Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) by Brenda Davies (free e books to read .TXT) 📕

the windows, and from somewhere in the manor,glass shattered. Sahira turned and strode toward the front door asthe shrieking bellow of a dragon rent the air.

“Shit,” he snarled.

He wanted to push Lexi back into the libraryand shelter her from whatever was happening, but he wouldn’t partfrom her. Instead, he kept her tucked against him as they followedSahira outside.

The sun beat down on them, the sky was acrystalline blue, and the serenity of the day was broken only bythe birds filling the sky. Another bellow drown out the cries ofthose birds.

He didn’t see any of the monstrous creaturesuntil they turned the corner of the manor and one of the beastssoared into view. It swept low over the land with its fifty-footwings spread wide, its head extended, and its tail out behindit.

The sun glinted off its red scales as a plumeof fire erupted from its mouth and it rained destruction on theland. Chunks of earth flew up as it plowed a ditch into thefire-scorched ground. Pieces of wood shot into the air as trees andthe marketplace's ramshackle buildings toppled beneath itsonslaught.

When its fire went out, the dragon soaredhigh into the sky. The sun created a glow around its wings as ithovered in the air.

Then it roared and dove toward the earth.Another wave of fire erupted from it. The marketplace was half amile away, but Cole’s position allowed him to see that nothingremained of it.

“No!” Lexi gasped.

She jerked free of his arms and lungedforward. She ran toward the road as Sahira started after her. Colecaught her before she made it ten feet. He pressed her against hischest as she struggled in his grasp.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he toldher.

“But… but… they didn’t do anything!” sheprotested as tears shone in her eyes. “It’s killing them, and theydidn’t do anything!”

He despised her tears and the heaving breathsshaking her slender frame, but he couldn’t do anything to stopthis. Not yet, anyway. But one day, he would end this.

He cradled her while the smoke rising fromthe burning remains choked out the sun. He didn’t care about themortals and immortals at the market, he was tired of senselessviolence, but their lives weren’t important.

What he cared about was what would happen ifthe Lord continued to unleash such destruction on Earth.Eventually, he would run out of things to destroy and turn hisinsanity on the Shadow Realms, including the Gloaming.

And Cole did care about immortals there. He’dalready lost most of his family; he would not lose any moreof them.

He also had Lexi to protect now. And nomatter what he had to do, he would keep her safe.

“It doesn’t matter if they did something ornot,” he said.

And that was completely true. It didn’tmatter if the humans and immortals at the marketplace wereinnocent; if the Lord deemed them a threat, he would destroythem.

“Holy shit,” Brokk breathed as he arrivedbeside him. “What is going on?”

No one answered him; there was no reason toreply. He could see what was happening with his own two eyes.

The dragon released another roar beforeturning and swooping toward them. Cole held Lexi against his chest,but there wasn’t enough time to turn and flee with her. If thedragon decided to unleash its wrath on them, they couldn’t stopit.

• • •

Lexi ducked a little as the gigantic beast soaredtoward them. The beat of its wings kicked dirt up from the groundand fanned the flames of the marketplace fire as the screams of thewounded and dying filled the air.

So many wounded and dying. Somany faces she knew. And they were burning.

She tried not to vomit as the scent ofburning flesh mingled with the burning wood and earth stench. Herheart thumped a little faster, her mouth went dry, and she grippedCole’s arms as she tried not to cower.

If it unleashed a wave of fire on them,they’d be crisp fried as soon as it hit them. And then the dragonsoared over the top of them.

Despite its formidable power and the death itjust unleashed, something was captivating about the ruthless beast.When it twisted to the side, the sun's angle turned its scales thecolor of blood.

She tried not to be awed by the thing, butshe couldn’t stop her mouth from parting as she gazed at itsunderbelly. It was huge! It blocked the sky until it was allshe could see.

When it flapped its wings, the wind itcreated blew her hair back from her face and plastered her clothesto her. Dirt swirled around them until the cascade of particlesbriefly blocked out the underbelly of the beast.

By the time the dust settled, the dragon waspast them. She turned to track its movements as from one second tothe next it vanished.

“Where did it go?” she breathed.

“It returned to Dragonia,” Sahira said.

Lexi stared at where it had vanished beforeshifting her attention back to the ravaged marketplace. People andimmortals crowded the road as they fled the destruction, but therewere a lot less of them than there should have been.

“We have to help them,” she said.

CHAPTER 51

Cole studied the smoldering remains of themarketplace as he leaned his hand against the windowsill. The fullmoon was the only illumination over the ruined land.

In the dark of night, the glowing coals ofthe torched buildings looked like the eyes of some beast lying inwait to spring its trap. But then, that trap had alreadysprung.

He’d mistakenly believed that once the Lordwon the war, he would stop unleashing his dragons. Cole hadn’texpected the insane man’s ruthless determination to wipe out anyonehe perceived as an enemy.

The breeze drifting across the land carriedwith it the stench of fire and the faint aroma of burnt flesh. Hestarted to close the window against the stench when a crow flitteddown to perch on the sill.

He wasn’t surprised to see the bird; he’dsent a message to his father after they returned to the manor.

After the attack, Lexi insisted on going tothe marketplace to see if they could help the survivors. By thetime they reached the fires, any survivors had fled, and those whoweren’t fortunate enough to be able to run were dead.

The unexpected attack hadn’t left much of achance for survivors. Though he felt the distress emanating fromher,