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Darius stood in the forest, gazing down at the carnage before hi speed, only to learn the unit he&039;d sent to guard Javar&039;s palace had been bested They were covered in a white film and blood streamed fros retracted and he dropped his vest His hands curled into fists Those humans must be stopped
"Find the survivors," he called Then he and the dragon warriors branched off, searching for the living
He cursed under his breath as moans of pain filled his ears How , he strode over to Vorik, who lay prone and still He knelt down
Vorik&039;s eyelids opened slowly and Darius pushed out a breath of relief that his man lived He withdrew a sharp silver blade from his back scabbard and blew fire on theout the bullets just as Grace had shown hirimaced and tried to pull away
"Tell me of the attack," he said to distract hie"
Renard approached and crouched beside him just as Vorik fainted "What happened to the and jerked his hand away "What is this cold substance that covers their bodies?"
Darius turned stark eyes in his friend&039;s direction "I do not knohat it is Don gloves if youout the bullets"
The carnage rehtered, and as he worked, he had to bite back a groan Had he not shared his pain with Grace, he ht of it now With shaky hands he continued on to body after body The dragon&039;s recuperative blood helped them heal as soon as the small bullets were removed If only Javar had known this, how many of his warriors could he have saved?
When he finished, Darius gazed down at his blood-soaked hands He&039;d had blood on his hands before, and hadn&039;t reacted But this affected him How much more blood would he wear before this day ended? He knew the answer: by the end of the day, blood would flow like a river He only prayed the blood did not belong to his own forces, but his ene the hilt of his blade "We ht withwanted the chance to avenge the wrongs done
"May the gods be with us," he said under his breath His wings sprang fro the black th in his legs, he pushed off the ground The glide of his wings kept hiher, faster His ars, felt the intensity of their deteruards roamed the top of Javar&039;s palace When they spotted Darius, they shouted, aied the multiple rounds of bullets and spewed his own fire His warriors did the sa the hurunted and was suddenly falling from the sky He didn&039;t see who it was, but continued breathing his fire
A gong sounded, loud, high-pitched
The huh to hear it Their scorched bodies withered into ash and floated on the breeze Darius settled his feet on the jagged crystal His wings retracted, and he quickly drew on his vest and fastened the straps When his warriors were properly protected, as well, he met each of their stares one by one and waited for nods of readiness
He withdrew a long, silver blade with each of his hands and approached the do his azed down, but could not see anyone inside, surrounded as they were by a thick fog He heard the shuffle of their panicked footsteps, however, and theinto the unknown, but the vest would not allow it
He jumped
His men quickly followed suit
Down, down he fell When his feet hit the ground, his entire body reverberated with the irunted and rolled
Humans screamed and scrambled out of the way Their shock delayed their reaction, and Darius used that to his advantage He jolted to his feet, swords raised and struck his first victi his chest, then collapsed
Behind hi fire Always breathing fire He didn&039;t pause, but advanced on his next target A look of sheer terror contorted the youngfor hiun at Darius&039;s chest and fired One bullet after another slahed Eyes widening, the ripped a thick tube that rose from a red canister on his back White foam sprayed out and over Darius&039;s skin, so cold his blood hardened with ice crystals His dark laughter increased
A Guardian of the Mist welcothened by it He twirled his swords and struck The man&039;s body spasrew louder, screeching in his ears and soon blending with the sound of gunshots He winced at a sharp sting in his thigh, glanced down, and saw trickles of blood where a bullet had pierced Never slowing, he rocked forward, using thedestroyed every huhout the rooh horror-filled eyes as Madox fell, his body covered in white foas
Darius didn&039;t know if his friend lived or died, and his stoe, he spewed a strea theh Their screa flesh filled his nostrils
Thecorpses littered the floor With the battle over, he counted how many of his men still stood Only three had fallen He carried Madox outside and lay hi, some relatively unharmed Renard rushed to his side and examined Madox, then helped remove the bullets
"He&039;ll live," Renard announced with relief
Filled with his own relief, Darius gripped the dagger he held and sank the tip into one of the wounds on his leg He gri in, but he welcomed the pain
As he continued to work the knife in his other injuries, he realized he and his warriors reigned victorious Yet where was the sense of joy and accomplishment he should have had?
"What do we do next?" Renard asked, sitting down beside him
"I do not know Their leader, Jason, was not here," he fumed
"How do you know?"
"The cowardly bastard is-" Darius did not finish his sentence So dark, and he knew Grace was in danger His blood curdled He ripped off his medallion and held it in his hands Because he couldn&039;t call on Grace&039;s ie, he said, "Showred bea in front of Grace-as chained to a wall Valed against the chains "What have you done with on whore of his And if you don&039;t shut your mouth, I&039;ll kill him while you watch You should not have left the palace, Grace," he said with an evil smile "Mitch told me how protective Darius is of you I wonder how ive up for you"
"Leave hiether Her face and clothes were dirty and her bottom lip ollen Darius&039;s world darkened to one ee that wanted Jason&039;s blood drenching his hands
He forced hi for clues as to where Grace was being held When he saw Layel, king of varew in intensity
The vision faded all too quickly
He squeezed his fingers over the h, cos sprouted froon still breathing unfurled his wings, as well He experienced a moment of pride These warriors were injured, but they reht-and die if they hold looe structure a haunted aura, casting shadows in every direction Even the ere blackened No foliage grew here, for no living thing could thrive a fro of the death that waited within, ready to strike
Grace was inside
Sing back his fear for her, Darius flew to the highestandprovided no ledge to stand upon, so he simply hovered there A cold sweat covered his skin, and his teeth gnashed together He was aBut he couldn&039;t-wouldn&039;t-wait Not this tis He couldn&039;t see through the darkened glass, but could hear voices
A woave the signal Glass shattered as they propelled inside Vaer protected by the vests, the dragons were vulnerable-and they knew it
Darius pushed, shoved and sliced his way toward Grace Careful not to burn her with his fire
When she spied hiainst her chains "Darius," she called, her voice weak, hollow
Jason Graves stood beside her, his expression one of shock and rage Seeing Darius, the coward trained his gun on Grace&039;s temple Darius did not allow himself to look at his wife&039;s face; he would have cru So it was then that he saw the blood oozing down her neck and onto her shirt
"We both know I&039; to kill you this day," he told Jason, deceptively serene "Your actions aze narrowed "Or whether I aze darted between Darius and the raging battle Dragons breathed fire, scorching vaether, creating a symphony of death Sulfur coated the air
"Kill me," Jason said, desperate, "and you&039;ll never recover the Book of Ra-Dracus "
Intent only on saving Grace, Darius stalked toward him
"One step closer, and I&039;ll kill her Do you hear me?" he screamed "I&039;ll kill her!"
Darius stilled completely Yet intense fury boiled in his blood, hotter and hotter until finally transforon self He howled at the suddenness of the change, at the way his body elongated and sharpened Scales arthened and thinned, honed to razor-sharp points His claws unsheathed He felt the heat of the change and welco with undiluted terror "Oh, un to Darius and squeezed the trigger
Darius absorbed the impact of each bullet and launched hi the man&039;s face with his tail The bastard screaashes, jewels tuunfire came at him from a different direction Another bullet pelted his ar Grace
Having regained his breath, Jason scrambled up and stuffed the fallen jewels back into his pockets, the battle forgotten in his greed Darius swung back to hiazes clashed for one startling second, terror against determination, before Darius bit his throat Unsatisfied with that, Darius lashed him with his tail, claith his hands and sla crack followed as Jason&039;s neck snapped, and he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap