Bring it on, he thought. But in truth, he wasn’t sure if he could manage this. Even the burst of adrenaline he’d felt when the two wizard guards attacked him might not be enough for him to fight through the illness that was weakening him. But a weak dragon was still a dragon, and Mitch wasn’t going to give up hope as long as there was still breath in his lungs.
He flew hard after the dark wizard, and in less than a minute they both had flown right into the middle of a large campsite. Several large tents had been erected, and wizards and shifters were already emerging at the frantic sound of the dark wizard’s warning.
Mitch hovered in midair for a moment, trying to take stock of the situation. This encampment looked like it had been here for a while. There were signs of settling down permanently everywhere—well-built fire pits, potted plants, and even some barbeque grills. This wasn’t just a temporary stop. These Dark Warriors had been living here on a semi-permanent basis. That’s when Mitch realized that the reason he’d come across this encampment much sooner than he’d thought he should have was because this wasn’t the same encampment at all. The other encampment, the one that the Torch Lake Military knew about, must have been a decoy to hide this encampment. But in Mitch’s delirious state, he’d flown off course and discovered this place by accident.
And even though dozens of shifters and wizards were only seconds away from attacking him, Mitch realized that this might have been the happiest accident of his life. If this camp was the one that the Dark Warriors really wanted to keep secret, then odds were good they had something here that they really didn’t want anyone to find.
Something like the cure for the shifter-wizard virus that was now sweeping the West Coast.
Mitch could feel his strength fading, but he had to hold on. He forced himself to reach deep down within himself and draw on every ounce of energy he had. This was the only chance he was going to get, and he wasn’t going to blow it. No matter how sick he was, he was going to find a way to reach deep within himself and finish this fight.
The Dark Warriors seemed to notice that he wasn’t as strong as a dragon normally should have been. The wizards were already on broomsticks, whizzing about him and launching attack spells in his direction. The attack spells didn’t harm him because they were hitting his thick dragon hide, but the wizards could tell he was flying weakly. It was only a matter of time before one of them managed to launch a spell at one of the vulnerable spots on Mitch’s body, where his dragon hide wasn’t so thick. He roared and tried to breathe out fire at them, but it felt like breathing fire was taking twice as much energy as normal.
That’s when Mitch realized he needed to land and fight on the ground. There were drawbacks to this, the biggest one being that the ground was teeming with angry, evil shifters. Bears, wolves, lions, and other Dark Warrior shifters had all assumed their animal form, and were clamoring for a chance to attack Mitch. As long as he was in the air, they couldn’t get to him. But as long as he was in the air, all of his very limited energy was being spent on keeping himself afloat. He’d never realized how much energy it took to fly. But now that his energy was in such short supply, it had become painfully obvious to him that he could not sustain flight. He would be better off preserving all his energy for actual fighting.
And so, Mitch began to spiral downward, fighting his way through the thick crowd of flying wizards and landing with an ungraceful thud right in the middle of the Dark Warriors camp. Cheers went up from all of the Dark Warriors when they realized that he wasn’t flying anymore. The shifters rushed in to attack, and the wizards kept zooming around him, their broomsticks hovering a few feet above the ground as they attempted to launch attacks at the vulnerable spots in his hide.
Mitch moved on autopilot. He felt a bit stronger now that he wasn’t trying to keep himself afloat. He swiped his large dragon claws at the shifters who charged at him, and he was pleased to find that every time he made contact with them he sent them soaring in the opposite direction, yelping in pain as they went airborne before landing with hard thumps. He breathed fire out at the attacking wizards, taking out quite a few of them as well.
But it was slow going, much slower than normal. The Dark Warriors sensed that he wasn’t functioning at one hundred percent of his usual energy, and the air filled with triumphant wizard yells and excited shifter growls.
“He’s infected with the virus,” one of the wizards yelled, seeming to finally realize what was going on. This brought more cheers, and a fresh wave of attacks. Mitch breathed out a streak of fire, but he couldn’t sustain the flames as long as he wanted to. His fire breath petered out into mere smoke at the end, bringing more laughs and roars of derision from the Dark Warriors.
