The Platinum Dragon's Mate - Zoe Chant Page 0,48

was a silvery-white color, his scales gleaming in the sunlight, almost bright enough to blind anyone who looked directly at him. He had an almost imperial look about him, long and sinuous, but not bulky.

Could he stand up to Jeremiah? Jeremiah was noticeably bigger, and he fought other dragons for a living. When was the last time Reid had been in a fight? Sage had no idea, but she had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t recently.

If ever.

But as Jeremiah’s head snapped forward to bite, Reid leapt into the air, dodging the strike with startling deftness. Then, however briefly, he had the advantage over Jeremiah, and he took it without hesitation, striking a quick but vicious blow at Jeremiah’s throat.

Jeremiah rolled, taking it only glancingly, and took flight himself—and then they were fighting.

It was a blur of deep red and silver-white, but Sage could see that although Jeremiah was bigger, stronger, and a better fighter, Reid was maybe the fastest flier she’d ever seen. He could dodge in and out of range, speed up over Jeremiah’s head, and almost fly circles around the bigger dragon.

It wasn’t going to be enough, though. Jeremiah struck hard with his tail, and Reid didn’t quite dodge in time, not expecting a blow from that direction, and faltered a little, which was enough for Jeremiah to strike again—

Sage realized that she was running forward, before her brain had had time to realize it had given the signal to her legs. She wasn’t going to let this happen. She wouldn’t let this happen.

Behind her, Athena made an impatient noise. “She’s right, what are we waiting for?”

Sage crouched, threw caution to the wind, and shifted.

Chapter 15: Reid

It had been a long, long time since Reid had been in an aerial battle, and if he was honest, he'd never been in a real fight like this. Not one where he could be fairly certain that his opponent was genuinely trying to kill him.

And at first, it was unnerving. Jeremiah was fast, and strong, and much more experienced in battle than Reid was, and from the start, it showed. Reid dodged and struck, but mostly didn't manage to actually inflict any damage on Jeremiah, whereas a couple of painful hits awakened him to the sober reality of the situation very quickly. Pretty soon, he was wondering whether he would, in fact, make it out of this alive or not.

Then there was a flurry of scarlet wingbeats alongside him.

He nearly spun, afraid that some of the other clan members had snuck up behind him, ready to support their leader...but a surge of love and fear inside his chest awakened him to what was really happening.

Sage had come to help.

She was fighting her own father on his behalf.

She took up a position next to him—and on her other side was another female red figure Reid assumed had to be Athena.

And then a large form rose up beyond Athena, metallic-bronze and imposing. Santos.

You're not alone.

It was true. Jeremiah might be a vicious fighter, a brutal attacker, an experienced killer, but all of those traits had left him standing alone, while his own family members faced him in battle. He didn't have the advantage here. Not at all.

Jeremiah let out a furious roar. Below them, Reid could see figures appearing from the little huts—the other clan members, come to see what was happening. He prayed they didn't decide to help their leader; the last thing he wanted was an all-out intra-clan battle.

But he didn’t have time to speculate about what might happen, because what was happening was that Jeremiah was hurling himself forward, twice as fast and angry as before, right at Reid.

Reid had a split second to realize that Jeremiah had been taking it easy on him when it was just the two of them, toying with him because he could, before they met in a bloody clash of claws and teeth. Is this it? he wondered dizzily, snapping as best he could at the scales within reach of his mouth, feeling the bright slash of pain along his side as Jeremiah raked him with his claws. Will he kill me in this moment, before anyone else arrives?

Then Jeremiah roared again...but this time it wasn’t in fury, it was in pain.

He disengaged, giving Reid a moment to catch his breath, and turned on—

No.

On Sage, who had been the one to strike.

He caught the edge of her wing with his claws, and she howled in pain.

And in his chest, Reid’s own dragon finally