Flames of Fury

Rohanor

Only my mate could make a game out of war. She may drive my wolf to the edge, but Goddess I love her fire. Right now my wolf is anxiously pacing around, upset with our decision to split up for the fight, but between the three of us, and my father with Incandis in the north, we can link and communicate between all four fronts.

The only reason why Aedan isn’t clawing for control is because Mags’ father, Bastian, is with her in the South group. It brings us a small fraction of comfort that her father is there with her. We’d obviously prefer it were us, but Mags also pointed out that we’d probably be so focused on protecting her that we wouldn’t be able to focus on the fight.

With the green light from Mags, the teleporters port us out of the Grove and over to the Western edge of the mountain, two hundred feet below the surface where a sunken lake lays undisturbed.

There’s a body laying by the shore just as Mags described. This must be Griffin. She asked that we bring back Griffin’s body for burial in the Grove, so once we’re all situated in the cave one of the teleporters takes care of her request. I fight the chill that runs down my spine when I think about Mags here, heavy with child, escaping from her five month captivity and watching someone she cared for die in her arms.

She shouldn’t have had to endure that, she should have been at home being cared for and supported properly.

But what’s done is done, and now Illian will pay for what he stole from us and what he did to our family.

The water elementals make quick work parting the lake, allowing the earth elementals to create a large opening in the wall through which we will breach Drow Hollow.

West side is ready. I link to Mags, Varian, Runidar, and my father.

North is set. Runidar links back.

East is ready. Varian says.

We’re just waiting on Mags.

South is ready to descend. Remember, let members of the resistance go free. Kill everyone else on sight, and leave Ian for me. Mags’ voice rings through our link clear and confident before everyone goes radio silent.

“Open her up,” I give the command to the elementals. In a matter of seconds the rock wall erodes, leaving behind a perfect archway for us to wade through the shallow water and into the heart of the Hollow.

The corridors are narrow, so we file two by two down the hall, elementals at the front in case we reach any more blockades.

Just as the first few people reach the end of the corridor where it opens up into an enormous cavern, the first six men in front begin to choke and cough out blood and their skin breaks out in blisters.

Stop where you are, the cave is flooded with poisonous gas. Varian mindlinks to us which means that Mags and Incandis’ groups will have run into the same issue. My only hope is that my stubborn mate wasn’t leading her group and didn’t suffer from the poison.

Luckily, once back in the poison free tunnel, the warriors that had been poisoned begin to heal and their breathing stabilizes.

Stand away from the entrances, I have an idea. Mags’ voice calls to us, sounding normal and putting me and my wolf at ease that so far she’s still safe.

Several seconds later, a green ring of fire skates across the walls, ceiling, and floor of the cave, like a flame in a bottle but on a much larger scale, burning up and consuming the poison in the air.

I reach my hand out into the open space of the cavern and when my skin does not break out in blisters I know Mags’ trick worked. We make our way into the cavern quickly and quietly, stopping in our tracks when we hear footsteps from a corridor on the opposite side of the cavern and a level below where we stand.

The dragons extend their wings getting ready to swoop down to attack whoever comes out of that hallway, but it’s not an enemy, it’s the East group lead by Varian.

He looks up at us and then shifts into his wolf as he links me. Ro, above you!

I turn around and look up to find at least 100 dragons perched on the walls and ceilings above us. One of them smiles maliciously at me before nose diving towards my group.

The fight is on.

I shift into my wolf and swipe at the Drow warriors descending upon us. Our dragon allies take to the air as best as they can in the confined space, their wing spans are much larger than those of the Drow, putting them at a disadvantage when trying to navigate these close quarters.

Eventually, Drow begin to fall from flight, being knocked out or down by our warriors onto the bridges and ledges where our wolves are waiting. I dig into the fallen, ripping off their wings and tearing out their throats before pushing their dead bodies over the edge to be swallowed by the depths of the Hollow.

For every Drow we kill, another appears to take their place, like they’re appearing out of thin air.

I shift back to look for Xander, throwing daggers at any Drow who try to sneak up and catch my men off guard.

“Where the fuck are they all coming from?” I shout to Xander as he slices the throat of a Drow while he flies by me.

Xander releases his kill unceremoniously and lands next to me. “A lot of them are shadow walkers, they can effectively disappear into the shadows like Mags. Stay alert!” He shouts his warning and then takes off again.

I feel a body jump on my back and their arms wrap around my neck but I’m able to shift into my wolf and throw them off. I catch them by the arm before they can fly off and I shake them rapidly from side to side until their arm detaches from their body. He attempts to fly away from me but falls to the middle of a bridge, no doubt losing consciousness from the blood loss.