“He’s definitely sick,” another wizard yelled. “We’re going to take him down easily. What an idiot, thinking he could come out and fight us when he’s infected with the virus!”
As soon as that wizard had finished speaking, Mitch felt a sharp pain in his side, followed by a warm gush of blood. He groaned in agony as the pain worsened. He’d been hit. The world in front of him felt like it began to sway, and everything became blurry. He was going down. This was the end. He’d given it his best effort, but now he was losing blood rapidly and the last of his strength was draining away. He heard more laughter as the Dark Warriors watched him swerving wildly back and forth.
“He’s about to go down!” one of them yelled. “What an idiot! I can’t believe he came to fight us while infected with the virus. He’s going to die, just like the rest of them.”
The last sentence of the wizard’s sneering mockery snapped Mitch back to attention. The mention of dying “just like the rest of them” reminded Mitch of Vicki. Vicki, who was dying, and needed his help. He didn’t care about himself so much anymore. He only wanted to help Vicki. And the wizard’s words were a wakeup call. Mitch could not let himself die. Not yet. If he did, then Vicki would die, and he would not let that happen. Mitch also realized in that moment that none of the shifters and wizards were afraid of him, even though they knew he had a deadly, highly contagious virus. That could only mean one thing.
They do have a cure. And I’m sure as hell going to take it from them.
With a burst of energy, Mitch roared again. He ignored the pain in his side, and the sensation of warm blood trickling down, and he sent fire directly onto the wizards closest to him. They had been laughing, thinking he was done for and didn’t have it in him to fight anymore. The flames caught them by surprise, and they shrieked in pain as the fire easily reached their skin.
The rest of the wizards and shifters paused for a moment, uncertain. They had thought the fight was all but done, but now they weren’t so sure. Mitch took advantage of their momentary confusion to launch another wave of flames, this time taking out a whole row of shifters. Their screams of pain seamed to spur the rest of the Dark Warriors into action. The wizards and shifters once again launched a full-scale attack in Mitch’s direction, screeching angrily. Everything was chaos, and Mitch felt like every muscle and bone in his body was falling to pieces in a swirl of pain.
And yet, he persisted. He thought only of Vicki. He would not allow himself to think of how much he hurt. He would not allow himself to think of what would happen if he wasn’t able to beat back this cluster of Dark Warriors. He only let himself think of Vicki—of how beautiful she was, how smart, how witty. Of how much he loved her, and how he would not let her down. He drew strength from thoughts of her, and somehow managed to keep standing even though every fiber of his being felt like it was coming undone.
He concentrated only on making it through the next second, and the second after that. He fought the waves of attackers as they came, dimly aware that their numbers were slowly decreasing. At one point, he heard one of the wizards getting on a radio and calling for backup. That was the moment he knew he was going to make it. They had fought well, but they could not fight back a dragon defending his lifemate. There was no force in the world more powerful than that. With on
e last rush of energy, Mitch breathed out a long steady stream of fire that took out the last stragglers in the group of attackers. A few shifters escaped, running off into the woods, and Mitch let them go. He wasn’t going to waste his limited energy on a couple of wolves.
The sudden stillness in the air felt eerie. Mitch took a moment to catch his breath, and assess his wounds. He now had two large gashes on his body, one right under another on his left side. Although the flow of blood had slowed somewhat, the wounds still oozed horribly. On top of the pain and blood loss from the gashes, Mitch could feel his body overheating and exhaustion taking over. The virus was growing stronger, and Mitch was growing weaker. Mitch’s situation had become dire. He needed a hospital, but there was no hospital out here. There wasn’t even a doctor. He was by himself, and even though the fighting was done, he was still well within the danger zone. He still needed to find the cure, get it all the way back to Torch Lake, and get himself stitched up before he lost too much blood to recover.
Just think about Vicki, he told himself. She’s all that matters.
Keeping his mind on Vicki helped him find the strength to start moving. He began tearing away the canvas fabric of the tents, looking for anything within those tents that might be a cure for the virus. The first several tents he tore into had only clothes and food in them, along with other mundane items like books or board games. The Dark Warriors had been making themselves quite at home out in the woods, but he didn’t care about any of the stuff they’d had to keep themselves comfortable and entertained. He needed the virus cure.
