Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Ride the Wave: Chapter 33

A massive dragon with scales the color of midnight filled the sky, blocking out the sun. Storm clouds surrounded her, lightning flashed behind her, hail fell around her, and the ground beneath her rumbled. The sky turned dark and ominous, and the other four Dragons flew to her side. My heart clenched at the sight of my father with them.

I’d never seen the Black Dragon as anything other than human before, and she was truly terrifying like this. Her claws and talons were razor sharp, and dark, deadly power emanated from her, much like it did from the shades. I found myself gripping Jasin’s scales tighter as fear spread through me.

When she spoke, her voice echoed across the plains. “Surrender now and your deaths will be quick and painless. Fight, and my shades will feast on your souls while my Dragons rip you to shreds.”

Her words were probably supposed to make me want to run away, and though I was terrified, all they did was make me angry—and even more determined. I raised my sword into the air and reached for the power inside me. A bright silver light appeared and stretched high into the sky, casting a glow over my assembled army and breaking through the darkness. “We will never surrender! Your time is at an end!”

Her green eyes narrowed. “Then you shall meet your doom.”

As soon as she spoke the words she dipped down, plummeting toward the ground so fast it only took her seconds to reach it. She stretched her talons wide and scooped up a handful of our soldiers in each fist, then reared back into the sky. I thought she would let the men fall to their deaths, but as they screamed and struggled, she opened her mouth and a stream of darkness began to flow from their mouths into hers. One by one the soldiers’ heads drooped, their bodies becoming lifeless, while my mother’s scales seemed to become blacker and blacker.

“She’s draining them,” I whispered, horrified at what I was seeing.

“And taking their life to fuel her own power,” Jasin said, as Nysa opened her claws and let the bodies drop to the ground, one by one.

How were we supposed to stop her? She had no weaknesses. She could control all the elements, and thus was immune to them. She could drain the life of anyone she touched and it only made her stronger. We had no way to defeat her. And even if we did, we’d have to face the Spirit Goddess next.

Her soldiers and shades lurched forward, clashing with our army. The sounds of battle began to ring out, while the storm raged on around us, casting lightning and hail at our soldiers. I spread my arms and reached for it with my magic, calming the raging elements until the clouds began to dissipate, and the sun shined through again.

But the storm was only the beginning of our problems. While the soldiers and shades fought, Sark spewed flame, Heldor ripped open huge trenches in the ground, and Isen created a tornado to tear through our ranks. My own mates dashed forward to combat them, replaceing the other Dragon they were strongest—and weakest—against, the way Doran had taught them.

Doran…my eyes searched the battle for him, but he wasn’t attacking our army. Where did he go?

As Nysa swooped down again to reach for more lives to drain, another dragon slammed into her, knocking her back. They hit the ground in a tangle of black and blue scales, claws and fangs flashing.

My heart leapt into my throat. “Father!” I screamed.

He was actually fighting her, even with the bond between them. His words came back to me. You’re my daughter. Whatever happens, I’m on your side. Always.

He hadn’t betrayed us. He’d been doing everything he could to get close to Nysa again, to win back her trust, so that he could surprise her in this moment. Nysa did have one weakness—her own mates. She wouldn’t kill one of her own, not without making herself vulnerable. Doran couldn’t kill her either, not without killing himself in the process, but he could distract her for a while to give us a chance.

“Doran is buying us time!” I called out to Jasin. “We have to take out the other Dragons.”

“We should get to the Spirit Temple,” he said. “The Dragons will follow us and that will give our soldiers a better chance.”

“Let’s go. Hurry!”

He took off, darting toward the Spirit Temple. Lightning streaked toward us, but I directed it away before it could hit Jasin’s wings. He spun and dove, avoiding the numerous elemental attacks flying through the air, and I held on tight. In the chaos I lost track of my other mates, though I knew they were out there, fighting the other Dragons.

Below us, Calla threw fire at the shades around her, while her priests and other people fought with torches, water, and rocks—but it wasn’t enough. The dark, ghostly figures swarmed over them, draining their lives, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before Calla and her priests succumbed too. And once they were gone, there was little to stop the shades from devouring the rest of our people.

“Wait,” I called out to Jasin. “We have to help them fight the shades or they’ll never make it.”

“We don’t have time!”

“We can’t let them all die!”

Jasin let out a frustrated roar, but then he changed direction, darting down. As we flew over the shades, he let out a stream of fire while I blasted them with lightning and ice. They let out horrifying shrieks as they disappeared, but more filled their place almost instantly.

We fought and we fought, but as I took in the battle around us, my hope of victory quickly diminished. We were stretched too thin and the other Dragons were too strong. There were too many shades, too many soldiers, and not enough people on our side to fight them back. Getting to the Spirit Temple would be impossible without sacrificing the lives of everyone fighting for us on the battlefield. Was that what it would take?

I couldn’t do it. Which meant we were going to fail.

I prepared myself to make a tough decision, though I wasn’t sure if it would be to retreat or to push forward. But then a bright flare shot up from the crest of the southern mountain, drawing my attention. A fire burned, spreading wider and wider across the rocky slopes.

No, not a fire, I realized, my breath catching in my throat. Fire elementals.

They were moving fast, gliding over the land as they approached, and there were hundreds of them. Not just fire, but earth, air, and water elementals, all heading toward us at speeds that only a dragon could match.

“They came.” Tears filled my eyes and I let out a soft laugh, the relief making me almost giddy. Somehow I had gotten through to them, and they’d changed their minds and decided to fight. And with their help, we might actually stand a chance.