He was able to direct Zephyr enough to fly higher away from the disorienting influence. Brielle and Keir followed behind, their beasts flying in a choppy pattern.
Aster and Willow didn’t make it up to meet them, stuck just above the tree line, their wyverns struggling to rise.
“No one gets left behind!” Daimon shouted, directing his fleet back to retrieve them.
Brielle at their side, they swooped back down into the negative force as they focused all their attention onto Aster and Willow below. If they could swoop beneath their wyverns, they could create enough updraft to perhaps help them escape. Keir dashed lower, using his blasts of fire to clear the space below them. Evelina focused her shield onto him, though the tether was difficult to maneuver against whatever power was manipulating the wyverns.
“Get out of here!” Willow screamed as they lowered, tugging at Khaline’s reins. “You’ll get stuck too!”
Zephyr roared against the power embattling her mind, screeching as Brielle and Vero pushed up on Khaline. They were nearly there when an arrow the size of a wyvern’s head shot straight up and into Khaline’s sternum.
The beast roared in pain and slipped from Vero’s grip.
Willow howled a bloodcurdling scream as they tumbled through the air. Aster dipped in altitude, frantic at hearing his soulbonded screaming for her wyvern.
Brielle managed to dart to the side and get Vero’s claws around Khaline as she dropped, taking on some of their weight, just as another arrow launched into the sky, narrowly flying past the two wyverns. With the wyvern’s flight restricted, they were an open target, prey ripe for the predator.
Evelina searched for the source of the arrows, watching as another shot into the sky. Vero thrashed, fighting against invisible chains. She felt Daimon start to move Zephyr toward the archer on the ground. But Keir was closer.
“Fucking bastard,” Keir shouted. He broke apart, racing Codax toward the Furies below. Codax was strong, nearly as large as Vero. But he was flying slower than he should’ve been,barely breaking through whatever control the Furies had on them.
“Keir, stop!” Daimon called after him.
But he was already gone. No one could stop an Aegis blinded by rage.
Evelina briefly closed her eyes, willing her focus to stay strong as she clung to her light, trying to travel after Keir as he flew further away. When she reopened them, she found him positioned between Brielle and the Furies beneath as he headed for the archer.
Another arrow shot from the ground, clipping Vero’s wing this time. The beast screamed as Brielle frantically tried to pull up.
Evelina’s eyes widened as Zephyr reared back with a sympathetic roar, shock causing her hold on her shield to slip. She could feel Daimon desperately trying to steer Zephyr toward his fellow Rider, but the dark magic disturbing her was too strong.
It only took a second. In the blink of an eye, a torrent of shadows filled with crackling light barreled toward Keir, wrapping around his neck. Next, the chains made of shadows reached for Codax, wrapping around his legs and the base of his wings. It pulled him down with a forceful yank. Wyvern and Rider went crashing into the ground, rebels swarming them within seconds. Codax didn’t have time to attempt to get up before the Furies battered him with dark magic, piercing his scales as if they were made of flimsy armor. Zephyr screeched, crying out for her friend.
Keir made a garbled cry, hanging in midair as the shadows around his neck held him in place, slowly draining the life from him. His eyes were on Codax’s lifeless body, his arms and legs flailing as he reached desperately for him.
Evelina panicked, reaching inside herself for her Essence. But it was too late. Before her magic could reach him, the shadows tightened around his throat, snapping his neck.
Evelina screamed as his body dropped to the ground beside his wyvern, landing with a sickening crunch atop the rebels below.
Fifty-Two
Daimon
Daimon couldn’t movehis gaze away from Keir’s lifeless body. He was sprawled on his back with his eyes open, staring blankly at the sky above—directly at Daimon.
He wasn’t quick enough to save him. Rage and pain twisted together, rolling through his entire body in punishing waves.
Keir was dead. Codax was dead. Wyvern and Rider lost together in battle.
Daimon was supposed to lead as commander, to keep his fleet safe. But he didn’t.
The world around him quieted, his vision blurring and his ears rushing as if he were beneath the sea.
“Daimon!” Evelina shouted. “Daimon!”
The sounds of battle filled his head once more. His eyes snapped to Evelina. A tear slipped down her cheek.
A flurry of motion beneath them made him tear his gaze away from her. Elias and Ranick were joining the fray, their wide eyes set on where Codax and Keir lay, their bodies nearly covered entirely by swarming Furies.
