I let the power overcome me again and again, concentrating on the location of the wyvern as Tairn dodges blasts of blue fire. Finally, a strike hits the one behind us, dropping him from the sky. It hits the hillside with a satisfying crash.
“What about the venin it’s bonded to?”I tremble with the effort of controlling the power, fighting to keep it from overtaking me. Sweat drips down my face.
“Hopefully they’re like us. Kill the wyvern and the rider dies, but it’s hard to tell with so many riderless ones.”
“‘Hopefully’ isn’t the best word right now…”I turn in the saddle and watch in horror as two more riderless wyvern fly out of the valley. “The civilians need more time to reach the mine. Let’s give it to them.”
Tairn growls in agreement, and we speed back over the post.
Xaden has one wyvern by the throat, strangling it with shadows as a third-year hurls ice at its rider, and the other four are doing everything they can to drive the newcomers back with a combination of dragon fire and magic.
Power jolts through me in wave after burning wave as I wield more lightning than I ever have in practice. I swing my arm around and aim another bolt at a wyvern flying near the front gate—or what used to be the front gate. I miss the wyvern but hit an empty tower, sending stone flying in all directions, a large chunk hitting a wyvern in the tail and causing it to spin in midair.
Tairn banks another hard turn and we come back around. I take a deep breath, then call a lightning bolt—this one striking a wyvern directly in its upper back with a satisfying sizzle. The giant beast shrieks, then smashes into a nearby hillside with a thunderous boom.
Coming back around again for another pass, and heady from my recent kill, I throw out three more bolts of lightning in quick succession. Unfortunately, more speed doesn’t translate to more accuracy, and the adrenaline rush isn’t helping my aim, either. I manage to cause three more alarming explosions, though—one of which distracts a rather large wyvern that had been on Bodhi’s tail, giving him a moment’s advantage, which his dragon seizes by banking hard left and coming up behind the wyvern and sinking its teeth into its leathery gray neck. There’s an ominous crack, and then Bodhi’s dragon releases the wyvern’s lifeless body, letting it fall to the ground fifty feet below.
“On the left!” I shout as two more wyvern come into view on our rear flank.
I leave the evasive maneuvers up to Tairn and concentrate on bringing down as many strikes as possible as the wyvern gain speed on us. My arms tremble, growing weaker and weaker with each bolt I try to control to keep from hitting our own riders.
Sgaeyl is on the west side of the outpost, and my heart crawls into my throat when she flies low and Xaden does an impressive running jump off her back, landing with a roll onto the street below. Almost immediately, shadows pull in every direction and cover the people screaming as they try to run for cover from the snarling jaws of a hungry wyvern.
One of the wyvern on my tail must notice Xaden out of the saddle, because it tucks its wings for a moment, diving for the ground, only to widen them and pull out at the last minute, gliding mere feet above the silky shadows. Shit. It’s heading straight for Xaden, its jaws opening wide as though it plans to just snatch Xaden up like a quick bite to eat.
“Xaden!”I scream out loud, but he’s already noticed the wyvern, throwing a rope of shadows high above the buildings in a perfect lasso around Sgaeyl’s head, and she yanks him up off the ground and out of the path of the oncoming wyvern. One minute Xaden is dangling from the shadow rope and the next he’s back in his saddle as Sgaeyl banks for another low pass through town.
But I was so focused on Xaden, I completely forgot about the wyvern on my own tail. Tairn hasn’t, though, and starts to climb higher and higher, leading the wyvern from the post as he gains altitude nauseatingly fast.
“Violence!”Xaden screams. “Beneath you!”
I look down and gasp. A stream of blue fire billows up toward us. “Bank!”
Tairn rolls left, and my ass leaves the saddle, held in only by the straps as he rolls us upside down to narrowly avoid the blast. But when he straightens, the wyvern is still on us. My heart lurches into my throat as its mouth gapes open, its sharp, bloodied teeth snapping as it lunges for Tairn’s side.
“No!” I lift my arms to throw a bolt in its direction and prepare for impact.
