“You’re welcome. You always did want to be a knight in shining armor. I bet you that Nyla will be your damsel in distress.”
“Damsel this.” Nyla held up her middle finger.
“I think you’ll have to settle for Atherly.” Payton flinched when she heard the dragon tear through the city again.
“I think I’m the wrong Clark for that,” Isiah said pointedly.
“It’s coming back around!” Ioannu shouted in warning.
True enough that deadly breath was coming back for them. The group of them were forced to race out of its path while Ioannu desperately tried to run and throw spells at the same time. The icy beam cut jagged paths after them, flickering in and out as the dragon roared in anger at being hit.
“Watch it!” Isiah grabbed her by the arm and yanked her away, the beam ghosting over the loose fur that had flared out in the suddenness of the movement and turning it to solid ice.
“Thanks. But I’m not going to kiss you,” she retorted.
“What kind of damsel are you?”
“The kind that doesn’t sell her kisses for heroic deeds,” she replied cheekily. “Especially not to my brother.”
“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about you handing them off to Atherly then,” he teased as they turned the corner to find the mage in question holding off the dragon with a distraction of lights in the sky.
“Oh good, the cavalry arrived,” Atherly said in relief. “Help!”
“What do you expect us to do? It’s in the Creators damned sky,” Isiah complained.
“I can fix that.”
“What? Wait, don’t—” Payton’s objections came too late and to her surprise and horror Atherly’s light show disappeared.
The dragon blinked and howled. Atherly gave a jaunty little wave before setting off the sparkling lights next to the buildings across the road from them. The beast sent a blast of ice which, when the snow and fog settled, only amplified the light by reflecting it through the crystals of ice that were now impaled on the ground. The dragon dove at it and landed hard, trying to stomp the light out of existence.
Isiah and Payton looked at each other and shrugged. They ran at the dragon, the other melee fighters joining from all sides. The three mages took positions around it, bombarding it with spells.
It let out a thunderous sound as it fought back, sweeping its tail out and knocking several of the attackers off their feet. Claws lashed out and that icy breath was expelled. Twice it took off and made a circle of them, trying to chase them down before landing once more. They hacked at its legs, its tail, its wings, trying to do damage with blades while the mages fought with every ounce of mana they had.
Payton drew in sharp haggard breaths as she pressed herself against one of the collapsed buildings, hiding from the most recent bout of frozen fire. They were falling fast. Two more had died – one more caught in the icy blast and the other… the Captain hit by the tail and launched across the courtyard where he had not moved since. Those that were still fighting were not doing much better. Nyla was bleeding, badly, a scrape from one of those claws marring her face. Samuel was barely standing, blood spilling from his head and his nose. Jarrett was hacking at the dragon, dodging away from the snapping jaws and flinging tail, his movements choppier than she had ever seen; a wound in his side hindering his movements. Even Isiah was waning, barely managing to stay out of range of the icy breaths and the swinging tail.
They were not going to last much longer.
There was no thought, no reasoning, no chance to back out. There was just action. Just the choice to try and save her friends, her family. Clutching her daggers, she began to run, jumping over the rubble and ice as she went. Isiah shouted something at her but she did not hear what. Positioning her blade up, she shoved with all her might as she slid on her knee. The blades pierced the neck of the dragon, blood, and muck spewing down. What had started as a small cut grew larger and larger until it split down to the belly.
The dragon let out a cry, the audible click of its jaws ringing as it tried to take a bite out of whatever was gouging into its tender underbelly. Rolling out of the way of one of its massive claws, Payton leapt up, ignoring the growing pain in her body. Grabbing one of the protruding spikes on the dragon she hoisted herself up. Jarrett yelled at her as she raced up the dragon’s back, his blade hitting the dragon’s wing to try and distract the beast from the psychotic rogue.
As she reached the head she barely managed to keep her balance with the volatile movement. Straddling the creature she felt it buck, trying to knock her off. Slamming one of her daggers into its skull with all her might she felt the scales grow burningly cold before a burst of energy exploded from the dragon. It jerked its head, spitting ice into the air.
It was then she lost her grip and was airborne. Payton’s heart caught in her throat as she felt weightless in the few moments before her fall began. By reflex alone she stabbed out with her other blade, her free hand desperately trying to grab a hold of something. Her descent slowed with a painful jolt as the blade caught the dragon on the neck. It went deep, lodging in the creature and becoming stuck on what Payton suspected was bone.
Roaring, the dragon beat its wings, tossing its head back and forth forcing her to cry out, clinging onto the hilt as her only lifeline. The dragon’s right wing was in bloody tatters, Jarrett’s sword cutting through the membrane and preventing the dragon from flying.
Summoning her strength, Payton fumbled at her boot. Her arm screamed in pain as it supported her entire weight. At last, she felt the smooth edge and pulled. A small blade came up; her spare knife. Stabbing it a bit farther up the creature’s neck she felt a twitch go through the entire beast.
