Page 39 of Shadows of Light
She barely felt the chunks of earth and debris flying up to pepper her flesh as she leaned low over Alina’s neck. Her apprehension vanished as a sense of strength flooded her. She was one with these powerful creatures, and she loved it.
As Alina banked to circle back, shadows enveloped a wendigo who had survived the fires. The shadow swiftly wrapped around the wendigo’s neck and squeezed until the creature’s head popped off like the top of a dandelion.
Lexi’s heart lurched as she searched the area, but she couldn’t see him amidst the flames, shadows, and bodies littering the ground. That didn’t mean he wasn’t there.
He could have sent the shadows ahead of him and would be arriving soon—because he would most definitely come—or he could be cloaking himself in shadows to remain hidden. But what would keep the dragons from accidentally killing him if she couldn’t see him and neither could the others?
A lump lodged in her throat as her heart raced. She wanted to jump off Alina, run onto the field, and scream for him.
She remained where she was. Doing something that foolish was a good way to get herself, and anyone trying to protect her, killed.
Though everything in her screamed to go to him, she turned away from the shadows. Cole was good at taking care of himself, and he would have to do that… if he was down there.
When Alina swooped low over the battlefield again, her next blast of fire eradicated the last of the wendigos. Maverick and her father took down a lycan and berserker while Brokk, Orin, and the guards destroyed what remained of the army trying to invade their home.
“Take me down,” Lexi commanded.
Alina dropped from the sky and settled gracefully on the ground. Lexi stroked Alina’s neck and thanked her as the dragon lowered her head for her to scramble off.
Ignoring the fresh bodies strewn across the earth, Lexi strode across the bloody ground, through the still raging fires, and on toward the portal once leading to Drumbledon. Shadows shifted around her, and some rose to her fingers before abruptly pulling away.
Fire crackled around her as she stopped before the open portal. The wind its flames created billowed around her and caused her hair to sway around her face. She felt its heat, but it didn’t bother or burn her.
With a wave of her hand, she permanently closed the portal. The ones who planned this whole thing might still be on the other side; she could send guards after them, but they didn’t have enough guards for that, and she would only be putting the ones who remained at risk.
Besides, the immortals behind this could already be dead. She never believed she’d hope for someone’s death, but she hoped for theirs. It meant one less enemy out there.
Lexi glanced at the other open portals; some led to realms that were also no longer inhabited. She shut them down too.
If any of those immortals decided to rebuild their realms, she would reopen the portals. Until then, they were a danger to her and everyone else in this realm.
From now on, anyone who entered Dragonia must come through an intact realm. She’d have to rely on the immortals from that realm trying, and succeeding, in giving them some warning about an impending attack.
There was no guarantee that could or would happen, but it was something. Plus, with fewer options for portals, there was less chance of a mass invasion from different realms, like the one they unleashed on the Lord, happening.
She contemplated shutting them all down and only leaving one open, but it would have to be the one in the human realm, as many of the different immortal species didn’t like each other. It could cause fights if they were forced to go through an inhabited realm to enter Dragonia.
However, she didn’t want them all going to the human realm either. The mortals had been through enough without having a possible horde of invaders funneled into their realm.
For now, she could only hope no one would be stupid enough to invade an occupied realm before coming for her. They risked more than her wrath if they did.
Lexi turned away from the portals and strode back through the flames. None of the shadows reached for her this time; she looked for Cole but didn’t see him or any unusually shifting shadows.
With a sinking heart, she realized he’d either left already or retreated, taking the shadows with him. She searched the mountainsides but didn’t sense him anywhere.
Carefully, she stepped over a wendigo’s body before joining the others. Some guards were already tossing dead bodies onto the fires before they died. Lexi would have to ensure a couple of dragons kept the fires going until only ashes remained.
“How many did we lose?” she asked tiredly.
“Two,” her dad replied.
Lexi realized the fire had burned away all her clothes when Maverick pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. She barely acknowledged her nudity as she tugged it on.
When she finished, she turned to Joffrey, a lycan from Maverick’s pack and the head guard on duty tonight. “I’ll send more to help clean this up and stand watch with you for the rest of the night. I’ve shut down the portals leading to uninhabited realms, so hopefully, this won’t happen again.”
“We will be ready if there is another attack,” he vowed.
“Do any of the enemy still live?”
