Age of Dragons

by Olivia Ash

  Despite the chaos, I try to keep Guy in my peripheral vision. He fiddles with the gun, reloading it, thinking he has a moment to recover.

  Idiot.

  He should have used that moment to fire at her.

  Yeah, it would have given me a chance to escape. To recover and maybe go on the offense. But he has a clear shot and a distracted target.

  And he’s wasting this chance.

  Zurie lifts the blade over her head and brings it down toward my face, probably hoping she can hit me hard enough to kill me with one blow.

  With no other options. I block my face with the iron cuffs around my hands. The metal reverberates with a vicious twang as her dagger recoils off the iron. Sparks fly as metal hits metal, and we both grit our teeth, trying to recover after the vicious blow.

  The click of a gun cocking interrupts us, and Zurie instinctively rolls backward as Guy fires. This time, however, she grabs my chains and drags me with her, rolling me on top of her and trying to stab me while she uses me as a shield.

  Damn, I hate this woman.

  She digs the blade into my shoulder, and I grimace in agony as the pain ripples down my arm. She was probably aiming for my neck, but missed in all the chaos.

  That's a good sign. If she's missing, she's not on her game. And if she's not on her game, I have a better chance of killing her.

  Guy hesitates, not willing to kill me just yet as he tries to aim his gun towards Zurie in the brief moments when her head appears over my shoulder. I grimace as she pulls the dagger out of my shoulder, no doubt ready to stab me again.

  Even though I have limited movement with my hands bound in front of me, I do my best to wrap the chains around Zurie's wrists. She impulsively pulls back, but it’s too late. The metal links are already wound around her right hand.

  As she tries to shake them off, I violently yank my hands away. The bones in her wrists shatter as the metal chains tighten, and she groans in agony.

  I only have a moment before she recovers, and I use it well. I press my upper back against her, pinning her to the ground. With all of the strength I have left, I swing the cuffs over my head, knowing that I'm going to hit at least something.

  I smack her hard in the skull, and I hear a crack—one that's not the cuffs.

  With her face twisted with pain, she shoves me off of her. It's a violent and sudden movement, and with no way to stop my momentum, I roll across the dirt. The chain connected to the iron cuffs on my hands tangles around me as I tumble, momentarily pinning my arms to my sides as I slide across the ground. I wriggle, trying to break free, but for the moment, I'm pinned.

  Awesome.

  Frantic, I fight the chain wrapped around my arms. If I can just stand, I can slide these off.

  Guy and Zurie face each other. He lifts the gun and fires off a shot as she ducks behind a tree. He hesitates, the barrel raised as he waits for an opening. Zurie, meanwhile, pauses on the other side of the trunk to recover. She holds her hand to her forehead, wincing, and it looks like my hit was better than I thought.

  Step two is still in effect. I eye the remote on Guy's belt as his finger hovers over the trigger.

  Zurie is clearly dazed, but she's been in worse scrapes than this. She lowers to the ground, preparing herself for the fight.

  I won't have long to grab that remote.

  No doubt eager to get Guy’s weapon from him, Zurie flings a fistful of dirt into the air—right into Guy's face. He winces, cursing under his breath.

  “I can't see!” he shouts, the gun wildly waving in the air.

  She charges him and knocks him to the ground, the two of them wrestling as she reaches time and time again for the handgun in his palm.

  That only makes me wriggle harder, knowing I absolutely must get free of these chains. Zurie cannot get that gun. That would make everything worse. It's loaded, and even one shot from that can kill me.

  I grit my teeth, the ringing in my ears getting worse the more I move. I'm running on empty and should have seen a doctor over an hour ago, maybe more depending on how long I was out while Guy dragged me through the forest.

  Even when I get these cuffs off, I know I'll be running on fumes. I'm not at full power, which is very bad given who my opponent is.

  Zurie— the best assassin in the world.

  Zurie—the woman who taught me everything I know.

