Page 16 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
5
MAYA
My phoenix had takenover completely.
I was channeling a part of my magic that had never been used before as I soared to the portal, seeing the magnitude of the battle taking place on the other side. I had no idea how I was doing it, but the obvious danger my mates and everyone else at the compound were in was what pushed me forward through the cosmic landscape of red, gold, and pink as Anani and Azrael followed me.
I knew the way to fix this—I knew the way to truly eliminate Ry.I just had to do it.
As we grew closer, the stronger my power became, to the point that all I could see was the circle of flames surrounding me and the portal beckoning me into the land of the living—urging me to break through it, to shatter into the dimension I’d come from. Being conscious while dying and coming back to life was no doubt going to be one of those things I needed to talk about later—there was no way this wouldn’t stay with me—but all I could focus on right now was getting to my mates.
I burst through the portal with Anani and Az by my side, the three of us surrounded by a burning inferno as I was rocketed back into life.
The sound of battle permeated everything.
Not only that, but suddenly my whole body jolted, every nerve ending lighting up with an electric, burning energy. The wind whipped as my wings beat the air violently, and I could feel myself pulling on the magic around me. Royal blue scales covered my arms, and my hands were surrounded by a purple and blue aura of flames that was absolutely lethal. A sound of victory left my throat at having broken free from my imprisonment.
Had I really just made that noise?I hadn’t known that was even possible.
Then again, I had literally just been reborn while conscious…so who was I to say what was or wasn’t possible at this point? The sensation was nothing like I had ever felt before, and it was such an intense burst of magic that it drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity as shock seemed to freeze the skies themselves, just for a momentary second…one that allowed me to experience everything at once.
My bonds burst open with an assault of emotions that nearly blinded me.
Marco’s power slammed into me as his dragon surrounded me in magic, completely cocooning me, my eyes tracking his lethal black-scaled form in the sky as he raced towards me. There was obviously a threat he should’ve been addressing, but I knew he wasn’t able to focus on that—his shock and momentary lapse in focus was all because of me. It both worried and consumed me.
Relief of the purest kind pushed out of the bond, and I nearly let out a sob of relief, wanting to go to him, wanting to reunite with all of my men.
A massive roar vibrated the air, and I snapped my head over towards Ry, his serpent-like dragon form an onyx stain in the sky as he recoiled, having been hit by Henry. Henry bellowed in victory as his pure white dragon circled towards me, a sensation of possessiveness and fury coating his emotions.
“Henry!” I cried out, my voice catching as Ry tried to strike back, but Ledger darted in front of him, slashing a massive claw right into his scaly skin. I tried to go forward, but Az caught me around the waist as Ledger escaped Ry’s counterattack, some of the other dragons—ones that had clearly been released from Ry’s imprisonment—distracting the dragon god enough for my mate to zoom past Marco to reach us.
Anani let out a roar in greeting, Ledger butting his head against Anani’s before brushing his nose against me, his dark eyes running over me. My fire ran over his skin in return, though it didn’t hurt him, much to my relief.
“We need to end this,” I said, moving out of Az’s grip and flying forward. I kept my gaze on Ry as Marco circled over me and dipped so we were flying next to one another. I didn’t even have a chance to enjoy the sensation of flying next to my mates in this form, everything inside of me focused on tackling the problem at hand.
I dove suddenly, realizing that Sai and Atlas were guarding the hole in the compound that Ry had first broken through. They were protecting the children from the air, as Croy, who was shifted, stood in front of them like a sentinel.
The little ones had to get out of here.
Atlas’s bellow of relief paired with Sai’s shock had me feeling proud that I’d survived, that I was still here for my mates. I would never leave them; they had to know that. They had to know that we would never be apart again.
“Az?” I turned around to find that the man had followed behind me, his expression determined as he assessed the situation.
“There’s no way to get them out of here—they would have to fly, and it’s too dangerous. We have to handle Ry first.”
My head snapped back to the dragon god in question, the danger and risk to everyone who I loved—the creature I was supposed to eliminate.
I was finding that I somehow didn’t have nearly as much of an issue with that as I’d imagined.
Ry in his dragon form was gigantic, and his fire, which lashed out at that exact moment, moved like a whip, scaring off the other dragons. I snarled as the flame hit one of the dragons, the edge of their wing searing. I watched in wonder as other dragons moved in closer to protect them, having no idea how they had the energy to fight after being held captive for so long… But then I remembered my own experience.
Freedom was the purest motivator on the planet.
The crack of sudden gunfire had me snapping my head down, the compound’s guards obviously fighting against forces of a group I couldn’t see. We didn’t have a lot of time, and I wouldn’t stand for that type of threat of violence so nearby, looming over the younglings. Just in that minute, though, a massive roar echoed through the air, and I turned to find Ry’s black eyes narrowed on me, clearly having reached a point of impatience with this fighting.
“Keep him distracted,” I said to Marco. His head was level with mine, watching me intently and radiating the message through our group bond.
“Az, do you have any idea where Ry would have hidden the heart? Can you show me where I need to go?” Through the bond to my mates, I indicated there was something I needed to do before we could truly end him, hoping they would understand the message.