A blur of blue shoots between us, and the wyvern is knocked away by the body of a navy dragon—Sgaeyl. Her jaws tear through the side of the wyvern in several rapid, brutal bites, flesh ripping and blood spraying in the most vicious midair meal I have ever seen. Then she flips and catches the devoured wyvern by the head with her daggertail, sending its dead body sailing several hundred feet before crashing to the ground.
Sgaeyl picks up speed, banks, and flies right by us, her wing gliding under Tairn’s almost affectionately—which is in complete contrast to the menacing glare that seems directed at me, wyvern blood still dripping from her jaws. Message received. It’s her job to keep an eye on Xaden’s back, and mine is to watch Tairn’s.
I do a quick turn in my saddle, checking all our sides for more wyvern, then tell Tairn, “Let’s climb so we can get a better count of what we’re facing.”
We’ve barely made it a hundred feet above the town when I spy Liam and Deigh flying hard and fast in the opposite direction, with a venin riding a wyvern on his tail.
“Liam needs help!” I rush to explain.
“On it,” Tairn says, flipping us in midair. We hang in the sky for a second before his massive wings catch the air and turn us so that we’re heading straight for Liam.
The venin raises a staff of some sort, sending balls of blue flame at Deigh, but he manages to avoid them all as Liam stands up and runs along Deigh’s spine toward his daggertail. At the last second, Deigh uses his tail to whip Liam up into the air toward the wyvern. I don’t even have time to scream before he lands in a crouch on the wyvern’s rear and pulls out one of the runed daggers like the two Xaden gave me.
The venin whips around, raising his staff, but Liam is brutally fast and slits the venin’s throat with sickening precision. The wyvern stops beating its wings within seconds, its heavy body free-falling to the ground, and Liam leaps from his back just as Deigh flies beneath, easily catching him.
A wyvern flies at us from the left, approaching with great beats of its wings.
“Tairn!”Power fills my veins and I lift my hands, but Tairn rolls, flipping my world upside down as he rakes his claws and morningstartail along the wyvern, from throat to tail, splitting it open in midair, then leveling out as the wyvern streaks a bloody path to the ground.
The rush in my head is a result of more than Tairn’s acrobatics.
For the first time since we agreed to try to defend the civilians in this trading post, since we were told there were four venin and no way we could win, a little bit of the panic sitting on my chest starts to ease. We might actually be able to survive today. Maybe.
Just then, another wyvern drops out of a cloud above us, diving at Tairn, gaining speed as it tucks in its wings, becoming a teeth-tipped spear.
There’s no time for evasive maneuvers. It’s seconds away—but red fills my vision and Deigh is there, driving into the side of the massive gray beast.
There’s no breath of relief as the collision sends Liam hurtling off Deigh’s back and across the base of Tairn’s neck at breakneck velocity.
“Violet!”
“Liam!” I catch his scrambling hands as he slides by and hold on, a cry escaping as my shoulders pop and subluxate from the strain of catching his weight, and Tairn pitches in a sharp turn to follow Deigh. “Hold on!”
Grimacing, Liam crawls forward on his elbows despite the impossible angle, then grasps the pommels of the saddle. I throw myself over him, sheltering his head and holding on with everything I have as Tairn rolls and banks to keep close but clear of Deigh and the massive gray wyvern.
Locked in battle only a few feet away, their talons shred through the scales of the other amid snapping teeth—and Deigh’s catastrophic roars of pain. They’re too close for me to act, and there’s no guarantee I’ll hit the wyvern and not Deigh with my lightning.
There’s nothing I can do but secure Liam.
Grabbing the lap belt I never use, I wind it around Liam’s torso and buckle it. “That should hold you until we can get you back to Deigh, but I can’t wield without hitting him!” I yell as wind whips around us.
The agony in his eyes steals my breath.
“Why did you do that?” I cry, my fingers searching for purchase on his leathers to pull him closer. I settle for the back of his collar and yank. “Why would you risk it?” Gods, if anything happens to them…
His gaze collides with mine. “That thing was going to take a chunk out of Tairn. You’ve saved my life and now it’s my turn. No matter what you think of me for keeping secrets, we’re friends, Violet.”