Rearing, the dragon attempted to knock her off, giant jaws snapping at her but unable to reach. With a yank, Payton pulled the larger dagger out, praying that her small one would hold. It slid slightly, cutting a thin line on the neck but then stopped. Swinging the newly freed weapon higher she buried it to the hilt again before repeating the process with her other. By the time she reached the top the dragon had spewed more ice out, nearly clipping Caius with the blast. Taking her dagger she brought it down into the dragon’s head, earning another roar. Blood squirted up.
The dragon threw its head back with a growl, the motion flinging her up again, this time with both daggers. Spinning midair she swung her blades down. She caught the dragon in the skull, grabbing a hold of one of its horns as she went. Her blade dug deeply into its head, her hand following it past the hilt into the bleeding flesh. Payton could feel the muscles twitch convulsively before it tried to leap into the air only to thud to the ground so hard that its neck hit the stone.
The momentum caused her to be hurled forward. She hit the floor with her shoulder, the pain nearly blinding. She allowed the slippery ground to let her skid unsteadily to her feet. Its wings settled in a bloody heap and its entire body twitched once and then stilled. A hush descended over the courtyard.
The dragon was dead.
Chapter Fifty-Two
“Are you insane?” Were the first words to break the silence. They were growled at her as Isiah stormed toward her, wiping at the blood on his face but only succeeding in smearing it. “What were you thinking?!”
“Creators I hope it doesn’t eat me?”
There was a heartbeat where everyone just stared at her before the second silence was interrupted by a snort from Nyla. Which then dissolved into laughter. The redhead fell to her knees, grabbing her side as she laughed, tears beginning to stream out of her eyes.
“You know that little voice people have in their heads that stop them from doing stupid things… you don’t have that little voice!” Isiah shouted. “You’ve been so worried about Sam and I getting killed on this trip when you should have been worried about your own suicidal tendencies!”
Payton looked up sharply. “Sam.”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“Look, there was hardly a choice in the matt
er. The dragon was about to slaughter us. It needed to die.”
“We would have killed it.”
“After it killed how many more of us?!” she snapped. “Sammy? Where are you?”
“I’m here. I’m fine. Just tenderized by a tail.” The voice from the other side of the giant corpse made her breathe a sigh of relief.
“Who’s injured and how bad?” Atherly asked after kicking the foot of the dragon a few times - likely his way of ensuring it was dead.
Hands rose from around the group. Nyla, Isiah, Ioannu—Payton sighed. Everyone but herself and Jarrett had called for the mage’s attention. But she knew she had seen the dragon hit him. She limped over to the warrior.
“How bad?” she asked.
Jarrett frowned and reluctantly spoke. “Perhaps a few cracked ribs and a gash that might need stitches.” His brown eyes narrowed at her. “And you?”
Payton started to shrug and shake her head only to feel the starts of fiery pain shoot through her. Creators it was everywhere. “Um… maybe a bit more injured than originally thought.”
She wavered only to find someone’s arms supporting her in an instant. She blinked and saw that Atherly was slowly lowering her to the ground while Jarrett glowered at him. The blond was ignoring the warrior and smiling that trademark smile at her.
“You move fast,” she commented.
“You ran up a dragon’s backside and took a flying leap in the air,” he commented idly. “Even the magnificent Payton cannot come away from that without a few scratches.”
“Magnificent Payton? What am I, a side-show attraction?” She wrinkled her nose at the name. “And I don’t know about scratches. I… I think my shoulder is dislocated.”
Atherly gently placed his hands on her, the white glow of magic appearing. “It is. You’re lucky you didn’t shatter it by the way you fell.”
“So, Payton, you trying to one-up yourself. Weren’t satisfied with taking down a manticore and a nest of ahamays you had to single-handedly take down a dragon?” Nyla teased.
“It was hardly single—” Payton started to object when it happened.
Atherly used the distraction to pop her shoulder back into place. Tears stung her eyes and she let out an instinctual murmur of pain but healing magic whisked the ache away almost instantly. Jarrett tensed, his hand twitching around his blade at her cry.
“See if I ever save your life again,” she muttered causing Atherly to laugh.
“You are such a bad patient,” he scolded. He started to pull away only to hesitate. He then lowered his voice. “You have to be more careful. Magic can’t heal everything.”
“I know,” she said quietly.
Atherly sighed, clearly not believing that he got through to her. He turned to get up, scanning the group for the next person to heal. Unfortunately, his gaze landed on Jarrett and the blood that was very visibly his own staining his armor.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jarrett growled.
Atherly rolled his eyes. “So I should just let you bleed to death?”
“I can take care of it.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“You have others to attend, healer.” Jarrett was clearly trying to hold his temper.
Atherly huffed. “Fine. Fine.”
The blond started to move past Jarrett only to brush shoulders with him. It happened so fast that if Payton had not been watching the two of them she might not have seen it. A vivid and vibrant flash of white flooded the area, engulfing Jarrett only to disappear a second later. Jarrett let out a snarl and grabbed Atherly by the front of his coat, slamming him back against the dragon’s corpse.
“Whoa, calm down!” Isiah exclaimed coming toward them. “He just bumped you.”
“It is just like a Malvathar to ignore anything but their own whims,” Jarrett snarled.
