Nyfain started to shift, and the wolves fell back as the dragon grew and grew. On the landing behind me, Vemar did the same, not waiting for his turn. Then Tamara and Jade followed, crowding the area.
Nyfain’s dragon ran forward, and Vemar’s dragon jumped out over the balcony, flapping his wings once to slow his descent before landing with a thud. He’d learned the tight jump-fly technique to get across the lava near the Bridge of Doom. He lifted his head and roared as wolves ran in to bite or scratch him. They were wasting their time.
Vemar barreled into them as Nyfain ran through the wolves at the bottom of the stairs. Tamara hopped over next, and I rushed forward, shifting as I went.
“Finley, wait,” I heard. Hannon. He didn’t know how to fight on the ground. He had two bird feet instead of four sturdy dragon legs.
At least we have that working for us, my dragon thought as we followed Nyfain through the scattering wolves, who were not sure how to organize or hold their ground in such a small space with such large predators in their midst. They weren’t used to dragons fighting on the ground.
You really need to let that competition between you and the phoenix go. It’s not a good look, I told her as she swung her tail to the side and took out an entire sitting area under the second-floor landing. Don’t wreck the castle, either.
First, I’ll let the competition go if you admit that it’s good that Hannon is going to look after you while you are in a delicate condition—
You are clearly out of your mind—
—and second, she continued, veering to the side of the space to scare a wolf and run over a couch. She crushed it under her feet. The demons and wolves started it, and if the people who run this place have allowed a war to break out within their walls after all the warnings we gave them, they deserve what they get.
But we’ll have to chip in the money to pay for it, idiot, I told her as Vemar crashed through a door, taking the walls around it with him. Thank the goddess the ceiling was at least high. This place is run by the collection of kingdoms.
It needs updating anyway.
Nyfain roared out his battle cry, the sound shaking the walls and vibrating the ground beneath us. Wolves ahead of us visibly quailed, sinking down a little on their haunches. He dodged right and ran through a well-organized cluster while we went left, swiping the sides with our tail and taking out more furniture.
You’re just doing that to be destructive, I accused her.
Yes.
Moving through the next room, my dragon scattered more wolves, slashing with claws and swinging with tail. My dragon swiped her head to the side, bashing her thick skull into two wolves and knocking them aside. They rolled across the floor and then shook, Weston coming up behind us. Any sort of vulnerability empowered him to shift their allegiance.
A look back saw the dragons lumbering along behind us. My guard was trying to catch up, but there was simply not enough room. The first level had grand rooms and entrances, but that was only for human-sized creatures. Our dragons barely fit.
Across the castle we went, more and more wolves joining our host. It was the one factor I was sure Dolion hadn’t accounted for. If he had, he would’ve forced them to stay in human form. Since the Red Lupine monarchs had known, it would seem Dolion wasn’t the only one keeping secrets from his allies.
Nyfain crashed through a smallish doorway, headed first to Starvos before we confronted Dolion’s troops. Wood and paint fell like rain as he thrashed, forcing the hole wider, clearly forgetting he was the largest of the dragons. Of any of the creatures, actually. We ran along behind him, finding the set of stairs we needed and breaking the banister as we lumbered up.
At the landing, though, Nyfain shifted back to human before stepping to the side and waiting for me to do the same.
“Wait for a moment,” he said, catching his breath from the shift.
The hallway in front of us looked empty, but that didn’t mean it was. The other dragons had slowed to a stop below us, looking around to make sure there were no other enemies to knock around or confuse.
“Weston, I need some of your kind up here,” Nyfain said. “Dragons, stay here until I come for you.”
He waited for the wolves, Weston among them, to run up the stairs and flank us before we jogged down the corridor. Weston growled, a sound echoed by the wolf to our left, slightly ahead of us.
Two faeries popped out with large, shining swords held high, dressed in tight red outfits and with eyes promising violence.