Chapter Thirty-One

**Leo**

Cass growled and then jumped, flapping his wings and flying out of the chamber. River was already at work, stacking stones so we could all climb out over the side.

As we climbed, I could hear the chaos on the other side. When we finally got over the wall, we looked out over the battlefield. It was chaos. Bloody and brutal. The groups seemed to have separated, with the wolves fighting the vampires and the Fae fighting the dark elves.

I found Gideon in the midst of it, a black ball of fury tearing through enemies like tissue paper. Our troops rallied close to him, finding strength in his rage.

There were three dragons on the field, the red and green ones now joined by a larger dark purple dragon. The witches concentrated on them, masterfully wielding their elements and trying to hold them back. The water witches were at a disadvantage, being in a massive desert. But they wore gourds of water on their person and pulled water out of them, forming giant whips of water that snapped like they were made of leather.

I scanned for the dark monster that had just been brought back and found him causing mass chaos amongst our troops, but still in human form.

I heard Finn growl next to me and followed his eyes to find that Kat had not listened to his stipulations and was in intense hand to hand combat right now.

He immediately shifted and headed that way to help her.

*‘Where are you guys?’* Gideon asked. And then he said, *‘Is that Enid?’*

I found the black dragon with my eyes and watched them. She stood on his back, seeming to manipulate the air around her so it was calm, even at the speed they were traveling. They were headed right for the purple dragon, who I assumed was Nox.

Cass flew over a large group of enemies, blowing a torrent of fire down upon them. Enid whirled her hands, catching the fire with air and spinning it until a tornado of flame ripped through their ranks.

It inflicted massive damage, killing hundreds in a matter of seconds. The purple dragon roared in annoyance and flapped his giant wings, taking to the sky to confront Enid and Cass. I watched her face and swore I could see her smile slightly when he did. A hunter whose prey had taken the bait.

They confronted him in the air, fire flying from the maws of both dragons. Enid rode crouched low on Cass’ neck and I sucked in a breath when she surprised me by leaping from him to the upper neck of the other dragon. It was an impossible jump, and I could only guess that she’d used air to help push her.

She still had Dragonsbane in her hand, and held on to one of his neck spikes, not looking even the least bit nervous when he started shaking his head and rolling in the air to throw her off.

Instead, she went on the offensive. She clawed up his neck until she sat atop his head. Nox roared in annoyance, but Cass latched on to one of his back legs and chewed on it, distracting him.

Enid raised Dragonsbane and plunged it deep into his left eyeball. He screeched in pain, and then Cass went after his wings, shredding them to pieces with his claws.

I found I was walking towards them absentmindedly, while the battle raged around me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of my mate. She was vicious. Incredible.

I shifted to my wolf and bounded through the crowd, killing any vampire or elf that stepped in my path.

But the entire time I had my eyes on Enid, who was now standing on the head of the dragon as he plummeted towards the earth. His wings had taken too much damage to maintain his flight.

I stopped, my heart jumping in my chest as I thought the fall would surely kill her. But her face held no fear, only determination.

When they were about fifty feet off the ground, she jumped, pushing away from him. He finished the fall, crashing loudly into the ground and skidding to a stop.

She used air to brace her fall and floated softly to the Earth. They’d fallen just on the battle line, flanked on one side by our troops and one side by theirs.

Cass swerved down, landing behind Enid, and roasted about forty vampires that were making a move towards her. He growled at the rest and they fled in fear.

Nox had shifted back and stood, snarling angrily at her. She grinned at his missing eye. Apparently, it would not heal because it was damaged by Dragonsbane.

He reached up and touched it, and then glared at her.

“You little bitch,” he hissed.

She twirled the spear in her right hand, and then they met. Their movements were so quick, a flurry of punches and kicks that I could barely track. I stood by Cass, who had shifted back to his human form and was watching. I shifted as well, my mouth hanging open in surprise.

I’d never seen Enid, or anyone for that matter, move like that. It took me a moment, but I realized she was manipulating the air to accelerate her movements. I’d never known her to be big on hand-to-hand combat training, but it seemed she was plenty skilled right now. Like she’d reached an entire new level of power.

He punched, and she blocked, opening up access to his chest, but to my surprise, she stuck Dragonsbane into his right lung instead of his heart. She could’ve killed him if she’d wanted to. What was she doing?

This went on for two or three minutes. She had him beat easily several times, but inflicted a devastating but non-lethal blow instead. Toying with him. It surprised me.

I glanced at Cass. His eyes were cold as steel, but he had a knowing smirk on his lips.

I felt like I didn’t understand something. I’d never known Enid to be cruel… ever. I could only think, what had this man done to her?

I looked closer at her dress, and a small kernel of understanding and anger flared in my chest. It was very revealing, and I was sure she hadn’t picked it herself.

Suddenly, as if to answer my question, Skadi was pushing images into my head. This man, Nox, touched Enid while she couldn’t fight back. Her breasts, her body… everywhere. While she was chained to a wall.

A rage I’d never known erupted in my chest and Bleiz pushed forward.

*‘Kill him!’* he growled.

I didn’t fight the shift, and I let him have complete control. I became more beast than man in that moment, and for once in my life, my own aggression matched my wolf’s.

Enid had Nox on the ground now. None of his wounds were healing quickly, and he gasped for air, probably suffering from punctured lungs. His arms were immobile, laying useless by his sides broken.

He glared at Enid, and she stalked towards him.

Bleiz charged forward, but she held up her hand, halting him. We skidded to a stop, growling low with fury, and looked at her.

She had her finger on the tip of Dragonsbane’s spearhead.

“You know,” she said to Nox. “They’ve told me the only way to kill a dragon is to plunge a piece of Dragonsbane into their heart.”

He eyed the spearhead, and I saw a glint of fear in his yellow eyes. She smirked, glaring at him.

“But my wolf, Skadi,” she continued. “Is wondering how you could possibly survive if she tore you to pieces? If she tore your flesh from your bones until there was nothing left?”

Bleiz snarled in agreement as Enid stood over Nox.

“You shouldn’t have touched me,” she said coolly. “The others will die quickly, but not you.”

She shifted, and Skadi looked back over her shoulder, beckoning to my wolf. Her green eyes burned with fury.

Bleiz moved, leaping on the dragon, and the two wolves tore him apart piece by piece.