Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Ride the Wave: Chapter 34

A surge of hope renewed my energy and Jasin and I fought back the shades until the elementals joined the fray. Our new allies struck down the shades with ease, along with many of the Black Dragon’s soldiers who weren’t prepared to battle such things. Our soldiers shied away at first, hesitant about the elementals, but then rallied when they realized they were on our side.

Once I was sure the elementals had it under control, I touched Jasin’s neck to get his attention. “To the Spirit Temple!”

He let out a roar in response and spread his wings, lifting us over the battlefield to fly toward the shimmering building ahead of us. The other Dragons were still fighting, and elemental attacks flashed through the air, but we rushed past all of them. As we approached the temple, I saw the entrance was sealed with stone, and there seemed no other way inside. With my earth magic I blasted the barrier apart, sending rocks flying, and Jasin dove for the hole I’d made.

Another dragon let out a shriek and a tornado suddenly slammed into Jasin, knocking me off his back. I flew through the air in a daze, trying to breathe, scrambling to grab hold of something. Then my training kicked in and I gathered the air around me, stopping my fall and lifting me higher into the sky.

As I hovered there, a dark green dragon flew toward me. I leaped onto Slade’s back, and he sped toward the temple. With his great size he was slower than Jasin, but we managed to fly through the entrance and come to a halt inside.

Jasin and Isen were right at our heels, both of them crashing into the floor with heavy thuds that sent cracks through the marble. Isen was up first, his lithe golden body twisting to attack Jasin with his claws, but Slade blocked him with his own larger frame. My Emerald Dragon let out a deep roar that made the entire temple tremble, and the marble below us split open down a line from him to Isen. The other dragon leaped into the air to avoid the attack, before throwing a lightning bolt at Slade.

Slade shifted back into a human, decreasing his size instantly, and rolled out of the way—a trick we’d learned from Doran. He yanked his axe off his back and charged forward with a shout, his eyes wild. Isen knocked Slade back with his tail, but then Jasin tackled him, tearing into his side with his claws. I trapped Isen’s front and back legs with earth magic, forming stone around them so that he was unable to move. He struggled against me and I added ice, making it creep up his body, but he was so strong I knew I couldn’t hold him for long.

“Now, Slade!” I yelled.

Slade’s axe flashed with a glow the color of fresh leaves before he swung it at Isen’s chest. The Golden Dragon let out a piercing shriek as the blade cut through his scales, fueled by Slade’s own magic. Isen thrashed and fought with everything he had, blasting us with lightning and wind that sent us flying back, but we didn’t stop.

Where the axe touched Isen, stone began to form. Dark gray slate quickly spread across his body, covering the golden scales, while his ear-piercing howls continued. When the stone covered his face, the Golden Dragon finally went silent.

Slade yanked his axe from Isen’s chest. As soon as it was removed the dragon’s body broke apart, crumbling into hundreds of pieces of rubble at our feet.

A soul-rending scream filled our ears from outside the Spirit Temple, so loud and horrifying it could only be from the Black Dragon herself. She’d sensed her mate had died, and although I empathized with how much pain and suffering she must be going through, I didn’t feel bad for what we’d done.

As if responding to her screams, the temple walls on every side of us suddenly burst apart in a spray of stone and dust. It covered us, blinded us, and filled our lungs. When I could see again, I realized she’d torn open the temple’s walls, leaving only the roof and the columns holding it up. What had once been a beautiful building was now little more than ruins, which looked as though they might collapse at any moment. Gods, the Black Dragon was powerful. Too powerful, even now with one of her mates gone.

Now that the temple was open to the world on every side, I could see the other Dragons fighting under the hazy sky. Sark and Reven shot fire and ice at each other, both moving so quickly they were little more than a blur. The Black Dragon tossed my father aside, causing him to hit the rocky mountain behind the temple, where he fell and crashed into the stream below. She then soared back into the thick of the battle, grabbing more of our soldiers in her talons to drain their lives. We had to stop her quickly.

A huge green dragon slammed against the floor of the temple in front of me, his wings spread so wide it blocked out everything else. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done,” Heldor growled.

He snapped at me with his fangs, but then Auric was there, yanking me out of the way with his air magic. He blocked me with his golden body and faced Heldor down, while Jasin and Slade moved in from either side. Four huge dragons ready to fight, and me standing in the middle of them.

“Go,” Auric told me. “Help Reven. We’ve got this one.”

I sheathed my sword and ran out of the temple, or what was left of it anyway. As the plains below me came into a view, I stared at the destruction before me, the revulsion from so much death nearly overpowering my senses. It was against everything my life magic stood for, and it took all my power not to run away. The Black Dragon fed on death and misery, eating the darkness and becoming stronger. It was time to take away more of her powers and end this nightmare forever.