Response is impossible as Tairn rolls again, lifting Liam’s entire body, and the leather belt slips to just under his arms. I fist my hands in the back of his flight leathers, but there’s not much to grab on to. Heartbeats pass and I can’t breathe, can’t think past the desperation to keep Liam safe, until Tairn levels out again, trying to stay as close as he can to Deigh without risking any of us in the process.
But then Deigh’s scream slices me to the bone as the two lock into a dive.
“Can’t you do something?”I beg Tairn.
“Working on it!”He pitches right and plummets, positioning himself around the downward-spiraling duel to strike. It should be us fighting for our lives, not Liam and Deigh.
And gods, Deigh is losing, which means Liam—
My throat constricts. No. Not going to happen.
“Get over here!”I shout at Xaden. Energy crackles through my hands, but there’s no clear target. They’re moving too fast.
“I’m hunting the venin at the walls!” he answers.
“Deigh is fighting for his life!”
The heartbeat of terror squeezing my chest like a vise isn’t mine. It’s Xaden’s. “If I leave, these civilians are all dead!”
We’re on our own. A quick glance at the field tells me every other dragon is locked in its own battle.
Tairn’s tail swings out, slamming into the wyvern’s hindquarters, and comes away bloody, but the fucking thing doesn’t release Deigh. Its claws flex, burrowing deeper beneath the red’s scales.
“Deigh!” Liam’s scream is raw, his voice breaking at the end.
Tairn lunges, snapping at the wyvern’s shoulder and drawing blood, but it’s not enough. He swings around to get a better angle on the wyvern, and the force nearly costs Liam his grip, but the buckle holds.
Another riderless wyvern flies at us from the right. “On the right!”
Tairn whips his body faster than I’ve ever felt and rips out the throat of the new threat, shaking the wyvern like a doll, then releases his jaws and lets the thing fall hundreds of feet to the mountainside below.
Then Tairn dives to catch up with Deigh and the wyvern as they race toward the ground.
Dread settles in my chest, ominous and heavy.
“We’re on our way!”Xaden says.
But he’ll be too late.
“Violet!” Liam shouts over the wind, and I rip my attention from the gruesome battle alongside us as we spiral downward. “We have to take out the riders.”
“I know!” I reply. “We will!” He just needs to hang on. They both do.
“No, I mean that’s the—”
Tairn lunges again, and we’re thrown sideways as he rips another hole in the wyvern’s wings with his teeth, raking down its tail with his talons, but the creature has Deigh in a death lock. Its wings are shredded now, but it doesn’t seem to care as its claws dig into Deigh’s underbelly, like it’s willing to mindlessly die to make the kill.
“It’s going to be all right,” I promise Liam, wind stinging my cheeks. It has to be all right; even though the ground rushes at us, closer and closer each second, it just…has to be.
Deigh screams again, the sound weaker and higher-pitched than the last. It’s a cry.
“We have to pull up!”Tairn warns.
“He’s dying!” Liam lunges across Tairn’s back, reaching for his dragon as if so he can touch the Red Daggertail one last time.
“Just hold—” I start, but Deigh’s shriek of pain closes my throat, strangling the words. He’s being eviscerated, and there’s nothing we can do.
The wyvern roars in victory a heartbeat before they crash into the hillside with a sickening thud. The wyvern limps away on its hind legs and the talons that tip its wings.
Deigh doesn’t move.
Liam’s raw scream shatters my heart, and Tairn flares his wings, banking hard to keep us from the same gruesome fate.
“DEIGH.” Tairn’s grief blasts through my body as he streams fire at the wyvern’s retreating back, and Andarna’s cry fills my head.
No. If Deigh…
“Is he—” I can’t bring myself to finish.
“He’s gone.”Tairn reverses course, barreling for the hillside outside the city walls where Deigh has fallen.
No. No. No. That means…
“Liam!” I grab for my friend as we land at speed, Tairn’s claws digging into the ground to stop us close to Deigh’s body.
“You only have minutes,” Tairn warns.
