Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (27 page)

Not surprisingly, Aidan was the first to
respond, “
Fuck me! Be there in two, Bro!”

He was sure the rest all said variations of the
same thing, but even the sounds were drowned out by the sounds of his
broadsword slamming into Andrew’s katana. The lazy mother fucker wanted to
fight, and that made Lance’s day. He lived for the fight. The heat of the
battle fueled his actions. He was doing what he had trained his entire life to
do…slay the enemy that threatened the dragon kin way of life. No matter whom
that enemy was, and there was no bigger threat than the traitor before him.
Apparently the asshole had been training since the last time Lance had seen him
swing a blade. The traitor’s advances were measured and compact, and from the
look in his eye, he was trying to find an opening. The stupid asshole obviously
thought he could take down one of the best swordsmen ever born. Not only had
Lance been alive longer, but he’d had some kind of blade in his hand since he
could walk. To add to his natural ability, he had trained with Rayne’s father
until the day of his forever death, and those countless hours of instruction at
the hands of a true master had given him the confidence to believe there wasn’t
a fight he could not win.

“So you’ve been practicing, you piece of shit.
Scared you’re
gonna
get your ass kicked?” he taunted.

“Scared?
Of you?
Hardly! I don’t have to practice to beat the likes of you. You’re the joke
you’ve always been,” Andrew countered, but Lance could see the fear growing in
his eyes. The coward would have to fight on his own, without the help of his
magic or his friends.

“Yeah, we’ll see how tough you are when you’re
covered in silver standing before the Tribunal.”

“Not
gonna
happen,”
the traitor tried to continue their banter, but was definitely out of shape
from the way he panted, and the sweat dotted his upper lip.

Continuing to drive Andrew farther back with
one swipe of his blade after another, Lance was eating up the fear that
continued to grow in the mismatched eyes of his one-time friend. The traitor
was mere feet from the back wall when a sound like cracking wood began just to
the left of where they fought. Unable to look, he continued to tear away at the
meager defenses Andrew had left. Aidan and Aaron yelled in unison, “Get the
fuck away from there you pieces of shit!”

Without warning, the entire wall that had been
cracking fell away. A quick glance revealed the twins fighting five or six
sword-wielding wizards. Andrew took advantage of the split second distraction
to swipe at his arm. His blade missed the target, but Lance felt a ribbon of
fire break out over his ribs. Trusting his enhanced healing, he refocused, and
in a series of intricate thrusts and parries, he had Andrew flat against the
back wall, essentially taking away his ability to swing his blade. Just as he
was about to land a debilitating blow, he felt three stabs across his back, and
the immediate burn of silver entering his system.
Son of a bitch! Someone
has silver tipped arrows?
 

Immediately after, Devon spoke directly into
his mind,
“Hunter down. You cool?”

“I’m cool.
Hunters too?
What.
The.
Fuck?”

“I got this! Kick that little shit’s ass for
all of us.”
He felt
Devon’s concentration go to his own fight, and he prayed to the Heavens for
strength.

His pain caused him to stumble, giving Andrew
the space he needed to renew their fight. The bastard actually got an almost
satisfied look in his eyes as he watched Lance struggle to compensate for the
arrows in his back. Ignoring the pain and weakness that was quickly spreading
through his body, he fought to regain the upper hand. He pulled from the
strength of his dragon, and the beast responded by pouring all that he could
into the warrior. The man he had once called brother slowly moved towards the
opening left from the missing wall while trying to fend off the barrage of
strikes from Lance’s broadsword.

Unable to keep Andrew from reaching the
outside, he looked for the best place to continue their fight while keeping the
coward as far from his misguided followers as possible.  He spotted a
small ledge not more than a hundred yards from where they fought. If he got the
traitor out on the ledge the fight would be over. There was no way Andrew would
take a chance on falling. He was just too much of a coward.

His dragon continued to pump a steady stream of
power into him, enhancing it with
his
ancient dragon magic, attempting
to keep the silver from spreading until he could defeat Andrew and go into his
healing sleep. He quickly checked, and the Dragon Guard, along with their
allies, were winning the battle, but he could hear them talking about the ones
that were getting away. Through the eyes of his brothers he could see that Max
was sending the
werepanthers
out to try and round
them up. Any other time he would have laughed at the thought of those idiots
coming face to face with the Big Cats, but at that moment he was just a bit
busy.

Nearing the ledge where he planned to end their
confrontation, he began to take more controlled strikes, concentrating much of
his strength into each downward swipe. The resulting clang of metal on metal
was music to his ears. He watched the vibrations reverberate up the traitor’s
arms, causing him to put both hands on the grip of his blade just to keep it
from falling from his hands. Lance loved that Andrew was completely on the
defensive as he continued to attack with everything he had left. The fear that
now emanated from Andrew was icing on the cake.

“Looks like you might be a little outmatched,
asshole,” Lance couldn’t help but to taunt the little fucker.

It took several seconds before Andrew
responded, and then his voice was winded, “I will watch you beg for your life
this night, you worthless piece of shit.”

Well, he had to give the little shit credit; he
talked a good game, but Lance was well aware that every strike Andrew threw was
weaker than the last. There was no way he could outlast him. Measuring the
distance to the ledge, he changed tactics. Instead of a full frontal attack, he
began going for Andrew’s left side, essentially herding him in the direction he
wanted him to go.

When the traitor finally stepped back onto the
ledge, Lance went in for the kill. “You ready to give-in?”

“I’d rather die,” was Andrew’s response.

 Lance smiled, “Suits me just fine.”

