Touch of Flame

Ravina’s heart was in her throat and she braced herself for whatever pain was coming her way. She was already in pain from the fall, the air hitting her differently, and soon smoke surrounded her. She was going to hit the ground and burn in the woods where her body wouldn’t even be found. She would turn to nothing.

Ready to die, she was caught by another pair of claws flying away in a different direction. Was she saved or was this another enemy? Her head was spinning too much and the fear had made her too nauseous to think. She hung limp on the claws as the world swayed beneath her. And then she was gently dropped on top of a hill.

Her stomach turned, threatening to push all that was inside out. Sitting upright on the ground, she gasped for air. A strong wind caused by wings blew her hair back as the black dragon left her behind and flew to fight a white dragon up in the air.

Ravina looked up to watch the fight, but her vision was blurry. She was seeing things in pairs and the sky seemed to sway back and forth, causing the clouds to travel here and there.

Were the white dragons two now? She could tell they were more than the black ones at least. Or one.

Pained screeches came from the creatures and then suddenly the ground shook when a large white dragon fell to the ground. Ravina crawled back horrified when the dragon turned into a man and lay unmoving on the ground.

Another white dragon fell and then a black one. They also shifted back to human form. The brutal fight was clearly visible on their injured bodies covered in blood.

“Malachi!” Her vision became clear as she recognized him among the men.

She got up and ran to his side, getting down on her knees fast. He was bleeding a lot. There was an injury on his neck, causing blood to seep out in volumes. Ravina felt her fingers turn cold.

Shaking she reached for her gown, tearing a piece of fabric away to tie around the wound. He opened his eyes, his lips parting.

“Leave!” he breathed.

She ignored him and tried to put the band around his neck. He slapped her hand away. “Leave!”

“No!” Even her voice shook.

She could hear that he could barely breathe. Tears burned her eyes, as she relived all her trauma. Ignoring him and the tears running down her face, she tied the cloth around his neck. She looked around as if help would appear magically while putting pressure on the wound.

Malachi grasped her hand, forcing himself to speak. “More.. will come. Leave!”

He tried to remove her hand and push her away. “No!” She shook her head. “I am not leaving!” She made clear.

She was not going to be the survivor again while everyone around her died. She would rather die this time.

“Tell me how to help you, instead.” She urged.

His face was losing color as blood forced its way through her fingers. She looked around. They weren’t far away from home. The fire should alarm someone. Someone from his clan had to get here before anyone else.

Ravin didn’t know what to do. She felt completely helpless. She looked at him again. His eyes were shut this time.

“Malachi?” She called afraid.

Then she hit his chest with a fist out of pure anger and he opened his eyes with a gasp.

“Don’t you dare leave!” She called. “You are healing, right?”

She wanted to believe it so badly but she wasn’t sure since he had already been in a bad condition from last night. God, she couldn’t take this. Her mind was in panic and she couldn’t think clearly. She had to do something.

Think! But she couldn’t leave his side. She had to keep the pressure.

“Malachi! Can you hold this? Malachi!”

He was gone again.

She was shaking more, a cry threatening to leave her throat. She didn’t want to be here, to be in this position. Panic began to rise within her, as images of death flashed through her mind.

From the corner of her eyes, she spotted something from the sky. Looking up, she saw black-winged creatures flying in the sky. Hope sparked within her but there was also a hint of fear in case they were still the enemy. She could never know for sure.

They came flying toward them, seven in total. Landing they shifted and she was relieved to see Malachi’s brothers. She almost cried out loud.

They came over quickly, Saul and Joel were already beside Malachi. “We need to take him home fast,” Joel said.

Two hands grabbed her arms to pull her away and then Saul shifted and flew away with his brother. Ravina’s legs gave in, now that she knew his family was there. Two strong hands carried her up before she fell.

***

Aaron carried Ravina through the hall and took her to her room.

“Darcy,” she murmured.

“Darcy?”

“Horse…”

“I will find him,” he promised her, carefully placing her on her bed. “Ravina?”

She didn’t reply. He got blood on his arm. Turning her around, he found the mark of three large claws on her back, that had torn her skin open. Mara who came to stand beside him gasped. “Oh, doesn’t heal. What should we do?” She wondered.

“Clean her up and bandage,” he told her leaving her for a while to see how his brother was doing upstairs.

He could already hear his mother’s worried voice and the anger in Saul’s. “It seems like the white dragons want war,” he spat.

“I have collected the bodies,” Ruskan said.

Saul forgot about his anger for a moment as he looked over at Malachi being taken care of by the physician. “How is he?” He asked, his voice colored by concern now.

“He needs blood to ensure he survives,” the physician replied.

Saul went ahead to offer his blood and then they could only wait after the physician sealed the large wounds with stitches.

“Whoever did this will not be spared,” Saul spoke, his eyes becoming the color of vengeance. “Everyone needs to be reminded of who the Azar are and why we rule!”

For once Aaron agreed with his brother. Unfortunately, that was how things worked in their world. The powerful ruled and the rest needed to be reminded.