As the number of tents remaining to search began to dwindle, Mitch began to panic. Had he been wrong to think that this camp had a cure in it somewhere? Was it possible they’d hidden it nearby in the forest instead of in an obvious place like a tent? If he didn’t find that cure, he and all of Torch Lake were done for. No matter how much he wanted to fight for Vicki, he simply did not have the strength to take on another campsite full of Dark Warriors by himself. Either the cure was at this campsite, or his quest for it had been in vain.
Mitch ripped into tent after tent, until finally only two tents remained. With a heavy heart, he ripped into the next-to-last tent, expecting to find only more blankets and clothes. In this tent, however, he found two large, black chests. He told himself not to get too excited. The chests could contain anything. But it was impossible not to feel hopeful. This was the first unusual thing he had seen in the tents. Surely, the cure was in there. It had to be in there. He needed that cure.
The chests were locked, but the locks were no match for Mitch’s razor-sharp dragon claws. He sliced through the locks easily, and tossed them aside. Then he slowly raised the lids. He almost couldn’t bear to look, lest he be disappointed. He squeezed his eyes shut, telling himself not to be crestfallen if all he saw was some wizard’s stupid personal treasures.
Taking a deep breath, he finally opened his eyes and looked. And then, he felt tears forming in his giant dragon eyes. He never cried. Not in human form and especially not in dragon form. But he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing now.
Not when he was seeing, right in front of him, row after row after row of neatly organized vials. There were tiny labels on the vials, but it was impossible for him to properly handle the vials while in dragon form, and he didn’t want to take a chance on ruining any of them. Using what felt like the very last of his energy, Mitch shifted back to human form. The gashes on his side went from his armpits to his hip bones in human form, and they looked angry, red, and purple. But Mitch wasn’t worried about the gashes right now. All he was worried about was what was in those vials.
With trembling hands, Mitch picked up one of the vials. On the label, in bold, black letters, the words “Virus Treatment – One Adult Dose” were printed. Mitch closed his eyes in a prayer of thanks, unscrewed the cap, and drank deeply.
Chapter Ten
The treatment worked quickly. Within minutes Mitch was feeling better. He still had to deal with the side effects of the gashes in his side, but at least his fever and flu-like exhaustion was gone. He just had to fight through the pain long enough to get back to Torch Lake. The doctors there would stitch him up, and he’d be good as new soon. He hoped, anyway.
Either way, he was heading back to Torch Lake as fast as his wings would carry him. He’d shifted back to dragon form and was now carrying the chests with the vials in his dragon claws. He felt a sharp pang of pain with every flap of his wings, and every now and then he felt a warm ooze of blood running down his side as his wounds tore open anew. It didn’t matter though. His own pain and suffering were nothing compared to the pain and suffering Torch Lake as a whole was going through right now. He had to get to them. He had to get to Vicki,
He could feel his pace slowing as he got closer to Torch Lake. He knew the blood loss was starting to affect him horribly, but he had no choice other than to keep flying. He pumped his wings, once again telling himself to just take things one second at a time. If he could just make it through the next second, and the next, then eventually he would make it home.
He was beginning to believe that he was actually going to make it. Torch Lake was less than fifteen minutes away. He only had to keep going that long, and his mission would be a success. His goal was to fly the vials directly to Vicki’s flower shop and give her one. He had a feeling she was still lying there on the floor of her shop, feverish and in pain. The city was in too much chaos from all of the sickness for anyone to have noticed one sick woman hidden behind the counter. But Mitch knew she was there. And he was going straight to her. He just hoped he wasn’t too late. He pumped his wings harder at the thought. He refused to believe he was too late. He would make it. Vicki would make it. This nightmare would be over soon.
And then, disaster struck.
