“Stop! Pull back and reform!” Commander Guffian’s voice carries over the wind, though I can barely make out what he’s saying over Demi’s choked wail.
The chancellor turns a knob on the remote, and the Pyres settle into their haunches. Their foreign power pushes at my senses before they release it to propel themselves over the valley. Familiar thunderous cracks ring out as the wave of Pyres ascends, nothing but ravenous hunger in their black-and-gold eyes—eyes that will match mine, if I push myself much further.
The echoes of their assault reverberate around us as a dozen glowing figures land mere yards away. Scorching energy rains from above. The heat of the strike glasses the sand around several Pyre’s feet.
My lungs lift with renewed vigor as I realize the newcomers aren’t Pyres at all.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Kalden,Niles, Joss, and another Sol make landfall in front of us, dust exploding from beneath their feet. Niles tugs at the air, and the Sols leap ferociously into a barrier he’s erected out of sand and willpower.
Kalden glances at Gem and Twilynn, who hover over Demi. “Don’t remove the blade. We need to deal with this first.”
I tread to his side, voice unsteady as I ask, “Can you stop them?”
Kalden’s lips thin. “It doesn’t matter if we can or not. We fight anyway. And if one of us burns, we do what we must. Whatever it takes.”
Whatever it takes.
Whether Kalden knows it or not, his words are an echo of my parents’ plea. Though theirs was a call for survival, his is a call for sacrifice. Kalden will kill every Pyre, drive the Caligans back underground, and seal the nightstone door shut himself if he has to. I have no doubt that he’d scourge his humanity completely if that’s what it took to protect the people he cares for.
But I won’t let him do that alone.
“Kalden!” Niles struggles against the talons and tongues lashing through cracks in the sandy blockade. “Could use your help when you’re done batting lashes at your girl. I can’t hold the barrier much longer on my own.”
“I’ve got him,” I say to Kalden.
Niles lifts a brow as I race to his side. “You got anything left?”
Almost no part of me isn’t consumed by the sun’s warmth. If it weren’t for the cool, lingering thread of nightstone sliding its way back and forth from my heart to my fingertips, I’d say it was almost pleasant.
“It doesn’t matter. We do what we must,” I urge, repeating Kalden’s command.
Niles smirks. “I’ve heard that before. But not many people can keep up with him. It’s okay to hold back. All I need you to do is place your palm here and don’t let go.”
He nudges his chin towards his shoulder, and I do as instructed. Before we close the breaks in Niles’ fortification, Kalden and the two other Sols dive into the pack of Pyres, forming constructs of energy into thin curving blades and piercing staffs. Between each lash, the constructs vanish, only to renew for the next blow. We hold the barrier a little longer until the grunts taper. Niles drops his hands and allows the sand to fall back into place.
The dusty battlescape comes into view. A Pyre appears through the choked air, tongue splintering as it readies to feed off of whatever humanity I have left. I shove my hands forward and push an uncontrolled blast of solar energy out in panic.
Niles reacts faster than me, and a sharp-headed spear of light hurls through the air and embeds itself through the chest of the Pyre, passing completely through it before evaporating. The creature’s lower half is paralyzed, but it continues to grab at the sand, pulling itself closer to me. Bending to retrieve a discarded nightstone blade fromthe ground, I wait for the Pyre to thrust its pincered tongue towards me. I swipe the blade across the thick tendrils, severing them from the Pyre’s throat. Blood pours from the blackened creature’s gaping mouth. Only seconds pass before the squirming motion stops.
A multitude of Pyres sprawl motionless from the edge of the shield’s remnants to the chasm, yet a dozen more must’ve been released while the barrier was formed. A new horde catapults themselves across the opposite dune to where Kalden, Joss, and the other Sol now hold a defensive position.
Niles points towards the Sols. “They need help. Can you stay here?”
Before I can offer an answer, Niles compresses the sand with a flare and propels himself over the valley to attack the Pyre pack from behind.
I glance down at the nearest threat: the cluster of black-armored guards, no longer in disarray. Ranks reassembled, the chancellor’s men reascend the hill around the rift’s border.
Sweat pours down my temples. If I push myself too much further, I might not be able to come back. I can’t turn into a Pyre here. Gem, Demi, Aruna, Twilynn . . . They can’t handle fighting the guards and an ally turned foe. But maybe I can stop all of this another way.
I glare at Chancellor Bren, sitting untouched and unfazed across the dune while Gabe, Commander Guffian, and several shadows stand around him. With a surge of energy, I hurtle myself over the valley. A hiss escapes through clenched teeth as my leading ankle rolls on impact.
His shadows rush forward forming a wall between me and their leader.
I stagger forward. Just a few more bursts, that’s all. I beg the heat gathering in my blood.
“Stop this!” Gabe pleads.
