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He turned to the grim-faced general at his side. “Make sure the girl lives. Not a hair on her head harmed.”
“Do you see the Scourge?” his general asked him tartly. “Even you’ve lost control of them now.”
“They serve their purpose, Caris,” Kallus said, looking unmoved by the sight of his people being torn apart by Scourge left and right.
Our people were being destroyed just as quickly, though.
Then a wolf fought his way to me. I raised my sword, ready for him to attack, but he paused in front of me.
Then he dropped a Scourge stone at my feet.
The sense of its power tingled through me, and I was drawn to it, kneeling swiftly to pick it up.
I looked up into the wolf’s eyes that were right before me. Intelligent, deep brown eyes gazed into mine. The wolf’s coat had a reddish hue.
“Lucien?” I asked.
He just grinned at me, his tongue lolling out briefly, before a Scourge darted toward us and the wolf turned to meet it, a joyful look across its face the second before it tore into the Scourge’s leg.
I straightened, holding the last of the Scourge stones.
Behind us, the Scourge had broken through and reached Joachim. Damyn swore and tried to fight his way to rescue Joachim, no doubt thinking it would destroy Branok and Lynx to have their asshole father torn to pieces.
But Kallus had a triumphant grin on his face. The Scourge swept away with him. My hands tightened into fists.Kallus.
Once I broke the Scourge curse there was no telling what could happen. My royals might not be able to fight them off. I wouldn’t be able to shift. But ending the Scourge curse was more important than any of our lives.
As the Scourge closed in around us, I started the spell, then broke off, struck by a sudden horrible thought. What if they could never shift back if I broke the magic while they were in their other form? I shouted at each of my men, the bond rippling with my intensity when I reached out to Jaik and Caldren, to Branok and Lynx.
It took me the longest time to reach Damyn. He couldn’t hear me. He was surrounded by Scourge he was taking down and I had to clutch the Scourge stones and fight my way to his side. Arren understood what I needed and came with me, the two of us fighting until we reached Damyn and I could order him to come back.
Damyn almost blasted us both with fire as we were hidden by the Scourge, but turned it upward when he saw us. Flames curled into the sky. They were so beautiful, and it took me a second to shake off my grief for what might come next.
Damyn let out a furious roar at the danger the two of us had been in, but I clambered onto his back as Arren cut down the Scourge that came after us.
“Shift back!” I shouted in Damyn’s ear.
He didn’t even hesitate. He shifted back, and the next thing I knew, I was clinging to his broad shoulders instead of his scales. I hastily pulled away, but there was no time to be awkward since he was busy fighting the next Scourge attacker.
My men fought around me, holding them off, as I pried the Scourge stone out of Amily’s hilt.
My hands were shaking with adrenaline as the battle raged around me and I knelt, in the circle formed by my men’s bodies, as they took blow after blow from the enraged Scourge. I assembled the orb. The pieces glowed when they met their edges perfectly together, and then I held a glowing orb of magic. I could feel Ebba’s power in it.
Zehr’s voice was in my ear.“This stone carries our magic. This stone binds us together. This stone splits us apart…”
I raised the stone over my head as I repeated the words. Then I added, “No longer.”
Every Scourge, every dragon knight for a thousand yards was suddenly fixed on me.
“Time to make a new world.”
No matter what it cost us.
I smashed the stone on the ground.
The magic that rippled out from it knocked all of us on our asses.
CHAPTER41
