Chapter Twenty Seven: Suluk’s P.O.V.

One second Ava was beside me, unharmed and listening to what was happening, then next I'm thrown from her. I've been searching for her, but can't find anyone I had come here with just a moment ago. I can't even link with Kieren; can't focus on anything except this ringing in my ears and my panic from being separated from Ava. Someone tapping my shoulder makes me turn and swing. Prepared for a fight with whoever is dumb enough to be touching me right now; that's until I see Kieren. His shadows are up, as if they'll fight me. I see his mouth moving, but hear nothing. I shake my head and point to my ears, unaware of what is happening. His brows scrunch together as he steps closer to have a quick look. The warm tingling sensation lets me know that something was wrong, but he's fixing it.

  "How is that?" I finally hear his voice as the intense ringing subsides.

  "Better. What the hell just happened?!" I look around and really assess what is happening, now that I have my bearings about me again. My spine locks as I catch the scent of Ridge on the wind for a brief moment. "Kieren… I-"

  "I know. I smell him too. But then another smell came through, he's not alone. I sent my shadow to go look while things were being flown around. What I've gathered is that he's here, just flying above where we can't see him and he has a wizard on his back. That stupid wizard did all this! He sent a bolt of lightning down." Kieren should have a calm demeanor, especially since he's the only one who knows what is going on. However, that is far from the case.

  "OK? So what does that mean now?" I ask while looking around for anyone else.

  "From the bit of argument I managed to catch, they weren't supposed to attack yet. Ridge made him because he saw Ava and got pissed! That means he's going to target her for some reason." Kieren sounds as confused about that new fact, as I am.

  "I know Ava is a human, but that doesn't make any sense? Why would he target her? Shouldn't he be targeting us?" We're both stumped for a while, until Kieren nearly lights up with a thought.

  "She said once ,when we had just met her, that he had burned her village to the ground! That there were purple flames so hot that not even the rain could put them out."

  "Yeah? What does that have to do with anything? He does that whenever he feels like it?" My confusion grows even more.

  "Usually, but what if it wasn't random? What if that village did something to actually make him mad? What if he burned it for a reason and he didn't want anyone to survive? What if he spotted her that night, thought she was gone and is seeing her now? That would set him off! He'd be too busy trying to get rid of her to focus on us. This might be the chance we need!" His eyes are focused, set on this idea even if it doesn't sit well with me.

  "You want to use my mate as bait?! No way!" We both freeze. I hadn't actually claimed her as my mate out loud to anyone yet, with the exception of her. I have no doubt he knew, but actually saying it is something else. It's like solidifying it for everyone else and sending that out into the universe.

  "Your mate? Does she know?" His voice is low, as if he's trying not to let anyone else hear, like we're not alone right here.

  "I said something about it, but I haven't actually talked to her about it yet. I figured we should survive this battle and then we'd go from there. Actually talk about what that means and what we could agree upon after."

  "Good plan. We'll in that case we should go find her. Or try to find someone who knows if she's alright." He pats my shoulder and leads us through the storm. Nearly falling into the hole that was left behind by the bolt of lightning. It's chaos back over here. Several have been injured and rubble obstructs most paths back to the barracks. Screaming for Ava or anyone again, I can't stop the panic that's rising like acid through my chest. Gretta is yelling for help when we tiptoe around the crater. Most of these barracks have been destroyed. Part of a stone wall has fallen onto her. A part that's too heavy for her to lift on her own.

  "We're here. Calm down and breathe soldier." We're right by her side in a matter of seconds. Those are the only words I can think to tell her as her fearful eyes meet mine. She's one of the newbies from last autumn's recruits. She's strong and has a solid work ethic that keeps her mind and body sharp. She was a favorite among Kieren and I, even if we won't admit that out loud. She eventually does calm down and we manage to get the wall off of her. "Go help others who are stuck. We'll find you later when we have everything else sorted out. For now stick to the plan after you've told everyone." It's not much, but it's the only direction I can give her right now.

  "We need to get to our places quickly!" Kieren is worried and I can feel it pulsing down the link, but I can't help it. Can't stop this panic from rising further.

  "What about Ava?!" My fear and anger are getting the best of me.

  "Over on the other side one of my shadows picked up their scents. Her and Zipporah are fine and have moved to safety. They know where to go and what they'll be doing. Even if Ava doesn't know that we'll be using her as bait, it'll work out. It might actually be better that way as to not cause suspicion and keep everyone on track." His reassurance is falling a bit flat, but I know what he means. I now understand fully why Ava didn't want us to be together during this. It's because all I can think about is her safety and protection. I know she's capable of a lot more than that scared, malnourished, girl she was when I brought her here. I've seen it in recent months when she was sparring with the others. That logic doesn't override these emotions like I hoped it would. I'll just have to push them to the side until later when we have time for such worries.

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Luckily Ridge had gone back over the wall to regroup with the others. Probably telling them about what little he could see on this side. Or to explain about how he messed up and let everyone over here know they were already planning their entry to the kingdom. Either way, it gave us enough time to get everyone caught up and to their battle stations. Kieren had to double check to make sure that Ava and Sevanah were together to calm my nerves, and keep me focused on the task at hand.

  Now just waiting for them to break through the gate and start enacting our plan, blizzard or not we won't fail. Watching what little of my breath puffs out in front of me, pulling my hood down a bit more to keep the snow out of my eyes, I look around to the others beside me. We're lined up just a few feet away from the trench, archers and fire users ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Waiting with bated breath for them to break through that gate and start enacting their plan. Just when I think they're going to take a break and regroup, the doors crash open. Pieces of sandstone flying through the snow to skid right up by our feet.

