FIFTY-ONE #4
This isn’t a fight. It’s a battle of attrition, and we’re running out of time.
“Thane.”
The bond opens instantly.
“What?”
I glance toward him just in time to see Xaroth roll hard through the air. Dragon and rider move as one, banking between two diving Kethraki before unleashing twin streams of fire. The creatures vanish in a blaze of gold and black ash.
“The Commander is keeping us occupied,” I say, urgency sharpening my words. “He’s using the Kethraki as a distraction.”
Understanding flashes through the bond before I finish the thought.
“Yes.”
Xaroth tears through another Kethraki, scattering burning fragments across the sky.
“He knows the dragons are the greatest threat to the assault,” Thane says, hurling a volley of fire into the approaching swarm.
My stomach drops.
Every moment we spend fighting here is another moment the forces below are left to face the Fellborn alone.
“I have a plan.”
Across the sky, Thane’s head snaps in my direction before his attention is dragged back to the battle unfolding around him.
“Amara, what are you going to do?”
But I don’t answer because I am already gathering my magics.
Calryx senses it immediately.
“I am with you,” she says softly through the bond. “You can do this.”
I turn inward just like Valen taught me.
All those hours. All that repetition. The meditative stillness he drilled into me until it became muscle memory.
Find the breath. Feel the stillness beneath the chaos.
The chaos around me falls away. The rush of wings, the roar of fire, and the screeching of Kethraki fade into the background until all that remains is my breath.
I focus inward.
I find my center.
I find the stillness beneath the chaos.
Then I reach.
Not outward.
Down.
Into the living current that exists between Calryx and me.
I don’t seize it.
I open myself to it.
The magics answer immediately, flowing from her into me through the bond we share. Warm. Endless. Ancient. Fire and wind and breath woven together into something greater than either of us alone.
Power gathers within me, settling through every part of my body. Wind gathering. Water shifting. Fire glowing low, like embers waiting for the right moment to ignite.
And I trust Calryx.
And she trusts me.
I keep my eyes closed, letting Calryx guide our flight while the magics guides my hand. When I move, it is with purpose. Wind gathers and begins to spin outward in a tightening spiral. It builds faster than anything I have ever summoned before, and with a single sweeping gesture, I unleash it.
A tornado forms in the sky, wide and wild, ripping through the path of the oncoming Kethraki.
They don’t stand a chance.
The first wave is caught immediately and hurled upward like leaves in a storm. Bodies collide. Wings tear. Screeches fill the air as the creatures slam into one another.
Havoc erupts around us.
But I’m not done.
I reach deeper, drawing moisture from the clouds, the mist, and the very air around us. I shape it and pull it into formation around me. Dozens of long, slender spears of water rise into the sky, suspended around Calryx like a crown of liquid glass.
They catch the light as they turn. Then the temperature drops. Water becomes ice, and each spear sharpens into something lethal.
I open my eyes and send them flying.
Thirty-six spears.
Thirty-six targets.
Thirty-six kills.
Each strike lands cleanly, punching through Kethraki with bone-shattering force. Their shrieks cut off as they spiral from the sky, trailing ice and blood in their wake.
I sit panting atop Calryx, the magics still alive beneath my skin. For a moment, I fold over her neck and lean into her strength, drained by the effort of channeling that much power.
Her pride surges through the bond.
“Now that is how you command the sky. Rest for a moment. I have you. Your strength will return.”
“We’re moving lower,” Thane says through the bond, his voice calm but edged with urgency.
“Garrick and three others will stay in the air to keep the skies clear. The rest of us are shifting to support the soldiers on the ground.”
A brief pause follows.
“Well done taking down that second wave, love.”
He flies closer and catches sight of me bent over Calryx’s neck. Concern immediately ripples through the bond between us.
“Are you hurt?!”
“Just tired,” I answer. “Clearing the fog and summoning thirty-six spears took more out of me than I expected, but I can already feel my strength returning.”
Even from this distance, I can see the strain in his posture.
“Calryx has me. I’ll be fine. Now go lead us.”
I push myself upright despite the protest in my arms. The concern lingering in the bond eases the moment he sees me sitting tall in the saddle. Ignoring the fatigue, I allow myself to feel the pride beneath it.
Calryx rumbles beneath me. “Whatever he said, it pleased you.”
The amusement in her voice is unmistakable.
“You were magnificent. Obviously.”
Despite everything, I laugh.
Across the sky, Thane raises a hand, a single signal that needs no explanation.
Then he dives.
Xaroth folds his massive wings and plummets toward the burning keep like a black meteor.
We follow.