Page 166

From overhead, scores of Tirenese rain down elemental attacks to protect the magic-less foreigners. Heated swords cut through flesh. Timed blasts choke opponents. Dust and dirt fill eyes. Water slicks the ground in front of our enemies yet doesn’t hinder us.

A few clusters of people work together with merged power.

Apparently, some folks listened to us when we sent those training manuals.

Rafe appears at my side, chin lifted in defiance despite the exhaustion evident in every line of his body. His air magic manages only to buffet the approaching monsters rather than repel them.

Still, flinging dust in their eyes is enough to slow them down and screw up their aim. “We need to regroup. Central position. We’ll last longer together.”

And maybe coax the monsters away from the civilians.

I nod, too winded to speak, already searching for Sterling.

He’s surrounded by three creatures, each more horrific than the last. Blood streams from a deep gash across his forehead, turning one side of his face into a crimson mask. His wings are extended for balance, several feathers bent or broken.

Like me, his magic no longer cloaks him. The water only envelops his arms, while I confine my fire to my wings.

“Sterling!” My voice cracks with the effort to be heard over the fighting. “Fall back!”

His gaze slides toward me, his brown eyes meeting mine for just a heartbeat. Long enough for me to appreciate the grim determination there, the love, the apology. He knows, as I do, that we’re losing. That everything we’ve done, everything we’ve sacrificed, might not be enough.

A burst of emotions threatens to undo me.

Pure, unadulterated rejection of loss, and a raging desire to fight, to incinerate, to rip enemies apart with teeth and claws.

I know that rage.

So like my own.

A grin splits my lips, baring my teeth as the urge to bite and burn fills my throat. My entire body vibrates with savage glee. “Dragons!”

A shadow passes overhead.

Massive. Familiar.

And furious. So. Fucking. Furious.

My heart leaps.

My dragons came.

I’d sent them away, ordered them to safety. They were supposed to be far away from here, protected from divine wrath. Yet they’ve come to dive toward the battlefield with their talons extended and their wings folded for speed. Three of them wheel above the arena, scales flashing shades of emerald, sapphire, and black.

Fire erupts from Ryu’s maw, and the stream of liquid flame engulfs a cluster of divine creatures. The monsters shriek, their otherworldly flesh blackening and bubbling. The mighty blue dragon lands, but only for a second. Just long enough to snatch up a clawful of rock golems.

Then he takes to the skies again. The air pressure changes as he beats his massive wings, creating a downdraft that forces the lighter creatures to the ground. Rendering them vulnerable.

Rubble rains down.

Broken parts of the golem fall strategically on the heads of our enemies.

Mygist seizes a particularly large abomination in his claws, lifting the thrashing creature high above the arena before releasing it.

The beast falls, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. Its body shatters on impact.

Tanwen circles lower, his green scales glinting as he lands beside Sterling. He opens his mouth, spewing red-orange fire and swinging his clubbed tail like a thresher.

They’re risking everything to help us. To defend their homeland and the people they willingly share it with.