Chapter Thirty-Five

**Leo**

I ran up on a circle of bystanders who were watching Enid fight Sidious. The battle was still going on in places, but it had turned strongly in our favor and had died down enough in this area that people were just watching in awe. I pushed through the crowd, growling at everyone to make them move.

Before I could break the line, though, another black wolf jumped in front of me and stopped me.

*‘What are you doing?’* I asked Gideon.

‘*She doesn’t want anyone close,’* he answered. *‘She specified that meant you as well.’*

*‘She needs my help!’*

*‘She needs to focus,’* he countered, *‘and it’s probably hard for her to do that when you’re in danger.’*

*‘There are others out there!’*

I looked around behind him and saw harpies and sprites on the offensive against Sidious, as well as Cass. I couldn’t see Enid, though, because of a thick fog that wrapped around the lower half of the dragon.

*‘Look, if you’re going to be pissed, then go stand by Eris and you can be pissed together,’* he growled.

Obviously Eris wasn’t too happy about being left out of the battle, either. I wanted to link Enid, but I couldn’t distract her. One second could mean the difference between life and death.

*‘Gideon…’*

An awful screech of pain cut me off and looked behind Gideon to see that Cass was getting crushed underneath the other dragon’s head.

*‘Cass! We have to help him!’* I yelled.

Enid stopped the dragon with a giant boulder to the side of the face, but Cass was hurt badly, laying crumpled on the ground.

When Sidious recovered, he opened his maw, and I realized he meant to eat Cass.

I pushed around my brother, who growled in annoyance, but let me by and then ran with me out into the open field.

A giant pillar of earth shot out of the ground and cracked Sidious on the chin, closing his mouth with a loud crack before he could get to Cass.

*‘Get him and take him to Eris!’* Enid yelled in my head.

She hit Sidious with two more boulders to the face and he roared in fury. I absentmindedly thought how crazy it was that he sounded just like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park when we were up close.

He gave up on eating Cass and turned his enormous body towards Enid, blasting a torrent of fire around him to push back the harpies and sprites.

Cass hadn’t shifted back and was still a dragon. He was breathing, barely, and when we got to him his blue eye cracked open and found me. He growled weakly, greeting me.

I shifted back so I could talk to him, acutely aware that I was standing no less than ten feet from the leg of the beast.

“Cass,” I breathed. “Shift. Shift so we can take you to Eris.”

He did as I asked, and to my surprise, tried to chuckle.

Blood spurted out of his mouth, and he gasped, “He really fucked me up, little lion, but I’ll live.”

I grinned and shook my head at him. He really was something else.

I laid his body over Gideon’s shoulders, cringing as I did because sharp broken bones stabbed into my hands no matter where I grabbed him in his body. He moaned in pain.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

When he was positioned on Gideon’s back, I shifted back and ran with them out of the circle. When we were about to the edge, I skidded to a stop and ran back towards Enid.

*‘Leo! Damn you!’* My brother yelled in my head.

*‘I have to help my mate!’*

*‘You’re supposed to stay back!’*

*‘Would you?’* I asked him, knowing the answer.

There was a beat of silence and then he said softly, a tone of worry and love mixed in his voice, *‘Just don’t die, mom will kill me if you do.’*

I smirked and picked up speed, trying to see if there was anything I could do to help.

Sidious roared in front of me. Even though he’d killed several of the harpies and sprites, they kept up their assault. His wings hung in dreadful shreds now, and if he flapped them the air just passed through.

Bones started cracking, and I realized he was shifting back to his human form.

**Enid**

I watched Sidious shifting back. Even though I didn’t really want to fight him in this form, at least he couldn’t keep his heart covered.

His shift was quick, incredible to watch as the enormous beast turned back into a human. A harpy and sprite were still too close, and paid the ultimate price when he grabbed them and smashed their skulls together. Their heads splattered like two melons and he roared again at the others. He was unbelievably fast in this form.

“Get back!” I yelled at the others.

They listened, flying back towards the line. As I watched them, I noticed a lone black wolf running towards us.

I growled in frustration.

*‘Leo, what are you doing?!’*

He skidded to a stop at my voice in his head.

*‘I’m helping you.’*

*‘You need to stay back,’* I answered softly. *‘I cannot let you be killed.’*

He didn’t answer, but he sat down where he was, as if to be obedient, and watched.

I sighed, not believing that for a second. I didn’t have too long to think about it, though, because Sidious advanced towards me.

I fought him the same way I had Nox, using air to speed up my movements. I fared much better this way than I had in the ceremonial chamber, but we were evenly matched in speed.

Brute strength, however, went to him. Whenever I blocked him with my forearms, I could feel the pain of tiny fractures in my bones. Skadi was healing them quickly, trying to keep up, but he was way stronger than me. Not to mention I was about half his size. We fought for several minutes. It was so intense that I had sweat running down my face and back from the effort.