“Deigh,” Liam whispers, falling limp against Tairn’s back.
“I’ll get you to him,” I promise, already fumbling with the strap’s buckle. “Deigh’s gone,” I cry to Xaden, my voice a trembling mess. “Liam is dying.”
“No.”I feel his terror, his sorrow, and his overpowering anger wrap around my mind, mixing with my own until it hurts to breathe.
Minutes. We have minutes.
“Just hold on,” I whisper to Liam, fighting not to cry as he looks up at me with those sky-blue eyes, wide with shock and pain. After everything Liam has given up for me, this is the least I can do for him. I can get him to Deigh the same way I know he would carry me to Tairn or Andarna. Tairn lies down completely, flattening his massive frame as much as possible as I unstrap my thighs. Then I wrap my arms around Liam’s bulky frame and we slide down Tairn’s side, hitting our feet on the rocky hillside far from the trading post.
Deigh lies a couple of dozen feet away, his body folded at an unnatural angle.
This isn’t fair. This isn’t right. Not Deigh. Not…Liam. They’re the strongest of our year. They’re the best of us.
“Can’t make it,” Liam says, stumbling forward and tripping.
I rush to catch him as he goes down, but his substantial weight is too much for me, and we both fall to our knees. “We can make it,” I force out through my tightening throat, trying to hook his arm over my shoulders. We’re so close.
If a venin comes along, then I’ll deal with it.
“We can’t.” He crumples against me, sliding down my side. I fall back on my heels and his head lands in my lap as his body goes limp. “It’s all right, Violet,” he says, looking up at me, and I shove my goggles on top of my head so I can see him clearer.
He’s struggling to breathe.
“It’s not all right.” I want to scream with the injustice of it, but that won’t help. My hand trembles as I slide his riding goggles up to his forehead, then brush his blond hair back off his forehead. “None of this is all right. Please stay,” I beg, tears I can’t fight rolling unchecked down my cheeks. “Fight to stay. Please, Liam. Fight to stay.”
“At Parapet—” His face twists in pain. “You have to take care of my sister.”
“Liam, no.” I choke on the words as tears clog my throat. “You’ll be there.” I stroke his hair. He’s fine. He’s physically, perfectly fine, and yet I’m watching him slip away. “You have to be there.” He has to smile at the sister he’s missed for years and flash that dimple of his. He has to give her the stack of letters he’s written. He deserves it after all he’s been through.
He can’t die for me.
“Tairn,” I cry. “Tell me what to do.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Silver One.”
“We both know I won’t. Just promise you’ll take care of Sloane,” he begs, his eyes searching mine as his breaths grow ragged. “Promise.”
“I promise,” I whisper, taking his hand and squeezing, not bothering to wipe my tears. “I’ll take care of Sloane.” He’s dying and there’s nothing I can do. Nothing anyone can do. How can all this power be so fucking useless?
The pulse under my thumb slows.
“Good. That’s good.” He forces a weak smile, and that dimple makes a faint appearance before his expression falters. “And I know you feel betrayed, but Xaden needs you. And I don’t just mean alive, Violet. He needs you. Please hear him out.”
“All right.” I nod, fighting to force a watery smile. He could ask for anything right now, and I’d give it to him. “Thank you, Liam. Thank you for being my shadow. Thank you for being my friend.” He blurs in my vision as the tears come faster.
“It’s been. My honor.” Liam’s chest rattles as his lungs struggle.
A gust of wind blows the loosened strands of my braid back from my face. Seconds later, I feel Xaden racing toward us, a torrent of his emotions overwhelming my own.
“No, Liam,” Xaden chokes out as he crouches in front of us, the muscles in his face working to control his expression, but there’s no hiding the despair that pushes at our mental connection.
“Deigh,” Liam pleads in a strangled whisper, turning his head toward Xaden.
“I know, brother.” Xaden’s jaw flexes and our gazes lock above Liam as tears overflow my eyes. “I know.” He leans forward and lifts Liam into his arms, then stands, carrying him. “I’ll take you.”
