“It’s worth a shot.”
“Say it doesn’t work, and he turns around and kills us?”
I huffed and pushed more magic into my shield. “At least we go down together.”
“That’s not comforting.” She looked me up and down. “Fine. You better be right.” Without another word, she stood directly between the hawk Shifter and me, placed a hand on each of us, and we all disappeared.
When we rematerialized in front of the familiar trap door in the stables, Arowyn gave a mighty grunt and shoved the Shifter into the dark hole.
I waited with baited breath as he landed on the ground. Dark wisps of that same cursed energy flitted near him, summoned by the presence of more magic.
The second they touched his skin, he froze.
And then he screamed. A harsh squawk that made me clap my hands over my ears as he thrashed in the dirt. Those black veins got evenbigger, pushing against his skin so hard, I thought he was going to split open.
This was a mistake, I thought to myself. We weren’t curing him. We werekillinghim.
But his veins didn’t burst. As the dark magic swarmed around him, it literallypulledthe poison from inside of him. Arowyn and I watched, unblinking, as little by little, the blackness was purged, sliding from him like a noxious gas.
His screams slowly subsided as his four legs shifted back into two human ones, his top half shrinking and shedding its feathers. What was left was a young man huddled on the ground, shaking in his torn clothing.
“It worked,” I breathed out. “He’s—he’s cured.”
Arowyn exhaled loudly. “You were right, Devora. These people have absolutely no idea what they’re doing.”
A small seed of conviction took root inside my chest. “Find the other Striders and get as many of the mutants down here as you can.” I turned to face her. “We can save them.Allof them.”
She nodded tightly, and I took off.
The sight that greeted me back at the courtyard sent my hopes crashing to my feet. Somewhere on the other side of the property, a violent flash of lightning illuminated the sky. Shouts rang out as more mutated Veridians crawled from the shadows of the surrounding forest.
Where were theycomingfrom? It was like every time I looked, there were more. Stronger, faster, fresher. While we, on the other hand, were losing steam.
The faces of my allies were haggard, and their magic was slowing. What were once fast reflexes a couple of hours ago were now drained and sluggish, barely able to stop blow after blow that kept coming from the enemy.
I darted between fighters as quickly as I could, focusing on defense. I raised shadow shields in front of the refugees and pushed back against their attackers. But still, it wasn’t enough.
Where was Nox?
A roar burst from somewhere close by, rattling the ground. A couple of mutated Shifters descended from the roof of the mansion.
My mouth dropped. They were easily four times my size, eachwith the body of a snake, feet of a lion, and strange, mismatching reptilian wings. Almost like Scarven had pieced them together to fashion a crude version of a dragon.
Two of them crashed to the ground, expanding their enormous, bat-like wings. At the same time, they opened their mouths to reveal rows of jagged teeth and long, forked tongues. Plumes of smoke issued from them and cast the grounds in darkness. It smelled musty and foul, stinging like ashes as it coated my lungs.
The first set of screams rang out. I couldn’t see a single thing. The coppery tang of blood filled the air, and fear coiled inside me, so thick I could barely breathe past it.
Shadows flickered in all directions. The occasional outline of a blade slashing through the air was silhouetted against the darkness. Another scream shattered the night. My lungs burned, my shadows hissing against this foreign smoke.
Something furry brushed my arm, and my heart jumped up my throat as I yelped.
“Hush, Devora. It’s me. On your left.”
I blinked twice. I recognized that voice. There wasno way?—
A small flame burst to life in front of me. My jaw fell open.
Before me stood two figures. One was shrouded beneath a dark hood, with glowing rings on his fingers and a furry brown tail coming beneath the cloak to brush my arm. Beside him was a raven-haired beauty with magical flames resting in one palm and crushed leaves in the other.
