, he knocked the young witch backward once again.
Griffin and Beck, almost as big as Kendrick, spread out along the edge of the hole in the floor. The portal pulsed and thrummed behind them.
The coyote came bounding up the aisle, his teeth bared as he leaped at Beck. The dragon fired a loose ball of flame that encompassed him, filling the air with the rank stench of singed fur. The coyote stumbled back for a moment, but he was determined enough to jump back in. He leaped onto Beck’s back, his teeth digging in where Beck couldn’t angle his head around to fire at him again.
Kendrick, following Ewan’s demonstration, snapped his tail in the air and sent the coyote flying.
Annoying little bastard,Beck grumbled.
Rainbows of magic vaulted into Cassandra’s group. Maeve’s gold, Tina’s purple, Kristy’s blue, and Lucille’s yellow. Arcs of fire joined them, and every now and then, the flash of stone indicated where the gargoyles had found their mark.
Gavin, the mountain lion, had made his way to the front of the fray and came right for Kendrick. The big dragon filled his lungs, but he hesitated when he remembered that this wasn’t someone hecould just turn into barbecue. This was a real young man, one whom Nia cared about. His heated breath filled his throat and mouth, but he didn’t release it.
That slight pause was enough to give Gavin the advantage. The mountain lion easily dodged Kendrick’s first fiery assault and then slid in under the dragon’s great head. His long, thick fangs sank into the softer flesh there, going straight for the veins. Kendrick reeled backward. His back feet slipped just over the edge of the floor as he smacked the big cat aside.
The tiny, cat-like gargoyle, a miniature statue of the mountain lion, went for Gavin while he was down.
Through all of this, Kendrick could feel the grief that had overtaken Maeve’s body. Pain radiated through her as she fought those she loved. Even the bandmates, though they weren’t part of her coven, were young and innocent people who’d been caught in Cassandra’s trap. It wasn’t the physical blows that were wearing Maeve down. It was the terrible notion of doing something she’d regret for the rest of her life.
They’re not shifting,Maeve’s voice echoed in his head as she and Tina fought off Zoe’s attacks and tried to get closer to Iris.
What do you mean?Kendrick lurched forward and grabbed for Iris’s feet, hoping to distract her long enough to bring the shield down.
Iris brought her hands down, ruining Kendrick’s attack.
They’re witches, but they’re also shifters. They could be using both powers at the same time, like the rest of us are, but they’re not in charge of themselves. Cassandra is a banshee, so she must not know how it all works.
We’ve got to get to Cassandra. She’s the heart of all this. If we can break her control over them, then the fight will be over.Kendrick made another attempt at Iris when she turned to shield Cassandra from Amanda’s waves of energy. He felt useless in this small space, like an observer as the rest of his clan fought on his behalf. There had to be something more effective that he could do.
Lucille swept in over the top of the group again. This time, instead of an energy sphere, she dropped a blob of nebulous goo. It landed on Cassandra’s head and dripped down, covering her mouth and nose.
That’ll finally shut her up!Maeve enthused.
