Thor: Dive Serena now!
Styx moved before Serena knew what was happening, taking the blast of boiling acid and the arrow meant for her.
Velkaris dove, escaping more blasts.
Her bracelet vibrated again. Four times now since the first hit.
Serena swallowed, forcing herself calm, and scanned her surroundings. She was all alone and there was no margin for error.
Lightning flashed, illuminating a spotter on a water dragon. He saw her at the same time she saw him.
"Shit," she whispered, standing immediately, arrow drawn.
Her instinct was to pull flame into her arrow as she'd practiced. But the energy surrounding the water dragon also surrounded the riders, and that gave her pause.
Fire against water. She wasn't stupid. She might as well throw a match into the ocean.
Fine. Then she'd freeze it.
She reached for Flareon's energy, and her Hidden Flame mark froze against her skin.
She fired, and her ice arrow penetrated through the magical barrier surrounding the spotter with ease.
She released her second ice arrow a millisecond after.
Two bullseyes.
Two blinding flashes followed that illuminated everyone's positions.
Two shockwave explosions hit next.
She was blasted off Velkaris's back and he was knocked upside down. He roared, flailing through the air.
Fae fire dragons were also caught in the blast. Bodies tumbled as the storm screamed around them.
Serena's heart thudded and ears rang as she free fell.
Her thoughts were discombobulated, but her protective instincts were sharp.
Parachutes of gold magic bloomed around the Drakenfell dragons and riders remaining.
She would have grinned at her own cleverness, but then realized she forgot her own parachute.
How odd, she thought to herself, almost wanting to laugh at the stupidity.
She knew she should be alarmed, but she felt detached from it.
Velkaris's parachute vanished the second he recovered. He let out a deafening roar, diving straight for her.
Right as she flinched, bracing to hit the sea, his claw hooked around her waist.
He threw her upward and dove under, catching her on his back.
She landed flat on her stomach and stayed there for a moment. It was not graceful.
Out of her peripheral vision, Fae dragons righted themselves without parachutes, catching their riders midair. It looked practiced.
Noted.
The Drakenfell dragons began to stabilize, parachutes vanishing as soon as their wings snapped open.
King Tiberon: Status Update.
Thor: Recovered. Styx injured, Bardoff missing.
Bardoff: Transported via cuff. Loki, Mattius, and Darius also transported.
Alistair: Dislocated shoulder. Grog injured.
Ragnar: Arrow through my ribs. Balazaar injured.
Locke: Severe burns on myself and Morvexis. Need medical.
Serena lay on Velkaris in the pouring rain dazed, listening to the mindlinks come through.
The amount of boiling water jets didn't make sense. She could feel the fire and ice dragons clear as day. But after getting closer, she realized there was more than one dragon she couldn't fully grasp. Their energies were clearer than earlier, but still a blur in comparison.
Lightning flashed, and she could just make out multiple silhouettes where the blurs of energy were.
King Tiberon: Serena status.
She answered a second later, breath tight but controlled.
Serena: Recovered. Primary not singular. Five water dragons.
King Tiberon: Balazaar, Styx, Morvexis, & Grog to land.
All four dragons turned back toward shore. Serena pushed her magic to them, immediately, wrapping them like a shield.
Enemy dragons saw the gold and raced towards them.
No. Absolutely not.
Serena moved in between. She stood on Velkaris's back against the storm.
"Halt, until I command otherwise."
Serena heard the words leave her mouth, in a voice that was different than her own.
The dragons' eyes flared gold in response.
Spotters and riders' shouts rang through the storm before arrows hurled towards her. The dragons ignored their riders and stayed put.
Velkaris dodged hard, banking left, then right.
Finally, they were in the storm clouds.
King Tiberon: Status, Serena.
Serena: Twenty-four fire and one ice immobilized and ready to move to land. They were approaching our injured and I had to intervene...
Tiberon cut her off, voice sharp.
King Tiberon: Send to North Field.
Serena: Copy.
Serena was well aware King Tiberon said do not engage until primary was neutralized. The problem was there were too many arrows flying.
"First day on the job and I've already misstepped. Lovely. Clearly I know what I'm doing," Serena said dryly to Velkaris.
Velkaris huffed in agreement.
✦✦✦
From the castle, a royally pissed off dragon prince stormed through the halls. He was wearing a cuff and the mindlinks made his blood run hot.
Absolutely not.
He entered the High Western Wall where the Draken Forces stood. King Tiberon was speaking with Hyran and a few high ranking officers.
"...broke protocol."
His brows furrowed at those words.
His voice cut through the buzz. Every head snapped in his direction. "She neutralized twenty-five dragons under open fire. If that's a protocol violation, rewrite the protocol."
His voice was not singular and didn't belong to him. His eyes were also molten gold, not his light golden.
His wolf Aegon and First Dragon King were speaking through him, working together. They could feel the dragons' energy and understood what was happening. His mate was up a creek without a paddle.
King Tiberon's voice was calm and cold. "You are supposed to be under observation. Not storming my command post."
