Page 33 of Creatures of War
“Rayna, sit back down.”
“I can’t,” I said, watching as all the guards surrounded my dragons.
Thick, heavy-looking rope was tossed around their bodies, forcing them to the ground. The dragon guards held onto the ends tightly, making it hard for my dragons to move.
Philit roared, and all that rage slammed into me.
The guards were hurting them.
I ran forward, but Tanja grabbed me.
“Rayna, no. You know what will happen if you go to them.”
“I can’t just sit here and let them be treated like that.”
“You have to.”
“Enough!” Captain Corniz boomed, his power rolling through the field.
A feeling of submission slammed into me, and even Tanja took in a deep breath, clearly feeling the power her mate held. The riders around me, even the dragons, all began lowering themselves. My knees were ready to buckle underneath me. Pain traveled through my bones. It’d be so easy to submit, to go to the ground, and let his power roll through me rather than against me.
But my dragons strained against his power, their pain mine in that moment. It truly felt like nothing was separating us any longer.
The captain’s command was enough to loosen Tanja’s grip. I yanked out of her grasp, ignoring her yells as I forced my legs forward to get closer to my dragons. To help them. The other dragons continued to force them to the ground, to try to get more riders on their backs.
No more. We all had had enough.
We couldn’t handle this anymore.
Everything in me boiled. If I opened my mouth, it felt like fire was going to spew out of it. Before I could really think it through, I was throwing my weight against the captain. He barely took a step back while my shoulder ached from slamming into him.
“Rayna?” He growled, looking down at me with nearly black eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”
I almost wanted to whimper and would have if the fury that was bubbling inside my blood hadn’t been there. “No. This is enough. Stop it. It’s clear that they aren’t going to bond to anyone because they already have a mate. You’re only hurting them and me. So stop it.”
“Enough. Remove her from the premises.”
Guards moved toward me, and that only got Philit, Landers, and Zilon going once again. Yells broke out as Landers thrashed, practically throwing the guards around. If the guards hadn’t been dragons, they would have been in danger.
The guards still came at me and reached out. There was a roar so loud and so long that the ground shook and people screamed, putting distance between them and the pissed off dragons.
“Rayna! Stop this before you work them up more and truly hurt yourselves,” the captain yelled.
“No! You stop this. Stop trying to fit us into your stupid molds.” I tried to shove at him, but he was a mountain. I still didn’t care and tried again, my eyes blurring with the intense emotions. “Why are you forcing this on us? How many times do we have to tell you that we are already mated, that I’m theirs?”
My blood felt like it was pulsing in my veins as it moved through me. My whole body felt hot and tingly. I was bursting with something, but I didn’t know what. All I knew was that I needed them to stop.
“Enough!” Captain Corniz said.
Guards grabbed me and yanked me back, their touch hurting as they yanked me away by my arms. I tried to kick out at Corniz. I needed to make someone hurt, but I knew it was fruitless. I was getting further and further away from him and my dragons.
They continued to fight back and roar as more ropes were tossed around their bodies and then secured into the ground. There were so many ropes that it became impossible for them to move.
The captain pointed around, giving out orders, and as I was dragged back into the academy. All I could do was watch as my dragons were forced to the ground and into submission.
Chapter Nineteen
The guards effortlessly dragged me through the academy but not toward my dorm room like I’d assumed they would. Instead, we bypassed it all and took the passage leading toward the king’s castle. They weren’t letting me walk, my feet failed to touch the ground as they carried me.