  Even at full strength, this would be a difficult battle. I have no idea how I'm going to pull this off as dazed and wounded as I am now, but I have no choice.

  There is no facing Zurie again. Whether it's her or me, one of us is dying tonight.

  I finally break free of the chains wrapped around me.

  Thank the gods.

  The two of them still wrestle for the gun. Zurie bleeds from her head, her right wrist shattered. That doesn't faze her, though, and she wields her dagger just as easily with the left. She stabs Guy in the forearm, and he impulsively drops the gun. Her eyes go wide with excitement, even as he punches her in the temple with his other hand. She takes the blow, barely staggering, and stabs him in the shoulder.

  Good. Her aim is still off. That means the blow I gave her was far more devastating than I thought.

  As I get to my feet, I wait for an opening—for any chance to grab the remote. Guy kicks Zurie hard in the stomach, and she grimaces, falling to the ground.

  With me back on my feet, they seem to realize I've joined the fight again. For a moment, the three of us face off against each other, each getting our bearings as we try to figure out who to kill first.

  Zurie wants to kill me, but she probably needs Guy’s gun to do it.

  Guy wants to kill Zurie, but he knows I’m dangerously close to becoming a real threat.

  I want to kill Zurie, but I need to go after Guy. I need that remote.

  Everyone tenses, waiting to see who will strike first.

  Fine. I’ll start this party.

  I launch at Guy, and he turns the gun on me, probably on impulse. I know he won't use it. At worst case, he shoots me in the shoulder or leg to try to slow me down.

  I'll survive.

  Zurie joins the attack, and I realize she was waiting to see if she could use the battle to her advantage. For a brief second, it's two-on-one as she and I gang up against the Fairfax traitor.

  He pivots, aiming the gun at her, but she knocks it aside as I wrap the chains around his neck. He grimaces, his fingers digging into the chains as I choke him. I can’t keep my footing long, unfortunately, and he manages to flip me over his head.

  I sail through the air and fall hard on my back, my head recoiling as it hits the ground hard. I can't contain the pained groan that escapes me as my brain rattles.

  Damn, that hurt.

  Zurie scrambles for the gun, but Guy grabs her arm and twists, forcing her to her knees as he punches her in the temple. She falls toward me, her dagger swinging, and I realized that she probably took the hit intentionally to give her a bit of extra momentum.

  I roll, and her blade digs into the grass where my head was seconds ago.

  My leg swings around, and I manage to kick her hard in the face as Guys scrambles just ten feet away for the gun. I aim another kick at Zurie's throat, but she manages to duck it. As she recovers, she puts some distance between us.

  Good.

  This is my chance.

  I swing the chains at Guy, aiming for his gut. Instead, they smack against his knee, and it throws him off balance.

  Damn.

  To my delight, the remote shakes at his hip, and I realize it's about to fall.

  Things didn’t go as planned, but I can use this to my advantage.

  Gritting my teeth, using whatever strength I have left, I do it again. The chains sail through the air, and I hit the remote just as he grabs the gun. The remote flies into the air and skids along the dirt only ten or so feet away from me.

  I lean forward, trying to get onto my feet and run for the remote.

  But Zurie is just a hair faster.
>
  Her dagger comes again toward my face, and as I lean backward to avoid it, the blade slices my cheek. My face stings, but I have worse things to deal with right now.

  Guy stands, the gun once more in his palm as he raises it towards Zurie. She stands, leaning on the balls of her feet as she tries to figure out which way she needs to roll to avoid the bullet.

  With Zurie occupied, I scramble toward the remote. A gunshot echoes through the air as he fires. The idiot should have waited to get a better shot. As I get closer to the remote, I peek over my shoulder to find Zurie holding her arm.

  He just got her bicep. That's not going to slow her down.

  As I rush across the forest floor, Zurie looks at me. An expression of dread washes over her face as she realizes what I’m doing.

  Ha.

  Took her long enough to figure out my plan.

  “The remote!” she shouts.

