Age of Dragons

by Olivia Ash

  “A simultaneous attack of the Spectres and the Knights,” she says, hesitating as she watches me. She tenses as if she's about to deliver a heavy blow.

  “Just say it,” I demand.

  “The Spectres, the Knights—and the Vaer,” she finishes.

  “What?” I stand, fighting the surge of disorienting vertigo as my voice drips with icy disgust.

  Harper nods. “It looks like an orchestrated surprise attack, and only the Spectres seem to know what's going on. The Vaer and the Knights attacked at once from every direction. Definitely an orchestrated event, except that the Vaer and Knights are also attacking each other,” she says, lifting a skeptical eyebrow.

  “That’s Zurie’s doing,” I say, stumbling a bit as I try to get my bearings. Harper grabs my shoulder, helping me stay upright, and I nod in thanks. “Zurie's pitting everyone against each other to create enough chaos so that she can swoop in, do what she needs to do, and swoop out.”

  “Yeah, that was my worry, too,” Harper admits. “Come on. We're leaving.”

  She grabs my bicep, but I violently wrench my arm free. “I'm fighting,” I say, daring her to tell me otherwise. “I won't let the men I love fight and die alone out there.”

  “Duh,” she says, pinching her brows together as if it were obvious. “Where did you think we were going?”

  “Oh,” I say, surprised. “Well, I assumed since everyone's always trying to lead me away from the fights…” I trail off, but it's not important, so I shake my head and dismiss the thought. “Yeah, let's go.”

  “Good. I know Jace doesn't want you to use your magic or be in your dragon form for this. But, Rory…” Harper trails off, setting her hand on my shoulder as she looks me dead in the eye. “I need you in this battle as a diamond dragon, if you can handle it. Someone like you charging into the fray halfway through a fight?” She pauses, grinning roguishly. “That can turn the tides of this battle. Most of the world still doesn't know that your diamond dragon exists. They don't know what you can do, and we can use that to our advantage.”

  I grin mischievously as my head finally begins to clear. What she’s asking for—this plan she has concocted—it’s brilliant.

  A well-orchestrated bluff.

  “That's smart,” I admit.

  “Can you handle it?” Harper asks again. “Can you shift?”

  “I'll try.”

  “That's all I can ask.”

  Apparently satisfied, Harper leads me into the hallway. We quickly weave through the darkened halls, and as we jog, I realize I'm not only barefoot—but also stark naked as well.

  I guess I'm going to have to get used to that, now that I'm shifting.

  As we charge through the corridors, a twinge of pain shoots through me, and I wince. The movement throws me off balance, and my shoulder hits the wall hard. Harper looks back at me, concerned, and I try my best to hide the pain.

  “Keep going,” I demand.

  She frowns, hesitating, but ultimately indulges me.

  Harper leads me outside and onto a broad cliff that overlooks the ocean. Waves crash below as the wind rips by us, carrying the salty scent of the water with it.

  Above us, hundreds of dragons hover in the sky, the low rumble of their growls like a constant hum of energy. There are so many that they block out the stars.

  It would seem that Harper brought an army of her own.

  The dragons above us roar as their Boss steps into the night, and it would seem they're more than ready for this battle.

  As Harper stalks onto the grassy knoll overlooking the ocean, another jolt of pain shoots through my neck and up into my head. I wince again, pausing as I hold my head. I have to lean against the wall for support.

  This is not good.

  A dark blue blur jumps down from the roof, landing silently on the ground beside me. I flinch as he suddenly appears, my instinct driving me to lift my fists and prepare for a fight.

  But I know this dragon.

  His royal blue scales practically glow as he steps out of the shadows, his soft growl a gentle rumble that shakes the earth beneath my feet.

  Levi.

  My heart pangs with dread.

  He wasn't sure if he could shift again—he was afraid of going feral. Now, as my head clears, I realize that the blue blur I saw as I fell to the ground was him.

  He saved me.

