Ice flames smack into the ice wall right in front of us, forcing all five of us to take a step back. Isera flexes her hands and yanks up another one right before a second torrent can hit.
The silver dragon has almost reached Draven now.
Next to me, a groan rips from Orion’s chest. His eyes continue glowing as he forces his magic into the Icehearts. But his step is unsteady when he staggers backwards.
Isera’s gaze darts towards him.
Bane opens his jaw.
Orion growls.
And Bane… hesitates.
Jessina, however, does not.
Ice flames shoot towards us like a massive spear as she blindly estimates where we are.
“Back!” Isera screams while throwing a thick shield towards it.
A boom splits the air as the flames smack right into it, and ice explodes. Leaping backwards, we barely manage to get out of the way while Isera yanks up another wall to stop the new projectiles.
In the sky, Kander swoops and dives, shooting flashes of green at Draven. The third silver dragon slams its wings down, shoving itself forward. I almost sob as I try to draw up more magical energy.
Draven dives and rolls through the air, barely evading a streak of green memory magic. But it puts him almost right in the path of the silver dragon.
I scream as the silver dragon lunges for Draven’s left wing.
With a cry of utter desperation, I slam one final burst of magic into that flame of tiredness.
The dragon wobbles, its attack stalling.
It gives Draven enough time to whip his head around. Histeeth sink into the silver dragon’s flesh, and with a yank, Draven rips its throat out.
I almost collapse to the ground and weep.
But there is no time to feel relief, and no time to recover, because Jessina breathes another massive attack at us.
“You made him hesitate!” I yell over the booming wings and crackling lightning and roaring ice flames. “You made Bane hesitate. How? Do the same to Jessina!”
“I’m showing them memories of what the fae did to them, along with your memories of what they have done to you,” Orion answers. “Bane is affected. Jessina is not.”
Panic pulses through me. Not at his words, but at the sheer exhaustion in his voice.
Isera seems to hear it too, because she snaps her gaze to him, and there is worry in her voice when she says, “Orion.”
“I’m fine,” he grinds out, but he sways heavily as he staggers a half step back.
Alarm explodes in my chest at the sight of it, and dread crashes over me as I remember that Orion has barely slept these past two days either. And he also spent twelve hours constantly using his magic on me last night. I know that he is powerful, even for an Unseelie fae who has not been subjected to the Icehearts’ magical bloodline breeding, but he must be running on pure willpower at this point.
He drags in a strained breath. “We just need to?—”
His eyes stop glowing.
Panic crackles across his beautiful face.
In the air, Bane and Jessina stop blindly whipping their heads back and forth and immediately zero in on us.
“Shit,” Orion blurts out, that sheer panic lacing his voice as well. “I’m sorry, I?—”
