Alpha Fleet split their attention between Moros and the rebels, but they couldn’t attack Moros. Not yet.
Daimon knew it wouldn’t work—not with Moros’s dark magic still coursing through him. They wouldn’t be able to killhis body without severing his connection to the dark magic. It had to be both. Death to his magic as well as to his body.
They didn’t know that. Didn’t know just how deep his ties to Vidaris ran—but Daimon did. His shadows peeked a curious eye out near Vidaris, recognizing the likeness. Moros’s darkness did the same.
Soldiers erupted from the forest, with Senna leading the charge. They outnumbered the rebels ten to one. Senna’s group closed in on them quickly and the rebels started to panic.
Daimon crept closer, fighting against the pull in his chest that was yanking him back toward the Shadow Realm. He had to be careful, could only go so far outside of it. He kept his eye on Moros as he slowly withdrew his dagger, close enough to?—
The ground beneath Daimon’s feet trembled so hard he almost tripped. A sound pierced the air, like the high-pitched screech of a wyvern, but heavier. Deeper. Something he didn’t think could leave the Shadow Realm.
Moonlight was blocked out as the massive creature flew overhead. It was shrouded in shadows, the edges of its wings blurry and hard to see in the night. But it was unmistakable.
A dragon had joined the fight. And it was answering to Moros.
Seventy
Daimon
The soundof the dragon roaring made Daimon skid to a halt. The creature should not have been answering to Moros, and yet it was.
Another roar sounded and Daimon snapped into focus, his feet moving as he ran for Moros. This creature was three times the size of the wyverns—even Vero, who was the largest Daimon had ever seen. Not only that, but it breathed fire. No wyvern could do that.
Seeing the fleet made his chest tighten. On instinct, he searched for Zephyr, calling on their bond so they could join their unit. But the connection that tied him to his wyvern was empty—broken. Like the rope was there, but severed in the middle.
Senna was still on the ground with their army, slowly picking apart the remaining rebels. They had a vast quantity of soldiers with them, while Moros’s numbers had dwindled to less than fifty.
Moros and the dragon shot into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. Vero took off after them, and Brielle shouted his name in panic. Aster and Willow immediately followed and they all disappeared within the clouds.
From the corner of his eye, Daimon saw the blur of light. His shadows stirred inside of him in response.
Evelina.
He could feel her magic, even though he couldn’t see her. She was still here, safely tucked away in the dream realm.
The dragon roared, followed by the high-pierced shriek of a wyvern.
Daimon couldn’t see a damned thing from the ground. He growled in frustration. He couldn’t kill Moros if he was in the sky.
He watched as time suspended. The sky was dark—still.
A wyvern screamed in pain.
Light flashed through the clouds, a blazing stream of fire. It all happened so fast. The fire showed the outline of a wyvern in its crossfire, but the wyvern banked right just in time.
It went dark again, the fire dying out.
Daimon’s heart pounded in his chest, his frustration growing.
In a flash, the dragon’s fire illuminated the sky. Daimon watched the outline of its jaws close around the neck of a wyvern.
“No!” Daimon screamed at the same time a burst of light shot from beside him, barreling through the sky, aimed directly at the dragon clothed in shadows. For a moment, he saw the shimmering outline of Evelina, her cheeks streaked with tears.
He watched as her magic enveloped the creature and it thrashed, trying to hide from her. The dragon pulled back, retreating into the night sky, Moros with it.
Daimon strained to see where the dragon went, calculating how to track it down.
But then Moros was momentarily forgotten as a wyvern dropped through the clouds. It tumbled through the sky, belly up and wings folding around itself.
