Orion's body crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from the deep wounds in his chest. Olly barely had time to register what had happened before his Alpha had pinned the blue dragon to the ground, nearly landing on top of Orion. The black dragon roared in anguish and rage as he leaned down to lock his jaws around her throat. The blue dragon thrashed from side to side, somehow evading the black dragons snapping jaws. Jonathan made a strangled noise beside him, but Olly only noticed how close the snarling dragons were to Orion's body. He wanted to shift, knew he should shift, but he knew that his dragon would join in helping his father try to kill Skylar. Olly knew it wasn't her fault what had just happened, but his dragon only knew that he had watched the blue dragon kill his brother. Olly could barely keep the beast contained as it was.
He rushed forward toward Orion, evading the snarls and snapping teeth of the fighting dragons, to kneel beside his brother's body. Olly leaned over him, as if that would somehow protect the body from the wrath of the two dragons trying to kill each other.
"Orion," Olly begged. "Orion, please!"
He didn't get an answer, not that he really expected to. His hands and shirt were quickly drenched in his brother's blood as it poured from the wounds. He couldn't hold back a sob of desperation as he stared helplessly at the carnage before him. He wrapped his arms around his brother and held him close. "I told you, you bastard. I told you not to go to her," he whispered into his brother's hair. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't admit that Orion was gone. He couldn't shift otherwise his dragon would kill Skylar. He couldn't do anything to save his brother. His hero was gone. No one survived that kind of wound from a dragon. Skylar's claws had nearly ripped Orion's soft human body in half.
"You can't leave us," Olly said, squeezing his eyes closed and clutching at Orion. "You can't leave me." His brother's body remained limp in his arms.
He felt the brush of a dragon past him but knew that even if he could find the strength to face the two, there would be no point. Skylar's humanity was gone, and so was Leo's. There was no stopping the pair from trying to kill each other.
"Enough of this," a cool voice said in a tone that wasn't quite a shout, but it was close. Olly lifted his head from Orion's to see the black dragon frozen in place. Blood streamed from the lucky shots the blue dragon got, but she looked far worse. The black dragon's superior size and experience had been advantageous. Much longer, and he would have gotten what he wanted, and then Olly's brother and sister would be dead. In fact, they would all be dead if Draco won, which it looked like was about to happen. The dragons were forced to fight on the ground, where their advantage was far less. Their Alpha was dead, and his mate was under the control of Draco. They had a witch who could stop the dragons from shifting, and if she chose to use that power, they were done for. They were too outnumbered.
Olly looked up at Draco, anger finding its way to take precedence over his despair. He was a dragon, he was an Alpha, and he was a Nogard. He would not give up, but he also would not leave his brother's body to become just another casualty of war.
Draco stared quietly down at him and the body of Orion. His eyes glowed in satisfaction as he saw the product of his power. He looked back up at the blue dragon, who was now standing where she had been when the black dragon froze in place, waiting for instructions.
"See what I can make you do, Skylar? You loved this man, and yet you killed him without mercy, simply because I told you to. Your dragons are losing. My humans have the advantage. Your dragons are weak. I overtook you all with nothing more than some measly humans and six witches. Consider me unimpressed." He turned his gaze up to the black dragon with a sneer. "I can say that I expected more."
More rage washed over Olly, but he stayed still. He might not have been next in line for Alpha, but it was still in his blood. He had a strong grip on his dragon as well as the ability to keep a level head. Acting rashly wasn't the answer here. It could end up getting all of them killed.
"Shift, now, and surrender to me. It will all be over quickly."
The black dragon snorted and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to shift back; he likely couldn't. Olly guessed that Leo was buried beneath layers and layers of anger and Alpha power. He could only take control again once the dragon had calmed down, which likely wasn't anytime soon. Any negotiations with Draco would have to be done by Olly.
Olly lowered Orion to the ground as gently as possible and rose to his feet. He didn't miss how the blue dragon followed his every move, and then her eyes remained stuck on her mate. Something flickered in them as she stared at the prone, bloody body before they went back to the emotionless state. Skylar was still in there, and she was trying to break free of Draco's hold. That gave Olly hope.