“Maybe I’m just sick of your dragon shit… oh, wrong thing to say now.” Atherly shook his head as if to dismiss the tangent is mind took him on. “Supplies were meant for things I cannot heal, you twat. And here you are wasting them because you’re stuck on my lineage. Well, get over it! You don’t see me owning slaves or ordering people around and expecting them to do my bidding now do you?”
Jarrett let out a sound that was close to a growl. “I beg to differ.”
“You would. You can’t take a joke,” Atherly huffed. “For Creators’ sake, Jarrett, I was only trying to help.”
“If you ever touch me again, you won’t live to regret it,” Jarrett threatened.
“You’re nothing but an ungrateful bastard!” But before Atherly could continue on the heated rant he had been about to take off on, someone slid their arm between the two of them.
The slender gloved hand was placed on Jarrett’s fisted ones. The irritate warrior’s gaze shifted to the right and met a pair of vivid blue eyes. Slowly he let go, almost shoving Atherly away from him before limping out of sight.
“Yeah… you better leave,” Atherly blustered.
Payton looked at Atherly and scowled. “I have half a mind to slap you.”
“I healed him!”
“You violated him.”
“By healing his injuries?”
“You forced your magic onto him. You know his background. Get your head out of your ass and think about how that could have made him feel,” she snapped.
“Better because his wounds were mended?” Atherly said snarkily. At her glare, he sighed and a guilty look flashed across his face. “Like he didn’t have control. Probably all nervous and vulnerable because I’m a Malvathar who had power over him.”
She nodded sharply.
Atherly shifted, kicking at a hunk of bloodied snow at this feet. “Well, he didn’t have to be such a bastard about it.”
“You’re hopeless. I give up,” Payton said in exasperation. “Fine. Next time you do something like that I’ll stab you somewhere you feel vulnerable.”
Collectively the men in the group winced, their hands moving to cover their sensitive parts. Ignoring the action, she hurried away to go find Jarrett. Thankfully he wasn’t far. Even in an upset, Jarrett was not foolish enough to wander far from the group alone in the city where they just found a dragon nesting.
He was pacing back and forth between a set of half crumbled half dragon-breath-iced buildings. He barely looked at her when she approached.
“For what it’s worth, he understands that he was out of line.”
“Should I congratulate him on his self-awareness?” Jarrett bit sarcastically.
“Probably not. I think it’ll fade soon.”
Jarrett scowled and continued pacing.
“Are you alright?”
He looked up sharply and accusingly as though her question were an attack.
“I meant do you still need medical attention. I wasn’t going to tackle your temper until after making certain you weren’t bleeding to death,” she tried to keep her tone light.
He glanced down at himself like he had somehow been granted the ability to see through his armor before looking up at her again. “I am fine.” He resumed his back and forth. She watched him for a bit. Suddenly, after his fifth or sixth lap, he turned to her. “He cannot be trusted, Clark.”
There was a twinge of something in her chest when he called her by her last name. Hurt? Longing mixed with disappointment? All things that fit but nothing quite right. It was like he was distancing himself from his relationship with her. Maybe it made it easier for him if he did and that thought saddened her.
“Depends on what you mean by trusted,” she said slowly. “I don’t trust him to be honest at cards. Or trust him when he’s flirting because everything he says is just an attempt to get you – well not you but the lucky person he’s flirting with – into bed. But I trust him to heal me and my people. And for now, that’s enough.”
Jarrett snarled, a sound rumbling from his throat as words failed him. She could see the anger in his eyes, the frustration, the hate that she was willing to put up with a
Malvathar for such a simple reason when potions and poultices work nearly as well.
“It is foolish.”
“Perhaps. But I have no other option.”
“So you’ve resigned yourself to charge into battle with a viper at your back.”
Payton snickered. “I hardly think Atherly is a viper. More like a worm with delusions of being a snake. He may be Malvathar but he has none of their coldness, their calculations or cruelty. None of the things you have told me. Will you at least try to see him for who he is?”
“An arrogant asshole who flirts with everyone he thinks he can get something out of?” Jarrett said after a moment.
She offered him a beaming smile. “Now you’re getting it.”
Jarrett did not return her smile. He did not have the heart to tell her that her friend sounded exactly like the Malvatharians he had dealt with his entire life. In truth, there was little difference between Atherly and his old master. They both had their little games they liked to play. They both were very determined to win.
And Jarrett refused to dance to that tune ever again.
Not even for Payton’s sake.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Approaching the others and the massive corpse again was an unsettling sight. They had unintentionally created a clearing in the city with the destruction the dragon had carved in its path. Between demolition and ice, a sense of newness had formed, new structures and paths carving out of the carnage and complete desolation that remained of the old.
The people were not in much better shape. Blood splattered, half collapsed half sitting in shock over what had happened. Not even Nyla had her usual bounds of endless energy. And Atherly was still moving from person to person, looking more drained as he went – those flashes of white light growing less bright as he strove to heal each injury.
Almost like it was planned the others looked up practically in unison when she approached and it took a moment for her to realize they were waiting for her to tell them what to do. She fought groaning. Where was the Captain to take this responsibility off of her? Oh. She swallowed hard. She saw half of the man a couple dozen feet to the left. She wasn’t sure where the other half was.
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