Thane
“The head, Hendrix, the head!”
My brother nods before jumping and landing on the Trolls’ shoulders. The vile creature roars, swinging its arms and failing to reach Hendrix. With one arm wrapped around the Trolls forehead, Hendrix plunges his claws into its eyes. The Troll screams; its jaw drops, and I sever its head with the ax I took from Demon after I killed him. The Trolls body falls to the ground, and Hendrix lands on his back paws in front of me.
The best thing about being a Lycan is that you can take the form of a wolf or that of a beast. It certainly makes fighting easier.
Hendrix tips his head before darting off to help Blaze with his Troll problem. Two wolves, not even half my size, jump on me, but they stand no chance. I’ve torn them apart before they know what hit them.
I look around the battlefield. Too many are dead, but the enemy seems to be growing. It’s as though they’re multiplying. Kill one, and three take their place.
My brothers and cousins move with the speed of light, killing and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake. I turn my head, and Brody’s fifteen-foot Bear, Kota, slays anything within his reach, and he has a long arm. He doesn’t need my help, even with ten or so rabid werewolves pouncing on him.
Xale is fighting Witches and Demons in his human form. He deflects spells and throws them back at those who cast them.
I jump back into the fight, hacking and chewing on those who get near. I howl when a Goblin jumps on my back, sinking his claws into my flesh. Fuc.king vile little bas.tard!
“Mine, mine, mine to kill.” The Goblin laughs, though he is not laughing for long.
I stretch my arm back and grab his neck. Goblin screams when I pull him close to my face. “Mine, mine, mine to…” I laugh sarcastically, throwing his taunting words back at him. “Tear apart.” With his head in one hand and his legs in the other, I rip the little green bas.tard in half. Green goo, Goblin blood, splatters across my face. I snarl and throw his body parts across the field.
The fighting continues, trees burn, and smoke rises. My warriors fight valiantly, but I can see how tired they are becoming.
‘Keep going!’ I yell through the pack link. ‘Don’t give up. Don’t let these motherfuc.kers take us with ease!’ Growls of agreement fill my ears.
A whimper to the left draws my attention; it’s familiar and filled with pain. I race to the left, killing a Witch as I go. There beneath a tree that isn’t burning lies Amelia. No! She’s naked, having transformed back to her human side. Blood pours from a gaping wound in her chest. Slashes across her stomach tell me she was attacked by something much stronger than she.
Amelia is one of our best warriors, but it wasn’t enough. Fu.ck!
‘Let me take over for a moment.’
It’s not wise, but I allow Thane to take over, transforming into his human side. Thane gets to his knees beside Amelia. She coughs up blood while looking at us.
“Amelia. Fu.ck! We need to get you out of here.”
‘How do you intend to do that, Thane? It might have escaped your notice, but we’re in the middle of a fuc.king war zone!’
‘Shut up, Jagger! Now isn’t the fuc.king time for you to be an as.shole!’
I growl, fighting the urge to shift. Sadly, Amelia is hurt, but there is no time for sentimentality. We must keep our wits about us. Yes, Amelia will more than likely die, but that’s what happens during battle. People die; we lose loved ones and friends, but we can grieve once the fight is over.
“Th-Thane,” Amelia grabs Thane’s hand. She is in so much pain that she can barely catch her breath. Her dark eyes flit from looking at the sky to Thane. “It’s t-to la-late for me.”
“No, no! I’ll get help.” Thane looks around frantically, searching for someone to help. But there is no one; everyone is engaged in their own fight.
“Ple-Please listen t-to me. This w-was al-always going t-to be-be my end. A wa-warriors death.”
“No, Amelia, you have to keep fighting. Why the fu.ck aren’t you healing!?”
“P-Poison. Fairy poison. I-it’s too la-late for m-me, Thane. D-Don’t g-give up fi-fighting. P-Please, take c-care of my-my ba-babies. Tell th-them I lo-love them. Tell-Ta-Taylen to sta-stay in the li-light.”
Amelia takes a shuddering breath while looking at the sky.
“It’s beau-beautiful. The Mo-Moon Goddess is-is waiting f-for me. Tha-Thank you, Thane, for ev-everything. I-” She looks at Thane. “I am pr-proud to ca-call you m-my King, my fr-friend.” Amelia leaves this world for the next with one last smile and her last breath. Thane sobs a little while kissing her forehead. The pain of her passing rips through the pack bond and my heart.
“Thank you, Amelia. May you rest with the Moon Goddess and Mighty Fenrir.” Thane steps back and allows me to take over once more.
Killing is second nature to me. But by the Gods, it’s never-ending. Attacks come from all sides. I roar as spells hit my body, almost taking me down. Blood pours from wounds I hadn’t realized I’d got until the pain suddenly hit me. Fu.ck!