He struck over and over, giving the asshole
exactly what he’d just asked for, and when Andrew stumbled back, he knew there
would never be a better opportunity. With all that he was he pulled his
broadsword over his head, and just as he started the downswing, Royce’s voice
sounded in his head,
“Behind you!”

He couldn’t respond to the big guy, and was
unable to do anything but continue on the course he had begun. He had to trust
that Aidan or Aaron, who he knew were close, would do whatever they could to
help out. His blade clashed with Andrew’s as he held it up overhead, trying
whatever he could to protect himself. He felt the sting of countless arrows
pierce his skin. The traitor crumbled under the force of his blow, but Lance
could not stop his forward motion. He catapulted over the fallen Andrew, and
slid towards the lip of the ledge. The hunter’s arrows still sticking from his
back were pushed farther into his flesh. He felt the burn of the silver heads
in every possible direction. His weakened dragon fought against the
debilitating poison, but was unable to thwart its effects.

His brethren were all shouting directions in
his head, however, his arms and legs grew heavier by the second, and there was
a fog invading his brain. In a last ditch effort, he reached back and grabbed
Andrew’s outstretched leg to use as an anchor. Although he would always think
of the traitor as the ‘little asshole’, Lance prayed that his six foot, two
hundred pound frame would be just enough to keep him from going over the ledge.
His forward motion slowed right before he felt his legs go over the edge. The
next thing he saw was the ground racing towards him. Rayne screamed into his
head,
“Call your dragon!”

But the beast had given all that he could, and
although he tried, there wasn’t enough of his ancient magic remaining for him
to materialize. Lance was sure he wouldn’t die but knew it was going to hurt
like a son of a bitch. He counted the seconds in his head and knew he was close
to hitting the ground. He brought up all the images of Sam he’d tucked away to
take his mind off his inevitable destination. He wondered how pissed she would
be when she saw him all messed up, and then thought how fun it would be to play
doctor with
his doctor.

Sure the ground had to be close, he took the
deepest breath possible, and braced for impact. It was then that he actually
heard what the men of his Force were all screaming,
“SILVER!”

In his next breath, he felt something hard and
cold pierce the skin of his back and slide completely through his body.
Squinting, he saw the blade of a broadsword protruding from his chest.
“Fuck!”
was all he could wheeze out before
he
saw feet, so big
they could only belong to Royce, stop right beside him.

The older Guardsman was on his knees, talking
faster than Lance could track. “Stay still you pain in the ass. Let me see what
I’m working with.”

For the first time in all the years he’d known
the old guy, he sounded panicked. He could feel his dragon pushing with what
little power he had left, but both man and beast knew it wasn’t enough. There
was no way he would be able to stay conscious much longer. Grabbing Royce’s
hand, he waited until the gentle brown eyes of his oldest friend looked at him,
and then said all he could, “Protect Sam and
Syd
.”
With a sigh, he and his dragon lost the fight and their world went black.

Those fucking Dragon Guardsmen had done it again. They had
found a way to ruin all his plans,
and
they had Kyra. What.
The.
Fuck? True to form, the cowardly wizards with him had
scattered when the fight got to be more than they could handle. Only John had
come forward when the assholes had raced to help the dope. Thank the Heavens
for the hunters, although he was pretty sure that they’d come with Master
Eaton’s men. He’d had absolutely no contact with any hunter packs since the
incident on the hillside almost a year ago.

At least one good thing came out of the
evening,
Lance was either dead or dying. Served the idiot
right for thinking he could defeat
him
. It had been close, but what
those losers needed to remember was that he always had a backup plan and backup
plans for his backup plans. The rogue wizards thought he was stupid when he’d
told them to place piles of silver around the base of the mountain. Guess he
had shown them. Fate had favor upon him for a moment and Lance, the dope, was
sporting a broadsword through the chest. He would gloat when they were all back
together. There would be fewer of them, and he should feel bad about that, but
all of this was about getting his revenge and not about how many ‘followers’ he
could amass. Like the old saying goes, ‘You
gotta
break a few eggs…’ He was sure that many had been killed either by ‘The
Auctioneer’s’ incompetence, or the useless Guardsmen, not to mention the
werepanthers
he’d seen chasing them through the woods.
Getting Kyra back was definitely on his To-Do list also, but that would have to
wait until he was able to regroup and see where he stood with personnel and
supplies. He was alive, and able to fight another day. Although running through
the woods was less than dignified, he’d avoided capture. Put a big
ol
’ mark in the win column.

He was no more than a half a mile from his
hidden vehicle when the sounds of human feet being followed by much larger,
much heavier paws, reached his ears. Turning his head, he caught sight of one
of the rogue wizards John had introduced him to running for his life. One
minute he was up, and the next he was taken down by a large caramel colored
panther. The Big Cat was trying to detain the man, but teeth and claws combined
with a scared shitless wizard, was heading towards disaster for the
practitioner. Andrew sped towards the SUV expertly hidden by branches and
vines, thankful he hadn’t been the
werepanther’s
prey. When he was safely behind the wheel and careening down the unused,
single-lane gravel road, he texted his second,
Returning to base.
After
several long minutes of wondering if the rogue wizard had survived, his phone
vibrated on the seat next to him,
Assessing
the damage. See you tonight.

He would have liked to have been there to see
how many of their flock had survived, but with the sun rising, and the only
amulets left were the ones he had hidden, there was no way he could risk being
caught. John was competent. He would simply have to trust that the man did his
job. If not, Andrew would return to the original plan and kill him as soon as
he had Kyra back in his possession.