Worry ripples down the bond like tiny waves on the ocean. I want to soothe her, but all my focus is on the cluster of miners. I can feel the evil at the center, the dark magic that swirls like a tornado.
“Burn it,” I call. “Burn it and we can end this!”
The wyvern roars and rears back, inhaling so much air it’s a wonder there’s any left. He lets loose with a blast that singes my eyebrows, and the space in front of us is nothing but a glowing sun, fire in every direction, death carried on a neverending orange ribbon.
When he’s out of fire, he turns to make another pass. But a hail of spears shoots up from below. Calasterno jolts from the impact and roars as he falters.
“Easy!” I hang on as he tries to flap his wings harder, but one has a gash through it, and we sag in the wind. “Easy, Calasterno.”
He roars as we fall, and I clutch Phin tight against me as the ground rushes up to greet us.
The impact throws me across several sand dunes, and I roll to a stop. Blood coats my tongue as I try to sit up.
An arrow lands beside me, and then a shadow falls over me. I hold up one arm as the dead miner swings her pickaxe at my head. It shatters my already-broken arm, and I fall back. Raising it again, it lunges for me.
Then it’s gone as an enormous gray bear rips its head off and spits it on the sand. The bear lopes around and takes down two more miners, then walks over and shakes out its bloodied fur.
Phin is going crazy in the pack I still have clutched to my chest.
I pull it off. “Thorn, take Phin.”
The bear swipes the pack and hangs it around his neck.
I concentrate on my healing magic and mend my punctured lungs, broken bones, and lacerated innards. Stumbling to my feet, I test my legs as Thorn dismembers another undead miner. Calasterno has taken off again, though he lists to the side.
“We can’t be far from Cenet.” I draw my blade and run across the dune as my body aches and heals.
Thorn keeps up easily at my side as we slice through undead. They’re sparse on this side, most of them concentrated on the front where the Phalanx and Cranthum’s soldiers battle. But the nest around Cenet is tight.
A head flies past us and lands with a thunk in the sand. Grayhail appears over the next dune. He’s covered in blood, but I’m certain not a drop is his.
“What’s taking so long?” He sends a fist out and crushes the skull of an undead beside him, then swings his warhammer and clears three more. “I’m ready to get this over with.”
Ravella materializes from the vale. “It’s him. I chanced it and peeked through to see. He’s inside the circle summoning more and more power. If we bring him down, his army will fall.”
Chastain strides up. He’s wounded in places but still fighting. “Let’s do this.” He points his sword toward Cenet.
We form up, and Valen joins, his healing magic flowing over all of us. Valen is a formidable fighter, but he saves his magic for healing. Once he’s done his work, he fades back to his pocket of the vale where he can replenish his power.
I look them all in the eye, my brothers and sisters in arms. “This is our shot. Let’s take that vile creature out for once and all.” I brandish my sword and lead the charge. Rushing down the dune, we make a surgical cut to one side of Cenet’s defenses. Undead fall beneath us as Grayhail swings his warhammer in a punishing arc. I vault over him and impale two undead on my sword, shake them off and do it again. Ravella dodges in and out of the vale, stabbing and slicing through foes as we battle closer to the center of the maelstrom. Working together, we mow down soldier after soldier. My body hums with the thrill of battle and I can almost feel the miners’ trapped souls hovering overhead.
“They’re coming around to flank us!” Chastain yells.
I glance back and see a multitude of undead trampling over their fallen comrades, all of them closing in on us. “Grayhail, Ravella, Thorn—clear the back. Chastain and I will keep pressing forward.”
They circle back, clearing our flank as more and more undead try to overwhelm us.
I dodge a blade, then gut the next two soldiers as I work my way forward. Chastain is by my side, swinging and hacking as black blood spurts and the undead groan. We have to keep going. There’s no stopping—not when the undead are piling on. Cenet is doing his best to keep himself safe, but it won’t work. The undead fall before me as I swing and power through them. They are fighting for a fickle, monstrous master. I’m fighting for my mate, for her freedom and her life. That thought alone imbues me with more strength, more will to win. I slash again, renewed with purpose as I fight closer and closer to Cenet.
Chastain struggles, his body failing as he tires and his injuries mount. We need Valen, but he’s spent. I fight two undead off Chastain, then yank him beside me. I would use my destructive magic to clear the field if it wasn’t sure to kill Chastain and the rest of the Phalanx nearby. I can’t trust that I can protect them without Beth giving me that extra ability. All we can do is fight for our lives and those of the ones we love.
“Fight!” I yell and hew a soldier in half. “Fight for Silmaran!”
He gives me a curt nod and beheads the next attacker. I can’t see the others. Too many undead have filled in the gap between us, and we’re cut off. But I won’t stop. I can’t. Beth’s life depends on it.
I swing and cut and destroy everything in my path. Chastain keeps up. He is no warrior, but he is fighting for the life he loves.
A few more undead fall, and then I see Cenet, his slit eyes on me as he holds his hands skyward, conjuring more evil into the world as his forked tongue recites dark incantations.
