Chapter 48
Collum saw her the exact moment Domhall burst through the earthen wall, the exact moment the rope around Taurin’s neck gave way. He roared. Agony tore the fire from his chest. He dropped Neeren like a used doll. Every sound around him ceased to exist.
It took him five precious seconds to reach the gap in the earth. Each second was another death. He soared into the earth behind her. Her name ripped from his lungs.
Thunder echoed across the island. Torrents of rain poured down on the inhabitants. As the last waves of the sound faded, the dragon surged out of the earth with Alex wrapped around his neck.
He turned his ancient eyes on the sniveling creature running from the battle to the cliff edge. Terror trailed behind him like a river.
The dragon gently laid Alex next to Domhall. He draped his wing over her body, breathing deeply into her hair. Her scent drove warmth into his favored skin. After assuring himself that Domhall and her mother would care for her, he flew after a dead man.
With the ease of an owl picking off field mice, the beast swept him up and flew over the edge of the cliff to the ocean. Then with utter silence and precision, he plunged the man headfirst into the waist deep water below.
Taurin choked and sputtered. “You, stupid animal. It was your father that started all this.” He laughed, utterly deranged. “Do you think this absolves you?"
The dragon towered over the inferior being. He was lethal, destructive, every inch a killer.
“You will drown now.” His voice was black. It resonated with death.
When the dragon spoke, the history of the world rumbled in his speech. “You will swim as far as you can and you will drown yourself.” Razor-sharp claws lay like death in the sand in front of them. “You will remain locked beneath the ocean for one hundred years. Do you understand.”
Of course, there was no choice. No question. No one could withstand the dragon’s command.
“I understand,” Taurin whispered.
“When one hundred years are up, I will come for you and rip your head from your body. This is my judgement for the murder of Kaylen Taleisin and the attempted murders of Gray Taleisin and Alexedria Simine.”
Tears poured down the other man’s face as he struggled to ignore the shadow of Collum's voice. Yet no being stood a chance against the power of a beast who controlled the rise and fall of the mind. A beast who had done so for longer than any being could fathom. It was over before it began.
As Collum knew it would be. As it always was.
On grieving legs, Taurin walked into the ocean, to his living grave.
His will followed, the dragon turned from the site of his enemy collapsing into the waiting waves.
~ ~ ~
He noticed Domhall standing at the edge of the cliff watching him. As the rage left his body, he let the dragon fade. Collum kept his wings though, and flew to the man.
“It’s done.”
Domhall nodded. “It had to be you. It’s why Kaylen chose you to protect our granddaughter. God knows she deserved better than me. And you were her best friend. Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me everything long ago?” he asked of the man who was once his greatest friend. His partner. It was a secret they’d both take to the grave.
“I was ashamed. I’m losing my mind, Coll.” Domhall shrugged. “Besides, you boys are always so focused on balance. You’d have tried to fix things long before it was the time to do so.”
“You could join us again, you know.”
Dom smiled sadly. “No, I stopped being a guardian the moment I agreed to send Gray to your father. We both know I was corrupted.”
Collum nodded slowly. As much as he wanted the man to be whole again, they both knew he wasn’t.
“Check into the witch. She has potential.”
“She’s too wild to be a guardian, Dom.”
“Hmmm, well some of us think you guardians could use a little stirring up.”
Collum laughed. The sound rumbled across the cliff. The dragon inside him eased. “Maybe you’re right.”
“You need to get Alex to agree to the binding. It’s the only way Lachon will agree,” Domhall said. “It’s how we keep the balance. You know that.”
“You’ll handle Neeren?”
“My grandson’s power will be bound before the week is over.”
“Very well. I'll talk to her. But she’s only to be bound against the Elementals. No others. I have hope for her. I think she is strong enough to be a guardian one day.”
Domhall closed his eyes and took a long breath before reaching out a hand to his lifelong friend. “Thank you for avenging Kaylen's death. I am in your debt.”
Collum clasped the other man’s hands in his. Said, “There is no debt between us. You make sure you call me when you’re ready to come back,” before launching himself in the air to find his woman.