Read Betrayal Foretold: Descended of Dragons, Book 3 for Free Online Page B

below. “Are you four going to gab all night, or can I plan on some action? Tell you what. Surrender now, and I’ll let the man cub go.”
    Panic sent ice through my veins. I looked down at Ewan, who stood inches from Brandubh, his lupine teeth bared in an angry snarl.
    It wasn't premeditated. It was predatory. Concern for Ewan overrode my good sense, and I screamed “ Now! ”
    After a stunned hesitation, Bay, Edina and Gresham heeded my battle cry and dove with me for Brandubh.
    “Ugh,” Bay grunted as he landed a fiery missile on her back.
    I felt it, too. Though he hadn’t sent a direct hit, his ability to disarm and control my dragon was all too evident. Raw shocks of his magical force shot through my body. I gritted my teeth and rode out the waves of his attack.
    A particularly powerful jolt sent Gresham toppling through a stand of evergreens, his enormous body breaking off the tops of the trees before he came to a stop in a mound of thick earth.
    I was re-thinking my impulsive attack.
    Ewan dove and snapped at Brandubh, his wolf form taller than the mad sorcerer when he reared on hind legs. Brandubh fought Ewan while fending us off, giddy and laughing and flinging power around like an evil villain.
    “The flames are just for effect,” he called up to us. “Learned that from your kind. Everything’s scarier when it’s on fire, isn’t it?” A ball of twisting flames shot in my direction and I pulled my wing in to swerve. “Missed on purpose.” He was taunting us. We were fighting for our lives, and he was having the time of his.
    I was so new to my dragon, to my fire, to fighting. But Mother and Bay had fought too many battles in their lifetimes. They were tired. They were afraid. After years spent fighting, serving, and ultimately hiding from Brandubh, it was no secret a pivotal moment would come. This was it. Hiding wasn't an option anymore. We had to defeat Brandub, to kill him, to have a shot at any kind of future.
    I looked to my mother, and then to Bay and said a silent prayer I could produce the fire I’d struggled to learn. “ The fire within ,” I said. “ On three .”
    The two blinked in sad, silent agreement. They knew I would have trouble holding up my end. They knew it might be a deadly mistake.
    “ Bite his evil ass ,” I sent down to Ewan before spearing toward Brandubh.
    Ewan’s renewed attack distracted Brandubh for the milliseconds we needed to coordinate our fiery charge. We called our magic, our fire, and combined the two to produce the damnable weapon that only natural dragons possessed.
    Because of its rarity, dragon fire was an enigma to most people. It was superior, deadly magic, and the primary source of the public’s fear.It was also the reason my mother and her people had been hunted and acquired as weapons. But at that moment, it was the weapon we needed to fight Brandubh.
    The force of our incendiary assault snapped his head like a right hook. He swung his arms in wide arcs, wind milling to stay upright, but we persisted. He stumbled backward, finally throwing an arm in front of his face as a shield.
    Even as Brandubh faltered, he flung angry bursts of power, landing another at Gresham, who had circled behind the sorcerer, angling to take him out with teeth or tail.
    Ewan, whose continued assault had bloodied both he and Brandubh, had only the use of three legs and was bleeding from his shoulder. It had taken all of us, but Brandubh was disoriented and partially disabled. What would have decimated a normal being in a matter of seconds was wearing slowly on Brandubh, his ability to fend off our attack unnaturally strong.
    I looked so deep into my chakra I saw, I felt, I was light pulsing like a blinding beacon of white. I widened my eyes at the recognition of my very own power. The force, the sheer quantity of it astounded me. And it scared me. I didn't know what to do with it, but I knew we needed it. Some instinct took over and I opened to it, imagining my chest