Page 92 of Blood of Dragons
General Titan struggled to keep up, immediately forced backward toward the wall of the dead. He had no offensive moves himself, because all he could do was block Talon’s attacks and nothing more. Now, he was the one to cower back, to have his face contort in exhaustion and fear.
I watched all the while, not wanting to miss a moment, not wanting to miss an instant of his suffering. I had no doubt that Talon would win, that he could win this battle with his left hand.
Their swords continued to dance together as the dead watched on as spectators. Talon executed his next move with such strength that he swiped General Titan’s blade clean in half, slicing it through the base and leaving nothing but the hilt behind.
The blade dropped to the dirt.
General Titan scooted back, reaching for the only thing he had left, his dagger.
Talon watched him, his arms resting at his sides, his eyes still maniacal. Then he sheathed his blade and pulled his own dagger, gripping it with the tip pointing down.
The men came closer together, trying to find a weakness in each other’s armor. I was worried how this would go now that it was so intimate. Talon had already defeated him with his sword, and I wished it would just end. But before I even had a second to panic, it was over.
Talon yanked the general’s head back by the hair—and then stabbed his dagger straight into his mouth.
General Titan fell to his knees, gripping the hilt with both hands but too afraid to pull it out, struggling to breathe as the blood pooled into his mouth and dripped to the earth.
Talon didn’t wait around to watch him die. He immediately headed back toward me, the dead tightening their circle around the general once Talon was gone, pulling in close around him as he stayed on his knees.
He started to cower, to crawl away in the other direction, only to stop when he realized the assault was on all sides. Tighter they closed in until they came into contact, stabbing him over and over with the blades and daggers, making him collapse underneath the undead soldiers.
Then I saw only him—Talon.
He walked to me, his eyes still so angry they looked like the gates to the underworld. The fire and battle continued on behind him, but his only concern was me.
I was on my knees, shriveled up with my arms across my chest, trying to protect my dignity and fight the cold.
He reached behind him and tugged his cape free, pulling it from his armor until it was a blanket in his arms. Then he kneeled before me and wrapped the fabric around me until he secured it at my neck in the front, covering me all the way down to my feet.
I looked him in the eye…and started to sob. I didn’t know why the tears broke free like that, if it was relief that General Titan was dead, if it was because my dignity had finally been restored, if I was just happy to see his face again…
The rage left his eyes as his fingers dug into my hair. “It’s okay, baby.” He placed a kiss to my forehead as his powerful arms circled me and brought me close, right into his chest, into the safest place I could ever be. “I’m here.”
I continued to cry, to release everything I’d been holding for so long, to finally feel free for the first time. I gripped him so hard because I never wanted to let go, never wanted to be apart from the only man who had ever protected me.
He kissed my forehead again then sealed his mouth over mine, giving me a soft kiss that quieted my cries. He squeezed me to him, like he’d missed me as much as I missed him, like he had been broken until our souls were reunited.
He was the one to move away first, to dig his hand into my hair and cradle my face. His dark eyes looked empty, not in defeat, but in peace. “Stay here with Khazmuda. I have to finish this.”
I wanted to ask him to stay, to never leave my side again, and my fingers gripped him so hard my knuckles hurt, but I forced them to relax…and released him.
His eyes softened as he watched me struggle to part with him. Then he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead, a kiss that lingered for seconds, that burned as hot as our lips. “Once I save your forest, I’ll come back to you.”
10
CALISTA
Talon’s cape was a foot too long, so it completely covered my feet and the surrounding earth. I stood there, my arms hidden underneath the fabric, and watched the battle through the hazy smoke. It was hard to gauge the details, but they were in the distance and obscured by the dark clouds of smoke that flowed down from the tops of the trees and hit the earth. The canopy of the forest was still on fire, and it was slowly spreading. “How are we going to stop the fire?” Unless it rained, it would never stop.
In the line of trees, I saw more of the dead emerge from their crypts in the forest, walking out of the tree line to fight the enormous orcs because the Death King had commanded them to do so.
Then I heard a scream, a scream that came from everywhere all at once, that didn’t come from a living person, but the world around us. It was torturous, like a blade was slowly sinking into flesh until it finally hit bone.
A powerful wind came from the forest, a breeze so potent it knocked every soldier on the battlefield to their knees. The treesswayed with the speed, their trunks bowing forward—and then the fire was snuffed out.
It went dark, and the smoke drifted away.
I had a better view of the battle now that the smoke was gone. The Behemoths were running away from battle, running out of the forest, heading right toward Khazmuda and me, desperate to flee whatever terror was enough to scare them.