“I promise I’ll be better! I won’t ever question you again!” she sobs, tears flowing down her face.
Ray kneels beside her, tilting her chin up to look at him. “I forgive you,” he booms, purposely loud so we all can hear. “But it is not me who decides your fate, is it?”
“My fate?”
The Wyrms cackle and slither over each other, their eyes locked hungrily on Sadie.
“That doesn’t look good,” Braith murmurs, fidgeting.
“They’re going to kill her,” I say.
“Don’t interfere,” Isaac warns as I step forward. “They might kill you too, and we can’t let that happen.”
“She’s one of us; she’s had the serum too.”
“She made her choice, Haze,” Marco says calmly, taking my hand. “Let whatever happens, happen. We tried to help her, and she rebuffed us. There’s no point in stepping in now.”
It seems to finally click in Sadie’s mind what’s happening. “No!” she screams, crawling away from the Wyrms. “You promised I would be spared!”
Ray rises to his feet, a large grin growing on his face. “No-one can be spared from the Wyrms. Not you or anyone.”
Wes’ head snaps up at Ray’s word and fear enters his gaze. He won’t be safe either. The crazed leader looks back at his most loyal follower, the smile vanishing from his face. Before anyone can move, the Wyrms dive on Sadie. Everything seems to happen in slow motion as she screams in agony. They tear her to pieces, hungrily eating her body and ignoring the spurts of blood from her wounds. All I can hear is the sound of their teeth ripping through her skin and their lips smacking against each other with each bite.
Marco and I turn away, blocking each other’s eyes from the sight with a hand. Her screams continue in agony as her flesh is torn from her body. The screams stop abruptly and the battlefield goes eerily silent. The war hasn’t begun yet and the first casualty was orchestrated by its own side.
“It’s happening!”
We both turn our heads back as the Wyrms howl in pain. Their bodies pulse and shift as if something is underneath them. The morphing goes all the way to their heads and into their eyes. Each Wyrm squeezes its eyes shut, screaming in agony. Eventually the screams stop, and the beasts blink their eyes open, making everyone gasp.
Their eyes are now much bigger, like an owl’s, and glow a sickly shade of green. Each Wyrm looks around, smiles growing on their faces.
“It’s a success!” one cries out. “Our eyesight has evolved!”
“How so?” Ray asks excitedly.
“I can see in the shadows,” the Wyrm cackles. “I can see far better than I ever could before.”
The sight of their bloodied mouths makes me gag, and I’m glad that their disgusting bodies are blocking Sadie’s corpse. She was a bitch, but she didn’t deserve that.
A roar echoes across the field and a white dragon lands next to the Wyrms, its eyes blazing with fury. Exquisite cries out in agony at the state of her companion and swats the nearest Wyrm to her.
“We can’t let her fight alone,” I manage to muster up as the Wyrms surge on the grieving dragon.
“I think it’s time this battle started anyway,” Isaac agrees. He points at the Wyrms, the signal for battle.
The Wyverns are the first to descend, plucking the newly evolved Wyrms off the ground and dropping them from great heights. Ray grinds his teeth at the sight and bashes his fists together to create rocky boxing gloves.
“Attack!” he screams, the veins in his neck pulsing larger than ever before.
The Wyrms not attacking Exquisite launch themselves over the barrier and into the Aislados. Several people scream as the Wyrms descend on them, but the dragons are able to help them out from the skies. Marco and I manage to run off to the side as more Wyrms start pouring through the gate. We’re soon separated from Braith and Isaac, but I’m glad to have someone close to me.
“You sure you’re okay to do this?” Marco asks as a few Wyrms spot us in the corner.
“I’m sure,” I say, raising my arms to form water around my fingers. “You watch my back, I’ll watch yours.”
While the Wyrms are still too far away to affect our elements, I fire a few balls of water to keep them back. The grey dragons don’t seem too fazed about these attacks, however, and continue advancing on us. That is, until Aqueous and Drea drop out of the sky right on top of their heads. The newly evolved Wyrms thrash underneath our companions, trying to nip at their feet. I guess their eyesight isn’t that good if they can’t be bothered to look up. The two dragons finish them off with ease and trot over to us, using their wings to block us from sight.
