The Last Dragon King (Kings of Avalier #1)(54)

For Joslyn.

If the queen thought she could just waltz into Embergate and take out the king’s chance at having an heir, she was sorely mistaken.

We kept the horses just inside the stable, waiting for a signal from Drae that he needed extraction.

Instead of a signal, the front door of the house blew off its hinges and Drae was tossed out onto the street in a puff of black smoke.

What the…?

Regina kicked the horse with her heels as chaos erupted into the once silent night. Nox and Falcon burst from the home next, each bleeding from their arms. Half a dozen guards followed them with swords drawn.

I barely had time to process the scene when Regina whisked the wagon beside them and whistled.

The king, Falcon, and Nox launched themselves inside and then we took off.

“Mission accomplished,” was all Drae said and a triumphant feeling spread throughout my limbs. They did it. The person responsible for Joslyn’s death was dead.

A loud and deep horn blew throughout the fort and I knew they’d be shutting the gates and preparing for an attack. An arrow whizzed past my head and I ducked before popping up again, wide-eyed. This must be what war felt like, I thought. By the time you processed what was going on, another situation entirely had unfolded.

“Hold the reins,” Regina told me.

I scrambled onto the horse as Regina switched places with me and grabbed her bow, shooting arrows at the approaching army of angry Nightfall soldiers running after us.

“Arwen, let’s fly!” Drae cried out.

My heart hammered in my chest as the horses barreled for the fort’s closed gates. Shift into a dragon and fly out of here while riding on a moving horse! Is he insane?

I spun to find him already ripping off his shirt.

Hades, he is serious. Here we go…

Abandoning the reins, I jumped into the small wagon with him, yanking off my leathers without a care for nakedness. Who could worry about exposing oneself when you were about to die?

The king was the first to strip down, but only halfway, still wearing trousers, and within seconds he sprouted wings from his back with a growl of pain. He’d transformed into a partial dragon, wings only, and then used his arms to grab Nox and Falcon by the waist.

“Can you take Cal and Regina? It’s easier to take two if you partial shift and hold them like this,” he said.

Umm. No. Hades no. I couldn’t.

Something terrifying crossed his gaze and I frowned. There was something he wasn’t telling me.

‘I can’t fully shift. Not enough magic,’ he said, and fear flooded my entire system.

Already? With each shift he was losing his power, which meant the people of Embergate were in grave danger.

I nodded, then with one jump he leapt into the air, away from the cart. Nox and Falcon hung from his arms as he flew them over the fort.

What. The. Hades?

“I don’t think I can do that,” I mumbled to Regina.

She looked behind me, at what I knew was the approaching gate and probably an army of more men. “You have to,” was all she said, and then she and Cal reached out and grasped one of my arms each.

My leathers were hanging snugly off my waist, my breasts covered by my small bralette, and I decided that was enough clothing to remove if the goal was just to erupt wings from my back.

Pulling forth the fire within me, I pushed it into my transformation and felt a pop of pain as the wings burst from my back.

“Now!” Regina yelled and the cart jerked to a stop. I jumped into the air, flapping my wings. We went airborne, and for a few seconds I actually thought this would be easy. Then the weight of two people dragged me downward.

“Flap them harder!” Regina yelled as she held on to my left arm with two hands, and Cal held on to my right.

My wings buckled under the strain as I flapped them like a madwoman, gaining a few feet. The army was under us now, aiming up at us with arrows.

We’re all dead!

I couldn’t get us high enough, I was too slow, I—

An arrow whizzed right past my face and I screamed.

Regina let go of me with one of her hands, aiming at the approaching men with bows.

“No!” she yelled, an unholy look of ferocity coming across her face. Raising her hand, a stream of beautiful deadly orange fire burst from her palm and saturated the men below.

Screams filled the night, then the thwip of arrows cut into the sky. Pain suddenly laced into my right arm and I cried out, losing my grip on Cal for a half second. He slipped down but scrambled to hold on at the last second. I twisted to look at the source of my pain to find an arrow lodged in my right shoulder. Blood trickled down my arm and onto Cal’s hands. I flapped my wings madly but we were still barely fifteen feet off the ground.

My shoulder burned like Hades but I kept going, ignoring the numbness in my fingers. I just needed to get over the wall. It was twice as high as I was flying so I pumped my wings with everything I had.

But it was too difficult. We lost altitude, falling a few feet, and I started to whimper.

‘Help me. I can’t get over the wall,’ I called to Drae as panic flooded my system. I was going to drop Cal any second.

“I’m trying!” I said and then looked down into Cal’s and Regina’s panicked expressions.

Regina looked over at Cal then, watching him slip down my arm, and then glanced up at me. “Get the king home and have an heir. Save our people, Arwen. That’s an order!”