Chapter Eighty-two

Gregron sprinted over the sand dunes. His body was tired, and his legs felt heavy as he sank in the unstable terrain. As he crested the last dune before reaching the tower that would lead them all to salvation, Gregron froze. A group of soldiers surrounded a huge pile of vines, covering something darker than shadow trying to scrape it’s way through. Their swords ready to strike for the kill. The remaining council faced the tower with mage covered with a large black cloak. Every eye went to the elven woman standing alone at the tower entrance, wielding a glowing blue and purple sword, which shook in her hands. Her simple white dress may have hidden the importance of her standing, but as the breeze caught her long black hair, there was no denying who had come to face the attack. Gregron’s heart froze in his chest, tightening dangerously. “No.” He whispered.

The Princess of Thambair was glaring at the men who had tried to take her prisoner not a full moon ago. Her stance may have been wobbly under the heavy sword she kept pointing at them, but her glare was fearless and unflinching. But Gregron was afraid for her. He knew she couldn’t use the magic in the sword without risk to herself. Especially if they couldn’t get Damion back. He knew Volencia would have no clue what had happened with the charm, and therefore would assume that Damion would simply be able to turn back without issue once that beastly form was no longer needed. Above them, the dragons circled. Even they didn’t dare attack with Damion under two dozen swords.

The tide had truly turned against them.

“So, what shall it be, vessel? Life or death?” Seeing Claven among them watching the man in a dark cloak nervously made Gregron even more tense. Even his own didn’t trust whoever was under that cloak.

“I will not submit to the likes of you. Let my Damion go.” Though her body shook, there was an underlying strength in her voice.

“What do we do?” Gareth asked, watching the scene before them with wide eyes.

The General didn’t have time to answer. The man in black raised his arm and the soldiers behind him mimicked the movement with their swords. Chaos ensued. Volencia charged out from the safety of her shield, raising Damion’s sword, screaming as she ran. Gregron threw his body forward with her, screaming as he unsheathed his own weapon, racing toward the soldiers behind the council. His own war cry echoing off the dunes and rock pillars around them. He could hear the others cry out behind him, catching the council off guard as they all turned, except for the cloaked man. He continued to stare at the elf charging at him, her white dress billowing around her.

To their great surprise, Claven waived his arm toward the soldiers and they flew away from the trapped beast. He spun angrily to the man in black. “You fucking coward!”

A deep chuckle resonated around them, as Volencia’s blade swung toward the cloaked figure and he disappeared from sight.

Not being a warrior, she wasn’t able to stop or redirect herself, and he had been standing closes enough that with the weight of the sword and the velocity of her run and swing, she continued straight toward Damion. A terrified scream ripped through her as she tripped over a fallen soldier and the sword flew, driving into the center of the vines. The beast screaming in pain, and everyone close enough to him covered their ears.

The dragons waisted no time diving into the fray, each landing on either side of the trapped beast, ripping the limbs and necks from the soldiers. Reniza, the fairy, was flying high above them to stay away from everyone else. When the soldiers were taken care of, the red dragon immediately set its sights on the fairy king. But the black winged fairy was too fast and the dragon wasn’t able to catch him. Volencia was now sobbing, digging at the vines, with her fingers, screaming incoherently.

Gregron knelt beside her, pulling her back. Taking out a small dagger, he started cutting. The plant oozing over his hands and the beast. There was a shifting under the vines, and Gregron realized that the beast was shifting.

Digging through, he had expected to see Damion, back in his normal form. But he wasn’t. Instead, he took on a reptilian form that was closer to what the Samanthian’s looked like. He struggled to get to his feet, and though he was similar to them, he was smaller and thinner than them in general. Volencia, like Gregon, seemed to know that it was Damion. As he crawled out from under the large green wriggling mess, she threw her arms around his shoulders sobbing. He didn’t react to her as Gregron would have expected. Instead, he crawled out, half dragging her with him. His black eyes swept over what was happening, from the massacre to the council members fighting. His eyes caught on Gregron for a moment, and as his lips pulled back in a snarl, he stumbled, having to hold himself up to keep from falling on top of Volencia.

She dropped from him, as he stood to nearly his full height. At the moment, he looked more like a Samanthian than a dragon, but not fully. His claws were still incredibly sharp, even as he held the open wound at his side, Gregron grimaced at the site of those claws scratching against his scales. If he had his normal flesh, he would have been cutting himself open. Just as Volencia turned to see the others fighting, Jaquisis got the better of Chirbon, who was taken aback by the beast change.