“We need to take out the people, not the Wyrms,” I say as Ray’s soldiers storm into the town, raising their spears.
“Why do they have spears anyway?” Marco asks. Just as he speaks, one soldier uses their spear to fire a ball of water at one of the Wyverns. “Oh, that’s why. That’s kind of cheating, isn’t it?”
Before I can answer him, I spot a familiar face in the crowd. Wes comes into view, clutching his spear nervously. He makes no attempt to fight the people around him. Our eyes meet again, and for a second I think I see remorse before he aims his spear at me.
“Shit!”
I push Marco out the way as a tornado explodes from Wes’ spear, just missing us. Aqueous charges at the boy, but is knocked aside by Asteroid, who is sporting similar armour to her companion. Hers is a shiny gold and covers her chest and stomach, with a grey gemstone embedded in the chest armour. She towers over my companion, her nostrils flaring. Aqueous hesitates before swiping at her face, but the brown dragon easily dodges.
“Hazel, come quietly and you won’t get hurt!” Wes calls out, aiming his spear for another attack.
“I’m not going anywhere near him!” I call back, venom in my voice. “Not after what he just did to Sadie.”
“He did nothing; the Wyrms slaughtered her.”
“He allowed it – he let her believe she would be spared. Has he told you that too?”
Anger flares in my former friend’s eyes. “He will not do that to me! I am no traitor!”
I’m able to fire a ball of water at his spear this time, temporarily distracting him from launching another attack. Behind me Marco fires a flame ball at Wes’ feet. Asteroid roars upon noticing that her companion is in trouble, but is knocked off her feet when Bluey tackles her from the side.
The two dragons roll in between the three of us, hissing and clawing at each other to become the victor. Aqueous claws Asteroid from behind, ripping off layers of brown scales not covered by the armour. She screams in fury and bucks him off and swats Bluey away. Her angry eyes land on Marco and me, her mouth opening into a furious scream. The strong wind blows us backwards into the wall, pinning us to the damaged wood. The dragon doesn’t let up her scream, however, and continues to keep us pinned as Wes makes his way towards us, handcuffs in hand.
Unlike last time, I’ve had a chance to practise this. I throw a boomerang of water to the side, making him smirk in confidence. What he doesn’t notice, however, is the boomerang winding round to the back of his head. The water smacks him hard enough to make him drop his spear, and with the wind dispersing around us Marco ignites the remaining gusts for a second before putting it out.
“You’ve got some new moves,” Wes comments, quickly grasping his spear once more.
“We’ve been through a lot. We don’t have to do this,” I beg him. “You can’t trust Ray anymore, Wes. Not after what he just did to Sadie.”
“I’m not a traitor like Sadie,” he growls back. “I will be spared.”
“No, you won’t, foolish child.”
No-one is quick enough to react when a Wyrm flings itself at Wes’ feet, cleanly tearing a chunk out of his leg. Wes screams and collapses to the ground, holding his injured leg close to his chest as it spurts a fountain of blood. The Wyrm steps back, its lips curled into a grin, but nothing happens. Before it can open its mouth to say anyth
ing, a Wyvern tackles it from the side.
“We need to get out of here,” I whisper in Wes’ ear while I guide him to a shadowy corner.
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” he hisses through gritted teeth. “There’s no hiding from them; they can see us in the dark now.”
As soon as he says it the Wyrms with evolved eyes lock onto us stranded in the corner, licking their bloodstained lips hungrily.
My eyes dart wildly around for the others, but I’ve got separated from Marco somehow. There’s not going to be an easy way out of this.
“Shit,” I curse under my breath as my back burns.
I have no choice.
Wes’ eyes glow a pale grey as a tornado explodes from his chest, forming wings and talons. The bird stretches its wings, warning the Wyrms to keep back with a snap of its talons. My chest tightens as the shark twirls out of my open mouth, growing as it dives into a puddle at our feet. The Wyrms give each other scared looks as they think about attacking our animal counterparts.
