Page 43 of The Darkest Knight

“Let her go.” The threat in Niall’s voice seemed to affect Meliot more than her fireball. The hold on Tammie loosened when the wizard whirled around to face the knight.

“You can never win against me. Accept your fate. You will be in another realm until your dying breath. Never will you see the place you lived before.”

Meliot picked up one of the discarded swords and advanced toward Niall and Padriag.

Niall glanced at her. Go now.

Tammie realized the hold on her had loosened even more.

She looked at Erin and motioned for her to go toward the door.

Erin shook her head. Like her, either because of fear or because she, too, was not leaving Niall and Padriag with the madman and his idiot guards.

Sword in hand, Meliot advanced toward Niall.

In desperation, Tammie pulled as much power as she could draw from everything in her surroundings and formed a large fireball. Just as Meliot drew up the large sword, she flung it at him with all her might.

The wizard stumbled, and the sword fell out of his hand clanging against the hard stone floor.

Both Niall and Padriag fought anew, but were no match for the stronger, larger creatures that held them in place.

Suddenly an explosion shook the castle, the sound so loud, every occupant in the room scrambled toward the interior wall. The entire exterior wall disintegrated. Stones flew in all directions. Tammie and Erin rushed for cover under a table.

The guards seemed to know what happened as all six men drew swords and advanced toward the large gaping hole.

Fire projected through the opening, and they jumped back.

Whoomp. Whoomp. Whoomp. The sound of large wings preceded another blast of fire. Two of the beast-like guards fell dead, a third rolled on the ground attempting to put out the flames crawling over him.

Meliot rushed towards her and Erin and grabbed them by the arms. “Come we must go or perish.”

Tammie yanked her arm away. “I am not going anywhere with you.”

Erin kicked at the wizard. He slapped her hard, and she fell against the wall and slid down, unconscious.

He went to pick her up. Tammie jumped on his back pounding and kicking him.

A force threw her off, and she landed with a loud thump. Tammie rolled away to avoid being stepped on by a guard that fought whatever it was that came in through the opening. When he burned and crumpled to the floor, the last guard dropped his sword and ran out of the room.

What she saw next made her mouth fall open.

A dragon.

A real dragon.

She stumbled backwards. The beast’s shimmering eyes glanced over her before they locked on Meliot who blasted it with a fireball. The dragon leaped. avoiding a direct hit with agility that shocked her.

Huge talons wrapped around the wizard pinning his arms to the sides. Meliot’s struggles were futile. The huge beast flapped its wings and turned midair heading away from the castle.

“You’ll pay for this, Sterling,” Meliot threatened as the dragon disappeared into the sky with the screaming wizard in his claws.

The man Meliot had called Sterling stood in the middle of the room with what looked to Tammie like a bored expression. His long silver-blonde hair whipped around his striking face, the ends waved in the wind. “Help me.” He motioned to Niall and Padriag, and together the men shoved the larger stones against the door.

Then he picked up the still unconscious Erin, and motioned to Tammie and the others. “When Dragos returns you will leave.”

Tammie opened her mouth to protest, but the dragon appeared as suddenly as the first time.

The man looked toward the knights, “Come let us go before more guards arrive. The stones will not hold them off for long.”