He tried not to let the scream that once again lodged in his throat escape him with the thought that both Raziel and Caden were going up against the Behemoth without him, without the other Dragon Spirits and their Shifters. That hole in his heart was where Raziel and Caden should be. He tried to tell himself everything would be all right as he cut through the water.
Even as waves crashed over his head, he could see Landry and her two brothers seated now on some of the huge boulders, swinging their legs and simply looking around, waiting. Jasper Hawes paced in front of the “mirror” like a trapped animal. He kept looking up into it. He would have seen Valerius struggling in the water.
His human body was so much weaker without Raziel. His arms strained. His leg muscles were knotting. His back and shoulder muscles bunched. He would never complain about any physical activity again! He would enjoy every second of his strength.
Suddenly, there was a swell beneath him. He looked down and saw a ruby back rising up in the water beneath him. Mephous and Vozyth had rolled over with Vozyth now on top for the first time. And she had seen him.
Glowing purple eyes glared up at him from the darkness as she twisted her long, sinuous neck around. She removed one of her forelimbs from Mephous' chest and snatched up at him. The clawed hand came at him with the speed of a freight train. Valerius felt his heart drop into his feet. He drew himself into a ball and rolled in the water away from her grasp.
Pain bloomed along his back and left hip. It felt like a dagger was being dragged over his flesh. The water was too dark to see it turn red from his blood. But he felt the heat of it leaving him.
He had completely misjudged how deep they were or perhaps how deep they would stay. The tip of her claw had sliced him open as easily as a knife through paper. He gasped at the pain of it and sucked in water. He gagged and his body jerked, his limbs flailing uncontrollably, as he started to drown.
That clawed limb slashed towards him. Valerius would not be too ashamed to admit that he wailed internally as he saw it coming. He was naked. He had no armor. He had no hide. He had no weapons. It was going to cut him in half. But then a green wing swept through the water and appeared between him and that red clawed limb. The membrane was cut and he heard a watery roar from Mephous. It echoed in his ears.
Valerius frantically ripped his hands through the water to reach the surface. His head broke through and he vomited water out of his mouth and lungs. His body hitched. He had to swim away from the titanic bodies, but he was unable to move. He was practically unable to stop from sinking!
Cannot fail Caden. Definitely cannot do it in front of Illarion!
He looked down and saw a huge green back with two wings outstretched. They touched the two sides of the pool. The spikes scraped along the stone walls before Mephous had a chance to draw them in tight against its massive body. They spun around again and Vozyth was on top and she was reaching for Valerius once more. He drew in a lungful of air and shot towards the shore.
Illarion, keep her down! Valerius prayed.
There was another swell of water, but this time he could take advantage of it. It lifted him and he rode it towards the tunnel. A red tail cut through the water behind him. Those three spikes! He could easily imagine them sinking into his back, pinning him to her red tail. He imagined looking down and seeing those bony spikes poking through his chest as his life’s blood ran out. And he imagined her drawing that tail down into the deep, him still attached, as he watched his blood stream by his face as he bled out and drowned at the same time.
At the last moment, he dove and rolled to the side. The tail stopped though. He looked down and saw that Mephous had bitten the base of it. Dragon’s blood streamed out and there was a shattering wave of pain from Vozyth.
Mephous is not to be toyed with! Valerius let out an hysterical internal laugh.
His head broke the water again. He was just fifteen feet from shore! Pain streaked through his body with every movement. Blood trailed out of the wounds that did not heal. He wondered how deep they were and if he really was in danger of bleeding out already. He had no real memories to gauge how badly he was injured, because everything hurt, even the most normal things now.
I need to keep going to get to Caden. Once Raziel returns to me, I will heal like this never happened, he told himself.
Fifteen feet turned to ten turned to five. He grasped the edge of the path and tried to pull himself up. For a moment, he couldn’t do it. He gasped and shook. The pain from his wounds felt like acid being poured over his skin. He felt the hot wash of blood still flowing down his back.
I believe this is bad, Valerius thought grimly.
But then he thought of Caden. He pictured that crooked smile and those bright eyes. He imagined Caden’s laugh. Caden laughed at most things, seeing the world with delight instead of filled with darkness.
Is he dying? Good fucking god, he’s dying! Jasper Hawes hissed.
Valerius’ eyes widened. He could hear the leader of Humans First in his head like he heard Raziel and Caden. Now that was not pleasant.
So fucking worthless without your Shifter powers, aren’t you, Valerius! Jasper howled at him. If he dies does that damned Dragon die too?
Jasper, shut it! Landry snapped.
Landry and her brothers got off the rocks that they had been sitting on and were massing near the “mirror” with Jasper. The Humans First leader was stabbing a finger at what must have been his image in the “mirror”.
King Valerius! Landry cried. You’ve got to get out of the water! C’mon, you can do it!
He’s the one I pledged loyalty to? Fuck that! He’s nothing! He’s no one without being a Shifter! And that wasn’t based on merit! Jasper snarled.
Valerius frowned at his words. Since when had Jasper pledged loyalty to him? Then he realized that Caden had to be behind that. He imagined the White Dragon King got great pleasure in making Jasper say such a pledge.
He was a great warrior. That’s how he got his Spirit! Landry argued. Everyone knows that!
That was the official story. They didn’t know about his dead brother and his simple desire to destroy everyone and everything. That was how he had lured Raziel to him. Where was the rage that had motivated him back then? The devil may care attitude? He had expected to die on the battlefield, but he hadn’t had Caden then. A young man he loved with everything he was. And he knew now that Raziel could not survive without him either. People were depending on him. And he wasn’t going to let them down.
