The Beginning of The End
Chapter 14

I spun around out of pure instinct and raised a forcefield that encompassed Miya and myself, just in time as the dragon took a deep breath and shot flames across the entirety of the farmhouse, destroying it in less than four seconds. If it weren't for my power we would be dead, burnt to a crisp before we could get out of the way. I dropped onto my knees from strain, unsure how much longer I would be able to hold our protection when the fire suddenly cut off, revealing a large man, naked as the day he was born; his golden eyes shinning through the night and reflecting the fire that burnt beside me.

Miya was sobbing loudly as the man walked towards us, I'm afraid as the fighting slowly began the die down; the survivors ushered into a nice neat line. The creatures watched us, all of us; waiting for the naked beast to pass sentencing. He was the leader I realised, walking through the ashes as though he created them, and maybe he did, maybe we had be terrified of the wrong monsters all together.

This man was the dragon, and the dragon was this man.

He was a shifter.

My body quivered from strain more than fear, the blood that trickled from my nose a reminder that I had exerted myself, that I would be unable to protect us much longer; and he knew it. The shifter knew that I was weakening. That my power was running out faster than I could come up with a plan.

The shifter had auburn hair, the very shade of the flames, and a large build that most would be lucky to achieve with the lack of food available to us. I wanted to cry and scream, curse the very ground he walked on, but I knew it would all be in vein. I would be dead very soon.

"Miya." I whispered, pain coating my voice. "I can't hold it much longer."

"You don't need to Elora, you've done enough." She sobbed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "At least we tried."

.The words she uttered broke the last part of me that was clinging on the forcefield dropping as I collapsed into the dirt, attempting to catch my breath; my lungs seeming to fail to support me.

The shifter tutted at me as he crouched down, so close that I could smell the ash clinging to his skin; his voice deep and vicious. "You used too much power, little fae."

I scowled up at the beast who was responsible for destroying our lives, for killing those I had come to care about, my anger once again bubbling. How dare he scold me like I'm a child!? How dare he kill those who are innocent!? How dare he hurt those who have done nothing to him!?

"Then kill me and be done with it." I snarled, surprised by the venom in my voice.

"I'm not going to kill you, not yet." He smiled, though it was anything but pleasant; his voice cruel and taunting.

The moment he finished speaking, my eyes blurred, my entire body sluggish and pained, I no longer had the energy to fight to keep my eyes open; to argue that he should kill me.

Instead, I allowed the darkness to take me, basking in the warmth it offered.

I woke to a pounding pain in my head, every bone in my body screaming at me, scolding me for the amount of power I had used so carelessly; and right now, I was inclined to agree. I opened my eyes, wincing as I had to blink against the light three or four times. I wanted to sleep forever, but something was telling me that I needed to wake up, that something bad was about to happen, and most of the time, that feeling was right.

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I opened my eyes once more, looking around as I winced my way into a seated position on a small single bed, the room I had been placed in a plain beige colour. Not what I expected from a fire breathing dragon shifter. I sighed, almost as if I was testing my lungs, ensuring that they were intact. Next to the bed was a small round table with two chairs, a small fireplace that was already lit, filling the room with its warmth. Their was also a single chest of drawers and two doors, one that I guessed would lead out of the room.

I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and tested my weight on each one, ensuring that I'd be able to walk before even beginning to stand. I walked over the door near the fireplace first and opened it, replaceing a bathroom with a white toilet and sink on one wall and the walk in shower on the other. But getting clean was the last thing on my mind, I needed to get out of this place, before my gut feeling comes back to bite me.

I close the first door and move the the one that must be my way out, screaming in frustration when it wouldn't budge. I slammed my fists against the wood, screaming as many curses as I could think of into the wood. I didn't care if anyone heard me, or came to see what the fuss was about, I was raging with more anger than I could control and I needed to let some of it out.

I collapsed into the floor, tears flowing freely from my eyes as I sobbed, I didn't know if anyone had survived, I didn't know where I was; all I remembered was the battle. People I cared about being butchered right in front of me, I did my best to save them, to fight back, yet now I don't even know if I had succeeded.

Was Miya alive?

Where had they taken me? Was I going to be skinned alive and fed to the hounds?