Our plan had run afoul slightly, but there was no recourse except to fight our way through. I hadn’t expected Baluwama to be so skilled a flier or to attack with such sudden ferocity. I had hoped to catch him off guard, but it was clear he was a more equal match than I had anticipated.

Andie had taken up a position with the demon’s stun charger, and I could feel her eyes upon us. She had distracted the demon with a shot, and his cool had slipped long enough for me to land a blow to his center that had sent him reeling back against the wall, sending a shower of loose rocks down.

He flew up and I followed. Daylight had finally reached the canyon floor, and the sudden heat of it had evaporated some of the surface water, creating a thin fog. His gray body was well disguised in the fog, and he retreated to its safety.

I weighed my options. He might have retreated for good or he might reemerge after regaining his wits. I could wait and risk another surprise attack or I could pursue and finish this, once and for all.

Ever since we had landed here on Vaxivia, these parasites had been my constant worry, nagging at the edge of my mind always, and now they were threatening not only myself and my brothers, but also the woman I loved. I was ready to be done with it.

There was the chance this could be a trap, but if I let him get away, if I didn’t face my enemies now and we reunited with our group, I would ever be looking over my shoulder.

My entire life up until this point had felt that way, always aware that my world, my life would come crashing down. Back then, all that I was losing was status, power . . . shallow things. Now, I had something real, something to fight for, and I wasn’t backing down.

I breathed in, closed my eyes, pictured Andie’s face, and flew into the misty, luminescent fog to face my fate. I would win. I had to win. There was no other choice.

I smelled the air, trying to track the sulfuric reek of him. I picked up whiffs of it, but the air was moving too quickly. I smelled him everywhere, and yet he was nowhere. I went up and circled above the fog line.

I caught a flash of red horns and dove down. The mists swirled around me, and as I struck out at where I had seen him, he was gone. I roared in frustration and let loose a plume of fire, which had the added benefit of moving the mist back.

I flew forward then, letting dragon fire flow freely, hoping to flush him out. Suddenly, I felt a heavy thump on my back as he landed and his blood red claws dug between my shoulder blades.

The skin of my dragon form was thick and armor-like, but it could be pierced, and the Infernian’s claws were well-suited to the task.

I dove down and rolled, hoping to shake him. He held firm, flattening his body, even as he did his best to wound me.

I felt the jagged ends of his claws sink into my throat, and I knew I had to act fast. I flew straight at the rock wall and shifted just before impact, crushing us both against the wall, knocking his grip loose from my back.

We tumbled down at least one hundred feet and landed hard on the ground below. I quickly shifted again and charged at him. He was up on his feet already, and instead of sidestepping, he lunged at me.

We collided with force, and he used it to his advantage, clinging to my chest and tearing at my neck with his claws and teeth once more. I felt my own blood gushing out, thick and warm.

Energy drained out of me—he’d slit an artery. I stumbled clumsily, feeling a little colder. Blood loss couldn’t kill me, but if I lost enough, I would be rendered unconscious for a full day while my body regenerated itself. Fear took hold as I thought what would become of Andie.

Andie. Soft, beautiful, feisty Andie. The thought of her brought a surge of protectiveness, and with that coursing through my veins, I rolled with the demon toward the icy river.

Seeing my destination and correctly guessing that the cold would weaken him, Baluwama expanded his wings and tried to break free of me. As he did, I bit at one of his wings.

The thin, veiny membrane tore easily, like ripping a dry leaf. I bit and pulled, detaching the wing cleanly from his body.

Baluwama shrieked in pain as the bright red of his blood spilled across his back, spurted out, and stained the dirt. He bared his teeth, yellowed fangs that were rimmed in red, the blood in his mouth evidence of his own internal wounds.

We were both hurt but focused with the feral intensity of wild animals. My next move needed to be strategic because in this weakened state, another gash at my neck would bring a swift end to this battle.

My feet were chilled by the cool current of water as I stepped backward and into the water.

“You Dragselian bastard! I’m going to kill you all!” He howled and lunged forward, much more gracelessly now that he’d lost a wing.

As he tripped in the water, floundering in the cold dampness, I looked up to Andie’s perch, hoping she saw the opening. I leapt forward, knocking him down as I rose out of the water and into the air.

Andie didn’t fail me. She fired a shot at the river near him, and it lit up with electricity for just a moment. Baluwama’s form seized awkwardly.

As soon as the charge had died out, he tried to stand back up, but I quickly landed once more, on top of him, and held him under the water. He slashed at me, slicing off two of my toes, and in the water, I lost blood even faster.

I thought of Andie, remembered what I was fighting for, and focused my strength. As he started to gain purchase and scramble his way up and out of the water, I took one last, great swipe at him with my good arm.

My claws cut cleanly through the tissue and sinew. His head rolled lopsidedly to the ground at my feet.

I heaved, having lost too much blood to feel all the relief of my victory. As I closed my eyes, taking a breath of gratitude, I heard Andie scream to me.

“Behind you, Karun!” she shouted.

I felt two large gusts of wind and spun in time to see the other two Infernians hovering above me. The golden-horned leader wore a menacing grin. He had both arms, to my great dismay.