  Maybe even at a dire cost to himself.

  Carefully, I inch closer, lifting my hands as I reach for him, eager to establish the connection between us.

  He gently sets his nose against my palm, and our mind link instantly opens. To my surprise, his mind is crisp, clear, and sharp—in fact, it feels the same as when he was human. I never quite realized the difference before between his feral and human minds, but now it's obvious.

  His brilliant blue eyes focus on me, and it's obvious he's entirely present.

  I'm glad you're okay, he says.

  Are you feral? I ask in disbelief, just wanting to be sure.

  No, he says. Just keeping watch and staying ready in case I'm needed.

  I sigh with relief, and I know without a doubt that the surge of emotion flooded from me into him.

  He growls softly, affectionately leaning into me.

  What happened? I ask. How did you shift? How did—

  Instead of answering, images flash through my mind, taking over the world around me and swallowing me in the experience.

  Fragments of memory buzz through my brain, and I watch the missiles exploding through the air—only this time, it's from Levi's perspective on the roof.

  I see myself flying in the sky with Jace and Drew on either side of me, the two of them blasting the missiles and trying to detonate them before they can hurt anyone.

  The memory shifts, and I'm plummeting toward the ground, limp and lifeless.

  The memory fragments again, and Levi is jumping off the roof without a care about himself. His only worry, his only thought, was about me. Tucker yells through the night, and the world around us blurs and vibrates. His wings cut through the air as he races toward me, and in that moment, he and his dragon align. They're united in their one mission, their one purpose.

  To save me.

  We snap out of the memory, and Levi closes his eyes as he leans his forehead against mine. I'm just glad you're safe.

  I smile and wrap my hands around his face. I knew you could do it.

  He growls happily. You make the impossible possible.

  “Hey, lovebirds!” Harper yells, snapping her fingers to move this along. “Let's go!”

  I shoot her an annoyed glare, but I have to admit that she's right—even if she is being a bit of an asshole.

  She’s in Boss Mode, eager to save her people. I guess I can forgive it this time.

  I let out a slow breath, knowing that I don't have time to indulge anything other than the shift itself. I reach into my core for my dragon, but it's hard to find her through all of the noise. Through all of the pain. Through the dazed way the world spins around me every now and then. My ears keep buzzing and ringing, and several times, I teeter off balance.

  Levi sets his nose against my side, helping me stand upright as I reach inside one more time for her.

  Just let me carry you, Levi says through our connection.

  I shake my head. Harper’s right. A diamond dragon in the fray could rally any of our troops who are panicking and scare off our enemies. They don't know what my powers are, and they don't know how limited my magic is as a dragon.

  Gritting my teeth, I try to clear my mind. Every second I spend here is another second that Tucker, Drew, and Jace face an impossible army brought there to kill them.

  But that missile nearly destroyed me.

  I grimace, frustrated, reaching for my dragon even as my cheeks burn with nausea. I try to wade past my injuries to feel her, trying to remember what Jace taught me on the balcony. What he's been teaching me from the start.

  Trust my dragon.

  Soothe her.


  Give in.

  And there, deep within the murky agony of the lingering concussion, I feel her. There's a pulse of magic, soft and low at first, but it grows ever brighter the longer I listen.

  She's hurt but furious—and ready to taste blood.

  Let's go kick some ass, baby girl, I tell her.

  She growls in agreement, the sound rumbling in my chest like thunder. My body hums and stretches as she takes over, my head spinning with the shift. But I grit my teeth and press through it, forcing myself to endure.

  No amount of pain is going to keep me from doing what needs to be done.

  A shattering burst of energy throws me off balance as the shift takes over, and I fall forward. Instead of falling on my face, however, I land on my front claws, my head spinning so hard I think I might pass out.

  I snarl, refusing to let the pain win. Refusing to let Zurie win.

  A low growl continues to rumble through my chest as I grit my teeth, my lips curling, and a flash of lightning cuts through the air.

