He broke the wards.
Scarven is here.
Nox flew south faster than I thought possible. It took everything in me to keep Arowyn and myself atop his back. I called on my shadows to provide a protective barrier, and they slipped around our bodies, weaving us to his scales with an ironclad grip. They pulsed viciously with every breath, desperate to get back. Desperate to act. Desperate to dosomething.
After what felt like an eternity but was probably less than an hour, the eastern coastline of Drakorum came into view. As Nox descended, I saw the familiar outline of my tower, then the top of the mansion, lower and lower until?—
My heart stopped.
It was a war zone.
Magic hung in the air, so thick I could taste it, sharp and bitter on my tongue. My own power responded in kind, surging toward the action. Bolts of light and swarms of shadows shot through the clearing in front of the mansion. Figures were illuminated by the bright moonlight and fires burning in the surrounding trees. I could hear shouts and screams, hissing andhowling of the various Shifters, steel clashing and reverberating through the air.
Nox landed with a resounding crash. He lifted his head and let out a roar. The nearby trees bowed under the force, flames flickering and branches colliding. Even my shadows cowered at the sight of his fury.
A line of Scarven’s men in all black spun to face the new threat, but a stream of dragon fire shot out of Nox’s mouth, reducing them to ash.
In front of me, Arowyn stirred. “Wh-what’s going?—”
“You need to get out of here,” I said hastily. “It’s a bloodbath, Arowyn.”
Her icy blue eyes widened as color rushed back to her cheeks. “I—I can fight. I have to help.” She tried to swing her leg over Nox’s back and almost fell to the ground. We used his scales as footholds and landed in a crouch on solid earth. When she stood, she gripped my shoulder to keep from keeling over.
“You can’t fight,” I argued. “You can barely walk!”
More screams made us whip around to face the battle. Scarven’s men had grown smarter. Instead of crowding Nox and risking incineration, they plunged into our own people, making it to where one blast would take out as many of our allies as it would our enemies.
Tessa and Kieran fought two attackers each, their weapons a blur as they used their Shifter speed to move as quick as lightning. Behind them were dozens of refugees, some as young as teenagers, all struggling to hold their own against the onslaught.
“Can you stride inside the Keep?” I asked Arowyn. She nodded. “Go make sure the kids are safe.”
She turned to face the mansion and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
At my side, Nox shifted back to his human form and grabbed me by the arms.
“You should go.Run,” he shouted, his eyes blazing silver, wild and frantic. “Get out of here before he finds you.”
Ishook my head. “I can’t run, Nox. This is my family too.”
A growl ripped from him as he yanked me closer. His shaking fingers clenched around my arms. “I promised I wouldn’t let him hurt you again. I can’t—” His breaths were ragged, his chest heaving. “If he takes you, if he?—”
I pressed my lips to his to silence him. Magic, shadows, and lightning whipped around us, the wind swirling my hair in the air. My power thrummed to the beat of my heart, aching to join his.
“He won’t.” I broke away and rested my forehead against his. “I can protect myself. Let me help our family.”
He took another deep breath, and I could’ve sworn smoke came out of his nostrils when he exhaled. “Stay with me. Don’t leave my side.”
“Always.” I kissed him one more time, then we spun and dove into the fray.
As we got deeper, I saw more and more of the battle. A line of our Alchemists—young and old—stood outside the walls of the Keep, with faint, shimmering force fields lifted in front of them. Several bodies in all black—Scarven’s men—lay at their feet.
Even though Nox had taken out a group of them with his dragon fire, we were still outnumbered two to one. Refugees from the Keep who weren’t holding the shield were fighting their hearts out. Nox had said they were training the older ones in defensive combat, but they were still so inexperienced. Their movements were choppy and delayed, their magic uncontrolled.
One teenage Lightbender and Strider hybrid accidentally shot a beam of light at Nox, who easily dodged it as it sank into the ground, the grass smoldering where it hit. Another one tried to send a shadow whip toward an opponent, only for it to nearly hit me square in the head. A barrier of vines sprang up from the ground just in time to block it.
I whirled to find the source. To the right stood Milo, his hands outstretched and a look of raw, savage grief etched onto his youthful face. His unruly curls were streaked with dirt and whipping around his head from the rush of wind.
After rescuing me, he turned to a new opponent, clasping his hands together and shouting an incantation. Flames ignited on the black leathers of his attacker, and with a jerk of Milo’s hand, I heard a loudcrack.
