“What do you think?” I asked Frid.
“What?”
“Do you think it would work?” I watched her shifting eyes and the faint blush colored her cheeks.
“Just talk to him already.” Sol chuckled.
“It’s none of your business.” She stood up.
“Frid, please stay,” I called, but she was already walking toward the exit.
Later that day, Tynan took me to the top of the mountain to practice shapeshifting. I shook my head watching him preparing everything and repeating the instructions over and over.
“Just remember, I need to see what you’re doing,” he said solemnly. I nodded, hiding my smile. “I’m serious. Try not to die.”
I bit my lip, captivated by the golden lines the sun painted across his face, highlighting the deep, impossible color of his umber eyes. In the next moment, my arms found their wayaround his neck, my fingers gently pulling his smooth, silky hair.
“Please concentrate.”
“I am concentrating.” I leaned closer and bit his lower lip.
Tynan exhaled and responded to my kiss. His soft lips caressed my skin, trailing down to my neck, while his hands slid down my back, pressing my body closer to his. It only took a couple of touches, but fire already licked my insides making me desperate for more.The need for him, and my inability to think straight when he was around, was all I knew.
Everyone else saw him as brooding and distant, but to me, he was the reason the seasons changed and the sun rose each day. As long as we were together, there was nothing we could not face. I understood now that our lives would not be simple, but no matter what lay ahead, the delicate thread that once connected us had transformed into an unbreakable bond.
“Alina,” Tynan whispered and his voice pushed me further over the edge, making me hungry, desperate, and wild.
A sudden eruption in the distance broke the spell between us. Tynan straightened and approached the edge. What I saw below in the valley made my heart drop, a silent scream died down in my throat.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
TYNAN
On the horizon, the outlines of the city burned into my eyes. A herd of undead dragons roamed the sky, their wings stirring up clouds of dust and smoke from the burning buildings below. The castle’s outer wall exploded in a burst of flame, and the sound of the bell pierced the air, echoing through the chaos.
People in the village scurried about in a frantic panic while the monsters plucked them up from above, tearing them into pieces, lifting them up and throwing them to the ground before devouring their flesh.
“Stay here,” I said, knowing very well she would never listen.
“I need to be with the people.” Alina raised her head andthe determination I saw in her eyes broke something in my chest.
Now, more than ever, I had something worth fighting for, but I knew I could not protect her from the horrors this life had become. I clenched my jaw and in a matter of moments, I shifted to my dragon form. Alina followed, transitioning quicker than I had ever seen before.
“Where to?” she asked.
“We need to get the divine water and make sure people know what to do.”
With these words I soared up into the sky. Below, I could see the panic and destruction, but I did not stop, because that water was the only thing that could stop all of this. There were dozens of undead dragons roaming the area. I watched a man try to escape the monstrous jaws by shapeshifting, but he lost the battle in the air, proving once again that the strength and agility of the beasts surpassed everything we were ever prepared for.
“How can they be active during the day?” Alina spoke directly into my mind.
“Promise me you will take refuge. Promise me you’ll stay away.”
“Yes. I just want to help the others in the castle,” she responded.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not silence the voice that started whispering in my ear; that everything that happened in my vision would happen again, and there was no way to escape what we were destined for.
I gritted my teeth, watching a mother running through the field carrying an infant, her toddler was in her other arm. A massive, decaying shape followed her, tracing every move she made. Its shadow, black as ink, grew larger on the ground below, almost reaching the woman.
