"Are you alright?" Dex asked, voice different than his own.
He moved towards Serena, who was still on her hands and knees panting from the lightning that just cracked through her magic.
"I'm fine," she answered not looking at him, pushing herself up. Her insides were still burning and she was not 'fine' in the slightest.
Soaking wet, sore as fuck, and concussed? Yes.
Heartbroken? Yes.
Going to let it show? Not a chance in hell.
Dex was inches from her now, and clearly was about to pull her into his arms.
This was hard. Did she want him to hug her? She did. Fuck.
A water dragon dropped from the clouds, directly behind them, saving her from whatever terrible decision her concussed brain was about to make.
He looked up just as its mouth opened.
"Halt," he called. It froze along with the two storm dragons still on their right and left, who evidently needed reminding.
Lightning, hail, and rain were blowing horizontal. The weather was unquestionably getting worse as time went on.
Serena ran and jumped onto closest storm dragon.
It roared immediately in defiance.
Why would anything go smoothly today?
She fell to her hands and knees, attempting to shove gold magic into it. But it was considerably denser than the other ones. Her insides seared hot, trying to reach it with her magic.
Dex: Channel ice with it, Serena.
As soon as she had ice, it started jerking, swerving, and doing everything it could to flick her off of it.
She slid down its side, catching herself with one hand on its spike.
Dex and Velkaris moved to catch her.
Lightning from the clouds came straight at her. She screamed, rolling to the side to avoid being hit.
Electricity zapped the storm dragon instead, inches from her face.
It roared in anger trying even harder to buck her off.
"I didn't do that! You did," she snapped annoyed.
The dragon's opinion on fault remained the same.
She channeled ice and shoved her magic into it not gently. Zero fucks were given at this point.
Two water dragons approached. Both probably trying to kill her. She gladly swung herself onto one.
A cakewalk in comparison to what storm dragons did.
As soon as she landed on her hands and knees, it roared, trying to buck her. But she was already surging gold magic into it.
The rain and sleet was so dense she couldn't see anything.
Serena:Water dragon's ready. I need immediate cover.
Dex:No visual.
Hale:No visual.
Gav:No visual on you.
Edward:No visual for us either.
She was bucked off before she had a chance to respond. Her scream bled through the mindlink.
Heart pounding, she debated if a parachute made sense with the amount of horizontal and vertical lightning.
To her surprise, she landed on something with a thud. She coughed, and pushed herself to her hands and knees.
Then she looked up and to her horror, a rider was there.
Of course there was. Today just kept getting better.
His eyes were pure black and in the shape of an insect's. She'd met fae before, but this one really seemed off.
She screamed high-pitched and in terror, bleeding through the mindlink. Again.
From the air, a dark fae stood slowly, double blades forming in his hands. Black flame was at the end of each.
Serena was immobilized for a moment. A gold sword formed in her hand. She found Velkaris's fire. She'd never fought with double blades before. So one sword for her.
Heart pounding, instinct working.
The issue with killing this fae was the blast.
He opened his mouth in a cruel smile, and his tongue was dark and split like a serpent.
Nope. No. Absolutely the fuck not.
Another genuine scream tore through her in absolute horror.
On the ground, Fin Shadowclaw went rigid. He could feel her fear, her adrenaline, spiking through their matebond.
His eyes shot to Hyran, flashing gold. He pushed his wolf down. That scream was from something disturbing. She was terrified.
"Something has her trapped," he ground out. "I think one of the riders."
Another wave of her fear hit him. Fin pushed Xeon down again. There was nothing he could do. Whatsoever. And it was absolutely killing him.
Above, the dark fae lunged. She deflected his first sword and twisted out of the way of his second.
Serena fabricated multiple orbs in succession around him, but he walked straight through. It was as if her magic didn't affect him.
Cool. Cool cool cool. Magic-immune nightmare creature. Perfect.
At that time, King Tiberon's mindlink came through.
King Tiberon:Status.
The storm dragon roared under her. The fae tilted his head, and his tongue rippled out like a snake's, smelling the air.
Serena:Thrown off water dragon onto hostile storm dragon with rider. Cannot disengage without pursuit. Attempted orb containment. Target is walking through my magic like air.
King Tiberon:Any unit have visual?
The dark fae was trying to slice her in half, coming at her in unnatural jerk motions, slicing the air where she had just been.
She decided to risk it and fired rapid fireballs with all the force she could muster, praying it blasted the thing off the side.
They hit in rapid succession, but to her horror, she saw white light come out of its chest before it was fully blasted off.
Her scream bled through the mindlink, then was cut off abruptly.
Every bracelet vibrated.
She was thrown into the underground chamber of the library.
Not hitting any rune nicely like the others. No. Physically thrown fifty feet, twisting and turning in the air.
She skidded across the lake a few times before landing. Broken rib, wind knocked out of her, lip busted.
Her eyes stayed shut for a moment underwater, disoriented. She was unaware of the light that flared when she entered or the mini shockwave that rippled in the underground chamber, blasting everyone.
All bracelets continued vibrating. She didn't notice.
A portal tore open. Fin ran through with King Tiberon, Aeron, and Hyran.
