Fury of Affliction (Dragonfury 2.0)

Chapter 5

5

T he enemy dragon came out of nowhere, hitting him broadside.

Hamersveld heard his ribs crunch. Pain spiraled. His body whiplashed, ripping Natalie and the F-150 from his talons. Metal shrieked. Disbelief summited a nasty peak as the air left his lungs. Gravity took hold, hurling him into a dead spin, toward thick forest and spiked treetops.

Struggling to breathe, he watched the truck fly out of reach and fought to regain control. Bent at odd angles, half-folded, his wings shot straight out. Shark-gray webbing caught damp air. Agony upped its game, making his shoulder muscles squawk as Natalie’s scream echoed across the bluff.

Hearing her fear, he gritted his teeth and flapped his wings. He needed to get back to her. Protect her from the threat. Keep her safe from the water. Kill the asshole who’d attacked him, then retrieve his mate.

Sliver paint flashed as the truck flew over the cliffs.

Natalie cried out again.

Hamersveld snarled in reaction. Primal instinct, his need to protect her, took over. The tilt-a-whirl evened out. His downward spiral stopped. Back in control, he banked into a tight turn and searched the sky. Dark brown scales with iridescent orange flecks flashed in his periphery. Quick reflexes flipped him sideways as the enemy male swiped at him. Arching his spine, he avoided the strike, lashed out with his own claws and?—

Clang!

A direct hit.

Dragon blood splashed up his forearm.

Baring his fangs, he spun and hammered the asshole again. The bastard yelped as his brown scales split open. Orange flecks flew off interlocking dragon skin, exploding skyward like confetti and?—

Hristos. He recognized his attacker.

Surprise made him pause for an instant. The brutal need to tear the asshole apart shoved it out of the way. Arrogant little prick. Zidane needed his head examined. Or better yet, it ripped off. What in the hell did the pampered prince think he was doing? An excellent question, particularly since the male was an ally of the Razorback pack. Or so Zidane claimed when he landed in Seattle. The prince’s actions tonight, though, dispelled that belief.

Hamersveld's gaze narrowed as Zidane lined up another strike. Just as well. He hated the male. Hadn’t liked Rodin’s firstborn son in Prague. Liked him even less flying in American skies.

Wings spread wide, wind whistling over his horns, Hamersveld searched for Natalie in the night sky. Her aura glowed bright, beaming out the truck windows as Zidane took a swipe at him. Black claws slashed at his smooth scales. With a fast turn, he avoided the blow and flicked his tail. The sawtooth tip clipped the Zidane’s side. More blood. Another curse. He dipped, turned and circled back around.

Citrine gaze aglow, Zidane snarled at him.

Hamersveld rotated into a somersault. His magic pulsed. The clouds opened up. Heavy rain fell, splattered across his bladed spine as he flipped upright and counted off the seconds. Timed his strike. Flying so fast, his gray scales blurred, blending into the storm glow. He dropped the cloaking spell. He didn’t need invisibility here. Driving rain camouflaged his movements, hiding him in the weave of surging violence, making it hard for Zidane to track him in the dark.

Lightning forked across the sky.

Natalie called out to him.

Tracking her flight, he sent more magic her way. Heat swirled across cresting waves. The boost slid beneath the truck, keeping her level and out of the water, speeding her across the seascape, away from the battle to a place Zidane’s warriors would never?—

Tracking her aura, a yellow dragon blasted over the shoreline.

Hamersveld hissed in denial. Goddamn Zidane. Now he knew why the bastard had come out to play. The prince was after his mate. Unable to waste an opportunity to get his claws on a high-energy female, the prick planned to keep him occupied long enough to abduct Natalie. The speed and direction of the yellow-scale dragon as he blasted over choppy ocean waves was all the proof he required. Which meant he needed to change tact right now. Intercept Zidane’s warrior before he reached Natalie, and he lost her forever.

With a roar, he opened a link into mind-speak. “Ivar!”

“What the fuck, Sveld? You know better,” his friend growled. “Flying out like a crazy asshole. Leaving us in your dust.”

Ignoring the censure, he snarled, “How close are you?”

“Twenty seconds.”

“Make it sooner.”

“Shit,” Ivar said. “How many Nightfuries in the sky?”

“No Nightfuries. Zidane.”

Silence met his pronouncement. One second ticked into two, then?—

“He dares?”

“I’ve got his blood on my claws, so…yeah. The arrogant prick dares.”

A low snarl came through the connection. “Kill him. Take him apart, piece by fucking piece.”

“No time. My mate’s in trouble,” he said, watching the yellow dragon close the distance. Less than five hundred meters away from the truck. Too close for comfort. “I’ve got to ? —”

The enemy’s talons brushed the tailgate.

With a curse, Hamersveld unleashed his magic. Power surged across the top of the water. Without him to hold it up, the F-150’s grill tilted down. Gravity took over. The front end slammed into rising waves. Steel buckled. Saltwater closed over the cab, dragging Natalie under as the enemy male hovered above the surface of the ocean.

“Jesus, Sveld,” Ivar muttered, rocketing into view with a battalion of Razorbacks in tow. “Get to her, then bug out. The boys and I will handle Zidane.”

Without hesitation, Hamersveld left the battle behind. Gaze glued to the spot his mate disappeared, he blasted over the high cliffs. Sand kicked up as he cut across the beachfront. Water frothed. Waves spiked, stretching skyward to touch him. As the gnarled fingers raked his underbelly, Hamersveld dove into the Pacific.

Cold, wet and dark closed over his scales.

His sawtooth spine sliced through the surf. His water vision sparked. Details jumped into focus. His sonar pinged, providing a map of the underwater topography. Smooth ocean floor transition to jagged volcanic rock as he swam out to sea. His webbed paws pulled him forward. The slash of his tail upped the speed, propelling him away from the coast. Flowing over a ridgeline, he rocketed past the continual shelf as headlights flickered once, then went out, engulfing his mate in darkness.