Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Embrace the Dark: Chapter 23

Flying was even better than I’d imagined all these years. Riding on the backs of other dragons was already incredible, but this topped even that. Feeling the air against my face, the strength in my body, and the power in my wings made me never want to turn human again.

I did flips and turns over the Life Temple, and my mates cheered me on while hovering beside me in their own dragon forms, while giving me a few pointers now and then. We danced in the air, chased each other around, and roared into the sky, before finally heading back to Soulspire. I couldn’t wait to show my mother my new form, and to fly with my entire family.

When we arrived at the palace, I instantly knew something was wrong. Smoke filled the air, and the gate in front had been twisted and bent by someone who could control earth magic. Even worse, the bodies of slain guards were scattered across the courtyard, some blackened by fire. Other guards rushed around, shouting to one another, while palace staff tried to tend to the injured.

I shifted back to human form and grabbed the nearest guard I saw, shaking him a little. “What happened here?”

“They took them!” he sputtered, his eyes panicked.

“Who?”

“Your parents!”

Cold terror washed through me. “How? Where?”

The guard drew in a ragged breath and tried to compose himself. “Someone in the palace was working for the Unseen and poisoned your parents’ meal. It knocked them out, and the Unseen attacked the palace gates and kidnapped them. We tried to stop them, but they had powers. I’m sorry.”

“Where did they take them?” I nearly shouted, my heart hammering in my chest.

“I don’t know!”

I turned to my mates, who had landed behind me. “We have to replace them!”

“I’m the fastest,” Erroh said. “I’ll patrol the city while you help these people.”

“I’ll go too,” Carth added. “I’m nearly as fast as you are, and we can cover more ground that way.”

Parin nodded. “The rest of us will stay here and protect the palace and help however we can.”

I wanted to protest that we should all go searching, but then I heard the moans of people in the courtyard and nodded, while choking back my fear and rage. I would be of most use here, and I trusted my mates to do the best they could to replace my parents.

By the time Erroh and Carth returned, I’d managed to lose myself in the healing and block out everything else, and had done everything I could. I rushed toward my mates, eager for news of my parents.

“They’re in the stadium across town,” Erroh said, his voice panicked. “The Unseen are gathering a huge crowd there and they’re going to drain your parents in front of everyone for all the humans to see, as soon as the sun sets. They have some elementals too. We need to go, now.”

“They have those pillars up that are preventing your parents from shifting,” Carth added. “Those need to be our first targets.”

Gods, it was even worse than I’d thought. Especially since the sun was nearing the edge of the horizon now. I summoned water to wash the blood off my hands and then shifted back into my dragon form, enjoying the rush of power it gave me. “Let’s rescue my parents and put an end to this.”

“Is Wrill leading the Unseen?” Varek asked.

“Yes, she is,” Carth said.

I swung my large head toward Varek. “Is this going to be a problem?”

His jaw clenched. “Not at all.”

We devised a rough plan and then the five of us took off, soaring into the air as quickly as we could. This was not the time for stealth. We were going to show them that the Dragons were chosen to lead for a reason, and we would not be bullied by humans with stolen powers.

It was a short flight to the stadium on the other side of Soulspire, and we arrived just as the sun dipped below the horizon, turning the sky a deep indigo. As the six of us circled over the packed stadium, I released a loud, primal roar, laced with my anger and fear. My mates all chimed in and added their thunderous voices too, until we filled the night with the sound. Some people in the stadium screamed and began to run. Good.

The stadium was packed with onlookers, probably curious humans the Unseen had gathered to watch the event. We had to try to avoid hurting any of them. The Unseen stood in the center of the stadium, surrounding cages that held elementals and my parents, who were chained up and in their human forms. Those black pillars were set up in a circle around the cages, preventing them from shifting. Wrill stood beside one of them with her hands on her hips, gazing up at us with her face behind her black mask. I could practically feel her hatred for me even from afar.

We descended as a group, swooping down low over the crowd, sending terror throughout more people who bolted for the exit. Then we circled the center of the stadium, beating our wings rapidly. The Unseen began shooting fire, ice, and rocks up at us, while others tried to control the air around us to prevent us from flying, but we’d expected that and we fought back their attacks. Carth blasted away the fire, Zain melted through the ice, Parin defected the rocks, and Erroh soothed the wind. I helped as I could, using my elemental magic to catch anything they missed, while Varek summoned shades on the ground and ordered them to attack. We’d trained to work as a team, and even though we weren’t as experienced as my parents, we were a force to be reckoned with as long as we stuck together.

While my four elemental dragons continued flying around and deflecting attacks, keeping the Unseen busy, Varek and I charged forward with our own mission. We each landed beside a pillar and placed our talons on the inky black stuff covering them, then drew out the death magic within them. The pillars collapsed, and we moved to the next ones.

“Sora!” my mother called out from inside a cage, which was also covered in that inky black stuff, probably to prevent her from using magic. My fathers were in identical cages beside her, with elementals in others behind them.

“We’re going to get you out of there as soon as we can!” I roared to her, swishing my tail, then went to work on another pillar.

A huge blast of fire made me dart back. Wrill flew toward me, using air to propel herself through the sky. She attacked me with a combination of swirling air, rocks, and water, creating a hurricane that surrounded me. I threw up a shield of water and air to block it, then unleashed a massive column of fire at her. She threw out an arm and deflected the magic away from her, where it hit one of our shades and made it vanish.

She laughed as she summoned shards of ice, laced with darkness and death. ‘Is that all you’ve got?’

I let out a roar and slashed at her with my tail, but she dodged. I was about to charge her and tear her apart with my talons, but then I saw Varek behind her, back in his human form.

‘I’m sorry,’ Varek said. ‘I love you, sister.’

A shadowy bolt stretched out from his hand and hit her in the back, sinking into her chest. Her arms spread wide and her mask fell off as she screamed. It was just like when she’d taken the power from the elementals, but in reverse. Varek pulled out the elemental magic she’d stolen from the others with his death magic, a glowing ball of swirling colors laced with black, which dissolved into thin air before us.

When it was done, Wrill collapsed onto her knees and sobbed, then looked up at us with hateful eyes. She reached out and tried to use her magic against us, but nothing happened. She tried again and again, but it was gone. Even her death magic.

“What have you done?” she yelled.

Varek stood before her, looking down at his sister with harsh pity. “I took back what should never have been yours, and sent those poor elemental souls to the Realm of the Dead.”

“You should have been one of us,” Wrill said. “Our cause was just.”

“Maybe so, but your methods were not.” Varek tied her arms behind her, though it didn’t seem like she was going anywhere now. “I believe in your cause, sister, and I will do what I can to help humans. But this is not the way.”

“What other way is there?” Wrill asked, then glared at me. “If the Dragons can’t help us, who will?”

Her words resonated in me, and I knew I would have to do something to address this problem soon, but not now. All around us the battle was ending, as the other Unseen members were either defeated or were surrendering to my mates. Varek and I destroyed the other pillars, then freed my parents and the other elementals.

Kira burst out of her cage and wrapped her arms around my large dragon neck. “You were incredible. And your dragon form—it’s so beautiful!”

Her praise made me stand a little taller, especially as my fathers came out to hug me too. Now that they were free, it was easy to subdue the remaining attackers and throw them in the cages that once held my parents and the elementals.

Varek showed me how to remove the stolen magic inside each of the humans, and we went through them, one by one, freeing the elementals’ souls. A few of the cultists might have escaped, but we’d be able to take them down if they caused any problems later.

The Unseen were no more.