  “Yeah, I'm not falling for that,” Guy says, his finger on the trigger as he aims again for her face.

  Zurie scoffs in annoyance, like he's a bothersome insect and not a brutal murderer currently holding a gun to her face. “Idiot. Don't let her—“

  I get to my feet, running the last stretch of the way toward the remote. I lift the cuffs above my head as I near it and slide on my knees, the little black rectangle finally in my reach.

  “No!” they both scream in unison, and I hear them scrambling over the dirt behind me.

  Too late.

  I bring the cuffs down hard on the remote, shattering it.

  The iron orbs hiss and pop apart, and I breathe a sigh of relief as tension lifts from my shoulders, my chest—from everything.

  The restraints are off, and even though I'm not at full power, I won't be bound any longer.

  I glare at Guy and Zurie over my shoulder, smirking with magic and energy as white light dances over my skin. I don't even try to control it. This close to death, after this many close calls, I need all the fuel I can get. I'm seconds from passing out again, and I won't let anything hold me back.

  Not now.

  In the past, I would have taken them both on by myself, mostly out of pride. But I'm not alone anymore.

  Though I don't have much energy to my name, I fire a thin ray of white light into the sky.

  A beacon.

  My men will come.

  I notice something shift in Guy's expression. I can't quite pinpoint it—something between determination and fear. His back arching defiantly, he crushes the gun in his hand.

  Without warning, he shifts. His body blurs and buzzes as his white dragon takes over. The brilliant creature snarls at me, and I figure Guy realized he has a better chance against me as his dragon than as his human self.

  It's a smart call actually,

  If Zurie notices the subtle shift in Guy, she doesn't seem to care. She watches me, furious, heaving and bloody as she stares. Armed with only a dagger, most would think she had already lost.

  But I know her better than that.

  Guy’s no longer important to me. I fire a blast of energy at Zurie, not bothering with him. She rolls out of the way but only just barely. The blast singes her back, tearing a hole in her clothes as little ribbons of smoke billow from her shirt. As she rolls away, I catch a glimpse of the charred skin along her back as she groans in pain.

  I grin in victory, but it doesn't last.

  A surge of nausea and dizziness washes over me, and I stagger, leaning against a tree. That one blast of magic took a lot out of me—far more than I realized it would.

  The ringing in my ears gets worse. It's so deafening, so overpowering, that I almost can't hear anything else. The explosions near the dojo fade, and the edges of my vision blur.

  I don't know how much longer I can stay on my feet. Every second counts.

  Across from me, the white dragon opens his mouth. Frost spreads across his teeth as he summons ice.

  For all intents and purposes, it looks like he's about to shoot me.

  But that doesn't make sense. Since I’m in my human form, that's going to kill me. He has to know that.

  Oh.

  Oh, crap.

  He absolutely knows that. He just doesn't care anymore.

  At this point, he just doesn't want to die.

  That's why he had that strange expression on his face. That was the shift I noticed when I broke free of the cuffs. He realized he was never going to be able to bring me back to Kinsley, that it was an impossible task and one that would kill him if he kept trying. He's given up, and at this point, he just wants out.

  I suspect killing me would just be a nice bonus.

  Damn, there goes the one advantage I had.

  He fires an icy blast into the air, and I barely manage to dart out of the way before it hits. Ice instantly freezes the tree that was behind me, and in the sudden intense cold, the trunk shatters just like my body would have if the blast had hit me instead.

  After rolling out of the way, I’ve changed the layout of our battle. Zurie is now standing between me and Guy, and she dives out of the way as I summon another surge of my magic.

  But my body has been pushed to its limits, and my magic is slow to come.

  Every burst of power I use from this moment on has to be treated like a bullet—finite ammunition I might run out of at any moment

  Every shot counts.

  Guy begins to summon another blast of ice magic as I try to recover. I debate firing my own blast at him, hoping I'm strong enough right now to overpower his ice.

  But honestly, I don't know if I am, and that’s not a risk worth taking.