Mitch was so intent on flying that he didn’t notice the dark figures flying up behind him until it was too late. One moment, he was flying along, thinking about how he had less than ten minutes left until he got to Torch Lake, and the next, he was howling in pain as an attack spell from a dark wizard hit him. He went spiraling downward, and nearly lost his grip on the two cases. By some miracle of sheer willpower, he managed to hold on to the cases and flap his wings hard enough to right himself, but another round of attacks was already coming.
Mitch knew he couldn’t fight off another group of Dark Warriors. His body was too weak from the last attack. The gashes on his side were still searing with pain, and he had lost so much blood that it was a wonder he could still fly. But he realized in that moment that his only hope was flying—flying as hard and as fast as he possibly could. If he could make it close enough to Torch Lake, someone would see him. The military guards would notice him, and would fly out to help him. He had to get to them before the Dark Warriors completely overcame his strength.
And so, Mitch set his dragon jaw in a hard, determined line, and he flew. Once again, he wasn’t sure where he found the strength. But somehow, he did find the strength to flap his wings harder and faster. He thought only of Vicki. Her face filled his mind’s eye, and he flew to her. He did his best to ignore the attacks that were bouncing off of his dragon hide, and he hoped with all his heart that none of the attacks would hit him in a vulnerable spot. The wizards seemed to be attempting to hit the gashes with an attack, but their aim was off. It was hard for them to aim properly at one specific spot when Mitch was flying so fast.
He roared loudly as he drew closer to Torch Lake, hoping that perhaps some of the military guards might hear him. But no one responded, so Mitch kept flying. He was so close now. Just a few more minutes. He gripped the cases of medicine tighter, drawing them as close to his body as possible. He was worried that one of the wizards might try to hit the cases with an attack, with the idea of not letting Mitch have the medicine even if they couldn’t get it from him.
But the wizards didn’t seem interested in harming the cases. In fact, they appeared to be trying to protect the cases, too. Several of them were shoot
ing attack spells at Mitch, while a few others tried to fly in and take the cases right from his dragon claws. He held on tightly, and breathed fire toward the wizards flying at the cases. He was trying to conserve all of his energy for flying instead of firebreathing, but when they flew so close to the cases, he didn’t have much of a choice.
Just keep flying. Just flap your wings, and fly. Almost there.
He felt his strength fading even further, but he forced himself not to slow down. He was so close. He would not give in to the Dark Warriors now.
And then, out of nowhere, he suddenly found himself surrounded by dragons. It happened so fast that Mitch realized the dragons, who all had wizards riding on their backs, must have been hiding under invisibility spells. One of the dragons, the one with a distinctive sapphire blue dragon hide, roared loudly and then gave Mitch a meaningful look.
Mitch’s heart leapt in his chest. The blue dragon was his friend Jasper, and the wizard on his back was Jasper’s lifemate, Julia. Next to Jasper flew more Torch Lake Dragons—Leif, Clint, and Evan—all with their respective lifemates on their backs.
“Go, Mitch, go!” shouted Clint’s lifemate, Sunny. “We’ll hold off the Dark Warriors. You just get the medicine to Torch Lake.”
Mitch didn’t need to be told twice. He flew onward, leaving his friends to deal with the Dark Warriors. The angry Dark Warriors tried to follow him, but the Torch Lake dragon shifters held them back. Mitch’s heart leapt. He was no longer alone. The dragons of Torch Lake were with him, and he knew they would hold back evil while he took the cure to Vicki and the rest of the sick wizards and shifters in his beloved clan.
Mitch could feel the last of his strength seeping away as he flew into Torch Lake airspace. He flew over the downtown buildings, barely keeping himself above the tops of the towering structures. Then he began spiraling downward as he neared the street where Vicki’s flower shop was located. The streets of Torch Lake were still empty, and he hoped that meant that most people had stayed inside, keeping themselves safe from the virus. There was not an unlimited supply of medicine in these cases, so a few vials would need to be saved so that Torch Lake’s best scientists could figure out the formula and make new batches of medicine. Hopefully, though, there was enough medicine to take care of the very sickest shifters and wizards. Mitch would let the Torch Lake High Council figure out the details on who got the medicine first, and how much needed to be kept in reserve.
Dragon Battling (Torch Lake Shifters Book 10) Page 7