Page 139 of Courting the Dragon Prince

But they had to rally. They had to fight. They had to survive.

“All right. When the rocks lift further,” Onyx said, “I’ll fling them back and try and hit some of our enemies.”

“Then you move a little away from me,” Luther instructed. “Give me space to shift. Then you climb on my back and we fly and fight.” Determination straightened his spine. “You won’t have a harness. I’ll fly gently so you don’t fall off. But hold onto my scales as tightly as you can.”

“I will.”

The sound of the rumbling and clattering of rock grew louder and louder with every second. It drew closer and closer. The hair on Luther’s neck stood on end.

Luther gritted his teeth, ignoring the terror the sound induced deep in his soul.

Onyx reached out and gripped Luther’s arm. “I love you. We can do this. We can win.” Then Onyx released him.

A moment later, Onyx screamed, “For the glory of the Grey Mountains! For Draconia! For peace!”

For a split second, Luther felt touched that his own kingdom had been included in Onyx’s battle cry.

Then moonlight appeared as the stone around them exploded outwards. Luther closed his eyes. Even the moonlight felt too bright after the absolute darkness. But he forced his eyes open. He heard the shocked cries and screams of their enemies.

Luther found his dragon within and held on to it. He let the dragon take him.

Wings sprouted. His body grew. His broken leg shifted into a talon. With a roar of pain, Luther threw his head back as the agony tore through the broken bone.

This was why dragons weren’t meant to shift with a broken limb. The pain, and because it could cause long-term damage to the bone. But Luther did what he needed to do.

Luther stretched his neck, gazing around, taking in his opponents. He spotted about twenty soldiers in total, wide-eyed and scattering. But he couldn’t see Warden Flint.

No matter. They’d find him soon enough and put an end to him.

Luther lowered his body, flattening himself to the earth as he looked to Onyx.

Onyx clambered onto his back, gripping his scales. “I’m on!”

Luther stretched his wings out. He flapped and took to the air. But he made certain to fly slow. A few rocks flew in his general direction but went wide.

He spotted his first targets. Fire gurgled in his belly. He opened his jaw. Orange-and-gold flames burst forth. The soldiers screamed as the fire consumed them. Others fled, running for trees and rocks to take cover.

And whilst Luther breathed fire, Onyx hurtled stones. Vaguely, Luther realised Onyx didn’t release Luther’s scales.

Did Onyx not need to do all that gesturing to channel his magic? Luther shoved the question aside. This was not the time to ponder that.

Luther flew, circling the rocky ground and flying between the sparse trees. Onyx and Luther hunted the soldiers. They rained down fire and stones onto their enemies.

This is almost too easy.

Their enemies were too unorganised. They had not been prepared for this combined dragon and earth elemental attack.

Once again, Luther opened his mouth. Flames consumed a soldier and the tree that he’d tried to take cover behind. A rock Onyx threw flew in Luther’s peripheral vision. Luther turned to see it knock a soldier as he attempted to run between two large mounds.

Suddenly pain exploded in Luther’s gut and chest. Luther roared as several boulders smashed at the same time into his torso. The force of the strike knocked him, tipping him backwards.

He craned his neck. A short distance away, within a cave entrance, stood two soldiers and Warden Flint. They must have taken cover and hidden from them, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Then Luther felt it.

No! Fuck no!

Onyx’s hands slipped from his scales.