Thad is a fucking draken. He’s half demon, half draken.

My back hit the wall as he gathered me in his arms, his eyes completely feral. More pieces of the puzzle slid into place. This was why Benedict hated Thad. This was why Thad was taking orders from him. My head filled with more realizations. Thad’s seizures only occurred when he was near me or touching me. He’d been fighting his draken inheritance this whole time. His easy abandonment of the Cantradian forces was because of me. Thad’s gaze bore into mine, his eyes glued to the thin strip of pure, unmarked, white flesh of my wings. We both jerked involuntarily towards each other and I snarled, turning away. Now was not the time. He hissed, and pushed me harder against the wall,

So, I punched him in the face.

He reared back, blinking as clarity returned. Thad shook his head, practically pushing me away from him. “Get the children out. I’m taking over this fortress.”

Pounding feet summoned the animalistic gleam back to his eyes, and he spun around to face the oncoming hordes. I was still stuck on that one, singular thought that had changed everything.

Thad is a draken.

I wanted to say something, anything to him, but demons poured into the cavern.

He said, “Go. I will hold them off.”

“You’re a draken.” It was the only thing I could say.

Thad gathered all of his magicks to him and faced the demons, a monstrous sight. “Severn is dead. I killed him. You all answer to me now!”

A few demons knelt but others didn’t and attacked. Thad’s tattoo was white on his black draken body, and it flared to life as he summoned everything he had, blasting a large radius around us. Demons who resisted fell in droves. The children screamed and that spurred me into action.

“How many can you get out?” Thad yelled, his eyes frantically scanning the cavern as he continued fighting, pausing to scream orders and watch who submitted. I activated my blood magicks, focusing on anything that wasn’t a demon or a vampyre. The children and witches in the fortress lit up like beacons, along with every half-breed soldier.

There were thousands!

I reached down into my magick, imaging a thread that I could follow, filtering out the half breeds. It went on for ages as I tunneled down along with it, looking for the bottom of a seemingly endless reserve of energy. I finally hit the edge and resolved to stay right above the bottom, warnings of burnout ringing in my ears. I reached for all the witches, feeling the tang of their bloodlines as flashes of elements went by: fire, water, and blood. Thad’s power raged beside me, a beacon of light glowing with strength. I felt the shadow demons and the hot crackling of their uncontrolled white magicks. I saw sadness and resignation in them, resignation as they realized Severn had abandoned them. I spread my awareness throughout the castle, pushing, pushing. I felt something else; five other somethings. They weren’t as bright as Thad and yet they were familiar. Realization slammed into me a moment later, Severn’s words slicing through my consciousness. I hadn’t paid attention at the time, too worried about myself.