Chapter
Thirteen
LYRA
My stomach pitched as the Dark Palace fell away, the carved obsidian features reflecting the glowing pool of lava below. I felt Sorsha’s labored breaths as she flew us out of the volcano, her wings beating hard against the oppressive, sulfuric air.
All around us, demons swarmed, and I gripped my dagger tighter. There were so many of them.
Squinting through the blizzard of ash, I spotted an ungainly form up ahead.
Adriel.
At least a dozen demons were arrowing toward him, but the moment they drew close, Kaden sent out wisps of his lethal shadows. They lashed out like whips and nets, wrapping around the demons’ necks and wings and wrenching them from the sky.
Shrieks echoed off the volcano walls as they plummeted toward the spewing lava below, and a fresh horde of them spilled from the obsidian palace.
Glancing over her shoulder, Sorsha cursed andthrew out a hand, aiming for the winged beasts on our tail. I looked down just in time to see glimmers of iridescent light collide, coalescing to form long glowing daggers.
They sliced through the air, adjusting their trajectory to home in on their targets. They tore through the demons’ membranous wings, sending two careening toward the bubbling pool of lava.
My heart soared as Sorsha sent out another volley of her magical blades, but these were smaller and weaker than the last. The cadence of her wing beats suddenly faltered, and I realized she was struggling to hold her winged form while weaponizing her power.
Tilting her head skyward, she flew harder — racing toward the mouth of the volcano.
My heart stuttered. Without Kaden’s shadow magic, I had no way to fend off our attackers. But then I heard a loud rumbling from above, and when I looked up, great chunks of volcanic rock were tumbling toward our pursuers.
Sorsha’s body tensed as boulders the size of horses careened through the air. Adriel didn’t so much as glance in our direction to see if his aim had been true, but I knew without a doubt that his earth magic was the cause of the rockslide.
We cleared the rim of the volcano a moment later, though I could still make out the shadowy forms of several demons pursuing us.
My mind raced. Perhaps I could summon my own magic as I had down in that cell.
Closing my eyes, I focused on my intent as Gaeldric had taught me, imagining our demon pursuers plummetingthrough the air. But no matter how hard I concentrated, nothing happened.
A feeling of helplessness swamped me, followed swiftly by anger. I felt so useless being carried through the skies, unable to summon even a sliver of magic. But then ribbons of shadow streaked across the grayish sky, and a sickening gurgle told me Kaden had taken out our pursuers.
Sorsha’s grip on me eased ever so slightly, and the cadence of her wing beats slowed as she flew us over the Barrens. Soon we left Mount Dorthus and the choking clouds of ash behind, and a howling wind drowned out everything else.
With the danger behind us, I could practically feel the joy radiating from the princess. Her chin jutted skyward as she flew through the clouds, the tips of her beautiful iridescent wings glistening in my periphery.
My heart swelled. I couldn’t even imagine the elation of flight after being denied it for years.
Impressively, neither Sorsha nor Adriel seemed to slow their pace, even after several hours. I had no idea how they knew where they were going. I couldn’t see anything through the thick cloud cover. But soon the crash of waves became audible over the howling wind, and when I drew in a breath, I tasted salt.
We were crossing the Drathen Sea.
As the air grew colder, the jagged outline of the Oranthan Mountains materialized through the mist. But rather than leading us higher to bypass King Alfrigg’s wards, Adriel dipped below the clouds, where foaming waves met a rocky coastline.
Huge white boulders punctuated the shoreline, and thelonely screech of gulls greeted us as Sorsha brought us to land on a cold, pebbly beach.
My knees wobbled as she set me on my feet, and I nearly face-planted in the sand. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice hoarse from the cold air.
“Just outside the village of Bijult,” said Adriel in a low voice. “There is a safe house where we can stay until Kaden is well enough to fly.”
But Kaden was already several paces ahead, striding toward the rocky cliffs. Shadows billowed in his wake, stirring the dry seagrass as he ascended a trail that led up through an outcropping of the bleached white rocks. The stiff set of his shoulders and his drooping, bloody wings were the only signs of how badly he’d been hurt.
My heart felt as though it had been ripped from my body and clumsily put back into place. He hadn’t said a word to me as we’d made our escape, and I wondered if Adriel had gleaned any insight into what he’d endured.