“What’s wrong, mutt?” A warlock mocks.
“Looks like he’s in pain.” Another laughs.
Pain is my fuel; it spurs me on. These fuc.kers won’t get away with their lives. Suddenly, I’m surrounded by Demons, Warlocks, and Witches. I sigh because I know this isn’t going to be easy.
‘We have to get out of this, Jagger. We need to find Lyric; something doesn’t feel right!
‘We’ll find her, Thane. But right now, we need to concentrate on the task at hand. Only then can we get to Lyric!
Thane sighs in my head, but he knows I’m right.
Dammit, we aren’t getting out of this unscathed. Spells fly toward me, and Demons flash past me too fast for me to keep up. Hits land all over my body. I get a few in myself, slamming my claws into the nearest Demon. He screams and combusts into dust. I chuckle; inwardly because movies would have you believe that only happens to Vampires. Vampires don’t turn into dust when you stake them through the heart. Bast.ards don’t even die; they simply fall into a death-like sleep until the stake is removed. Once it is, they wake up, feed, and become even stronger.
A spell hits me in the chest, causing slash marks to appear. The attack throws me back with force. I dig my claws into the ground, skidding backward on my feet. I lift my head just as blue fire rains down on my would-be assassins. A smirk rides my lips as screeching fills the air.
I look to the sky. Dozens of Dragons of all colors fly through the sky, breathing fire that reaches no one but the enemy. I don’t know how they’re doing it, but I am awed.
Then I see him, Xale, Dragon King, son of Leviathan, gigantic, midnight blue with a red underbelly, swooping down. His wing span is humungous and spans the length of the battlefield, casting a shadow over all still alive. Many stop fighting and look up at the Dragon King, mouths agape as the Demi-God cleans house.
‘Hot damn, I’ve never seen anything like this.’
‘Me either, Thane. But look over there.’
On the right side of the field, Aidan mesmerizes Witches and Warlocks into killing one another. Smart. I should have known he wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty.
‘Little unfair, don’t you think? The man is covered in blood.’
Thane is right, of course. But I don’t reply.
I look to the left of the field to see Brody’s Bear trampling Goblins as if they were mere bugs beneath his feet. Tristan’s Lycan is tearing into Fairies left and right. Hendrix, Ace, and Locke, Blaise’s Lycan, are tearing into the last of the Trolls. Dad, Vic, Uncle James’ Lycan, and a few others, including Luke, are tackling the Demons. I don’t see Harmony anywhere, but I know she’s out there doing her bit.
My eyes land on Ivan. My sister’s mate is struggling with an Oni. The little red bas.tard has brought Ivan to his knees while it feasts upon his shoulder from behind. Oni’s are disgusting cannibalistic creatures who have no other urge than to kill.
“Fu.ck!”
I charge over there, hoping to get to Ivan before it’s too late, but I know I won’t. If my sister loses her mate, we could lose her. I cannot lose another sister!
I tear the Oni away from Ivan, who drops face forward onto the ground. I don’t have time to check on my brother-in-law; the Oni’s eyes are trained on me. It charges toward me. I leap in the air, jumping over its head and landing on the other side of him. Angrily, the Oni turns to me, claws out, razor-sharp teeth bared, and ready to kill.
‘Jagger!’ Shade calls my name, but I don’t answer. I don’t take my eyes off the creature in front of me.
It moves toward me, but a jet-black Dragon swoops down out of nowhere and literally eats the Oni. The Dragon tips his head back and swallows the still-screaming Oni. The Dragon then looks at me, and my eyes widen.
“Ricon?”
“At your service.”
Like Lycans, Dragons can speak in shifted form. Xale’s eldest son tips his head before taking flight once again. The Prince of Dragons might just be as sick as me.
‘We need to find Lyric! Thane mumbles. ‘I mean it, Jagger. Something is very wrong; I can feel Lyric’s fear and panic through our bond.’
He’s not the only one. I hadn’t concentrated on anything other than the fight. But now we’re winning; the opposition has lost more than we have. Okay, having the Dragons helped boost our status. Without them, I don’t know if we would have come close to winning. But not once have I seen Astro through all of this. Though I’m not surprised, the coward would hide and wait for the right time to pounce.
‘Jagger, where are you?’
‘Hendrix. I’m near the east side. Ivan is seriously wounded. Get someone over here to help, now!’
‘Fu.ck! We’re on our way.
“Lyric, no!” Someone screams, pulling my attention to the north of the field. Lyric stands before Astro, his hand held out to my mate, hers reaching to take it. Over my dead body!
“Lyric, don’t you dare take his hand!”