Around me, all of my friends are suffering a similar fate. All five of us are lying on the ground, completely limp.
In the distance, Draven roars.
I flick my gaze in his direction, but black smoke is covering the ground before us.
And out of it stride the Wings of Freedom and the Forger of Worlds.
My mouth dries out as Jessina and Bane stalk towards us in their half-shift forms, their silver wings rustling as they spread them out wide. Every nerve inside my body is screaming at me to get up and fight. But because of the iron, I can’t move a single muscle. Whatever this iron is that we’re lying on, it must be huge if it can drain our energy this thoroughly and this quickly.
“It worked,” Bane says, sounding faintly surprised.
Jessina’s lips curl in a smug smile. “Told you it would.”
“And you’re always right, my love. Now, let’s finish this before Draven?—”
A raw screech of utter agony splits the air. Bane and Jessina whirl around. I snap my gaze from the Icehearts and towards the sound as well, my heart beating out of control.
The smoke from their transformation at last blows clear, once again letting us see the sky beyond.
Hope surges inside me at the sight I find.
Draven has his jaws clamped around Kander’s neck. The green dragon throws his head back and screams in agony while trying to fend Draven off with his claws, but Draven’s own claws are buried deep in Kander’s body as they spin around and around while falling through the sky. Blood rains down and splatters the ground in huge red drops.
Then Draven jerks his head back.
And rips Kander’s throat out.
If I had any strength left, I would’ve screamed in relief.
On the ground before us, Jessina gasps.
It’s the first time I’ve heard such an emotion from her.
“Bane,” she blurts out, sounding utterly stunned.
“Hurry!” he snaps back.
A jolt goes through Jessina, and she spins back towards us at the same time as Bane. From my place on the ground, I try to flash them a victorious smirk. Kander is dead. They can nolonger wipe our memories with magic. We finally have a chance to win this war.
If I can survive the next twenty seconds or so, that is.
Draven releases Kander. The green dragon’s body falls down towards the ground, his wings fluttering uselessly above him. But Draven is already moving.
With a roar of pure rage, he shoots through the sky and straight towards us.
Jessina rushes up to me while Bane sprints over to Isera. I suck in a sharp breath as she yanks me up, which finally makes the iron disappear from underneath my palms. But my relief is short-lived as she immediately snaps an iron collar shut around my neck.
Across the metal ground, Bane does the same thing to Isera.
Draven speeds towards us.
Jessina whips her head around and looks to her mate. “We’re not going to?—”
A furious roar echoes through the melted buildings as Draven dives towards us. Jessina’s hand tightens around my arm, and she yanks out an elegant knife that she presses against my throat right as Draven reaches us. His massive wings slam down, and storm winds howl in his wake.
It’s forceful enough to make Jessina and Bane stagger backwards, but they manage to keep their grip on me and Isera. Orion, Grey, and Hana, however, slide away like limp dolls.
They gasp in relief as they end up on stone ground instead of the metal they were lying on previously, but the sound is drowned out a moment later when Draven slams down into the ground. Black smoke explodes across the desolate street as he shifts out of his dragon form.
