Page 28 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Claws slash and teeth snap as they all descend on us.
Draven, who is still trying not to kill anyone, dodges and then tries to force them back with storm winds and bolts of lightning.
A blood-curdling scream splits the air.
Cold terror fills me when I realize that it came from Draven.
Whipping my head from side to side, I find a sight that fills me with both rage and horror. One of the orange dragons has clamped its jaws shut right through Draven’s side while another has slashed its claws through his left wing. Draven throws his head back and roars in pain.
Everything inside me goes dead silent and still. Like the moment before an executioner’s axe falls.
I don’t care that Draven ordered us not to kill anyone. I don’t care that it might screw up our chances of forming an alliance with the Orange Dragon Clan. They hurt Draven. They will die.
Summoning a massive flame of fear, I slam it right into the orange dragon who is tearing at Draven’s side with its teeth. Pleasure floods my entire body as it connects. I increase the flame into a wildfire.
The dragon releases Draven’s side and screeches in fear.
But there is not a single ounce of mercy left in my body.
With cold eyes locked on the orange dragon, I keep increasing the fear in its chest until I can taste blood in my mouth. It thrashes in the air, its mind fracturing from the world-ending fear that I’m forcing into its body. I keep increasing my magic.
The dragon jerks once. Then its movements halt and its eyes grow vacant as its heart stops. I watch, completely detached, as it falls down through the thrashing rain, its orange wings fluttering like useless sheets in the wind as it tumbles down to the ground somewhere far below.
Fire roars through the air as Draven breathes torrents of it in front of himself to keep the others back. But another dragon manages to slip through his flames and Isera’s ice to slash its claws across Draven’s chest. A moment later, another one claws at Draven’s other wing.
Another bellow of pain rips from Draven’s chest.
And then the storm completelyerupts.
Winds and rain and lightning thrash around us like a vicious beast. It’s so violent, so intense, that all I can do is to squeeze my eyes shut in order to not get blinded while clinging desperately to the spike before me.
My stomach lurches as Draven suddenly shoots forward.
That furious thunderstorm still rages around us. White light flashes on the other side of my eyelids, and thunder cracks through the air so loudly that I think my eardrums are going to burst. Merciless winds howl around us like wolves. The sheer force of it all is so overpowering that I can barely breathe.
But Draven’s desperate push of magic appears to work, because he at last manages to get away from the horde of dragons that surrounded us, the thrashing storm forcing them out of the sky.
Blood drips from Draven’s torn wings and runs down his side in thick rivulets as he speeds across the stormy sky. We’ve barelymade it past the forest we trekked through earlier when Draven starts losing altitude.
His wings grow slower and more unsteady with each beat, and he wobbles several times in the air as he tries to put as much distance between us and the floating islands as possible.
A small mountain range becomes visible before us. Draven’s entire body is shaking now. A growl rips from his chest as he tries to fly us higher so that we can pass it. We climb what can only be a few short strides upwards.
Then Draven’s body gives out.
Winds howl around us as we crash down on the ground.
CHAPTER TEN
Igasp as the impact sends a jolt through my body that rattles my very bones. Black smoke explodes around us, obscuring my vision. Shoving myself into a sitting position, I try to blink my eyes back into focus. But all I can see is the black smoke that now covers the wet grass around us. We were close to the mountain when we crashed, not over it, so at least we didn’t hit any of the rocks.
Cold dread washes through me. Wedidn’thit any of the rocks, did we?
“Draven!” I scream over the rushing winds and the crashing rain. “Draven!”
No reply.
Fear spreads through my body like poison.
