Chapter 33 #3
“Shade!” Thane’s desperate voice cracks across the room, and I try to look back, but by the time I do all I see is rock and open air.
I’m falling.
Down. Down. Down.
The air whistles past me, and I scream as I fall face-first toward the lava. I try to reach out with my shadows, but it’s like my brain is frozen. Was that really Thane?
My phoenix’s egg is already in the lava. It bobs on the surface before sinking, and my heart cracks. I failed her. It feels like everything moves in slow motion as I fall, and Xalgrith warriors watch from the tunnels, shouting as I descend toward the fiery pit.
The heat is nearly unbearable against my skin, and I hiss.
I can’t die. Not now. Not when the guys just found me.
I feel Tarlaz and Elgen adding to my strength. Their strange power mixes with mine, and my shadows reach out like tentacles, spreading in all directions, grappling the rocky walls.
My shadows pull taut, holding me in the air like I’m in the middle of a spider’s web, and the lava bubbles below me.
Okay, now what? Xalgrith warriors rush to the edges of the pit, their weapons in hand, and there’s a gurgling sound. I look down, frowning at the shadows that swirl on the surface of the lake. What is—
My phoenix shoots from the lava, her wings outstretched and burning with black fire as lava slides from her feathers.
Ho-ly crap! My creature is full-sized, and she lets out a piercing cry that echoes around the volcano as she soars toward me.
She comes from below, and I land on her back.
The moment we touch, our bond snaps back into place, power flooding into me as my senses heighten.
My shadows release the walls, and my phoenix lifts us higher into the air as she spirals around the pit.
“You’re alive!” I sob, my fingers gripping her warm feathers. “How?”
“It’s a pleasure to see you as well, my bonded,” she replies, her voice like tinkling bells in my mind. “For my egg to hatch, it needed extreme heat. The lava worked perfectly. And please…call me Emorie.”
I lean down to hug her neck. “Emorie?” I say her name in my mind. “That’s beautiful.”
“Is it just me or does it feel like we’re riding a giant roast chicken?” Elgen comments.
“It’s just you,” I reply with a grin. “Oh yeah, so by the way, Tarlaz and Elgen are soul bound to me now,” I tell Emorie. “Looks like we’ve got quite the party going on.”
“It would seem so,” Emorie replies, but she doesn’t seem upset about this development.
A headless Xalgrith warrior is flung from the opening in the throne room above, and the body sails past us toward the lava below.
“Thane,” I say. “I heard his voice. We need to—”
I don’t finish because shadows explode into the pit, reaching for me, searching. They wrap around me, tangling in my hair and probing against my skin.
“Shade!” Knox shouts this time, and he and Thane burst from the opening in the throne room, riding their beasts.
The opening wasn’t quite big enough, and rock crumbles around them as they make the opening even bigger.
The pair of them are covered in Xalgrith blood, and crippling relief fills their expressions the moment their gazes land on me.
“I’m okay!” I yell back, feeling like for once I actually mean it.
Bonfang and Knox circle around behind me, and Thane and Rinoc lead the way up and out of the volcano.
I snatch a glance at the throne room as we pass, and all I see is a mess of Xalgrith warriors and fallen rock. I want to ask about King Malgur, Professor Yevar, and Leira, but there’s no time for that now. I remember Leira’s eyes turning milky white. She’s lost to us again. At least for now.
We fly free of the volcano, Xalgrith spears soaring past us as Knox creates a shield with his shadows, and my heart slams against my ribcage as I spot Raith in his monster form in the middle of the Xalgrith army.
Kazer, Galen, and Arizak fight with him, protecting a small portal as they’re surrounded by hordes of Xalgrith warriors.
My mates fight alongside their beasts, covered in blood and barely holding their own as waves of warriors come at them.
Kazer lashes out with his massive paws, Arizak plows through the warriors, trampling them, Galen creates dozens of illusions as he spins with his knives, and Raith’s monster tears warriors limb from limb.
Tears fill my eyes, because as much as I knew they were searching for me, it’s only now that I truly understand they were willing to die for me.
Rinoc and Thane swoop down toward them, and the moment Raith’s monster spots me, he lets out a roar that makes my ears sting. My heart swells, growing so big I swear it barely fits inside my chest.
Knox shields my phoenix and I from behind, and Thane leads us down straight toward the portal. He doesn’t stop. Rinoc flies straight into the rippling magic.
“But the others!” I say to my phoenix.
“They will follow,” she replies calmly, following the giant bear, and Knox comes behind us. And then we’re falling into magic, spiraling as light swirls around us, zapping across my skin.