SPELLBOUND

"Princess, your father's eye color is amber, right?" Zolan still asked, despite knowing that all dragon guardian had that distinct feature of having an amber-colored eyes.

"Yes. Why? What has that got to do with any of this?" Evie was confused at where the question was headed to.

At Evie's answer, Zolan's jaws clenched. At that moment, he realized that they were royally screwed. He had seen the guardian's appearance before, and though this Lucius still appeared the same, he still felt that there was something off with the man. After observing carefully, he saw that his eyes were no longer the bright and warm amber that Evie had confirmed with him, but an olive-green hue serpent-like eyes, as well as that evil smirk plastered on his face, Zolan gnashed his teeth before his gaze flew back to Evie.

"Princess… I think your father is not himself anymore." Zolan hated to be the bearer of bad news to Evie but he could only tell her the truth now.

"Wh-what do you mean?!" Evie was taken aback, shock reflected on her face.

"His eyes are different now… they seem to be more serpent-like… I believe that the dark fae… must have possessed your father's body."

Shock and disbelief filled Evie's eyes and before she could shake her head in denial, the dragon that had been flying high above the meadow suddenly dove downwards.

The dragon landed right in front of Caius' army.

"What's going on?" Evie asked frantically. She could see the dragon landing on the ground like an obedient pet. She knew for sure that her father's or the previous guardians' dragons never did that. The dragons usually simply fly over the sky upon being summoned, then after breathing out fire and destroying everything, it would fly away and return to where it came from, leaving the guardian exhausted as their powers were drained from the summoning.

"T-the guardian is climbing up the dragon's back." Zolan informed Evie, and she could only stand there in shock, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. That was totally unheard of! A dragon guardian climbing on top of the dragon's back? That was something that had never happened before! Never!

On the ground, Gavriel calmly clenched the hilt of his sword in his grip as his gaze was fixed against the man who was now seated on the back of the dragon. There were no other explanations. This man was not himself anymore. He was no longer Lucius, the doting father of Evie, nor just merely human anymore. He was now… something else. Gavriel was glad he had sent Evie away. Because he did not know what going to happen at the rate things are progressing this way.

When his gaze met that serpent-like eyes, Gavriel immediately felt the danger. It was extreme enough that he could sense it all the way from this side. And that gave him the chills – not because he was afraid for himself, but he was afraid for how it would affect Evie. He knew right then and there that it was not going to be as easy a war as he had expected and planned.

The moment the dragon catapulted powerfully off the ground with only one flap of its mighty wings, bearing together with it the seemingly possessed guardian on its back, Gavriel roared. "Everyone spread out!"

The Dacrians moved immediately to the prince's order and then the fire came rolling in.

"Attack!!!" he ordered nonetheless, and his men advanced to clash against Caius' army. Gavriel knew that no matter what, his soldiers could never be able to do any harm against the dragon. Thus, their only choice now was for his men to attack the enemy soldiers instead of just being burnt to the ground. If the dragon still went after them, at least, it would burn the enemies along with them.

He, on the other hand, changed direction, leaving the battle on the ground to Samuel and his other men.

His aim was to kill the dragon. There were no one else who could do this. On top of that, Gavriel did not want any harm to come to Lucius, though he believe he was now being possessed by the dark fae. If he could kill the dragon, and capture Lucius, they might be able to find a way to undo the possession of the dark fae. Gavriel promised to himself that he would do just so – as this was his wife's father. She would definitely be heartbroken if anything happened to him, even though that person was currently not quite her father anymore.

As the dragon breathed out fire on his attacking soldiers, Gavriel stood there, as still as a stone and looking up into the sky, bidding his time. His eyes then began changing from red to vivid blue. He could see the man at the back of the dragon laughing hysterically, watching the vampires being scorched and reduced to ashes. All the expressions that flashed across his face was the definition of evil and Gavriel was glad his wife was not present down here with him to be able to see this.

When the dragon finally aimed its flames at him, Gavriel dodged the ball of fire with ease. The man's laughter halted and his face contorted with anger. The dragon roared and then it came after Gavriel.

His soldiers and Caius' army finally clashed fiercely. The sound of clashing swords and the battle sounds began to fill the once silent atmosphere.

Gavriel continued luring the dragon towards the watchtower. He had glanced at the man maneuvering the dragon-killing arrow and gave him the orders to shoot the dragon down when it was within range.

Unbeknownst to him, Evie was still up there on the watchtower. Further back from the walls and watching what was happening from her higher vantage point.

Seeing that dragon was reaching them, Evie's eyes circled wide as she stood there, frozen. Time seemed to have halted and she clearly saw how the dragon received a huge arrow that was aimed right in the centre of its chest.

As she watched the dragon sway and fall slowly, lessening its distance from where she was, Evie felt the heat in her chest intensify. Completely oblivious that the necklace had been glowing up for a while now since the dragon flew towards the watchtower, and that the closer the dragon got to her, the brighter the glow grew.

And at that very moment, without her realizing, the amber glow was already enveloping her.