Black Crown (Darkest Drae, #3)(96)

I clung to my defenses as I righted myself, glancing at Tyrrik to make sure he was okay before we continued our desperate flight without delay.

Where are they? I asked, searching for the six Drae I’d blasted free. Below us, much of our army lay slaughtered, those first to absorb Draedyn’s display of Druman strength.

Falling to the ground, Tyrrik said. They’re out cold.

I immediately altered my trajectory.

No, Ryn. Let them fall. They will not die, but Dyter and Lani’s army will. Can you do the same again?

He’ll be expecting it.

Then don’t hold back. Tyrrik’s anger with Draedyn leaked through our bond. Not just a pancake, hit them with a stack.

I hesitated because we were closing the distance, and as I paused, Draedyn and his harem reached the army of my friends. I roared as the females dived upon the exposed portion of our soldiers.

Still minutes away, I watched in horror as Draedyn’s chest expanded, just as Tyrrik’s had at the palace. Screams filled the air, lending an erratic beat to my flight.

Blinding white-green fire exploded from the emperor’s mouth.

Tyrrik! I screamed, my eyes widening in horror.

Draedyn wasn’t aiming at the exposed portion of the army. He was aiming at Lani’s shield. He shouldn’t have even been able to see it!

On his back, Tyrrik said. Kamini’s on his back.

I scoured my father’s form and saw Kamini there, a Druman holding a knife to her neck. Two Phaetyn children were also there, probably dragged up from the dungeons. Two more Druman held knives to their throats.

She’s showing him where the army is.

You have to stop the other Drae first, Ryn! Tyrrik shouted. We’re nearly there. Just delay them.

The emerald-green power licked the sky in every direction, filling me with a heavy weight. Who could compete with such raw power? I was eighteen, thousands of years younger than Draedyn with thousands of years less experience. And yet I was the first of my kind, the most powerful Drae as I’d told Zakai, and the only one who could do this. If I failed, we would all perish.

I dropped my external Phaetyn veil, pointless against Kamini anyway, and then unravelled half of the lapis Drae bands from around my head and slapped my green Phaeytn mojo alongside them, merging the powers as tightly as I could.

Without pausing to think, I blasted the interwoven force at each female in rapid succession. For the first three, I did okay. I even braced for the rebound flare of Draedyn’s energy as before. I caught an image from Tyrrik of three more of the Drae toppling from the sky. Screeching, I funnelled all of my might through the band of his control around the remaining three, but the last flare of Draedyn’s power was tailored to resist my efforts.

I can’t get through, I called to Tyrrik.

Keep trying. I’m flying ahead.

No! I screamed at him, fear clawing at my heart. We stay together.

I could feel his answer, but before I could respond, shock stunned me. Through his eyes, I watched a turquoise Drae rise from within the rebels’ ranks.

It’s my aunt, I choked as emotion overwhelmed me. My Aunt Ryn.

Untangling a strand of my powers, I threw them like a net to cover my aunt who was circling above Draedyn. The net settled around her just in time, and then Draedyn and I were both locked in two battles. Not only did I need to keep my aunt’s mind free as she attacked him to give the rebels a fighting chance, but Draedyn and I fought for power over the remaining Drae still under his control.

Draedyn unleashed a second bout of white-hot fire on Lani’s shield, the crackle of power singeing the air.

Despair flooded me as the green power swallowed her gold veil, and then the Phaetyn barrier began to shrink, exposing more and more of our army.

I glanced up just as my aunt dove.

I wasn’t sure whether I felt Tyrrik holding his breath or if the tension inside was all mine as I did the same.

Aunt Ryn closed the gap, plummeting toward the emperor, and I pounded against his control of the female Drae, gaining an inch.

Draedyn cut off his flame and twisted in a circle in the air, whipping his spiked tail high and wide.

A vice squeezed my chest, and I screeched aloud as his tail connected with my aunt’s head. She rolled upside down over his back, her wings scraping over his ridged spine, and then she toppled, plummeting to the hard ground.

I couldn’t waste the opportunity she’d given us. I threw everything I had into breaking his hold. Triumph surged from within as I felt his grip loosening on one of the Drae, feeding my confidence and my power. She fell and then a second. I couldn’t fathom how my aunt’s move had distracted him so much, yet I refused to let that distract me as I drilled my powers at the last barrier, shattering the final ring of control on the female Drae.

Ryn, Tyrrik said. Your aunt took the Phaetyn from Draedyn. Kamini and the children are no longer on his back.

Yep, that would’ve distracted him.

I grinned at my mate, but my breath caught as I faced the massive green Drae before us. Draedyn was monstrous, and my stomach turned.

You did it, my love. You freed them.

I hoped my mate was right, but I was too fearful to share his elation. I cast my powers to the eleven females, checking first that they were unconscious and no longer a danger. Unwilling to risk them joining the battle again, I wove a thin layer of my powers around each, hoping it would be sufficient to give me a warning, even if the barrier couldn’t keep Draedyn out entirely. My aunt was still conscious. I darted a look at her and saw her fighting the three Druman who’d held Kamini and the children at knife point.