Can't Get Enough (Dragon Kin) - G.A. Aiken Page 0,50
smiled. She’d heard nothing, she’d always remember that, but still somehow she knew. “Ailean the Wicked needs no army to bring me back—and he never fights alone.” Her smile grew wide. “He has his kin.”
Moving as silently as the smallest mouse, Kyna landed on Erdmann’s back, bringing her tall steel shield down with her. She slammed it into his neck, slamming him to the ground. The sharp end of her shield rammed into the purple scales with such force it ripped through them and into the flesh until it was buried in the dirt and Erdmann’s head thudded to the ground.
Kennis landed on the back of another dragon and buried her lance in his spine.
Kyna looked over at Shalin and Shalin no longer saw anger. At least, not toward her. “Go!” Kyna ordered, jumping off Erdmann’s still flailing body as the blood from his neck continued to spay across the clearing.
Nightmare must have understood Kyna because he took off with no prompting, running under and around the battling dragons as more of Ailean’s kin dropped from the skies, weapons in hand, and ready to kill.
They tore back to the castle and burst through the courtyard gates as bells rang in warning, and Ailean’s human soldiers prepared for battle, the servants scrambling for someplace safe to hide.
Nightmare slid to a halt right in front of Madenn.
She let out a breath when she saw Shalin on the horse’s back. “I feared—”
“I know.” Shalin reached down and grabbed a soldier trying to dart by. “Get the gates closed—now.”
With a nod, he took off running as Shalin slid off Nightmare’s back.
“What good will that do?” Madenn demanded. “They’ll simply fly over it.”
“Leave that to me. Get everyone—” Shalin cut herself off as she grabbed Madenn around the waist and yanked her out of the way, the bolt of lightning hitting where the woman had been standing.
Shalin pushed her away, staring up at the sky. “Go. Now.”
Moving quickly to the center of the courtyard, Shalin finally shifted. Going on memory alone, she drew a circle of ancient symbols in the dirt. Once done, she looked around desperately until she spotted another soldier.
“Your shield,” she shouted at him. “Give it to me.” He tossed the metal shield at her, and Shalin caught it easily, placing it carefully on the ground inside the circle.
Lightning danced around her, but she knew none would hit her directly since they couldn’t afford for her to be hurt. She kept her wings tucked in close to her body and focused all her energy into the shield. As it pulsed to life, she slammed her claw down on it and the metal flattened, turning to liquid. She chanted a recently learned spell and the liquid disappeared inside her hand. It tore through her. Through her organs and veins, tearing up through her lungs.
Shalin raised her other claw, palm up, and liquid burst out and up, heading toward the sky. It exploded over the castle and the courtyard, creating a solid metal bubble over all she visualized. A shield now for the entire structure.
She heard roars of anger, then screams as unleashed lightning bolts slammed back into those who sent them.
“By the gods,” she heard Madenn whisper.
For some reason that made Shalin chuckle—just before everything went black and her head took out the front of the castle where she landed.
Ailean held the head while Arranz held the back claws and Kennis happily chopped away at the neck. Once they separated head from body, they let it drop.
It hadn’t taken long, wiping out a small army of Lightning dragons. Well, it would have if he’d been fighting with the queen’s army. There were rules to follow and those who gave orders to listen to.
But a family free-for-all, as his father liked to call it, usually ended pretty quickly. Although it was quite enjoyable while it lasted.
Glancing around, he saw that his kin had it under control, so he motioned to Arranz and Bideven. “Back to the castle. We need to—”
Ailean abruptly stopped talking. His head tilted to the side as he stared out over the trees toward his home.
“What’s that?” he asked his brothers, pointing at the silver thing glinting from the early afternoon sun.
“I…I have no idea,” Bideven responded. And since he was the smartest of them all, if he didn’t know, none of them knew.
Panic flooded through him and Ailean charged forward, heading toward the castle. As he neared, he saw several Lightning dragons lay on the ground. They weren’t dead, but