Dragon: The Clan Legacy Series

by J. S. Striker

  Sophia was trying to support her, but suddenly she was gone with a yelp as a witch tried to attack her, and she had to defend herself. Then she was running, as if she detected something in this distance that needed her immediate help.

  Red collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Magic still thrummed inside her, but her own body could no longer manage to get more out. She stood back up, blinking her eyes to clear her vision.

  A second later, she found her hair standing on end when a vampire stood in front of her, blood in his fangs and his intentions clear.

  Then he was leaping for her.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Henrik found Dylan in a power fight with Lucinda’s governing council head, Oscar Chamberlain—and it wasn’t looking very pretty. He remembered only a few details about the vampire, starting with his thirst for power and his ways in trying to usurp the leader position from Lucinda. According to Finn, he didn’t have enough power and strength to become leader, but he resented Lucinda enough not to want her to remain in power. It all had to do with her alliance with the shifters, which he didn’t approve of.

  He was Hans the second, then. Only more dangerous and unsteady.

  The fight was isolated because Sophia had seen to it. She had just come running and had created a bubble for the three of them—her, Dylan and Oscar—so that not a single vampire or shifter would get in the way and confuse things further. It was all politics, and Henrik felt a flash of admiration for the witch who acted on that need right away.

  Another witch entered his mind, but left it just as quickly when a vampire lunged at him. It was a normal-looking vampire, and the hate radiating in its eyes fueled its strength as it tried to tackle Henrik down. Hands steady, he swiped his claws at the vampire’s neck, then dug in until flesh was ripped out. There was a hiss from the vampire as it tried to keep reaching for him. Henrik clenched his fists, then used his strength to break the vampire’s neck before throwing him far away.

  One down.

  Too many to go.

  Everywhere around him, chaos ensued. Robbie had communicated via mind that the front barriers had broken, leaving Henrik almost running before Charlie stopped him and reminded him that they needed to continue searching for Dylan. That was minutes ago, and now he couldn’t get a hold of either Red or Robbie. But the connection with Red stayed steady, which meant that wherever she was in this mess, she was still alive.

  More vampires came and concentrated in this area, as they were still standing at the back portion of camp. Some moved to the front, and it was so scattered that he was having a hard time deducing which vampire was the enemy and which wasn’t. Irritation welled up in him at this inconvenience, and he settled for just not attacking any unless they attacked him first. Not all vampires were enemies, and he saw some even helping balance things out by either not joining or fighting alongside the shifters.

  It was a good thing Hans and his very loyal troops weren’t there because that would just end up in a bloodbath.

  A couple of loud blasts sounded at the front, and frustration welled up inside Henrik at the thought of his mate in the front lines. But he knew she could handle herself. His mind was working on autopilot, defending himself even as he kept watch on Dylan and Sophia to make sure they were okay inside their barrier.

  A flash came, and Henrik glanced just in time to see Sophia kneeling down and bleeding from the arm. But she merely bared her teeth at Oscar as Dylan’s now-wolf form tackled him to the ground. Oscar rolled them over, and they separated, eyeing each other in disdain. The wolf was magnificent, black fur gleaming and brown eyes full of menace. He was also vibrating with fury. Oscar looked as placid as a lake, like being in the face of the shifter leader didn’t bother him at all.

  Another flash of movement caught his attention, and he saw a witch try to attack one of the shifters—Jasper, leader of the jaguar clans. He had only partially shifted just as the witch was attacking, and Henrik had to lunge high and fast to deflect the magic spell. His neck prickled and he felt the burn as it hit him, but it wasn’t fatal.

  And the deflection was enough.

  Jasper fully shifted now, and he held down the witch without hesitation. Someone helped—another jaguar shifter who was still in half-human form.

  Suddenly Henrik saw quick movements to his right. Two vampires were headed for Jasper and the other shifter. He was so engrossed on helping that he didn’t realize until a second too late that more movements came from his left.