"We will never surrender to you," Olly spat at the king's feet. Draco was not at all amused anymore.
"You will. Your dragons are losing. You are losing, and this one," he pointed a careless finger at Orion, "is dead. Are you willing to die as well?"
Olly didn't dignify that with a verbal answer, simply stared evenly at the king. He was nothing more than a human, a hateful creature who had no reason to dislike dragons other than the fact that he wanted to. But, if dying meant that he tried to save his clan and his people, then he was more than willing to die for them. He'd lived for eighteen years, he'd fallen in love with a beautiful girl, even if she didn't love him back. He'd had Orion and his father to look up to, and there were worse roll models. He had lived a good life.
He lifted his chin and straightened his shoulders. Draco glowered at him, shrugged. "Very well then, you've made your choice."
Olly heard the crisp sound of a sword being drawn from his sheath, but he did not move. If he did, Skylar or the witch would kill him. If he did not move, Draco would kill him. Either way he was about to die. At least he was dying for his clan.
Every instinct begged him to close his eyes, so he couldn't see the sword coming at him, but he wouldn't give Draco that satisfaction of his fear. He kept his eyes locked squarely on the king's, so he was able to watch Draco swing the sword back in what would be the killing blow. The arm never swung in the other direction, because its owner was distracted by the sound of a dragon's roar piercing the sky, accompanied by the thundering of drums. They all turned in the direction of the sound, which Olly recognized immediately and wanted to scream in excitement.
His eyes focused on the new group of dragons, at least twenty of them, with Nana leading the charge.
The pale blue dragon roared once again as she swooped over the fighting humans, raining fire down on them. Her companions followed suit. The humans, not prepared for this new onslaught, were taken off guard and unable to utilize their dragon skin cloaks. Olly never thought he'd been so happy to hear the screams of burning men.
The other dragons, the ones who had been fighting for hours, now had a new energy, and Olly watched the almost instant shift in momentum. In less than a minute, the dragons had regained the advantage.
Olly turned back to Draco, only to find him once again on the back of Skylar. The witch sat behind him, although she appeared less than thrilled to be there. She watched the dragon's new enthusiasm, but she looked troubled as Skylar took off. She mouthed something to Olly before she was too far away for him to make out the details of her face.
Olly felt as the magic holding the black dragon in place was released. The Alpha growled angrily but didn't move to take off after them. He was focused on his sons before him, and Olly knew his dragon had calmed. Leo shifted quickly and fell to his knees beside Orion.
The Alpha's hands shook as he touched his son. He squeezed his eyes closed and trembled for a moment before he regained control of himself. He looked up at Olly, his black eyes filled with rage. "You will never sacrifice yourself again, do you hear me?"
"Dad-," Olly said slowly.
"Do. You. Hear. Me," Leo whispered. He looked back down at Orion and ran his hand down his eldest son's face. His hand still shook.
"Yes," Olly said softly. Leo looked back at the battle, and Olly saw the conflict in his eyes. He knew he should go help his clan, but he didn't want to leave Orion's body to the mercy of the battlefield any more than Olly did.
"You have to help them, Dad," Olly told him. "I'll go after Skylar."
Leo swallowed heavily. "We can't leave him."
"We have to."
Leo shook his head.
"Dad, do you think he'd want Skylar to stay under Draco's control? He died trying to help her out of it!" Olly shouted. "We have to save her. For him."
Leo nodded, pushing the dark hair off Orion's forehead. "You're right. We have to save her. She's a part of this family, and we won't leave her to his wrath."
Leo leaned down to kiss his eldest son's forehead and then he and Olly shifted together. They were immediately bombarded with shouts through the clan link, but they quickly picked Nana's voice out of the rest.
Leo, Oliver! You have to go after her!
Ruby June, Leo snapped, I specifically told you to get the clan away from here!
And I did! But then me and some others decided you needed our help, and we were right. Now you go after Skylar this instant. Draco is headed back to the village, there's no other place he would go.
