Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Ride the Wave: Chapter 36

The second I touched Reven I realized how badly he’d been hurt by Sark’s fires. He stumbled forward anyway, but his feet and legs were so burned it must have been excruciating. Still, he shifted into his dragon form, his scales blackened in many places, and lowered himself so I could climb onto his back.

“You’re hurt,” I said, as I got on.

“We’ll worry about that later,” he said through gritted teeth.

As he took off, I placed my hands on his scales, knowing I wouldn’t be able to do enough to heal him, but hoping it would ease the pain. He flew into the open space between the columns of the Spirit Temple, where dragons fought, and magic flew.

Doran, Auric, and Slade all surrounded Nysa, who bared her fangs and hissed at them, before lashing out with ice and a swipe of her claws. If she touched them, she’d be able to use her death magic against them and drain their lives. Jasin was crumpled against a pillar, unconscious, injured, and in his human form.

Every time one of my mates got a blow in with their air or earth magic, I felt a sense of hope—before watching Nysa’s scales heal themselves almost immediately. She wasn’t immune to fire, earth, or air anymore, but the Spirit Goddess inside her made her powerful anyway. And with Doran’s water magic too, she was nearly unstoppable.

“Protect Jasin!” I told Reven, as I hopped off his back. I knew he would never listen if I told him to stand back and rest, but he might do this for me. “She still has water magic, and Jasin is weak against it!”

Reven hesitated, clearly itching to fight, but then let out a snarl and stomped over to stand guard over Jasin’s unconscious body. As he did, Slade was thrown back against one of the huge columns, bolts of ice piercing his wings. He hit the ground with a heavy thud that shook the foundation of the temple, sending debris falling from the cracked and broken ceiling.

I rushed into the battle just as Auric was tackled by my mother, her talons tearing into his scaled back, making him cry out. Ice formed around his body, holding him in place, and she opened her mouth to drain his life. I drew my sword and rushed her with a yell, desperate to save my mate, but she slapped me with her tail and sent me flying, along with my sword.

As I hit the ground, Doran slammed into Nysa’s body, knocking her into a pillar. It snapped under her weight and part of the roof caved in on her. But I knew she’d be back up soon.

All of my dragons were injured. I felt their pain through the bond, and there was nothing I could do about it. The Black Dragon was too strong for us to defeat—but I had to try anyway.

Doran flowed into his human form and bent down to pick up my sword. His hazel eyes met mine as he gripped it tight. “There’s only one of her mates left now.”

I realized at that instant what he was about to do and panic gripped my throat. “Don’t do this! There has to be another way!”

“We both know there isn’t. I love you, Kira.”

“Father, no!” I yelled as he stabbed the sword into his chest. Fire spread across his body instantly, engulfing him completely. I rushed toward him and made it to my father’s side seconds after he hit the ground, but by then it was already too late.

Through the fire I cradled Doran’s head in my hands, tears leaking down my face, as the light left his eyes. I’d once hated and feared him, and then I’d doubted him, and then I’d grown to love him. He knew I would never be able to kill him, even after he seemingly betrayed us, and he’d given his own life so we would have a chance.

As the fire vanished, I buried my head in my father’s chest, letting myself sob, my hands covered in his blood. Nysa screamed behind me, her voice filled with pain as she reared up out of the debris. I could only imagine how bad it must hurt to feel every single one of your mates’ deaths. I wished with every breath that it hadn’t come to this—or that I didn’t have to defeat my own mother now.

Enva’s words came back to me and I wondered if it was true that Nysa, deep down, didn’t want to fight me and just wanted this all to end. She hadn’t attacked me so far, and she hadn’t killed my mates. Maybe it was true. Maybe I could find a way to break through to her and convince her to stop.

I pressed a kiss to my father’s burnt forehead and whispered, “I love you too.” Then I pulled my sword from his chest and turned to face my mother.

Nysa stomped out of the rubble and shook it off, her tail whipping about her and her wings raised. Shadows clung to her black scales and her eyes glowed like the shades outside. She looked like she was about to tear the entire world down.

I moved in front of her, my sword at my side, and yelled, “Mother!”

She gazed down at me like I was an insignificant bug in her path, one that she could stomp at any moment. “You,” she said, putting so much venom in the word it burned me.

“I don’t want to fight you, mother, and I don’t think you want to fight me either. Neither one of us has to die today.”

“You’re wrong,” she said, yet she didn’t move to attack me.

Hope surged inside me and I stepped forward. “Free the Spirit Goddess and we can work together to defeat her. With the Gods’ help, we can split her into Life and Death, and send Death back to the Realm of the Dead.”

She dipped her head low, her sharp fangs glistening as they drew near. “You killed my mates,” she hissed. “And now I shall do the same to yours.”

She brought one of her huge clawed feet down on me, pinning me to the ground with her talons. As she loomed over me, she opened her mouth wide and began to drain my life—along with my mates’ through our bond. Inky blackness squirmed up from my throat and into her, making me weak. With my life being sucked out of me I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t fight—I was going to die at the hands of my own mother.

Suddenly a wave as tall as the temple crashed into her, knocking her off me. Reven stumbled toward her in his dragon form, assaulting her with non-stop water, giving me a chance to recover. I drew in a deep breath as I got to my feet and reached for my life magic, letting it restore me.

There was no reasoning with Nysa. Whatever goodness that had once been inside of her was gone, lost to the corruption that had taken hold of her. It was time to save her from what she’d become.

I summoned all of the elements at once, causing my body to rise up into the air while fire and water swirled around me and huge chunks of the temple’s marble lifted to my side. Lightning danced in my hair. Lava gathered at my fingertips. Fog spread through the temple.

My mates moved behind me, facing Nysa down, each one battered and broken but still fighting. They gathered their magic and reached through the bond that linked us all to fortify it.

My connection with my mates gave me strength. The blessings of the Gods gave me power. Love and compassion gave me purpose. I collected all of that inside me, and then I released it at her, hitting her with every element. My mates joined in, blasting her from every side, making her arch her wings and scream. Fire and ice, earth and wind, lightning and lava, steam and storm—it all converged on her in one final push.

I reached out with my air magic and grabbed hold of my sword while Nysa’s body tried to heal the damage we inflicted on her. All four elements inside my blade leaped to my command and the sword flew through the air, hitting Nysa in the heart. It buried deep into her chest, and every element spread out from it, washing over her one by one.

She reared up and I prepared to strike again, worried it wouldn’t be enough—but then her body changed. She resumed her human form, so small and unassuming compared to the dragon she’d once been, and then collapsed.

My magic vanished and I hit the floor, then took off running toward her. The hilt of my sword protruded from her chest, but she still managed to cling to life, even as black blood seeped onto the cracked marble. I kneeled over her, and her eyes met mine.

“You don’t know what you’ve done.” Her voice was a gravely whisper laced with pain.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my throat closing with emotion. “I wish it didn’t have to end like this.”

“When I die, she’ll be released.” My mother coughed up blood, turned to the side, and spat it on the floor. “I’m the only thing holding her back, even now. When I let go, there will be no stopping her.”

I couldn’t help but rest my hand upon her head, touching the hair that looked so much like my own. “Rest now. You’ve held her long enough. The Gods will help us.”

“The Gods.” She let out a bitter laugh. “The Gods lie.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I simply stroked her head as the life drained out of her. I sensed my mates moving behind me, but they gave us space.

“Forgive me, Kira,” my mother said, her voice weakening. “It was the only way.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and with one last gasp, she was gone.