His companion, the squat black-skinned one with the red-orange wings, wore a look of pure rage and also carried a blade, though shorter and more primitive looking.

“Permission, Korael, to end this worthless sack of Dragselian shit,” he beseeched his leader.

“We’ll end him together, Seragnan. I always love tearing a Dragselian apart, limb from limb.” It would seem they were not after my spinal fluid after all. There was little relief in that now, though.

The leader, Korael, swooped toward me, wielding his curved Infernian blade. Injured and worn down as I was from the first fight, my reflexes were not fast enough, and though I blocked the slice of his blade, he cut deeply into one of my wings.

The blow knocked me back, and I fell, crashing onto the bank. The squat black demon came racing forward as well and landed hard on my injured wing. The pain of breaking bones wrenched through my arm.

Just then, he was thrown back and yelped in pain. Andie had shot him with a stun charge.

I saw a wicked smile curl across Korael’s features.

“Ahh, the human woman, what a nice surprise. It’s been so long since I have been able to ride one. I do love how they scream!” He rose into the air and dodged one of her shots.

“Korael! No! We need to finish the dragon. The woman is not our objective!” The squat one flew to him, blocking another stunner round for his commander.

“Stand down, Seragnan!” he barked, throwing him back and against the rock wall.

Momentarily distracted, Korael didn’t notice me rising up into the air behind him until I hit him with a burst of my dragon fire.

“Was that supposed to hurt me? You pathetic halfwit!” As he turned back to me to mock my strike, he fell prey to one of Andie’s stun charges, and as it struck him, I flew at him, biting into his freshly healed arm.

As I did, I felt the slice of the other demon’s blade at my back. The hit forced me to release my grip on Korael’s arm.

The two of them took turns swinging their blades at me, far too many of their hits connecting with my weary body.

I tried to outmaneuver them, but I was on my last legs. Andie continued to spray shots from her post, hitting them enough times to slow down their progress. Still, they finally forced me down onto the riverbank once more.

Korael raised his blade. “I’ve always wanted to behead a prince,” he said, a crazed gleam in his eye. Before he could swing down and end me, Andie hit him with two quick shots.

His blade clattered out of his hands, his face grew swollen with anger, and when he growled, spittle went flying from his mouth.

“Bitch! You’re going to pay for that!” He flew into the air in her direction. I roared in desperation, but I couldn’t move. Seragnan, his stocky lieutenant, had pinned me down.

I rolled, trying to shake him, but my strength was waning and he pummeled me with his bare fists.

I heard the rifle fire and the sound of rocks falling, followed by Andie’s scream. The demon came flying back, now with Andie in his arms. He touched down in front of me as Seragnan continued beating me, and I fought fruitlessly to stunt the assault.

Andie jerked, trying to strike at him and maneuver out of his grasp, but his arms trapped her like a steel cage. He brought one hand to her breast as he sniffed her hair and then spat.

“Whore!” Korael shouted at her, kicking her in the stomach as she fell to the ground.

He picked up his sword as he shook his head at her. “You shouldn’t have wasted that beautiful body on a dragon, you filthy little wench. Now, you’ll die even sooner.”

I roared again but watched in slow motion as he swung the blade. Right before it struck Andie’s body, I saw the huge bronze dragon form of Zaruv collide with him, sending the blade off its course.

Seragnan leapt into the air to defend him but was caught by Pavar, who snagged him out of the air by his legs and flung him like a doll into the river. Ragal went to Zaruv and, too weak to join, I watched as they took turns striking Korael.

For his part, Korael tried to fly away and outmaneuver them, but Ragal flew up behind him and grabbed him by the wings. Zaruv came up on the other side and bit into the flesh of Korael’s mottled arms. Swiftly, they tore him apart as he, himself, had promised to do me.

I let my head fall back, and I took a much-needed moment to rest on the ground. Andie had scrambled to her feet and rushed over to me. When she touched me, I felt the surge of energy from our link and shifted.

She threw her arms around me, and to my surprise, she cried.

“Are you okay? What can I do? Don’t die on me, please, please, don’t die on me,” she said, choking on her tears and scouring my body, assessing all of my injuries.

“I’m not going to die, but sadly, I am too beaten up to fully enjoy your eager little hands right now,” I said teasingly, my voice dry and raspy.

She laughed through her tears. “Damn you, you shouldn’t be making jokes. You just almost died.”

I raised a hand to her cheek and brought her into as tight an embrace as I could manage. “Don’t cry, my love. We’re safe now,” I murmured into her hair as I stroked her back.

We held each other as Pavar dragged Seragnan’s broken, but still living, body out of the river where he had crashed.

Zaruv and Ragal both landed as well, all of them shifting and looking at Andie and me with smug smiles.

Zaruv finally cleared his throat, and Andie let go of me, wiping at her face.

“Come, let us celebrate this victory with Jennifer and Hardin. You both need some patching up,” Zaruv said.

I slumped onto Zaruv’s back, Ragal escorted Andie, and Pavar insisted on holding onto our prisoner himself. We flew up out of the crag and back over the open desert to our camp.