Page 65 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

The dragons immediately jumped into action, herding the five mages into a group while the dragon kings and two of the bodyguards formed a protective ring around them.

Meanwhile, Ravi and the other four bodyguards shifted into their dragon forms, forming an additional wall of scales, fangs, talons, and wings. The earth trembled under their feet, and the air split with angry roars.

Sora tried not to think about Ravi fighting the Jaeggi but focused on the orders from the other mages. His father started pulling together protective spells as the dragons fought. Sora stood by with his mother, prepared to offer up instantaneous healing spells. His strength had always lain in the healing arts rather than aggressive spells for combat, though he knew a few.

The earth shook under the command of the massive earth dragons, their emerald scales glinting in the midday sun. The metal dragons were a cool mix of black and grey, their scales even thicker and harder than other dragons.

But Sora’s heart skipped a beat to see the small blue dragon weaving in and out of the fray, darting around like an oversized hummingbird, blasting the Jaeggi back toward their cars with brutal gusts of wind. Sora had spent his entire life around dragons. Seeing the air and ground filled with them was nothing new. But he was sure he’d never seen anyone as elegant or graceful as Ravi in flight.

“He’s such a beautiful wind dragon,” his mother whispered in wonder.

“Yes, he’s magnificent,” Sora murmured in return, unable to tear his eyes away.

Ravi worked seamlessly with the other dragons, adding his own talents so they perfectly complemented each other. It was like he’d been fighting alongside them for decades.

The fight was shockingly brief. The Jaeggi must have been able to sense the gathering of mages, but possibly hadn’t realized those mages were accompanied by so many dragons. They’d been outgunned from the start.

Within minutes, they were jumping back into their cars and tearing off into traffic with more squealing tires and honking horns.

Three of the bodyguards went in pursuit, while Ravi seemed to hang in the air for a moment, staring after the cars. He looked down at Sora and the mage had a feeling Ravi was torn between following them and returning to him. To help him decide, Sora lifted his hand toward Ravi.

The gorgeous blue dragon turned in an instant and darted down to him. He threw his broad slate-blue wings out to catch the wind and slow his descent. Closing them again, he dropped suddenly, landing directly in front of Sora in his human form.

“Are you hurt? Did they touch you?” Ravi demanded. One hand cupped Sora’s cheek while the other swept across his chest as if checking him for injuries.

Warmth and joy poured through Sora’s veins and wrapped tight around his heart. His beautiful, funny dragon. “I’m fine. They never touched me. What about you? You’re the one who is still recovering from the explosion.”

“I’m fine. They didn’t lay a hand or a spell on me.”

“Good.”

Ravi sighed heavily. He dropped his hand from Sora’s cheek to rest it on his chest.

“Yes, all the mages are just fine,” his mother tossed in, making Ravi wince. The dragon blushed and cleared his throat.

“Sorry. Yes. Of course. I’m so glad you’re all safe. I⁠—”

“This is outrageous!” thundered King Chalo. The king of the Earth Dragons stomped over in his human form, and the earth gave an answering quake. “They attacked us! In broad daylight!”

“And they thought they could steal our mages!” King Roca added.

“Not a chance of that happening,” his mate said with a snort.

“They’ve been this bold for nearly a year,” Ravi explained. He shook his head and looked back over his shoulder, at the place where the four cars had blockaded the parking lot. “We don’t know why they’re doing this, but they are growing more aggressive.”

“More aggressive?” Sora’s father repeated. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. Sora couldn’t remember ever seeing such a look of shock on his face.

“That’s enough for me,” King Chalo growled. “Whatever help Alric wants, he’s getting it. Mages, dragons, weapons. All we’ve got.”

The king of the Metal Dragons nodded. “We’re crushing the Jaeggi once and for all. They won’t harm another dragon or mage.”

Sora chuckled as Ravi’s mouth bobbed open and closed several times, but no words came out. Yes, the Burkhard dragons were soon going to find themselves up to their eyeballs in the Sodalicium. They would finally solve their Jaeggi problem, making it safe for dragons and mages to find each other once again.

“Thank you. I—we—wow, yes…” Ravi sucked in a harsh breath and laughed. “King Alric is going to be thrilled, but we need to get moving now.”

Ravi looked around the other dragons toward the restaurant, and Sora joined him. The other customers and staff were standing in the windows with their phones lifted.

Yep, this was definitely going to be on the internet in a matter of minutes, if it wasn’t already. So much for King Alric’s attempts to control the dragon message. Sora suspected all the kings were going to be stuck doing damage control interviews.