Chapter 80

As the elves' robed backs disappear from sight, I turn back to peer at Xavier and Arden.

"Does this mean that the earth storms are over for good?" Arden asks, breaking the silence, her voice hesitant in a way I've never heard it before.

I worry on my bottom lip, turning to peek over the side of the mountain where another stray boulder from the dragon's exploding appearance tumbles over itself to the forest floor below, "I believe so."

"Any more horrifying acid- spewing monsters hiding out down there we should know about?" Xavier asks with his usual ill- humored grimace, "Or was there just the one?"

A huff of laughter creeps up my throat as I peer up at my surly friend, "That was the only one as far as I can tell."

"That's something I guess," he grumbles and the sound of Arden's quiet laughter joins in with mine. Our short moment of relief is cut off by the sound of a blood chilling roar. It's a wild, murderous sound that rumbles its way up from our previous meeting place and sends a warning shiver up my spine. My guards curse colorfully under their breaths and without another word the three of us take off down the side of the mountain. They keep pace with me, sticking close to my side, both of them on high alert.

We come across Lucia first. She's standing at the edge of where the fighting had taken place. Her fingers still spark with the remnants of her light magic and there's a wafting, lingering scent of something burning that scorches at the back of my throat.

Piles of rocks and blood linger around what had previously been a clearing in the trees where they hadn't been before. The earth now stained in rusty pools and smears of red. She tenses at the sound of our approach but when she turns over her shoulder, her eyes latching onto my face, relief flashes over her golden features.

"Thank the gods," she exhales heavily, pulling me into a quick, tight embrace.

"Are you alright?" I ask my sister on a shaking breath. I pull back just far enough to glance over her, searching for signs of injury in the same blatant way she's scanning me.

Lucia nods, "No one was expecting the dragon to explode from the mountain the way that it did. A good portion of the Unseelie were caught in the cross- fire."

Arden whistles low under her breath.

"And what about the Seelie?" Xavier asks, looking around pointedly. The place where the Seelie had been engaged in fighting with the shifters before is now littered with bodies. A group of shifters stand away from the surrounding destruction, weapons pointed at a handful of disarmed fae.

"The remaining Seelie fled when the dragon snatched up their king in its jaws. It had him in its jaws when it flew away," Lucia's voice is utterly calm. Like she's talking about the weather.

I can feel the way my eyes bulge as I gape up at my sister, my lips parting in breathless shock as I try to process what she's just said.

"YouDid you say that the dragon*took* father?"

Lucia's face is void of emotion as she nods. Distantly, I notice Xavier and Arden sharing a look that I'm shocked enough to not know how to interpret.

Another murderous, deafening roar pierces through the clearing. From this distance, it's loud enough that the sound reverberates through my bones, shaking me from the inside out. There's a deeper, primal part of me that innately recognizes that noise.

An unsettled look overtakes Lucia's previously emotionless face, "You probably ought to go see to that," she says with a wince, "And be careful, Lily."

I know where to go without needing to ask. Like following the warmth and light of a candle in a dark room, a part of me just *knows*. Can sense where Damion is without seeing him.

"Thank the gods," Leif says when he catches sight of me, as we approach. His jaw locked with tension, "I'd just sent out a few soldiers to go find you."

"What's happening?" I ask, panic thrumming through me, "Is Damion alright?"

Leif makes an inelegant grunt in the back of his throat, "Lothbrook is fine. It's *everyone else* that I'm concerned about."

He gestures behind him with his thumb and I peer around his thin frame to see what he's pointing to. I crane my neck to peer around the loosely circled group of shifter soldiers that stand back, watching on grimly. At their center, stands the familiar sight of Damion's broad back. A pile of Unseelie bodies lay at his feet, a group of other fae cower a few paces off staring in horror as Damion holds the Unseelie King strung up by his neck up against the side of tree.

*Oh, gods*.

"Usually one of us can reach him," Leif explains in a low grim voice, "But unfortunately between his berserker making an appearance and the frenzy, he's too far gone. We're out of options. Except-" he levels me with a pointed look.

"You think I can do something to help?" I ask. My heart pumps in a hard disjointed rhythm.

"If there's a chance someone's going to be able to reach him, it's going to be you. Time to go work your magic, Princess," he gives me a soft nudge forward.

"Are you sure it's safe for her to be doing that?" Arden hisses under her breath.

I blink over my shoulder at her, "I'll fine," I try to reassure her, "He won't hurt me." I know that deep down in my bones. If there's anything I'm sure of, it's *that*. My eyes flicker to the scattered crowd of soldiers looking on with concern, "But maybe you should see about getting everyone else out of here?"

Leif dips his head in a knowing nod, "Of course."

I don't wait to see what he does next. I turn my focus back to where Damion's berserker has the Unseelie King plastered to the tree with a single hand, the muscles in his back bunched up in a stony wall that stands preternaturally still. The berserker doesn't flinch as the unseelie swings kick after kick out at him. Damion doesn't shift his steady grip, it doesn't even look like he's breathing.

I step forward with slow deliberate footsteps, letting him hear me coming, not wanting to startle him.

"Damion?" I call out to him gently, the rest of the world disappearing as my focus narrows in on him.

The berserker's stony stance tenses at the sound of my voice. And his head swings in my direction