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In the basement, Deimos broke his kiss with Hope. He told her that, while he wanted to kiss her forever, he needed to make sure Tura paid for his actions.
“Step back.” Deimos stood in the middle of the basement, focusing on his next move.
Hope hadn’t yet seen Deimos shift, and she watched as he did so to prepare to battle Tura. The familiar heat of the shift rolled over his body, and he saw how her eyes widened as his body elongated. Never had he been so aware of the shift rolling through his body as he was at this moment.
When he finished shifting fully, Deimos motioned for Hope to hide. There was a nearby closet where she would be protected, and he wouldn’t have to worry about her. After watching her close herself in, he flew up to the locked door at the top of the stairs and crashed through. He knew that his friends, Qev and Thyone, were in the house. He paused to look down at where Hope was hidden. He vowed to himself that he would end this for her.
Deimos looked around the room. When he saw his people emerging from their hiding places, he rushed Tura.
Qev and Thyone went into battle with Tura’s friends on either side of Deimos, bloodying and dispatching their enemies one by one. One of Tura’s shifters got a strong blow in on Qev, who went backward slightly. It didn’t take very long for him to recover and resume his part of the battle, never leaving a gap for Deimos to be attacked.
On Deimos’s other side, Thyone attacked as many of Tura’s friends as he could. Beneath them, blood began to spatter and flow from the carnage Thyone caused, and it cleared a space for Deimos to get to Tura.
Blocking anyone else from attacking Deimos, Thyone shook his head vigorously back and forth, another shifter caught between his jaws. He tossed the lifeless body, knocking shifters over as Deimos launched himself across the room.
Tura paced back and forth, watching as his allies attacked Deimos, Thyone, and Qev, which left him completely open as Deimos cleared the space. He landed on top of Tura, sending them rolling.
They both jumped up, snarling at each other as they circled each other. Each studied the other for an advantage to attack, and Deimos spotted it first, leaping forward and swiping at Tura.
While Deimos had the upper hand, he would need help. Thankfully, his friends had cleared out the other enemies and appeared beside him once again.
Qev moved behind Tura and lashed with his long tail, knocking Tura into the wall. The wood snapped and splintered as Tura’s large body fell. The rest of the wall teetered, then crumbled as Tura tried to free himself from Deimos.
The wall, which had been turned black during the battle, crumpled around Tura. Large pieces of masonry and other pieces of debris fell on top of Tura, imprisoning him. Deimos thought it would be enough to hold Tura down, but as chunks of the wall trembled and fell, he saw he was wrong. The debris fell from Tura, freeing his body.
Deimos got ready, watching as the other dragon dug his way out from under the pile. As soon as Tura shook off the last of the weight, he leapt forward, snapping his massive jaws around Tura’s front leg.
The other dragon screamed, tilting to the side, and Deimos took the opportunity to claw at his exposed underbelly. Tura rolled, covering himself, and swung his tail forward to knock Deimos away.
Deimos skittered backward, slamming into a pile of debris, and as he pushed himself up, he saw more of Tura’s allies had come in. Thyone and Qev were trapped in separate corners, leaving him on his own.
For Hope,he reminded himself.I can do this for her.
Digging his claws into the floor, he launched forward while Tura was still trying to recover. They both slammed into the broken wall, more debris crashing down over them.
Deimos didn’t give Tura a chance to recover. He slammed his tail into the other dragon’s body, pinning him as he gnashed at his scales. Tura twisted, fighting him, but Deimos was determined. There was only one way his mate would be safe, and that was if this dragon was gone.
Tura flipped them, going for Deimos’s elongated neck, but Deimos dodged the attack. He swept his tail around, slamming into Tura’s injured leg. The dragon buckled, and Deimos opened his jaws, so Tura fell right between them.
Deimos clamped his jaws closed and pierced the thick scales of Tura’s neck. He jerked, tearing through muscle and skin until blood poured around him. With a fine toss of his head, he tore Tura’s throat open and spat it out on the floor.
He rolled over, coughing and spitting out debris and flesh, and a harsh roar filled the room. He lifted his head to see that Tura’s allies were still warring in their battle. And after watching Tura die, they were ready to fight anew.
Loud roars filled the room. Deimos’s roar was the loudest. He lumbered toward the closest shifter, though his body was begging for rest. He leapt forward. This dragon was much smaller and easier to kill than Tura.
He couldn’t get to Hope until the building had been cleared, and even though he was already exhausted from his fight, he pushed himself to keep going.
With a second, masonry-rattling roar, Deimos stretched out his neck. He clamped his jaws around the neck of another shifter and bit down. He shook his large head back and forth, causing considerable damage to the other shifter.
The other dragon attempted to roar, but his vocal cords were smashed down. Instead, he wheezed as he began to lose blood. A few minutes later, all strength and effort left his body. Deimos dropped him and looked around for more.
There were no others. Deimos looked at Qev and Thyone. They were both looking a little worse for wear.
Thyone turned his head to the window, looking for other shifted dragons, and seeing none, he roared victoriously, throwing his head back. His wings unfolded and flapped.
Deimos shifted back into his human form, went to the basement, and knocked on the closet door.
“Hope? It’s safe to come out now.”