“Ignore them,” Thula barges its way to the front. “Once we eat them, they can’t use their powers anymore. Attack!”
Filled with courage, the Wyrms surge forward. The bird, some sort of hawk, takes to the sky and swoops down on the Wyrms from above. Meanwhile, the shark attacks them from below, dragging them into its watery universe to their deaths. One Wyrm flails in the water as it disappears under the surface, air bubbles exploding from its chest as it drowns.
“Be careful, Hazel,” Thula taunts from the safety of a barrier of Wyrms. “If you use your power too much, you will die.”
Ignoring its attempt to put me down, I concentrate on the shark. It follows my gaze towards an injured Wyrm, which positions its body to launch itself at me. Before the grey beast gets the chance, the shark grabs its tail, holding it in place. Wes’ hawk launches its attack from above, pecking at the Wyrm’s eyes. It screams in agony, trying to latch onto something as the shark drags it down to its death.
“I forgot what a good team we make,” Wes smirks as the other Wyrms back off to watch.
A fin appears on the surface, circling another grey dragon when it tries to back away. The Wyrms around us decide to act, advancing on us while our counterparts are distracted. I’m not scared, though, as I feel water twirl around my fingertips. Pointing one hand at the floor beneath them, a sharp blast of water explodes from my fingertips. The Wyrms don’t seem fazed until they all plummet into the puddle, slowly trapping themselves in the shark’s universe.
With them gone, Thula backs off. “You will not win!” it warns as it disappears into the battlefield.
With the Wyrms gone, panic blurs my vision. Wes’ breathing is as ragged as mine, though he tries to hide it by clamping his mouth shut. Now that I’ve used the shark my chest feels tighter, and the familiar whisper starts muttering in my ear. I hope this doesn’t mean I need more serum immediately.
Wes tries to abandon me, but his leg gives out underneath him, making him collapse to the floor. He curses under his breath at the gaping wound in his leg, which is losing more blood by the second.
“You need help,” I manage to get out, clutching my chest.
“Ray will help,” he growls.
“Ray didn’t help when the Wyrms took a chunk out of you. Where is he now, hm?”
“He doesn’t know yet. Once he knows he’ll punish the Wyrms for their disobedience.”
“He won’t, Wes! He hasn’t changed at all!”
My old friend curls his lip. “He has always been fair to the loyal, like me.”
“Like Sadie?”
“How many times do I have to tell you – she wasn’t loyal!” he screams, attracting the attention of a few of Ray’s soldiers.
One of them takes off in the direction of the barrier, making me curse under my breath. They’re going to get Ray.
“Come on.” I lift Wes to his feet despite his arguing. “We need to get out of sight.”
“Fuck off! Guards, she’s here!” Wes screams, waving his free arm around.
The armoured soldiers advance on us, their spears pointed in my direction. Remembering Marco’s training, I drop Wes and force a wall of water into them. It’s enough to send the three of them flying backwards. Before they can get up, I haul Wes to his feet and drape my arm around his shoulder to guide him while he tries to break out of my grip.
“I’m trying to help you!” I snap.
He tries to trip me up with his good foot. “I don’t want your help; Ray will help me!”
“You are deluded!”
“The only deluded one is you! I’ll be glad when the Wyrms devour you.”
I concentrate on moving towards the warehouse so he doesn’t see the hurt on my face. “I know you don’t mean that.”
“You don’t know me at all! Because I do mean it – I can’t wait until they eat every piece of you, then the world will be perfect.”
“Are you sure about that? A world where Wyrms rule and dragons are forced to work until they die?”
“Ray rules, not the Wyrms,” he retorts, ducking as a rock goes flying over his head.
“He’s a foot soldier,” I remind him. “The Wyrms are the ones who are really in charge.”
“Then you’re even stupider than I remember. Ray has always controlled the Wyrms.”
“Or they’ve let him believe that he can control him. Do you really think creatures hell-bent on destruction would listen to an eighteen-year-old man?”
