The Battle for Dragonkind

MADDIE

Fire filled the sky.

A cloud of multicolored flames blocked out the sun with its own overwhelming light.

Dragons, both real and metal, faced off in the sky above Xander University, casting a dark shadow across the campus.

~The visions are coming true.~

Summer took shelter under a stone archway as the heat from the dragons’ fire raged over the grounds.

I knew I should join her, but something was holding me back from retreating for cover.

My mates were in a life-or-death fight for their realm. But because of my powers, I could actually do something about it.

As the dragons clashed in the sky, a war cry erupted from the other side of the campus.

The dragon slayers were attacking.

~Fuck.~

The campus was covered in Freesia’s blood, but that didn’t stop them from advancing on our position. Wearing leather suits of armor that covered them from head to toe, they were safe from the toxic blood.

I ran toward the stone wall that enclosed the campus, and began to climb. From the top I had a better view of the action and could prepare for the dragon slayers’ attack.

I searched the campus until I saw a woman with jet-black hair.

~Zayda.~

She was staring at the battle in the sky, seemingly unaware that another struggle was beginning on the ground.

I followed her gaze and spotted Xythor, surrounded by his horde of robot dragons.

On his back was Xander, holding on to a leather harness attached to the robotic parts of Xythor’s body.

Xander was using Xythor as a metal steed.

It was absolutely disgusting to see a dragon treated like a pack animal.

Flames licked at Xander’s body, but Xythor maneuvered out of danger.

“Maddie! Look out!”

Summer’s voice pulled my focus just in time for me to avoid a spear through the chest. I rolled to the side and popped up on my feet as more spears bounced off the rocky ground where I’d just been standing.

I saw Summer pull herself up on the wall and rush toward me. We clutched one another as the slayers continued their approach.

As the dragons clashed above, fire and ash rained down.

~Will we still be alive to see the world end?~

ZAYDA

~My lover was being ridden like a warhorse!~

My baby kicked hard, causing me to double over in pain. It was as if the child knew its father was in danger.

I returned my gaze to the sky, watching Xythor fight alongside his robot brothers. It was painful to watch him taking blow after blow from the likes of Loch and Hael.

But it was something else entirely to see him protecting ~Xander~.

I’d worked for the maniac, but only because he’d promised me he could unlock my powers.

Instead, he’d used my blood to grow his army of robots to defeat the dragons.

Yes, he’d helped raise Xythor from the dead. But Xythor used to be a dragon, and now he was fighting ~against~ all dragonkind.

Even though I’d helped Xander create this awful nightmare, the slayers treated me as if I were an enemy.

Without Xythor, I felt lost and alone. But with him, I was trapped like a bug under Xander’s thumb.

A warcry pulled me from my trance.

The slayers were on the attack, and they were heading right for Summer and Maddie.

It didn’t matter what happened in the sky… If Xander’s minions succeeded in killing the two humans on the ground, their dragon mates would die as well.

Maddie and I weren’t on great terms, but I refused to see anyone lose to the slayers—especially someone who used to be such a close friend.

I knelt down and touched the blood with my hands, then rubbed the sticky substance between my fingers.

Though dragon’s blood burned human skin like napalm, it didn’t negatively impact the body of a blood raven. In fact, it seemed to give me even more power.

My body pulsed with newfound energy.

I closed my eyes and focused on the powers within.

Filled with the magic of Freesia’s blood, I threw my palms forward and felt a blast of fire shoot out of me and toward the line of slayers that were behind me.

The blast went over their heads and hit the ground in front of them. It exploded like a bomb, sending chunks of bloody earth into the air.

Several of the slayers were thrown back, landing hard on the crimson ground.

Though their suits protected them from the toxic blood, it didn’t protect them from the blasts of my magic.

The ones lucky enough to avoid the initial blast still had to fear the droplets of Freesia’s blood raining down from the sky and seeping into their damaged armor.

Cries of agony tore through the air. Even from my distance, I could see their skin bubbling and smoking.

I sprinted toward the slayers as Maddie and Summer both dropped down from the stone wall.

If we were going to win this battle, we would need more than just the magic of a blood raven.

Maddie swooped down and picked up a bloody sword, immune to the toxic effect.

We joined each other side by side, ready to take on anyone who dared to cross our paths.

Then I heard Xythor’s roar and looked to the sky.

Xythor was cutting through the gouts of fire as he flew headlong toward the ground. Standing on his back was Xander, commanding him toward our position.

“Kill them!” he screamed maniacally.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. He wanted ~Xythor~ to kill us!

Maddie readied her sword, and I began to gather my power from within.

It looked like there was no other way. To stop this madness, I’d have to fight my love…

At the last second, Xythor shot upward, catching Xander off guard. The dragon slayer teetered, trying his best to hold on to the harness.

But it was no use.