That moment of confusion was enough to seal his fate. Chirbon tripped as he stepped back, trying desperately to keep Jaquisis from gaining too much ground, but as he fell, the elf swung his sword in a wide arc.

A scream came from the tower, and a woman sprinted toward them. Damion stepped in front of Volencia, but Gregron threw himself toward Cherbet. She still didn’t have a weapon. He pushed her back, “Go! He’s gone. We can’t lose you too!” Gregron fought the woman, pushing her back. She screamed, and kept trying to get through to her father, who’s head stared up with terror filled eyes toward Volencia.

The beast let out a roar, rivaling that of the dragons, and scooped the princess up over his shoulder as he held her with one claw, and ran on his other three appendages. The women were safe in the tower and halfway up the stairs, but Damion only started to scale the wall instead of waiting, heading toward their exit. “Damion! Stop! My magic will fail if you go through there! Stop!” Damion wasn’t stopping though.

Avaline took a stance on the main floor of the tower, and used her magic to grow vines like her father’s. Which wound around his legs and tail. He turned, baring his teeth at her, growling. “Get everyone in here! Now! You won’t stop him long.” Her hands were touching Damion anywhere she thought might help to get through to him.

Gareth and Cala came running in behind Gregron. That was everyone they needed. The three of them ran up the stairs as quickly as they could, pushing everyone with what they had trying to get them through the mirror’s opening. The beast nipped at their heels as they scurried past him. Volencia tried to cover his head with her arms, dangling awkwardly over his shoulder, yet trying to half stand against his body while using the stone wall behind her as leverage. He was harmless to them though, not actually striking them, he just made everyone nervous. Volencia tensed as she saw the council members glaring through the tower door. The shield still held, and none of them were actively trying to get through the magic, which only made her more nervous.

Gregron guided the women through the mirror that lead to Thambair, as Gareth took control of his wife again. Once everyone was through, Gregron looked down at the beast, who still clung to the wall of the tower, just below the stairs he stood on now. “Come on, let’s go.” Gregron watched as the beast’s muscles bulged as he pulled himself up. Still holding onto the Princess awkwardly. “Why don’t you go first. Damion was very strange the first time we went through the mirror, we could have gotten stuck in it then. With him in this state, I worry he’ll be more tempted to not go straight through to Thambair.”

“I can’t leave him.” She said, straining her body into a curve so she wasn’t dangling upside down over his shoulder. “Besides, the moment I hit the mirror, my shield will fall. I have to be the last to leave.” Her eyes skittered toward the door where the council still watched angrily.

The beast started to stumble. Volencia felt her fingers dig into his shoulder, her stomach lurching as he swayed dangerously. Gregron’s hands grabbed the beast, trying to steady him on the stairs. Just as the beast was falling back, Gregron snatched at Volencia’s waist, and she pulled from it’s grip painfully as the large, inky black body rolled away. Thudding down the stairs, a growling roar reverberated around the stone tower. “Damion!” Volencia wriggled out of Gregron’s grasp, following the beast as quickly as she could. Gasping, she leaned hard against the wall, putting her hand to her side. As she pulled it away, her fingers were red and sticky. She grimaced as she pushed her fingers at her side again. The gash split her sin in two, it felt like her side was on fire. But she had more important things to worry about.

He hadn’t slid down the entirety of the stairs, but he was breathing erratically and strained. His eyes were closed. His body still. Volencia knelt beside him, trying to use her magic to heal him. Like other attempts, when his magic was high, healing magic didn’t work. “Oh, my love.” She pressed her hand against his forehead, letting her eyes explore his scaled skin. It was impossible to tell how wounded he really was. Everywhere was covered in blood, but his scales were so dark, the only thing that even told her that it was there was when it wiped off on her hand and that he looked damp. Gregron disappeared for a moment, before coming back with some soldiers. Travion came through, wearing a scowl that made Volencia’s skin crawl. He wasn’t happy that she had run off to try and rescue Damion, especially after she locked him on the other side of the mirror. Not all the soldiers were particularly fond of the lizardman who proceeded them. Glares followed Travion, but quickly disappeared as they set their eyes on Damion. Her eyes looked up to him, brimming with tears. “I’m so sorry. We need to get him home.”