Page 160 of The Dragon's Gambit
Xander and I will have to take care of the rest, then,Chelsie said, eyeing up the rest of the army.
Xander, I have Abaas. Brody is taking on the hellhound. That leaves the rest for you and Chelsie.
Yeah, sure. Piece of cake.Xander chuckled in her head.
Brody and Chelsie both shifted instantaneously. Their large animals were ready, and their gazes were pinned on the enemy. Xander also shifted, his large dragon immediately taking command of the area.
The demon wolves began to whimper and slink back, retreating from Xander’s burning aura, which was too intense for them. Abaas was impermeable to fire and was not bothered by Xander’s heat. Instead, he growled bitterly at the pathetic wolves. They would be no help to him. Yet, he didn’t seem too upset either, as if he still had another trump card up his sleeve.
Lastly, it was Reiya’s turn. She shifted into her large white wolf. She fixed her gaze on Abaas, who looked surprised but not intimidated.
The princess finally got her wolf, I see. Very fitting. You are the light to my darkness. We were indeed meant to be paired up together.
I already have a mate!
A dark chuckle rose in her head.Well, he didn’t do his job of planting his seed in you. I’ll have that honor.
Lumi bared her teeth and growled lowly. How dare anyone talk about mating with her? This demon had another thing coming. She wasn’t just an ordinary wolf. She would claim his life and get her mate back.
Mine. You have always been mine. I was always meant to have a fairy princess as my mate. I won’t be robbed of one again. She ran from me.His eyes glowered at her as his teethbared into almost a grin.But you won’t run, and this will be the beginning of the destiny I was always meant to have.
A loud snarl ripped through the air, and the demon hound lunged at Brody. The large bear and hound clashed with a thunderous sound. Their bodies barreled behind the group, toward the water’s edge. There was no time to worry about Brody, though. The other creatures began to attack as the witch doctors held Chelsie in place. They looked to be trying to do the same thing with Xander, but their magic wasn’t working on him. He spewed fire toward the onis and roared loudly at them, threatening them to proceed.
Lumi and Abaas met in the middle. Their teeth gnashed together, their loud snarls filling the air. The demon was more experienced in fighting than she was, and he managed to sink his teeth into her side. Her soft white fur was suddenly soaked in red, oozing liquid. Pain shot through her as his venom entered her system. It was like molten lava had been injected into her veins. Millions of scorching needles pricked her skin and began torturing her body.
She couldn’t focus on the pain now. Instead, she used it as a catalyst to attack her target. She needed to take him down fast. She wasn’t immune to wolfsbane like her father was, though. Every moment she fought against Abaas, she would continue to weaken from the venom in her system. Lumi tore back into him, successfully landing several wounds on the half demon. His dark fur was also now shining from the dampness of his blood.
Abaas leaped backward, and a blood-curdling howl ripped from his throat. He was calling for others to join in the battle. Soon, a new group of demon allies began to trickle in. Abaas was clever. He had gathered demons that were immune to fire, knowing that Reiya had dragon allies. A few more onis, along with several imps and ogres, rushed into the battle. But that wasn’t what made the pit in Reiya’s stomach drop. It was thesight of four more hellhounds creeping up in the distance. They weren’t upon them yet but would be soon.
Don’t worry, my princessssss. I would never kill you. I just need to weaken you. Don’t fight the inevitable. This is our destiny. Always supposed to be mine.
We were never supposed to be yours, and you are unworthy of being my mate!
That made him snarl loudly, his eyes wild. His eye color seemed to flicker darker, as if something evil was taking over him.
She heard a high-pitched whinny behind her. She turned to see Chelsie trying to fight off an oni while fighting the witch doctors’ magic that was pinning her down. The witch doctors had realized that they weren’t able to use their magic against Xander. Chelsie was still able to move under just one witch doctor, since she was a guardian, so they focused their magic completely on her, trapping her in place.
Xander, we have to get rid of the witch doctors!Reiya shouted into his head as Chelsie thrashed again.
Suddenly, Brody barged into the oni to protect Chelsie, which gave the hellhound the opening he needed. He jumped onto Brody’s back, sinking his fangs deep into him. Large, gaping wounds could be seen on his back. Blood splattered around him and began to pool onto the ground, a constant stream trickling from the gashes and dripping onto his fur.
Reiya saw the whites of Brody’s eyes as they rolled back into his head and heard the frantic screams from Chelsie’s horse as she struggled to fight against the magic. Abaas lunged toward Lumi, making it impossible for her to get to Brody’s side. She felt her body weakening from the poison. Her blood boiled as it coursed through her, carrying the poison through her body. Her vision blurred momentarily, darkening around the edges.No!She had to fight through the venom. She lunged back into Abaas with ferocity. She had to get to Brody. Brody needed her.
Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Abaas' voice chanted in her mind, as if he was lost to complete madness. He was fighting wildly now and seemed more disorganized.
Reiya had to use this moment to defeat him. As the two wolves tangled together, she heard a new sound from the riverbank. A handful of kelpies leaped into action, two of them taking protective stances next to Chelsie and another two headed toward the witch doctors. She recognized Chelsie’s parents standing at her sides. Dark shadows swooped over them from above as five large dragons descended on the fight. Three of them directly intercepted the other hellhounds.
Reiya heard another loud roar from Brody as the hellhound lashed into him again. They were now right on the river’s edge. Brody’s body slumped onto the ground as the red liquid oozed out of him. He was badly wounded from the first time he ignored the hellhound to protect Chelsie, and in his weakened state, he couldn’t fight off the onslaught of attacks against him. Brody could easily have beaten the hellhound one-on-one, but his focus had been pulled away from the fight in front of him.
Brody looked up beneath hooded eyes. The light was beginning to fade. Other dragons had arrived, and so had some kelpies. As long as Reiya and Chelsie made it, he had no regrets. Reiya would still have a guardian to protect her. She had Chelsie. He couldn’t feel the pain anymore, only exhaustion. His eyes slowly began to droop, but he kept his gaze on his two important girls.I’m sorry,he thought, as his eyes closed.
They heard a loud splash, and two large creatures leaped onto the shore. They were blue with green feet and appeared to be part dragon and part shark. One of them latched onto thehellhound and the other latched onto Brody, pulling them both back and into the river, disappearing.
NOOOOOO!Reiya screamed in her head. Her attention left Abaas, and he took this moment to bite her back leg, injecting more venom into her.
Lumi’s fiery gaze spun to Abaas. She surged into him, tapping into a strength she didn’t know she had. A strong light emanated from her body as she ripped into the demon wolf. She used this burst of strength as she latched onto his back leg. SNAP! The sickening sound of a bone breaking was heard as she crunched through his leg. She immediately jumped back out of range, trying to gather her strength. The venom was overtaking her body, and she was exhausting herself just trying to battle the wolfsbane.
