A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

“Work within the pack,” Nyfain said as he headed for the door. “Don’t fear the dragons. We won’t burn you with our fire, and we won’t trample you if we’re on the ground. We’ve trained to fight alongside ground-bound troops. Trust in our ability. We’ll scatter their troops and kill anyone we can. You and the wolves take down anyone we miss. Are you ready?”

As one, they answered with a crisp word I didn’t quite catch.

“Be careful, Finley,” Calia called after us, and I gave her a thumbs-up as I jogged out of the door.

Nyfain and I ran back down the hall, gathering up the wolves to flank us again as we went.

“What of the warriors in the hall, sire?” one of the faeries asked as we went.

“Leave them to protect those staying behind. We have what we need.”

“They use magic when they fight, right?” I whispered as we reached the stairs and quickly descended. All the wolves were organized in neat lines, some shaking or lying on their bellies, probably struggling to get out of the magical pack lock. They’d have to endure it a while longer. Their current situation was better than being dead.

I did wonder where their king had gone, however. Maybe he was trapped just like the rest of them. That would serve him right.

Nyfain stopped at the top of the stairs, looking down on those waiting below. Various squeals and roars lifted into the night from outside. A slow thump, like a sword hitting a shield, kept up a steady rhythm. And then a demon ran into the castle from the way we’d come, screaming. Another followed.

“Attack!” Nyfain shouted.

FORTY-NINE

Finley

It was Vemar’s dragon who responded first. He turned with a roar, swiping his tail across the fast-approaching demons. It took out three before he raced for the widened doorway, trampling any demons foolish enough to charge toward him.

“Remember what I said,” Nyfain told me before giving me a quick kiss. “I’m trusting you.”

“I’m not sure anyone is really going to be after my asshole, but I’ll take it under advisement.”

I just caught him shaking his head before he started running. I was right behind him.

Another dragon didn’t wait to go through the door. He crashed right through the window and wall, breathing fire as he did so. More followed, knocking holes through the structure that could hopefully be mended. Wolves raced out after them.

The faeries followed us down the stairs and then surged out, running through the new doorways, as first Nyfain and then I shifted. My guard was on the other side, none of them having bothered to take to the sky. They stomped their way forward, taking out demons with their claws, teeth, and tails, nearly as comfortable on the ground now as Nyfain.

A bright flash of fire caught my dragon’s attention to the left. Hannon rose into the sky. Flame swirled up from his head, flowed over his feathers, and dripped down from his body. Sparks and embers and waves of light drifted out into the sky behind him as he moved, rising higher before letting out a great caw.

I could feel my dragon internally snicker. The phoenix was cool, but he definitely didn’t sound it.

My dragon rose to meet him before turning and diving low, feeling the fire rise through her. We’d practiced this a lot over that last week with the faeries, and she’d learned to use her fire with great accuracy.

She let out the fire in a thick gush to start, rolling it over the enemy to see if they would be affected. Almost at once they started screaming or screeching, dropping to the ground and writhing. Another stream and down they went. Dolion clearly hadn’t wasted anti-fire magic on these troops.

Hannon did the same, flitting and swirling and doing loop-de-loops as he sprayed and dripped and…possibly shat fire on the demons below him. This fire didn’t burn them to death, though. It killed on impact, instantly.

Loop-de-loops? my dragon thought as she did another dive, spraying fire. What sort of boob does that in a battle? I thought he was frolicking when he was doing that in the faerie kingdom. You know, showing off for them or something. I figured he’d know better than to do it in battle. This is embarrassing.

He’s shitting fire. Just let him be. He’s got bigger problems than loop-de-loops. For example, Hadriel mercilessly making fun of him after this.

This is true, my dragon replied.

The other dragons rose into the sky, raining down fire. Nyfain’s dragon flew by our side like this was a fun outing rather than a battle. It seemed a little too…easy. And in no time at all, the demons were scattering all over the place, running away.

These demons don’t seem very powerful, do they? my dragon asked as we sprayed a group running for the distant trees. They didn’t get far.