“Find her,” she said. “We’ll hold off the fleet.”
He stared at her for a long moment. Shadows danced behind the silver in her eyes, subtle and fleeting. Even still, he could feel the force of her magic under her fingertips; dark and velveteen death. Sora coaxed living things to death softly, in the same way he coaxed them to life.
“I will,” he vowed quietly. “Stay alive.”
She raised a brow, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “That’s never been a guarantee. Not for me.”
She pulled her hand away, hurrying towards Thessilnn. Vane glanced his way and gave a curt nod, before turning to Sora. Morgen looked away when they bowed their foreheads together, speaking words no one else could hear.
“I’m coming with you to look for her,” Carus said. “Don’t argue. We don’t have time, and you need me. Veeron says we should be looking for a cave.”
Veeron, who had landed next to Varax without Morgen noticing, ruffled his wings and screeched at the approaching fleet.
“Fine,” he bit out. “Does Veeron have any idea where?”
“No,” Carus said. His eyes followed Thessilnn and Heles as they took off. Vulcan soared above, riding an azure dragon and motioning to Sora and Vane.
Defense,Morgen thought distractedly. He was signaling for a defensive strategy.
Nyx, Thanatos, Juno, and Anabeth had all disappeared by the time he took his eyes off the sky, but he didn’t care enough to question it, not when he hadn’t been able to reach Nya down the pathway since he landed.
He was just about to tell Carus to mount Veeron when Varax roared abruptly. Carus shouted his name, and Morgen whirled, his blood running cold when he saw what had caused them such alarm.
Nya strode slowly towards them, her steps almost casual. Her eyes were completely flooded with inky black, and she gave them an empty smile when she paused at the edge of the empty clearing. But it wasn’t the knowledge the void had a complete hold of her that made his lungs empty out, his heart beating so fast, he could hardly breathe.
There was a deep gash just above her collarbone, the wound gushing freely. If he didn’t heal it soon, she would lose too much blood.
She would die.
“Oh,” the void said, brushing Nya’s small fingers across the wound and coating them in crimson. “Sol thought it might be fun to try and cut out the blood binding. He’s always been a little too confident in his ability to control anything and everything. Don’t worry; I made sure to numb the feeling of his silly efforts on your end. It would have been beyond agonizing for you otherwise.”
Morgen took a step forward, ignoring Carus when he said his name in warning.
“She’s going to die if she keeps bleeding like that,” he said hoarsely.
The void chuckled. “Oh, yes, she’s close. While I’m here, I can hold that off, but as soon as I let her go…” It shrugged. “She will join me in the dark within a few moments, I’m sure.”
The void seemed pleased at the thought.
Above them, dragon fire lit up the sky, and someone shouted. Sol’s riders had met Sora, Vane, and Vulcan. Morgen didn’t dare take his eyes off Nya, though, not as the void closed its eyes and murmured, “It’s been so long since someone like her has walked between the worlds. You have no idea how long I have been waiting alone.”
The air quivered, and for a flash, he swore he saw each individual strange of ether pull taut. A fissure cracked the stone beneath his feet, and Carus swore.
Prepare yourself, Morgen.The dragon sounded almost resigned, as if she knew as well as he did how little chance they had.
Nya opened her eyes, fixed on him. The raspy, feminine drawl of the void whispered a slew of words that sounded almost like the Old Language. One of the phrases—a name—was just close enough to familiar that he understood it.
Eater of Worlds.
“Get behind me, Carus,” Morgen shouted, shoving him back when he began to protest.
The clouds above swirled in a circular vortex, and the wind picked up. The fissure at their feet widened, revealing red-hot lava beneath, and a deafeningcracksplit through the air. Thunder boomed, and the ground shook violently enough that he almost lost his footing. Carus was trembling when he gripped his arm, still trying to pull him away.
Nya, I need you to fight.
The dragons were beginning to lose control in the high winds, several of them landing to avoid crashing into each other. But as a moon-pale Vemon dragon dove for the safety of the ground, a streak of strange black lightning exploded, causing her to swerve. The rider flew from her back, falling too far and too hard against the side of a cliffside.
“Sora.” Carus rasped, his voice barely audible.