He made a move, and I blocked, opening up his chest. My heart leapt. This was it. I plunged Dragonsbane forward, right towards his heart.

He caught the spear in his hand, inches away from his chest. Impossible. It was impossible to move that fast. I gasped and looked up at his face to see he was grinning down at me.

He ripped Dragonsbane from my hands and threw it behind him, and then he kicked me in the chest. His enormous foot crushed my ribs and sternum and I flew a good ten feet, falling hard on my back. I tried to breathe, but my lungs wouldn’t draw any air.

I was gasping, panicking, as he walked towards me.

He was smiling widely and pointed to his chest. “*Victores*.”

I realized he was speaking Latin, and telling me he won.

Skadi healed my chest cavity as quickly as she could, and I tried breathing again. It seemed this time that I took in air, but there was fluid in my lungs, stopping the oxygen from going anywhere. I was suffocating.

*‘I can heal it,’* Skadi told me. *’But I need just a minute.’*

We didn’t have one. He stepped up and pressed his foot on my chest, pushing his weight down. Blackness winked in my vision. I needed to use magic, but my arms weren’t working, nothing was working.

The pressure on my chest suddenly ceased, and I opened my eyes to see a black wolf biting furiously into Sidious’ calf.

It was Leo.

I wanted to link him, to say something. But everything went black.

**Leo**

My vision was red as I clamped down on the monster’s calf. I knew he had nearly killed Enid, and that she may still be dying right now.

I ripped at his muscles, and he growled in pain. I felt his hands on my scruff, and he tossed me away. He didn’t even care enough to come after me and turned back to Enid instead.

*‘Help!’* I yelled to everyone.

*‘Leo!’*

It was Eris who called out to me, and I saw her panicked eyes on Enid from the crowd, but she couldn’t push through.

I looked around and realized that the battle had picked back up around us, the dark elf king leading one last charge. Everyone was already fighting. No help was coming.

A glint of something in the moonlight attracted my eye, and I saw Dragonsbane was laying about six feet in front of me. I shifted, picking it up with my hand, and ran towards Enid and the beast.

He had his foot on her chest again, probably intent on suffocating her that way.

If he was distracted, maybe I could stab him through the back and get his heart.

I lunged for him, but he smacked me out of the air easily. He growled in annoyance and turned to me as I scrambled to my feet.

Fighting him was like fighting Cass on steroids. It was impossible. We sparred, and he downed me several times, in a matter of maybe a minute. I had a broken arm and several broken ribs, but I slowly stood back up one more time.

If he was going to kill Enid, he was going to have to kill me first.

He laughed, a loud baritone chuckle, as I stood again. He looked surprised by my resilience. I took a defensive stance, holding Dragonsbane with my left unbroken arm.

He looked back at Enid and then at me, a questioning look on his face.

“*Maritus*?” He asked.

I didn’t understand the language he was speaking, but the question was still clear. He was asking if Enid and I were together.

I nodded my head yes. “She is my mate. If you want to kill her, you have to kill me first.”

He laughed again and shook his head, “Ah, *infortunatus. Amare.*”

He moved towards me, and I did my best, not standing much of a chance.

I ended up on my back with him kneeling over me. He punched me several times in the face and it felt like a freight train was running over my head.

His giant hands wrapped around my neck, and I felt my windpipe being crushed.

*‘Leo, the spear.’*

Over his shoulder, I saw Enid. She was coming up fast behind him. Blackness was winking into my vision, but Dragonsbane was still in my left hand. I flicked my wrist, tossing it as best I could to her before I passed out.

**Enid**

I could feel through our bond that he was killing Leo. Our pain and panic mixed in the bond, coursing through my chest.

Leo had distracted him long enough for Skadi to heal me to a point I could pull in some oxygen. I stood, my head pounding, and saw Sidious kneeling over Leo and choking him.

In Leo’s hand, he held Dragonsbane.

I started jogging, willing myself to go faster with the help of air.

*‘Leo, the spear.’*

I hoped he understood what I meant, and his hand moved. I was right behind them now and he tossed the spear blindly.

Time slowed down in that moment, the next few seconds seeming to be minutes instead.

I bent, brushing my fingers against the dirt. The earth moved, forming shackles around Sidious’ legs and hands, which meant they were stuck crushing Leo’s neck.

I just needed that one extra second so he couldn’t stop me.

I saw his body tense, but I was already catching the spear. I spun it in my hand until the spear pointed down and jumped on his enormous back. He was fighting the earth shackles, but he was too late.

I couldn’t see his heart from this side, but I plunged the spear deep into his back, where I thought it should be.

He broke the shackles and stood, throwing me back.

A beat of panic washed through me, and I thought I had missed.

He walked forward three or four steps and then fell to his knees.

“*Impossibile*,” I heard him whisper.

I watched in shock as he fell forward on his face with a loud thump and didn’t move anymore.

We’d actually done it.