Dragon 3 Chapter 22 (Patreon)

I walked into the magic range; the girls following in after me.

The lady at the counter recognized us this time, and we didn’t have any trouble being guided to the proper room once she saw Jadelyn.

“Hey, you made it this time.” Yev turned away from the blasting chamber before she cast her spell.

I waved awkwardly. Having gotten over some of my own issues, I was more comfortable coming into the magic range today. “Sorry we weren’t able to locate them again.”

“Don’t mind my mother; she gets into people’s heads like that. It’s how she gets what she wants. I get it. You were investigating and suddenly came up with a much larger lead than you expected.” Tyrande shrugged it off, and I was pleasantly surprised. I’d thought she might take after her mother, but she was clearly more understanding.

Time and time again, the high elf heiress surprised me with just how down to earth she could be.

“Besides, we are just waiting for the trap to close.” Yev agreed. “We have three hundred Highaen mages on standby within a block of this location.”

Kelly let out a soft whistle. “Damn.”

It was an impressive display of force, yet I knew the church was preparing for the Highaen response.

I hoped it would be enough, but only time would tell. With Scarlett with us, I was confident we could whisk Yev from immediate danger if it was needed.

“Good, we should be prepared today. And it’s probably best if we don’t wear ourselves down shooting at fake targets.” I eyed the setup that Yev had input down range.

“Oh, that’s a good point. I’m just so damn nervous. It felt good to take it out on the dummies.” Yev rubbed at her tired eyes.

“She didn’t sleep much last night.” Tyrande pointed out, earning herself a growl from the green dragon.

“You try sleeping with an impending kidnapping attempt. And then add what they did to that other dragon. Sleeping would only mean nightmares, anyway.” Yev stomped her way over to the lounging area and plopped down on the couch.

Jadelyn sat down next to her and put a comforting arm around the dragon. “It’s okay to be scared.”

“I’m a tree-damned dragon.” Yev crossed her arms, but she seemed to relax with Jadelyn next to her. I smiled at Jadelyn, once again noting how important she was for our group.

Finding my seat, I was instantly surrounded by Morgana and Kelly. Scarlett looked at my empty lap but ended up sitting next to Jadelyn.

Tyrande must have been equally nervous, because she didn’t sit down. Instead, she just paced back and forth, constantly looking at her phone. She must have been getting updates from her people outside the building.

I didn’t enjoy waiting any more than them, but I felt ready for the fight to come. I’d left my spatial artifact back at Jadelyn’s place; Morgana was carrying a few spare changes of clothes and the silver sword for me.

I tried to reassure Tyrande and fill the silence. “We are here and ready, and your teams are in place. We’ve done all we can to prepare, now we just need to wa—”

Boom.

An explosion sounded in the distance, and dust fell from the ceiling.

I tried to sense the distance, but in the fortified room, it was hard to know for sure.

Tyrande’s phone chirped, and she read aloud. “Explosion on the east side of the building, they think…”

The back wall of the blasting chamber blew inward with another controlled explosion.

“… that they are breaching into our room.” Tyrande finished, ending with a heavy sigh at the late information.

Men in black with face masks poured into the room, leveling guns at our group.

Beyond them, the busy street outside was chaotic. Screams and sirens began to sound from the explosion and clear intruders.

Yev leapt to her feet with an angry growl, and green scales dotting her skin.

I grabbed Yev before she could shift. “I believe the plan is to extract you; it’s best if you stay back.” Even if Yev was strong in her own right, as the target of their attack, she still needed to get out of here.

Scarlett was quick to grab Yev, Tyrande and Jadelyn. “Out this way, with me.” This fight was for me, Morgana and Kelly, while the sisters and Jadelyn were evacuated out.

“Good luck, love!” Jadelyn shouted back at me as she followed Scarlett out the door into the hallway of the magic range.

As they exited, Morgana, Kelly, and I turned toward the intruders. I hoped the three hundred Highean mages weren’t too far away because we were massively outnumbered.

But I’d made my decision the night before with the blessing of my women, so charging forward, I didn’t hesitate as I let my body shift.

All we had to do was stall them for the Highaen forces to overwhelm them from behind.

I knew the Highaen forces would have some trouble with the dragon and Devin, but I was hoping between the three of us, we could take on that challenge.

