by B M Griffin
Aurora glanced behind her quickly, taking note of all of the warriors surrounding her, waiting to fight with her. It seemed everyone was antsy to take down the Shaitan, battle axes drawn, and all of the shifters had already transformed ready to rip off some heads. Aurora was truly proud to be their Maharani; honored that they put their faith in her and fought by her side no matter the weight of the battle they were facing. They were going to win this battle; they had to. They all deserved some time to enjoy their lives without the constant fighting.
Aurora’s attention was brought back to the lair when she heard Silas begin to speak. He was stopped just in front of a mountain. From the outside the mountain looked to be one solid formation with no possible entryway. “Raisalla mungradilla!” Silas shouted.
A loud cracking echoed around them and Aurora watched in silence as the mountain side rose from the earth like it was no more than a shade being pulled up to let the light in through a window. Everyone was caught off guard by this sight and Silas took it as an opportunity, just as Aurora had expected he would. Just before he shifted into his massive snake form he screamed as loud as he could, “It’s an attack!”
Aurora didn’t even wait the seconds it would have taken for Andros and Gregor to get to the vile serpent. She focused on the traitor and lheeped. She landed on the back of Silas in his snake form. Mid lheep she shifted, and as soon as she landed on him she brought her dragon teeth down hard, just below his head. The force of her bite was so strong that she tore completely through his flesh until her top and bottom teeth were flush against each other, and when she stood back up Silas’ head dropped to the ground in front of her feet.
Aurora barely had time to step away from Silas’ body before the Shaitan converged on her. As she began ripping through their flesh, quickly getting covered in the black sludge of their blood, she reached out for Gregor with her senses. So much was going on, so many people fighting all around her that she hadn’t been able to find him in the crowd. It was difficult to concentrate on their bond as Shaitan after Shaitan came after her, and they were new to communicating through their bond so they didn’t have a lot of practice and Aurora was struggling to make the connection. “Gregor! Gregor!” she called out in her mind hoping he would hear her.
Something large and strong was suddenly against her back and Aurora felt a calm she had not expected given the current situation, and it soothed her frantic mind. Even in their dragon forms, and fighting for their lives, Gregor’s touch brought her peace. Something she had never realized she was missing before they met, but it grounded her now and helped her focus as she fought her way through the Shaitan that kept coming at her.
“Enough!”
Aurora whipped her head around at the sound of her father’s voice. He stood about twenty feet away in the center of the mountain lair smiling in her direction. Her focus was quickly drawn away from him and to the broken body trying with all its might to get to its feet. “Camille.” Her friend’s name escaped her lips in a whisper. She looked so broken. It was hard to imagine her strong, gargoyle friend brought to her knees.
Gregor moved forward and Aurora sensed his plan to attack. He planned to rip her father apart, and not just for her but for her people…for Camille. How had she gotten so lucky? He was going to be a great leader, side by side, they just had to win this battle first and that meant she had to stop him. Gregor had proven his strength in a very short period of time, but he didn’t know her father. He didn’t know the strength or skill that Matthias possessed; after all, it was from him she had inherited her own abilities.
“It took you long enough,” Matthias taunted. “I thought you cared for Camille, but you left her here with the enemy and look what happened.” Matthias reached down and wrapped his hand around Camille’s upper arm, then he lifted her up and held her so Aurora could get a full view of the damage her friend had suffered.
Aurora’s eyes flashed and she bared her teeth. “Let her go!”
A flash of red passed by Aurora. “Andros!”
Andros made it to Camille, but before he could get away a bright gold light surrounded him. Andros freed Camille from Matthias’ grasp and threw to Aurora, but he was fast enough. Aurora screamed when her father’s massive black claw wrapped around Andros’ neck. As big as Andros was, Matthias was bigger and stronger. At eight-foot-tall, Aurora’s father was one of the largest dragon shifters her people had ever seen…well, he had been before Gregor.
Gregor lunged for her father but was quickly knocked back with Matthias’ free claw. Gregor was a giant in his own right, but Matthias had centuries of experience as a fighter and he was incredibly strong. Matthias met Aurora’s gaze then let his eyes fall to Camille’s body in Aurora’s arms. “This one’s on you, my daughter.” The claw wrapped around Andros’ neck began glowing so brightly Aurora nearly turned away to protect her eyes, but when she heard Andros scream she could not look away. No longer was Andros in dragon form, her father had forced him to shift back, and in a moment’s time Andros was burned to ashes right in front of her eyes.
“No!..No!” Camille screamed. Andros’ death giving her a new-found strength and she jumped from Aurora’s arms, but she wasn’t strong enough to even shift. Aurora saw her form flicker as she tried and failed.
Aurora understood Camille’s need to fight Matthias, to avenge Andros, because she had loved him, but Aurora couldn’t watch another person she cared about be murdered at her father’s hands. Aurora jumped out in front of Camille and wrapped her large body and wings around Camille just before the heat of her father’s flames engulfed Aurora’s back.
“I’ll kill you!” Gregor cried out.