This makes him shut up, either because he’s sick of arguing with me or he agrees with me. I let him rest against a crate at the entrance to the warehouse as the battle rages on. Wings and claws are everywhere as various dragon species fight each other: Wyrm against Western, Wyvern against Wyrm, Western against Western. Every combination possible is fighting each other right now. This battle is not going to end peacefully.
“Such chaos will end when Ray rules,” Wes pants, noticing me looking over the battlefield.
“Shut. Up,” I warn him, forming water around my wrists as the fighting rages on.
32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Isaac found us soon after sneaking into the warehouse. He took Wes away to be treated by Aislados, despite him being on the enemy side. He said something about never turning away those that need help.
Braith and I are helping the dragons from the roof, hurling water and ice over the Wyrms as they tumble in the dirt. I’m glad we’re far enough away for our attacks to have an effect. We cheer as an icy bomb explodes on a Wyrm, embedding thick shards in its back.
“Is this supposed to be fun?” Braith cries out, launching another icy ball at the ground.
“This is supposed to be serious. We’re fighting for people’s lives here,” I grunt as I aim another funnel of water at a Wyrm’s head.
“It’s still pretty fun though, you’ve gotta admit,” she teases as the water knocks the Wyrm back a few yards.
The door rattles below us as an armoured dragon attacks it with a breath of wind. By the dragon’s orange feet, I realise that it’s Asteroid. She must know that Wes is in there somehow.
“Shit. We can’t let her in, she’ll start killing people.” I aim at her head, but Braith whacks my arms down.
“She just wants Wes. Maybe if we let her in, she’ll be fine.”
“We’re her enemy now, Braith. I don’t think she’ll go in there to sit by Wes’ bedside. They’ll team up and cause havoc for people who are already injured.”
“So, what do we do?”
Neither of us have time to come up with a plan as Asteroid lands on the roof with a crash. Her teeth glint in the sunlight as she advances on us, charging a tornado in her mouth. The two of us back off slowly, putting our hands up.
“We don’t want to hurt you. I know you just want Wes – he’s safe!” I shout over the cries of the battle. “He’s hurt; we’re treating him as best as we can.”
The brown dragon snarls and lashes her tail, destroying a decaying wooden crate
behind her. The two of us keep backing off as she’s advancing. When she’s close enough to swat us, everything goes silent.
“Hazel! Braith!” Ray’s familiar voice booms over the battlefield, making me cringe. “You have thirty seconds to come out before I impale Marco in the head.”
This catches my attention. Standing on my tiptoes to look over the balcony, I see Ray at the door of the warehouse surrounded by Wyrms. He has Marco by the arm with a pointed rock pressing against his temple. I can see that my boyfriend has tried to fight back by his ruffled hair and bruised cheek.
“Hazy, no!” Braith screams as I shoot water in the air without hesitation.
The blond boy snaps his head up, grinning like a madman. “Thank you, Hazel.”
“Let him go!” I can’t help my shaking voice but try to look intimidating.
“Come down here and I will.”
I don’t move before Asteroid plucks me off the ground by my hood and dangles me over the balcony. Just as she lets go, I’m able to shoot jets of water at the floor to soften my landing. As soon as my feet brush the ground Ray is on me, throwing Marco to one side. His pale face is thrust into mine as he looks me over, almost curiously.
“I’d prefer it if you got out of my face,” I snarl, attempting to take a step back, but he pulls me towards him once more.
“How are you feeling?” he asks me sweetly, but to me his voice sounds like rotten treacle.
“I’d feel better if you hadn’t started a war.”
He throws his head back in a condescending laugh. “You know, I like this new you. So confident, so sassy.”
I don’t answer as he grins, showing off a set of brown teeth. He’s letting himself go.
“You’ve got me. Now leave these people alone.”
“I was only ever here for you three. These people just happened to get in the way.” He motions to the bodies littering the floor. “But this could not have been avoided, unfortunately. I needed to round the escapees up anyway.”
I sneer in his face. “For your perfect new world?”
Glass and Ice (Elemental Dragons Book 3) Page 23