As I shifted, bullets pinged harmlessly off my scales. I twisted and turned as I charged forward, trying to sense the other dragon, but I didn’t feel him among the group.

Hell, I barely even sensed much mana from them. Only a few of them had more than a bare flicker.

I let loose a jet of fire that cooked the front line of gunmen, but it wasn’t even satisfying. “Something is wrong.” I told Morgana even as bullets continued to pelt my side. “This group doesn’t have near enough firepower to go after a dragon.”

Morgana paused, striking down a few of the men while looking around, sensing the same thing.

I realized we didn’t have a good way to tell the Highaen mages it was a diversion as frozen barriers slammed down around the mass of men.

The Highaen mages were spilling into the streets behind them. And it was complete overkill. The gunmen were encased in a sphere of ice at least twenty feet thick and had no mana. They weren’t going anywhere.

“Kelly, text Scarlett. These aren’t the church’s main forces.”

I knew immediately that these were scapegoats, meant to spring our trap. I felt a little sorry for the men. They’d been sent to their slaughter.

“This way.” Morgana was running out the door chasing after the girls, and I had to shift back, running naked after her as Kelly brought up the rear.

Kelly was nearly smashing the screen of her phone as she got the word to Scarlett. Werewolf fingers weren’t the best for texting.

As we made it out front, Scarlett was hopping into a black SUV. Jadelyn’s face was pressed against the back window. Spotting us, I saw her start shouting.

Scarlett’s head dipped down, likely to check her phone. Seeing whatever Kelly typed, she looked up and quickly scanned the area.

And that was the moment when a dozen angels landed next to the SUV and grabbed hold of the bumper, lifting the car straight up into the air.

I expected my dragon to panic, but it was as if the entire world went out of focus, and the only thing I could see was my mates being lifted away.

Golden claws dug into the concrete below me as I lifted my head, roaring in anger. As I shifted right there on the front steps of the magic range.

The beast was right there with me, and the two of us were on the same page. All of those angels needed to die.

As I went to take off, though, the doors of the SUV flew open.

Scarlett, Jadelyn, and Tyrande jumped out of the car, falling roughly a dozen feet to the ground.

Scarlett dissipated the impact of her fall with a roll quickly on her feet once more. The other two were less graceful, but they stood, a bit wobbly but not too injured.

I looked around, wondering why Yev hadn’t jumped with them.

But a second later, the black SUV crumpled as it expanded. Safety glass shattered and rained down onto the street as a green dragon burst out of the side of the car. Yev took a bite of an angel before the car split into several pieces. As it did, she let herself fall to the ground, using a few flaps of her wings to soften her fall.

Yev belched green flames, causing the car to sizzle and dissolve before our very eyes, and of the three angels got caught in her caustic breath, screaming and falling to the ground before they died.

“Fuckers.” Yev screamed, taking to the air after the remainder of the angels.

I wanted to chase the enemies as well, but I was more drawn to protect Jadelyn. I crouched over her, daring anybody to attack.

“I’m fine.” She pushed my muzzle away. “Help Yev.”

I paused, sniffing her for injury, before making sure Scarlett was nearby and able to protect her.

Feeling satisfied, I threw my head back up and launched myself from the ground with a few flaps of my wings.

The angels turned to me in shock, surprised at my sudden appearance behind them.

The stunned moment was all I needed to close my jaws around the first and grab two other angels with my front claws.

I felt the satisfying crunch of the angel in my jaw as I held the other two up to my jaw. Once I’d swallowed the first, I released a powerful breath of fire over the two in my grasps.

Flames licked over my claws, doing me no harm, but the two poor angels were nothing but ash by the time my breath was done.

I smiled, satisfied at the brutality of my direct fire blasts.

I went to move to the others as bullets fired up around us. The remaining four angels put up barriers to protect themselves from the spray of bullets.

The Highaen forces had turned their attention to the second threat. Although I had a feeling Scarlett would have some opinions on the speed at which they’d managed to reach us.

Something hit me hard in the side, and I tumbled out of the air as I heard shouts rise up below.

As I tumbled, I saw Cherubs racing into the area, attacking the Highaen forces.

