“Is that what you think?” King Laskis asked, sounding appalled by the idea, but I wasn’t fooled. He was a master actor, having what felt like lifetimes to learn all the tricks. “We’d never do that. A bond between dragons and mates is sacred. From what I’m hearing, the riders have to be brainwashed to believe that anything else would be the case. Didn’t you ever think that maybe the Fae found a way to steal that magic from riders? Why do you think the Fae want their hands on them at all? What do you think they’d do to you? Seems to me we finally have that answer.”
“We need to act faster,” the female rider said, frowning hard. “If they’re taking the other riders’ magic, then we need to get them to safety quickly before it’s too late.”
“No. That isn’t right. That isn’t how it is,” I said.
“Rayna, it will be okay,” King Laskis said. “We will have our healers look you over. Maybe they will be able to undo whatever it is the Fae did to your mind to alter your thoughts.”
“I’m telling you that isn’t the case!” I snapped back.
The guards tried to move in on us. My mates growled, reminding them of who they’d have to deal with.
“Rayna, you are trapped in the Fae’s lies. We can help you with that, reverse what they have done to you.”
“Everything you say is bullshit. I saw the truth; I saw how you are the fraud, how you are the power hungry one. I saw how your actions have destroyed countless riders’ lives and will continue to do so,” I snapped again.
“Enough!” The king thundered, making my knees weak, as he demanded I fall to the ground before him. I gritted my teeth, sent my resolve out to my mates, and kept us on our feet while others around us bent to his will. “I have been battling those forsaken Fae for a very long time, little girl, and I refuse to let you belittle all that hard work and all those sacrifices. Those Fae have golden tongues, know how to twist their words so that even the darkest words will become the sweetest of songs. If you want a truth, then very well, you can have one. You are an important key, Rayna, and it is time I take that and end this war, wiping those Fae out of existence.”
Growling broke out as all pretenses were dropped. We were no longer safe.
‘We need to get out of here,’ I sent to my mates.
They sent back their agreements as they tightened the circle around me.
“Tie up those dragons! Make sure they can’t do anything,” the king ordered.
The guards charged. Philit threw a punch, leaving one of the guards screaming out under the crunch of the impact.
While Landers was distracted with one guard, another tried to sneak up on him. I used my magic and repelled him away. He didn’t move far, but it gave Zilon enough time to stop him from getting to Landers.
‘Burn them!’I said, also sending them magic to use their fire, but it was like my magic shied away instead.
In the shock of that moment, my dragons grew distracted, and we were soon overwhelmed.
They were tackled to the ground, faces shoved into the grass while the multiple dragons fought to keep them in place while another bound them with thick rope. Two dragons had to hold me as I tried to fight to get free.
‘Stop, Rayna. Before you hurt yourself,’Philit said, forcing me to settle down.
My mates were dragged into the open, bound by those damned ropes that seemed to numb our bond and prevent my guys from shifting.
‘No!’I used my magic to push the guards away from me and then used the opportunity to slip out of their reach.
I chased after my mates, trying to fight off the guards, but it was only me against dozens of guards at that point.
One guard shoved me back, and I fell to the ground hard, as a rock bit into my hand. Two guards moved in front of me and held their dangerous lances out at me, ready to jab my body if I so much as twitched.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Landers snapped out, growling and trying to fight against the bonds. But he had no chance. None of them did. A guard hit him hard across the face. Landers’s head snapped to the right, blood dripping from his head.
“I was hoping we’d do this a bit more amicably, but now, I can see no amount of talking will work with you,” King Laskis said, coming to my side. “It’s time to end this pointless struggle on your part and just take what is rightfully mine.”
Before I could say anything, an explosion of power stole all the air in the area. There was a loud bellow as a massive dragon appeared in front of me, so golden that even the sun couldn’t compare to its beauty. Nothing about the dragon was feeble, even the wings whole and strong.
The dragon king. A pissed dragon king in his rawest form. More massive than anything I’d seen before.
I choked on the scream building inside of me as he flapped his wings and took to the skies, doing a lap through the air. He had to be showing off. Dirt and plants kicked up into the air, nearly blinding me as some of them got into my eyes. The trees practically bent at the force of the gusts he created. I lifted an arm to protect my face against the whipping wind all around me. Then, the dragon king’s wings tucked against his body, and he dove toward me.
I tried to get to my feet and run, but the guards only shoved me back down before backing off. They wanted me to stay down but also wanted to stay away from the dangerous attack of their king. I didn’t even have a chance before he grabbed me with his sharp claws and lifted me up so high that everyone on the ground became nothing but dots. The air was so ice cold that it felt like it’d take only seconds for me to freeze.
17