  There’s a screech through the air like an incoming missile.

  Oh, great. This just keeps getting better.

  Caught between the Fairfax traitor and the incoming threat, I have no choice but to look briefly away from him.

  In the sky, a black shadow appears in the smoky night. It's getting closer by the second, but Guy seems too focused on me to notice.

  As it nears, I recognize the blue glow of my thunderbird.

  I can't help myself. I smile.

  Jace careens into Guy just as the white dragon breathes an icy blast. With Guy thrown off balance, the ice beam flies harmlessly into the air above me. It flings a dusting of snow over the four of us.

  The two dragons break through the trees, toppling oaks as they duel. Last time they met, both men promised to kill the other—and now it would seem they're going to follow through.

  But it's Guy against Jace, and I suspect even Guy knows exactly who will win.

  And I’m left with Zurie.

  In the splinters and rubbles of the fallen trees, Zurie pushes herself to her feet—battered, bruised, and bleeding.

  I do the same, teetering slightly as my world briefly spins.

  We tense, ready to kill each other, ready for the day we both said was coming.

  Zurie spits blood onto the ground. “It's time we end this, Little Lorelei.”

  The painful twinge of that long-buried memory rocks through me, but I don’t let the pain linger. I square my shoulders, my magic rippling across my skin as my dragon fights to stay conscious.

  “Yeah,” I say with a small nod. “I think it's time.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  As distant explosions rock the ground, Zurie and I study each other.

  We're both wounded, both brutal, and both thirsty for blood.

  I want to shift. My dragon wants to shift. But that stupid ringing in my ears won't go away. My legs wobble slightly from the battle thus far, from the trauma and wounds I've sustained. Blood trickles down my shoulder. My fingertips go numb, tingling from the blood loss.

  But I don't have any other choice. It's not like we can pause our battle to go get some gauze and medical tape.

  Zurie attacks, her knife glinting in the orange haze that wafts overhead, and I run on instinct to survive. I lift my arm and block her, letting her forearm slide across mine as I elbow her in the face.

  Magic burns al
ong my skin, and I ache to let it free. It has to be strategic, though. I need to make this count. I’m almost positive I have only one surge of energy remaining, and whatever I do, I cannot miss. White light shimmers along my forearms, building in momentum.

  I just have to make sure I don't die while it builds.

  Zurie pivots, her blade swinging at my throat. I lean back and grab her arm, resting a bit of my weight on her while I pivot on the ball of my foot and kick her broken wrist.

  She grimaces in pain and drops the dagger. I grab it midair, snatching it before it can even hit the ground.

  Without missing a beat, I swing at her. She ducks, the painfully sharp blade slicing off a bit of her hair as she barely avoids a devastating blow.

  Again and again, I dive for her.

  Swinging.

  Jabbing.

  Stabbing.

  And missing every time.

  Her dark eyes are focused on me as she pivots and parries the blade. She lifts her arms, blocking my next blow. Her right arm wraps around mine, careful to avoid her broken wrist. Her left hand grabs the wound in my shoulder and squeezes. Hot blood bubbles out of me as she presses her thumb into the injury, and I bite back an agonized scream.

  I manage to grip the knife through her attack, but only barely. I almost drop it, and just to spite her, I push through the pain and kick her sharply in the gut.

  She doubles over, but Zurie is never out for long. She recovers quickly and kicks my feet out from under me.

  I fall with the knife still gripped tightly in my hand, and I nearly land on the blade. I barely twist my body in time to avoid a dagger to the gut.

  Unfortunately, that means I lose my hold on it.

  She grabs my wrist and kicks me hard in the knee. The shockwave of the blow loosens my grip despite how hard I cling to the hilt, and I fall to the ground. She kicks me hard in the gut, tossing me back across the dirt and leaves.

  Damn it, she's armed again.

  I grimace, my hands unconsciously holding my stomach as I try to recover. Black and white dots flutter through my vision, threatening to knock me out cold.