Determining my mates weren’t in any immediate danger, I turned back to find the source of the blast that had knocked me out of the air.

Devin floated just off to my side, her spear pointed at me and gathering light for what I assumed would be another blast.

I shifted down to my dragon knight form just in time to avoid another beam of light from her spear.

She followed up by diving at me.

And I decided to meet her halfway. I kept my dragon wings while still otherwise wearing my typical dragon knight form.

Rising to meet her charge, I let loose a wash of fire to break her momentum and create a screen for what I was about to do next.

Two powerful flaps of my wings later, I was above her as she darted around my fire, only to find the space empty.

I dropped down on Devin, grabbing her shoulder and one of her arms. My weight was a surprise, her wings unable to hold us both. As a result, we fell into a nearby alley, landing in a tumble. I made sure to land on top of her.

“Get off of me, vile monster.” Devin struggled, her spear swinging dangerously close to my face.

I thought I’d be able to simply overpower her physically, but it seemed I underestimated the nephilim. She got her feet out from under me and kicked off the ground, crashing me through the building's wall.

The hit was enough for me to lose my grip on her. The second I landed on the ground, I lunged to the side, anticipating the next hit. Sure enough, her spear slashed the space I’d just been in.

I scrambled to my feet. We were in some basic office space, our entrance knocking over a few empty cubicles. I grabbed a printer next to me and threw it at Devin to make some space for myself.

She cut it in half before it could reach her, but it had thankfully stopped her in her tracks.

“I’m the monster? Have you seen what you have done to that other dragon? You don’t stand for anything just.” I growled.

“Shut up. I won’t listen to your lies.” She screamed, a hint of fear in her eyes.

I knew in that moment that she knew she was wrong. And on some level, it bothered her. Pointing it out had been like irritating a splinter.

Devin charged forward a bit more frantically, and this time, I grabbed a cubicle divider and swung it like a blunt weapon.

I waited until I was partway through the swing to release my actual attack, spraying a jet of fire right into her face.

Devin stopped trying to block the divider wall and instead threw up a glowing white shield to block my fire.

The divider caught her in the side, tossing her into another bank of cubicles as it broke in my hands.

Dropping the divider, I threw myself on top of her before she had a chance to get up. I got my hands on the spear and pressed the shaft to her chest to hold her down.

Knowing her strength, I packed on another several hundred pounds as I pinned to the floor. My claws dug into her skin, but they barely did more than scratch her. She was far tougher than she looked.

She glanced down where the spear squished her rather bountiful cleavage and her gaze came back up, full of fury. “Get off me!”

A shockwave of magic slammed into me with her words, and it pushed me up and off of her, smashing through the ceiling.

It was the ceiling of the next floor that halted me. I bounced off, landing as I let some of my mass fade away, restoring myself to my normal dragon knight form.

This floor seemed fancier, but it was still mostly office space, like the one below. I straightened up as a pissed off nephilim shot through the hole I’d made, thrusting her spear and aiming to kill.

I rolled to the side, forcing her spear to hit the bookshelf, utterly destroying it and all of its contents as a blast of white light vaporized them all.

Her spear twirled, and she chopped down at my new location.

Morgana had taught me how to fight a spear, and the right move from her training was to catch the shaft of the spear in my hand. But the glowing weapon had me hesitating. I had no idea what it would do if I tried to hold it.

So instead, I flapped my wings once, launching myself back and away from her strike as it caved in another section of the flooring.

The office we were in was ruined at that point, and the floor dipped dangerously under my feet.

I stomped hard, giving the floor the last push it needed to cave in, as I jumped through the door behind me and out into the hallway.

Devin’s footing disappeared, and she fell down out of my view for only a moment before she rode back up on her fluffy white wings. The wings were a stark contrast to the utter rage on her face.

She went wild; her spear destroying the office in a flurry of attacks that had me dodging back, trying to stay out of her superior range.

I let her work herself up, watching for an opening.

We darted around the room as I waited and waited, but then I saw it. She’d left herself open.

I barreled forward, catching her by the waist and lifting her up. Not giving her a chance to maneuver, I pulled her body back down, slamming it into the floor.

As her momentum hit, the floor gave out underneath us and we fell. I rode her torso like a surfboard, landing straight on top of her and letting myself fall forward.

