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Chapter Five
Part Nine

Ebona carried her into the clearing where Daniel was fighting,‭ ‬coming to a halt near him.‭ Seeing his opponent, Mela realized she would have recognized him even if the situation hadn’t made his identity obvious. ‬Aunt Lori had been quite taken with the water warrior before his fall, much to Mela’s mother’s disgust. She’d described his long blonde hair, tall, slim frame and sapphire eyes to the clan several times.

“There’s a dragon on our tail!” Ebona’s words broke Mela’s reverie.

“Darya called Talira for back up?” Kyle said. “You must have impressed him, unicorn.”

Daniel scowled at Kyle and then stared back the way they’d come from with an intense expression.

Kyle took advantage of his distraction and swung the blades of his weapon at him.

‭“Daniel! Look out!” Ebona cried a warning, but too late for Daniel to avoid the blow. He gave a muted cry as he was knocked to the ground. Kyle struck at him again but this time he managed to roll out of the way, blood seeping from his back.

Daniel regained his feet and turned his back to Ebona.‭ “‬Eb,‭ ‬watch for the dragon and Mela’s cousin.‭”

From her seat on Ebona’s back Mela could see he was trembling with effort as Ebona circled around to face the way they’d come.

“You know, Dark Warrior,” Kyle said in a reasonable tone. “If you just give us the mergirl we’ll leave. I don’t think you’ll be able to stand up for much longer, let alone fight.”

Daniel raised his spear and lunged at Kyle,‭ ‬who dodged just a fraction too slowly.‭ ‬The spear point pierced his sword arm,‭ ‬and he screamed as Daniel twisted the spear and yanked it out,‭ ‬bringing a chunk of flesh with it.‭ ‬Kyle dropped to his knees,‭ ‬clutching at the spurting wound.

‭“Then I guess I’ll just have to finish you before I collapse.” Daniel thrust the spear at Kyle’s heart.

The spear stopped mid-thrust as Darya leapt in from above and grabbed the spear.‭ ‬The dragon from earlier landed in the clearing as the merman swung the spear shaft violently,‭ ‬sending Daniel smashing into a tree and leaving Darya holding the spear.

Darya looked at the spear in his hand‭  ‬in mock surprise.‭ ‬“Oh,‭ ‬does this belong to you,‭ ‬Dark Warrior‭? ‬Allow me to return it.‭” ‬He thrust the weapon through his shoulder,‭ ‬embedding the point into the tree.‭ ‬Darya smirked as Daniel screamed in pain.‭ “‬That’s for what you did to my mother.‭”

Ebona reared,‭ ‬screaming,‭ ‬and Mela was thrown from her back as the unicorn galloped towards Darya,‭ ‬horn lowered to run him through.‭ ‬There was a brilliant flash of blue light as the dragon appeared between them,‭ ‬once again in human form.‭ ‬Ebona was forced to come to a halt and shield herself as the dragon shot a stream of blue flame at her.

“Careful, Talira,” Kyle said. “Ystelyan-miran wants to make sure his message gets back to the dragon lord. That’s not likely if you kill the messenger.”

“I know.” Her jade green eyes sparkled with amusement. “But the unicorn was about to impale Darya. What was I supposed-” she broke off with a cry as a wave of darkness hit her from behind and pivoted to face Daniel. Somehow,‭ ‬he had pulled himself together enough to attack her.‭ “‬You’re insane,‭ ‬Dark Warrior.‭ ‬Can’t you tell when you’re defeated‭?”

Daniel’s only response was another,‭ ‬stronger bolt.‭ ‬Talira threw up a shield,‭ ‬but the darkness broke through and she was blasted backwards.‭ ‬When she picked herself up,‭ ‬Mela could see azure blood seeping from several cuts. The sensation of hunger the dragon was giving off became sharper and harsher, and all the amusement drained from her face to be replaced by shock and something deadly.

Claws erupted from her fingers and she stalked towards Daniel. Kyle took up position between them – obviously intent on keeping her away from his opponent. Talira made a curt gesture with her hand and he was swept gently to one side. “Keep out of my way, Kyle. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Talira?” Darya grabbed her from behind. She shook him off but he grabbed her again. “Talira, don’t! If you feed here you won’t be able to stop and Ystelyan doesn’t want him dead – let alone the whole of Waldhafen. Get a grip!”

“I…” Talira  paused and shuddered. He let her go slowly and she swayed and grabbed onto a tree for support. She turned to look at him and Mela recoiled from the desperate hunger in her eyes.

“You can do this, Tal.” Darya reached out and squeezed her hands.

She shook her head. “No, I can’t. Ystelyan-miran should have sent someone stronger.” She pulled her still clawed hands from his and clenched them so tightly that blood leaked between her fingers. “Can you two finish this without me? I am so hungry. I can’t hold on much longer.”

“Go!” ‭ Kyle ‬had his hand clapped over his own wound,‭ ‬which seemed to have miraculously stopped bleeding already. “We’ll be fine.”

“Thank you!”  She vanished in another blue flash.

“What just happened?” Daniel asked.

Kyle gave him a contemptuous look. “You just nearly killed everyone within ten miles is what happened. You’re lucky Talira has more self-control than most dragons.” He turned back to his heart friend. “Grab your cousin, Darya,” Kyle said. “And let’s get out of here.”

Mela whimpered and began to back away as Ebona moved to block Darya from reaching her.

“Mela!” Daniel tugged on the spear with his free hand, trying to dislodge it from his shoulder but failing. “Stop him, Eb!” He dropped his hand from the spear and threw another bolt at Darya, sending her cousin sprawling.

Darya started to pull himself to his feet, only to be kicked in the chest by Ebona’s hooves and sent flying again.

“Darya!”  Kyle ran over and dropped to his knees by him. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll live,” Darya said. “But these two are stubborn. The Dark Warrior should have passed out already.”

“I noticed,” Kyle said sourly. “I think he’s abusing his secondary life affinity to stay conscious.” He ducked as another bolt of darkness flew over his head.

Mela took advantage of their distraction to run over to Daniel and start tugging on the spear, trying to free him.

“Mela, you should run.” Daniel looked up at her with pain filled eyes.

“They’d only catch up with me,” she said. “I’m safer with you.”

Daniel was quiet for a moment and Mela thought he‘d passed out, but then he looked up at her again. “You’re right.” He grabbed her hand with his good one as Ebona stood between them and the traitors.  “Don’t let go.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes at‭ ‬him and muttered something under his breath before turning his attention back to Darya.

“Can you still fight?” he asked.

Darya shook his head. “Not well enough to drag her away from him.”

“That’s what I was afraid you’d say. We’d better abort to the secondary objective.” For just a moment Kyle seemed to blur and become transparent, as if he were actually made of water. Then there was another blue flash and he appeared in front of her and roughly ripped the Seeker’s pendant from her neck. “We’ll be back to get you soon, Melusine,” he said and then he and Darya vanished.

Mela sank to her knees by Daniel and began trying to pull the spear loose again.

Daniel looked up at Ebona. “Keep watch in case they come back. I don’t trust this retreat.” He passed out.

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