Rafe couldn’t believe his eyes as Sphaira slipped into view. Nearly a dozen dragons darkened the skies, but he’d expected those. What he’d never anticipated was the flood of magic reflecting off the crystal domes and bursting through smoke. What he’d never dared imagine was the sight of avians and mages working together to fight a common enemy. Yet as he neared, the truth was undeniable.
While flocks of birds from every house concentrated on fighting the dragons with swords and spears, a small set of pyro’kines raced between them, stopping the flames and taming the fires. Aero’kines stirred the winds, sending the beasts off balance so their attacks went astray. Two concentrated auras of blue and green rose from opposite ends of the city, what he could only imagine were water and earth mages fighting the two hybrid creatures. While Da’Kin had been drowning beneath the onslaught, somehow Sphaira was holding on. Maybe because it was a city built of crystal instead of wood. Maybe because its soldiers now had both wings and magic. Maybe because the sight lines were clear so high above the fog. Rafe didn’t know, but he was proud—until he noticed one being was absent.
Where is it? Where is it?
The shadow creature was missing, and the realization sent a pang of dread down Rafe’s spine. If it had already reached the stone, they were doomed. Lyana couldn’t fight it on her own. Yet a golden gleam still emanated from the palace looming in the center of the city, and though the isle was dropping, the pace was almost too slow to notice, gradual and controlled. She was alive. She had to be, which meant there was still time.
All right, Taetanos, you vicious bastard. Fate stole my family. It took my wings. It turned me into a dragon. For once in my gods-damned life, you owe me a win.
Help me find it.
Help me save her.
The breeze shifted direction and a billowing plume of smoke brushed to the side, unmasking the black figure hiding in the darkness. Rafe dove for the spot, cutting through the air with all the speed he could muster.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Before he got there, a brilliant white beam slammed into the creature, eliciting a wail. Rafe followed the path to its owner and a laugh barked through his lips, easing the tension in his shoulders. Brighty, of course it was Brighty, but not on her own two feet. The raven agro’kine, Amara, had created a harness made of vines. As her obsidian wings carved a path through the sky, Brighty hung below her like a fish in a net, one hand gripping the leafy stalks for dear life while the other blasted magic at the monster. Unlike in the mist, it couldn’t simply meld into the shadows and disappear. Up here, surrounded by glistening translucent stone, compact ivory snow, and radiant noon sunshine, its onyx scales stood starkly out. The creature dove for the nearest ash cloud to take refuge in the soot.
“About bloody time you got here!” Brighty shouted.
“Where’s the queen?”
“Hell if I know—ahh!”
A high-pitched scream tore through her lips as Amara swooped in a sharp arc to the right. The blood rushed from Brighty’s face and her fingers tightened around the vines. With gritted teeth, she sent another flash of magic into the dark. The creature howled.
“We have to find a way to kill it,” he yelled.
Despite the urgency of the situation, she found the time to offer him a pointed glare. “Well, magic alive, Rafe! What do you think I’m doing?”
“I just have to get close enough to sever its head. We need a plan.”
“By all means, take your time!”
She was right. He needed to act fast. An onyx wing sifted through the ash and Rafe dove, hastily shouting over his shoulder, “Wait for my signal!”
Soot stung his eyes as he flew into the smoke. Darkness stole his sight. He didn’t need it. Using the bond at the back of his mind as a guide, Rafe slammed into the shadow demon. They grappled, scales and skin clashing. He went for its wings and bent them backward as he hugged the creature to his chest, clenching his fingers in an iron grip. Carrying both their weights, he soared back into the daylight.
“Now!”
“Now what?”
“Your magic!”
“But Rafe—”
“Now!”
Energy pierced from all sides, stinging his skin. The creature in his arms thrashed as a wail spilled from its lips. Rafe clutched it tightly, ignoring the pain as his magic rushed to heal the burns. Hugging his wings to his back, he dropped from the sky with the creature. They landed hard against the ice. A bone in his forearm snapped. The creature’s wings crunched. Rafe dug a knee into its chest as he dragged his uninjured arm free from where it was stuck between snow and scales, and reached for his dagger. The demon got a hand free. Talons dug into his wrist as fingers wrapped around his arm. They wrestled while Brighty’s magic raged. On top, Rafe took the brunt of the beam and the tough hide of his wings smoldered. Already depleted from the fight within the mist, his magic struggled to keep up with the demand. As though sensing the weakness, the shadow beast roared, flashing teeth. In a burst of strength, it flung Rafe across the snow and retreated.