Xander lost his grip and fell to the ground, slamming into the blood-covered campus. He jumped to his feet, screaming in pain as toxic blood oozed through the tears in his armor.

The skin on his body was already boiling.

Xander grasped his massive sword, the steel etched with symbols of the dragon slayers.

Maddie sprinted toward her father, ready to strike, but was tackled by a slayer.

The two struggled as they rolled on the ground.

Xander looked at me with madness in his eyes.

“You bitch!” he snarled. “I did nothing but help you. And this is how you repay me!?”

His blade sliced through the air, but I was too fast for Xander’s tired arm. He might have been a dragon slayer, but he was old and rusty.

I dodged another slash and felt the stone wall that surrounded Xander University against my back.

I chanced a glance and saw Maddie on top of her adversary. She was pushing the slayer’s face into the blood, and the smoke rising off his skin looked suffocating.

Xander’s blade narrowly missed my head, striking the stone and sending sparks flying between us.

I ran toward the protection of the stone archway, hearing Xander’s footsteps splashing after me.

I tried to push through the burning sensation in my legs, but I was growing tired. After all, I was fighting for two…

I spun around, meeting Xander’s menacing form. His face was a grotesque mask of horror. The skin was black and covered in boils, and only one eye looked as if it could still see.

“I’m gonna skewer you like a pig. And then I’ll take apart your lover, piece by piece.”

Xander stepped toward me, his sword dripping blood. If I didn’t find a quick solution, it would soon be dripping with my blood too.

There was nowhere for me to run…and that was exactly how I wanted it.

I was tired from my efforts, but there was still enough life left in me to do one final blast of damage.

I kicked my foot in the air, sending toxic blood toward Xander’s face.

Xander lurched forward, swinging his sword wildly.

I barely avoided the blade, but managed to hurry out from under the stone arch.

With the last of my energy reserve, I gathered my magic and shot a blast of fire at the archway.

The giant stones broke apart and crumbled to the ground, smashing Xander underneath.

His shrill scream was soon drowned out by the weight of the stones crushing his body.

In that moment, a devastated cry sounded through the air. Soon, more and more voices joined in until the sound created a horrendous wail.

The slayers knew that they had lost the battle.

Xander was finally dead.

MADDIE

I heard the muffled screams of my father as the stones crushed him.

Zayda was standing on Xander’s side at the start of the battle, but in the end, she’d chosen the dragons’ side.

I couldn’t believe that it was over.

Xander was gone.

And ~Zayda~ had been the one to do it.

I’d dreamed of taking the life of the man who had upended my world when I was just a small child.

He was the one who had thrown me out into the cruel world. In some ways, he was the reason I had become the person I was…

Explosions sounded off behind me, ripping my attention from the collapsed archway.

The campus looked like the surface of some alien world… Geysers were erupting fountains of blood high into the air.

My eyes settled on ~Freesia’s Rock~.

The blood at its base was bubbling violently as if Freesia were a part of the battle!

I didn’t know what the hell would happen next, but it didn’t look right.

My mates were still fending off robots in the sky, so I continued to keep my focus on the battle on the ground.

I sprinted across the campus, slipping and sliding on blood as the ground erupted around me.

The slayers unlucky enough to still be there were bearing the brunt of the damage.

Blood cascaded over their bodies, burning their exposed skin and killing them in the worst way imaginable—slow and painful.

If Freesia had started the curse with a song and a sacrifice, perhaps a song would help end the horrible curse. There’d already been more than enough sacrifice on this bloody day…

Zayda had killed my father, but ~I~ would break the curse.

I closed my eyes and recalled the tune of Freesia’s song. Within seconds I heard the words echo in my head and sang them aloud.

~“Oh, dark is the wind…~

~“When it blows through the cave…~

~“And the wolf gets the poor shepherd’s flock.”~

I opened my eyes.

Nothing changed!

The bubbling at the base of the rock looked worse than before.

I felt a presence at my side and looked up to see Zayda. She was staring at the rock, mesmerized by its magic.

I wanted to warn her that it was no use: the curse couldn’t be broken…

Zayda closed her eyes, opened her mouth and began to sing.

At first, the blood bubbled and frothed. But after a few moments, something happened.

The blood began to recede! It was seeping back into the earth of the campus.

The crimson sheen that reflected the dragon’s fire was lost. Even though the grass was still stained red, the blood was gone!

I stood in complete awe.

Zayda had sung Freesia’s Song, and saved us all.

One by one, the robots began to fall to the ground.

The campus was in shambles.

Buildings and archways had collapsed in on themselves, creating a living tomb out of the once grand university’s buildings.

I heard my mates’ roars and realized the battle was over. We had won!

But I still couldn’t help but feel defeated…

Now there was no doubt whatsoever—I wasn’t the second coming of Freesia.

~Zayda~ was…