Chapter 17: Chapter 17

STORM

She is back. Jinx is inhabiting the body of Silver, and the difference between twin souls is indistinguishable because they share identical physiques.

However, now Silver’s violet eyes are completely blue like the night she brought back my Lost Horde…and it makes my heart clench in acknowledgement.

This is indeed Jinx, returned in this fight to the death.

And not just from the eye-color change but the way she now stands; a little straighter with the confidence of an age-old warrior who has been in fights to the death many times before.

I stand back with my Horde of welcome Gypsies and uneasy, ancient Dragons filled with terror at the presence of the Blood Raven Libitina.

As I watch those blue, blue eyes of my murdered mate, I am flooded with a euphoric déjà vu -—and not the good kind. Imminent dread fills my chest.

I have been here before; I felt that all-consuming rage moments ago, the same rage that I used to kill my mate seven hundred years ago, and now I am seeing her again.

Except now… The rage has completely faded…and it only lingers as a memory.

Everything I feel is reduced to extraordinary guilt because I chained my last chance for a mate, Silver, to a pole.

I threatened to torture her with starvation, dehydration, and eventual banishment in the moments of my weakness and susceptibility to the Blood Raven.

And in spite of all that, ~she~ is the one trying to save us; she is not giving into terror or the mere extraordinary presence of a Blood Raven.

Silver submitted to her twin’s spirit to protect us.

And to save me.

I can see it from the aura surrounding Silver’s body, a mother’s instinct, all from love and protection.

A kind spirit sent to save us even though the Blood Raven is looking for that last life to add to her Belt of Retribution.

That horrifying thing… Each skull is bashed, broken, or missing chunks. From ~my~ hands.

That type of knowledge is almost unbearable to acknowledge…and so I force myself to stare at it, to be brave like my beautiful, courageous, and perfect mate, Silver.

She has inspired me to be better.

“Prepare to meet your end.” It is Jinx speaking, and she does not fail to glance into my eyes, ~winking~ at me.

The reference to humor is so stark in my overwhelming guilt that I can barely register what to do. Instead, I stay silent.

And I watch the initiation of the fight before me, knowing in my heart…somehow…knowing completely…that Silver and Jinx will triumph, and that the Sky Gods are on our side.

“Sky-blue eyes… My dear Jinx…,” the Blood Raven snarls, grinning with gray and yellow teeth. “I’m afraid you’ll be meeting your end twice, and this time your sister will be accompanying you.”

“Let the Sky Gods judge you, ~Libitina~.” I snarl her name, and the Dragons around me echo my statements.

“Let them, Legend of the Sky.” The Blood Raven reaches for her belt and pulls off a skull with a powerful jerk, holding it in her palm…and a blue fire rises from the top, where the brain should be.

~“Impes ignis…”~ At her words, the skull spins…and spins…and it increases in power until it spits ~out~ blue fire.

While it moves, Jinx transforms into Silver’s Dragon form and instantly blows a scorching load of Dragon fire all over Libitina.

But not before the blue fire from the skull has spat out, landed, and caught aflame in gowns, breeches, shirts, and robes of the crowd around us.

The blue flames spreading like spears are strikingly similar to Julius’s talent with fire. In the Tempest Lands, fire was given to all of us, so we made good use of its physical form.

I can only assume the skull she holds is Julius’s.

Screaming erupts around us in the midst of the onslaught, as Silver’s Dragon prances backward, holding her head high to wait for the Blood Raven’s ashes after her offensive move of engulfing fire.

However, Libitina stands holding her skull, no longer alight in blue flame.

Jinx is testing the Blood Raven’s demeanor, looking for a weakness as her eyes narrow.

“My Belt of Retribution protects me,” Libitina hisses happily with a grin while I grab Kix to me as he hops by, his boot on fire.

With a wave of my hand, I extinguish his flames, and he collapses to his knees in relief, thanking me.

However, I truly don’t hear or see him. My eyes cannot leave Jinx’s blue-shaded gaze, and my ears are attuned to the fight.

I want to remember this battle for all of eternity. I feel in my bones that there is sweetness left at the end of all this pain.

~“You harmed others; that is outside our agreement for a battle between us,”~ Jinx’s tone roars through all our minds with vengeance of her own.

~“You are a sorry excuse for a Blood Raven. Your only tactic is trying to goad me and bait me into a reckless rage.~

~“I will stand my ground unflinchingly and watch your bones burn, even as my spirit finally passes on in peace into the next realm… I will win, and I will watch you burn.”~

“You have to win ~first~ for that, my dear Jinx.” Libitina throws aside one skull into the dirt and reaches for another skull.

“Guess who this one is? Kai…! You should know what happens if I light this one up.

“We’ll see a torrent of hail so sharp, many will have their bodies pierced with the ice rained down from the storm clouds so generously gathered by your scared mate over there…”

Libitina clearly wants to distract Jinx by lying about a terror I no longer feel, but luckily, Jinx does not flinch or glance at me, and I am so proud of her resilience.

This time, the Blood Raven doesn’t hesitate to grab the skull and scream the words to harm more innocents in the camp.

~“Calatio crustallos!”~ The call for the lethal hail is deadly and sudden as the skull lights up with silver fire.

~“Storm, protect with me,”~ Jinx calls to me, and my whole spine shivers as her voice cascades through my mind. ~“Everyone take cover. Leave the battleground.”~

“~Amica mea~, my love,” I murmur to her form as I agree, nodding, and I transform into my Dragon as she flies through the air, breathing out fire to burn up the dagger-shaped hail.

The sky rumbles with thunder and darkens as the shards twinkle down, brightening the sky with rainbow reflections of the fire’s light.

Our Dragon scales protect us from most of the shards, and only a couple hit tender nerves as we fly over the camp, protecting the Horde.

In this moment of unison in flight, I have both my mates back…and I know I will cherish this memory for the rest of my life.