Zeke’s voice echoed like thunder inside every skull on the plain. “Stand down. They’re ours.”
The hunter hesitated—then backed away, folding its wings.
Nathan let out a slow whistle. “What the actual fuck. We’re only behind them for a few minutes, and they become king of the Draxon.”
Zane’s human form stepped forward from within the fading glow of his Draxon form, eyes still molten. “That’s what realmen do.” He fluttered his lashes at Nathan. “What the fuck?” He yelled as a glob of birdshit dropped from the sky onto his head.
Dale screeched from high above, and it almost sounded like laughter.
“I’m going to fry that fucking chicken of yours,” Zane growled as he wiped the mess from his hair.
“You do, and I’ll clip your balls off and add them to my collection.” Nathan made a snipping motion with his hand.
I dropped the invisibility, static snapping off my shoulders. “That’s enough, you two.” I glanced in Zeke’s direction. “Maybe next time, inform the welcoming party of our arrival.”
Zeke smiled faintly—cold mist spilling from his breath. “Nyberie doesn’t welcome anyone. At least as far as we can tell.”
“Yeah?” Nathan said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Well, it almost ate us…and not in a good way.”
The hunter rumbled low—almost a laugh—before spreading its wings and vanishing into the haze.
Zane clapped me on the shoulder, the heat radiating through the leather of my jacket. “You did good, exalted leader. They don’t let just anyone talk and live.”
I smirked, shadows dancing between my fingers. “I guessShitstormdoesn’t fit me now that I’ve charmed a Draxon.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” His smile turned melancholy. “We’ll let Reverie decide that.”
Jet finally lowered to the ground, still unreadable, but I could see it—the faint hum of energy around him, the silence where Nyberie’s magic refused to exist.
And the Draxon? They felt it.
Every single one of them turned their gaze toward him.
Curious.
Cautious.
Because even in a world of monsters, something is unsettling about a man who can silence them all.
I couldn’t wait until the Dark Faction tasted his ability for themselves.
We were trying to get our bearings and decide on our course of action when the wind shifted. A shadow moved through the crackling light—massive, deliberate, ancient.
The elder Draxon. The one that had roared earlier.
He was larger than any I’d ever seen, scales glinting like tempered steel, eyes molten gold, and older than time. He landed between us and the portal, the ground shattering beneath his weight.
“You trespass on sacred ground,”he said, voice so deep it made the air vibrate.
Zane’s Draxon stirred within him, his tone low and reverent. “Elder.”
The ancient creature’s gaze swept across us.“You rip open what was meant to stay sealed. Why?”
Zeke stepped forward, frost curling from his skin. “Because our Nexus was captured and brought here by the Dark Faction.”
At that, the elder stilled. His eyes glowed brighter.“The Nexus… Reverie…”He inhaled deeply, the sound like a gale wind moving through a canyon. Then his wings unfurled, casting us in shadow.“She stirs.”
My pulse spiked. “Reverie?”