  In an instant, he was tackled to the ground by three more vampires.

  Henrik growled and tried to roll away, even as he felt fangs sink into his skin. He managed to buck off two of them before leaping to his feet, watching as the three vampires approached him more slowly now. They were surrounding him, waiting for their chance.

  He didn’t give it to them as he jumped at one right away.

  They were fighting dirty and particularly strong, and he only managed to break the neck of one. The second, he ripped the head off, tossing it in the direction of the third vampire. It gave out no reaction as it watched the flying head before moving in a blur towards him, sinking fangs into his neck. Then more blurs of movements, and two more vampires came at him.

  Shit.

  Just as the thought to shift further and use his tail entered his mind, another blur appeared. But instead of attacking him, he found that the two additional vampires were gone. Then the third, which he had just broken the neck off, was suddenly yanked away from him. He saw a delicate hand reach the chest and push a hand in, spraying blood everywhere. After barely a second, the heart was removed and tossed to the ground without ceremony.

  Breathing hard, Henrik looked up at Lucinda, whose green eyes were cold and unfriendly.

  “I apologize for these betrayers,” she said serenely.

  Henrik nodded his head. “As long as we control them.”

  He glanced as the two vampires pulled off him were killed by another vampire, who he recalled to be Lucinda’s assistant, Nell. She was just as calm as her leader, barely breaking a sweat even while blood streaked her arms.

  “Hey!”

  Finn ran up towards them a few seconds later, his shirt bloodied and more blood dripping from his forehead. “Luce, there’s Oscar.”

  Lucinda’s head snapped in the direction of the isolated fight, and her eyes grew even colder. She bared sharp fangs and moved towards the small barrier, her hair barely swaying in the wind.

  “Open,” she ordered Sophia, who was visibly shaking from whatever injury she’d sustained. Sophia barely nodded her head before she let her arms go limp and slumped down on the ground.

  Then Lucinda was entering.

  It was over in less than a minute. Oscar hadn’t noticed the vampire leader at first, but a blur that fast demanded attention. He flicked his gaze in the direction of the movement, expecting Sophia or someone else. When he saw who it was, his face paled even more, if that was even possible.

  Lucinda didn’t give him time to move. Just like with the vampire attacking Henrik, her hand was inside Oscar’s chest in less than a second, and this time she twisted with fervor. When it looked like Oscar would have struggled, the wolf Dylan lunged at his throat, tearing it apart.

  In a fast move, Charlie was there, lifting Sophia up and carrying her out of the fight. Lucinda dropped the heart on the ground, looking mighty pissed this time.

  “He killed my second and third-in-line,” she muttered. “And that is very hard to find.”

  Finn whistled.

  A witch tried to attack Henrik, but Jasper caught her before she could. As Jasper tried to bring her down without killing her yet, the vicinity exploded, throwing everyone off in a jarring movement.

  Shit.

  The coven had placed explosives on random witches, and they were detonating everywhere.

  He easily stood up on his feet despite a few bruises and didn’t waste any time checking himself. Henrik did a quick survey of his surroundings, accounting for everyone that had b
een affected by that particular blast. The exploding witches were now mere body parts scattered on the ground, and he saw some shifters dead alongside them.

  Fury welled inside him at the sight.

  Jasper was already in the middle of another fight, bleeding on the shoulder but it appeared it wasn’t too bad. Lucinda and Dylan were fine, but Finn had been caught on his feet and was bleeding profusely. He stood up shakily with one foot dangling, but Lucinda was already there supporting him.

  Charlie and Sophia were nowhere to be seen.

  Chuck? You there?

  Silence.

  Dylan caught his eye as he and Lucinda started talking rapidly, so Henrik took it as his cue to come closer.

  “How many more vampires do you think we have to take on?” Dylan was asking.

