Above me, the battle roared on—Ronan was locked in a brutal aerial clash with the Dominion, one blade gone, wings smoking from a near-miss. Niz flew past in wyvern form, trailing another streak of acid across the Dominion’s exposed flank. The angel convulsed midair, part of one wing folding in on itself, sizzling as feathers disintegrated.
And through it all, Ifelther—Kieran’s presence pressing warm and fierce into the back of my mind as I worried about how much I had left to give. If I was losing myself to this magic taking control of me.
Her voice didn’t tremble when it came.
“You’re not losing yourself, Bastian. You’re finding what you were always meant to be.”
My hands didn’t shake this time, her presence reminding me of why I would fight until there was nothing left within me.
“Let them burn,” I whispered through clenched teeth.
The bars of my cages turned to iron, glowing blood-red and stitched with invisible threads of rage and justice and sacrifice. Every time the Seraphim twisted against them, another layer wrapped around their wings. Fire licked outward from their bodies, but my blood refused to fall away now. They roared louder, but they couldn’t rise as the Elementalists lashed out at them. Storms of ice circled the Seraphim, winds howling through the melted streets as chunks of ice hammered their burning forms.
Ground forces continued to flood in from the outer rings, their formation tightening as they pushed toward the center. Casters followed close behind, their magic flaring through thecity’s decimated streets, weaving shields to protect ground forces.
Around me the wyvern swept in low, wings skimming the rooftops as they drenched the air in venom and flame, leaving nothing untouched. They intercepted Dominions midair, claws raking through gilded armor as a mixture of fire and acid was unleashed. While the Dominions still plagued the sky, the majority of our forces were focused on converging to the Seraphim thrashing inside my cages.
They were the larger issue and I would ensure they didn’t escape—not while I still had blood left to give. I would give every last drop if that’s what it took.
I’d save the woman who showed me the meaning of love and the beauty of life, even if it meant giving my own.
20
KIERAN
Alfemiras I knew it was gone.
The city I’d grown up in was nothing but ruin: some streets reduced to rubble and others melted under the heat of the Seraphim, buildings collapsed in on themselves. The air had become so thick with ash I could barely breathe without coughing from the inhaled dust. Even here, in the outer rings, the heat from the two Seraphim blistered against my skin and wings as units fanned out.
Gabe shifted on my left, shouting orders to the soldiers as they advanced toward the next cluster of traps to the west. Steele stood silently on my right, his focus razor-sharp, eyes flicking constantly toward the sky for Dominions circling overhead.
We needed to ensure the traps held and to coordinate the strikes from below—and the farther our teams pushed inward, the less control we had over timing and precision. Many of the traps were automatic, triggered by movement, but others required a Caster’s magic or an Elementalist’s surge of power. And every ground strike against the Seraphim demanded eyes on all sides, not only to make it count, but to ensure we didn’t lose any of our soldiers in the process.
The second part was to aid in the destruction of the Seraphim. While Bastian maintained control of the cages, our forces pushed forward toward them, aiming to unleash everything we had to tear the Seraphim apart before they could break free.
Above us, Dominions tore through the smoldering haze, every burst of power igniting the sky and casting light over the devastation gripping Alfemir as the last of the sun disappeared.
A sudden explosion flared in the distance—a Dominion hurling a sphere of fire into the streets, straight toward a section we’d just sent a squadron into.Shit.I raised my voice, forcing command through the chaos. “Move forward! We need to provide backup!”
Our unit—nearly twenty strong, a mix of defensive Casters and offensive fighters from across several factions—moved fast through the outer rings. The blackened air rolled over the streets in waves as the ground shook with detonations around every bend.
“Careful,” Steele said, his voice low and sharp. “Trap on your right.”
I shifted left without hesitation, trusting him without needing to look or confirm myself. One wrong step in our trap-laden city, and you’d be incinerated before you even blinked.
Suddenly, Ronan’s voice cut through the bond, precise and steady.“Dominion unit advancing—next street over.”
“Watch your right for a trap and get ready to fight at the next corner!” I shouted, raising my voice over an explosion from the next block over. “There’s a cluster waiting!”
Our unit moved as one, pressing forward head-on through the smoke. Above us, three Dominions moved through the air in a loose formation, wings throwing off turbulent gusts of wind that churned the smoke each time they banked. I tracked their movement as we approached, trying to gauge which ground unitthey were hunting. Most of their focus stayed on the wyverns and our aerial units, but every few passes, one would break formation long enough to dive—throwing bursts of fire toward anything that moved on the streets below.
Casters climbed onto the rooftops, straining to keep their own shields up—domes of gold flaring whenever a Dominion hurled power their way. Elementalists raised walls of earth and rock from the ground, buying their comrades seconds at a time with enormous shields.
Then, through the burning haze, one of our mixed Elementalist units caught a Dominion mid-dive. Air Elementalists twisted the wind around its wings, forcing it off balance while earth Elementalists raised a wall of rock straight into its path. The collision sent the Dominion spinning, and Casters struck next—electrifying its armor with magic as it crashed into the street.
Our ground forces joining from the adjoining streets didn’t hesitate. Infantry surged forward, blades and spears finding every gap in its armor until the Dominion stopped moving.
Holy shit.We were actually hanging on in this fight.