I stalk over to him and show him mercy by relieving his head from his body before pushing the pieces of him over the edge to fall into hell. I look up to find my next kill when I suddenly feel pressure on my throat and struggle to breathe or swallow the blood accumulating in my mouth and throat.

I shift out of my wolf, drop to my knees and paw at my neck. The last thing I remember is seeing an arrow sticking out of my throat, my hands covered in my own blood, and a flash of panic when I realize that I’m about to die.

And then everything goes dark.

— — —

Varian

Ember was right about these Drow clowns, they can’t fight in hand to hand combat to literally save their lives. But what they lack in ability they make up for in numbers. I watch in disbelief as more and more of them appear out of thin air. Teleporters are popping from one place to another, grabbing hold of a Drow and dropping them off at a wolf’s feet. Elementals are bringing down bridges that hold our enemies and building new ones to help our allies traverse this precarious environment.

Ro is in wolf form up on a bridge two levels above me, ripping a guy limb from limb and chucking the parts over the side of the bridge.

Though there are many Drow, we seem to be handling them pretty well. My wolf has had enough, he’s pushing me to get Ro, find our mate, and finish out the battle together.

I’m about to jump up to him when something flashes in my periphery. I don’t have time to warn him before the arrow plunges through the front of his neck and out the back. I choke on the air around me, the wind knocked out of me as I watch my brother shift back and feel around the injury.

I feel his pain.

I feel his terror.

His last thoughts are of Mags and our children before he collapses on the bridge, and his bond snaps away like a frayed guitar string.

I let out a pained howl, calling to our pack to help me avenge my brother.

I jump from wall to wall, ledge to ledge, up to where my brother is — or was. There’s a pool of his blood in the middle of the bridge but his body isn’t here. I look over the edge to see if he was pushed off but I have to cut my search short when more arrows come whizzing by me, embedding themselves in the rock and stone.

Take down the archers! I link to my pack. With my brother gone I need to get to Mags, I need to make sure she’s safe and keep her from getting hurt. Being near one another will help take the edge off of the pain of losing Ro.

I start making my way towards the south entrances of the cavern, tearing archers and Drow down as I go. I don’t bother to check if they’re fully dead, I rip out their throats or claw out their hearts and toss them to the side. I won’t stop until she’s in my sights.

As if I’ve summoned her by sheer willpower, I catch Mags’ scent. She’s close. Very close.

I’m about to jump down a level to the entrance her team came through when the head of an enormous purple dragon rises above the ledge directly in front of me. It’s got blue streaks like lightning and misty blue-purple wings.

It’s Mags.

She’s clawing her way through the cavern, arrows are bouncing off of her scales and breaking like toothpicks. Daggers and blades shatter against her natural armor, unsuccessful at deterring her from her mission.

Her eyes are blazing green, but instead of a black center, her pupils are blood red.

Fuck.

Where’s Incandis? I shout frantically at the pack through our link.

With me, north barracks. Runidar answers my call.

I travel parallel to Mags pretty much the whole way but I slip into a narrow corridor while she turns and heads East through the open space of the cavern.

I shift out of my wolf and follow the sounds of knives and death through the winding tunnels until I come upon Runidar’s and Incandis’ team.

“Incandis, we need to get to Mags right now.” I implore him.

“What happened? Is she okay?” Incandis grunts, splitting a man’s head in half by ripping his jaw open.

“She’s feral.” I warn him. Runidar whips around when he hears this, staring at me in open mouthed disbelief. “Runidar, tell everyone to stay the fuck out of her way. Incandis, follow me. She’s going after Illian.”

Incandis teleports us to the north eastern section of the Hollow where Ember identified Illian’s quarters are located. The halls are much more narrow here, with many rooms next to one another all for Illian’s personal use.

We slowly make our way out into a room that is open on the far side looking out into the heart of the Hollow. Once we’re through the archway it’s obvious we’re in a dining room. There’s a long table in the middle of the space, ten feet or so away from a ledge that overlooks his kingdom.

I hear the crack of a whip behind me followed by the sound of Incandis struggling to speak. I turn around and find him on his knees with a whip wrapped around his neck, crackling with electricity making it impossible for him to teleport out of it.

I go to take a step towards him to help him when a cold, sharp blade kisses my neck.

“Don’t move. I’d hate for my darling Magnolia to miss your death.” Illian hisses in my ear, his voice like venom in my veins.

Sure enough, moments later Mags’ giant, flaming green eye rises over the edge of the room. Mags shifts back to human form and perches herself on the ledge mere meters from where I stand in Illian’s hold.

Her pupils are still bright red and the flames in her eyes are beginning to flare uncontrollably.

“Welcome back, my sweet flower.” Illian taunts her, then in one swift, delicate movement he runs his blade across my throat.