  I open my eyes, spreading my wings wide.

  On the edge of the cliff, Harper looks back at me, smirking victoriously, her shoulders squared as she takes me in.

  She's proud. I can see it in her face—in her stance and the way her eyes rove over my wings and my scales.

  The soldiers above us puff up their chests as they watch me, snarling in welcome as we all prepare for the fight.

  “Let's kick some Vaer ass!” Harper yells into the sky.

  The hundreds of dragons above us roar in deafening agreement, and she leaps off the side of the cliff. Her body blurs as she falls, letting the shift take her as she dives with perfect and controlled grace.

  Her beautiful violet wings stretch wide as she sails across the rocks and thundering waves below. With a few powerful beats of her wings, she soars upward, a stunning lilac dragon amongst an ocean of color as her army follows her lead.

  Levi nudges me, his forehead brushing against mine. Ready?

  Ready, I say.

  He and I leap into the air, joining the army, my wings still a little wobbly as my head continues to spin.

  Something tells me that if I get hit again, I won't be able to shift without a few weeks in the hospital—if I'm able to wake up at all from another blow like that.

  But with Zurie after everything and everyone I love, that's a risk I'm willing to take.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Harper leads us over the ocean as its foamy spray mists across my face. The army keeps low, the dark sky masking our approach as we near the embassy.

  I don't recognize this stretch of the coast, but that's not a surprise since I haven't often flown this way.

  If I had to guess, I suspect Zurie wasn't expecting Harper to mobilize so quickly. If anything, the additional troops are very likely to push the tides of the battle into our advantage.

  A thick mist rolls over us, and it's hard to see more than hazy silhouettes as we dart into the fog. Only the beat of leathery wings on the air and the crash of the ocean breaks the silence.

  There's no breath. No growling. No indication at all that we’re even here.

  As we fly, we begin to hear the roar of battle. Snarls. Men yelling.

  The occasional explosion.

  With every beat of my wings, we get nearer to war.

  Island rock appears through the mist as we funnel through a channel, and a tense surge of adrenaline warns me that we're almost there.

  The battle rages on ever closer. Ever louder.

  There's a shift in the air, just the silent and subtle indication that something is different.

  I look above me as a familiar lilac dragon sinks through the mist toward me. She hovers overhead, perfectly matching my speed, and drops her tail until it touches my back.

  Go in and make a scene, Harper says, briefly glancing down at me as she speaks through the open connection. Make sure everyone knows you're here.

  I nod.

  Now, that I can do.

  She beats her wings harder, soaring ahead and disappearing into the mist once again. Moments later, the army around me banks suddenly upward, following a cue I didn't catch. Levi and I join them as we race away from the water.

  The din of battle gets louder.

  In a sudden rush, we break through the mist and into a war zone.

  Flames rage from most of the embassy’s windows. A few towers lay in ruin, nothing but rubble and dark rock. Fires rage in the forest, not yet uncontrolled but getting there. Black smoke curls into the sky from a dozen different places as the raging fires cast an orange hue across the fields and forests surrounding the embassy.

  Anti-dragon tanks cover most of the open grass I can see, occasionally firing more missiles into the sky. Soldiers cover the ground, and dragons fill the air.

  Explosions rock the sky from a thousand different battles, all happening at once.

  It's chaos.

  My favorite kind of crazy.

  Harper leads the army into the fray, soaring high into the air as we break through the clouds—the reinforcements no one saw coming.

  But she already gave me my mission.

  I careen toward the roof and land, the black tile cracking beneath me as I don't even try to soften my fall.

  Levi lands on the roof beside me as I prepare to make myself known.

  And I roar.

  I scream into the sky as firelight dances across my iridescent scales. I reach deep within, accessing every ounce of strength and fire I have within me to make sure the bellow is heard.

  It screeches through the sky, echoing off every mountain, every tree, and I carry it to the end of my breath as my chest resonates with the mighty thunder of my voice.

