Not something. Someone… Caden?
“Caden is fighting that thing?!” Jasper goggled. “But he’s just human! He doesn’t have any powers! We’re fucking doomed! Doomed!”
Landry slapped Jasper across the face. “Get it together, Jasper! Caden isn’t special because he's a Shifter! He’s a Shifter because he’s special!”
And that was the perfect way to explain it. Valerius wished he had said that to Caden himself. He had glimpsed Caden’s fear that he wasn’t “good” enough to be a Shifter, let alone the White Dragon Shifter. But he was. He had always been good enough. He was perfect for the role.
Jasper blinked at her as his one cheek flared red from her handprint. “But--but he’s still--”
“Going to save us. I know Caden will do it. That’s just the sort of person he is,” Landry said.
Valerius didn’t have a chance to respond to her as Illarion was surprisingly gently placing him into the back seat before sliding in by Valerius’ side.
“C-Caden,” Valerius got out and reached blindly for his mate’s body.
Jahara tenderly placed Caden in Valerius’ arms. But it was not the comfort that he had thought it would be. Caden’s head lolled lifelessly against his shoulder. His mate’s skin was cold and clammy. None of Caden’s personality remained in what, to all intents and purposes, was a shell or, worse, a corpse.
But Valerius used all of his remaining strength to cradle Caden’s body against him just in case Caden’s soul could feel it. And he would have to make sure that Caden’s body was as perfect as could be when Caden re-inhabited it.
Mei stayed outside the SUV as she urged the other Dragon Shifters to pile in. “We need to get to High Reach. The most secure place inside of it.”
“We need to fight the horde!” Esme cried. “We can’t leave the Claw to deal with it alone!”
Mei shook her head. But then she was stretching her arms towards the metal door that shut the tunnel and sent a burst of powerful air towards it. It glowed red hot as she used one of her gifts to manipulate it. The door sealed itself shut. The horde would have to batter their way through over four inches of metal. Valerius knew they could do it. With time.
Then Mei turned around to face all the Dragon Shifters. Her expression was surprisingly serene considering what she said next, “Don’t you understand? There’s only one way we beat the Behemoth and its horde.”
Esme tilted her head, but understanding started to form in her gaze. “Oh, my, yes, of course.”
“How?” Tez asked, his gaze flickering between them.
“Our Spirits have to do what Raziel did,” Mei said. “They have to leave their lairs and help Raziel destroy the Behemoth in the Spirit Realm.”
Last Words
As Caden dodged yet another lightning bolt he thought, Pick on someone your own size? Did I really say that? He nearly has his head taken off by an acid ball. Was I insane to say that? A plume of fire, so hot that he felt it singe his arm hair from feet away, gushed just where he’d been. I am insane. Definitely insane.
The one thing that was saving him was that the Behemoth couldn’t fly so it was relatively limited in its movements. He could fly above its reach--well, at least the reach of its mouths--but the magic it spewed in all different colors, textures and dangers was not so easy to escape. But Caden couldn’t go too far away either, because Raziel still lay in an unconscious heap and Iolaire was still very much attached to the Behemoth
What is my game plan here? Caden asked himself.
He needed Raziel to wake up. That was first and foremost. Did the black wings appear to be moving? Did the head lift a little from the ground?
No. None of those things were happening.
I’ve gotten Iolaire’s attention. Though Iolaire really doesn’t look sure about what’s going on around it.
Iolaire’s white head was looking this way and that, blinking almost sleepily, as if waking from a dark dream. But those blue eyes were unfocused and when it tried to move in a different direction from the one that the Behemoth was going in, its head was the only thing to move. More confusion would fill those blue eyes and the head would bob as if Iolaire was going to go to sleep.
But the Behemoth’s other heads--except for the drooping ruby one--were all quite alert and glaring at him. He had dreaded seeing one angry Dragon, but now there were seven giving him death stares.
So eight dragon spirits to match with the Dragons on Earth, but the ruby one is down and Iolaire is out, so six remain plus the seventh, which is the Behemoth.
The Behemoth’s, Caden guessed, was the central head. It was a strange gray-green color with virulent yellow eyes that reminded him of a poisonous snake. There was a crown of horns, three layers deep, that surrounded that massive head. The neck was thick and sinuous, larger than the others. It dwarfed Iolaire’s delicate white head and neck. Caden imagined if the Behemoth were just on its own it would be classified as a titanic Dragon, somewhere between Raziel and Mephous in size. But the sheer malice in its eyes separated it from those two Dragons.
If Raziel doesn’t wake up, what’s my next plan? Caden thought.
But that thought was pushed to the side as deadly wind tornadoes mixed with fire, acid, lightning and more were coming at Caden in all directions. He had to swoop out of the crater then, going to its farthest-most edge, to avoid them, but he was still buffeted hard. But the moment he reached that farthest spot, any relief he had from avoiding the magic was dimmed. He felt his connection to Iolaire thin.
