A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

Despite all that, he stood perfectly still, his shoulders relaxed and his demeanor easy. Even now, in the middle of bloodthirsty monsters secured with simple rope, he was calm in the face of the storm. He didn’t seem overly troubled. Resigned, more like. Sad, maybe, that it had come to this.

My heart broke.

They’d been waiting for us. They’d wanted us to watch him die.

Nyfain was right: they weren’t looking to make a trade. How stupid that notion had been. They were offering up my brother as a lure, knowing we would try to save him, giving them a chance to kill us in the process. If he died, it would be solely because of me.

Get to him. Quickly.

One of the ropes snapped. The monster lurched forward with a snarl. Then another rope whipped in the air. And another.

No, they weren’t snapping. They were being cut.

Demons must be lurking in the trees, out of sight. They’d seen us coming and were springing the trap to get us down there faster.

No, please! I begged the goddess, or maybe my dragon, or maybe the old gods from the legends. No!

The creatures rushed forward, all of them loose now, running toward Hannon in the middle of the circle.

Hurry, help him! I thought-yelled.

Heat rose from down deep. It rushed through our middle and up, scorching out through our mouth and nose. My dragon dove, shoving past Nyfain, who was trying to cut us off from the fray. Fire erupted from my dragon’s mouth, blasting the ground. I would’ve been shocked as shit if the situation wasn’t so dire.

Kill them all, I thought as she directed the thick stream around him. Two creatures screamed and wailed, humanlike sounds, before curling up within the flame. The rest were untroubled, though. They were not susceptible to fire.

Damn it! I thought, my terror as elevated as my rage. Get down there.

She let the heat consume her middle once again and spouted fire onto the ground on the other side of Hannon, taking out what creatures she could before diving fast to the ground. Once there, she banked quickly, plucking a creature off the ground and crunching its middle.

Hurry! I shouted within her head, seeing two creatures get in front of the pack, each nearly at Hannon. Hurry!

She swung her tail as Nyfain’s dragon landed on the other side. He darted forward to grab one of the creatures in the lead, but another got in the way. He crunched through that one, ripping its head to the side before trying for its friend.

My dragon grabbed another as a scrape ripped down our side. She roared, fury riding her, and turned to clear a wide area with her tail.

Don’t worry about that—we’ll heal, I told her, anxious because she’d turned, and I couldn’t see Hannon anymore. I couldn’t see how much time he had.

The wolves rushed into the scene, but they were smaller than the demons’ creatures and unused to fighting them. They teamed up against those on the periphery. They wouldn’t be able to get to my brother in time.

My dragon turned toward the apex of the hill, and our heart jumped up into our throat. Her roar was desperate, chorused by Nyfain. One of the creatures had reached Hannon, its massive claws coming up to strike.

Hannon was looking at me with a sad smile on his face. His expression held no fear.

The creature’s claws came down and raked across his throat.

No! I screamed, my ears suddenly ringing even though they weren’t actually my ears. My dragon’s roar of anguish drowned out the rest of the fighting. It slowed everyone, making the enemy freeze and the others flinch, wondering what had happened.

Nyfain snatched the creature he’d been after, crushing it between his teeth and dropping it to the side, and then jolted forward to get at Hannon.

Hannon’s neck had been opened in a huge gash, blood gushing down his front. He jerked on the post, still held tight, unable to protect himself or do anything to retaliate. The creature’s second strike landed as my dragon shoved her way forward. It sliced across his middle, making his insides bubble out.

Oh goddess, no. Oh please no, I thought, suddenly numb, not willing to believe what my eyes were telling me.

Nyfain reached the creature and pounced, ripping off lumps of flesh and scoring its body with his claws as the wolves fought the other creatures around us. More demons charged in with swords and knives, slashing and ripping.

Fire rained down around us from the dragons in the air, but when it didn’t affect the creatures, the dragons landed amongst the wolves and fought on the ground.

I didn’t care about any of it. I couldn’t.

Pain welled up through me as my dragon reached Hannon, and I surged up to take over. Nyfain roared in frustration when I changed into my human shape, but I didn’t care. I went to Hannon with shaking hands, untying him as quickly as possible.