both hands and twisted it violently to the side. His neck snapped as it broke.
Kiora’s body jerked at the violence. Swallowing back bile, she dropped her bubble to help. The other Tavean froze for a second, looking between Alcander and Kiora before he turned to run, throwing a bubble.
“Go get Emane,” Alcander yelled, sprinting past her after the Tavean. He flicked out a sphere, the light traveling in front of him and revealing the Tavean as he broke through the tree line.
She ran towards the Manor. If Alcander didn’t catch him, she had no idea how much time she had left. She was almost to the house when the two dragons careened towards her, Soolan spraying fire. Yelping, Kiora threw herself against the side of the Manor as a line of fire scorched the grass where she had just been standing. Drustan came in at an angle, gripping Soolan’s neck with his teeth and forcing him off course. Kiora leapt up. Pushing the door open she ran into the Manor. She followed the threads until she reached the room Emane was in.
Layla was waiting just inside, stationed between Kiora and Emane. Layla’s stance was wide, her arms straight out with her fingers spread in a magical threat.
“Layla,” Kiora said, skidding to a stop.
“Kiora,” Emane yelled, running to the bars. Kiora glanced at him. He looked healthy—good.
A dark, brooding laughter bubbled up from Dralazar, who was sitting calmly in an armchair by the fireplace. “What are you waiting for, Layla?” he asked. “Take care of your sister.”
Screaming, Layla spurted fire from her fingers. It caught Kiora off guard to actually see her sister do magic, but Layla’s attack was much slower than what she had been training with. Kiora threw up a shield, and the attack sheeted down the front like red water.
Kiora looked over at Dralazar. Why would he send Layla after her? Why was he just sitting there? Dralazar ran his fingers over the arms of his chair, a calculating smile on his face.
“Again, Layla,” he cooed.
Layla obeyed, attacking again. This time she darted to the side, trying to get around Kiora’s shield.
Dralazar didn’t just want her dead, she realized sickly. He wanted her to suffer.
Kiora moved her shield to the side. “Layla, please don’t do this. He knows you can’t beat me. He’s trying to force me to hurt you.”
Layla’s eyes blazed with a hatred Kiora had seen for years. But it burned brighter now, no doubt fueled by Dralazar. “Did he force you to leave us in the village when the dragons attacked?” she screamed. “Did he force you to leave us in the woods to be eaten by Hounds?” She threw out more fire.
“Kiora!” Emane yelled again. “Get out of here!”
Dralazar laughed at the show.
Kiora looked between the three. She didn’t have time for this. She didn’t want to hurt Layla, but she couldn’t stand here fending off attacks until the Shadow came. Grabbing the wind, she pushed it forward with a grunt, picking up Layla and throwing her across the room. She landed hard, sliding across the floor before cracking her head on the fireplace.
Kiora held her breath. Layla’s thread stayed strong, but she didn’t move.
Dralazar looked down at Layla, groaning as if highly annoyed, and pushed himself from the chair. Kiora put one foot behind her, preparing to throw her first attack when the Manor groaned and popped in protest. Splintering pieces of wood and dirt rained down on them. Kiora shrieked, covering her head with a shield.
Dralazar whirled, roaring at the ceiling. “Soolan! You idiot dragon, get off the roof!”
The roof cracked open as one giant dragon foot broke through, sending a large beam plummeting towards them. Kiora dove out of the way, and the beam landed between her and Dralazar. Soolan’s snout poked through the hole, preparing to breath fire.
Dralazar yelled. Soolan’s fire wouldn’t just take out Kiora. He took a shot at the underside of Soolan’s jaw, redirecting the fiery attack and sending it careening into the curtains, which went up like tender.
Drustan’s thread reappeared overhead, and Soolan roared in pain. The volume of it rattled the windows and door. Soolan’s foot and snout yanked itself free of the roof as the dragons took the fight back to the air.
“Drustan,” Dralazar growled, glaring at the hole Soolan had left behind.
Kiora took advantage of the chaos and ran towards Emane.
“You have to get out of here,” he shouted frantically.