My dragon roared, spreading his wings and pulling me toward him just as Ryllae’s magic shattered into a thousand deadly shards. They fell like hail, and I hurriedly reached within myself, throwing up a wall of my power around the six of us. My shield wobbled as red shards slammed into it with the force of a thousand winds, but it held.
My legs buckled under the weight of using so much magic so quickly. Bile rose, and I fell to the ground beneath the shelter of Xander’s wing.
It worked. We were still alive.
Shallow breaths were all I could manage as I gripped the soil, willing my well of magic to refill as quickly as possible.
Except, when I reached within myself, I gasped.
It was empty. All my magic, all my power, was gone. The shield had used it all.
A slow clap floated toward us on the wind. The earth trembled.
And when I looked up, Saena was right there.
Last Chance
SAENA
“That was a nice show.” I clasped my hands in front of me as I looked at my brother and his friends with glee. I stood on the edge of where their pitiful red shield had been, grinning at the sight of the charred circle in the grass. My Winged Soldiers were behind me, awaiting my command. The dark magic in my veins pulsated, eager to be used.
The five of them stared at me, but it was the dragon who snorted, pushing the others away from me.
I ignored him.
“Truly, it was superb.” I looked at the Earth Elf, who was sheltered beneath the green dragon’s wing. “I especially loved the way you conjured a snake with that magic of yours and bit the head off of one of my soldiers. Rarely have I seen such a magnificent disregard of a male’s life, and I have to tell you, I am here for it.”
“You’re insane,” the male Fortune Elf snarled, shoving the Death Elf behind him.
Tutting, I turned to him. His skin was dark, and a cut slashed across his face. It looked like one of my soldiers had gotten rather close to killing him before the others took them down. A glance at his exposed arm revealed the red and silver tattoos marking him.
Interesting.
“You dare speak to your queen in such a fashion?” I sneered. “Do you thinkyouare a match for me? A Fortune Elf. I could kill you with my eyes closed.”
He huffed. “Why you—”
“Stop,” the Death Elf hissed, pulling on her mate. “Don’t.”
The females were always the ones with sense in their brains.
“I’m glad to see someone here understands who is in charge,” I said to the Death Elf.
She glared at me, her blue eyes flashing as red sparked around her. “You think I stopped him because he was wrong? No. He’s not wrong. I told him to stop becauseIhave something to say to you.” The Death Elf took a step forward. At least, she tried to. This time, her mate held her back. Really, this was quite amusing.
“Ryllae,” the Fortune Elf hissed. “Not now.”
She opened her mouth as though to speak, but another one of the elves, a halfling this time, shook her head. Seemingly mollified, at least for the moment, the horned Death Elf moved away from me.
Putting my hands on my hips, I stared at the green dragon. Irritatingly, he remained in his animal form. That would not do. “Shift.”
He did not.
A snarl rumbled through me, and I glared at him. “Shift,” I commanded him in the voice of my draken.
Still, the green dragon remained immobile. He stared at me through slitted golden eyes, smoke puffing from his nostrils.
Thegallof this male.