Dexmon's jaw ticked. Neither Aegon nor the Dragon King were going to talk back to King Tiberon in front of everyone here.
"I need a word," Aegon said through Dexmon after a tense moment. "Privately."
Tiberon nodded.
Dexmon followed Tiberon and Hyran into a side room.
When he spoke, his voice was still layered. Aegon and the Dragon King, unified, using Dexmon's mouth like a vessel.
"She won't be able to control Water Dragons alone yet," he cut to the chase, not bothering to hide his irritation. "She has the natural ability to command dragons, but not to the extent that I do."
"Water Dragons are harder to tame. Their energy is threaded with dark magic. It may require her magic in combination with me."
Hyran leaned back in his chair, brows furrowed. "The problem is, Dexmon is compromised. We don't know how the dark magic in his system will be affected by Fae dark magic or if it's triggered by battle."
"The dark magic is fading in his system. It does not show signs of triggers," the Dragon King answered, his cadence slower, more deliberate than Aegon's. "I agree, he should not be commanding. He can spot and will be able to disengage these Water Dragons."
King Tiberon seemed to be weighing options. "Will you be able to recognize who she is?"
Aegon's presence surfaced first, rougher, more raw. "I can't picture her face. But I know of her, and remember marking someone."
The Dragon King's voice overtook him before he finished. "I am the soul of the Dragon King and I will always be able to see her. She has been my queen across lifetimes."
"If Dexmon comes back into awareness, will he recognize her or understand?" Hyran asked.
"I'm not sure," the Dragon King answered this time. "My guess is no. It will take a few days for the effects to wear off. However, even if he had no clue who she was, he will still be drawn to her. His instinct will still be to protect her. She was made for him, and no amount of magic could break a bond as deep as theirs."
Hyran and Tiberon exchanged a brief glance, both not wanting to say the elephant in the room.
Dexmon's expression didn't shift. Whoever was behind it either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.
"I also will not let her go unprotected. If that means I take a dragon and fly out alone, then so be it."
At that moment, Serena's panicked voice flooded their mindlink. It was clear that it wasn't intentional on her end.
Serena: On both sides!
Dexmon stood up, knocking his chair back. His eyes flared, wolf and king both surging at once.
Tiberon and Hyran moved out of the room to get a better view of the horizon.
Then there were two flashes. Followed by two explosions that knocked everyone back.
All gold shields in the castle flickered off and stayed off.
"You spot for me," Tiberon said after a moment, jaw tense. Then he mindlinked.
King Tiberon:Serena status.
Her voice came back calm. The opposite of the panicked voice that bled through a minute ago.
Serena:Recovered. I am being tailed by four water dragons.
"Truebond Veil," Dexmon said to Tiberon, ignoring the gasps.
"She has no memory of performing it," Tiberon said, eyes on the sky, scanning for Serena.
"She is gifted," Dexmon answered. "A situation like this is why the move was invented. Velkaris will wear himself out otherwise."
Tiberon exhaled. He didn't like it, but the Dragon King was the Dragon King for a reason.
King Tiberon:Truebond Veil.
Gasps rippled through the Draken Forces at the mindlink.
Every breath was held, eyes were wide.
There was a flash of light. Velkaris disappeared like a phantom in the sky then reappeared like a crack of thunder, flashing inches above the water, gliding.
Tiberon didn't wait for the reactions. "Wyncrest and Lieutenant Calder."
They nodded, not needing further explanation. The four made their way down to their dragons.
Fin had been keeping his expression neutral, but he'd been boiling under the surface since she left, and it was only getting worse. He had to force his wolf down multiple times.
He felt immense pride in the fact she'd held her own, but her emotions told him everything he needed to know. Only he understood how many close calls she'd had, not seen or mentioned. And this was her first battle. It was clear as day.
That on top of multiple explosions that were so bright he could make out her form free-falling.
King Tiberon:You're being tailed again, Serena. Truebond Veil.
More gasps erupted.
Aeron's eyes widened and he glanced at Hyran.
"Twice. Flying blind in a storm and performing the most dangerous maneuver a dragon can make. Resulting in death for most who try." He sucked in a breath. "That's a razor's edge."
Fin's gaze snapped to Aeron and Hyran at that comment. That would explain the gasps both times.
"Tiberon wouldn't have ordered that if there'd been another option," Hyran said, jaw tightening.
"The shields we have on, are they necessary?" Aeron asked. "If she loses focus during a Truebond Veil, she dies..."
Hyran cut him off. "I agree."
Then he mindlinked.
Hyran:Serena, hold on shielding us. Be on standby if Red Death escapes our enchantments. All twenty-four dragon, rider, and spotter threats are neutralized. No ground attacks yet.
Fin felt her relief at that. He glanced at Hyran. "The explosions happen right after she takes out spotters and riders."
Aeron's brows furrowed. "Orosia means these dragon riders are Fae. Right?"
"I believe so," Hyran answered. "Why?"