“No!”
The creature disappeared behind a wall of blinding ivory, one of its onyx wings dragging in the snow. On his hands and knees, Rafe geared up for another attack, preparing to launch himself across the ice. Something wrapped around his ankles and tugged him backward.
“You idiot! That was your plan?”
Rafe came to a stop at Brighty’s feet, the vine around his leg retreating under Amara’s command. “I almost had it!” he said, jumping to his feet. “It’s injured. Just let me—”
“I almost bloody killed you!” Brighty snapped and grabbed his shoulder, surprisingly efficient at holding him back despite their size difference. “Only you could come up with such a ridiculous, self-sacrificing, self-mutilating—ugh! Did it ever occur to you that just because you have healing magic doesn’t mean you need to use it?”
No.
It hadn’t.
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
“Go find Captain and Archer.”
“Why?”
“Because your plan sucked, and I obviously came up with something better.”
“But the creature! It—”
“I’ve got it,” she said, her exasperation at an all-time high as she nudged her chin toward where her magic still beamed over the wide city street. Through the shimmering ivory, he could only just make out the dark outline of a body. “I’m using the reflection off the crystals to form a light cage. As long as it's grounded, this should hold it, but I’d rather not test that theory.” Even as she said it, a cloud of darkness rose from the center of the light, pushing against her barrier. A sneer flitted across her lips. “Bring me Captain and Archer. Now!”
Rafe took to the sky, casting a single glance below as Brighty sent another wave of power to combat the shadow, light and dark warring for dominance. She would hold it. She was too damn stubborn not to.
Shifting his focus to the battle raging in the city, Rafe searched for the telltale haze of aero’kine magic. Streaks of it raced across the breeze, plowing into the dragons, but only two of those yellow flows started from the ground. One would be Patch, the other Captain. He took a gamble, arching left toward the closer target.
An arrow whizzed by his ear.
What the…?
Another whistled through the air and he dove to escape it. A spear came next, narrowly missing his shoulder.
My wings, he realized, catching sight of the flaming scales in his peripheral vision. My gods-damned wings.
“I’m not—” he tried to shout, stopping abruptly to escape the volley of three arrows sailing in his direction. A magic-laced gust of wind whooshed by, blowing the weapons off course.
“He’s one of us, you blasted fools!” Captain stood below with her arms raised as the colorful fabrics of her hair danced wildly around her face. He’d been an idiot for not realizing she was Cassi’s mother. The look in her icy blue eyes was just as lethal as the one he’d seen on her daughter’s face, but luckily, this time it wasn’t turned on him. “He’s the King Born in Fire!”
“Vesevios is the only king of fire they understand,” Rafe said as he landed by her side.
Captain spared him a glance, a frown on her lips. “What are you doing here? You’re going to get yourself killed. Find the queen.”
“We need to deal with the shadow creature first. Brighty has it trapped. She told me to find you and Archer.”
“Archer?”
He nodded.
Grooves dug into her weathered skin. “He’s helping with the dragons. I don’t know where.”
“I’ll find him. Can you get to Brighty?”
Captain raised a brow in his direction and a wind tunnel funneled down from the sky, wrapping them both in whipping gales. Shaking his head, Rafe stepped out of the tornado just as her feet began to lift from the snow. Sticking low to the ground this time, he launched into the air and searched the city for the pine-green sparks of ferro’kine magic.
There.
There.
There.
None of those trails led back to the ground. Lyana’s army had grown in the weeks they’d been beneath the mist. At least a dozen, maybe two, mages with wings raced across the sky, openly using their power in a display he never thought he would live to see. They were a long way from those hours in the cave when he and Lyana had first met, magic creating a deep trust between two strangers who’d only known fear.
