A Flawed Alliance

Chapter 28- Execution

I snapped awake. I had passed out for about a second, I realized, rubbing my ankle to find it covered in blood. My forehead was already scarred with bumpy bruises and felt small cuts running along my cheek and my chin.

Glass was spread out all over the floor, broken into tiny little fragments. Some of the fragments were tinted red at the edges. Glass. With one quick swipe, I swept the glass pieces away from me. I felt a sharp sting but I chose to ignore it. I propped my elbows on the ground where there was no glass, and looked up from where I laid. Logan had a hand on my back, Veronica had her bow tilted to the oncoming crowd, and Ace...where could he be? Nix and Ember were right next to Logan, spreading their wings to deflect cups from hurtling in our direction.

People screamed in the background, but all that was fuzzy. Feet trampled all around me and some legs knocked into me as I moved to Logan. Just before, we were yelling at each other. Now, in a sense of danger, we had instinctively drawn closer to each other.

One time, a beer cup spilled all around the glass pieces, spraying the crumbs of glass in every direction. I covered my hand to stop them but they had already torn across my skin.

Logan's previous wounds opened up again, blood trickling once more. He grunted and righted himself on the balls of his feet. He extended a hand out to me, which I instantly took, hauling myself up. He tripped, almost falling over his feet but Veronica was there, sturdy, for him to lean on.

Through the broken windows, fire raged outside, filling the night sky with a glow of a blood red color. I sneezed, sniffing the smoke of the fire. That's when I noticed that everyone else was already outside the restaurant, waiting for Logan and I to leave with them. I ran first, Logan behind me.

Outside was equally disturbing as inside the inn. Fire was spread openly from place to place, starting off slow but readily picking up pace. Animals jumped on top of roofs to stay away from the fire on the ground but the fire found its way onto the roof, sliding itself after them. The air was hot and thick, hard for me to breathe in all the smoke. Dirt and rubble flew through the air and almost all the buildings were caught in flames.

I looked up at the sky. An inferno dragon, pitch black, breathed out flames everywhere in the city. I knew it was an inferno dragon because of its large wings pumping powerfully in the air. The veins in its eyes were bulging out and its claws were extended to catch wind easily.

It wasn't like Veronica's dragon, though, with scales and the bumpy surface. The body of this dragon was sleek and black except for its eyes, glowing an iridescent yellow and the veins branching out cracks of orange across its body. It was made from molten rock with fire almost looking like it burned inside of it.

I couldn't breathe. I inhaled and choked, trying to rub my eyes from the smoke.

I felt Logan grab my hand and motioned, "This way."

As I opened my eyes to run after Logan I caught sight of Ace and his Garvyn not far away. They began to run after us with Veronica and the rest of the animals.

Just as soon as I began to pick up the pace, I was met with a fireball blasting next to me. My eardrums beat madly from the impact of the fireball. I sheathed back my sword, prepared to run with both hands free.

Pain erupted at my side, blinding me from consciousness for a moment. Another fire ball had come so close to me that I felt the intense heat of it. The inferno dragon swooped near me but I managed to roll, the concrete bumpy under my back. Despite my thighs screaming for help, I still pushed myself back up to a standing position to run again. I distinctly heard a squawk, but I knew it was just an animal, and so I continued to run.