Page 71 of Black Onyx
My magic suddenly rears up, just in time to block a blow coming at me. I was so distracted by the brothers that I’d let myself forget where we were, and I would be dead if it weren’t for my magic. There’s no time to think about how my magic has never done that before and pretty much acted by itself; I’ll worry about it later.
A fresh wave of attackers come storming out of the woods as I fight one after another, bodies littering the floor in my wake as I slice my way through. I am dodging magical attacks at the same time as fighting off physical ones and throwing my own attacks at people as well. There’s the smell of burnt flesh, cries of pain, shouts of encouragement, and it never seems to be ending. I start to lose my confidence that I’m going to survive this fight. I have no idea how long we’ve been fighting with no reprieve. They just keep fucking coming. I do know that I’m starting to tire, and my magic is starting to become harder to pull to the surface and harder to control.
Fighting tired leads to mistakes, but not fighting will obviously mean I die for sure.
I put all my strength and energy into focusing on the fuckers still coming for me. Someone swings a sword at my head as someone else shoots a spell at me, and I’m so focused on simultaneously unravelling the magic and deflecting the blade that I completely miss the one aiming for my back.
I scream in pain as it pierces my skin, and a wave of unbelievable anger consumes me. My magic lashes out, killing those nearest me in a way that I’m not even sure how. They just disintegrate into what looks like black glitter, which I am familiar with but definitely not in these circumstances.
A deafening roar shakes the clearing and everything freezes. Reaper’s glowing eyes are locked on the wound that went all the way through my back and out my stomach. I sway on my feet, falling to my knees despite my best effort to stay standing.
“Get her!” someone bellows.
The roar intensifies, some of the trees around the edge falling from the sheer force of it. I look up from the ground to see the assassins start to back up, none of their attention on me, but all directed to a deadly looking Reaper, his outline starts to waver, and I watch as, in one move that seems choreographed, all of my men rush to me.
“I’m sorry, Love, I’m going to have to move you. He’s too far gone, and we can’t have you in the path of it.” Loki mutters quickly, scooping me up and wincing at my yell of pain.
Reaper roars again. This time it’s somehow deeper, more deadly and sends a shiver down my spine. I’m barely aware when I’m placed at the edge of the clearing, far enough away from Reaper but still with a visual.
I’m clearly not the only one watching in shock as his form starts to shake rapidly. There are around thirty of the third wave of fuckers just stood staring.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Right, let’s get you healed,” Loki states, looking down at the wound as the others surround the two of us protectively. “If he smells your blood, fresh like it is now and linked with the pain you’re in when he shifts fully, I have a feeling that all hell is going to break loose.”
I just watch Reaper, completely fascinated and not wanting to take my eyes off him when Loki’s words filter through though I get the instinctual feeling that he’s right and Reaper would lose his shit even more.
“Okay,” I reply simply.
“Good, guys. I’m going to need two of you to help her stand so I can get to both sides at the same time and heal her quicker. Is that okay, Farren?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Is Reaper going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. It’s everyone else I’m worried about.” Mayhem replies ominously.
Storm and Rival help me stand up, and I’m only vaguely aware of Loki healing me. The only thing I notice is the pain level dimming. Suddenly, Reaper bursts out of his skin with a growl that can surely be heard for miles and standing in the place where Reaper once was is an absolutely ginormous fucking dragon. He towers above the trees, taking up most of the clearing. The talons on his four giant feet have to be the same length as me and at least as wide as I am. The purple, red, orange and black scales glitter in the light and cover his entire body, all except the enormous leathery wings extending from his back.
Without any hesitation, he lets loose a stream of fire, and I can feel the heat from all the way over here. The purple flames hit the nearest assassins and burn them to ash, the act knocking some sense into the others as they start to scatter. The next stream of fire, he lets loose his red, and this one seems to wrap around the victim and hold them in a slow, burning and torturous death.
“We better go further back; he’s focused on them at the moment, but he won’t recognise us in this form, and we don’t want to get in his way.” Storm orders grimly, and I find myself gently moved further into the forest and I stay peeking my head around the nearest tree so I can still see.
His dragon is clearly bored of playing with fire and is now swallowing the retreating assassins whole or stomping on them.
“How?” I ask, “the dragons stay in their realm, they don’t mix with the rest of us, and all the information we have on them suggests that they only come in certain solid colours. I have never seen the colours of Reaper's dragon depicted anywhere.”
Storm sighs, “I suppose I can share this much with you. He’s a hybrid. I’m not sure between which species because he’s never shared that, but I have a good reason to believe that he’s a mix of the stronger and more dangerous dragons. Hybrids are extremely rare and are not only frowned upon but persecuted and treated worse than slaves. Somehow, he escaped, and Killian and I found him.”
“Fucking hell,” I mutter.
“Last time he transformed, we barely got him back, he rampaged for days, and many people died.” Rival sombrely adds.
“And his dragon is angrier this time, he’s protective over Farren, and he’s seen her hurt and collapse,” Loki adds.
My gaze moves from the rampaging dragon for the first time, “So you’re saying we could not get him back?”
They share a look, and then Killian nods once sadness seeps from his end of the bond.
My attention goes back to Reaper like a magnet, something I can’t control, “There’s got to be something that we can do.”