At the same moment, Gav, Silas, Edward, and Lunaris were transported, bracelets activated. They were thrown clear of the rune circle, their bodies flying through the air and skidding atop the lake.
Same force. Slight delay. Worse angle.
Everyone who had already gotten hit by Serena's blast got hit with the same one again.
The shockwave slammed through muscle and bone Heads were snapped back, breath ripped from lungs, skin split where the impact hit directly, ears ringing, noses bleeding.
The world reduced to pressure and noise and the sharp taste of copper.
Hale came through last. Again. Same force with a slight delay.
The blast threw him like a six-foot-seven cannonball through the air, hitting the lake on top of Serena, who had already sunk ten feet below the surface.
For several seconds, there was nothing but ringing. High, piercing, disorienting. Vision blurred. Balance gone. Limbs heavy and uncooperative.
Then the pain started catching up.
Fin didn't think, sprinting in a blur into the lake. He dove, finding Serena underwater. He grabbed her, pulling her up to the surface.
She opened her eyes.
He flipped Silas, Lunaris, Edward, and Gav over on their backs and dove under, grabbing Hale next, pulling him to the surface.
King Tiberon had just entered into the lake with Hyran and Alaric.
All sworn to protect Serena on blood oath, and blood oath instincts activating.
Then the strangest thing happened.
King Tiberon felt his bruises on his ribs fade.
He looked down and saw the water had turned liquid gold. He remembered Serena had done that when she and Dex jumped in here the first time.
His head, that had been pounding nonstop, finally stopped hurting.
Fin realized the water was gold at the same moment. He saw Hale's busted cheek heal in real time, and Hale opened his eyes groggily.
The ringing Fin had in his ears and bruises from the blast faded before he got back to Serena.
Her pain through their matebond started fading as well.
Fin grabbed Serena and watched her busted lip heal.
Serena knew he was wondering why the water was gold. She grinned, wincing slightly, but couldn't help it at the look on his face.
She was laying flat on her back, floating. His arms were under her, pulling her close to him.
"Water sometimes does this when I swim," she answered, responding to Fin's unasked question.
"Why am I not surprised by that…" he replied, shaking his head with a grin. He was wrecked with worry but also had the urge to kiss her. Probably not the time or place.
"Well, that went about as bad as it possibly could have," Gav remarked, floating on his back and looking up at the ceiling.
Serena wanted to laugh at that but was still slightly delayed.
The healers hit with the blast seemed to have gotten the memo, because none of them hesitated entering the lake. Slow at first, then most of them just dunked themselves fully in. Their ears wouldn't stop ringing.
King Tiberon:Serena, Hale, Silas, Gav, Lunaris, Edward transported via cuffs. Status update.
Dex:Velkaris recovered. Kronk and Solara injured.
Taren:Recovered. One broken rib. Zenith injured.
King Tiberon:Kronk, Solara, Zenith, land immediately. Healing teams standing by.
King Tiberon:Updated count, Dex.
Dex:Water dragon and storm dragon inbound to land. One hostile rider remaining on storm dragon. One water dragon riderless and unsecured.
Serena went under all the way, feeling her headache go away and pressure in her ears dissipate.
She could hear the mindlinks and already knew where this was headed.
She surfaced a moment later and looked toward King Tiberon, ready for orders.
He met her gaze, seeming to be weighing the best course of action.
The calculus was brutal and simple.
The last fae had to be taken. Serena was the only one who could guarantee the shot on the first try, and none of them were willing to risk dark-touched enemy dragons this close to Drakenfell.
Fin was not pleased.
Not with the plan, not with the way she had been pushed forward again and again, not with how casually the risk to her had been accepted.
He wanted to take her home, back to his castle, away from the madness and the sky and the blood. His protective instincts were in full force.
The problem was jurisdiction. He did not have it. Not here.
King Tiberon along with everyone else didn't like it either. No one said it out loud because they understood there was no other choice.
Serena made her way back toward the shore, water heavy around her legs. Fin was immediately at her back, close enough to steady her if she faltered.
When she stepped out of the lake, the gold left with her.
Instantly, everyone who had been floating in it, every healer, every blasted rider, every dragon rider burned or injured earlier, felt the warmth fade. Groans followed as weight and pain returned all at once. They began pulling themselves toward land.
Aeron stepped forward without a word, touching Serena first, then Fin. Water vanished from their clothes and hair in a rush of warm air. He turned and did the same for King Tiberon.
Only then did Serena let herself breathe. She was fairly certain Aeron had just dried her off before two kings, but no one seemed willing to comment on it.
All she wanted, suddenly and intensely, was a nap. Preferably one that lasted three days and didn't involve anyone trying to kill her.
A woman healer jogged over and pressed a hair tie into Serena's hand.
"Thank you," Serena replied, sincere. She needed one badly.
The healer blinked, clearly caught off guard by it. Then she shook her head once, smiled, and answered, "Of course."
Serena wasn't sure why thanking someone for a hair tie warranted that reaction, but she filed it away under things she'd think about when she wasn't about to die.
Hyran made a portal. On the other side, lightning flashed and rain roared.
Serena stepped through.