  Lucinda didn’t grimace, but her expression was close. “In estimate, Oscar had less than three hundred supporters. It’s not much, but I still apologize on behalf of the community—”

  “Stop apologizing,” Finn growled. “It’s not our fault he’s an idiot.” He turned to Dylan. “They just attacked without warning, and Lucinda has some good vampires dead. But we still have another three hundred left, and with your help—”

  Dylan nodded. “We’ll help. Jasper!”

  The jaguar came ambling towards them.

  “Get your men to partner up with an ally vampire. Lucinda, can you help?”

  The vampire leader nodded. Things went busily as they organized while a witch or a vampire attacked from time to time, and by the time they had gone, only Finn and Henrik were left defending that particular area. They steadily moved to the front at a slow pace, Finn’s hair flashing a very bright red in the darkness. He was limping, but his foot wasn’t broken.

  Anyone there? Charlie asked.

  Here, Finn said, having already shifted partially. Where are you?

  Back left. Sophia’s unconscious but alive. I need to remove her from here. She’s pregnant.

  Jesus. I’m on it, Henrik said. He turned to Finn, who was nodding his head.

  “I’ll cover you,” Finn muttered.

  Henrik nodded back. Then he was plowing through the crowd towards the front with the single-minded purpose of finding Red and reopening a small part of the barrier to get Sophia somewhere else. He passed by dead bodies everywhere, shifters and vampires and witches, and the sight sickened him. But he couldn’t stop, not when he needed to get his friend out of here.

  The goal now was to find Robbie too, because he didn’t think the dragon shifter even knew yet about Sophia’s condition—had Robbie known, he would have crowed endlessly about it. A smile appeared on Henrik’s face at the thought, and he tucked it inside his mind for later.

  They were going to celebrate later when this was all over.

  He was almost to the front of the lines when he heard it in his head—her husky voice calling out his name.

  Red.

  I’m here, he growled. Where the hell were you? Joy filled him along with relief at the thought of her alive.

  Henrik.

  The joy dropped at the sadness in her tone.

  Red?

  Goodbye, Henrik.

  And she was gone.

  Henrik burst, running towards the front, seeing Robbie and other shifters in battle with too many witches and vampires. Then Finn was there joining in.

  And Red—

  He just had a second to see her before horror seized him as she slipped out of the barrier she’d created—right into the empty field outside, leading to the witches. She disappeared out of sight right away.

  And he could no longer feel her.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  There were too many of them.

  That was the first thought that entered Red’s mind as soon as she saw the numbers standing outside the magical barrier, calmly watching the fight inside. The first and second liners were gone, having already infiltrated camp prior to her rebuilding the barrier. But the third line was there, planted in front now, and they were less than a hundred meters away—it was more like fifty meters now, and they stood in plain sight.

  The hoods of their cloaks settled on their shoulders, and their eyes glinted in the moonlight. Red kept herself wrapped in her magic, rendering her fully invisible and impossible to detect. It wasn’t an easy feat, but there simply was no choice because she’d be dead the moment she was spotted.

  The fields were eerily quiet, almost like no one was there. As carefully as possible, Red navigated the area, careful to step on ground that wouldn’t leave footsteps or wouldn’t make too much of a sound. She was right in front of them now, and her nerves were starting to catch up with her.

  It was too silent.

  The third liners’ gazes were blank, which confirmed her thought of Gloria controlling them. She saw the explosives strapped to their chests, and her stomach churned at the sickening thought that they were sacrificial lambs in this battle. Had they been willing? Or had they been duped?

  Carefully, she slipped her hand inside a stranger’s chest to test something—then, to take something. Then she was moving forward, hugging her own cloak tighter around her.

  She passed the third line, reached the fourth. There were sounds now, some hushed whispers that washed over her senses. She stilled immediately, carefully observing her surroundings and trying to determine where the sounds were coming from.

  The wind was quiet, but it was there. She closed her eyes, feeling out with her magic while still masking it. A drop of sweat slipped down her forehead, settling on her nose and making it tingle.

