Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

I shot around the balcony for what felt like the hundredth time, my magic beginning to wane as I threw it at Lionel time and again.

But Tory got between us more often than not and even when she didn’t, his shield deflected my blows as he focused on maintaining it. Every time Tory was exposed to fire, her magic swelled, but Lionel’s had an expiry on his just like mine did. And though the golden crown on his head would have been offering him some power, I knew that Dragons couldn’t gain a lot fast from a single piece of jewellery like that.

I just needed to wear him down and outlast him. Then I’d prove to him that the Acruxes weren’t any more powerful than the Altairs.

Tory’s eyes were full of pain as she was forced to fight me over and over again and I silently apologised to her as I just kept coming. This was where I needed to be in this fight and even if I’d wanted to spare her from having to go up against me, I couldn’t turn back now I was here.

Lionel roared as he threw a fireball at me with so much force that I chose shooting away over trying to deflect it, only realising it was heading straight for Xavier’s unconscious form at the last second.

I shot in front of him, throwing a wall of dirt up to surround the two of us and heaving him over my shoulder as the flames crashed overhead.

The moment they died down, I ran away, leaping from the balcony and casting a few wooden spears over my shoulder to keep Lionel back while I ran.

I shot up the stairs of the amphitheatre and cast a concealment spell to hide us from the Dragons and Nymphs fighting on Lionel’s side of this battle. I laid Xavier down on one of the stone benches and pressed my fingers to his head to heal the bleeding wound there, my power waning as I drew close to the end of it. I needed blood, like right now.

An explosion of fire and lightning clashed overhead as one of Lionel’s purple Dragons went up against the Storm Dragon and I couldn’t help but tip my head back to the sky as they clashed in a furious tangle of claws and teeth.

Dante roared ferociously, sinking his teeth into the other Dragon’s neck just as he released a blast of lightning from his jaws which drove into his opponent, barbecuing him from the inside out.

Xavier yelled in alarm as he came to and spotted the purple Dragon tumbling from the sky right towards us and I snatched him from the ground again before shooting out of the way of the crash zone.

The dead Dragon slammed into the stands with enough force to make the whole structure rattle and I paused as I turned to look around at the body as it shifted back into Fae form in death and a naked man was left in its place.

There were rebels everywhere now and my cousin shot past me, running in the opposite direction with a whoop of triumph for the Storm Dragon as he roared his victory to the sky. Dante dove low as he heard her calling out to him and she used a shot of air magic to propel herself up into the sky so that she could land on his back, the two of them racing away into the fight again.

I ran on, still holding Xavier then skidded to a halt at the edge of the pit, glancing down into the raging fight below for a moment before giving my full attention to him.

‘I need to get back to Tory,’ I told him.

‘Come on then, let’s-‘

‘No. You should get down there and show these motherfuckers why they shouldn’t underestimate a Pegasus. But first – I’m gonna need a drink.’ I lunged at him and he swore as my fangs sank into his neck, the rich combination of the power in his blood sliding over my tongue as I swallowed greedily.

‘Asshole,’ he muttered as he gave in. ‘I heard you were horny for the horn, but I never knew it was true until now.’

I almost yanked my teeth from his neck as I snorted a laugh at that before growling to cover it. I hated that fucking rumour – but in this one instance it might have been funny.

Xavier Acrux tasted damn good. But he was no Alpha Wolf and I drew back as quickly as I could, needing to get back to the fight with Lionel. 

‘Come on then, shift,’ I commanded and Xavier nodded firmly.

‘Good luck, Caleb,’ he said seriously, tugging his shirt over his head as his skin began to glimmer with lilac glitter.

‘I don’t need luck,’ I teased. ‘I’m invincible.’

Xavier’s brow pinched like he was going to tell me off for tempting fate like that, but I just laughed and shot away to take on his father.

He was just an evil Dragon overlord with control over dark shadow magic and two powerful Guardians working alongside him after all.

I could totally kick his ass.

Maybe.