Page 2 of Dragon Kissed

Benedikte —

Cold fury flooded every corner of Demetri’s mind in a single violent surge, drowning reason beneath an ancient command older than memory itself.

Kill.

He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t try to evade the dragon’s outstretched talons. With every ounce of speed he possessed, he rolled and met the attack with one of his own. He surged forward, closed the distance, and sank his own razor-sharp claws into the dragon’s soft underbelly and wrenched just as Benedikte scored four long furrows across Demetri’s chest. Blood bathed both dragons in equal measure.

Teeth snapped at his neck, just missing his jugular. Claws found new purchase and dug for the joint of his wing. Demetri closed his mind to the searing pain, intent on destroying the enemy.

They broke apart, only to charge again. Demetri drew in a breath and released searing hot fire at the dragon’s head.

Benedikte countered, seized the sea with his own magic, wrenching up a forty-foot column of water. A heartbeat before it struck, the torrent hardened into paper-thin sheets of ice, extinguishing the inferno before the frozen torrent struck and carving into Demetri with a thousand crystalline blades.

There was no time to properly heal, no time to stop the blood loss. He focused, instead, on reaching for the storm. The clouds responded as if awaiting his call. He pulled their energy down through himself until the sky split in a white branching crack, a bolt of lightning directed straight for Benedikte’s heart.

There could be no holding back; no second guessing. Benedikte was under a kill order, sentenced to death by the king himself. Before going mad, before losing control of his dragon, Benedikte had been the oldest, most powerful hunter his kind had ever seen. Taking down a rogue was never easy and usually required more than one hunter. Demetri was fast—the fastest of his line, but defeating one such as Benedikte?—

The blue dragon shifted just before the bolt of lightning could hit where Demetri aimed it, blasting his wing instead. Benedikte snarled with rage and pain but refused to go down.

Both injured, they circled one another warily. Demetri knew better than to underestimate the blue dragon.

You were once a great hunter,he telepathically spoke to the older dragon for the first time,and I am truly sorry for your loss, but you cannot kill innocent humans. It is our law. For that crime, you have been sentenced to die.

Benedikte growled,I have dispensed justice only to the guilty! None were innocent!

Demetri paused. Every creature in the Secret Kingdoms knew the story of Benedikte's grief. He should not have survived the loss of his mate. Only a handful ever had. Human hunters had murdered her and their child and left him for dead. Their king had ordered Benedikte’s execution within days of the loss, once it was plain the grief stricken dragon had gone mad — an indiscriminate killer without mercy, without remorse. Judging by the six dead humans on the yacht, the blue dragon was still rampaging. And very, very dangerous.

Demetri was an ancient hunter. It was his duty to protect those in his care. He could not allow Benedikte to continue, no matter his claim, or how tragic his circumstance.The king sent his best trackers—yet you refused to listen. Refused to wait. Your grief was such that you were not thinking rationally, andin that hour, you took innocent lives, human and dragon. For that, you have been sentenced.

The king’s trackers were wrong. I was there! I cannot forget the foul stench of the human hunters, even now! A few I managed to kill, the rest I tracked, one by one. King Ryker refused to listen when I told him there were dragons involved. He was a fool; couldn’t believe our own kind would betray us.

Demetri sighed. He’d heard the story, although told differently. Benedikte had ranted and raged. Accused good dragons of being in league with human hunters. It was a sad tale. None of that mattered now. The king had spoken. Judgment passed. Orders given.

And as powerful as he was, there was only one way he stood a chance of taking down Benedikte. There was a reason the blue dragon had survived this long when so many dragons hunted him. His power and skill were legendary. So be it.I do not know why you have come seeking justice today, after avoiding it for so long,but you have come to the right dragon. You will not leave here alive.

You and your brothers are truly formidable hunters, Demetri. Some of the best I’ve ever seen. Still, I do not think you can defeat me.Perhaps you should call them for help.The last was no doubt a taunt designed to make Demetri lose his temper.

He laughed instead and bared his teeth— both challenge and warning.I have no need of my brothers to dispense justice to one such as you. You stall, try to anger me to give yourself time to heal. It is the trick of an old, tired dragon who sees death coming for him.

Before he finished the last thought, Demetri pulled every ounce of magic his dragon could summon and charged the blue dragon before Benedikte had time to react. He sank his talons deep into flesh wherever he could gain purchase and held on.

Benedikte tried to free himself. He clawed and bit at Demetri, tried to force him to release his death grip, but Demetri held on.

He opened his giant maw and sank his sharp teeth deep into Benedikte’s good shoulder, disabling the wing. The other was still too damaged from the blast of fire to keep the weight of both dragons in the air.

Unable to fly, they began to freefall out of the sky. Demetri held firm with grim determination.

Let go, hunter, before we both bleed out,Benedikte snarled.

Demetri tightened his hold, braced for impact.

They crashed into the sea with the force of a meteor. The ocean exploded around them, a towering pillar of white spray blasting skyward as though the sea itself had been torn open. For one impossible heartbeat, water and dragons disappeared inside a roaring mountain of foam.

Then the sea closed over them.

The impact stunned Demetri, driving the breath from his lungs. Bones snapped. Agony lanced through his ribs and shoulders, but he refused to loosen his grip. Benedikte convulsed beneath him, having taken the brunt of the crash, thrashing with all the desperate strength of a dragon who suddenly realized he could die.

Good.