Page 91 of Blood of Dragons

I lay there, sobbing into the dirt, praying for Riviana to take my soul.

“As you wish.” He started to remove the armor at his waist, grinning all the while.

And I lay there and cried, cried like the weak and pathetic thing that I was. Then I heard it…

“Rooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!” It was so loud, it shattered the sky, brought the battle to a sudden standstill. Quieted the sound of the injured and dying as they all looked up to the sky…and sawthe glow of the fire on the black scales of the mighty dragon that soared above us all.

We are here, Pretty.

My tears died in my throat instantly as I looked up to see the scales pass overhead.

General Titan stopped adjusting his armor and reached for his blade instead, unhooking it from his back, and planted his feet shoulder width apart. Now, that horrifying grin was wiped from his face.

Thud. The ground shook when the dragon landed upon the earth. It was hazy from the smoke that blew from the forest in the wind, his scales hard to distinguish in the chaos that surrounded us.

But then I saw him…

Talon.

He appeared through the haze of smoke, his cape flapping behind him in the breeze, his sword already unsheathed and tight in his palm. I’d provoked his anger before and had seen the consequences of those actions, but I’d never seen him look like this…like he was about to burn the world. His dark eyes shook with unspent rage. His muscular body shifted with power as he walked toward us. His handsome face was no longer attractive, not when his jaw was clenched like that, when his cheeks were hollow from the grinding of his teeth, when he was so utterly pissed off that he was about to combust.

I started to crawl away, to crawl toward Talon and be free of this fiend once for all.

But General Titan planted his foot on my back and forced me down before he aimed his blade toward the back of my neck.

I stopped when I felt the cold steel against me.

“Take another step, and she dies.”

Talon met his look with bottomless black eyes then slightly raised his left hand.

I lay still and breathed hard, still feeling the prick of the blade against me.

Hold on. It was Talon’s voice, deep and pissed off as fuck.

I closed my eyes and kept my forehead to the earth.

General Titan gave a cry, and the tip of the blade was removed.

“Run to Khazmuda.” Talon moved forward as he flicked his sword around his wrist, the blade reflecting the brightness of the flames in the distance.

I ran as hard as my heart would allow me then tripped to the earth. When I looked behind me, I saw exactly what I expected to see.

The army of the dead.

They surrounded Talon and General Titan, forming a ring that prevented the general from escaping. The dead were limbless and eyeless, some wore armor like that of the elves, dark green. Some of them were newly dead…and looked like they were still alive. They’d just fallen in battle and were already called to serve again.

I stayed where I was and watched the fight unfold in the breaks between the dead soldiers.

Talon gripped his sword and faced General Titan, his powerful cape flowing behind him in the breeze.

General Titan was no longer his arrogant self.

Talon slowly circled him, the way a wolf stalked his prey. The rage in his eyes showed his desperation for retribution—for revenge. He moved at a saunter, taking his time, making General Titan suffer through the wait.

Thud. Thud. Thud.Khazmuda came over to me and dipped his snout to my head like I was his hatchling.

My eyes were on Talon, who struck without warning, swinging his blade in a flurry of blows that I couldn’t even keep track of. Whatever he’d shown me in training was child’s play. What he’d shown me in the mountains when I’d tried to escape was even less. This was his true potential…and it was insurmountable.