  I don't have to tell them anything, archers start to release arrows, while myself and a few others set fire to the trench. The dragons shift, allowing those with fire magic who can not fly time to crawl onto our backs before we take off. I've never been more thankful for Kieren making us practice, then I am now! We don't even have to think twice to be able to hit every ball of tar that's flying through the air, on a straight path towards our enemies. The mage, elves and a few archers that are on my back hold onto my scales for their lives as I slice through the air, trying to use the wind to my advantage to find the ones who are also flying. Taking them down would be preferable to help us win the advantage, but this blizzard is making it near impossible! The only thing that's good about this is that they also can't see or smell us either.

  "Left side!" The lanky, older mage yells. Looking to my left I see the shadow of something. Sniffing hard I realize it's not one of ours. As much as we've all hated living so close to each other for so long, the best thing that came out of it was that now we all know each other's scents so well we don't have to double check who it is anymore. Letting out a stream of fire, I do my best to suppress the roar that usually flows along with it, trying to keep our location as secretive as possible. The deafening screech that follows, just beyond our vision, lets me know that I hit them.

  Soon the flapping of large wings can be heard over the wind, and something is approaching us at breakneck speed. I'd usually just dodge, but with people on my back I can't do that as smoothly as I'd like to. Instead, relaying the message that they need to hold on, I do my best to duck just underneath the massive purple dragon that's headed directly for us. Seeing the bright yellow of their underbelly barely miss scratching herself on my horns, right before the mage and elves go to work on using their fire to consume her wholly. The agonizing scream of pain she lets out echoes, like a beacon to our location. Doing my best I try to maneuver us through the chaos in the sky, but Ridge knows where we are. I can feel it in the air right before purple and blue flames graze underneath my front two feet.

  Using the storm to our advantage, I was able to barely move us out of harm's way, but my feet will be sensitive to the cold when we land. I smell the paranoia coming from my back, a sickening smell that reminds me of molded flowers and oil that has been burnt for too long. The smell is making my stomach churn slightly and my nose sting. The flames may not have hit them, but it was too close for comfort, that's for sure. This is going to force me to land sooner if they can't get their emotions under control. Their smell will draw too many to our locations, and I can't fight like I want to with them still riding me.

  'How are you doing?' Kierens voice is deeper, more rough and thick in my head and that lets me know that he's in his dragon form as well.

  'Can't fight right with them on my back. Ridge burned the bottom of my feet, but I'll live. Can't see shit in this storm though! How about you guys? Anything over there yet?' My own voice sounds deeper and husky as well when it echoes around in my head before running down the link towards him.

  'Some of the newbies are panicking. Trying to help them, but I'm not sure how much longer I can do that. About to have to leave them here and go help somewhere else. This is the part I hate the most.' The sadness and pain in his voice seems to bounce off of my own. We do our best to train them for fights, but it's nothing compared to the experience they'll learn in a real battle, like tonight. It still never makes the loss any easier, even when we know we've done all we can before, during and after a fight.

  'Me too. About to drop them off at the trenches again and see what kind of damage I can actually do. Good luck brother.' I feel his sentiment float back towards me before the link goes eerily silent again.

  Doing just as I told him, I landed where we had all started and let them slide off. A few patches of bright red snow can be seen around us, but luckily no bodies yet. Their panic rises slightly, before the older mage calms them and they take off in one direction while I return to the sky. Nearly running into an eagle shifter should have told me how this was going to go, and yet I'm still a stubborn bastard.

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This fight is being a bit more difficult than we all had anticipated! Between not being able to see a thing, and the wind whipping around in all directions, it's maddening trying to figure out where anyone is. A slice on my wing throws me off my balance slightly. Turning I'm faced with a Phoenix, it's beautiful and wild. Unfortunately it's with the enemy which means that no matter how much I don't want to hurt such a rare and magnificent creature, I have to. My fire won't work on it, just as its own won't work on me. That's why it used its talons to slice my wing. Lunging for it I hold on with all six legs as we start to barrel down, out of the sky. A tangle of limbs, fire, and roaring as we struggle against one another closely, before slamming into the cold, hard ground.

  It's flame fighting to stay alive as the snow tries to snuff it out. Gnashing of fangs, beak, and flapping of wings echo around us and I know that we've landed in the trees. When a branch snaps it draws this fiery bird's attention, giving me the moment I need to sink my teeth into its neck. With a quick thrash of my snout the fight is over, the once majestic bird now laying limp in the snow as its fire slowly sputters out.

  I can't waste time mourning over someone I didn't even know. There are plenty of people who need my help right now, and I have to get to them as quickly as I can. I need to give my wing time to heal, along with my feet. Shifting back into human form I take off running through the trees, on the hunt for anyone else who needs my help or needs to be taken out. Drawing my Khopesh. The curved weapon is a heavy, reassuring weight in my hand. Kieren once thought I was crazy for having picked such a thing, but after seeing it not only slice and bludgeon many enemies but their shields as well he quickly shut up about it.

  Stepping into a gruesome and bewildering scene of a few elves and felines attacking a mage, I'm thrown into action rather quickly. With a quick motion of my arm my shield unfolds to reveal its true size as I draw a long dagger out of its pouch on my thigh. Ready for the fight ahead of us.