"And the Queen?" Lyssara asked.
Kaen smiled. "Leave her to me."
Far below, dragons not born of any sacred lineage stirred in their pits, twisted creatures, bred in silence and shadow, fueled by necrotic flame. Their wings hissed as they spread against the storm winds. They would rise when he commanded.
Kaen raised his hand. A small flame sparked above his palm, black at the center, edged in red.
"The time of reckoning has come," he whispered. The circle echoed the words, chanting as the wind around them spun faster, tighter, hotter.
High above, the first of the twin moons crested the edge of the Rift, bathing the world in crimson light.
Chapter
Sixty-Six
The sky wept fire. Ash and cinder fell like snow upon the cliffs of Aeromir, blanketing stone and shield in the burn of the enemy’s wrath. The twin moons blazed above, one bleeding into the other in a shroud of crimson. Screams echoed from the ravines. The scent of scorched magic burned at the edge of every breath.
The third wave had begun. A surge of twisted dragonspawn erupted from the breach lines, black-winged horrors screeching through the air like the nightmares of a dying God. Their eyes glowed with necrotic green, their scaled hides slick with shadow and venom. At their flanks rose hollowed beasts, former dragons reanimated by dark rites, their bones etched with the sigils of corruption.
"Form the sky wall!" General Solas bellowed from atop her copper-winged beast, her voice slicing through the wind. She raised her blade, its core gleaming with pure Aether light, and the line of elite riders fell into formation.
Vornokh roared like a mountain split open. He dove through a spiral of enemy spawn, flames churning from his maw in a torrent of scarlet and shadow. Thorne gritted his teeth, blood slick on his temple, eyes glowing with restrained fury."Fall in left,"he growled through the bond."Tieren, Kaeroth, Mirra, with me."
Their dragons answered without words, streaking behind him in tight formation, flame and frost and storm erupting in a chorus ofdestruction. Brynnek, Darian, and Sorren flew beside him, weapons drawn, eyes sharp. Garric brought up the rear, calling arcs of ice through the air to freeze the wings of the corrupted beasts mid-flight.
Below, on the cliff's edge, Thaelyn stood at the arcstone defense ring, hands lifted, palms open to the heavens. Lightning curled from her fingers like a living thing. Nyxariel circled overhead, her cry a clarion of old power. They had not yet taken to the sky, holding the line to protect the sigil stones that anchored the veil.
"They breach the southern ridge!" Vaeryn's voice was loud, laced with static and pain. "Three spawns inbound, eastward spiral!"
"I'm on it," Thaelyn breathed.
The Aether surged up her spine. It burned through her chest like the first scream of a storm. She lifted her arms higher. Nyxariel dove.
A crack split the sky. Lightning ripped through the breach. The twisted dragons screamed, unraveling midair as Nyxariel cleaved through them like a blade of silver fire. One fell, crashing in ruin against the rocks below, but another flanked left. Too close.
Thorne's voice ripped across the bond."Thaelyn, move!"
She spun, arm raised, but was too slow.
A wall of flame struck. Kaeroth, red and ruthless, barreled through the air, Darian clinging to the saddle, hurling spears of molten fire with each pass. The beast dropped, wings faltering from impact, but the blow missed her.
She turned to see Thorne cutting through the sky, shadows trailing like smoke from Vornokh’s wings.
"Are you trying to die?" he barked, fury and fear twisting in his voice as he reined in beside her.
She grinned despite the burn on her arm. "Wouldn’t dream of it."
Then the ground shook. From the far edge of the Veil, near the enormous sealed crevasse of the Rift, something stirred. The air thickened, magic buckling like torn canvas.
A new cry rose. Deep. Resonant. Ancient.
General Solas’ voice crackled in every channel. "The Deepbloods have awakened."
Even Nyxariel faltered mid-flight.
Thorne's gaze locked with Thaelyn's. "We hold here."
She nodded. And together, they turned to face the next breach, as the sky above split, and the third wave gave birth to something far older, and far worse, than even shadow had dared remember.
