Emilia kept her fingers dug into the soft earth, shaking with gratitude that no one had seen her. Meeting those islanders had stilled the chaos in her soul, for a bit. She’d felt the power bulging inside of her as she ran, pregnant with magic. She’d followed Lucian as fast as possible, wheezing all the way. She’d never been athletic, and time spent locked in a castle had atrophied what muscle she had.

But then she saw Lucian fall and the basilisk lean down to devour him, and she blazed with fury.

Apart from Alex, Lucian had been the first person in years to make her smile. Emilia would not let some wingless dragon have him.

When the thing turned and darted for the cliff—sparing Lucian, thank the blue above—Emilia had given the power its own way. All she could think was destruction, explosion, chaos, death, death, death…

She had never destroyed an entire ledge of earth before. Her arms trembled, and her hands were cold. Emilia needed to eat something, but…

First, there was the basilisk. She crouched in the brush and watched as Hyperia emerged from the forest to stare down at the monster. Had it fallen into the ocean below? Was it beyond reach? Emilia gnawed her lip as Lucian sprang from the trees and got in Hyperia’s face. He darted this way and that, his arms out, shielding the creature from her wrath. While the two shouted at each other, Emilia got a wild idea.

Why not…?

She plucked the shield from her back. Taking the spear in hand, she crept through the forest, invisible to the arguing pair. All she needed to do was come up on the basilisk’s side…

As Emilia moved forward, she heard the snap of twigs and the shuffle of feet all around. She paused in her journey, looked back, and let out a breath.

Oh no.