“Rafe! Watch out!”
He spun just in time to see a flash of green redirect the spear two feet from lodging into his spine. Magic his people could deal with, or at least tolerate, but a man with dragon wings was apparently beyond their comprehension.
Just my luck.
“Archer!” Rafe dove toward the sound of the man’s voice, searching for him in the nearby streets and finding him crouched behind a crumbling crystal wall. “Brighty needs you—”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a chain shot up from Archer’s feet. The bottom end wrapped around his waist as Rafe snatched the top piece and lifted the man into the air. A swirling storm of white and black ballooned across the northern edge of the city. Taking the most direct path, Rafe flew past three dragon fights and swerved around the palace, the warm glow of Lyana’s magic bringing a brief sense of peace among the chaos. Shoots of green darted by his face as Archer watched his back, redirecting any wayward arrows his own people volleyed toward him. By the time they returned to Brighty, sweat dripped down her brow. She didn’t spare them a glance, keeping her focus on the battle of light and shadow.
“Archer,” she said through gritted teeth, “do you remember what we did to that cryo’kine who attacked Jolt a few years back?”
“Hell, yes.”
“Good. You ready, Captain?”
“I’m ready.”
“Rafe, when I say so, you better put those swords you’re always carrying around to good use, or I might just have Archer stab you with them. All right, everyone—now!”
A blinding flash of white made Rafe’s vision spot. Just as quickly, the glow disappeared and the raging black-and-white storm winked out. The creature stood in the center of the street, its dark scales stark against the icy cityscape. One of its onyx wings dragged along the ground, the bones shattered from their earlier fall. Before it could run, chains shot through the air and wrapped around its hands and ankles. They tightened. It dropped to its knees, struggling with the binds. Captain ran across the snow. Shadows exploded from the creature's mouth, flowing out in a smoky plume that enveloped them whole. Only the subtle glow of Archer’s magic broke up the spreading wave of darkness. Rafe jumped forward, but Brighty held him back.
“Wait.”
“But Captain—”
“Wait,” she repeated more firmly.
Nothing happened.
The shadows spread until the darkness nearly spilled over his toes.
“Brighty—”
He broke off as the smoke abruptly vanished. Captain stood with her palms against the creature’s face, her fingers glowing yellow as they covered its nose and mouth. The shadow monster froze, its eyes wide as though it were in shock.
“Now!”
Brighty shoved him from behind and Rafe charged, his wings and feet propelling him across the snow. He gripped one of his swords with both hands, the leather soft and worn. Captain watched him approach, waiting until the blade arced over his shoulder before jerking out of the way. The creature inhaled sharply, its throat expanding as it gulped down air. Rafe slashed toward the mark. His sword flashed, catching the sunlight, and then a gush of black blood splattered into the sky as he lopped the creature’s head clear off.
Two down, he thought as the lifeless black scales collapsed, spilling ebony sludge across the snow. Five to go.
“How’d you do that?” Rafe asked, turning from the carnage as the remaining creatures wailed in the back of his thoughts.
“I stole the air from its lungs,” Captain explained as she wiped an onyx dollop from her cheek. The spots along her clothes wouldn’t be so easy to remove. “It’s a nasty little trick, and it can only be done from close range, but it’s effective. A normal human would’ve been dead long before your sword reached it.”
“Rafe!” The shrill edge to Brighty’s shout sent his heart racing. “We might have a problem…”
He spun. Over her shoulder, a firestorm sped toward the city, the bubbling orange blaze charging like the sun unleashed. But Brighty’s wide eyes were pointed in the other direction. He pivoted. A brilliant, billowing ball of yellow swept across the barren tundra. Two bonds he hadn’t even noticed burned brighter in the back of his mind. The fire creature and the air creature were here, which meant there was only one more left to hatch—the aethi’kine creature.
The light of the sun dimmed. Rafe looked up to find a haze creeping across previously clear skies. The upper layer of the mist was starting to swallow the House of Peace. They were running out of time.
“Go.” Captain met his gaze, the same realization flaring in her eyes. “We can handle them. Get to the queen.”