Panic rushed through Aurora. “Beltran! Bertram! Protect her!”
The gargoyle rushed forward, quickly taking Camille from Aurora and leaping into the air. The massive stone wings propelling them quickly away from Matthias. Aurora turned to see her father and Gregor. Gregor was hurt. She could see blood dripping down his face, and when he moved she saw that he favored his right leg indicating he was in pain. Aurora’s back was still hot and throbbing from the flames her father had intended for Camille, but she would heal eventually and there was no time to worry about physical pain. If her father took out Gregor the pain of that loss would be her end.
Fear and rage filled Aurora until it was all she could feel. Focusing on Matthias, Aurora brought her claws together and forced all of her power into the ball of fire forming between her palms, a fire so hot the flames turned blue. Aurora had to use all of her strength to control the flames as she pulled her arms apart and the ball grew until it spanned the width of her great arms. She looked at Gregor and focused on their binding link. “Fly away,” she told him without speaking. Gregor didn’t need to look her way to know she had a plan. He spread his wings and flew straight up, barely missing another blow from her father.
Matthias turned her way with his jaw open, flames rolling from deep within his soul aimed straight for Aurora, but he didn’t have a chance. Aurora pushed her arms forward sending the white-hot ball of fire barreling toward her father. Aurora saw Matthias’ eyes grow wide for a second before large black wings shot out from his back and he shot up, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid her fireball entirely. Matthias’ shriek was so loud it drowned out all other sounds around them when the blue flames engulfed his lower body. Sounds of approval echoed around her as her people watched the all-powerful Matthias take a staggering blow, but Aurora did not share in their cheers. She couldn’t because she this fight was far from over.
The ground shook when Matthias landed in front of her, then Aurora was thrown through the air. “You would kill me! Your own father!” Matthias shouted at her as he moved her way.
Aurora jumped up from the ground landing on her feet and met her father’s angry stare. “You are trying to kill me and all of Tanzahar’s people!”
Matthias shook his head. “I had no intentions of killing you.” The anger seemed to fade from his eyes as he looked at her. “I wan
ted you to join me. End the humans and end our people’s burden in protecting them when they do not deserve such a sacrifice from us.”
Aurora bared her teeth at him. “They are NOT your people! You do not get to count yourself as one of us, not when you abandoned Tanzahar to help our enemies in their war against us. Not when you have taken the lives of people we love. Never again!”
Matthias rushed Aurora but she lheeped and reappeared behind him. He caught on quick and turned jumping into the air and barreling straight for her. Gregor came shooting down from the sky, his powerful wings propelling him forward at high speeds, and he knocked Matthias back at least thirty feet.
Matthias got right back up. “Kill them all!” he shouted.
Thousands of Shaitan came rushing out from the back of the mountain cavern, and Aurora’s people were once again surrounded and under attack from all angles. Several Shaitan surrounded Aurora and Gregor but before they could attack each one was burnt to ash by Matthias himself. “No one touches them.” Aurora looked at her father confused until he said, “I will be the one to kill them both.”
“The hell you will,” Gregor growled.
Gregor moved in front of Aurora in a protective stance and let out a fiery roar aimed right at Matthias, but Matthias dodged Gregor’s flames with ease, laughing low with a menacing smile baring all of his deadly teeth.
“Aurora, I didn’t realize you couldn’t fight your own battles anymore,” Matthias scoffed. “I thought you were tougher than some girl who needs her boyfriend’s protection.”
Aurora gritted her teeth and lheeped again. She reappeared just above her father and brought her claw down hard and fast connecting with his jaw. Matthias threw her off of him but he was hurt. Blood flowed down his chest from his neck, but Aurora knew better than to believe that it would be enough to stop him. Her father had been the strongest Maharani her people had ever had, and even now she knew he remained stronger than her. She didn’t know how she was going to defeat him, she just knew that she had to find a way.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gregor
Gregor had to remind himself there was no time for staring at his mate, but damn if he wasn’t in complete awe of her courage and strength. He could tell that Matthias was incredibly powerful, and the asshole had demonstrated how far he was willing to go in his crusade by killing people he once claimed to love and protect. All of that, not to mention the fact that he was Aurora’s father. Still, there was no hesitation in her attack. She saw him go for Gregor and her attack was so fast Gregor hadn’t known it was coming until her claw was ripping into Matthias’ throat. Too bad the asshole was still standing.
Gregor could sense that Aurora was worried; that she was afraid she might not be strong enough to defeat her father, not without winding up dead herself. No way. No fucking way he would let her die to kill this asshat. Didrik’s face suddenly flashed before Gregor’s eyes, his voice filling Gregor’s ear. “the two of you are stronger together and we are going to need your combined strength to win this war. … Two souls who would become the ultimate warriors after their bond was complete, and only then would they possess the power to face our greatest enemy—one of our own.”
“Oh, you are going to pay for that!” Matthias shouted at Aurora. “I was hoping to spare you, daughter. Together we could have ruled the new world, but it has become clear that will not be possible with you.”
