My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0787

Enzo

The acrid stench of smoke scorched my lungs with every labored breath, the ash-choked air searing my throat as I stumbled blindly through the smoldering ruins of the forest. Ash crunched beneath my boots, embers glowing like crimson eyes in the hazy gloom that had enveloped me.

All around me, the deafening roars and screeches of Mila's dragon form echoed through the nightmarish realm she had created, shaking the very ground with their sheer reverberations. I gritted my teeth, my fingers curling into fists as I pressed forward, driven by a single, desperate thought.

Nina.noveldrama

Had she made it out alive? Was she safe, somewhere beyond the reach of the inferno that had consumed the forest? Or had the unthinkable occurred, her life snuffed out amidst the chaos like so many others?

The thought was unbearable, a lead weight settling in the pit of my stomach. I shouldn't have left her. I shouldn't have let her go.

"Nina!" I rasped, my voice little more than a strained croak as I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Nina, where are you?!"

Only silence answered my call, punctuated by the distant roars that seemed to reverberate through my very bones. I strained my ears, desperate to catch even the faintest hint of her voice amidst the cacophony of destruction.

Then, like a siren's call cutting through the madness, I heard it—a familiar voice, faint but unmistakable, crying out my name.

"Enzo!"

My heart leapt into my throat as I whirled around, my gaze darting through the smoke shrouded haze in search of the source of the familiar voice. "Nina!" I shouted, my voice cracking with a combination of desperation and the soot I had inhaled. "I'm here! Where are you?"

But the voice seemed to shift and distort, drifting through the haze. Before, it had seemed to come from one direction, but now it seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once.

"Enzo!" the voice cried out, echoing around me like it was taunting me. "Enzo, behind you!"

I whirled around, but there was nothing-nothing but haze and smoke. I thought I heard a giggle then, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come, leaving me to wonder just what was fake and what was reality.

Suddenly, the roars of the dragon in the sky grew louder, more insistent, as if Mila had somehow sensed my frantic search and sought to drown out Nina's voice with her own thunderous bellows. I grit my teeth, my resolve hardening as I pressed onward, refusing to be deterred.

Then, amidst the chaos, new sounds pierced the veil the unmistakable clash of steel and the guttural cries of battle. My steps faltered as I strained to pinpoint the source, my brow furrowing in bewilderment.

Could it be? Had reinforcements arrived? Nina had mentioned that her father and his warriors were supposed to come, but I didn't know if they had made it.

Shouldering my way through a bank of swirling smoke, I emerged into a nightmarish scene-a bloodied battlefield strewn with the broken bodies of Aldric's warriors, their armor rent and their faces frozen in expressions of fear and agony.

Burnt and bloody, charred and contorted, they looked like fried and discarded bits of rotten meat. It almost made me gag, but I couldn't even spare the time to do that.

And towering over the entire scene, her massive form silhouetted against the smoldering sky, was Mila, her jaws gaping wide as she unleashed another deafening roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth.

Aldric himself stood at the forefront of the fray, his silver sword a blur of motion as he deflected the sweeping arcs of Mila's talons. His warriors rallied around him, their numbers dwindling with each passing moment as the dragon's onslaught continued unabated.

I had never seen him like this before. Suddenly, right in front of my eyes, the jovial middle-aged werewolf with graying hair and a slightly rounded belly was a warrior clad in armor, like something straight out of fantasy.

This was the great Alpha King. This was the man of legend. And seeing him, like the greatest commander that had ever lived, bolstered me. I had to join the fight, help in any way I could, even if it was the last thing I ever did. Without a moment's hesitation, I surged forward, shifting into my wolf form. My paws hit the scorched ground, barely managing to maneuver me around a blaze of fire that was released from Mila's throat.

The dragon recoiled with a thunderous bellow of pain and fury as Aldric lanced his sword into her belly, her massive tail lashing out in a wide arc that sent warriors scattering in all directions. I ducked beneath the lethal swing, my paws skidding across the ash-strewn ground as I landed beside Aldric.

The Alpha King lifted his head, his eyes widening when he recognized me. "Enzo!" he cried out above the din." Her wing! Go for her wing!"

He didn't need to tell me twice. While he continued slashing at her underbelly, I surged forward. I pivoted and struck, this time targeting the vulnerable joint of her wing with my jaws.

Mila let out an enraged screech that seemed to split the air, her powerful wings beating furiously as she took to the skies, raining down a torrent of flame and debris. But despite her frenzy, there was blood dripping onto the ground -hot, neon green, and acidic, but blood nonetheless.

Through the haze of smoke and ash, I caught sight of Aldric again, his face grim and streaked with soot as he fought his way back toward me. His eyes met mine, a silent acknowledgment passing between us—a shared understanding of the gravity of the moment, the weight of the world resting upon our shoulders.

"You must find Nina!" he shouted over the din of battle, his voice strained but unwavering. "Get her to safety, and I will handle this beast!"

I shifted back and opened my mouth to protest, but Aldric's steely gaze brooked no argument. With a curt nod, he turned and charged back into the fray, his blade raised high as he rallied his warriors for one final, desperate assault.

Gritting my teeth, I cast one last glance towards the warriors before turning and fleeing into the smoke-choked forest once more.

Nina's voice echoed in my mind, a ghostly whisper that seemed to beckon me onward, urging me forward with each frantic step.

The hours that followed blurred together in a nightmarish haze, the landscape shifting and distorting around me as I pressed onward, my body pushed to the brink of exhaustion. I shifted back into my wolf form, a desperate attempt to siphon what little of my wolf's strength I had left so I could keep going.

At times, I could have sworn I heard Nina's voice echoing in the smoke.

"Enzo," she would call out, oddly calm despite the smoke and embers in the air and the distant crackle of flames and the din of frightened and dying wildlife. "Enzo..."

Each time, I would whirl around, my gaze darting wildly through the smoke and ash, only to be met with the same oppressive silence.

Then, just as I felt my strength beginning to wane, a new sound cut through the madness-the faint murmur of voices, punctuated by bursts of laughter that seemed to drift towards me like a beacon in the gloom.

Laughter.