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He twisted only slightly to squint at the clash of titans behind him, still diving toward his goal.
A gigantic black dragon and a fiery phoenix used their combined lightning and flames to push back the shadows. Only two against twelve. It should have been impossible to hold back the enemy dragons, and yet the dragon and the phoenix did.
They glowed together like a mini sun, as if they were one. The blasts from their jaws created a wall of fire against their foes. Their entire bodies radiated a brilliant light that blinded the shadows, turning those who came too close to smoke.
At last, Shai was close enough to see the man and woman who stood on either side of the portal they created, their hands outstretched to keep it open.
With the last of his strength, he dove recklessly with wings closed, neck stretched, not caring if he crashed and burned on the other side. He only hoped that the human still hanging onto his back could take care of himself, because Shai was going full bear into the portal.
A split second after he shot through, the black dragon and phoenix followed, and then the man and the woman whose magic created the portal. It snapped closed behind them against the distant screeches of the shadow dragons, foiled in trying to follow them through.
The next second, Shai was tumbling face first into a rocky terrain.
He crashed upon hard, unforgiving ground, but at least he didn’t burn. He rolled and twisted to protect his body from the worst of the crash, but the fall still rattled some bones loose and removed many scales from his back and sides where he took the brunt of the hit.
Finally, he skidded to a stop, the javelin of his tail digging into the ground as an anchor.
The human on his back, Ben, crouched a good distance away, seemingly none the worse for wear, having leapt off his back before the crash.
The black dragon and his mate also landed with more finesse than Shai. They circled each other in their beast forms, making rumbling and growling noises as they assessed each other’s damage.
Satisfied that they were hale and hearty, they came to him and transformed into human once more. Ben came to stand beside Ere and Sorin along with the woman and man who created the portal.
Shai still lay on his stomach, neck extended and limbs stretched out.
Everything in his body hurt from the crash. The wind seemed permanently knocked out of him. He could only slit his eyes slightly open to regard his rescuers.
If this was some sort of an elaborate trick and he was about to be trussed up like a wild goose for roasting, they had him. He was too exhausted and hurt too much to put up a fight.
The immortals and Ben began to talk amongst themselves, but Shai didn’t pay attention. Even the narrow slit of his eyes was too much to sustain, so he shut them.
When he next gained consciousness, he was alone in a deserted field of wildflowers, and his body had healed quite a bit while he’d been asleep.
He must have been asleep for a very long time, for it was night in this foreign land whereas it had been daytime when he burst through the portal between realms.
He rolled slowly to his feet and shook out his scales from head to toe, stretching aching joints and creaking bones. He sniffed the breeze and scented no danger.
But for a faint whiff of something achingly familiar.
The scent of a woman’s skin and hair.
Hiswoman.
Heba.
And that was when he saw her, sleeping upon the flat rise of a boulder in the middle of the field.
Waiting for him.
Dreaming of him.
Just as he had asked her to, once upon a time.
Chapter Seventeen
“Fate is the future you grab with both hands.”
—Unknown