I landed with one hand on her shoulder and one on a squishy globe.

Not interested in being blasted again, I rolled off, knowing I couldn’t pin her effectively.

Sure enough, the world went white as she sent out another shockwave and a scream of rage.

Then she swung hard, collapsing multiple walls on the first floor.

The building groaned; wood creaked and crackled before a heavy snap told me I needed to get the hell out of the building.

Shifting into my dragon form, I crashed through the walls of the crumbling building, escaping before it came down on top of me.

I barely made it out before, one by one, the floors collapsed. The ground shook as debris pelted my side.

Morgana was there, angel blood on her blades, looking tired, but relieved to see me again.

I scanned around, taking in pure chaos and war.

Hundreds of cherubs and angels fought as the Highaen forces flooded the area with reinforcements.

“What happened to you?” Morgana asked.

The collapsed building shuddered, and concrete and scraps of wood went flying as Devin screamed, throwing herself out of the mess.

Her hair was scattered, her blouse was torn, and her pencil skirt was ripped clear up to her hip. Yet she didn’t have a scratch on her pale skin.

“That.” I pointed at the raging nephilim, who was now wreathed in holy white fire.

Devin looked around, a frown crossing her face as she saw her forces were being overpowered and pushed back.

“Clear the area!” someone shouted, their voice enhanced by magic as it cut through the sounds of battle.

I paused, curious why the Highael forces would hold back, when a soft blue light washed the area.

Looking up towards the light, I watched as the tree above produced a massive ball of glowing magic. I realized they were about to do the magical equivalent of an artillery strike.

Highaen forces found cover as the ball of magic pulsed ominously with frosty magic.

Taking it in, I quickly ducked behind cover and shifted to silver, assuming that blue and the Highaen specialty of frost magic meant I could use my silver form to weather this.

Devin stopped focusing on me, her eyes zeroing in on the blue light.

She raised her voice and yelled at the top of her lungs. “Release the Silver Slave!”

I paused, trying to figure out what they were talking about, when it finally clicked. I still didn’t know what color dragon they had, but at that moment, I was willing to bet he was silver.

And that also made him the perfect weapon against the Highaen forces, which used almost entirely frost magic. If that ancient dragon was really a silver, then the Highaen magic would be nearly useless against it.

Buildings a row over bowed outward, crashing down as a massive silver form rose from them.

I kept thinking it would stop growing, but it just kept getting larger.

Its eyes were gouged out, and each of its scales was carved with runes. The Silver Slave let out a hoarse, but no less deafening, roar as it finished transforming. What struck me as odd were the massive manacles that had enlarged with its shift.

It was big enough that a football stadium would look like a dog bed to it.

The sheer size of the Silver Slave boggled my mind, making me wonder just how big dragons could grow. This one was easily over a hundred yards long, and its head rose above an eight story building.

Up in the boughs of Sentarshaden, the blue ball of magic shrank, flickering for just a moment before a massive, frosty blue beam shot down.

The Silver Slave hopped, catching the beam on its side, and protecting all the church’s forces below.

Blinding blue light filled the air on impact, and the world seemed to pause as we all held our breath, wondering what we would see when the blinding light cleared.

As my vision returned, the dragon had easily survived the blast, with only some frost on its side to show for the massive magic attack. It shook like a dog, sloughing off the frost as its tail whipped back and forth, smashing buildings and raining debris down on the Highaen forces.

“That’s… a dragon.” Morgana said from my side, in awe.

We were all frozen, watching the massive beast destroy the area. I had been hoping that the tree would have been able to take down the dragon, but this dragon was beyond what I could have imagined.

And I wasn’t the only one. Everybody around was stunned, the noise of the battle pausing in everybody’s disbelief.

When I finally came to my senses and looked for Devin, she’d darted among the Highaen forces, snatching Tyrande and holding her as a captive in the middle of a standoff.

I paused, trying to figure out what to do next.

AN - He a big boi. Also I've wrapped up the book at 31 chapters, finishing up my editing tonight and tomorrow. Though there is a massive, utterly unacceptable flaw in the story currently... Zach never pushes the red button on the car. So I have to go back and find a spot for that, likely a chapter I've already posted on Patreon.