Aurora growled, and Gregor had to admit that even to him the pure anger reflected in her bright golden eyes was terrifying. “That was never an option!” she shouted. “You are not my father. My father would never kill his own people. You’re the worst kind of monster and I promise you will not survive this day.”
Matthias laughed and Aurora moved to step forward but Gregor quickly reached out to her to stop her. With his mind he pleaded with her. “Remember what Didrik told us. We are strongest together. Together we are unstoppable. Together we can beat him.”
“How, Gregor? How does that work?”
“I don’t know, but we’ve got to try. This is the battle Didrik was talking about and we owe it to your people to fight together to try to win this war.”
“I will protect you,” she said. Gregor’s heart warmed but there was no way he would let her put him ahead of herself and Tanzahar.
“I love you, but you won’t need to protect me because we are doing this together. We are going to win.”
“Ah-hem,” Matthias interrupted their inner dialect. “Are the two of you just going to stare dreamily into each other’s eyes or can we get on with this. I may be evil in your eyes, but I would prefer it if you were at least paying attention so you can attempt to fight back when I kill you.”
Gregor bared his teeth. “Not gonna happen, asshole!”
He glanced over at Aurora once more and reached out to give her hand a quick squeeze. Gregor’s head was thrown back by the force of power or electricity that went shooting throughout his body. His eyes shut with the impact of the power traveling through him. He could feel electricity moving throughout his body, feel his muscles growing, his heartbeat picking up speed, his senses becoming stronger as the sounds around him became louder and every person’s scent around him suddenly became distinct allowing him to pinpoint their position even while his eyes remained closed. It felt like hours went by as Gregor’s body transformed, becoming stronger than he would have ever imagined any creature could possibly become. In reality, his mind was sharp enough to know it could have only been a matter of seconds because Matthias had not moved in to attack them, and there was no way the asshole would stand back and not attack while more than a few seconds passed.
When it was over he opened his eyes and looked to Aurora. They were both back in their human forms, but they were surrounded by a pool of striking blue flames. “Did you feel that?” Aurora’s voice asked in his mind.
“Yes. Do you feel….”
“Invincible?” Aurora smirked at him.
Gregor smiled back. “Exactly.”
Aurora glanced at Matthias, then looked back at Gregor with a big smile on her face. Damn, she was gorgeous. “Let’s finish this.”
Gregor winked at her. “Count me in.”
****
Aurora
Didrik had been right. As a mated pair all it took was for them to believe in each other and to join their strengths and fight together, and now Aurora could sense everything. She had thought she might not survive the day, instead it was her father who needed to be afraid. He was strong, but he had no idea what it was up against, not anymore.
Matthias laughed and Aurora turned away from Gregor to face him. All the fighting around them had stopped, and everyone-including the Shaitan, stood still staring at Gregor and her like their eyes might pop out of their eye sockets if they didn’t reign them in soon. “You two want to fight me and you think it’s best to do so in your human forms. Did you think this would trick me into taking it easy on you? I thought I trained you better, Aurora, but if you want to make this easier for me then so be it.”
Matthias flew at them, his movements lightning fast. Too bad for him, they were much faster. Gregor and Aurora lheeped at the same time leaving Matthias charging through nothing more than the heat left behind by their flames. They landed on either side of Matthias, and each of them took hold of one of his wings. Sending the scorching heat of their combined energy through their hands they quickly turned Matthias wings into charred dust drifting down to their feet. Matthias threw his head back and shrieked. Aurora knew that sound. She had heard it the first time she thought her father had been killed, back when he was still the father and leader she believed in, before his soul turned to darkness and he turned on the people of Tanzahar…before he turned on her.
Matthias jumped into the air, doing a backflip over Aurora and Gregor’s heads in an attempt to come up behind them and attack. His feet didn’t make it back to the ground. Aurora and Gregor leaped again, this time reappearing in the air above Matthias so fast it was as if he
were not moving at all. Aurora took ahold of his head, while Gregor grabbed his waist. With another pulse of energy, they forced the current of their power through Matthias’ body. They watched as his body lit up from the inside out, their blue flames filling him and making their way throughout his body, waves of flames quickly bursting through his scales as his body was overtaken. Matthias cried out for only a second before the blue flames erupted from within him, dust particles flying in all directions as the flames exploded all around him until his corporeal form was completely annihilated, leaving nothing but black ash falling to the ground in his place.
Aurora and Gregor landed back on the ground and a moment of grief struck Aurora at the realization that she’d just taken her father’s life. Gregor sensed her pain and quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly and bringing a calm over her she wasn’t sure she could have found without him. He centered her. Aurora sensed the Shaitan approaching, sensed their anger at the death of their leader. She looked at Gregor and they both nodded. Closing their eyes, they pushed their energy away from their bodies once more. The air was briefly filled with the terrible screeching of dying Shaitan before they were all completely taken over by blue flames and turned to dust just as Matthias had been.
Chapter Twenty-Four