The Dark God's Bride Trilogy, #3 by Dahlia L. Summers

Even when he felt nothing for her death on a personal level, his failing to save her life left an ugly scar on his pride. He would never allow same thing to happen to Amara. There would be more than just his pride at stake should any harm come to her.
    Noctis felt that uneasy at the thought that he had almost forgotten about the large wyvern staring him down like a true predator. It hunched low and approached him predatorily. It launched itself at him, but he slashed at its face as he leaped and rolled out of the way. It abruptly swung it body around to whip him with its tail. That one was a little trickier to dodge. The move landed and launched Noctis several meters away. The wyvern released a fireball from its mouth toward him while he was down.
    Noctis rose from the fire that barely did any damage to him and smirked. Fire was his element. Realizing that it wasn’t going to be an easy meal, the wyvern roared ferociously. It took to the air and attempted to blow him away by flapping its massive webbed wings. Noctis set his feet firmly on the ground and waited for the beast to strike. The wyvern dived down from the sky in an aerial attack. Noctis sieged the opportunity to slash at the wyvern’s soft underbelly and then again at the tail. The sharp blade severed the tail in one smooth blow. The wyvern dropped to the ground and cried out in pain.
    It became enraged. Its movements went wild and unpredictable. The wyvern struck at him with its sharp teeth, and when he managed to dodge, it swung around and slammed its entire body at him. Noctis lost his balance and hit the ground. The wyvern was an opportunist. It leaped at him and attempted to trample him underneath its powerful hind legs. Noctis rolled out of the way in time and slashed at its belly multiple times. Blood was seeping out from the opening of the wyvern’s hide. The wyvern backed up a few steps, carelessly exposing its head to its enemy. Noctis slashed at its face, scattering broken pieces of scales on the ground. Severely injured, the wyvern retreated and took to the sky.
    Noctis hissed inward. The wyvern’s sharp talons had left a wide wound in his chest. His blood soak ed through the black dress shirt he was wearing, making the color look even darker but not very noticeable. He ignored it and followed the direction his bride ran off to.
    He found her half an hour later lying in the dirt. He rushed to her side and could only breathe easy again when her teary grey eyes stared back at him.
    “I tripped on a log as I was fleeing… and I couldn’t get back up,” she explained and then she panted. “I think my ribs are broken.”
    Noctis frowned when he heard her assumption. He carefully turned her over on her back. He slipped both hands under her shirt and gently inspected her ribs one by one.
    “They’re not broken,” he assured her. He was even more relieved by that fact than she was.
    “Really? Are you sure? It hurts so badly and it’s so hard to breathe.”
    “Your ribcage is intact. Perhaps you are suffering from internal injury. In that case, we’ll rest here for a little while. We’ll have that treated immediately after we get home.”
    “Only a little while?”
    “We have to keep moving,” he said. “Time is running out.”
    His bride was looking at the bright red blood that dripped onto her fingers from his chest. “You’re… bleeding!” She pressed both of her hands against his chest as though she really thought it would help stop the bleeding. 
    “It will heal.”
    She worriedly looked into his eyes and asked, “Don’t you feel pain at all?” She gasped, alarmed at how much blood was pouring out.
    “I do feel pain,” he gave her an honest answer, but then he added another fact to lessen her worries, “but I can heal.”
    She looked like she was about to cry again. Her grey-blue eyes were like t wo mirror lakes that had collected all of the sadness in the world. She was most probably crying because of the pain in her chest,