Page 125 of Dream Reaper

“Are you okay?” he rasped.

Everything hurt. But surprisingly, she wasn’t dead or broken. At least she didn’t feel broken.

“I think so.” She licked her dry lips and lifted her head with a groan, her neck creaking in protest.

Everything in her spine continued to crack and pop as she curled into a seated position. She reached a trembling hand behind her head and pressed her dirt-caked fingers against the warm, firm scales coating her neck and shoulders.

And judging by the way her body was talking to her, those scales ran all the way down her back.

An explosion of blue magic wrenched her back to the battle at hand. She scrambled to her feet, Dragon sending her a surge of energy. It zinged through her veins and gave strength to her wobbly legs and aching arms.

Across the clearing, beyond the swath of torn-up soil she and Jerrid had left in their wake, Prince Haryk continued to fight the monster. He hurled explosion after explosion, spinning and ducking to avoid the lashing shadow arms.

Ava moved toward him without thinking.

She sprinted across the uneven ground as she tried to form another magical blast of her own, a magical fireball born of elf and dragon magic.

Jerrid shouted something behind her, but she ignored him and spurred her legs to move faster.

One of Haryk’s blasts missed the shadow by several yards and smashed into the trees beyond, setting them on fire and shredding through massive limbs. She didn’t like the way Prince Haryk’s blasts were growing larger and more uncontrollable.

If she didn’t help him⁠—

Her thought broke off as the shadow smashed a writhing tentacle across the prince’s chest, hurling him backwards. He landed in a crouch, skidding across the ground with one arm held wide and the other held in front of him for balance. He bared his teeth and launched forward again just as Ava drew closer.

She sprinted to catch up.

The blind prince of Gelaira flung himself at the shadow, his body rippling with molten blue magic. A scream of warning rose to her throat, but it was too late. Prince Haryk exploded into a magical inferno, fiery blue wings lancing from his back, his body transforming into a horrific blue bird.

The phoenix.

“Prince Haryk, no!” she screamed, but he ignored her as he collided with his nightmare.

They rolled and tumbled through the air, exchanging blows of shadow magic and fire magic. The night sky had never been so bright, lit by the uncontrollable heat of Prince Haryk’s magic.

Jerrid caught her arm. “Stay back. You can’t help him now.”

She tried to shake him free. “You don’t understand. He can’t control that. He isn’t like you. The power of the phoenix is beyond anything this world has known. If he doesn’t pull back now, he won’t be able to. Ever.”

He grabbed her other elbow and yanked her closer. “Then let him. Maybe this is his purpose. It’s his duty to protect this land.”

“No!” She bared her teeth at him. “You don’t understand. If he fully embraces his phoenix, he’ll take us all with him. The phoenix is a Kingdom Killer, Jerrid. He can’t fight his nightmare this way because it will end up destroying him and everyone he is fighting to protect. He’s lost control.”

Jerrid’s face lost what little color it had left, his eyes darkening as he stared at the dark elf prince above their heads, fighting a battle he couldn’t possibly win. Even if he defeated the monster, how would he come back without Persis? They had left her far behind in Eroth, where she couldn’t help bring him back this time.

He was on his own.

And once again, Ava was powerless to help her prince.

“We have to help him!” she shouted over the roar of fire and the chilling shrieks of the nightmare. “Jerrid, there has to be something we can do!”

His grip on her elbows tightened as he pulled his horrified gaze away from the devastation they had unleashed by bringing the prince back to fight this thing again. “If we interfere, we’ll just get ourselves killed. Neither of us is equipped to stand up to those two monsters.”

“Prince Haryk isn’t a monster! He’s just out of control⁠—”

“Ava!” He tugged her closer, his facing leaning close to hers. “This is the thing you have never understood about monsters. The thing I have been trying to explain to you all along.”

Angry tears pricked at her eyes, and she avoided looking at him, unwilling to admit that anything he said might be right or true.