  Below me, silence settles across the battlefield as heads turn toward me in shock. I snarl, my lips curling, and I decide it's time for a little show.

  My dragon burns with mischievous glee as magic builds in my throat. White light shimmers across my scales, ready and oh-so-willing to cause a little mayhem.

  I'm ready to show these assholes what they're messing with.

  I can feel the magic brimming, growing, stretching within me, becoming ever more and ever stronger.

  I know this is going to be uncontrolled, so I'm careful to lift my head into the sky far above me, where no dragons are currently flying. I'm trying to show off here, not kill anyone, and I have no idea what my magic can even do in my dragon form.

  Guess we’re going to find out.

  As my magic reaches a head and I can no longer hold it back, I release a blinding blast of light into the sky. It catches the low-hanging clouds and carries through them like a thousand bolts of lightning. The magic ripples through the stormy air, turning the clouds into an ocean of thunder and lightning.

  Harper wanted a show—and I gave one.

  A cheer rises from the troops below, and I see several tanks turn and flee. Ground troops begin to run away from the embassy—away from me—and I let them go.

  I have more important things to tend to, and I did what needed to be done. With fewer troops, the Spectres, Knights, and Vaer have just lost a very crucial advantage.

  Harper leads her troops into a sharp dive, her claws outstretched as she grabs the nearest Vaer dragon and digs her talons deep into its hide. The Vaer screams in pain, but Harper is beyond caring.

  She's not even in Boss Mode anymore. She's in full-on war mode, and anything that's not a Fairfax dragon is at risk of dying tonight.

  The panicked surge of battle rises again as the three armies of our enemies now have to contend with a second wave of troops from the Fairfax.

  In the main courtyard down below, Russell takes on five of the dark Vaer dragons at once, his claws and teeth a blur as he sinks them into his opponents. Dazzling yellow magic sparks across his skin as he aims a blast at one of the Vaer who tries to latch onto his back. The dragon is knocked backward, a hole in its chest as it takes out a section of the wall with its death throes.

&nb
sp; Oh, good.

  Russell's fine. I don't need to worry about him.

  I scan the crowd looking for Kinsley, but as far as I can tell, she's not here.

  Figures.

  I scan the crowd next for Zurie, but in the chaos, I can't find a small human among dragons—and a stealthy one at that. I figure it'll be a little while before I can pinpoint where she is.

  There's also no sign of Tucker or Irena, and I bristle with dread.

  To my delight, however, a familiar fire dragon and a beautiful black thunderbird soar toward me. Jace and Drew land on the roof and nuzzle me briefly, flickers of gratitude slipping through their fragmented connections as they brush my skin.

  It's enough to know I'm a welcome addition to the fight, and they're grateful I'm okay.

  Solid entry, Drew says through the connection. And I'm going to screw your brains out when this is over because that was hot as hell, woman. Good God.

  I laugh, puffs of hot air rushing through my nose as he makes me chuckle. Let's focus on not dying first.

  Are you okay? Jace says, his beautiful blue eyes locking on me.

  I've been better, I admit. I'm not at full power, but they don't have to know it. You?

  Never better, he lies, his eyes dancing with mischief.

  With everything going on right now, I decide to pick my battles. I’m just glad you’re okay. Where's Tucker?

  Jace snorts. Kicking ass in the south fields. That man is deadly with a rifle.

  Have you seen Zurie?

  Not yet, Drew interjects. Several Spectres, but no Ghost.

  And Irena?

  Killing every Spectre she finds, Jace says. She's all over. None of us can keep up with her.

  Yeah, that sounds about right, I admit. Let's go give Tucker a hand.

  We leap off the roof and coast across the battleground to the south fields just beyond the embassy walls. Most of the grass is burning, and I don't even know how Tucker could have gotten out here.

  But that's just how battles work. In the bloodlust, you lose track of things—like where you are, and how you got there.