FIFTY-ONE #3
I’ve seen glimpses that revealed the warrior Thane is in a dozen smaller moments, like at the ball and in training. But I’ve never seen him like this.
I watch in awe as he moves through the aerial assault, one with Xaroth in a way that still doesn’t seem entirely possible. Every dip, every turn, every dive flows seamlessly into the next.
He doesn’t flinch when a Kethraki latches onto Xaroth’s shoulder. He doesn’t even seem concerned.
And gods, the confidence with which he moves through the sky . . .
The thought drifts somewhere it absolutely shouldn’t.
“Enough!”
Calryx’s voice cracks through the bond.
“We are in a battle, Virelya.” Her tone is sharp with disapproval. “By all the Guardians, control your petty human urges.”
My cheeks flood with heat.
“Sorry!” I shoot back, mortified. “I can’t help it!”
“Try harder!” she snaps. “Such thoughts in the middle of an aerial assault. Honestly!” She huffs. “Next time I’m throwing you into a cold lake before we fly into battle.”
I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
Calryx’s wings snap downward in a powerful beat, and we surge forward into the fray.
She opens her jaws, and fire erupts from her throat in a massive wave of gold and bronze flame that tears across the nearest flank of Kethraki.
Screeches split the air as two of the creatures are instantly engulfed, their twisted wings burning to ash in mid-flight.
More close in.
But Calryx doesn’t flinch. She banks hard, clearing our flank, and that’s when I see her.
Rowena.
Aisling is locked in a brutal struggle with a massive Kethraki nearly half her size. Claws collide midair as dragon and beast grapple for position. Rowena’s attention is fixed on the creature trying to tear into Aisling’s throat. Her hands are already moving, gathering fire for the strike.
But she doesn’t see the three more diving in from behind.
I don’t hesitate.
My hands come up, my core already blazing with heat, and twin streams of fire tear across the space between us.
The magics answer instantly.
The first Kethraki explodes mid-air. The second is caught in both streams and incinerates, its body flaring bright before collapsing into ash.
The third veers off course, only to be snatched by Calryx.
She catches it with her claws and tears it apart in a single savage motion, sending the pieces spiraling toward the ground like burned paper.
Rowena twists in her saddle and catches sight of the aftermath. She raises a hand, pressing two fingers to her temple before flicking them outward in a sharp, silent gesture of thanks.
I nod once and turn my attention forward.
A high-pitched scream cuts through the chaos.
I whip to my right just in time to see a soldier ripped halfway from her saddle.
The enchanted straps around her legs hold fast as a Kethraki adjusts its grip, its talons driving deeper into her shoulders.
Her dragon bellows in fury, twisting through the sky and spewing fire in every direction, desperate to reach his rider without burning her alive.
I bank toward them instinctively, but Rian is already there.
With a sweep of his hand, ten razor-sharp discs of ice streak through the air. They strike the Kethraki almost simultaneously, slicing through leathery wings, severing limbs, and carving the creature apart before it can react. Its grip vanishes instantly.
The rider drops back into her saddle, slumping forward against her dragon’s neck. Blood darkens her leathers, but she’s alive. She lifts a trembling hand, Skysigns her gratitude, then signals she’s well enough to return to the Capital.
I wait only long enough to see her dragon bank away.
The battle changes quickly.
The Kethraki are fast, but we are faster.
Calryx and the others tear through them with terrifying precision. Flame erupts across the sky in violent bursts. Claws, teeth, and wind magics carve through the creatures one after another, sending broken bodies tumbling toward the ground.
The dragons move like a force of nature.
Ruadhan bull-rushes two Kethraki at once, driving them into the side of a cliff.
Xaroth barrels through five of the flying monsters, sending them spinning through the air upon impact.
His jaws snap around one and send it plummeting with a broken scream.
Even the younger dragons strike with practiced fury, their riders holding formation and pressing the attack.
Their numbers are cut in half within moments.
A new scream rises on the wind.
Higher.
Sharper.
Stronger.
I snap my gaze toward the horizon, toward the blighted lands beyond Greythorne Keep, and my stomach drops.
More.
Another wave.
Three dozen additional Kethraki rise from the scorched terrain beyond the broken gates, their wings slicing through the wind like blades.
Calryx growls beneath me, low and dangerous. “They’re multiplying. Someone’s summoning them.”
“The Commander,” I say through clenched teeth.
I can see them now. Thirty-six more, already halfway across the field and closing fast. Their shadows sweep across the battlefield below.
My gaze drops to the keep. The fighting on the ground is getting worse. More Fellborn pour through the breaches. The inner wall is beginning to buckle under the pressure.
Understanding hits like a lightning strike.