The wolves had descended upon him immediately. Carter had to think fast. He had been able to regenerate his breath weapon fast enough to take out about half of the wolves, but the other half were just vicious and furious. They wanted to take him out. And they were smart too. They were regular wolf shifters. They were powered by something entirely different. They were like hybrids themselves, but hybrids of something unholy that Carter had never even conceived possible.
One of them seemed to be leading the others, and there was an attack on Carter’s extremities that was difficult for him to shake off. There were so many of them. So many teeth and claws. So much pain. Carter was overwhelmed by the severity of the attacks. There were a lot of little wounds. But all at once. It was like he was being eaten alive. Even with half of the wolves out of commission, the other half were very easily sinking their teeth into him. It was a small room and he was a large target. He had to try harder. Fight harder. Fight for Amy.
Almost as if on cue, a sound echoed through the chambers that sent Carter’s heart into a frenzy. There was Amy. Her voice. Unmistakable. And calling for him.
Has she been able to sense his presence there? Or did she simply need him? She was in pain. She was afraid. And Carter couldn’t stand here and deal with these wolves any longer. He had to go to her. He had to go immediately. She was in trouble.
Carter let out a ferocious roar that made the wolves stand still in place and gaze at him as if he were some kind of a monster. It was clear they were afraid, and Carter doubled his efforts and fought to tear each of them away from his body. They bounced back like rubber balls, and quickly stepped back to his body with their ferocious teeth. The pain felt like nothing now. Nothing compared to his urgent desire to rescue Amy.
Carter unleashed a burst of energy, and his breath weapon fired once again, finally taking out the rest of the wolves. Well, all but one, but it was cowering in the corner, its fur nearly singed off entirely. Carter stared at it menacingly, daring it to come at him for another attack, but the wolf looked away and scampered off with his tail between his legs. Carter would have grinned if he wasn’t in a hurry. Good.
He began to try to make his way frantically throughout the tunnels in an effort to find wherever it was that Amy was being held. Every once in a while, one of the ugly guards would show up and try to fight Carter away, but they were no use against him in his dragon form. He blew them away easily, or snapped them with his teeth. They would never keep him from finding Amy. He was on a mission and there was no stopping him now.
A sudden cry of pain echoed through the corridors and Carter froze, his heart nearly shattered. Amy was hurting. And she was nearby. He searched the area with his eyes and sought out the doorway that was nearly concealed by a painting of one of the most notorious monsters in the universe. He called himself King Wayne. But really, he was a coward. A real coward. If Amy was dealing with him, then there was definitely no way that she was going to survive if Carter didn’t get there soon.
“Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you,” King Wayne said when Carter burst through the doorway. Amy’s eyes settled upon him, at first wide with disbelief and confusion, and then Carter met her eyes and they softened into understanding. She knew. She knew that it was him. She knew that he was there to protect her. And suddenly, all the anguish that he had been going through as he attempted to figure out how he was going to explain himself dissipated. She was one of the sacred descendants. She was going to be able to understand intuitively just as he understood that they belonged together. Even though he had been too stubborn to accept it.
“I was wondering when you might show up, dragon boy,” King Wayne continued, taking a long stride forward and reaching to his waist. Carter took the opportunity to look around the room and measure up the amount of danger he was in. The guards here were far more disciplined looking than the ones that had gone after him in the tunnels. They had been well trained, that much was certain. And they were all staring at King Wayne as if they were awaiting his orders. Of course, they were awaiting his orders. He was the master. They were weak minded. That would be their downfall.
“Help me,” Amy whispered, her voice hoarse. They had begun to connect the wires to her wrists. She was bound to this horrific machine. Carter knew exactly what they were about to do. They were going to try to drain her and utilize her power. They would do it through her blood, but they would leave her alive. Just enough to suffer in anguish for the rest of her life so that she would always know that she belonged to them and that her body was being used as a weapon to destroy all the light that might challenge the darkness of the universe.
Carter fixed his eyes upon King Wayne, suddenly wishing he had waited for reinforcements. At least having the other dragon shifters on his side would have guaranteed Amy’s safe return back to the world outside. Here, though, it was only Carter against this giant monster. He was a coward, yes, but he had a lot of power. Who knew what kind of tricks he might have up his sleeve? It was strange to realize that he was even here in person and not stowed away back home where he was safe and catered to by all his mooks and minions.
“I need you all to take care of this imposing threat. We need to get on with the ceremony. You know it is imperative that we get as many of the Golden ones back home as we possibly can. It’s crucial. How else are we going to keep your family’s life?”
Keep their families alive? Carter narrowed his eyes and glanced at the guards, who were now drawing their weapons at him. He shook his head in agitation. This rescue mission was turning out to be quite the pain in the ass. But he would do whatever he had to do in order to make sure that Amy was safe and sound. He didn’t know what those weapons were capable of, so he stood on his guard as King Wayne retreated away from the center of the room and hid behind one of his main bodyguards. Carter wasn’t going to let them get away with this.
Amy let out another cry as one of the men tightened another wire around her legs. Her pain fueled Carter’s rage and he let out his breath weapon on the guards. Several of them ran away screaming and soon dropped onto the ground, immediately killed by their wounds. However, there were some behind him that he hadn’t been able to foresee, and he cried out in pain as they dug their weapons through his scales and into this vulnerable flesh.
He was enraged by the sneak attack and whipped around, his tail making contact with the bodies of the men accumulating at his feet. Carter was far more powerful than any of these guards, no matter what type of weapons they might have. Apparently, they were prepared for a dragon attacks, and had been well trained in penetrating the thick armor of scales that protected Carter’s kind. But it wasn’t going to be enough to protect them. Especially not when they were hurting Amy right in front of him.
Carter let out a deep raging roar and ran after his attackers. Their eyes widened in confusion.
“No!” King Wayne exclaimed as he watched Carter take out all his guards one by one. Their cries echoed throughout the chambers and Amy was silent as she squeezed her eyes closed, unable to stomach the display.
“Now, it’s your turn,” Carter growled, surprised to find that he could speak to the monster even in his dragon form.
“Carter…” Amy’s voice was weak now, but she sounded relieved. “I knew you would come. I knew it was you.”
A surge of warmth spread through Carter’s chest, but it quickly turned to steal when he eyed King Wayne and his bodyguard. “You’re going to regret ever touching a hair on this woman’s body.”
And with that, Carter attacked.