Falling

This is a scene from The Bar Story. In this scene, Tarren, a black dragon, takes on two death squads from the army she's just left.

Outnumbered. In a very big way. Strangely enough when I should have been thinking strategy all I could think of was Helios. I was glad we hadn’t mated because when I died he would still have the opportunity to have a future. The two death squads had come out of nowhere. They'd appeared as if by magic, coming at us from two different directions. I'd sent Rhiannon, my princess, down to the ground to take shelter in a cabin and call for help, even though I wasn't sure help could arrive in time.

I looked at those eight black dragons and knew how much they wanted me dead. I was a traitor to them, deserving of nothing but death. I could take out a few of them but I stood no chance against eight of them. Even with Rhiannon fighting at my side, we stood no chance. My job was to protect her which is why I’d sent her inside against her orders. If I was lucky, I could hold them off long enough for Dai and Helios to arrive.

When the first one attacked, I took him out easily and realized they were playing with me. They were sacrificing half their numbers to wear me out, and it was working. I killed two more of them while the other five sat back and watched. Now, fighting the fourth assassin, I felt my strength beginning to ebb. A glance over my shoulder showed me that the other four had encircled me. At least two of the four looked poised to strike.

My head whipped back toward my opponent in time to see his jaws coming at me. I tried to maneuver away from those huge teeth, but I was hemmed in with no room to roll away. I felt the dangerous fangs shred my flesh from my shoulder to my hip. Pain seared me, and finally, I no longer had the strength to shield my mind from Helios. Blood was flowing from me with every beat of my heart, and I thought perhaps the black dragon had gotten an artery. I knew that between the injury and the five dragons, I was done.

I’m sorry Helios. There are too many of them and now I’m losing blood fast. I know Rhiannon called you. You must save her. I cannot. All I can do is buy time for you and your brothers to reach her.

Tarren, hold on anasa mou. I’m coming... please hold on. Helios’ thoughts were desperate and his fear wrenched at my heart.

I’ll hang on as long as I can, but it won’t be for much longer. I’m getting weak, and there’s too many of them. They want me dead, Helios. I’m a traitor to them, and they’ve been toying with me, waiting for me to make a wrong move so they can kill me. I’m bleeding badly now, and they smell their victory.

Only a few more minutes, Tarren. Hold them off, love. We’re coming.

Helios… if I’m… gone … when you get here, you need to know how much I love you. This short time we had together meant everything to me.

Hold on anasa mou. I’m almost there. I love you, Tarren. Just hang on.

I saw the black dragon moving in for the kill and sent Helios one last thought. I love you, Helios Kronos. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.

The black dragon swooped toward me, his screams filling my ears. I braced myself to use one of Dai’s special moves against him, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to move quickly enough to evade his talons even if I did manage to strike a killing blow. His talons would still rip right into my chest.

Tarren!

Helios’ voice screamed in my mind as I felt my sword hit home. I twisted it and felt the black dragon’s life force leave him, but the forward momentum of his own strike still carried his dead body, talons outstretched, right into me. Had I been at full strength and not wounded, I would have been able to roll out and evade those deadly talons the way the move was meant to work. Wounded and sluggish with pain, I just couldn’t get away.

The dying dragon’s talons ripped into my chest, and his falling body pulled me down with him. I was spinning and falling, unable to make my wings work, pain lashing me to the exclusion of everything else. I felt myself shift, unable to hold my dragon form as I tumbled through the sky. For a split second I remembered what it had been like to lie in Helios’ arms and feel real happiness. Then I jerked up in my fall as my body hit the body of a dragon. Scaled limbs held me tight and I heard Helios’ voice in my head …

Tarren! Answer me, anasa mou! You can’t die! Tarren, I love you…

His anguish twisted my heart, and I mustered enough strength to tell him, I love you too Helios… before everything went black.