Ruby June... Orion...
Nana's voice was the saddest Olly had ever heard it. We felt it. We all felt it. An Alpha doesn't need to be in his dragon form for his clan to feel it when we lose him. First Victoria-
What about Victoria? Leo demanded.
Oh, Leo...
WHAT ABOUT VICTORIA?
Olly's dragon actually flinched at the venom in his Alpha's voice.
Draco, he snuck up on us. She was alone in the infirmary, and she wouldn't submit to him. She wouldn't submit to him, my stubborn girl. Nana's voice was no more than a whisper, but the pain was obvious. The loss of Orion only added to that indescribable pain, and now Olly and Leo had to deal with losing another mother and another mate. Olly felt Leo's heart drop to his feet. He knew he was reliving the day he found out his first mate had died at the hands of Draco's men as well. To relive that pain again, that utter sense of loss... Olly didn't know how his father remained on his feet in that moment. Olly felt like crumpling to the ground in anguish. He was finding it difficult to find the point in fighting when Orion and Victoria would still be gone when it was all over.
Where is Benny? Leo's voice was carefully emotionless. They could all sense the fragile wall the Alpha had built to temporarily store his crippling sorrow. The wall wouldn't last long, but hopefully it would last long enough to kill Draco.
Skylar remained behind to save him. That's how Draco got control of her. If he's anywhere he's back at the village.
The word that the witch had mouthed to Olly suddenly became clear. Her mouth had formed the word "baby".
Draco is going after Benny! Olly shouted. Dad, we have to go!
We're coming with you! Two new voices joined the conversation. Percy and Kellan's voices were clear through the connection.
He won't take my daughter from me again, Kellan growled. And apparently Cassie needs to be reminded of who she is.
They didn't have time to argue, and with the new, fresh dragons as part of the fight, Percy and Kellan's absence would hardly be noticed. Olly noted absently that a few humans were even beginning to retreat. Olly turned to look at Jonathan, who now stood beside Orion's body.
The knight touched the sword at his hip. "I'll stay here with him. Nothing will happen to him. You have my word."
The knight understood what could happen on a battlefield, like a body being lost forever in the carnage. The orange dragon nodded his head in appreciation. He would be back for his brother, but now he needed to save Skylar to make sure that Orion didn't give his life in vain. The orange and black dragon leaped into the air, wasting no time in rushing back to the village. They had to save not only Skylar, but Benny as well. Olly didn't think he would be able to handle it if he lost any more family today. Victoria and Orion were two too many.
Percy and Kellan caught up with them quickly, as they flew as fast as they possibly could. Skylar was a fast flyer and she had a head start. They just needed to get there before Draco was able to do anything that was irreversible.
As they flew, Olly kept a close eye on his father. He could feel him through the clan link, and he could feel the complete and utter anguish that was consuming him. The Alpha not only hid it well but used it as fuel for his rage. Olly worried about what would happen when the rage was no longer needed to avenge his mate and his son. Would Leo leave them all alone again? Would Leo even be able to survive this sort of heartbreak a second time? He barely survived it the first time. Olly needed his father, and when they saved Benny, his little brother would need his father as well.
It felt like it took twice as long to fly back to the village as it normally did, and as they landed, the smell of blood was strong in their noses. They all looked at each other in worry. Olly hoped they weren't too late. They couldn't be too late, they just couldn't.
They shifted back to their human forms and rushed between the buildings to the Square, and the sight that greeted them made Olly want to wretch.
Bodies littered the Square, each one missing limbs, as if they had been torn apart. He recognized the green uniforms of Draco's men on some of the corpses, and the same outfit as the witch on others. He also recognized one body as one of the clan members.
Olly continued to scan his gaze across the Square, finding Draco, the witch, and a now-human Skylar gathered in front of the infirmary. And, on the porch of the infirmary, stood a very bloodied Fiona holding a knife to a witch that was nearly identical to the one beside Draco. And next to Fiona stood an even bloodier Victoria, Benny cradled safely in one arm, the other pressing a knife to Cassie's neck.