Be careful.
I spread my hind talons wide and circled to the jutting cliff balcony outside the dining room, ripping off a huge chunk of graphite. And then I dove on a steep incline and headed for the thick army of human soldiers.
If they’d hidden in their huts, I would’ve guessed they were unwilling accomplices to the emperor, vulnerable, hence controlled and afraid. But to rally against me and my mate with weapons? These men were a danger, an enemy I wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Coming in from the side, I launched my oversized boulder at the army below, roaring as it catapulted through their midst. Men screamed as the massive stone broke apart, the pieces crushing many in its path. Returning to the cliff, I dug my talons in again, repeating my tactic with the relatively soft stone.
I blinked through an image from Tyrrik, and he systematically worked along the base of the cliff. The fire would rise, but as he climbed from the base of the mountain, a massive detonation shook the entire range.
I dropped the chunk of graphite in surprise, and my mouth gaped open as Draedyn’s castle, and the whole cliff he’d built his home in, imploded. As the black stone mountain collapsed in on itself at the base, the top third of the peak broke away and fell forward, spilling death for hundreds of feet into Draedyn’s lands.
The humans with their Phaetyn-dipped blades were buried, along with their uniform houses.
Tyrrik flew through the gray dust billowing out from the implosion and subsequent collapse, his Drae eyes reflecting none of the shock raging through his body.
Uh, nice work. I take it you didn’t know you were going to do that?
No idea. He shook his head. I can’t hear anything except when you speak in my head. That explosion is making my ears ring.
Do you want me to heal you?
No time. We have Druman to kill.
He sent me a flash of giving chase, and hot-potato-pie, was I ready. This was just a warm up although even better than I could’ve imagined. We roared together, and I pushed up through the air to race by his side as we hurtled after my father’s Drae army. They were nearly upon the rebellion but remained together as a group, their pace slow compared to our desperate flight. When I’d sent the surge of fury at Draedyn after Tyrrik bit me, my father had still been inside the palace. I’d felt his core. And now, they could only be ten minutes or so in front of us.
No, less. We were gaining fast.
Pumping my wings, I flattened my scaled body to cut through the air as I scanned our army ahead. Lani’s barrier was up, reminding me to put up my own. I allowed the Phaetyn power to flood my mind first, inside my Drae power, and then I worked on wrapping my blue Drae powers around my head before finally erecting another level of my Phaetyn powers to cover our physical bodies. Three walls of my power now protected my mind. But it wasn’t until Tyrrik added the fourth layer of his onyx power over my blue tendrils that I felt invincible.
Now I was ready to take my father down.
Ryn, Tyrrik said. Is there any way to break Draedyn’s hold on the female Drae?
What? I have no—idea. But then I realized . . . I did. Draedyn’s powers coated their minds in the exact way he’d coated mine. The females wanted to be free of Draedyn, and if I could separate them from his power, they could either fight with us against him or at least get out of the fight.
We’ve got to try. You saw how quickly we dealt death to the men he left behind. Those outside of the Phaetyn barrier don’t stand a chance against twelve Drae.
I focused my Phaetyn eyes ahead, my pace slowing as I attempted something I’d never tried. I’d only discovered I could even see Draedyn’s hold over the other Drae in the bath with my aunt the day before.
Focus, my love. If this can be done, you will do it.
Tyrrik’s belief bolstered my courage, and I stared ahead to the blaze of Draedyn’s emerald-green powers, vibrant in the early morning Draeconian sky, surrounding the others’ Drae energy. Doing my best to blink through the intense glow, I traced his power to the female closest to me and farthest from him. His power covered her mind like a blanket of rocks, just as he had with me.
Do I break it with my Phaetyn or Drae powers? I asked Tyrrik.
Can you attack with both?
His answer was so simple, and yet for a moment, I could only gape at the epiphany. Why not layer both for an assault? I’d been layering them for my defense. Why try to keep the two powers apart? That wasn’t in my nature. I was both races.
I narrowed my already slitted eyes further as I concentrated. I threaded a tendril of my Drae power outside of the veil, siphoning a wisp of the Phaetyn veil to wrap around the tendril. If Draedyn saw what I was doing, he’d fight me. Better to blast away his control of as many of the females as I could before we had to face him.
Ready? I asked. I’m going to slap them with a pancake of power. It will work. I hoped.
As long as you don’t ask me to call you a potato, I’m with you, love.
I snickered or made a noise that vaguely sounded like it. Al’right. I’m going to hit as many as I can, I said. You need to tell me I should stop if anything bad happens to them.
My wings continued to beat, but the heavy rhythm slowed as I focused on my Phaetyn-Drae beam of power and set my intention. I didn’t just want the beam to break Draedyn’s hold; I was going to shatter his control over my kin.
I set my gaze on the same female on the outskirts as before, her pale-yellow energy almost completely swallowed in the emerald green. With my next exhalation, I shot my powers out like a spear. They blurred forward too fast for me to see, hitting the ring of emerald power encircling the Drae’s head. I didn’t stop to watch what happened; as soon as I felt Draedyn’s control splinter, I moved to the next Drae, blasting my power out to her. To the next, blast. The next, shatter. The next, fracture. And then once more, only this time as I severed Draedyn’s powers, they fought back, blasting through the sky like the sun exploding, flinging both me and Tyrrik back in the air.
I clung to my defenses as I righted myself, glancing at Tyrrik to make sure he was okay before we continued our desperate flight without delay.
Where are they? I asked, searching for the six Drae I’d blasted free. Below us, much of our army lay slaughtered, those first to absorb Draedyn’s display of Druman strength.
Falling to the ground, Tyrrik said. They’re out cold.
I immediately altered my trajectory.
No, Ryn. Let them fall. They will not die, but Dyter and Lani’s army will. Can you do the same again?
He’ll be expecting it.
Then don’t hold back. Tyrrik’s anger with Draedyn leaked through our bond. Not just a pancake, hit them with a stack.
I hesitated because we were closing the distance, and as I paused, Draedyn and his harem reached the army of my friends. I roared as the females dived upon the exposed portion of our soldiers.
Still minutes away, I watched in horror as Draedyn’s chest expanded, just as Tyrrik’s had at the palace. Screams filled the air, lending an erratic beat to my flight.
Blinding white-green fire exploded from the emperor’s mouth.
Tyrrik! I screamed, my eyes widening in horror.
Draedyn wasn’t aiming at the exposed portion of the army. He was aiming at Lani’s shield. He shouldn’t have even been able to see it!
On his back, Tyrrik said. Kamini’s on his back.
I scoured my father’s form and saw Kamini there, a Druman holding a knife to her neck. Two Phaetyn children were also there, probably dragged up from the dungeons. Two more Druman held knives to their throats.
She’s showing him where the army is.