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spells, however powerful, would not destroy it.
Kyllian gestured their army to attack again, but just as they
focused their energies, a loud screech assaulted Hash, hurting his
sensitive ears. Hash ignored it and, following Kyllian s example, sent
another firebolt toward the crystal.
Unfortunately, the crystal seemed to decide it would not just stand
around to be attacked. The shadows around it took shape, and
demonic forms appeared from the necromantic magic. At first, Hash
had no trouble dispatching a couple, but then, an odd black light filled
his vision. Suddenly, he found himself facing not a necromantic
crystal or evil spirits but Sassaki, Alcharr, Yane, Owen, and even
Kyllian Kyllian, who should have been right there by his side.
Unavoidably, Hash panicked. It allowed Alcharr or the thing
that looked like it to scratch his chest, his wicked claws leaving
behind burning trails of pain. Even his father showed up, a heavy
wing making Hash collapse on the bottom of the magical raft. He
might have been able to fight against that, but not against Owen,
whose slender form fell on top of him, punching him with surprising
strength.
Dazed, Hash tried to summon his fire, but his beast was confused.
His dragon sensed this was not their mate but at the same time, felt
reluctant to attack. His confusion allowed fake Owen to push him
down into the water. Almost instantly, the poisoned liquid began to
burn Hash s skin and eyes. Fake Owen seemed unaffected and
continued to bury him deeper into the polluted waters.
Hash almost thought he d die like this, defeated by his own heart,
but a strong arm tore Owen away and pulled him out of the water.
Hash found himself in the unlikely embrace of his half brother.
It s not him, Chek said. Get yourself together.
Craving Owen 201
Thank you, Hash gasped out. He looked at his brother, and he
realized the other dragon looked quite shaken as well. With the
number of familiar-looking people attacking them, Chek was the only
one he could trust. His ever-present jealousy and resentment toward
his sibling clearly kept the crystal from exploiting their relationship.
Chek must have thought the same thing, as he gestured toward the
fighting people. We have to try to take out those who look like
people who would not be here.
Hash nodded. Sassaki, Alcharr, and Owen had not come, as they
were not magical beings and could not help in this battle. The wyrm
and the eagle were currently trying to control the unstable situation
between the wyrms, the dryads, and the eagles. Any approaching
figure who looked like them was an enemy.
With that plan in mind, Hash started blasting his fake lovers.
Every time a firebolt hit one of them, he felt it as if it were his own
pain. Hash forced himself to see beyond appearances and focused on
the connection between him and the other men. These creatures were
merely a lie, he reminded himself, a lie and a mockery of the affection
between him and his lovers. They needed to be destroyed. The
thought anchored him and gave him renewed strength and
determination. Slowly, he began to push the demonic forms back. As
it turned out, Chek helped a lot. On some occasions, they could not
take out an enemy, since it looked like one of their present loved ones
for both him and Chek, but oftentimes, the ones Hash couldn t touch
didn t coincide with Chek s.
Of course, that didn t mean they were winning the battle. Even as
they destroyed the creatures, more and more appeared. The crystal
was learning, however, and the new ones took the shape of the men
present.
If they continued to attack the demonic manifestations, they
would not get anywhere, and at any rate, they could not hope to win
against an army looking like the people they loved. Even if they told
themselves it wasn t real, even if they just followed their senses, the
202 Scarlet Hyacinth
spell was simply too strong. They needed to go to the source, to the
crystal itself.
Of course, it was easier said than done. Whatever they did, the
crystal countered. The spells they managed to cast at the thing failed
completely.
All of a sudden, Chek roared. For a few moments, Hash was
confused and followed his brother s gaze to a certain spot around
them. It seemed some of the demons had surrounded Chek s half fae
lover, Rallion. Sandros was with him. As healers, the two could not
attack anything directly but insisted on coming, regardless.
Rallion and Sandros surrounded themselves in strong shields.
When that didn t work, Sandros directed a spell at one of their
attackers. Shockingly, the thing screeched and disappeared in a poof
of dark smoke.
Of course. The crystal absorbed life magic. It had grown to
unreasonable proportions after ages of feeding on it. But it had been
the enchantment who d allowed it to do so. With the filter of the spell,
the raw black magic would be vulnerable to light magic. They d
thought the same magic that worked before would help, but they d
forgotten its nature was different here in the astral realm. Essentially,
they needed to heal the crystal. How had it not occurred to them?
It seemed that Kyllian realized this at the same time as they did. A
lightning bolt swept over the area around Sandros and Rallion. Get
them to attack the crystal, he shouted at Hash.
As it turned out, from their entire army, only two people were
actually useful. The rest of them struggled to form a barrier around
the fae and keep all distractions at bay. Through their new purpose,
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