Page 34 of Dragon Blood (Dragon Island #3)

K ai had never seen anything like what filled the sky before him. Not in real life. It was something cut from an ancient tapestry or mural. An extended cut of a movie with sweeping vistas. A brutal mix of beauty and savagery.

Bayn streamed forward in his glittering crystalline cloud form, while Kai kept pace with Astred, their wings working endlessly.

None of them had slept since… he wasn’t sure. There was no time to give into the fatigue, paired though it was with travel and stress.

A red speck appeared on the horizon, a much larger figure above it. The Crimson Claw. Beside him, Astred growled, suddenly drawing ahead, angling toward the threat headed straight for her crew.

Not having spent as much time in his dragon form, Kai lacked the dexterity he should have, and he trailed behind.

Bayn’s particles sparked a split second before he streamed forward and out of sight. He materialized seconds later between the ship and the threat. Kai’s heart pounded as they collided, his wings working harder. Bayn managed to pull the attacker down into the water, but the resulting repercussive wave sent the ship rolling forward.

The overloaded ship.

Closer now, he could see the deck’s surface was loaded with far too many people. The crew scampered up and down the rigging, trying to control the ship’s roll as it tilted dangerously to the side. Screams drew him forward, faster and faster.

The dragons exploded out of the water, grappling for the sky and each other, compounding the waves already crashing toward the ship.

Tiny figures tumbled overboard, screams swallowed by the ocean.

Kai growled, drawing Astred’s attention as he aimed downward.

On seeing that he had broken away to help her crew and people, she turned toward Bayn and the enemy dragon threatening her ship, claws extended.

Seconds later, it was the attacker that screamed in pain and fear as she crashed into him, ripping and tearing flesh and scales before he kicked her off.

As soon as the ship regained balance, the crew scrambled to get a rescue boat down to the water.

Kai bought the crew time, collecting the fallen before the sea could claim them, though he couldn’t be sure he’d found them all.

Monitoring the adjacent battle, it was clear the attacker was intent on destroying the ship. Any chance he got to evade, he made another attempt to dash toward the vulnerable vessel. He simply would not break away. Bayn did what he could to block and contain, acting as a shield for both the ship and for Astred when the much larger enemy kicked her away.

They’re targeting civilians.

Kai called out, drawing Bayn’s attention, as he flew up to join the fight. He jerked his head, indicating that Bayn protect the ship as the crew completed their recovery work.

Exchanging positions, Kai drew on his shadow magic and arced around the enemy, throwing a cloud of blackness into his face, blinding him.

Astred struck, claws gouging deep across the dragon’s softer underbelly. Blood sprayed through the air.

The enemy lashed out blindly as he twisted away, diving.

Astred darted in again, but the attacker both kicked and lunged, jaws latching, trapping her.

It happened so fast, she couldn’t react in time.

With Astred trapped in his jaws, the attacker surged forward, intending to ram her down into the ship.

Banking, Kai descended, claws out to grasp the attacker’s wings. As he connected, he let the shadow magic loose, drawing all three of them into an adjacent world where the Crimson Claw was a haze, visible as though through thick gray ice.

Using his body weight, Kai flipped them aside, doing all he could to disorient the attacker. Still, the bastard wouldn’t let go of Astred. Her eyes closed as her body lost its tension.

No!

With a snarl, Kai clamped his jaws on the male’s exposed neck and jerked as hard as he could. The crack of bone shuddered through him, and the male’s grip released Astred.

Kai let go of the dead weight, following her as she began to free-fall.

He caught her with a claw, drawing her into him, wrapping his limbs and wings around her as they tumbled through the sky, his shadow magic still swirling around them until they plunged into the ocean. He took the full force of the impact, first with the shadow buffer, then with his body, cushioning Astred’s smaller one.

Grappling with consciousness, he unfurled himself, struggling for the surface before her lungs filled with seawater. Her eyes opened on the ascent. She pushed away, clawing her way upward on her own.

Breaking the surface, she shifted into her human form, searching the sky, assessing the ship. Kai did likewise.

“Bayn is protecting the crew. The attacker is dead.” Kai gasped for breath.

Astred’s eyes were wide. “I—I couldn’t stop that fucker from going after the ship. He was trying to kill them, Kai. In all the years we’ve fought with the males, they’ve never targeted our people like that.”

This was a different kind of war.

Bayn called out, growling, eyes turned toward Aeleftheria.

In the distance, the sky continued to churn, with dragons fighting over the archipelago.

“Come on. Bayn will ensure the ship’s safety before he follows,” Kai swam away from Astred before resuming his dragon form.

He followed her through the water, building up enough speed to push up into the air to regain flight and altitude. The sensation of the dragon’s neck cracking under the power of Kai’s jaws lingered, churned his gut. He never in his life had imagined he would ever have to kill another. Heart heavy, he now knew he could. Glancing at Astred’s dragon form, his heart pounded, knowing that if he hadn’t, she’d be dead.

He turned his attention to the chaos ahead.

So be it.

This is everyone’s fight.