  Voices filled her ears.

  The plan didn’t work. The barrier was just rebuilt.

  Patience, Josiah. It will crash.

  The voices were everywhere in her mind. A flash of movement caught her eye, and she stepped aside just in time as the third and fourth liners marched with some distance between them. They kept marching until the third liners were standing just outside the barrier, and her eyes widened as she realized that these were the ones with the explosives. The moment that thought formed in her mind, she took a step backward—

  And staggered on her feet when the blast reached her ears. A buzzing sound came again, cutting off her hearing as it surrounded her senses and made thinking difficult.

  Even so, she couldn’t stop her stomach from heaving at the thought of the witches the explosives were strapped on. As if to taunt her, blood sprayed in the air, and a severed leg landed beside hers.

  It was only sheer willpower that prevented her from throwing up. She leveled her heart rate and looked back to see if the barrier held. It did, though she could spot some invisible cracks.

  Sophia could get to that. She had to.

  And Red had to move forward.

  Not allowing herself to think, she trudged on, pushing her magic forward. More voices were coming from her right, so she went that way until she saw a gathering of witches and Josiah himself. He was giving them instructions for attack, and Red knew it wouldn’t be too long before another set of explosives broke the barrier. She needed to move fast.

  She needed to find Gloria.

  Red kept moving. Josiah’s group was conscious, meaning they weren’t being controlled. These were the somewhat strong witches she remembered, but not necessarily strong enough that she couldn’t take them on. If they attacked in one fluid motion, though…

  She tuned her hearing again, then moved to the left. There was something odd going on there, because she couldn’t detect even the wind. Her footsteps were still quiet as she broke into a run, hoping her instincts were wrong—

  Her blood ran cold, colder than ever, as her magic finally let her see a magical shield that was invisible in the beginning. It gave the illusion of plain fields, but beyond the shield…

  She froze.

  Beyond the shield were about two hundred rogue vampires.

  She took a step back by instinct, her mind screaming at her to run. She’d never encountered one. But she did hear stories of how rog
ue vampires acted—mindless, predatory, without thought but for their next meal. They looked like monsters with their loose skin and their red eyes, and their teeth were stained yellow and dripping with saliva. These were the vampires that had lost control of their minds, had succumbed to the beast inside them.

  Beside the barrier stood Gloria, looking calm as she surveyed them.

  If she let them loose, the front line shifters were most definitely going to lose.

  Red’s mind went into motion, even while her feet took her further forward and through the barrier. Once she was over, the stench hit her almost immediately, cloying and awful. She moved past them, her heart hammering in her chest, repeating a mantra in her head that she was safe. She was safe, as long as her magic was up.

  The few she’d passed by tilted their head in her direction, and she almost stumbled as the fangs of one came close to her elbow. She lurched back, then kept moving to the back.

  Don’t think. Just do.

  Once she was at the back, she planted her feet firmly on the grass. Then she began to let her magic flow.

  One by one, they closed their eyes—lulled into a sleep so deep, it would take them another hour or so to wake up. More sweat dripped down her forehead at the effort of doing it painstakingly, but she knew one misstep and they’d all turn on her right away.

  Voices came. Then, footsteps. She watched Gloria in passing, talking to Josiah. Then she saw the fourth liners moving slowly towards the front, and she knew she needed to work faster.

  Just as she had managed to spell at least a fourth of the rogues into slumber, another blast exploded into the air. The barrier between shifters and witches broke, and the magic she kept on constant flow inside it rushed back towards her, making her body shake hard. The rogues near her turned their heads in her direction, as if they sensed it.

  Josiah was screaming to attack.

  She saw Gloria passing again, her footsteps quicker and—

  Her eyes locked on Red.

  With a shout, Red lurched to the side, just as four rogues tried to pounce on her. She managed to put up a shield against them in time, but Gloria was still coming for her. So was Josiah.