Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
My dragon wasn’t satisfied. Not even close. The primordial didn’t lay dying at my feet.
The second line cleared the bush. Prepared for my scorching assault, they raised shields while hurling spears and tridents. I ducked and dove through the air, flames tearing free from my throat.
Their weapons melted mid-air. Their screams filled my ears. Music. A lullaby that fed the beast inside me.
Except, as I flew through smoke scented with cooking flesh, a niggle of concern rose. That I had wreaked this destruction… it scared me a little.
Didn’t matter. I refused to care. The primordial wasn’t among them, and I would not stop until he burned.
Death to all!
The remaining warriors reached the clearing. Moving without thought or mercy, I delivered precise, devastating strikes. Their nets wilted into slag. Metal weapons became liquid.
Diving lower, I swooped over them, clawing through anyone left standing. And I loved every moment of it. Mostly. That niggle…
A knot formed beneath my ribs. Who am I?
The dragon answered for me. Vengeance.
The more fire I sprayed, the more screams I heard. A chorus of agony came from every direction. When the few remaining soldiers tried to flee, I didn’t allow it. More fire. More screams. Endless stream of blood. Red, not blue.
Then the battle was over. No more challengers. No more screams.
A river of bodies lay twisted among blackened roots. The smoke was so thick now, it created a hazy canopy overhead. But still, I sought one more.
“Face me,” I roared to the primordial, flying from one end of the island to the other. Searching, searching. No sign of him.
He’d retreated? Or never even showed? “Coward!” I bellowed, landing in the center of the carnage, chest heaving.
The worst of the fury receded, and my vision righted, colors returning. But exhaustion slammed into me. I stumbled back to the stone and slumped against it, blinking grit from my eyes. My hand throbbed, but I’d started healing, tendons sprouting. Then muscle and flesh. Then a little pinky nub.
There was also a gash in my side; it was healing, too, though not as quickly as it should have. I was burning through my healing energy rapidly.
Which wasn’t surprising. A berserkerage always emptied a berserker.
Weakness surged to my limbs. My knees buckled. Impact flattened my lungs.
A hysterical laugh seeped from me, half sob, half triumph. If the primordial came back… if a new round of mers arrived…
No way I could survive. Not here. Not out in the open like this.
I tried to crawl somewhere, anywhere safe. Footsteps reached my ears. Heavy. Deliberate.
Heart thudding, I craned my face around, fire already blooming in my throat—and froze.
Gunnar and a dozen kraken warriors stalked into the hollow. Their hair and clothing soaking wet, as if they’d just emerged from the sea. Each man and woman clutched a weapon.
Relief flooded me. Friend, not foe. “Here,” I called with all the strength I could muster.
The bodyguard’s eyes crackled with ferocity, but the second he spotted me, his vehemence morphed from anger into concern. “Do not look at her,” he commanded the others, marching forward to block me with his body. “Turn around and go back to the shore. Now.”
They obeyed without hesitation, asking no questions as they pivoted on their heels. In seconds, they vanished beyond the trees.
“Primordial?” I asked him.
“Fled,” he replied.
I gnashed my teeth.
Then some of his other words registered. Not look at me? Frowning, I scanned myself. Aaah. Okay. I got it. I was naked, covered only in splatters of blood, the dragon scales gone.
“By the deep, princess,” he said roughly, scanning the carnage before sheathing his blades. “Let’s get you covered.” He stripped off his shirt and tossed it in my direction.
I sagged back against the stone, on the last of my reserves. The garment landed in my lap. Arms trembling, I donned it.
Only then did he look at me. He catalogued each of my injuries, something grim and reverent settling into his expression. “The king is repairing the dome. He sent us through the hole to get you.” He edged closer, slow and steady, as if he feared startling me. “When he returns, heads will roll.”
“I’ll help,” I murmured. I didn’t care how afraid of myself or others I was; I didn’t want him going in alone.
“You will help best by recovering. I swear to you, I will die before I let anyone else harm you.”
I remembered how much he adored Sebastian, and I believed him.
But I still fought against the pull to rest as he lifted me in his arms, gentle, so gentle, and clasped me against his chest. Fought even as he carried me through the forest. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to sleep again, no matter how desperate the need was. My mind shouted, Too vulnerable.
“The king will never forgive himself for this,” Gunnar admitted softly.
“He did nothing wrong.” I didn’t blame Sebastian. Nein, this travesty lay at the primordial’s door. “Where’s Sebastian?” I asked, lids as heavy as rocks. Nein, nein. Stay awake! “He vanished.” Wait. “Did you say he is repairing the dome?”