He walks slowly across the gravelly terrain to Deigh’s body, saying things I can’t hear from where I kneel, the rocks digging into my knees through the fabric of the leather as I watch Xaden say goodbye.
Xaden lowers Liam, sitting him against Deigh’s unblemished shoulder, then kneels beside him, nodding slowly at whatever Liam has said.
The cry of a wyvern splits the air above us, and I look up instinctively.
A cloud of flapping gray wings moves toward us from higher up the valley. Wyvern. Dozens and dozens of wyvern.
“Look up at the valley!”
Liam’s head rolls slowly as they both look.
Xaden’s head bows, and my breath freezes in my lungs as shadows momentarily whip out around him, like a blast of menace and sorrow.
Seconds later, his soundless, soul-rending scream fills my head with such force that my heart shatters like glass against a stone floor.
I don’t need to ask. Liam is gone.
Liam, who never complained about being my shadow, never hesitated to help, never bragged about being the best of our year. He died protecting me. Oh gods, and I just asked him if we’d ever really been friends an hour ago.
Just one of those beasts managed to kill my friend; what the hell can that many accomplish?
A bloodied wyvern dives for us, and Tairn throws his wing over me. I hear the sound of his teeth snapping and a sharp cry above me before his wing retracts.
“We’re targets on the ground,” Tairn says as the wyvern flies away.
“Then let’s be the ones who hunt.” I stumble to my feet in time to see Xaden running my way.
“Violence!” Xaden grasps my shoulders, determination lining his features. “Liam told me to tell you that there are two riders with that horde.”
“Why would he tell me and not—” An anvil sits on my chest.
“Because he knew I’d have to be the one who holds off the wyvern as long as possible.” He studies my face like he’ll never see it again.
“And I’m the one who can kill them all.” It will kill me to wield that many times, but I’m the best shot we have. The best shot he has to survive.
“You can kill them.” He yanks me close and kisses my forehead. “There is no me without you,” he says against my skin.
Before I can react, he turns toward the valley and lifts his arms—throwing up a wall of shadow that consumes the space between the ridgelines. “Go! I’ll give you as much time as I can!”
Every second matters, and these are bound to be my last—our last.
In the span of one heartbeat, I look over my shoulder, past Tairn, and see the flaming ruins of the trading post. Townspeople run from the city walls, fleeing the wyvern that circle above. My stomach drops at our failure—we haven’t managed to evacuate all the civilians.
At the second beat, I draw a stuttered breath of smoke-laden air as a lone gryphon flies through the haze, followed by Garrick and Imogen on their dragons, and I can only hope the others are still alive.
In the third heartbeat, I turn back toward Liam’s and Deigh’s lifeless bodies, and rage floods my veins faster than any lightning strike I’ve ever wielded. The horde of wyvern behind Xaden’s wall will tear into Tairn and Sgaeyl just like Deigh.
And Xaden… No matter how strong he is, Xaden won’t be able to hold them forever. His arms already shake with the effort of controlling so much power. He’ll be the first to die if I’m not exactly what he called me under that tree all those months ago. Violence.
There are dozens of wyvern and one of me.
I have to be as strategic as Brennan and as confident as Mira.
I’ve spent the last year trying to prove to myself I’m nothing like my mother. I’m not cold. I’m not callous. But maybe there is a part of me that’s more like her than I care to admit.
Because right now, standing near the dead body of my friend and his dragon—all I want is to show these assholes exactly how violent I can be.
I pull my goggles down as I turn to Tairn’s shoulder, mounting quickly. There’s no need to ask him to launch, not when our emotions are aligned like this. We want the same exact thing. Revenge.
I buckle the straps across my thighs as Tairn springs upward, taking off with heavy beats of his massive wings. The bloodied wyvern has doubled back, and Tairn flies straight at it. I don’t even care if it’s the same one that just killed our friends. They’re all going to die.
As soon as we get close enough, I throw my hands out, letting all my power loose with a guttural scream. Lightning hits the wyvern on the first shot, sending the monster plummeting to the ground near the city walls.
But I never see the one coming at us from the left.
Not until I feel Tairn’s roar of pain.