“Stay with me,” she muttered, yanking the strap free and looping it around his thigh.
He’d heal fast, but not if he bled out before then.
“Down!” Fenn yelled, yanking them all flat to the ground, barely missing the molten glob of lava suddenly hurtled their way. Kaelith hit first, then Rynna, twisting as she fell to throw herself over him as the blast struck the wall nearby with a sickening thud.
Beside them, a hiss of steam erupted where the glob met cold stone, blanketing them in a choking haze that clung to her skin and burned her eyes. Then came the sting. Splatter from the blast peppered her back and shoulders in small, searing-hot drops, cutting through cloth, biting into flesh.
Rynna’s body jerked as the world narrowed to heat, smoke, and the dull throb of exposed nerves. Still, she didn’t move. Her body stayed over Kaelith’s, shielding him until the pain began to ebb. Then Fenn dropped to her side, arms wrapping around her in shelter. His weight pressed in at her back, steady and solid, even as the air still swirled with smoke and rising heat.
“Fenn!” she coughed, seeing the side of his charred shirt clinging to scorched skin.
“I’m fine.” His neck was craned, gaze locked over his shoulder. “How’s the snake?”
“Death seems unlikely,” Kaelith muttered from beneath her. “Unless one of your overenthusiastic younglings throws another bucket of lava our way.”
Rynna pushed upright, bracing one hand on Kaelith as she scrambled to her knees. His leg lay at an odd angle, the makeshift tourniquet tight around his thigh, but the bleeding had already stopped. She tugged the belt again, anyway, twisting the knot to reinforce it.
He hadn’t passed out. That was good.
Only once it held did she look past Fenn, through the roiling curtain of steam, and catch her first glimpse of the war erupting above them.
Bran and Taren moved like blurs of light through the air, their forms streaking with terrifying speed. The great, flaming wings of the Phoenix unfurled behind Bran, each beat sending waves of heat rippling outward as he launched streams of fire toward something dancing just out of reach. Taren, his great sword flying in midair beside him, swung a whip of lightning, its bright arcs illuminating the ashen cavern. The sword moved as though it had a mind of its own, attacking the shadowed figure below them.
“What is that?” She tracked the white shimmering cords of light that connected both Bran and Taren to…. “Elara!”
The girl sat cross-legged in the middle of the battle, her brows knit in deep concentration,eyes closed, with a faint glow of Source power emanating around her.
“No!” Rynna cried as a spear of darkness hurtled toward her friend. Even with her power, she’d be too late. But the blackened weapon never crossed that silver light.
It’s some kind of shield!she thought, sagging in relief.
For a brief moment, Rynna marveled at the sight. It was a battle of storm and thunder, shadow and fire, all colliding in a beautiful, deadly ballet.
“Since when have they been able to do that?” Fenn whispered, his jaw slack as his claws slowly retracted.
He briefly looked her way. “I don’t think there’s much we can do to help here, love.”
Rynna nodded, still trying to calm her pulse. “Stay ready.”
She searched for the elusive force behind all their troubles, a Hollow-born or power or monster nobody had even heard of until this nightmare began.
“There!” She pointed, eyes focusing on the trace of movement above where Bran and Taren flew.
Amidst the swirling black, a figure wavered in and out of view, more a suggestion of movement than a solid form. The darkness clung to him like a living thing, shifting and blending as he moved, making it impossible to tell where the shadows ended and he began.
“Can you see him?” Rynna squinted, straining to focus.
His movements were erratic, dropping in and out of sight, sometimes dissolving into the darkness entirely.
“Barely.” Fenn’s brow furrowed. “It’s like he’s part shadow, himself.”
“Void?” Kaelith grunted from behind them.
“Perhaps.” Fenn started when—
Suddenly, a blast of fire from Bran erupted across the cavern, illuminating the battlefield with blinding radiance. The dark figure recoiled as the flames tore through its cloak, shredding the black shields that concealed its form.
“What…” Rynna’s mouth fell open.
